#(-ranting about plans to abandon creation-)

[godzexperiment]

fallen! angel nix menacing his maker is actually -chefs kiss- like 'i might be stuck listening to your nonsense but you're stuck knowing you made me and being painfully aware of my chaos'

[literallybyronic]

disorganized DA lore rant beneath the cut:

*puts on my tinfoil hat* so hear me out-

True Elvhen are a symbiotic race that in their natural state are both Elf and Spirit combined.

Morrigan's ritual is an adaptation of a process that would normally be used to invite a willing spirit into an unborn child- perhaps a spirit that is the reflection of the parents' love or values they both hold dear. but this version forcibly impels the spirit into the fetus. the evanuris could also have discovered they could use lyrium to perform a similar kind of imprisonment, along with the vallaslin, to force many spirits into constructed bodies made from lyrium to act as a slave/work force. trapping them in corporeal forms and then branding them with spells so they could never escape. That's why "they made bodies from the Earth, and the Earth was afraid"- the Evanuris were strip mining Titan blood to create their slave armies en masse, and it was too much for the Titans to bear, hence the Titan war. The Evanuris used the Blight against the Titans, and the war threatened the whole world, but the Veil sundered the Titans from the Dwarves and put the Titans to sleep as well as what we know happened to the Elvhen. We know lyrium is basically condensed magic- what if the Titans need the Fade to "breathe" or absorb somehow, and their blood is that magic condensed, but when the Veil is put in place they lose consciousness, almost like blacking out from lack of oxygen?

The Blight is Andruil's "weapon from the Abyss"- but for all we know the Abyss could be "my gf Ghilly's creepy ass underground laboratory where she makes fucked up creatures" bc we definitely know those exist, and the Archdemons could be the Evanuris' physical forms sundered from their spirits, since we know there is a "shape of the Divine" that is winged/flying (and it sure seems like that big boy in the new trailer is Elgar'nan), and when they manage to regain some control over the physical form, they cause a Blight invasion bc mass death weakens the Veil that is imprisoning them. Potentially this is why we only have two Evanuris to deal with- the other Evanuris has their spirits stolen by the ritual and put into an unborn child. This would make sense with Andraste being born the year Dumat was slain, and why Mythal wants the Old God soul so badly. She may even have used this soul in Flemeth's body as a bait-and-switch with Solas, putting the true Mythal spirit through the Eluvian beforehand.

This is why Solas feels like the whole world is Tranquil- because to him, they are all missing half of themselves, not just bc they're not all mages. And why spirits are just as much people to him as mortals, because they are each one half of a whole. And the spirit is what made Elvhen immortal, it wasn't just "the Fade in general", but when the spirits were locked away along with the Fade, it all became impossible to continue as they had. or it's like the Trill, where the host body wasn't immortal, but the symbiotic spirit carries the essence of each person forward into the next life in a new body. That's why "he did not want a body, but she asked him to come"- Solas was a spirit who was convinced to be born as Elvhen by Mythal, and some part of him regrets that terribly, and that's why he feels about Cole the way he does. It would also explain why he gets so upset about the Grey Warden plan, bc to start with it's a perversion of what to him should be a rather sacred act of joining/creation, and they may be just accelerating the release of the two most dangerous Evanuris left. And that's why the village he claims as his home is what it is, because it really was his home, where he grew up after being born as Elvhen. If it were a cover story, why would he choose somewhere that's been abandoned for centuries, which would immediately be suspect? (if Leliana had done her damn job anyway🤬)

Of course there are many other little things here and there that feed into this- Fenris' lyrium tattoos, Sandal's whole deal, Mythal resorting to human hosts to survive the centuries, uthenera being something only Elvhen can do, the Sha-Brytol existing to protect the Titans from the "impure", basically everything from the Avvar religion and culture... And probably at least twenty other things i won't remember until after I post this. But damn I gotta get it out somewhere on the off chance that even a tiny bit of it is right 😅

...yes, the inside of my brain does look like Charlie's corkboard from IASIP right now, why do you ask?

[aloneinthehellfire]

saw my tumblr notification for your previous anon and OH MY FUCKING HELL I WOULD LOOOOOVE TO GET THE BATHROOM SCENE FROM STEVE’S POV 💖💖💖

I’ve already told you before that your writing is STELLAR and I know that no matter what you write, it’ll be absolute gold. *chef’s kiss* 🤌🏻

I have to say also that GOH is absolutely KILLING ME in the best ways. love love love the slow burn and the mystery behind what’s been happening in the latest chapters, aaaaa. :’) keep up the amazing work, my friend, and please make sure that you take breaks should you need them!! 💕

I got a lot of requests for this so I hope my anons find this one <3

RAINING HELLFIRE (READER'S VERSION)

Word Count: 3672

Warnings: swearing, mentions of drugs, mentions of torture

Set in RH3: Chapter 12: Uncle Jack

Find all Raining Hellfire works here <3

Summary: While you try and find your previously abandoned radio in hopes of contacting help, Steve and Robin slip away from their cinema experience to end up in the bathroom, sharing truths about their lives they never admitted before.

[A/N: Welcome to our new little series I am calling 'Raining Hellfire (Reader's Version)' where you can request a scene that I either hadn't written into RH originally or a POV of a different character :) shout out to the nonnie that suggested this &lt;3]

RH3: STEVE'S EPIPHANY

“The ceiling stopped spinning for me.”

Robin’s voice echoed out as Steve flushes away his latest creation, stomach lurching while he wipes away the clinging spit.

“Is it still spinning for you?”

Steve rests his back against a ceramic tiled wall and tilts his head upwards. He focuses for a second.

“Holy shit.” He sounds, still feeling light-headed. “No. You think we puked it all up?”

“Maybe.” Robin says from the cubicle beside his. “Ask me something. Interrogate me.”

“Okay. Interrogate you, sure.” He tries to straighten himself a little, ignoring the dull pain in his face. “Um… When was the last time you, uh… peed your pants?”

“Today.” She responds quickly, voice airy.

“What?” Steve smirks.

“When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw.”

“Oh my god.” Steve chuckles and Robin laughs.

“It was just a little bit though.” She giggles and Steve shakes his head in amusement.

“Yeah, it’s definitely still in her system.” He mutters, rubbing the eye that hadn’t been battered by Russian spies. Of course Dustin’s brilliant plan involved yet another concussion.

“All right, my turn.” Robin announces after her laughter died down, a smile in her voice.

“Okay, hit me.” His head was starting to throb and he was seriously missing his truth serum right about now.

“Have you… ever been in love?”

“Yep. Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year.” He says, not really putting much thought into the answer. He imitates a gun with his fingers and shoots at his heart.

“Oh my god.” He could practically hear Robin’s eye roll. “She’s such a priss.”

“Hm.” Steve nods, remembering a time when he thought the same. “Turns out, not really.”

“Are you still in love with Nancy?”

“No.”

A wave of shock struck him when he answered without a thought, reeling in his own response. Was he really over her?

“Why not?”

This time, his thoughts are swirling around like the ice-cream machine they rarely ever used, clouding his eyes with one image. One very specific image. And he smiles.

“I think it’s because I found someone who’s a little bit better for me.” He chuckles. “It’s crazy. Ever since Dustin got home, he’s been saying, you know, you gotta find your Suzie, you gotta find your Suzie...”

Steve blinks and the image reappears again. Dustin’s rant about Steve finding love had never left his mind.

“Uh, I guess I don’t totally know what I’m looking for.” Steve states, staring through the binoculars and being anything but covert. But Dustin could be on to something and he desperately needed a break from slinging ice-creams all day.

“Evil Russians.” Dustin replies simply and he roll his eyes.

“Yeah, exactly.” Steve nods, “I don’t know what an evil Russian looks like.”

“Tall. Blonde. Not smiling.” Dustin offers as Steve continues to navigate the binoculars. “Also, look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing.”

“Right, duffel bags.” Steve repeats. He takes another moment before letting out a breath. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?”

“Anna Jacobi’s talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky.” Steve complains, staring as she cosies up to the worst player he ever teamed with in his life.

“Dude, if you’re not gonna focus, just gimme the binoculars.”

“Aw, Jesus Christ,” Steve continues, ignoring the boy next to him, “Whatever happened to standards? I mean, Lewinsky never even came off the bench.”

“Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?” Dustin reaches out and snatches away the binoculars, resulting in a small fight as Steve struggled with the strap around his neck.

When Dustin won the binocular war, he places the binoculars in front of his eyes. “I don’t get why you’re looking at girls, anyway. You have the perfect one in front of you.”

