#( bc. we're allowed to have differing opinions- )

[daybreakrising]

this will be tagged and everything under a read more, but just to be extra clear:

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR 2.2 STORY.

if you haven't finished it, don't read this until you have. you have been warned.

so i am... underwhelmed by p.enacony as a story

and before i go further, i want to throw out a quick disclaimer bc otherwise i know there will be someone who comes at me for it: i am by no means saying p.enacony is bad. it isn't. there are some truly great elements to both the setting and the story. my issue with it is simply that i struggled to become invested in it, personally

i already touched on this a bit with my thoughts after catching up to 2.1, but i generally don't enjoy the intrigue kind of plots in stories. that's my personal preference, and that's why i'm not sitting here like: OMG IT'S SO BAD- bc it isn't, it's just a genre of plot that i'm never that interested in. we all have our preferences and that's okay

overall, p.enacony & the story has been interesting and engaging. a few too many lengthy dialogue sections where a lot of information is thrown at you in a short time, which i also don't like in anything, a few moments where the story completely lost my interest, but overall, enjoyable, creative, cleverly done

however

AND AGAIN. these are my OPINIONS (and i don't care if you disagree-)

i'm sorry, but i cannot bring myself to care about f.irefly. THAT'S NOT TO SAY i don't enjoy the portrayals the people i follow have, because i do - honestly, you guys are the only reason i have any interest in the character. but CANONICALLY? i do not care. there is just.... nothing there for me

and i'm talking specifically about f.irefly bc they are a key character in this part of the story (and by key, i mean features heavily) - there are other characters involved that i also care nothing about, for example, but are more background players. i don't know if it's the clearly forced romantic implications between f.irefly & MC (i hate the term usually, but, why are we simping so hard????), the fact we were supposed to have any kind of emotional attachment to a character we met for less than an hour before they were 'killed' in front of us, or the unresolved questions i have regarding their involvement in the story, but.... i just don't care

and before anyone dares to even think it: no, this is not just bc i am "salty" about sam. i am actually really intrigued about how the sam/f.irefly thing works, why it is the way it is, etc. "if f.irefly was a guy you wouldn't-" no, shut up, i absolutely would. if we were presented with a male character with the same plot, i would care equally as little for them. why? because there's no emotional investment

i'm not trying to shit on anybody who does love this character. again, this is just my views based on my preferences - if you developed that emotional attachment, then great, go wild with it. i'm sure i care intensely for characters that others don't (see: ratio-). but for me, some of the f.irefly elements of 2.2 just... didn't vibe with me. and maybe i'll have to watch a playthrough again to really get the nuances of the plot settled in my head, but i just. nah. i'm not feeling it at all. i'm going to just trust that the people i follow can continue to build on f.irefly and do better than the canon plot for me

and as for the flashback-type scenes we got between f.irefly and blade? i know what some parts of the fandom are reading from that and i don't agree. to me, there is nothing 'fatherly' about the way he chides f.irefly on trying to go against the script. please stop trying to cram him into a role that doesn't fit him. you can have a 'found family' dynamic without the members of such fitting into 'traditional' family roles. that's not the point. i think f.irefly using that particular model is feeding into this too much - people are only seeing the "cute girl" and nothing more. people need to remember that f.irefly is also sam, who is known for being a stone cold killer. sam, who once held blade down so he could be convinced to join the s.tellaron hunters. this is not a father-daughter relationship vibe at all. please, please get that the fuck away from me.

on a similar note, i really didn't care for that "oops, it was all just a dream!" thing (though i am glad we didn't actually call upon j.ing y.uan for help - that would have felt really cheap to me). i kinda figured something was up when the boss fight was so quick and... well, easy (not that the real one was hard for me - not a brag, i just have some decent fckn units at my disposal & could build harmony TB instantly), but i do really hate the 'it was just a dream' trope, even when it makes sense in the setting that is p.enacony & the dreamscape. it just felt unnecessary to me, almost like they wanted to drag the story out a bit longer and add in another layer to their 5D chess game

so yeah.... elements that i didn't care for, elements i didn't enjoy. p.enacony in general is a bit of a nightmare for me personally due to sensory overload from all the sounds and colours (and please, can we stop with that acid-trip border effect hyv, it's literally giving people migraines-), which also adds to it. it's not the vibe i typically enjoy so i do take that into consideration when expressing my opinions about it. i know a lot of people love p.enacony & i'm happy for everyone who has been invested in it from day one. that's me with the l.uofu, so, i get it

but as i said, overall, great. i loved the sunday reveal, the boss fight was fun to do (though i feel like a.venturine was better & harder-), and my only complaint about harmony TB is seeing that fucking clock in the ult animation every time. the mikhail & misha reveal was also great & confirmed theories i had & the tying-up of the loose 'nameless' ends was nice.

my final gripe is regarding g.allagher and that is entirely bc i have been building hcs based on a theory that proved to be wrong, and i'm like... really sad that there wasn't anything more to it than that. going forward, i'm definitely making him canon divergent here bc i don't like the way his story ended (if it has, though he did imply 'g.allagher' would cease to exist, so...)

but i did find it amusing that 'death' was just a silly little pet dog who got confused sometimes. he's just a lil guy

[phagodyke]

kind of annoys me sometimes how I can happily listen to my roommate explain the entire plot of whatever she's currently into but when it comes to my interests she can only listen for a few mins before wordlessly walking out of the room

[jimpagne]

Bite-sized Korean with 이게 맞아?!

*disclaimer: I am not Korean, I am not fluent in Korean, but I have taken formal classes, so this is to the best of my knowledge. If anything is amiss, please let me know either privately or in the comments of this post.

I'm going to discuss what Jimin says in the first three seconds of the trailer!

지민: 오늘 정국이 잘 때 안 춥게 형이 옆에서 꼭 안아줄게 I'll give you a cuddle tonight so that you don't feel cold.

Let's dive into the 단어!

오늘 - Today (but in this context, it's translated as tonight bc it's encapsulating the notion of it being *later* in the same day)

정국 - Jungkook

자다 to sleep

자다 in this case is conjugated to 잘 때 when added to the ~을/ㄹ 때 form, which indicates when a verb occurs/is performed. so it's like, when you sleep.

안 - Not

춥다 Cold

춥다 is added onto the grammatical form of ~게 and becomes 춥게, which functions like "so that" or "to allow for" in English. This is used to explain what influences the speaker to perform a certain action. Usually forms like this might appear awkward to the average English speaker because the form is usually structured backwards from what we're used to.

형 - Hyung

옆 Next to (paired with a ~에서, a dynamic location particle)

꼭 - Tightly, firmly (in this particular context)

안다 to embrace, to hug, to hold within one's arms

안다 is combined with the ~아/어주다 form, which indicates that the speaker wants the listener to do something for them. I'd say this form mostly closely equates to asking for a favor from someone. Since 안다 is a verb that is commonly paired with 주다 (to give), this form can also demonstrate that you are also doing something on behalf of the listener. In more polite forms, you'd use the verb 드리다 (for humility), but Jimin is older (and close) with Jungkook, so he uses comfortable language and sticks to 주다. 안아주 is then added to ~ㄹ/을게(��) form and becomes 안아줄게, which is when the speaker states their intention to do something unless the listener refutes them.

So ig you can see this sentence like: When you sleep tonight, so that you don't get cold, hyung will be next to you and will hold you tight.

That's a little too wordy, however.

