#// but I'm just putting down 10 years worth of character development for once since I'm in the DA mode XD

[starwrittenfates]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐥-- 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 (& 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟)

Codex Entry: "There are tales that Mythal, the Protector, Goddess of Motherhood and Justice, had a sister. Although it is unknown if they were related or Mythal just decided to call her sister, not much is known about Ethyral. She is said to have been a friend to spirits, inhabitants of the Fade, and might even be the reason for their existence. Hence her mantle, Goddess of Spirit.  Her other mantle as Goddess of Grief more than likely comes after the betrayal of Fen’Harel, the Dread Wolf, who killed her sister and then imprisoned the rest of our gods away. If you hear a woman weeping, it is said to be Ethyral, who is crying not only for her loss, but your own. She won’t rest until she gets vengeance against the Dread Wolf. Dalish clans view her with the same wariness as they do with Fen’Harel, seeking to protect themselves and their kin from her omen of grief and despair." — From The Tale of Fen'Harel's Triumph, as told by Gisharel, Keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves

(if personal quest is done and her memories are returned in the Fade) “It seems the little bit of information the Dalish have on the Goddess Ethyral is almost right, but not entirely true either. She is the sister of Mythal, but her ties to Fen’Harel aren’t because of the supposed death of her sister by his hand. In fact, he wasn’t responsible for Mythal’s murder as previously believed. The ties between the Dread Wolf and Goddess of Spirit isn’t one born of vengeance and grief. They were friends and lovers, working together to help set their people free. However, even the best intentions can end up going wrong, causing consequences not perceived or intended. “ — From Codex Entry: Ethyral, Goddess of Spirit 

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 1: RG Veda

Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)|Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)

At the recommendation of a friend, I decided to pick up RG Veda. I've read a few CLAMP manga across the years, and had always been curious to read Tsubasa, but put it off because of all the meta. So this became an opportunity to try to get through their whole oeuvre.

I'm just putting my reviews on this blog since it's my "writing" blog. I read the 2016 Dark Horse omnibuses. RG Veda came out in 1989 and was CLAMP's first official work, spanning about 10 actual chapters, as they intended the work to fit exactly 10 volumes. Some spoilers!

Synopsis: Based so loosely off the Hindu and Buddhist versions of the Rigveda, 300 years ago, Taishakuten kills the God-King and the God of War Ashura and takes the throne of Heaven, ruling with an iron fist. But a prophecy arises that six stars will gather when Lord Yasha awakens Lord Ashura's child (also called Ashura), who will bring down Taishakuten. As the wheels of fate turn, Yasha and Ashura gather allies with their own reasons for fighting, and attempt to avert tragedy and find reason to live - but all is not as it seems regarding Ashura and the prophecy.

The Story: Is RG Veda cliche of every sword and sorcery adventure story? Yes. Does it compel me? Absolutely. It's dramatic and over the top and tragic. But once you settle into the fact that everything is larger than life and obsessed with destiny and love and other grand motifs, because this is a story of gods, I loved it. I want to read more sweeping comic epics. Some of the writing is cheesy but again, it works because the story knows it's not meant to be realistic! It's about the spectacle of this tale of the gods and their loves and sins.

The start of the story is clunky since you're dropped into this world with a lot of moving parts and characters, but it had just enough intrigue to keep me reading. The story has a real strong driving force since it's a race towards the palace to kill the God King, while also being rather non-linear as we jump between locations, time periods, and characters to create this incredibly high-fantasy world. It's a little self-indulgent in taking us on side adventures for character development or fun, but this never gets boring or frustrating, every side character contributes to the themes and the story feels like its building appropriately. This race against time while also avoiding tragedy that Ashura inevitably brings is a REALLY smart narrative device because it allows us character development and movement, and to contemplate the story's central questions. Three-for-one.

I'd say the only place the pacing falls apart is the ending, which is really rushed and has a TON of last minute revelations, which makes it hard to register everything. It still sticks the landing thematically, I just think it maybe needed more room to breathe to hit that poignant ending.

The Themes: It's really interesting to see even this early on, CLAMP already had certain themes they would continue to explore in their work: the immutability of fate and our natures, the power, both good and evil, of love, duty and promise, and selfishness vs. selflessness - with that further entangled by our own sense of identity and will to live. Pretty much every character expresses some contemplation of what it means to live and who they are, and whether their wishes or loves will inevitably jeopardize the world and themselves.

I wouldn't say RG Veda is philosophical, but it is mostly consistent in what it wanted to say and do, which is that love is the force that overturns fate, for good or ill, and that being loved by others and finding your community, can make life worth living despite its tragedy. Nobody deserves to be unwanted. There's also a lot of interesting interplay about our culpability in evil due to our birth, the duality within people, and holding onto our promises despite the destruction they cause (something they would deconstruct in later works, but that's stargazing).

The Characters: The characters are definitely highly archetypal but again, it works in the context of an attempt to write new mythology. I liked Ashura and Yasha decently, but they lacked complexity. I found Ashura's death-seeking nature compelling and wish it had been explored more in the conflict between being apocalyptic and unwanted. Yasha never quite grows beyond the stoic dark haired seme but I do think he had an interesting story for being a King that doomed his people to protect Ashura. The side characters are more complicated; I'm obsessed with the tragic pathetic nature of Taishakuten cannibalizing his lover to be with him yet lose him forever. I also really liked Kendappa, Kujaku, Kaara and Kumara, Ratetsu, and Karura and her sister. Ryuu was totally superfluous. Overall, it's clear they wrote most of the characters with the story and themes in mind, so I can't fault their archetypal nature since they are meant to be thematic rather than realistic.

The Art: The art is very late 80s shojo, which isn't an issue once I got past the anatomy (though some of the anatomy is really, glaringly off.). It's such a pretty manga with gorgeous and creative paneling that constantly breaks the grid, overlays panels, and transforms into gorgeous double page spreads, and really gives the sense of a sweeping epic. The backgrounds are especially nice, as well as the costume design, everything is richly detailed and feels beautiful and dreamy. While CLAMP only knows how to draw one face, the character designs are still distinguishable and memorable. There are some issues with readability during action scenes but having read some of their other works, it's clear that's their weakness. Some of the more elaborate panels are lost in detail, but overall, it's pretty.

Questionable Elements: Ashura having no sex so that they can't reproduce and "pass on sin" is iffy to me. Yasha/Ashura is also hmm because Ashura is 300, but stuck in a child's body to protect the world. Yasha raises Ashura and loves Ashura for who they are, so its clear from the ending (and Tsubasa) they're meant to be lovers, but also the relationship is said to be father-child. It's definitely icky and while I understand thematically what they were trying to do with having Ashura be in a child form vs adult form for most of the series, they could have just made him an amnesiac adult the whole time. Ugh. Also, while I adore Kendappa/Souma, it does play into the over-emotional psycho lesbian trope. But CLAMP in general has a poor track record with lesbians (more on that later).

There’s also a discussion to be had on their choice to pull from the Rigveda and their approach to South Asian culture. Please see the discussion here for my thoughts in full on it and discussion on cultural appropriation, but in short, I don’t believe it’s cultural appropriation to make a fantasy pastiche world, but it’s a sad and telling missed opportunity that South Asian culture remains of little interest to Japanese media while being included in their world building.