“Seriously,” Steve sighs, already knowing where he’s going, “If you say Y/n again-”

“Y/n.” Dustin says anyway.

“No, don’t. No.”

“Y/n, Y/n, Y/n.”

“Stop, no.”

“Y/n.” Dustin repeats over and over before throwing a curveball. “Robin?”

“No- Robin?” Steve raises his eyebrow. “Really?”

“Right.” Dustin nods. “‘Cause you like Y/n.”

“I don’t-” Steve takes a breath, noticing Dustin’s unimpressed look. “No, man, she’s not my type. She’s not even… in the ballpark of what my type is, all right?”

“What’s your type again?” Dustin asks with a side-eye. “Not awesome?”

“Thank you.” Steve sarcastically smiles, suddenly wondering where you were right now. You had said something about spending the day with Max and El, but that was all he had heard from you since last night. He remembered that smile you had given him before you drove off, a small wave as you promised to catch up on the ‘little Russian espionage’ later.

“Hm, right.” Dustin smirked and Steve looked back to him. “That lovesick face says it all.”

“I’m not-” Steve lets out a frustrated sigh. “She’s not my type, okay? Just friends.”

“Let’s see.” Dustin lowers the binoculars to count on his fingers. “Funny? Check. Smart? Check. Pretty? Double check.”

“Still in love with her ex? Check.” Steve says and Dustin’s face falls.

“What? No.” He pouts and Steve nods.

“Yeah, well. Good for him.” He looks ahead, trying not to think about how much that hurt him.

“At least you’re not in high school anymore.” Dustin shrugs and Steve looks at him.

“How has that got anything to do with anything?”

“Look, Steve.” Dustin gestures to the mall in front of them and Steve looks… confused. Dustin sighs. “There’s a whole world of girls out there. Instead of dating somebody you think’s gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around? Like me and Suzie.”

“Yeah, you mean, ‘hotter than Phoebe Cates’. Yeah, that Suzie.” Steve recalls with a snarky tone, “And, uh, let’s think about- how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh, yeah. With my advice. Because that’s how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea-brain?”

“And how’s your advice working for you?” Dustin challenges, his eyes narrowing in his own amusement.

“Wait, who’s Suzie?” Robin asks and snaps him back into the moment. He blinks, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s some girl from camp, I guess his girlfriend.” He shakes his head, trying to push away the growing beating of his brain against his skull. “To be honest with you, I’m not 100% sure she’s even real.”

“But that’s not- that’s not really the point. The point is this girl, you know, the one that I like, it’s somebody that I… I lost touch with in school. And I don’t even know why.” Steve continues, sighing. “Maybe ‘cause Tommy H. would’ve made fun of me or… I wouldn’t be… prom king. It’s stupid. I mean, Dustin’s right, it’s all a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because when I think about it, I should have been hanging out with this girl the whole time. First of all she’s hilarious. She’s so funny. I feel like ever since last November, I have laughed harder than I have laughed… in a really long time. And- and she’s the only person in this whole world I feel like will understand me, you know? Not judge me.”

“Really?” Robin chirps up with a smile in her voice. “Sounds like she loves being around you.”

“Yeah...” Steve’s face slowly falls.

Steve closes the space, resting his head against your forehead. His heart raced faster as he pushed aside his fear. “I love you, Y/n.”

When you don’t respond, he moves his body closer, lifting his head to search your face for something to give him hope. “Please, say something.”

Every second you didn’t react was agony. He could see the tear trickling down your cheek, his brows furrowing.

And then you reached out, placing your hands over his. That little jolt of electricity, the one that give him hope, the one that never failed.

Until now.

You gently unclasp his hand and take your keys, never raising your head, never meeting his eyes.

“I..” You start, lips squeezing together. “I don’t feel the same way about you. Never have. Never… never will.”

Steve feels his entire soul shatter into a thousand pieces.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper as you turn from him, getting in your car without so much as a second glance.

He’s stood there, paralysed in his own heartbreak. He thought… you and him…

How could he have been so stupid?

“Steve?” Robin calls out and he clears his throat.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.” He nods, rubbing his eye. “It’s just… I thought, you know, this girl was… everything. And…”

“And?”

“And she wasn’t even real.” He spoke, lowering his head. “I really should have taken Dustin’s advice. The kid knows zilch about love but… but he knows people better than I do sometimes. Told me Nancy was out of my league. Not in a bad way just, like…”

“Like you weren’t meant to be together?” She suggests and Steve hums.

“Yeah, exactly.” He laughs after a moment, “You ever… you ever had that?”

He rubs his face again, looking to the cubicle wall that separated them. She’s being quiet and he frowns, tapping on the plastic. “Robin? Robin, did you just OD in there?”

“No.” She finally says, sighing. “I… am still alive.”

“Did I say something wrong?” He asks and she lets out another sigh.

After another block of silence, he can’t take it anymore and scoots over to the wall, gripping onto the underside and pulling himself through, slow enough to avoid crashing into Robin on the other side. He decided it best to ignore how wet the floor felt on his back.

“The floor’s disgusting.” She comments as he sits back up, facing his friend.

“Yeah, well, I already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so…” He waves his hands, brushing it away. “What do you think?”

“About?” She blinks, but he knows she’s aware.

“Destined to fail romances?” He chuckles, shaking his head. “You ever had that with a guy before?”

“Something like that.” She says and he groans.

“Come on, you don’t have to be all mysterious.” He laughs, nudging her knee with his. “I can tell when you’re being weird, I’ve known you-”

“That’s it. You don’t.” She interrupts, brows knitted. When he frowns, she bites her lip and leans forward. “Look… you don’t really know me. And if you did, like – like really know me… I don’t think you’d even want to be my friend.”

“No, that’s not true, no way is that true-”

“Listen to me, Steve. It’s shocked me to my core, but I like you. I really like you. But I’m not like your other friends.” She shakes her head. “I’m not even… I don’t…”

Steve leans forward, “What’s going on?”

“Do you remember what I said about Click’s class? About me being jealous and, like, obsessed?” Robin questions and he slowly nods. “It isn’t because I had a crush on you.”

He blinks, holding his breath. Now he felt really foolish for even thinking it.

“It’s because…” She continues, and he keeps his silence. “She wouldn’t stop staring at you.”

“Mrs Click?” He frowns in confusion and she laughs, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Tammy Thompson.” She finally says, nodding. “I wanted her to look at me. But… she couldn’t pull her eyes away from you and your stupid hair. And I didn’t understand, because you would get bagel crumbs all over the floor. And you asked dumb questions. And I watched you fall in love Freshman year with a girl you ended up treating like shit because you wanted to be a douchebag. And- And you didn’t even like Tammy Thompson and… and I would go home and just scream into my pillow.”

“But Tammy Thompson’s a girl.” Steve shook his head, the drug still wavy in his brain.

“Steve.” Robin says softly and he slowly feels his face fall, realisation finally hitting him in a moment of clarity.

“Oh.” He finally sounds, blinking.

“Oh.” She repeats, laughing sadly.

“Holy shit.” He leans back. Talk about deja vu.

Steve didn’t realise how silent he was being. It wasn’t because of shock or hatred or anything like that. It was because he was taken back to Skull Rock all over again. Sat beside you. Your fingers nervously fiddling with the hem of your sweatshirt, a scared look in your eye. The relief on your face when he said he didn’t care who you liked, just who you were. A happiness in your trust.

That shattered image when you found out he had taken that trust for granted.

He didn’t want it to be like that this time. No wrong words, no broken promises. He didn’t want to make anyone feel that destroyed ever again.

“Steve… did you OD over there?”

“No, I just, uh… just thinking.” He slowly nods, “I mean, yeah. Tammy Thompson, you know, she’s cute and all, but… I mean, she’s a total dud.”

“She is not.”

“Yes she is. She wants to be, like, a singer. She wants to move to, like, Nashville and shit.”

“She has dreams.” Robin tries but he’s shaking his head.

“She can’t even hold a tune.” He expresses, trying to think of a descriptor. “She’s practically tone-deaf. Have you heard her?”

As Robin laughs, he mimics Tammy’s voice in the school choir, making it as nasally as he could.

“She does not sound like that-”

“She sounds exactly like that. That’s a great impression of her.”

“You sound like a Muppet.” Robin comments and Steve laughs.

“She sounds like a Muppet. She sounds like a Muppet giving birth.” Steve chuckles and Robin can’t help but agree, giggling. “Literally ask anyone, ask Y/n, she was there. It was an hour of torture, like, even the Russians couldn’t beat that.”