Other Notes | 때 usage

There's also a form of 때 that can be paired with nouns. ~을/ㄹ 때 is used exclusively with verb forms, but you can use 때 by itself next to nouns. ex: 방학 때 - during (school) vacation

중학교 때 제가 좋아하는 과목은 수학이었어요. When I was in/During middle school my favorite subject was math. 중학교 middle school, 제 my, 좋아하다 to like, 과목 subject, 수학 math, 이다 to be

Also another form of 때 is ~을/ㄹ 때까지, which is like, until (verb) occurs. In this case, 때 is added to ~까지, which means until/up to. In the song Spring Day (봄날), at the end they sing:

다시 봄날이 올 때까지 Until that spring day comes again 다시 again, 봄날 spring day, 오다 to come

꽃 피울 때까지 Until the flowers bloom 꽃 flower(s), 피우다 to bloom

Other notes | ~ㄹ/을까(요), ~ㄹ/을게(요), ~ㄹ/을래(요) verb attachments

~ㄹ/을게(요) is like, I'm going to do this (if that's alright) or I'm planning on doing this (if you're fine with it). It's more of a statement rather than a question/suggestion, but it carries a kind of nuance that can fish for the consent/permission of the listener.

불을 켜드릴게요. I'm going to turn on the light (for you). 불 light, 켜다 to light, ignite

~ㄹ/을래(요) is an invitational form that usually expresses the desire or want to do something. It's like forming proposals like, "will you do… (together)", "let's...", "would you like to...", or "do you want to...". It's a form that pays more attention to what the listener wants to do.

같이 밥 먹을래요? Let's eat together/Shall we eat together? 같이 together, 밥 rice/meal, 먹다 to eat

~ㄹ/을까(요) is also an invitational form, asking "should I..?", "I'm thinking of...(but give me your thoughts)", "should we…?". Honestly, when I first encountered this form, I wondered what made it different from 을/ㄹ래(요), but from my understanding this form values the opinion of the other person (about information they may not know) and also asks for an opinion or permission about things that have yet to occur. So this form can almost be used like the English statement of: "What do you think? Should we...?"

불을 꺼줄까요? Do you want me to turn off the light? 불 light, 끄다 to put out, to extinguish

That's all! Until next time ;p

[idyllcy]

from one admirer to another : top holiday in your opinion?

pairing: leon kennedy x reader || masterpost: from one admirer to another

synopsis: from one admirer to another, an online penpal service, allows for two people with common interests to write to each other without ever revealing their actual address! Luckily for both you and Leon, you get matched up! What do eggs and Christmas even have in common anyway? sure hope it's that modeling business and NOT that Ada Wong addiction.

featuring: reader as scrambled eggs // leon as christmas

Hi Christmas!

What an interesting name. I don't think many people on this service actually use something that creative. I, for one, just really enjoy having eggs so I'm called scrambled eggs. Though, sometimes the doctor tells me to go easy on them since the cholesterol in the yellows of eggs is HEINOUS for my blood tests. So, alas, I am coping through naming myself all things eggs.

I love Ada Wong. She's my beloved, and if I say I'm her second biggest fan, no one can say they're her first because I am her day ONE you hear me? DAY ONE. I AM HER DAY ONE— okay, I'm sure you're not convinced, but a person can dream. Come on. I've literally already read glhf <3 on ao3 so I'd say we're pretty neck to neck. Also, that fan event and the sticker? Thank you. Going into my phone case like right now.

As for her helicopter shoot, what Ada stan DOESN'T feel some way about it? I, for one, went manic when it came out. It was so bad I was begging for her signature on my magazine and yelled a little when she signed it. No, don't rob me. I live in an apartment with my friend and NO it's not an option to climb to the 17th floor.

History about me... I wonder? I don't do much. Well, a little bit like you, I model a little on the side as well, but only because I'm nepotism-ing my way into the industry through connections. I'm not interested in it as a full-time job, but it's kind of nice being on set and watching how it all goes down. Maybe I'll become a manager? But that's too much work. Honestly, I'd rather just be some weird form of sugar baby except not to an old man and to the people who are trying to get me into the industry. I'd love to just be their bestie who shows the bts of everything. That sounds FUN.

Hm, to speed-answer your questions, my favorite way of having eggs is actually in a nice cheesy omelet or an egg benedict, my favorite holiday (call me biased bc of my bsf) is the dragon boat festival only because those sticky rice zongzi are actually the chinese's greatest gift to man, and I write in my freetime (don't ask what. I know a degen when I see one, and YOU my friend, are no different from me).

Now, to ask you a couple of questions back. What's your favorite way to have eggs? Your fav holiday? Surely it's Christmas? All jokes, of course. How about some life updates? We can be like... besties, except not besties because we don't even know what the other person looks like and for all I know you could be some 60-year-old man who's faking everything through the letter. Just kidding! I'm not lying, so I'm sure you're not either.

I'm attaching a small Ada print I found on my table while digging for pens to write back to you. I hope you like it. I think it's signed by her? But I'm not sure. I think I had her sign two that time... or something. I don't remember.

hope to hear back ? scrambled eggs

You finish the letter and sign, print slipped in as Ada steps out from the shower, towel around her neck as she raises a brow.

"Oh, is that the model penpal service?"

"Yeah." You seal the letter and write in the PO box, humming. "Did you ever use it?"

"No. I only know it because Wesker insisted that I know that the penpal service wasn't actually for finding friends, but getting to know who else in the company shares a passion for the same things. I have you, so I don't need to worry much."

"MARRY ME!" You sob, crying into your hands as Ada rolls her eyes.

"I'm your roommate. Also, that contract you signed as a small-time model prohibits dating."

"I said marry me, not date me." You raise a brow. "Also, I made them scrap that part since I wasn't planning on becoming famous. My contract has a lot more leeway compared to yours."

"I know." Ada sits at her vanity, plugging her hairdryer in as you step behind her, helping her out. "It's a shame you didn't want to become famous."

"There's no point in being famous unless it's for the money. What of that do I need to care about if you're legally obligated to provide for me?"

"Really sucks to be best friends with you." She rolls her eyes, pulling out her phone. "Did you update that chapter yet?"

"No, I was going to update it after your hair."

"What did you write about this time?"

"I'm not telling you because I gotta lock myself in my room when I post it."

"You didn't even ask me any questions this time around." She huffs.

"Mainly because I was gonna write angst again and you hate it when I do that."

"God, you're insufferable."

"Thanks, love you too."

prev letter : masterlist : next letter

[galsinspace]

Replaying Inquisiton really made me notice (again) how the companions are written with such an incredibly noticeable difference in care. Man I hope they did a better job in Veilguard. And it's such a stark contrast from Origins!

I'll just post my comparative ramblings bc I'm on a train and have nothing better to do

In my opinion, one of the best things about Origins is the closeness you develop with your companions. You're with them through massive, formative changes in their lives, you find out about their childhood traumas and the people they've grown up to be, and as a player you make huge decisions that shape their future. By the end I felt so close to these characters. Looking at the main companions:

Alistair? We find out all about his longing for family, for love, his desire not to be defined by his blood and be able to live a normal life. You're both saddled with the responsibility to save the world together, and you do. Depending on the choices you make, he may have the love he longs for, and he may have to be king, you shape his life in a huge way.

Leliana? She literally seeks you out because she's received visions and is on a god-given mission. You literally shape the kind of person she becomes, whether she hardens or softens her heart.

Zevran? This is the most important period in his life. His flight from the Crows, his suicidal intent and then sudden wish to stay alive after all, finding new things to live for, remembering his mother, you save his life in more ways than one.