Overall: A beautiful, entertaining, tragic spectacle that tries to create a sweeping mythological epic that mostly sticks the landing, with some truly interesting characterizations going on. Some heavy pacing issues at the start and end, and it's not groundbreaking or necessarily progressive, but worth a read all the same, if nothing for the incredible panelwork, the mythopoetic scale, and the unique ultra-high fantasy world. Definitely a new CLAMP favourite for me.

[grimsneverendingfuneral]

You've already written a book? Wow, that's impressive! I've always been writing but never quite finished anything. I have a lot of short stories stored in my computer and poetry in my various journals, but actually sitting down and committing to writing something for an extended period of time has always been difficult for me. I lose interest after a while, or get stuck on a scene and just give up on it. I have about three rough drafts of at least one hundred pages worth of material, but that's it. They stop there. How were you able to write your book? What is the story behind it? I know we writers hate when someone asks what our books are about, because it's not always about the plot, I would say, but more about the characters and the overarching themes present throughout the story, but I'm curious. I hope you don't mind me intruding in your ask box like this.

yoooo you're back!!! im so glad

yessss well i feel you really hard on the never finishing anything. I've always always been writing too, ever since i could but i never thought i'd get to write a book, quite honestly. i mean, i didnt even consider myself a writer until like last year and im fucking 25. i just kind of. wrote. didnt claim the "writer" title until one of my friends pointed it out like "hey, youre a writer" and i was like HUH?? so ya.

the way i wrote it was very circumstantial, honestly. i think in a way, thats what usually happens. a bit of circumstance, time, discipline, and most importantly PASSION is the perfect equation, at least for me. it was in a time when covid was coming to an end, i had a job but was out of work because i had broken my foot, and i had a whole room to myself cause i was living with my sister. i was also going through a david bowie obsession and listened to literally JUST THAT for three whole months. i wrote every day, all day. sometimes for 10 hours without really eating or drinking. i was OBSESSED. with this story, and these characters, and so im not really the person to ask how exactly you finish a book, because for me it was truly a near religious experience, like divine intervention type thing. it was like i was possessed. i couldnt stop. i loved it so much that it took over my whole life.

as for the stuck on a scene thing. honestly? like forreal forreal? you just have to change the scene that you thought you were gonna write. that's it. that's the answer. you just don't write that scene. you find something else. if its not coming to you like butter on a hot pan, sliding into your brain effortlessly and through your fingers, change it. or just don't write it. skip it. skip to another part of the story, or just straight up skip that scene and continue the story. im telling you, there aint not other way. you'll just stray further and further from that momentum you had, and get frustrated with yourself, and start overthinking your story, and all that, all for one scene that isn't even there.

and the dreaded discipline. look, we all hate it. the only thing you can do to combat the writers block is, and i cant emphasize this enough, write something else for a bit. put your story on pause, its okay, its always gonna be there, and write something with those same characters, but maybe theyre in an au, or another scene, or its just some little drabble of their lives. it helps immensely, even for your book. you get to develop their characterization, get to know them, their motivations, their speech patterns, and you get to have fun. it'll give you ideas, and once you're ready to kick yourself in the ass, go back to the book, and write one. fucking. sentence. just one. a shitty one. write a whole page without editing it as you go along. write simply and like youve never known what a sentence structure looks like, then when you're done, you can go back and edit. but its better to just write and have it be shitty but cohesive enough that its going somewhere, than to not write at all, right? thats my advice.

ok this shit is getting long as fuck and i didnt even answer your question as to what my book is about. i'll try to blurb it, for practice.

Set in 1973, it's about Percy, an astronomy loving eighteen year old Welsh guy with sleep apnea who moves to the city with his extremely religious parents. He finds a room through a new friend he meets at a bar, Gretchen, and moves in with Ren, a wearing-sunglasses-at-night sanguine type who's a storm about to ravage Percy's little village.

Ren has a secret room, secret hobbies, secret everything, and it drives Percy insane with prophetic dreams through his apneic episodes. With time, patience and a shared love of music, Ren begins to let Percy in on his tragic life, the person he lost and the reasons why he is the way he is, chaos personified. Percy begins to understand that he is a part of some equation, some mission Ren has been set on by the strange presence in their apartment.

The secret little room is the key to it all, and through the whispers in the trees and the voice in the walls, Percy will soon discover that Ren is not only someone who's happened to cross his path, but someone who he is falling in love with, someone fated for him. It's a story of self-discovery, mysticism, death, rebirth, redemption, friendship, and it's very gay. Very, very gay. Also set in the early 70s so there's the trials and tribulations of marginalized identities, good ass music, and a lack of electronic communication.

there are a lot of different elements to this story, like.... a lot of references to greek mythology, astronomy facts, sleep disorders, nightmare imagery, motifs, everything is all connected. Each character's name has a meaning to the story, and they all play a very important role. There's also like two plot twists and a secret character that i cant talk about heehee.

anyways FUCK this was crazy. i know you only asked like a couple of questions but im like sooooo into answering thoroughly. its honestly helping me understand some stuff, so thank you veryyyyy much for being curious, i really really appreciated. dont be shy if you ever want to come off anon and send me a message, im not gonna think anything weird of you lol. i know anon is like a safe way of lurking sometimes but id like to talk to you more if youre down.

[shirozora-draws]

I posted 56 times in 2021

48 posts created (86%)

8 posts reblogged (14%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.2 posts.

I added 310 tags in 2021

#shirozora draws - 48 posts

#star wars - 46 posts

#the mandalorian - 43 posts

#luke skywalker - 35 posts

#din djarin - 35 posts

#dinluke - 34 posts

#skydalorian - 32 posts

#grogu - 19 posts

#story: the suns - 11 posts

#cobb vanth - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#like y'aaaaaaaaaaaaaall i finished a sketchbook in 3 months? i mean sure it's just an itty bitty moleskine and not a honkin' regular sketch

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Runaway 2AM thoughts turning into runaway headcanons about Luke getting Mandalorian armor courtesy of the Armorer because my brain won't shut the fuck up.

--------------------------------

Leia: ... why do you have Mandalorian armor?

Luke: Oh, the Armorer made it for me.

Leia: Who?

Luke: She's part of Din's covert. He said it's a wedding gift.

Leia: A what? Since when did you get married?

Luke: Three weeks ago? I think? I'm not sure. Apparently we got married while fighting stormtroopers.

Leia: Stars, why didn't I think of that? We should've done that.

Han (off-screen): No, we didn't!

2313 notes • Posted 2021-04-09 07:41:51 GMT

#4

I said I was going to slow down to focus on writing and this is why - I, a fucking fool, am illustrating my own goddamn fic. Sure I'm working full time and taking an intensive class on character design but who needs sleep when there's a story to tell?

Anyway, here are the illustrations for the first chapter of The Storm sequel, The Suns.