“Okay, okay.” Robin clutches her stomach, shaking her head. “You’re right, okay? She sounds horrible.”

“Thank you.” He grins, head resting against the wall, “You could do so much better.”

“Like Y/n?”

Steve practically jolts, eyes wide. How did she know? Did he tell her? Was he rambling about it and didn’t realise? When did-

“Steve.” She smiles, tilting her head. “I know who ‘the girl’ is, I’m not dumb.”

He mentally lets out a sigh of relief before focusing on her comment. “It’s not… I don’t know.”

“God, you two are in love with eachother.” She scoffs, meeting his unconvinced eyes. “Seriously. It’s suffocating being around you two, it’s flirt city.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Steve sighs.

“No shit, there’s no way I’m going back to work after that, they don’t pay me enough to be interrogated by secret-”

“No, Robin, I mean me and Y/n.” He says quickly and she stops, frowning. He sighs again. “It… there wasn’t…”

When he couldn’t find the words, Robin leaned forward.

“What happened between you two anyway?” Robin prompts and he furrows his brows, shaking his head.

“What-”

“Last night. Or… heck, I don’t know how long it’s been.” She shrugs. “When Y/n ran out. After that really intense moment of her talking about being taken advantage of – which I totally agree with her by the way- but... she was clearly upset about something. And you followed her. But when you came back…”

She takes a breath.

“You looked…”

“I looked?” He asks, stomach churning.

“Heart-broken.”

“I don’t feel the same way about you. Never have. Never… never will.”

“There.” She points at his face and he bats her finger away. “Right there. That look.”

He covers his face with a groan, resting his head in his hands.

“I mean… if there would be any time to open up to me, it would definitely be after I just told you I’m a lesbian.” She snickers and he can’t resist the laugh, “Don’t tell me… you’re also gay?”

“No.” He chuckles and she smiles, leaning back. “But I am definitely going to be alone for the rest of my life.”

“I don’t believe that.” She scrunches her face as if the thought was stupid. “You’re Steve Harrington. Any girl would be fantasising about spending their life with you.”

“Not the one that matters.” He admits quietly and she straightens, her eyes wide. Steve takes a breath. “When I caught up to her…”

“Please, say something.”

“… I…” He sighs, rubbing his face. “God, I am an idiot.”

“Why?”

“I told her I loved her.” He finally blurts, wincing at the silence that ensued.

“Woah.” She comments, nodding slowly. He simply nods with her, eyes fixed on the black mark staining the wall behind her. “And I’m guessing she didn’t…”

“No.” He purses his lips, sniffing. “It’s fine, though. At least I know now, right? Won’t be… won’t be wondering that for the rest of my life.”

“She lied.”

His head whips up. “Uh, what?”

“She lied.” Robin repeats, looking serious. “I may have only just met her at the beginning of summer, but I like to think I know her. I see how she looks at you. I can even hear it in her voice when she talks about you and… and there’s a reason she hasn’t been dating anyone.”

“Because she’s still hung up about Eddie.” He sighs and she whacks his knee. “Ow!”

“No, dingus! Because she’s hung up about you!” She exclaims, “God, you are both so oblivious, it actually hurts.”

Steve rubs his knee, shaking his head. “She still likes Eddie.”

“And yet, she chose you.” Robin expresses with her hands and he frowns.

“What do you mean she chose me?”

“Because of the-” Her face falls. Either she was going to puke again or she had just realised something important because her skin started to pale a shade. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“No, Robin, tell me.” He inches forward slightly, eyes wide. “Because of what?”

She bites her lips, obviously trying to hold something in.

“She told you something, didn’t she?” He interrogates, watching her face go paler from the strain of keeping a secret. “What didn’t she tell me? Robin. Robin!”

And with that, she snaps.

“You’re kinda maybe one of the reasons she and Eddie aren’t together anymore but it’s also not your fault ‘cause there was no trust between them in the end anyway, and she was never going to let your friendship die again especially since you guys apparently went through so much together last year and she’s already lost you twice because of some petty arguments or something like that so she decided to let Eddie go so she could keep you because out of everyone, you make her feel the happiest she has in a really long time.”

Robin takes a long breath as she physically deflates against the wall, chest rising heavily.

“If she ever asks… it took a lot more than that to get me to spill.” She grimaces, waiting for his reaction.

You had never told him why you and Eddie broke up. Not truly. He remembers the first time you told him, sat on a bench outside the high school, your eyes threatening tears. You told him that you think you broke Eddie’s heart, but you weren’t ready to talk then. Ever since, you just alluded to the idea that you weren’t right for eachother, that it was better for you both to be apart. Never did you admit it was because of Steve.

And now he was conflicted. How should he be feeling about this? Angry? Confused? Sad?

“How am I… the reason?” He asks softly, fixated on his shoelaces.

“I don’t know the full details.” Robin says, “But I know that she has to love you too.”

“Rob-”

“No, just listen.” She interrupts and he takes a breath, meeting her eyes. “Don’t give up. Considering all the weird shit that just happened back there, and the fact that neither of you seem at all phased by the fact we were tortured by Russians living underneath us, I can only assume that she had a lot going on. Give her time, okay? Take it from someone who has an exceptionally sad life of watching other people fall in love, you two are made for eachother.”

“Right.” Steve nods before shaking his head again. “What if she meant it? That she didn’t… what if-”

Robin lets out a groan. “Just stop being a dingus and take my advice.”

“Not sure how I feel about taking advice from someone who had a crush on Tammy Thompson.” He retorts and she looks offended.

“Wha- hey!”

“We’ll be holding on forever!” Steve imitates Kermit the Frog and she buries her face in her hands, laughing.

The bathroom door bursts open and two kids walk in, one looking severely pissed at Steve.

“Okay, what the hell?!” Dustin frowns, hands on hips.

Steve draws his eyes back to Robin’s and they burst into laughter again, uncontrollably.

“It’s not funny!” Dustin stresses, only making them laugh harder. He shoots a glare at Steve before Erica steps forward.

“Y/n is missing!” She shouts and the two finally quit their giggling.

“What?” Steve chuckles, unsure if he heard her right.

“Y/n went looking for help about twenty minutes ago.” Dustin explains, and Steve’s heart races faster. “And she hasn’t come back.”

“So we better stop chit-chatting like little girls at a sleepover and get the hell out of here before the Russians find us.” Erica remarks, rolling her eyes when nobody moves. “Now.”

“Wait.” Steve scrambles to his feet, Robin slowly but surely following his action. “Y/n-where- where did she go?”

“Her radio.” Dustin sighs, pulling a face when Steve shakes his head. “Jesus Christ, we don’t have time to explain everything to you, she went out to get her radio but she hasn’t come back.”

“Let’s go, we’ll find her later.” Erica stresses, already opening the door and motioning for them to get out.

“I’m not leaving this mall without her.” Steve promises, wiping his lip and heading for the door, more determined than ever.

if you would like to request a new pov scene for the Raining Hellfire universe, please feel free to put it into my ask box and I'll get to it when I am available :)

[sketchedboba]

I get some people raise an eyebrow on how you write Bowser in this au but can I just say hes gotta be one of my favorite Bowsers out there!! ❤

Like no shade to other Bowsers but he's such an interesting and complex character to me I want to learn more about him in this au!

Like it's strange & interesting to me how he can neglect to raise his own imperfect creations yet be willing to take in other imperfect & abandoned koopalings, It makes me wonder about whether it was him being naive to parenthood in his younger years as well as seeing his own imperfections in them.

I actually like him doing poorly at being a parent the first time around but doing great with most of the next set of kids since these things do happen in life and it makes me want to know more about his relationships with not only his kids but their relationships with each other and how it effects everyone, like I'm curious about Bowser's mindset and what he regrets in his life and if he ever considers trying to mend broken family relationships with his older kids, I'm also very curious about how Luigi handles this info and if he calls him out on some things later on when he kinda has the right to do so as a queen and step parent

Im a huge fan but also super shy so sorry for this being anon but your story leaves me with questions and cravings for more it's so good and not just black & white keep up the great work!❤

After reading all of this, thank you 💚

I don't dislike other Bowser interpretations (heck I envy how simple or even more complex others make his character). However thank you!

I've also shared a few times that just because I've written a morally grey or black character, doesn't mean they're terrible overall or stay that way. It gets frustrating having to explain this over and over again especially when the version in my au gets compared to someone's personal version of him or another au. I have nothing against either.

Anygays, what a rant- moving on 😭

I'll reveal more on the Koopa Kids in the next post and I'm excited to share more of their personalities. 🎉 Surprise 🎉 they were the ones the new animatic is going to be about. It'll flesh out their lives a bit more.