Morrigan? Literally the first time she's left her abusive mother's side and it's travelling with you. She finds her own ways to live, you give her the jewellery her mother wouldn't allow her, you help her confront her mother and free herself from her. You might literally be the father of her child.

Sten? Also suicidal, and you help him regain his self worth and sense of meaning in life. And you change him. He comes from a society with rigid rules and you help him see other ways of life. If you play as a woman, he's literally confused in the beginning that you're a fighter, and then as you gain his affection he acknowledges and respects you as who you are. He's not romanceable and probably changes the least out if the companions, but still goes through this monumental change of perspective about there being other valid ways of life. Sten should have been romanceable lbr

Oghren? It's super unfortunate how comic relief he is BECAUSE his story is so intense. The woman he loves disappeared! He's an alcoholic! He's so tied into the MAIN QUEST! He's tragic! You're with him through this massive thing he goes through and it really sucks that he can't really... change. You can't really help him. But even so, the events of the game are monumental to his life.

The Secret Companion is self-explanatory. You completely re-shape his life.

And in comparison, the companions in Inquisition are just WILDLY hit or miss. Some of them you become incredibly close to, others are just kinda there. Oh we're saving the world together? Just another day at the office babey. You don't really get to know them that deeply, you don't get to change their views, they're just there and you work together and then they go on their way. I'm of course talking mainly about Vivienne and Sera.

It's insane to me that Vivienne is this incredibly complex character who is the way she is because she grew up traumatized in an oppressive environment and you never get to talk to her about this. It's hidden in a few comments Cole may or may not drop if you travel with both of them. Her polished demeanor and ever-present smile? Learned in the Circle to demonstrate to templars that she was good, obedient, and non-possessed. Her materialism? When she met the duke, the thought in her head was I will never go hungry again.

Vivienne is TRAGIC. She's a deeply traumatized woman who has lived all her life in a system that did not grant her basic security, and she was strong and smart enough to gather power in the only ways she was allowed to. And you can't even talk to her about this. Her personal quest is some weird red herring bullshit meant to make you question whether she's a villain, comparing her to the evil queen from Snow White, and then it's just... her boyfriend dying. You can't change anything. You can barely talk to her about this relationship - it must have been a mix of love and practicality, a connection that gave her both tenderness and influence, the only power she was allowed to have. And it IS an injustice that she could never have married him! But you can't talk to her about this. Can't influence her viewpoint at all. All this complexity is hidden in subtext, and Vivienne does not change as a person at all.

Vivienne is outwardly cold towards Cole, dismissive, pragmatic, cruel. If Cole becomes more human, he points out to her that she secretly worried about him and is glad he's safe. She denies it. This is the only complexity she's allowed to show, hidden in random banter most players will never hear.

Why are we not allowed to be close to Vivienne? Why can't we talk to her? Explore who she is? Why does it feel like it literally does not matter whether we touch her life at all?

I've seen people claim that the fandom neglects Vivienne unfairly, but this was the WRITERS. They neglected Vivienne. They made it impossible to be close to her, they hid her complexity while just having her be straight-up rude for most of the game. This was a huge failure on the part of the writers. I've heard that her main writer said on twitter (DA writers should not be allowed to tweet) that he just didn't like her and that makes me so mad. Fucking video game writers...

And Sera. Oh, Sera.

She's annoying. Her jokes are painfully unfunny. It's super hard to get her to like you. Whenever you talk to her, the first option is to kick her out of the Inquisition. Why on EARTH did they write her this way?

Her personal quest is nothing. You go meet some guy, kill him, over. What does this MEAN??? What does this mean for Sera's character?? It's so fully useless, you learn nothing new, you don't get closer to Sera, who the fuck wrote this and why was this published.

And just like with Vivienne, you barely get to talk to Sera. She runs around with a huge case of internalized elf racism and you never get to talk about it. She literally won't put on armour marked as "elves only", what's up with that girl? She openly looks down on elves to the point of being annoyed to even talk to an elf Inquisitor, why can we never talk to her about this?

She's supposed to be from Denerim. Is she from the Alienage? The close-knit community Tabris is from? Does she know Tabris? She might literally know the Hero of Ferelden and it's never a topic of conversation. She would have been like, a young teenager at the time when the Alienage was suffering a plague and elves were being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Was this not a formative experience for her? Was she not there? Did she not live in the Alienage? Well all of Denerim became a war zone during the Blight, was that not a notable event in her life????

Why do we not get to explore anything that makes her the dismissive, flighty person she is?

Playing in German, there is fascinating ambiguity in the graveyard of your companion's fears that you find in the Fade - Sera's greatest fear is "nothing". In German, the word for the Fade is "the Nothing". I thought it made so much sense that that would be her greatest fear! She's afraid of anything involving magic and spirits, and it adds a nice metaphorical level to her rejection of anything elven: elves are supposed to be inherently connected to the Fade, but she's afraid of the Fade! Comments she makes seem to imply that she has a suppressed sensitivity to spirits, but either Solas or Cole suggesting that that might be the case clearly terrifies her.

Well, imagine my disappointment when I found out that in the original English, her fear is just "nothing". Which is bullshit too, Sera is clearly afraid of of anything Fade-related. I guess it might be some idea of how she's afraid of quiet and non-existence, but like... what a missed opportunity. What a dumb thing to be her greatest fear. What a missed opportunity.

And just like Vivienne, it doesn't feel like you really impact her life at all. Sera just comes and goes, she does her own thing, and she never unpacks any of her issues. Why was she written this way? Why did they think this would be a compelling companion experience? And for fuck's sake, who thought she was funny?

This rant is already way too long and I'm almost off the train so I won't write a full comparison to the Inquisition companions who were done well, but like, it's obvious. For some of them you touch their lives intimately, you shape their worlds, you actually feel close to them by the end of the game. How the fuck did this game get shipped with Vivi and Sera like that.

It's been 10 years and I hope the developers learned from their mistakes, if they noticed them in between sucking their own dicks on twitter.

[frogprincesnowglobe]

Hey, i know you mean well but there is nothing inherently wrong with people saying they want to fuck Omar and talk about what they find attractive about him. Having fantasies about this is totally normal and a part of every fandom and people should be allowed to express that on their own blogs, or as confessions in a confined space where we're all just having fun. "Thirsting" is fun and normal! And no, you're not actually harming the artist with that. Do you think Omar is posting these pictures bc he wants us all to act respectfully? (He really, really doesn't) May I also direct you to his thirst tweets interview where he's actively encouraging it and is explicitly saying he's not bothered by being "sexualised" and "objectified". Other celebs might feel different but he definitely doesn't care, it's fine, it's not crossing a line. What would be crossing a line though is shouting these things at him irl or tagging him in specific explicit fantasies on twt. Keep it here, keep it chill. You don't have to feel the same way but let people have fun without shaming them

Yeah I really really don't agree with you, and I think I'm entitled to having that opinion and stating it. I think it goes beyond the lines of what should be considered acceptable in a fandom space, especially concerning a real person. Calling him handsome or sexy, or whatever else is different than going into detail about his body and crudely talking about how you want to fuck him. I also think you cannot say that he "doesn't care" just because he indicated sexualization is fine in an interview about thirst tweets. I don't normally comment on these things but honestly to me this was just too far. I also really just don't want to see that kind of stuff about him. This was in the main Omar tag and I don't go to the Omar tag to see people's in-depth sexual fantasies, and I'm definitely not the only one. Big yikes.