*rolls the fuck away*

2445 notes • Posted 2021-04-17 03:19:50 GMT

#3

As the person responsible for a day's worth of chatter, art, and fic featuring Lightning!Luke at the dinluke Discord server, I figure I ought to post my own contribution. Don't usually post illustrations ahead of the chapter (have 1 more thing to sketch out, so looking at Saturday to post) but this is the "alt" version so have at it. Enjoy this visual vibe-y mashup of Sam Kim's Mandalorian version of the Luke Skywalker Theme and Into the Spider-verse's What's Up Danger

2525 notes • Posted 2021-07-09 07:50:29 GMT

#2

I, the biggest fool to ever fool, really thought I could put a moratorium on doodling Mando things until I was this much closer to finishing this goddamn 50k+ monster of a fic. Except I felt very naked about not doodling anything because I apparently developed this brand new habit of doodling Mando things all the time and posting at least once a week. The loophole is, “Well you said you were gonna commit to 1 sketchy illustration per chapter so we might as well start sketching those out.”

So I did just that. Have two sketches for fic illustrations. Goddammit and dank farrik.

2804 notes • Posted 2021-03-27 09:55:27 GMT

#1

So.

This is what happens when you try to stop hyperfixating for several days to do your goddamn art assignment and your hellbrain says, “I have an idea.”

Sure did take me 2 days and 2 near emotional meltdowns to learn how to use CSP’s animation tools and make this work.

I’ll maybe post the jpeg later. 

3196 notes • Posted 2021-03-10 07:31:41 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[xo-alie-xo]

PORTWELL LONG GAME OR RINA SLOWBURN.

You can only choose one poison.🍷

Listen up my Wildcats.🐱

We all ship each character with happiness. No matter how much you love to hate them, a majority of us simply adores the characters and want the best for them. Then comes relationships and it's okay to ship our favorites.⛴

I'm a diehard Rina shipper and I know in my heart that they are series endgame. The set up, the natural chemistry, their mutual understanding, the surprises and angst literally put me on chokehold. So I'm 100% a Rina shipper till the end. I'm here for the slowburn and their development rather than one shots. They are worth the pain. 😭❤

Let me start with Ricky Bowen now.

Ricky shouldn't to be with Gina because he's hurting her mentality. He's not insensitive on purpose. Like when he tried to stop Big Red from telling her his message to Nina because he KNOWS it'll hurt her.

If you think, that Ricky didn't understand clearly when Gina confessed, think again. He shushed her. Kept their thing a secret from everyone. He knows he feels some type of way and she feels something too. But this boy is so used to safeguarding his childhood norms and has very little adaptability. Hence, he pretended to ignore everything between them because his home stability was falling apart and he clinged on to Nina, his constant childhood love.

He's a traumatised 16-17 year old boy that needs to heal and grow. This episode was heartbreaking because he had to accept that he had to let Nina go because their once upon a time fairytale had become toxic.

People change. I'm not the same person I was when I was 16 lmao. Being together as childhood lovers means growing together and accepting each other's growth. Which Ricky couldn't. He clutched to the idea of Nini. Even his love confession. It was sooo sweet but all he did was focus on their history.

This boy needs time to heal and maybe seek professional therapy. It would be so DAMN HISTORIC if Disney decides to take psychological issues seriously and show how he's dealing with his anxiety, pills and psychotherapy. He needs to breathe before he can be with any girl for that matter. He's hurting and isn't trying to hurt anyone on purpose. Including Gina.

Him asking her for advice on Nini was a dumb, insensitive move. But he's trying to find a way to build some supportive friendship that they shared in early season one.

As for now, this boy needs to get his own grip on life and heal.

As for our Queen Gina

In Gina's confession, she focuses on their future. She basically said, "I wouldn't quit on a possible future of us being together despite obstacles. Because I never quit. But moving away isn't in my control." Ricky deep down knows this, encouraged her to say it, teary eyed, despite right after getting back together with Nini. Gina is his future. She went to his new house. And I also have this feeling that when she was given a chance to stay, she stayed partly because of Ricky. She left a chance to be with her mom because she prioritised their relationship. Because she never quits. 💪🏼

But she came back and found out Ricky has gotten back together with Nini.😭 What she doesn't know is Ricky got together with Nina before her confession, and after Gina kept dodging his messages. She's hurt and questions why she returned because she isn't particularly close to anyone. Hence, she was so silent at the after party. She thinks it'll be fine, "she'll live", and finds other reasons to find permanence. Her arc this season has been settling down in East High, despite the pain of losing and being 'betrayed' by Ricky, she finds other reasons to stay. 🏡

This kind of contrasts her with Nina. Nina left her dream school and came to Salt Lake because she missed her established home, and not just because of Ricky. Nina returned and was loved and embraced by Ricky Bowen.💕 Gina came back to a semi new place called Salt Lake because of her promise of a future to Ricky. But she got stabbed and she bled. 💔🗡

Think about her situation. She feels confused, alone, heartbroken, out of place and seperated from her mom. She's broken and hurting too. And she doesn't need more from Ricky's accidental or intentional 'sick burns'. That's the one line where he was such a jerk and I can't defend him here. 😠

Here comes the Caswells.

Her second family. A place of healthy stability. A home that accepted her. Ashlyn, her roomie and her confidante. EJ, the misunderstood boy who saw her value and bought her plane ticket.

Let's get to EJ.

At first, I wasn't too keen on seeing Portwell's development. But then that video chat where they talk about the possibility of her staying and him convincing her. Had me sold for a solid brother-sister relationship. Few episodes later, when Gina's pain seemed to be oblivious to everyone, he was the only one who asked her how she was, and saw her glow. The comfort she must've felt.

Not that she needs a man's validation, but she must be feeling like a second choice and feeling a little insecure because of Ricky. But EJ lifts her up and I genuinely saw her smile. This boy has her back whenever. The man she can lean on and truly sees how special she is. She no longer feels alone now that she has his entire fam and other friends. She genuinely feels a place of belonging and happiness when she's the apple of his eye. Notice how happy she is? How happy this boy is? She's going through her own issues and she has found ground with EJ.

I was very doubtful when they started hinting at a romantic direction. Because EJ would be used as plot device again for a girl to get to Ricky.😤 This man doesn't deserve to be second best to anyone, just like Gina.😑 That's why I'm still hesitant on shipping them at least temporarily. EJ needs to be something even more special to Gina. They need to show each other how special and treasured they are to each other despite feeling like rejects. They are each other's source of comfort.

I'm sure they can keep EJ at East High for the next season. Whether it's the drama club, or the AV club or going to a local college. So he will be there for Gina. I don't know how they can work out a relationship with much distance as Rini's fell out when she moved away. So, if EJ leaves again, it'll again shake up Gina. Her being worried whether he'll date college girls, second thoughts, etc. I don't want them to go through that. And if they do move on to romantic Portwell, make sure it's not plot device for Rina. So you can either have Portwell endgame or Rina Endgame.

Basically I want Gina to be treated so right that she understands she doesn't need Ricky. And when he does ask her out, and he makes her feel like a second choice or a rebound, she says NO. Because EJ has helped regain her self assurance. Eventually I want Gina to confide in EJ about her and Ricky. EJ is jealous but also angry about how Ricky has been hurting her. And becomes damn protective of his 'babe'. Ricky gets jealous of their relationship, restarting Ricky and EJ's old rivalry. But this time, it's not because Gina is his girlfriend, but because she's EJ's best friend who he has a crush on and wants what's best for her.