As for Luigi's response, there's a comic planned for the confrontation so I won't spoil much outside of that. Just know it gets pretty messy.

Also for anyone doing the math, yes, Bowser wanted an heir at the age of 16, he was royalty AND the only other large koopa species. Kamek is a nice father figure, but he wanted company he could tend to. He was also naive in thinking about how fatherhood worked and Kamek spoiled him, so no wasn't really an answer he would take.

I genuinely found canon Bowser's treatment of different types of the younger koopalings over the years interesting. He praises Junior a lot and most of the others are an after thought (just like how Nintendo treats them...)

I know 10 is a lot of children for him (I've been told this before), but he's 34 almost 35 in my au. He has most definitely will and has fucked up whether it be with his children or his relationships with others.

It's good to know that there are people invested in the au though and don't worry about being anon 😌 I appreciate the support n luv ♥️

Here are these two goofs eating spaghetti. 🧡

[cryptozoolliegy]

The crimes of the headspace sillies

all of my headspace sillies are in the wrong but they all have justifications and I wanna rant about em now so GATHER AROUND FOLLOWERS

Carly

Carly and Finn were friends for a really long time. Finn showed up LONG after Carly, but they didn't think anything of it- they considered themselves equals and worked together because Finn's... Tendencies... Didn't show up until a couple years after he appeared, and when he showed them, it was REALLY alarming to Carly. Like, "has my friend been possessed by a demon, I know we're gods but are there demons that can possess us?" alarming. Of course, this caused her great distress. She panicked about the possibility that her friend could've been replaced by something bad, and when she accepted the fact that he was still him but he'd changed and was now causing harm to her creations, she was scared. So of course she locked him in the basement! How else was she supposed to stop him? She couldn't think of anything else. Even when Finn was still locked in the basement, she came down and talked to him. Even when he didn't want to, she'd still try. She wasn't heartless. Her decision to isekai herself without telling Finn? She trusted him to understand and not interfere with her story (kinda an. Overestimation but we'll talk about that later.). She didn't even tell Benji what she thought of Finn. She didn't want him to have a bias against him.

Carly had her reasons. But what about

Benji's:

Benji spawned in and was immediately told to be nice to the characters. The first person he ever met told him to keep them safe and trust her words. Carly didn't tell him about Finn, but she sure as fuck told Benji to be his antithesis. Benji trusted her. So when Finn said "Carly was a bitch who didn't like me because she thought I was bad", he immediately took Finn to be a little bit untrustworthy. This is why he didn't let Finn near the control panel for very long at first. And when he saw what Finn did, it made him physically hurt. The day he saw Finn doing angsty stuff with the characters, he started planning to lock him in the basement, taking out everything Finn could possibly use to escape, unknowingly laying the groundwork for his own imprisonment. He was %100 gonna do it if Finn hadn't first. I'm not saying he had it coming, but.... Well, he did. But he was, unfortunately, a little bit justified.

Finn

Finn, Finn, Finn. He had the most justification out of all of them. Imagine that one day you're doing something you've done every day for years, but you do it differently. And suddenly, just for doing the thing differently, people think you're dangerous. So you resolve to do the thing normally the next day.

But you find that you can't.

You've forgotten how.

You try desperately to do it like normal, but the way you're doing it now suddenly feels more normal, more natural, and you can't stop. You can't quite tell what's wrong about it, either, so you just give in and do it in the new normal way. You apologize profusely, but you can't stop doing it. It's all you know.

And then someone throws you in jail for doing it.

They won't let you do the thing, and you start slipping. You rely on the thing. You need it.

Then they, maybe without knowing it, taunt you by showing you how free they are, how normal they are. And maybe it isn't intentional, but you grow to hate them nonetheless. Even if they are the only one who will interact with you.

Then they abandon you without telling you they're going anywhere, and that scares you for reasons you can't comprehend.

Then someone rescues you!

Good, right?

No.

You try to go back to doing the thing, but they won't let you.

And when you finally do the thing again, they have the same reaction as the person who threw you in jail. And you see signs of them preparing to do it again the next day.

Wouldn't you snap?

Of course you would.

It's only natural that you'd lock them up before you could be isolated again.

It's only natural that you'd go overboard when you could finally do the thing you loved again.......

Thanks for listening to this mess lol

@littlebookworm69 tagging u because i think you'll like it

[gabessquishytum]

okay a trans hob concept for you. honestly i think this counts as crack treated seriously because the basic concept here is "top surgery via Endless" but now i'm just emotional about hobstruction so. okay.

so. hob's in his soldering days, he's off fighting in france, and he takes a fatal wound. which would be unpleasant enough already, but a few of his mates definitely saw, so there's no going back to camp, he's going to have to make it back to england on his own. he stops in the first tavern he comes to so he can have a drink and a meal and a bit of a sulk, and promptly hits it off with a red headed giant of a man who says he's also travelling to england so why don't they go together?

obviously they wind up fucking that night and they head off in the morning, they fuck every evening when they stop for the evening, and a few days in hob's comfortable enough with his new friend that he goes on a bit of a rant about his body. because he likes his body! he does! his mam was a tall, strong woman and he was lucky enough to take after her. he's got broad shoulders, strong thighs. he honestly quite likes the way his waist tucks in just a bit, the way his hips are a bit wider than most men's. and sure, he wouldn't mind having a nice proper big cock, but he likes the one he's got, and he likes his cunt.

it's just his chest he doesn't like. because he's got fairly big tits, alright, and christ but they're frustrating to try and keep out of the way, let alone if he wants to actually be able to breathe. he'd happily cut them off, he says, but he doesn't imagine it would be worth it (because the healing would likely kill a normal man, he doesn't say. because he suspects they'd just grow back, he doesn't say).

and destruction of the endless, not yet planning to abandon his realm but spending a great deal of time thinking about inverses and destruction and creation and change, says that. well. if hob's willing to trust him, and he's alright with possibly a lot of pain, he might be able to help with that.

it does hurt. rather a lot. and the results aren't perfect -- his chest isn't quite symmetrical, his nipples aren't quite even -- but hob happily points out (to a fretting destruction) that bodies aren't perfectly symmetrical, destruction's work doesn't look perfect but that makes it look real and hob's so fucking thrilled.

hob's very clearly over the moon for the rest of their trek back to england. there's a literal and metaphorical weight off his chest. and destruction gets to see that... maybe he's onto something, with all his musings about his nature. maybe he really can be something more than destruction, or maybe being destruction doesn't have to be such a bad thing. he's done something right by this one human, and that has to count for something. maybe that can be a start.

-🐈‍⬛

Trans Hob is really something that can be SO personal huh. I'm not kidding when I say this ask picked me up by the scruff of my neck and shook me around like a kitten.

I may have started writing this as a fic (by which I mean I have 1,500 words so far) so I'll share a teeny tiny snippet with you <3

It’s always a risk for Hob to undress, whether he’s bedding a man or a woman. He’s had every reaction he can possibly imagine, from horror to pleasure. He thinks instinctively that his red headed friend won’t be too fussed by the big reveal, and he really isn’t. It’s almost like he already knew.

He doesn’t go straight for Hob’s tits, like most men tend to. His massive hands fall at Hob’s trim waist instead, smoothing over the spread of his hips. Hob keens softly and bites his own lip as his lower belly is so tenderly caressed. He’s wet already and he whimpers openly when a huge thumb and finger find his pulsing cock. He feels big between those digits, much to his surprise and pleasure. His companion hums, pleased and curious. Hob abruptly remembers that he doesn’t know this man’s name.

That's all you get for now ;D thank you for kicking my ass into gear to FINALLY write an actual Hob x Destruction fic <3

[kinshenewa]

I'm going to do a little lore rant about something I made. Arcade Land is a thing I have had existing for such a long time, and my favorite character from my creation is Helpful Hare. I love how he's evolved, and I adore him.

He is the kind of sweet that will give diabetus, yet also can hold dark aspects. He is manipulative, but not like how most are. While most manipulative men would say, "You are lucky to have me! Without me, you would be nothing! You are mine, and you will do as I say!" He's the kind of dude to say, "I am so lucky to have you. Without you, my days would be so dull and bland. Oh how happy I am to have earned your heart, and claimed you. You are MINE, and I don't plan on sharing your heart or your body, anytime soon!" He's just a silly little goober that I can't help but giggle about.

None of the animatronics can ever do things to someone if that person don't want things to happen. Animatronics can't kill without reason, or cause harm without a reason, and certainly can't touch inappropriately without that person agreeing. Arcade Land also offers Sex Ed classes, with the average age being 15 for most students, and 15 is the absolute youngest that animatronics can possible even idly wonder about the topic.