[sillyfreakx5]

waow I'm actually doing contact discourse

I don't necessarily agree with the phrase "minors can't consent". While I understand how it's useful at quickly communicating your stance on chrono minor/adult contact, or how making minors' consent null in the eyes of the law can be useful, I don't believe it to be useful in terms of describing reality

if a minor can understand the situation properly and has adequate sex ed, they're able to consent. I'm a chrono minor, I'd say I'm able to consent to sex. I might be statistically a little worse at impulse control and long term decision making and the like than the average adult, but I still am able to consent

HOWEVER, and this is a big however,,,

i still don't believe we should allow or endorse chrono minor/adult relationships.

We know that they end up harming the minor in MOST cases. Even if we were to only include the relationships where the minor did actually consent, without manipulation or coercion from the adult, (though very often people aren't even aware that they're being manipulative), they still tend to cause harm.

Also, it's often hard to tell from the adult's perspective if the minor is feeling pressured to agree. Because, yk, they tend to hide that they are feeling pressured. Also, the younger someone is the more likely they are to feel pressured to do something they wouldn't want to do, even if the adult may view their own behaviour as perfectly normal

While the harm might be caused in part by ✨ society✨, with the attitudes about minor/adult relationships instilling guilt and the like in affected minors and giving them the expectation that they should be harmed by such relationships, that doesn't change the fact that the harm does happen. Even if you believe that that shouldn't be the case, it still remains reality, and probably won't change within any of our lifetimes.

(also there's a myriad of reasons why chrono minor/adult relationships have a much higher risk of being abusive that I'm not listing out.)

While there are cases of people who had no negative consequences from being chrono minors in relationships with chrono adults, (and i think it's incredibly patronising to tell them that they're just groomed and that they don't know what their own lives were like, some of them may turn out to be wrong but that's their own thing to figure out), they are in the vast minority. There's also plenty of people who came out perfectly fine after drunk driving, but we're not gonna act as if drunk driving is harmless, right?

And from an adult's point of view, it's impossible to tell whether you'll end up traumatising your partner or not. You may think you're doing everything right but the minor could still end up severely traumatised. Therefore, no one should have the right to take that risk with the wellbeing if another

Obviously, i don't think a minor should be punished either legally or socially for partaking in such a relationship. Also, letting them discuss such relationships more freely could allow them access to a support network if the relationship has problems (something that it's very likely to have)

though also in this whole argument I'm very biased since most of my mental issues stem from consensual chrono minor/adult relationships that really fucked me up :3

It's like how we shouldn't allow drunk driving. Sure, you MIGHT end up not hurting anyone but the risk of harm is too great

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tldr; minors can consent, chrono minor/adult relationships still shouldn't be condoned bc they're extremely likely to be harmful

if you have any thoughts/questions pls pls pls share them!!! i love discussing ethics :3 even if your opinion is very different from mine!

[profounddefendorcrusade-blog]

Another Starlo rant + there's some stuff to clarify

this is my reply to the latest post from @a-legacy-not-to-be-forgotten bc i feel like he mainly had me in mind when he wrote it, which I don't mind, really. After all, we're both apologists of different characters and i DO respect your opinion. Just wanted to throw my two cents in and clarify some stuff (please read till the end)

Exhibit A (having Moray walk around with a snake in their boot and giving them rashes): I always thought this was some kind of job policy, all bc Star's so ambitious and expected his (future) employees to be the same. He wanted everyone to prove they were "real" cowboys. That's also why everyone had lassons for 8 weeks and he had that kangaroo locked in a cell for sneaking a phone in (although it IS hypocritical that Star himself is allowed to own a TV).

Star expects a lot from everyone because he himself gives it his all to make this town as realistic as possible and makes everybody behave like real cowboys (and imo he thought Moray was fine with having a snake in their boot for a week since they probably didn't complain. Star most likely didn't even know the snake gave them rashes/apologized if Moray had told him this). Honestly he's too obsessed and passionate and can be too much without realizing it, that I can't deny

Exhibit B (The Boulder Droppers): No matter how severe (It IS severe), I still see this as super careless (and super forgetful of Starlo), rather than reckless. Again, another instance where he screws up but there's no ill intent. Also he apologized for this to Gilbert

Exhibit C (blaming Clover for everything that happened and shooting them over it): TRUE 100%

...now, Ceroba was doing her best to understand Starlo and he needed her to get back on the right track, but I still think she views him more as a manchild than someone worthy of respect. I don't hate Ceroba or see her as a heartless bitch and a terrible friend (there's that post of mine where I explained everyone's flaws, and it turns out Starlo is the most flawed of them all, which I admitted). I just think her and Star aren't on the same wavelength.

She WAS on the same wavelength as Chujin and that's why I ship them. Ceroba deeply admired him (still does) and honesty she has the right to love whoever she wants. Still, I can't get out of my head how she thought that her wanting to date Starlo in the past must have had to do with the fact "her brain was still developing," or how she lied to him about the sheriff stuff just to spare his feelings. I get the intentions but she should have told him how she really felt (based on her many annoyed faces I got the message Roba never liked any of this + she says she doesn't understand it). I genuinely saw it as her babysitting/pitying him for his childish fantasies instead of actually enjoying participating in the antics (she does like observing the five tho)

And yeah, everyone (Ed, Ace, Mooch, Moray, Ceroba) knew Starlo ADORED westerns, obviously, but what they DIDN'T know or try to figure out is the deeper meaning as to WHY. I feel like everybody thought it was simply a childish fantasy and didn't stem from any deeper insecurities (the FF, just like Starlo, aren't very good with communicating their feelings; why else would they criticise Starlo right in the middle of town where everyone could hear them instead of going someplace private to have the talk)

HOWEVER!

List of Starlo's character flaws I believe he has: insecure, overly enthusiastic, careless (not reckless bc he doesn't intent to cause chaos), cocky, too obsessed with his status & social image, arrogant, mischievous (particularly with Blackjack), childish, needs too much external validation, uses escapism too much, people pleaser, wants to be everyone's "hero," ignorant, naive, too optimistic, overbearing, too ambitious, stubborn, emotional & sensitive to criticism, too obsessed to the point he ignores everyone and everything else, actually IS selfish (I wanna take this opportunity to correct myself. Starlo should have listened to his posse and not have snapped like that & dismissed what they had to say, but they should have also let him know how they felt way earlier and tried to understand Star's pov & deeper insecurities he has & should have not publicly lectured him since they SHOULD know how much he wants to protect the reputation he worked hard to earn. Everyone should have reacted differently)

We don't know what Starlo was like before Clover but based on the way none of his posse ever talked smack about him, gave him dirty looks, or overall acted like they didn't wanna be part of the team, I assumed they either didn't mind his enthusiasm before he got obsessed with Clover, or kept their frustrations with his passion hidden well and didn't choose to communicate at all with him about how they really feel.

As for Star himself, I just don't see him as having been a bad boss. Ed even said how he would always ask him nicely to do stuff, and Dina explains how the only arguments the five of them had were about trivial matters, and how things were pretty predictable before Clover. So I don't think he had made any huge fuck ups. The five were always together in all their shenanigans (Dina says they're like siblings) and Ceroba mentions how she hasn't seen Star "this ecstatic in some time". Which is why I think he didn't step outta line or mistreat others before his dream of meeting a human came true.

HOWEVER #2!