If it's meant to be Rina endgame

EJ- RICKY, YOU IDIOT! You have no clue how to treat her right. You don't put her first. You mislead her. Get the hell away from her! She's too powerful and beautiful, she doesn't deserve your scraps. I know how she feels for you. I wish I were you. I would treat her like a queen. I don't mind even waiting years till she's ready. She deserves that. You're so lucky you have even a small chance that I may never have. So get your act together, prove you're worth it to win her over. All I want is for her to be happy. Even if it's with someone else. And maybe then I'll stop threatening you to stay away from her.😠

Ricky- .....I don't know what I'm more scared of. Change, or losing the girl I fell for or YOU. Okay, losing her but you're a close second.😬

If it's Portwell endgame.

Ricky- I messed up. Make sure you don't mess up with her. You'll regret it forever.

EJ- I'd rather get hit by thousand basketballs than ever hurt her. I'll be her plus one and her best friend until she's ready to be with me. I know she's ready now too. But I want her to know I'm willing to wait till she graduates before we make it official. I'm in it for the long game.

As for their age gap. I'm 100% sure Portwell won't kiss this season. If they do, it'll be next when Sofia turns 18. They are professional actors who are cast because they are the perfect fit for the role and are expected to carry out the storyline. But I suppose fearing some outbursts, they might delay Sofia kissing anyone till next season. It's so weird because Olivia was maybe 17 when Matt was 21-22 when they kissed in season one. But no one had a problem with that. But for this, they do. Remember, they are professional actors. They are acting! Sometimes, actors are over 10 years apart (but above 18) and act as romantic partners.

As for their characters, they are only two years apart. That's hardly any difference once you're over the age of 18. Age of consent is 16. But adults above 18 are only allowed to have sex with adults above 18. So, age isn't a problem here because EJ is a gentleman and is genuinely interested in her and isn't trying to get in her pants. So age isn't the issue when it comes to dating. It's the maturity. Gina is very mature and gives very sound advice. But I can see EJ being patient enough till she turns 18 just to kiss her because he loves her. 😚

As for the Ashlyn remark, "You look like a kid to me rn". He was JOKING.😂 Don't take things out of context. I tell my cousin sister that all the time. But she's three years younger than me and a grown adult. I don't see her as a kid but it's just a cousin teasing her younger cousin that's she's a little immature. I'm Matt's age and I'm very mature for my age and since I was a teenager, I always matched up with boys a little older than me. Now that I'm in my early 20s, I've dated boys even close to 30. So age is just a number.

EJ dating Gina and giving her quick kisses is fine. But to have a strong sexual element in their relationship (including making out), he'll have to wait till she's 18+. And I'm sure for that he'll wait till she's ready even past her early 20s. Age is really just a number and we can't help who we fall in love with. Trust me, I've been there.😂 So I can see EJ feeling conflicted about his feelings that are clear at this point.

They might not be a perfect fit, but they make each other sooo happy. They deserve a lot more than a short lived fling.😟 They are either endgame or Rina is. You can't have both as a Rina unless you're an EJ hater who wants him to exist as plot device. Nope! He's sooo much more precious than that.

But Jack on the other hand....I'm okay if he's the one to make Ricky or EJ jealous. Because he's just been introduced and it's okay if a character is used, but only once, for someone else to realize their feelings. 💁🏽‍♀️

In short.

Ricky needs help and needs to be on his own. No girlfriends allowed.🙅🏽‍♀️🚫

Needs to give both Gina and Nina space for them to grow on their own too.🌳

Ricky needs to understand the core of his problems and become more adaptable via therapy. Maybe the psychologist will point out his unresolved feelings for Gina, or he will conclude it himself. And in comes Ricky-pining-for-Gina season three.

Ricky needs to fully get over Nina before he moves on to anyone. Same for Gina if Portwell were to happen. No one deserves to be second choice.

Gina isn't Ricky's cushion. She's a living person with strong feelings for him and shouldn't be subjected to share his pain. She already struggles with her own issues.

Ricky needs to stay single till he wins back Gina and prove he's worth it. He needs to show even if another girl wants him, he'll never quit on Gina ever again. Even if he has to watch her be with someone else. *cough parallels*.

It's either romantic Rina then Portwell endgame OR Portwell flirty besties but Rina endgame. You and I can choose only one because my boy EJ shouldn't be used as plot device for a girl to leave for Ricky ever again.

Portwell's age difference can be practically solved and isn't much of an issue unless they get hot and heavy before Gina turns 18 which is impossible considering this is Disney. 🤣🤣

Jack and Gina will be plot device material and purely so sentimental to us OG Andi Mack fans. More than any ship, this is what I'm looking for. Sort of an Andi Mack crack ship for season 3a. It's gonna be soooo funny. 😍😂

I respect everyone's ship. I see what you're seeing. And I'm not going to invalidate your ship. But unless it's done right, I won't jump from the Rina ship. I liked Rini. I like Portwell. I like AU Juffy crackship haha.😂 But as for me, I'm still holding on to Rina slowburn.

Preparing myself for the pain. 😭🔥

(But if I had to pair two characters without Disney getting in the way, it would be Gini. The power duo. Undeniable chemistry. They can be written so well because of their layered relationship and contrasting personalities.🤩 The classic rivals to friends to lovers. But that's a talk for another day lmao.)

Thanks for reading my opinion, Wildcat!🐱❤

[scottsumrners]

what is going on on the magicians i mean can you explain for someone who never watched it? everyone seem so hurt by it i'm confused

girl....where to even begin.

like. okay. first of all the show is about like...magic. it’s a mix of harry potter and narnia, essentially. but for grown ups.

and the main character is quentin, which is the “typical” white male character (as the producers love to refer to him so much). except literally from the get-go we are told that quentin is EXTREMELY depressed. borderline suicidal, even. that’’s literally his introductory scene in the show: he is in a mental hospital where he checked himself in.

as the show develops, we also find out he isn’t straight - he has a threeway with two of the other main characters (eliot and margo) which serve as the cataclysm to breaking up his relationship with his girlfriend (alice). quentin and alice’s relationship is extremely unhealthy and toxic and generally doesn’t take either character into a good place.

from the seasons to follow however, the relationship between quentin and eliot starts to develop into something that is clearly more than just friends with benefits (eliot is gay, even if the show forces him to marry & have sex with a woman lmfao. we SHOULD have known this was a disaster from this...but alas). this all culminates on s03e05, “a life in a day”, where for plot reasons quentin and eliot end up trapped several decades in the past and slowly build a life together as partners. they live together for 60-ish years. the events after this episode aren’t explored further, but the audience can see there are still lingering feelings between the two characters.

but then s04 happens.

and in season 4 eliot is possessed by an evil god who suppressed his consciousness and takes control. throughout the entirety of season 4, quentin’s main goal and quest is to free eliot from the god’s influence; he goes to extremes and even puts himself in physical danger to make sure the god fulfills their deal of freeing eliot when his objectives are met. we are then revealed, in s04e05, that after episode s03e05 quentin had tried to start a relationship with eliot when they were back to their “real” selves, but eliot turned him down out due to his own personal traumas and fears. the episode essentially establishes that both eliot and quentin were in love with one another (and that quentin was really bi) and gave the audience hope that they would explore a relationship between these two characters if they were to make it out at the end of the show. actors and producers gave interviews about how “groundbreaking” it was to have a bisexual main character in such a show, with a canon relationship and all.

but the gag is...

in the last two episodes of the season, there is an entire heel-face-turn. the writers force quentin and alice back together for literally no viable reason; quentin, who has been one-track minded on rescuing eliot and mentions his name 3 times out of 10 words he says, barely even mentions him and doesn’t even seem to care when eliot is actually freed. and then, in one of the most bullshit possible ways, they decide to have quentin sacrifice himself to stop a character from acquiring the powers of the god they had defeated, dying in the process.

they had a depressed, suicidal character who struggled with suicidal ideation for literally 4 seasons, kill himself, under the justification that it was the “noble” and “right” way to end his plotline (even though it only created more and more plotholes). before he died, he had no interactions with the guy he was in love with, and their storyline was essentially just dropped.