The amount of safety protocols in place is insane, since Ludwig (creator of O'Hare Inc and Arcade Land) wanted his animatronics to be better than Fazbear Entertainment's (who exists in the same universe and inspired Ludwig in the first place). The safety protocols are like 'morals' for the animatronics. There was once a project to try and make balloon based animatronics, but that flopped after a year, since the safety protocols took up a lot of their memory, and they were disobedient and disrespectful.

Balloonics can still be found in basements 3 and 4, though no one really cares about them anymore. Only a few are active at a time, and a few get destroyed each year. After the place is abandoned, almost all of the balloonics are activated, but usually spend time in their cubbies charging. The only balloonic that is on year round is Drake, him being a prototype balloonic. He is different because he has the exoskeleton of a Performer but is hollow inside. He can't float like other balloonics, but he is intelligent, unlike other balloonics. He is a tad arrogant, but hey, he's one of a kind and the smartest balloonic in Earth, of course he would be smug.

Basement 3 was supposed to be a waterpark, but the plans showed that was a bad idea, so it was made into an employee only area. There is a pool, though that is farther back into the forest that neighbors Arcade Land, and has a skylight that connects it to the above world. The pool of full of anigoo, sometimes called animatar, which is a byproduct created from when animatronics digest things in their artificial stomachs for fuel. Many animatronics like to take mini vacations there, where they have little martinis and animatronics that give massages. That is usually where animatronics will spend their time when they need to use their mandated unpaid vacation time.

Animatronics work around 46 weeks a year, the daytime animatronics working around 80 hour workweeks. They can't get tired since they are made of metal and wires and rubber, and don't spend all of working hours working. They take paid breaks, and eat when needed. Sometimes, they spend a lot of time in their rooms, usually making sure they look their best. The animatronics who have fur spend around 2 hours each day freshening up their fur and cleaning it out of anything that could get stuck, like gum or soda.

More to come soon.

[queenhellwitch]

I'm so sick of writing this essay every day.

It WAS out of character, but it was written, so you have to find Sam's truth in it, as Jared once said. Everyone goes straight to, "well, Dean was ANGRY that Sam didn't look for him, so Sam was WRONG TO CHOOSE TO DO THAT." Do we honestly think that Sam stood there in that lab, wide-eyed and hyperventilating in front of Crowley and his taunting, thinking "Well damn, Dean's gone, I'm going to CHOOSE not to look for him." Not being facetious, because he might've done (it is, after all, the rational choice considering all the harm to creation they've caused as a team (and that's also kind of the truth Sam offers to Dean, when he later tries and fails to explain it to him).

So *was* it a conscious plan to offhandedly abandon his brother? I think not. Because we're shown throughout the seasons that Sam is usually such an analytical, practical person, and insanely single-minded and vengeful when it comes to saving Dean - even in the direst of straits, Sammy keeps his head; hits the lore, solves the problem. In character, he would've found out he was in Purgatory, he would've summoned Death and begged him for another random eclipse (another of which, by the way, had already been outright refused).

So why does nobody ever offer Sam grace and consider *why was he out of character?* It's because he was reeling. He'd lost everyone he'd ever loved, he was still absolutely swamped by guilt, head swimming with Hell trauma that had nearly killed him. He was running on fumes already at the end of season 7. He had no Bunker at that point, no comfort, no Bobby anymore. The angels were d1cks. No demons would make a deal. All he had left, and all he could do, was go back to the car. "I fixed up the Impala, and I drove." The scenes where he hit the dog, he was absolutely frantic. Reminded again how much pain and destruction he causes. Amelia was a lifeline, an (unhappy imo) accident - she just happened. He wasn't chasing happiness, or a normal life at that point. Just running.

So thoughts of Dean, the Life, Kevin, everything unfinished would come back and poke at his brain... At that point, do you stay hiding, buried, living in a motel, clinging to someone who makes you a birthday cake, fixing sinks, not being traumatised, abandoned, hospitalised, killed? Or do you give yourself an shake and say "c'mon Sam, stand up and find your brother, have the audacity to insert yourself back into a world where your *very existence* killed him, made his life hell, made his death literal hell, killed your own mother, father, the love of your life, millions of others, caused apocalypse, destroyed Kevin's life, got *his* girlfriend killed...

He, of course, can't say all that to Dean. How can he?

"we promised we weren't going to look for each other" - it's easier - prove it was a rational choice. "I met a girl and decided not to hunt anymore" - ok, Dean will be angry, but Dean's anger is usual, normal, and easier to deal with than facing Dean's disappointment in Sam's unravelling.

I might be overanalysing and giving him too much credit. But he deserves it and this is a Sam-positive post. And if you watch the scene with Cas and Sam in the cartoon world in Hunteri Heroici, you can *see* it. His ranting at Fred about living in a dream world isn't about Fred. It's all about his own anger at himself, taking on board yet more guilt, because he can never do anything right. He's more than out of character. He's an absolute mess.

[auliasbookcorner]

Review: Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami

Book 1 of 2023

Start Reading Time: 28 December 2022

Finish reading Time: 27 January 2023

Page Count: 467 Pages

TRIGGER WARNINGS: ABANDONMENT, RAPE, EMOTIONAL ABUSE, ADULT/MINOR RELATIONSHIP, ANIMAL DEATH, BODY HORROR, ANIMAL CRUELTY, DEATH, INCEST, AND VIOLENCE

This is the spoiler-free part of the review. I will put up a spoiler alert before going into the review that contains spoilers.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID I JUST READ?!

Last year I started the year with one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading, A Little Life, but this year... I started the year with this steaming hot mess.

Oh, and happy new year, by the way. I wish you a much, much better start of the year than mine, and I'm also wishing myself, and all of you a much better rest of the year.

I think this is the first book that has gotten me feel so mad and disgusted, while simultaneously intrigued me enough to make me want to find out the answers in the end so I kept reading it (painful though it was) until the very end, and then left feeling immeasurably disappointed by the ending, and just the whole book as a whole.

I am well aware that there are A LOT of people who love this book, and no offense to those people, but this book infuriates me unlike any other, so this might not be the review to read for those people, as this will be a rant review. But again, I'd like to remind you that maybe I am just a dummy who doesn't have the brain capacity to understand or appreciate the genius of this book. However, this dummy has a lot of thoughts and feelings that need to be expressed, thus the rant review. If these thoughts and feelings offended you in any way, please know that it is never my intention. I respect everyone's tastes and preferences, and I understand that art is subjective, and I hope you would extend the same sentiment to me.

In other words, please don't come for me.

This is the first Murakami book I've ever read, and this book has been sitting in my TBR since about 3 years ago. Almost everyone and their moms were talking about it and recommending it to me, including my friend, who recommended this book to be our book club's pick. I hate to say that I now have beef with those people. (Nope, just kidding, although I am now highly skeptical of their book recs now)

Anyway, I know Murakami is a highly regarded author and has written many books that are highly praised. But now, having read one of his books, I don't think I like his style of writing, which is very disappointing to me. I thought he'll be an author that I will like, and I planned to read more of his books this year. I have now scratched that plan. Listen, I want to give him another chance, maybe this book is just the only book that just doesn't work for me, and maybe I'll like his other books, I really wanted to believe it. But, I am just still so freshly traumatized by this book that I can't even bear the thought of reading another creation of the man who wrote about some of, if not the most brutal animal killing scenes in books I have ever read, among other brutal scenes like incest and rape.

I am definitely NOT a fan of this book, and I will try to not make this review overly negative and be a constructive criticism instead.

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kafka Tamura has just turned 15 years old, and he's running away from home. He's going to be the world's toughest 15 year old. Why? His father told him the prophecy that he was cursed to do three of the most despicable things:

Murder his own father

Have sex with his own mother

Have sex with his own sister

Now, Kafka's Mom and older sister left him and his father when he was younger, and he can't even remember their names or faces. Kafka doesn't really talk to his father, and they don't really have a relationship. Kafka has been planning his flee from home for years, and on the eve of his 15th birthday, he's finally going to put that plan into action.

Kafka's main reason is he's trying to escape his "fate" of killing his father, and having sex with his mom and his sister. Kafka knows if he keeps living with his father, the prophecy will come true, but if he's far away from his father he might have a chance of changing his fate. Also, since he can't remember his mom and sister's faces and names, he suspects almost every woman he met of being his mom or sister, but he knows he can't know for sure.