I just remembered a single line of dialogue from Ed, which suggests that Star might have been more bossy than I thought and didn't actually ever ask his posse about their opinions. If this is the case, and probably is because Ceroba says he had changed a lot, scratch that stuff I said before about him not being a bad boss

He acts selfish because he's insecure, but I still shouldn't have used that as an excuse. It's interesting how he's got both selfishness and selflessness inside him at the same time, but yeah, bc of his undeniable charm I overlooked the selfishness part. guilty as charged

time to add that and his bossiness as another one of star's many flaws

Another thing: while all of Ceroba's flaws seem to come from the tragedy that had struck her (besides being stubborn), every single one of Starlo's flaws stem from him and how he feels about himself. He had a normal family, a best friend, and his own friend group, with whom he could discuss his nerdy interests. I think THIS is what makes him so loveable. He techincally doesn't have a real REASON to feel unhappy, but he did, before he became 'North Star' But that persona was exactly WHAT he needed to let go of to be himself and be truly happy

I once jokingly mentioned how Starlo's name could mean "Star + loser" and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for his arc. He wants to be 'North Star' (all cool and badass and important), but in reality, the real him is just a nice guy who loves his friends. And even if that doesn't make him popular and a loser farmer instead, at least that is the real him who he shouldn't have been running away from

I do love when my fave character ain't perfect and has inner conflicts to work on

To conclude this rant, I want to apologize to the Four and Ceroba for not taking into consideration their pov more and being way too obsessed with this charming nerd

also, @a-legacy-not-to-be-forgotten, your rant gave me much to rethink and for that I thank you

[misc-obeyme]

So, Time Chronicles huh? I haven't played og so I'm happy I can read it but I've seen some people say that new readers are going to miss context bc related calls/texts aren't embedded into the story. I think I'll wait and see if devs add them before I read but what do you think?

Also I wonder if they've made any more changes to the story (iirc @/devildomwriter has at least the main story backed up) Crossing fingers that og devilgrams (unlikely in my opinion) and outfits eventually get ported too

I have to admit that my feelings about it are mixed.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled that everyone gets to catch up with the story! I think it's great that I don't have to switch between apps to read the OG anymore. And I also love that they're including the event stories and birthday stories, so you never have to worry about missing them. And then you can still use Lonely Devil if you want to grind for specific cards.

But on the other hand, this doesn't bode well for the OG app in general. And I'm going to really miss a lot of those cards. Not to mention all the time and money I spent on everything in that app. This is truly the big downside to it.

As for the chats and phone calls, I'm not sure what they're gonna do about that. It's true that you need the ones that are part of the story if you want that extra context. My hope would be that they would find a way to include them, so that you don't miss out on that stuff when you read OG. Specifically I remember there being a lot of chats that were embedded in the story.

But does this mean we're also going to lose all the cards, Devilgrams, outfits, daily chats, and phone calls that we all spent a lot of time and money on to obtain in OG?

I wish they would tell us, but their silence on it is pretty damning. Most likely if they were going to transfer all of that over to Nightbringer, they would have told us, right? Because they would know that would make us all happy??

I do feel like lately they've been trying to listen to their players and incorporate things that we say we want. For instance, allowing us to remove that ad banner on the home screen, bringing back birthday events, and now putting the OG story into NB so anyone can read it.

If they could just give us those other things, I'd be pretty satisfied with game play as a whole. (The writing is a different issue, let us not discuss it lol.)

But as it stands right now, unless they keep the OG app running for as long as NB is running, then some of us stand to lose quite a lot of money and all of us will have lost the time invested.

Anyway, I'm sorry, I know that wasn't really what your ask was about. If you've never played OG, then you'll have nothing to worry about losing. I'm not sure if they're going to include the chats and so on, but I hope they do because I feel like it's a little silly to leave those out?

Also not sure how different the story will be, but my guess is probably not by much. It's easier for them not to mess with it and to just put it in there as is. I don't think they're going to be doing any major rewriting lol.

Hopefully some of that answered the question??? Sorry I got a little off topic!!

[rosesocietyy]

Brilliant people have said everything that needs to be said about this much much better and I don't got anything substantial to add but I just have to get this off my chest cause y'all I'm still in disbelief

like this is a grown ass person btw oh I simply have to laugh😭

this perfectly exemplifies literally everything cringe af and wrong with these "assigned welcomers". this is just my scapegoat but there are way worse I've seen

First of all, get a job. how, at your fossil age, do you have time to spend all day scrolling through every single iwtv related post and arguing with people who say anything even slightly damning about lestat (which mind you, is literally just objective facts about things he did). I'll dm you a McDonald's application hell I'll even put in a referral for you out of the goodness of my heart.

Second, Lestat is not a real person. he's fake, a made up character, the figment of someone's imagine, non-existent, people hating him will not affect your life in anyway shape or form. He didn't assign you as his PR agent I promise you'll live. "They'll never accept him" ok and?!?

Question, and I'm genuinely asking, is this their first time in a fandom? why is someone having a different opinion about a character they love enough to send them into hysterics like?? 13 year olds on anime twitter have a better grasp on reality that y'all do get a grip!

And like the above posts have talked extensively about, I most definitely noticed whose posts a specific bunch of them love to go under to share their dog shit "explanation" that nobody asked for. When a black person sees Louis being brutalized by his white lover what do you expect their reaction to be? oaur wow this white french slut is so pussy cunt slay period queen? "but louis is flawed too" do you hear yourself? do you listen to yourself when you speak? can you activate the barest hint of brain activity to understand why we would react differently to what we're watching than you would and that knowledge of the source material has nothing to do with it? Just because you read those shitty books and posses no empathy for black people in media doesn't mean you gain some higher understanding of "gothic romance ".

"No but the thing is you don't understand this is a gothic romance and they're supposed to be monsters and lestat has suffered saur much and he's also the real main character so you must love him" so now how exactly does that negate their point about him being an abuser? quickly! sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up when black people are sharing their thoughts on the show cause who the fuck are you fr and what convinced you that you have the right to argue with them about THEIR experiences. that tweet that said white people act like God left them in charge, yeah.

Funny enough, half the people that are so gung ho about him now didn't even fw him at all when they only read the first book. wow it's almost like you were allowed to sort out your feelings about him on your own without insects disguised as people in your mentions calling you slow for not licking his feet.

I despise so much in this fandom. From the bottom of my heart I really truly do. I don't know what I was expecting, I guess more common sense and maturity because the average age in the fandom is quite high compared to other fandoms I've been in but nah, just mfs screaming and crying bc ppl don't jump up and down and scream yipee! everytime their white fav commits abhorrent, disgusting crimes.

I was so caught up in the euphoria of an anne rice property finally being given to skilled creators who'll pick it apart and say something poignant with it that for a moment, I forgot I lived in a world where majority of its audience would sadly be the anne rice crowd.

[codenamesazanka]

i dropped mha awhile ago bc it was getting a bitttt too copaganda-y for me and you are like one of three mha blogs i still follow i tuned back in again just to find out the ending im so sorry to shigaraki he shouldve at least been allowed to destroy mount fuji rip king he’ll be spitting on heroes from the skys now….. the kinda split reaction between the japanese fans and western fans is interesting to me it kinda feels like fans are reacting to two different stories? or like focused on very different aspects? anyways thanks for what you do keep it up 👍🏻

Thank you for all your follow and love for all these years!!!! <3333 i'm really happy and grateful and I hope i've kept you entertained the whole time!!!!

Yeah, BnHA is very adamant about its Heroes! So! Cool! Worship Them Like Gods! thing. Just when you think it'll be deconstructing the concept of Hero Society, All Might comes back to be fueled by the wishing energy of the world to inject acid into his opponent. Quite a choice. I'm so just in it for the villains. Sorry it didn't work out for you! And sorry you had to come back to Shigaraki ending up like that. 😭😭😭so far. He really should've been allowed to destroy Mt. Fuji.