AND the worst part is the fact that they had decided to kill quentin off at the end of season 3. that is, to say, they decided to build the quentin/eliot plotline throughout season 4 just to...never go through with it, while STILL reaping all the good press of having a lgbt main couple in their show. to make matters worse (if possible), they put the actor playing quentin (jason ralph) under a gag order since the end of s03, which means he spent an entire season knowing his character was going to die but being unable to even mention to his co-stars about it out of fear of “spoilers”, to the point where he couldn’t even...say goodbye to any of his co-stars once the show was over. 

after it was all done, the writers went on to give interviews congratulating themselves for being “subversive”! because they showed that the “white male character isn’t safe”! even though mentally ill and lgbt characters are several times more likely to die than heterosexual, neurotypical characters.

both fandom and some of the actors on the show are VERY pissed about it.

(also worth nothing: they had a character, who was both a rape victim and who possessed the power of a god, being stripped off her power by her boyfriend, under the guise of him doing what was best for her (aka leaving her without powers), when he had the means to actually ASK if that was what he wanted; and the other three female characters, in the last episodes, being completely and utterly reduced to “[x character]’s girlfriend”. one of them literally says out loud that “all they wanted was to be [x character]’s girlfriend”, completely undermining all the development these characters had the last seasons)

[epen409]

My Top 18 Favorite Movies, TV Shows and/or Cartoons of 2018 (in no particular order) Part Dos

10. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Ignore the neckbeards who have nothing better to do, so they complain about reboots of cartoons from the quote on quote "golden age of animation, the 80's". She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a really great show, that yes, is better than the original 80's show. It's able to create a more fun and engaging story, while also having a lot of memorable and likable characters. It also has a theme that I found very interesting, where the villains aren't born evil, they are just misled in the wrong direction and don't truly know wrong from right. It's quite a bold theme for the show. If there is a kind of big flaw, the animation is a little wonky. Some shots and scenes look great, while others are very easy to see where the animation mistakes are. That said, it's still a great show that takes advantage of all of it's fun and interesting characters, and brings them together in a new show that blows its predecessor out of the water. And yes, LGBT fans. It's very, very gay.

11. Spider-Man Into the Spider verse

What a comeback story. Who would have thought that the studio that made the whole world of animation cry last year would end up making the best animated film of the year? But anyways, Spider-Man into the Spiderverse is not only able to live up to all the hype it's been getting for the past year, but it also blew our expectations away. First of all, it looks GORGEOUS. It's able to make a visual style that's not only very beautiful and interesting, but it also happens to create a loving tribute to the original medium of comic books. Second, they put just as much effort in the story as they did with the visuals, which is not only a very fun superhero film, but also manages to be a very engaging emotional story as well, with lots of fun, interesting and memorable characters as well. If there is something to say isn't perfect, I did notice at least one plot hole that left me a bit confused, and they kind of blew the wad for putting in a few too many characters, where, while fun and memorable, don't have that much screen time and don't leave as big of an impression as the main characters. But still, it's one of the year's best movies, so go watch it NOW!

12. Flcl Progressive and Alternative

The first anime I ever saw was FLCL. It was insane, had gorgeous animation, memorable characters and I loved every minute of it. Do its sequel series' live up to the original's legacy. Well, let me put it this way. I very much enjoyed both shows, equally too. I thought they were very fun shows, and their themes, while sometimes a little hit-and-miss, still got their points across, the new characters were very fun and memorable, and the action scenes were also animated very well. With all that said, they still don't hold a candle to the original show. But that's okay, because I imagine it'd be very hard to. I still think that both of these new shows were very good, and although not as great as the original FLCL, was still lots of fun, and somewhat worthy successors to one of the greatest animas of all time. I still recommend both, since they still were good in my opinion.

13. Hilda

Miss Gravity Falls and Over the Garden Wall? Then have I got the show for you. Hilda is a great show from Netflix that manages to capture the spirits of  both those shows, but also having its own identity and voice. One thing I appreciate about the show is that not only can it be calm and laid back in more character and establishing moments, but it also can be equally as exciting and fun for its more adventurous and action scenes. The characters are all very charming. Hilda is a free-spirited and adventurous young girl, but she's not a pushover or overly cheery either. Her friends both regular and supernatural, can sometimes fall into familiar tropes, but also are very fun and enjoyable to watch. (Alfie's my favorite). It's a great show to watch, especially on days you want to cozy up with a cup of hot liquids of some kind, and take it all in. It's a great show, and I highly recommend giving it a watch.

14. Christopher Robin

I missed Winnie the Pooh. Yes, an 18-year old male misses the adventures of a talking teddy bear. Deal with it. But anyways, for a while it seemed that Disney had somewhat given up on the bear with little brains, but they've given him another chance with this new film, but this time, mainly focusing on his human friend, Christopher Robin. One thing this movie gets right is the feeling of Winnie the Pooh. Pooh has never been known for incredibly convoluted stories, just mainly simple tales that it's colorful cast of characters can bounce off of, and this movie nails that feeling down. It's also close to the original cast of characters, since deviating away from their personalities would be considered a form of blasphemy. Also, the performances here are great too. Evan McGregor makes a surprisingly good Christopher Robin, Hayley Atwell is charming as his wife, the girl who played their daughter was pretty good too, and of course, our friends from the 100 Acre Woods are played very well by the new cast, especially the one and only Jim Cummings, the only modern voice for both Pooh and Tigger. Now it does have flaws, like the story is kind of the typical "Dad's too busy for the kids", and although I've grown to like it over time, but sometimes it got a little too dramatic for some scenes, and at time Christopher Robin himself came off a bit as whiny and unlikable in some scenes. With that said, it's very easy to see that the whole film is a big love letter to Winnie the Pooh. No, it's not the best movie of the year, Or anything like that, but if you want a nice, enjoyable and cute movie to watch, then Christopher Robin is the perfect film to watch.

15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I'll break my rule just this once to include a video game here. Super Smash Bros Ultimate was the biggest game from Nintendo this holiday season, and boy did it deliver. The last Smash Bros. game, was lots of fun, with it bringing all of our favorite (popular) video game characters together for a huge brawl. This next one, takes it up to 11. One thing I walkways admired from the games is that it's not the world's most complicated fighter game, while also still being oodles of fun. Only one big flaw: no Waluigi. Nah, just kidding. It's a great game, and a great farewell to the world of Smash from it's director, Masahiro Sakurai.