Meanwhile, Nakata's been looking for a house cat that's been missing for days. That's Nakata's job, people pay him with money, food or clothes to look for their lost cats because somehow, the well mannered though intellectually challenged old man has ways of finding lost cats. His secret? He can talk to cats. Yup, Nakata may be old, living on government's aids and can't read, but he sure can talk to cats, and that's how he's able to find all these lost cats.

But he's been looking for this one cat for days now, but he still couldn't find it. No matter, Nakata's a patient man and he doesn't mind waiting for hours for the lost cat to show up at one spot where another cat told him they spotted the cat. However, somehow, Nakata found himself being cornered by a strange man asking him to kill him, otherwise the strange man would kill more and more cats in the most gruesome ways.

Will Kafka be able to change his fate?

What will Nakata do to the strange man?

Kafka and Nakata may not know each other, but their fates would intersect in the most bizarre way.

🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨

From this point forward in the review, I will mention spoilers, plot twist and the ending. So, if you don’t wish to be spoiled, you can skip the rest of the review and come back to this review once you’ve finished reading this book.

The best things about this book for me are...

THE PROSE. It's beautiful, not gonna lie.

The philosophies scattered in between scenes, though they were being delivered in some of the most peculiar ways. The craziest one must be when that sex worker was telling Hoshino about philosophy that she's learning in the university to keep him from coming too early. I love the philosophies, absolutely DESPISED the way it's being told.

Oshima. Him and Nakata are two of the best characters of this book (except when Oshima said he had no problem with Kafka and Saeki having sex). Hoshino can be relatable sometimes, and at other times he can be hilarious and generous, but he can be an ass too, and that sex scene traumatized me.

Nakata is so endearing. He reminded me of Charlie from Flowers for Algernon at the beginning of the book, before he gets the operation. I kept reading the book because of Nakata, honestly. I was hoping he'd get his memory pre-incident.

Some *hopefully* constructive criticisms…

I think this book could do with so much less description about body parts, and just the overall perversion. Maybe don't make the characters to be so fucking horny? Also make it to be less sex scenes, or maybe make them to be much more subtle and tasteful. Some of the sex scenes straight up read like a very bad script for a very bad porn movie.

Seems to me that the author could not help himself but mentions a female character's legs, body and breasts while describing her, and it is SO uncomfortable to read, oh dear God it's like being inside a pervert's mind. EW.

I don't mind the magical realism aspect, but please make it make sense a little, or at least give answers to the questions that intrigued the readers in the first to half part of the book. What was the plane that made all the kids collapse? Who is Kafka's dad and what is his powers? Was Sakura really Kafka's sister? How did Nakata get his powers?

NO INCEST, PLEASE. Take it out of the book and make the curse something else, literally anything else, murder his mother maybe? Tank her business and take away her power to live? Anything else but incest please. Why did it have to be incest and why did it have to be described so graphically?

NO RAPE SCENES, PLEASE. What is the point, it seems like the author just wants to gross out the readers and get a massive reaction out of them by including that "dream incest rape" scene. I legit want to throw up while reading that part.

My favourite moments from the book:

I don't think there's any... My favorite part of this whole experience is when I finally finished reading it, and ended my misery.

And finally, here are my favorite quotes from the book:

""Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions," Crow says.   Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts.   Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn.   Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine."

""You're going to be the world's toughest fifteen-year-old," Crow whispers as I try to fall asleep. Like he was carving the words in a deep blue tattoo on my heart.   And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.   And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."

"The world is a huge space, but the space that will take you in—and it doesn't have to be very big—is nowhere to be found. You seek a voice, but what do you get? Silence."

"Your heart is like a great river after a long spell of rain, spilling over its banks.   All signposts that once stood on the ground are gone, inundated and carried away by that rush of water. And still the rain beats down on the surface of the river. Every time you see a flood like that on the news you tell yourself: That's it. That's my heart."

""'In traveling, a companion, in life, compassion,'" she repeats, making sure of it. If she had paper and pencil, it wouldn't surprise me if she wrote it down. "So what does that really mean? In simple terms."   I think it over. It takes me a while to gather my thoughts, but she waits patiently. "I think it means," I say, "that chance encounters are what keep us going. In simple terms.""

""'Even chance meetings'... how does the rest of that go?"   "'Are the result of karma.'"   "Right, right," she says. "But what does it mean?"   "That things in life are fated by our previous lives. That even in the smallest events there's no such thing as coincidence.""

""According to Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium, in the ancient world of myth there were three types of people," Oshima says. "Have you heard about this?"   "No."   "In ancient times people weren't just male or female, but one of three types: male/male, male/female, or female/female. In other words, each person was made out of the components of two people. Everyone was happy with this arrangement and never really gave it much thought. But then God took a knife and cut everybody in half, right down the middle. So after that the world was divided just into male and female, the upshot being that people spend their time running around trying to locate their missing other half." ... "Anyway, my point is that it's really hard for people to live their lives alone.""

""There're all sorts of cats—just like there're all sorts of people." "That's exactly right. Nakata feels the same way. There are all kinds of people in the world, and all kinds of cats.""

""What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching for the other half of your shadow."   Nakata tugged a few times at the bill of his hat in his hands. "To tell the truth, Nakata's had that feeling before. That my shadow is weak. Other people might not notice, but I do."   "That's good, then," the cat said.   "But I'm already old, and may not live much longer. Mother's already dead. Father's already dead. Whether you're smart or dumb, can read or can't, whether you've got a shadow or not, once the time comes, everybody passes on. You die and they cremate you. You turn into ashes and they bury you at a place called Karasuyama."

"I go back to the reading room, where I sink down in the sofa and into the world of The Arabian Nights. Slowly, like a movie fadeout, the real world evaporates. I'm alone, inside the world of the story. My favorite feeling in the world."

"Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through, is now like something from the distant past. We're so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past, like ancient stars that have burned out, are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about every day, too many new things we have to learn. New styles, new information, new technology, new terminology... But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone"

"It's all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine. It's just like Yeats said: In dreams begin responsibilities. Flip this around and you could say that where there's no power to imagine, no responsibility can arise. Just like we see with Eichmann."

"It's all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine. It's just like Yeats said: In dreams begin responsibilities. Flip this around and you could say that where there's no power to imagine, no responsibility can arise. Just like we see with Eichmann."

"But that calm won't last long, you know. It's like beasts that never tire, tracking you everywhere you go. They come out at you deep in the forest. They're tough, relentless, merciless, untiring, and they never give up. You might control yourself now, and not masturbate, but they'll get you in the end, as a wet dream. You might dream about raping your sister, your mother. It's not something you can control. It's a power beyond you—and all you can do is accept it.   You're afraid of imagination. And even more afraid of dreams. Afraid of the responsibility that begins in dreams. But you have to sleep, and dreams are a part of sleep. When you're awake you can suppress imagination. But you can't suppress dreams."

"Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear."

""From my own experience, when someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them. I'm generalizing, of course.""

""That's how stories happen—with a turning point, an unexpected twist. There's only one kind of happiness, but misfortune comes in all shapes and sizes. It's like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.""

""Kafka, in everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That's how we survive.""

""You build up relationships like that one after another and before you know it you have meaning. The more connections, the deeper the meaning. Doesn't matter if it's eel, or rice bowls, or grilled fish, whatever. Get it?"   "No, I still don't understand. Does food make connections between things?"   "Not just food. Streetcars, the emperor, whatever."   "But I don't ride streetcars."   "That's fine. Look—what I'm getting at is no matter who or what you're dealing with, people build up meaning between themselves and the things around them. The important thing is whether this comes about naturally or not. Being bright has nothing to do with it. What matters is that you see things with your own eyes.""

""Things change every day, Mr. Nakata. With each new dawn it's not the same world as the day before. And you're not the same person you were, either. You get what I'm saying?""

""The world of the grotesque is the darkness within us. Well before Freud and Jung shined a light on the workings of the subconscious, this correlation between darkness and our subconscious, these two forms of darkness, was obvious to people. It wasn't a metaphor, even. If you trace it back further, it wasn't even a correlation. Until Edison invented the electric light, most of the world was totally covered in darkness. The physical darkness outside and the inner darkness of the soul were mixed together, with no boundary separating the two. They were directly linked. Like this." Oshima brings his two hands together tightly.   "In Murasaki Shikibu's time living spirits were both a grotesque phenomenon and a natural condition of the human heart that was right there with them. People of that period probably couldn't conceive of these two types of darkness as separate from each other. But today things are different. The darkness in the outside world has vanished, but the darkness in our hearts remains, virtually unchanged. Just like an iceberg, what we label the ego or consciousness is, for the most part, sunk in darkness. And that estrangement sometimes creates a deep contradiction or confusion within us.""