As for the contrast between the Japanese fandom and the English-speaking fandom... I caution my observations being the whole and objective truth!

I'm much more familiar with Villain Fans Section of the English-speaking fandom; and while we're very loud and vocal, it does seem like the majority opinion is that Heroes are cool, Villains are bad, ending is acceptable. Meanwhile, I'm looking only at japanese tweets through keywords, and they're bound to be more positive because it seems like people avoid tagging their hate; anonymous message boards are freer with their criticism, but there's still never essay-length rants. I'm sure there has bound to be those existing somewhere, but with my mainly surface access into jfandom, I wouldn't know where to look for them.

Plus, there are a few people in jfandom who have the same gripes: why is Endeavor allowed to continue to be a Hero; the heteromorph resolution is majority-oriented and unfair to the minorities; the social issues aspect should've been addressed more; Deku shouldn't have invaded Shigaraki's mind like that, and it's a bit concerning that he seems to have no reaction to the total annihilation of a man in front of him, etc. Not a lot, and, as I said, not as vocal as in English-speaking fandom, but they're there.

However, from my observations, in my opinion I think there are a few key differences:

Shonen Jump is about the protag Heroes. What it is and should be. I think bnha is pointed out to be pretty uniquely sympathetic to its villains?

jfandom are much less lenient towards the Villains. They can love the League, they can criticize Heroes, but they readily acknowledge that the League have done terrible things and should be punished accordingly. Doesn't matter their sad backstories; they still hurt people and they need to pay for that. They're unforgivable. Like, the idea that Tenko killing his family - even if completely by accident, even if manipulated - is a sin no matter what and he should atone for it, is more prominent. (There are also people who will forever know Bakugou as the 'jump off the roof' bully and never forgive him no matter how much development he goes through.)

The concept of 'saving' seems to be more focused on saving the heart, freeing someone from suffering, giving them relief. It does not necessarily mean not killing them, or ever forgiving them, or ever considering them likeable.

the concept of 'the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few' seems to also be somewhat more significant. of course the few should be accepted and treated right, and they should be accommodated, but it's best to... avoid causing trouble for other (normal) people, let's say. Sometimes, though, the few can't be made to feel accepted, and that's how things are. It's a pity. There are definitely people fighting against this idea, and English-speaking fandom isn't exempt from this either (soooo many 'wow Toga is just a psychopath' takes still existing; and also 'who cares about Muscular' even from the Villain fans), but it's a thing.

Jfandom appears to like it more that Shigaraki sticks to his guns. to the very end, he's stays true to the League; he stands by his choices and actions even if they were under undue influence; and he's a Hero to the Villains. Loyalty and a strong conviction are valued. Seems to be less fretting whether Tenko and Tomura are separate people/identities/persona. (Still a few who think 'Shimura Tenko' will come back.)

and so end result is that overall, Deku did do his job, and admirably at that. He didn't ignore The Crying Child when he could've/should've because Shigaraki was already unforgivable for his actions at Jaku (and before); he saved Shigaraki/Tenko's heart by providing relief, but that doesn't necessarily mean he needed to understand or befriend Shigaraki, or that Shigaraki should be converted (for lack of better word) and saved physically; he's a Hero who stopped a threat and saved the world; and Shigaraki disintegrating is simply just desserts.

But like I said above, it could be that those points aren't specific at all to jfandom. There are certainly a lot of people who think the ending is great and satisfying in the english-speaking fandom (and from what i've seen of machine-translated spanish/french/portuguese/etc tweets, also those fandoms). It's just the critiques are very in your face, and Villain fans are very vocal. I know I certainly am.

Thanks for the ask!!!!!

[cloverstarsys]

So I'm gonna just... idk talk

(Putting all this under a cut both bc it's long and bc syscourse)

So some new anti-endos have made their way into the plural tags. We've been mostly ignoring the syscourse stuff recently because it... admittedly isn't great for us, but I forgot just how cyclical and repetitive it is omg.

"DID is a trauma disorder!" We're not discussing having DID. We're discussing being plural. Just because you(/nay (probably)) don't acknowledge non-DID/OSDD/etc plurality doesn't mean it's not still there. This has been said hundreds of times, or at least that's what it feels like

"Hearing voices is common!" Hey, at least this is a new one. Not sure where it's coming from, though. I mean, yes, some level of it is common, but it really depends on the level. And this talk of DID being uncommon is all dependent on the statistics of how many people actually are diagnosed with DID, and that's not a very solid number. There's not one concrete number of, this percentage of people have DID. Psychologists don't know. All the numbers out there are estimates, and also, dependent on diagnoses. Not everyone gets diagnosed. And all this is assuming DID is the only form of plurality, which it's not!

"Sourcecalls are anti-recovery!" ...???? Seriously, what? At the heart of a sourcecall is a fictive (or factive) looking for those who they know from their source, looking for someone who might share similar experiences to them. I don't see how that's an issue. To be fair, the person who posted this seems to believe alters aren't separate from the "person", like, at all. And I'm getting to this.

"Sub/sidesystems are impossible!" OK look, I have no clue how subsystems work, but I'm going to err on the side of "people say it's something they experience, so I will believe them for now" because I believe in NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PROVEN WITH FLAT FACTS IN ORDER FOR IT TO EXIST (sorry, I'm getting heated) everything, before it's proven, still exists. Gravity existed before the first theories about it. Etc etc. And who knows, there might be scientific proof of it out there that i just havent found. And when it comes to sidesystems, as far as I know, it's mostly just a separate group of headmates. How is that impossible?

"Alters aren't separate from you!" This post comes from the view of, alters are parts of a whole personality that could have been there had trauma not occurred that caused the disorder. And while yes, that is technically what alters are in a DID system, I don't think it's a bad thing to think of them as separate. Even if scientifically they're not (which I haven't seen any proof of, by the way, but, honestly, there's so little research on plurality it might be hard to come by or just not exist yet. So look above for my opinion on believing people about their lived experiences without scientific proof yet) I don't see how it could hurt to think of your alters as separate people. One of this person's other posts also claims the reason they're not separate "scientifically" is because new alters cam inherit memories. I'm sure that's true, but I don't see how that means they can't be separate people (to the extent allowed by a single human brain, I mean). And they do say at the top of another post that you can *see* your alters as separate people and that doesn't change the "facts" (those "facts" being "alters aren't headmates" (are those not just two different terms to define the same thing?), "alters aren't separate" (well, yes, to an extent, but alters can be significantly more separate than this person is claiming), and just pretty much claiming parts. And while using parts language is entirely valid, do whatever you want, forcing it on others is not. If someone doesn't want to refer to their alters as parts of themself, then they don't have to) but that doesn't change the actual facts of we have no fucking clue what's going on in the brain half the time and significantly more research is needed on non-disordered plurality. Anyways.

I need to get ready for school now, because this post has taken me almost an hour to write lol.

There's no sources for anything I've said, not because they don't exist, but because this was mostly me shouting into the void to help dispel the feelings seeing these posts gave me. There are so many blogs that provide genuine sources and all that, plus individual research is always an option. But even if there isn't research proving something (or disproving it), I'm going to lean on the side of believing peoples lived experiences.

It's always so funny, seeing so many blogs that claim to "correct misinformation" that literally just spread misinfo themselves. I think I've seen... one blog that actually corrects misinfo and isn't biased (either towards or against endogenic systems, just looking at the facts (which, believe it or not, tend to prove non-disordered/non-traumagenic (yes I'm aware those aren't the same thing) systems are real)).