16. The Dragon Prince

Here's another show that didn't get that much attention on Netflix, The Dragon Prince. Made by the head writer from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the creator of the Uncharted games, comes a massive fantasy epic focusing on the Battle between humans and fantasy creatures like elves and dragons. One thing I really love about this show is just how complex the characters and their morals are. It's a show that takes a lot of advantage from this theme. It's also filled with lots of fun, yet also very interesting characters. You will probably get attached to them by the end of the show, which may break some hearts too... But yeah, might as well address the elephant in the room, the animation. In fact, I do think that maybe the reason it didn't immediately catch on was because a lot of people were turned off by the animation style. But I still recommend it and ask that you give it a chance, because not only was it lots of fun, and very interesting, but the story and characters help redeem the animation, plus it does improve itself over time. Please, please, please give The Dragon Prince a chance, it's a great show.

17. Ralph Breaks the Internet

Don't worry. It's not another Emoji Movie. Ralph Breaks the Internet is not only a worthy successor to the original film, but it also manages to expand a lot on the heart from the original. This time, instead of arcade games, it plucks our characters into the Internet, and unlike the Emoji Movie, manages to make more clever and creative ideas while being on the Internet. And yeah, maybe the scene when Vanellope visits the Disney website might be Disney patting themselves on the back a little too hard, but it's still a very funny and enjoyable scene that also helps move the plot forward. But one thing the movie was amazing at was expanding on its characters and their development. It even manages to avoid the typical happy ending, which, without spoiling anything, actually makes a change in the characters lives. If there is a flaw, like I said, it's 10 times better than the Emoji Movie, but I will admit, between the cameos from Youtubers and the one scene where Ralph becomes a meme, did kind of make me roll my eyes, but thankfully, unlike the Emoji movie, it doesn't dwell too much on these scenes all that much, and knows when to move the plot forward in the right direction. I still say it's a worthy sequel that's worth your time.

Also, Yesss is my new waifu.

18. Mary Poppins Returns

Here's one of the few live-action Disney films in recent years, I feel are very worthy to the legacy of their original film. Mary Poppins Returns is just a complete and utter joy of a film, not unlike the original classic. The performance of Emily Blunt as the titular nanny is a worthy successor the original by Julie Andrews, and character in general. Lin Manuel-Miranda not only does a great job in continuing the spirit of Dick Van Dyke from the first film, but also in writing a plethora of great songs that are amazingly performed and choreographed by the cast, while also giving tribute to the Sherman Brother's original songs. Even the kids, who I kind expected to get on my nerves, are actually pretty likable and fun, and are given, eh passable performances by their actors and actress. The animation sequence brought a tear to my eye, not only because it was lots of fun, but because I'm just happy to beautiful 2D Disney animation on the big screen again. If there is some flaws, yeah, the story is yet another Dad needs to spend more time with kids plot again, and it does bring some more action/suspenseful moments that I don't feel are completely in spirit to the original film's more laid back tone. But regardless, it's an overall great and very charming new film from Disney, and although I would like them to try doing some more original stuff with their live-action movies, I hope can keep the spirit of both this film,and a lot of the classic live-action Disney movies (like the original Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island, Darby O' Gill, Swiss Family Robinson and some others you guys probably never heard of).

So that's about it. Thank you all for sticking around listening to me talk about all these Movies and TV shows are worth remembering from this year, and there's a lot I'm excited for next year, and I hope that this next year can be an improvement, with more kindness and joy from the world and from people. Yeah, it's wishful thinking, but it's not a bad wish to have. Thank you all for supporting this page for the last year,and I'LL see ya in 2019!

[mad-madam-m]

So I'm just curious, how do you get yourself to write? And do you use prompts and if you do where do you get them? I meant to use NaNo to get me to write but it took 4 days into November for me to realize November started so I failed lol. I've been meaning to start this original thing and it's just not...working.

First of all, anon, you could start writing RIGHT NOW (yes, with 10 days left in the month) and you would not fail NaNo. You might not hit 50k (although I know people who have hit 50k in that amount of time, or less), but you won’t fail. NaNoWriMo isn’t about hitting 50,000 words so much as it is about putting a stake in the ground and saying, “Here. Today. I will start writing the project I’ve always wanted to.” And doing it. Doesn’t matter what that project is—original novel, short stories, fic, poetry, revising something, a series of blog posts—NaNo is about just. Fucking. Doing it. And you still have time to Do It.

To answer your questions:

Do you use prompts and if you do, where do you get them?

For original stories, particularly novels, I usually don’t. For fic, particularly short fic I’m writing for events, I do. Tumblr has a wealth of writing prompts that range from “here’s a situation” to “here’s a line of dialogue GO,” and I tend to reblog them under the tags “fic prompts” or “writing prompts.” Honestly, most of them would work for either original fic or fanfic, so if you are a writer who likes to work from prompts, go forth and enjoy!

How do you get yourself to write?

That’s kind of a big question, and uh, the answer to it got long. Very long. (I said once that if you give me half a chance, I’ll talk about writing all the live-long day, and this answer is no exception.)

Different things motivate me for different projects, and as with all writing-related advice, YMMV, but here’s a few things that really help for getting myself to write:

1) Develop your story.

The current original story I’m working on, for example, I have not really had to struggle to get myself to write at all because 1) I’m stupid excited about it and 2) I have developed the hell out of it.

I’ve talked before about outlining my stuff here, so I won’t go too much into it again; suffice it to say that I have done about the same amount of development on my current original story that I had on ADA by the time I started writing. I started around the very end of September developing my characters and spent a good chunk of October working on setting, worldbuilding, plot, and finally my notecards.

Shockingly, having some idea of what’s happening and where I’m going is making this story easier to write.

Right? Like WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT.

Because of that, I’ve been excited about writing my story, so getting myself to write on it has been (comparatively) a cakewalk.

That’s not to say any of the writing is good (oh God no) or that there aren’t parts that need fixing, or that I haven’t been stuck. But it’s been stuck like “how do I describe seeing a tree-covered mountain in the middle of fall from the POV of someone who has never seen something like this” rather than “I have no fucking clue what happens next uh…”

The stories I struggle the most with writing are the ones that I’ve worked the least on developing. The stories that have been the easiest to write have been the ones I’ve spent at least a month doing prep work on before I ever start drafting.

2) Love your story.

Being in love with a story makes it a lot easier to write, at least for me. Because here’s the thing, ideas are easy.

If you’re a creative person, you’re going to end up with a file of story ideas—maybe prompts you liked, dialogue that stuck with you, one of those “humans are space orcs” tumblr posts that’s just really clicking in your brain—that will be longer than you could conceivably write if you had a hundred lifetimes. That’s okay! That’s great. But it means a lot of them are never going to get past the idea stage.

For me, the stories that get finished—the ones that not only get started but actually make it through the first draft and then three rounds of editing and revisions—are the ideas that I’ve been percolating on for months, if not longer. They’ve been cooking in the back of my brain while I’ve been doing other things, sorting themselves out, and most importantly: they will not let me go.

Coming up with ideas is easy. Finding an idea that will last and sustain a story and my interest for at least a year, if not longer? That’s harder.

Y’all know how much I’ve been talking about Tiger & Bunny over the past year? We’re talking that level of obsession with a story that I want to write, whether it’s fic or original. Sometimes it takes months or years for all the puzzle pieces to come together. Sometimes the whole thing will congeal within a few weeks, or there will be one crucial piece of story that will just make EVERYTHING come together, I will literally shout “OH MY FUCKING GOD” and that’s it, I’m off to the races. (In this particular case, it wasn’t anything I’d done in the first two weeks of poking at steampunk-y ideas; it was the realization that I could put a circus on an airship. The whole story just went WHOOSH after that.)