""Were you lonely when you were fifteen?"   "In a sense, I guess. I wasn't alone, but I was terribly lonely. Because I knew that I would never be happier than I was then. That much I knew for sure. That's why I wanted to go—just as I was—to some place where there was no time.""

""My grandpa always said asking a question is embarrassing for a moment, but not asking is embarrassing for a lifetime.""

""Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves. So anyone who's in love gets sad when they think of their lover. It's like stepping back inside a room you have fond memories of, one you haven't seen in a long time. It's just a natural feeling. You're not the person who discovered that feeling, so don't go trying to patent it, okay?""

""The strength I'm looking for isn't the kind where you win or lose. I'm not after a wall that'll repel power coming from outside. What I want is the kind of strength to be able to absorb that outside power, to stand up to it. The strength to quietly endure things—unfairness, misfortune, sadness, mistakes, misunderstandings."   "That's got to be the most difficult strength of all to make your own."   "I know....""

"Life's crappy, no matter how you cut it. He just hadn't understood that when he was little."

""Archduke Rudolph didn't make a name for himself as either a pianist or a composer, but sort of stood in the shadows lending a helping hand to Beethoven, who didn't know much about getting ahead in the world. If it hadn't been for him, Beethoven would have had a much tougher time."   "Those kind of people are necessary in life, huh?"   "Absolutely." "The world would be a real mess if everybody was a genius. Somebody's got to keep watch, take care of business."   "Exactly. A world full of geniuses would have significant problems.""

"Listening to Fournier's flowing, dignified cello, Hoshino was drawn back to his childhood. He used to go to the river every day to catch fish. Nothing to worry about back then, he reminisced. Just live each day as it came. As long as I was alive, I was something. That was just how it was. But somewhere along the line it all changed.   Living turned me into nothing. Weird... People are born in order to live, right? But the longer I've lived, the more I've lost what's inside me—and ended up empty. And I bet the longer I live, the emptier, the more worthless, I'll become. Something's wrong with this picture. Life isn't supposed to turn out like this! Isn't it possible to shift direction, to change where I'm headed?"

""I had a kind of revelation last night. Taking crazy things seriously is—a serious waste of time."   "A very wise conclusion. There's that saying, 'Pointless thinking is worse than no thinking at all.'""

""But this is something you have to figure out on your own.   Nobody can help you. That's what love's all about, Kafka. You're the one having those wonderful feelings, but you have to go it alone as you wander through the dark. Your mind and body have to bear it all. All by yourself.""

"I've always been a great fan of the Chunichi Dragons, he thought, but what are the Dragons to me, anyway? Say they beat the Giants—how's that going to make me a better person? How could it? So why the heck have I spent all this time getting worked up like the team was some extension of myself?"

""Do you think music has the power to change people? Like you listen to a piece and go through some major change inside?"   Oshima nodded. "Sure, that can happen. We have an experience—like a chemical reaction—that transforms something inside us. When we examine ourselves later on, we discover that all the standards we've lived by have shot up another notch and the world's opened up in unexpected ways. Yes, I've had that experience. Not often, but it has happened. It's like falling in love.""

""Let a bright light shine in and melt the coldness in your heart. That's what being tough is all about.""

""Every one of us is losing something precious to us," he says after the phone stops ringing. "Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That's part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads—at least that's where I imagine it—there's a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you'll live forever in your own private library.""

This book makes me wish that there was a way to remove a memory from your brain, like some kind of a bleach, so you can wash your brain clean off of the nastiness of this book. Also, I would like my 1 month worth of reading this book back, such a waste of time.

Anyway, the silver lining is that we can only go up from here, right?

PLOT - ⭐

WRITING STYLE - ⭐⭐⭐

ENTERTAINMENT LEVEL - 💔

BOOK COVER DESIGN - ⭐

OVERALL BOOK RATING - ⭐

[psyga315]

Tell me you missed the point of the hallucination scene from Volume 9 without telling me you missed the point of the hallucination scene from Volume 9.

First and foremost, they are just that: hallucinations. If we're being charitable with the interpretations here, this version has them be hallucinations of broken pedestals that are representing their own broken moralities.

Weiss has Winter, who are both tied to the SDC and the family name, and Winter was someone Weiss looked up to until recently when she found she couldn't rely on her.

Blake was Adam's mentor and ex who she once idealized his justice before she saw what a monster he was, tying that to how she views her own version of justice.

Yang's relationship to Raven is natch and obviously was broken by the time they officially met in Volume 5. How it reflects with Yang could be her own devotion to protect her friends and family.

Ruby genuinely wanted Ironwood's plan of activating Amity to go off without a hitch and only opposed the whole "going into space with the relics" plan because it meant leaving a city to rot, which obviously was her broken pedestal moment, with the morality being questioned being her duties as a Huntress.

In the original scene, each of them were quizzed on what they wanted out of their life the same sort of question they got from Volume 2, though now with them having their answer (it's not a straight 1:1 question, but it's close enough to the question that enough fans made gifsets comparing them).

It's to symbolize how much they've grown compared to when they got their question before. Weiss has grown past the need to "redeem" the family name. Blake has grown to settle down into a life she can call her own without needing to fight for it, and Yang has accepted that just because she's missing something in her life doesn't mean she's empty. (Ruby is the exception because she's grown to realize she doesn't know what she is without her role as a Huntress).

So, you would assume that the above scene would be similar. That WBY would refute what WAR call them out on and it's Ruby who struggles to figure out a good counter for Ironwood.

But instead, we have what is basically a "no u" response from RWBY that barely refutes any of what the group had brought up at best and a thinly veiled rant at the characters masking as lines of dialogue at worst.

And keep in mind, these are supposedly hallucinations... So this scene becomes even more fucked. Why? Well, let's break it down.

Winter's statement is that Weiss has nothing now and that had they just stayed within the SDC and not broken out, they could have changed it for the better instead of now being purposeless people.

Normally, "I will not be defined by my name because I will be the one to define it." would still fit here, since the theme is trying to impress people.

Weiss' response is to instead yell at her for not doing anything to save Whitley and Willow from Jacques and being Ironwood's second in command.

Hey, uh, you remember that exchange in Volume 7 where Willow and Weiss meet up? This bit?

Willow: No matter what happens, Weiss... please don't forget about your brother.

Weiss looks at her mother.

Weiss: Whitley wants nothing to do with me.

Willow stops at the door and turns to look at Weiss.

Willow: Of course not, you left him alone.

She looks at the portrait of Jacques behind the desk, and Weiss looks at it too.

Willow: (sadly) With us.

So, what you just implied is that Weiss is projecting the fact that she outright abandoned her brother to be abused at the hands of Jacques... Onto Winter.

And just to remind you all, the last time Weiss saw Winter, she was trying to save her life, even if it meant that Cinder could get the Staff of Creation. She risked everything just to save her sister, and yet when seeing a hallucination of her...

She basically tells her "why didn't you go save our mom and brother?"

And, this is going to be a recurring theme, but notice how Weiss never refuted anything Winter said.

Adam's discussion with Blake is that she foisted responsibility onto a child (something that Volume 9 clearly shows wears on Ruby's emotions) and then brings up how bringing the civilians to Vacuo is a bad idea.

Blake has like one line that refutes this and then proceeds to yell at him about how he's not a real hero of Faunus like that has anything to do with whatever he said. It's funny that both he and Ironwood are the only responses that are multi-paragraph while Raven and Winter's are just one paragraph...

Almost like it's biased or something...

Which is funnier because in the original scene, WBY only had about a few sentences to respond to their hallucinations, not entire paragraphs of a thinly veiled filibuster.

But back to the one line that refutes this: "We sent the people of Atlas and Mantle to the only kingdom with enough Huntsmen to protect them."

I'm going to cut krypti some slack because they at least tried to give a response to what Adam said before Blake flew off into her multi-paragraph rant on why he's the worst person ever.

The debate on whether Vacuo is the right choice is hotly discussed and while it's a good shortcut for RWBY to get to the next spot Salem's hitting next, dragging Atlas and Mantle's people to it has its own problems because of Vacuo's philosophy of people needing to look out for their own.

And that's mainly because of how the OG Mantle fucked it over years ago. No one really brings up this problem when discussing Vacuo so I just guess the World of Remnant really is non canon.