Although I think the reason so many anti-endo sources can be so easily disproven is because they're all talking about DID. we are not talking about DID. you cannot conflate all plurality with just DID.

Ok, I really have to get going now.

(Unless you're really respectful about it. I'm allowing a discussion here right now, don't ruin it by being a dick.)

(Banners by @/lunaridae)

[lemonhemlock]

I truly hate how many people say that Hotd made Aegon complex, because this is far from the truth. I really miss the old days when i was able to argue for the greens in f&b without having Aegon rapist, joffery 2.0, rapist king etc thrown at my face. The worst thing I've ever heard anyone says about him at that time is that he is an asshole usurper who traumatized his nephew. Because nobody took Mushroom's fanfic about him as a fact. Now Hotd made one of the worst Targaryen rulers a girlboss lgbt ally lmaoo. And yes she was terrible and not just because "evil misgonystic historians" even her descendants refused to acknowledge her. Now unfortunately we're stuck with rapist vs girlboss fights for the upcoming few years.

the aspect that i find most hilarious about this is that, yes, not even rhaenyra's SONS acknowledge her as queen, which is so crazy when you stop to think about it. what does that even say about how her rule is perceived?

and she totally did conquer king's landing and rule aka she got her hands on the symbols of power aka she absolutely could have been counted as a monarch after egg, because she managed to win the throne by right of conquest, ousting the previous monarch. so the succession could very well have looked like viserys i -> aegon ii -> rhaenyra i -> aegon ii -> aegon iii

but our aegon basically yeeted rhaenyra from the history books out of spite and relegated her to the rank of princess, a decree which aegon iii upheld! astounding!

there was a post circulating around a few months ago arguing about how, while rhaenyra's line prevailed on the throne, supposedly the greens' legal argument won out in the end, aka women are not allowed to rule, but i take issue with that line of reasoning.

archmaester gyldayn certainly favours that interpretation, but people really take his auctorial voice for fact even when what he puts forth are not facts (like say, dates or events) but his own opinions. gyldayn is an unreliable narrator himself, but people tend to overlook this - the book is NOT written with grrm's narrator voice, but with gyldayn's!

so when gyldayns says stuff like how the great council of 101 "established an iron precedent on matters of succession: regardless of seniority, the Iron Throne of Westeros could not pass to a woman, nor through a woman to her male descendants", i call that bullshit, bc it is very clearly his own interpretation of the event. and another person may very well put forth a different legal interpretation based on the same event/precedent/ruling, just like lawyers do in courts all day every day. "in the eyes of many" - what many? where? who are these people? where is the research? does westeros have this great legal body / high court that is tasked with interpreting the law?

to me, this reads very iffy, because you know that, had viserys called another great council after aemma died and made the westerosi lords choose between rhaenyra and daemon as heir, they would have chosen rhaenyra, as daemon was very unpopular. so what would have happened to the "iron precedent" of 101 then? when you have two great councils with decisions that contradict each other? if i were a westerosi lawyer, i'd argue that such elective bodies represent a one-off event in which the lords choose their preferred candidate, regardless of other laws or precedents, precisely because the matter could not have been settled previously by resorting to these laws and precedents. so basically like a regular election.

in my view, the legal argument is way simpler. andal law = a son comes before a daughter, a daughter comes before an uncle. so viserys got to be king because jaehaerys engineered this one-off electoral event especially for him, so the law was not applied in his case. rhaenyra got to be heir while she was an only child, because a daughter comes before an uncle. and, after aegon was born, he became the rightful heir because a son comes before a daughter. the exclusion of jaehaera from the line of succession in favour of aegon iii is something i already talked about and took issue with. IMO grrm couldn't explain away the greens dropping jaehaera as heir (as it perfectly aligned with andal law), so he made sure to saddle her with impaired intellectual functioning, so as to have her excluded on the basis of her inability to perform her duties as sovereign (more in my jaehaera tag). again, people interpret this as the greens being sexist once again and preferring the male heir, but jaehaera couldn't have ruled if grrm made her "simple". come on, guys. why do you think he oh-so-conveniently included a mental disability for her and not for aegon iii. he needed her out of the way (god i h8 this plot point).

but, anyway, none of this matters when it comes to right of conquest, because that is an entirely different avenue for establishing legitimacy. once you denounce the legal (and supposedly peaceful) pathway and decide to settle the matter of succession via use of force, it doesn't make sense to apply legal arguments to rhaenyra's rule in KL. she was queen because she took the throne by force, but she did rule. don't get me wrong, you can go back-and-forth on this issue till the cows come home, but both sides could mount a substantial argument. the greens could say that rhaenyra's occupation of king's landing was illegal as she was a mere pretender and not the rightful heir, that it was thus abusive and her jurisdiction not recognised by the greens / aegon ii who took the throne back from her / the rest of westeros, whatever.* but you can definitely also argue the right-of-conquest angle for rhaenyra's queenship, it's just that no one cared to do so. the fact that everyone else hated it so much they nerfed her from the historiography is hilarious.

*ofc, there is a deeper and more complex discussion here on how legitimate any monarch is when their jurisdiction is not recognised by the entirety of the polity they claim to rule, but then we'd really be here all day

so what i'm trying to say is that aegon iii could have very well recognised his mother as ruling queen, he just decided not to. and, after that, viserys ii took one good look at his nieces daena/rhaena/elaena standing in front of him in the line of succession and agreed that it really was a good thing to leave his mother as a pretender in the pages of history because it made his seizure of the throne easier. then he got poisoned by his own son a year later, so that was it for his great plans as monarch.

wow this got way longer than i expected 🤦‍♀️

[franciskirkland-deleted]

Rating Hetalia Ships - Alfred F. Jones Edition 🇺🇸🦅🗽

just my thoughts on popular america pairings!

RusAme - 10/10 perfection. the classic america ship to me. no real notes or critique. love it healthy or toxic. love when ivan is possessive and obsessed with al. love when they're fluffy. love when they're mutually kicking the shit out of each other. they're bitter exes. they're best mates. they're rivals. they're married til death do they part amen

(RusAme vs AmeRus (i.e. who's taking it in the butt) is so heavily debated and like. i would say i don't have a dog in this fight, i can respect both sides of the coin but i do prefer a very masculine, dominant characterization of ivan, sorry just being real. alfred is more of a bottom to me. except with france. himbo service top superman.)

USFr - another 10/10, tied with RusAme for my fave except the two ships could not be more different. holding myself back from rambling because y'all know i could go on about them for hours. cougar fran. milf-hunter alfred. mommy and her big strong babyboy husband. dumb blonde power couple. they're so pretty and shiny together and so sweet. need i say more??

(next one is controversial and often considered incestuous. my official stance on this is that i have mixed feelings. i understand why some people dislike it + can empathize. in canon they clearly have a familial relationship. but we're allowed to diverge from canon. i'm also not gonna lie and pretend i don't enjoy the ship in AUs where they're not related)

USUK - ehhhh. 2 or soft 3/10 i really do not like bottom england. BUT (haha butt) if anyone can top him it might be alfred (on occasion). they probably switch but to me arthur could never be 'the wife', to use a heteronormative term. they're homosexual your honor.

UKUS - ohhhh yeah baby. 9/10 when done well. don't get me started. the daddy issues. the banter. the sub/dom aspect. the domestic fluffy bits. the big gay. two differing brands of masculinity. i just love both of these characters so the potential is unlimited. they're so malleable and fun to write. OH and i love UK/Nyo!US <333

Ameripan - solid 8/10. humanverse only. nationverse relations are very complicated to say the least and i'd rather not touch on that. anyway. human AU ameripan is cute as fuck. i can see them working great either platonically or romantically. they bring out the best in each other. alfred helps kiku lighten up and have fun, kiku helps alfred get his shit together. they're a very 'opposites attract' kind of couple. (is it crazy that i want to see kiku take alfred to pound town. am i alone in that.)