BUT. But. Sometimes you don’t have that. These stories are great and I love them and they remind me why I love writing so much (and if you’re writing something that’s gonna be 90k+, like I have a tendency to do, you need to be in love with it, IMO), but sometimes you’re in situations where you just have to get it done. In those cases:

3) Resort to bribery.

I’ve been poking at the third part of Alpha & Emissary, oh, basically since I posted the second part. My problem is that my fandom focus has been, shall we say, split for the past year. *coughs delicately, shoves Tiger & Bunny fics under the bed*

But here’s the thing: I hate having a published WIP on AO3 (it’s why I don’t publish long!fics until they’re completely drafted and mostly edited). I hate—HATE—having an unfinished series on AO3.

So that’s the rub: I have an unfinished series that I want to finish because I hate that it’s not finished. I also have a new fandom that is wresting my attention and inspiration away from said series. What’s a girl to do?

A girl tells herself she can’t write any more Tiger & Bunny fic until she finishes this one WIP, that’s what she does.

And it’s motivated me to sit my ass down and work on that WIP, because goddammit, I have a “but there was only one bed” TaiBani fic that I would really like to have up by New Year’s.

Your bribery will be different. Maybe you get to watch 1 episode of your favorite show per every 1k you write, or you get to try a new knitting project when you finish this short story. Maybe you binge-watch an entire season of your favorite anime if you exceed your NaNo goal. Or you write 50 words and get a cookie. The point is, find what works for you to get it done.

4) Figure out a minimum daily goal and stick with it.

For me, this was 500 words a day. 500 words. That’s it. That’s one 30-minute word sprint for me. That’s something I can do without stressing myself out.

Because of this point and point 3, I wrote more than 7000 words on a story I’d been stuck on for the better part of a year before I had to stop to work on NaNo stuff. Another 7k, and I’ll probably have it finished.

Your minimum word count will almost certainly be different. Maybe it’s 300 words a day, maybe it’s 1000. Hell, maybe it’s 100 words. Again, find what works for you, what you can write regularly without stressing yourself out.

Another important thing: If I didn’t hit 500 words, I didn’t beat myself up about it. Maybe I wrote 350. Or 220. Or just 93. The point is, did I write? Yes? Then I did good. I got myself a sentence or a paragraph closer to finishing. And it all adds up.

(And hey, you don’t have to write every day. I do, or I try to, because that’s what works for me. If it stresses you out to do so, then find another way to make it work.)

5) Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

This one’s hard because I can rarely keep a deadline that’s not set by an external source. If you tell me on December 20 that you need a story by December 22? Then on December 22, you’ll have a story, edited and ready to post. But when it comes to something I set for myself, the chances of a deadline working are 50/50.

That being said, it is something that helps me keep on track and even if I don’t finish something by a self-imposed deadline, it does get me writing.

6) Sprint with friends!

NaNo is really great for this because all your writer friends are coming out of the woodwork going I need to hit 5k by the end of today, will you sprint with me? Sometimes it just helps to have that kind of accountability. You all get together (I’ve used Discord, Google Hangouts, IRC, and Twitter DMs for this), set a timer, and write for 15 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes. Then, when the time’s up, you post your word count, everybody congratulates everybody else, and then you take a break before doing the next one.

Sprints are the reason I’ve been able to make some pretty significant headway on my word counts, and few things get me writing like knowing I’m going to have to tell everybody in my group what my word count is in 30 minutes or less. >.>

Like I said earlier, YMMV on all of these. What works for me may work for you, or it might not. But if you aren’t sure, it’s worth giving it a shot.

Happy writing!

[pbandjesse]

I wanted to start this post about an hour ago but I finish watching hereditary and I was so horrified that I had to take a break and watch a couple videos. I mean they were videos about hereditary so it's not like I did much to fix the situation but stop. I'll come back and talk about the movie later in the post.

Today in general has been rough. I'm very tired. Working all week teaching and then doing 3 days in a row at ships is not going to be able to work in the future. I can do overnights but 3 solid 8 hour days after the emotional struggle of teaching, is just way too much for me. Today was very hard. There were good parts. But I feel very tired and I don't know how I'm going to make it through tomorrow. If I felt like I could get away with it I would ask James to switch with me. But honestly the whole day is going to be really really tough. And even though he's doing the lunch shift I don't think it's going to make much of a difference for me.

I slept okay. But I felt pretty terrible when I got up. I let myself stay in bed for an extra couple minutes and got dressed and made breakfast. Pack my lunch. I'm headed out. I got downtown and the river rank is almost finished being put together. I found out that it's $10 per skate but they have a season pass for $150. That might be worth it for me. Since my skating classes last year were just about that and only once a week. So if I get 250 as long as I go 15 times over the season it pays for itself. I'm not making a decision yet but I might be able to work at my budget depending on how long the season is. So I'm waiting to hear back from the email I sent to find out. But that would be really nice for me. Because I could go in the morning before I have to go teach and I would really really love that.

Work was okay. It was just exhausting and I felt very done. But me and Frank open the building. And I made my charge. He said I did a good job and I even gave him attempt on folding the tin foil. I started the day at the desk and mostly played online. Read the news. James came at 10:30 and got me a donut. It was pretty chilly outside and I had brought my wool coat out of storage this morning to wear. I felt very Shippy. And it was an okay day. I always liked working with James.

I was in charge of doing the firing today. And I wasn't not looking forward to it because I do want to be fully qualified on it. But as I was getting ready I realized we only had one primer. Was. We're supposed to have 4 firings this weekend. And if my firing didn't go well the first time we were out of luck. We only had the one chance. And of course I had the most people I've ever had in a crowd watching me. But between my ramming and Frank priming it over and over again. We had a good firing. And I felt very proud of myself at the end of it. Especially because it was right on time at noon.

I had lunch and watched videos. I still felt too tired and really just wanted to go home. But I tried to make the best of it. Having lunch helped. I'll talk to some really nice gifts and was able to share some of my knowledge and stories about constellation. And that was enjoyable. I was going to the desk for a while. And then me and James are outside together. And soon enough it was the end of the day. I felt bad that we didn't have a second firing because a couple people had wanted to see it but hopefully that gets dealt with. I'm not pleased that I'm going to be there tomorrow and have to find out what's going to happen about it. I really really wish I didn't have to be there.

I had been spending basically half the day contacting Marcus from access the elementary school about picking up the cat. And I gave him James's number so they could communicate. I sort of wish I had gone to James's house so that I could help get the cat in the carrier and give Marcus some tips. These Marcus didn't end up getting to him until almost 8. And I totally could have gone over there then done that. But what's done is done and I'm glad the cat is in his new home and I really hope he drives with him. He seems like a really sweet cat even though he needs his nails trimmed.