Prumerica - platonically 10/10. maybe fwb, but in my opinion they're too similar to work out long term romantically. 6/10. like, the idea is cute, i don't dislike it, but nah. plot twist they're both fran's service top puppy boy guard dog cringefail loser gamer BFs. that could work.

AmeChu - hmm. 4/10. not a lot of strong feelings either way. very much an older/younger ship. i can't imagine yao would have the patience to deal with alfred for very long, plus the age gap is a bit much. i like age gaps but yao is so ancient. i can see al having a crush on him tho. again not a fave but certainly not bad.

Romerica - with nyo!america yes! 8/10. but alfred and lovi i can't really see together bc of their personalities (lovino's temper. he's like arthur but worse) sexy in theory but disastrous in practice. 3/10.

AmeCan - to me they're brothers 99% of the time and i'm not a fan of overt/sibling incest. i'm not gonna hate on it, i just can't really objectively rate something that doesn't have romantic potential. even if they're not biologically related they're platonic to me. 0 ??/10.

AmeLiet - ?? no hate i just don't really know why this is a ship. like i know they interact in the later seasons but i don't get it?? umm 2/10. it would be interesting to see him have a threeway with lietpol.

GerAme - no opinion. not here to hate i just don't see it whatsoever.

did i forget anything?

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

not the male ro anon (obv), but it feels always kind of strange to me when people ask for more or like even gender distribution in ro? like ik its bcs im a funky aroace, but first of all, the romance is a feauture not the main selling point. if there's no ro that appeals to you, the story (should) and their friendships can. like yeah, i also scroll down to the ro list and check everyone out, but if no ones my personal taste, im still playing the game if the premise and plot sound cool. like your writing is more than just the romance points. (maybe im a bit bitter on this topic bcs i deal/t with romance being the main and only point in every media ever, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.)

and you also dont have to stick to your taste. am i into women? no but i can make a character who is and i can still enjoy the romance of it. ik customization is a really massive part of if games, but it also offers the means to explore outside of your own identity. i think thats a big part of flavor texts too, seeing the small differences and how it changes the experience between different types of people.

and speaking from a coders perspective, maybe im just lazy (laziness is a lie and doesnt exist), but having to code the different pronouns and maybe even gender specific flavour text for gender selectable RO can be kinda annoying at times ngl. and i can absolutely understand why writers dont want to add gender selectable ro options because theres a lot of important differences in how people are brought up as, and the amount it could change someones character can be massive, we're talking like straight up two (or more) different people, just for one selection in an RO. and sometimes offering gender selection just doesnt make sense for the romance or the plot. not only does teddys sexuality but also gender play into his romance and character. it would not have the same meaning if we were allowed to change his gender.

and thats just like 3 points i personally can think of. and personally, genuinely, obviously no hate to the anon, i understand if its just a frustration of an perceived "imbalance" in ro, but authors have many reasons why they chose to offer the ro that they do, to make them gender selectable or not. and speaking from a readers perspective, sometimes we do feel entitled to ro, options and flavor, that the author knows wont happen. that doesnt make us bad readers, or authors bad writers and coders, its just something we have to remind ourselves of. "theres probably a reason for it".

I spent a bit of time considering which ROs could even have been switchable and I ultimately came up with Wil, Alistair, and CG. And with CG that would mean changing some of her background and tbh I kind of like Alistair being a guy and a more 'nurturing' type of character.

So yeah. idk. With Wil I felt like the opportunity was there to make them switchable and I decided to give it a shot since it'd be something I hadn't tried before (and let me include a character who potentially has neopronouns. but M!Wil was always gonna be a thing.

and agree that pronoun code is a pain in the butt.

[yesloulou]

hello! i absolutely love your gifs and recently started making my own. your tutorials have been AMAZING especially the one ab creating super smooth gifs!! i was wondering two things if you wouldn't mind going into more detail. how do you go ab using topaz? I downloaded it (video ai) and when I try to use the frame interpolation, the video comes out looking super weird and staticky. My other question is unrelated, but was wondering if u could talk a little more ab neutralizing colors in gifs which you mentioned in one of ur tutorials? Thank you so much for all the beautiful gifs and amazing tutorials!! <3

hi anon. thank you for the kind words!! this actually just reminded me to update my lil gif speed management tutorial bc im doing something different now (avoid converting into smart object at the end which always made my gifs less sharp). i think it makes a pretty big difference &lt;3

Re: smooth gifs by neutralizing colors (from this tutorial)

basically the concept is that since gifs only allow at most 256 color entries, the more neutral in color a gif is, the more detailed those colors can be represented. here are two gifs whose only difference is the color on the big screen behind daniel. the first gif has more saturated greens and blues, and from the color table we can see PS utilized a lot of the 256 color slots to express greens and blues. the second gif is more neutralized, as a result we're seeing more skin colors in the color table, ie more efforts are made to express the main subject of this gif (daniel <3).

at this size, it may look like the first gif looks better bc of vibrancy. but the problem will expose at full size. taking a closer look we'll see the skin tones in the 1st gif are not as well expressed as the 2nd gif. the 2nd gif is a lot smoother, less pixelated, and less splotchy, especially around the highlight areas.

this comparison in gif:

obviously, nobody will look at a gif this closely. but in my opinion this is what makes the difference between 'smooth' and 'butter smooth'. vibrancy and smoothness are both important to a gif, but unfortunately they are a trade-off. it comes down to the gif maker's personal preference. to me personally, the first gif is eye-catching bc of its bright colors, i totally see why some ppl might prefer it. but there is a smoothness and real-ness in the second gif that the first gif just doesn't have. as a result, the more neutral coloring would be what i prefer for this particular gif

in application, this can go both ways:

1. if i feel a gif has too many colors and is pixelated bc of it, i will try to neutralize some of them for smoothness. example: here the very blue background that we're all familiar with was neutralized to an almost baby blue. the bright yellows on sharl and max's race suits were warmed up and desaturated to a peachy yellow color. this will be particularly useful if your gif is too big and you have to use even less than 256 colors.

2. if a gif feels too dull, i will either try to make some of its existing colors more saturated (using Hue/Saturation Adjustment), or add some hues to the whites or blacks (using Selective Color), so that it will have more vibrancy. example (left): the blue on the red bull can is almost the only cool color in this gif, so i made it more saturated for contrast; example (right): the gif had virtually no cool tone so i made the whites (see prints on sharl's shoulder) more cyan than reality. (ps this is why i think sports gifs are challenging. in tv shows or movies the colors in every scene would've been designed and arranged, but in sports we won't have that)

3. colors/vibrancy may be the only thing i want. pixelation can be a style in itself

4. i might not care about colorfulness at all and just want the gif to be as smooth as possible

Re: interpolation

speed coming out weird after interpolation is almost always bc your original video contains dup frames, esp if the footage was screen recorded. topaz does provide a "Replace Duplicate Frames" option with interpolation but imo it's not reliable at all. in my experience automated frame dedup requires more configurations than the one topaz lets you customize (sensitivity). which is probably why their dedup doesn't work as well as their other features. making sure your original video is free of dup or missing frames should solve your problem <3

ohh also interpolation works best in doubling or quadrupling! ie 25fps -> 50fps, 30fps -> 120fps etc etc

hope this is helpful!