I had dinner and I did laundry. And while my clothes are in the dryer I took a bath. And put my movie on. Hereditary was one of the roughest movies I have ever watched. Like it's beautifully shot and the story was compelling and the characters were well developed. I felt every emotion that they were going through. Enough that was in the first 15 minutes I thought I was going to throw up because of something that happened to the characters and I cried. In a horror movie I cried at the emotions that these characters were feeling. It was way too long. And the ending was outrageous. I would not watch it again but I do want to read more about it and explore some of the themes. Because some of the parts of the movie were wonderful. But I would not sit down and watch the entire 2 hour 5 minute movie again. It was just way too much for me. And I have seen some shit. Like really bad shit and this movie really upset me. But I'm glad I watched it. Because I don't know it felt like I proved something to myself about being able to focus again. So it was nice to be able to watch an entire movie. After it was finished I called James because I couldn't text him my feelings about this movie. I just had a lot I had to say out loud. But I'm glad that we got to talk for a few minutes.

I finished putting away my laundry and I checked the mail. Just sent me a package with the cutest little squishy dinosaur. So now I'm for sure getting a clear backpack to keep all of my cute charm plushies in. But really I still feel nauseous and it's daylight savings so I'm getting an extra hour of sleep so I don't feel so bad staying up to watch videos for a pallet cleanser. I'm going to go wash my face and have a snack and continue to cuddle with sweet pea who has been so affectionate tonight. He keeps trying to push his face into my nose. Wish me luck getting through tomorrow because it's going to be a lot for me. I hope you all sleep well tonight. Good night

[selfawarejester]

This is completely random of me to butt in, but while you present an interesting point of view, @ladywolvesbayne, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this.

You don't have to dumb down your characters or your world in order to reel in a new generation. It isn't a case of either/or when it comes to dark and depressing, and shiny and hopeful. You can, in fact, be goofy and then talk about bad stuff. Cartoons like Young Justice, Teen Titans and Ben 10 have been doing that for years! Mulan, too— that scene where the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For" cuts out abruptly to a war-torn village is an excellent example. These are the media that audiences under 21 grew up with. These are the media that they, if only subconsciously, compare other shows/movies/games/books to.

Even Red vs Blue, a fan series based off of Halo, was able to make that balance so beautifully. No spoilers but anyone in that fandom knows what I'm talking about.

It's not like Halo didn't have humor before 343 came into the picture: it had the sassiest characters and really entertaining NPCs; the likes of which I've only seen in Batman Arkham since. (As someone who only plays a few specific franchises fully, though)

Look, Eviltana is someone who was once John's best friend (outside of the Spartans) (or more, if you ship them) and as far as he knows, this is the same woman/A.I that is currently slaughtering millions and enslaving billions. He should be conflicted. He should be horrified. He should not think that she is simply "misunderstood". It's a dangerous idea to propagate that a dictator, who's stripping an entire galaxy's worth of people of their rights, is just misguided. Especially to audiences under 21.

But I agree that 343 is appealing to that generation the way they believe is best: The Avengers way. With flashy effects, goofy jokes, and pulling out of story arcs that might conclude in a controversial ending. Undoing years of work because you're scared of how the audience might react. Keeping one of the most well-known trait of the character alone (e.g Chief is Stoic™, the "Captain America is a Good Soldier™" in the first Avengers movie, etc) instead of fleshing them out (i.e Chief feels deeply, for many things, and Captain America will do the right thing, even if it means defying orders) . *Cough* Sidelining your female characters *cough* (exempting my wife, Veta, ofc)

This has been pretty obvious ever since the Avengers-like scores of Halo 4, ever since the opening scene of Halo 5 which was plucked straight from Age of Ultron.

However, Marvel fleshed out their characters (most of them, even if they ruined the development afterwards in the crossover movies) in their solo movies. Marvel was able to balance out the fun and the dark reality of their world at least there. Halo does not have that luxury.

And here's another thing, as fans, we are allowed to bitch about the franchise not meeting our expectations. That is our entire point. You're allowed to absorb content, and enjoy it, and still have some problems with it.

That's why there's so much hate about Sprint, and the 343 Armor, just like Marvel fans were pissed off about plenty of things in Endgame and the iteration of Spider-Man that they put out. And that's fair, because we are emotionally invested in these characters and these stories, and we - above anyone else- get to enjoy and critique the writers and the stories (as long as it's not just blind and butthurt, of course).

This went on way longer than I expected and I don't mean any offense; I just hope I made my stance clear. Though, if anyone would like to make counterpoints, I'm always open to new ways of looking at things, so please do DM or comment!

I got to chapter 5 of Shadow of Reach and have struggled to make myself return to the book. It’s wording is so repetitive to the point Denning uses words over me ocer until they loose all meaning. He did this in Silent Storm so much I only finished two chapters of that book. The action is slow and repetitive no in the end pointless. The first twenty pages were wasted on an maneuver meant to keep the enemy from checking out their crash site only for the enemy to immediately check out the crash site. The Spartans are constantly dumbed down so Denning’a OCs can be the smart ones in the room, a Denning specialty. But worse of all: John is a complete ASSHOLE in the book. So much for a hero of humanity apparently he doesn’t care about humans, he’s to busy simping for a hologram he knew for a few months that has spent a year mass murdering people. On top of that he’s also has no character beyond pinning for Cortana and even shows disrespectful levels of disinterest in his fellow Spartans even though Denning accidentally made them all show signs of trauma. But no time for John to care about the well being of the people he’s seen as family since he was six, his sex-hologram is gone and that’s more important.

There’s also the passive sexism in the book, like Linda literally having no purpose beyond having a sniper and nothing else, Denning’s female OC that’s supposed to be the lead of the team basically being nothing but a waif in the background to make room for his male OCs, the fact that Kelly exists but the only interest shown in what she does is basically passive and the tone the story takes when she has a good point and Denning makes it seem like that reasonable thing so bitchy. He did this in Last Light as well. When Veta blows Fred up and nearly kills him Kelly is saving him and annoyed with Veta and it’s made to seem like she’s being a bitch about it even though Kelly is in the right. In Shadow of Reach Kelly doesn’t want them to say Cortana’s name because she worries the AI is tracking comms, like a villain would, and it’s made to seem like she’s being crazy and paranoid despite it being reasonable.

And in the case of this book Denning extends that disrespect to Palmer. I’ve seen the excerpt of when she comes into the story and Denning doubles down on the decision by roping Fred in to have him be an asshole and treat Palmer like an enemy, despite her having every right to be distrustful toward Blue Team. But I think the thing about that part that annoys me is that while John says Palmer respects him he never once indicates that he respects her, treating her more like a hassle than a superior officer which pisses me off. John respects officers, leaders, and to have him treat a fellow Spartan like it only matters that they respect him and not that he respect her is just angering. He is disrespectful of her early on, indicating he doesn’t think she’s important enough to know about their mission but it’s when he treats her as actively hostile and Palmer is saving their asses that annoys me. Like she’s not worthy of him showing any respect even though he’s the one in the wrong who apparently in a year has never sought to smooth things over or make anything right. Also Denning uses language that echoes every sexist man and has the balls to make it come from Fred. But this sort of sexism is a hallmark with Denning so it’s not a surprise.

What did surprise me was seeing Palmer fans seeming to ignore John muttering “dumb bitch” under his breath during the encounter. Yeah, Palmer comes in and saves their asses but when John is treating her with less respect than he does Cortana, a mass murderer.

I will say one nice thing about Denning’s writings. He writes good villains. I think if they took all canon characters away from him and just let him write a conflict between his own characters he could do a good job. It’s just when canon characters get involved, or women, and not aerial maneuvers, it would be a great book.