But back to Vacuo, it will now need to divert its resources between quelling the truth bomb Ruby laid on an unsuspecting populace (something Ironwood had accounted for with his original plan), stopping Salem's inevitable forces, and now this recent refugee crisis, plus whatever sort of Maiden + Relic shenanigans will ensue (because you know that's bound to happen), so there's definitely a lot of risks that outweigh Blake's "it's the only kingdom with enough Huntsmen to protect them" reason, because they're not gonna be the only thing they're gonna be protecting, honey.

Raven's hallucination tells Yang that Salem can't be reasoned with and that she should just give up and run before more of her friends and family are slaughtered by Salem. This is an interesting point where what Krypti wrote does tie back to how it's a symbol of Yang growing past her character...

Except it feels more like a regression.

Let's pull up Yang's retort to her canonical hallucination for comparison's sake:

My losses, my failures. Those more than anything are what have shaped me into who I am, showed me how I need to grow. If there’s something I’m missing, it’s not because I lost it. It’s because I haven’t found it yet. And the only way to do that is to keep going.

Note how calm and rational Yang is being here. Even when Yang was confronting her actual mom in Volume 5's infamous finale, the only time she was outright angry and confrontational with her was when Raven was boasting about strength, because at that point, she had lost her patience with how she can just calmly talk about murdering an innocent kid and passed it off as mercy and she was (once again) dodging her questions by cryptically saying how strong she was.

However, she doesn't let that anger get the better of her and instead rationally convinces Raven to hand her the Relic. And this works. That's why Yang is in the Ever After in the first place! It was all because Yang managed to convince Raven that she could handle it.

So, let's now read what Krypti had written for Yang once again:

You know Raven, Ozpin should have given you the power to turn into a chicken rather than a raven. That’s all you’ve ever been!

A roast that barely refutes the point Raven made.

The moment anything gets too tough for you you just leave! Oh no I can’t be bothered with a child! Oh no this fight isn’t going my way!

Which is now becoming more petulant.

My mother was Summer Rose, not you!

A quick refresher that this isn't actually Raven, but rather a mental hallucination of Raven and that this is supposedly the moment of WBY's character arcs where they renew their vows of being Huntresses.

And it's instead being used for Yang to instead yell about her mommy issues into the void.

I’d rather die on my feet knowing I gave it my all than die in fear.

It's amazing that this is the only line of dialogue that has any right to exist, so I'll do you a solid and actually rewrite this:

Yang: I’d rather die on my feet knowing I gave it my all than die in fear. You say I wouldn't want to do this, but that's not true at all. I will do this, if not for the sake of my friends, then for the sake of both my moms... for I am a Huntress!

There. See how much better flowing it is?

And then... There's Ruby.

So, here's the interesting thing about Ruby.

Her entire character arc for Ever After is that she's the most broken of Team RWBY but the problem is that she can't ever outright say she's broken because everyone else sees her as the "smaller, more honest soul" that they fling their hopes onto. All so that she can fight a never-ending war against a monster that, as far as she knows, killed her mother who was in that very same war and failed.

When she faced her hallucination of her past who outright brings this fact up to her, she couldn't muster a response and Curious had to step in and stop it before things could have gotten worse.

Ironwood's is the simplest: two sentences that ask Ruby if she thinks she's a better hero than he is. The appropriate response here would be still hesitance or despair since by this point, Ruby was beginning to have doubts of whether their actions were worth it in the end, not helped by the fact that they risked everything for Penny and she still died.

But, of course, Krypti decided this is the perfect time for Ruby to have the longest rant out of the four members. To break down exactly what she says to him, she:

Accuses Ironwood for arresting them for the crime of protecting people.

Accuses Ironwood of looking for an excuse to cut Mantle loose long before the evacuation attempts.

Takes credit for Ironwood's "warn the world" plan.

Rambles out a laundry list of crimes Ironwood did throughout Volume 8.

I'm interrupting this list because most of the stuff she says is stuff I don't even think Ruby is even aware of:

Did Oscar tell Ruby about him getting shot?

Does she know about Sleet getting shot?

Does she know that Ironwood was working with Watts specifically?

This is a minor detail, but put a pin in it because I don't think Ruby'd just suddenly call people she had worked and trained with "goons".

And to top off her spiel to Ironwood:

Says how Ironwood stopped them whenever they tried to save people (name one time in Volume 8 that wasn't Whitley using the SDC ships)

Says how Ironwood's pride and arrogance was his biggest crime... While proceeding to have pride and arrogance by saying she's a better hero than him.

Pins the blame of the fall of Atlas entirely on him.

You know what?

I applaud you.

You've written a perfectly in character response here that is appropriate for the story context.

Because it would be in character for Ruby who, just a few episodes after this encounter, would end up flying into an outrage at her own friends after she gets a PTSD attack.

It is petulant, accusatory, paranoiac, egotistical, basically all the hallmarks of someone who clearly isn't right in the head and had just realized their plan to risk it all to fight for every life might have gone to shit and they have no way of knowing or even caring if it's even worth fighting for anymore.

Oh, wait? You mean to say that's just her being defiant in the face of Ironwood? The hallucination that was made based off her own psyche and hangups?

So... you basically had Ruby scream "NO, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" into the metaphorical void because things didn't go her way and expected that to be the good route?

This post is dragging long enough so I gotta wrap this up.

The concept of having RWBY's four toxic influences be the hallucinations rather than the past versions of themselves is a neat concept, especially if done in a way where it references how they've grown past who they are like in the original.

However, the retorts by Krypti barely work because of one primary reason that I'm sure you've noticed.

The main point that is brought up by the hallucinations is barely mentioned and is instead just lip service before they get roasted by what is clearly a mouthpiece, as evidenced by the random use of the word "goons" by Ruby, out of character knowledge being used, random tangents the characters go on, and the obvious bias against Ironwood and Adam having more words in their rants about them than Winter and Raven.

If anything, this serves as a great microcosm of RWBY discourse where one person brings up a problem that the characters will have to face and rather than talking about the problem, the fans will respond by saying how everything is someone else's fault or just resort to ad hominem attacks.

You’re No Better.

Okay but what if they confronted the people they’ve hurt/impacted the most? If you got better dialogue or alternatives for this scene let me know! This is just my version, wish I had Adam say more about how Blake just screwed around partying with FNKI than help the Faunus in ATLAS of all places!

Also… yeah I wish maybe RWBY faced WTCH but that would require a full rewrite to make sense. Heaven forbid the main villains interact with the main heroes.

[jdmorganz]

Maggie Rhee Rant

Okay, so I’m going to do a bit of a rant on the character of Maggie for The Walking Dead. There are episode 3 spoilers in this, so please don’t click the read more option if spoilers bother you or if it is going to upset you hearing someone’s opinion on the character. 

The first thing I want to talk about is the fandom. It really irritates me when you are talking about why you dislike Maggie and the first thing people do is they scream “misogynist!” – I like a lot of the characters on The Walking Dead that are female. There are so many good characters on The Walking Dead in fact. Michonne, Carol, Lydia, Princess, Yumiko, Judith, etc. I just don’t find Maggie very likable so when people scream misogynist when someone doesn’t like Maggie and they say that it is completely irrational for people to dislike her. That’s silly and ridiculous.

The next line that I’m sick of seeing is, “You only hate her because you like Negan” … no, I’ve never liked the character of Maggie. Even before the creation of Negan. I’ve always disliked her character. Stop trying to invalidate someone’s opinion just because they don’t agree with you. You don’t have to attack someone’s character just because they don’t like a character you do or vice versa.

Now onto the comments about Maggie this season....

Maggie abandoned Alexandria. The girl wanted nothing to do with them, until she needed something. Yet, when she arrives back into Alexandria, she expects to be in the leading role and wants these people to bend over backwards for her. Not only that, she brought he wrath of The Reapers onto these people. I understand people will defend “Well that’s her family…” it’s still screwed up.

Now onto their little journey to get food from Meridian. It was a horrible plan. So many people said it was a suicide mission. She brings Negan to “lead” them through the city. Negan tells her what the best option is MULTIPLE times to keep the people safe and because she hates him, she ignores him. I’m not someone that thinks Maggie should ever forgive Negan. It makes sense why she hates him. BUT HER HATRED IS GETTING PEOPLE KILLED. Instead of listening to Negan, she decides to do her own thing which leads to disaster after disaster. She was leading people to their deaths.

Maggie gets mad at Negan for leaving her (even though she just threatened to kill him five minutes earlier), but then decides it is okay to leave a teenager behind because they are a ‘liability’. Maggie. The boy was fucking scared. There was room to save him! You can’t convince me otherwise. They could have opened the door, pulled him in and closed the door. If that would have been her son who did the same thing, she would have risked everything to save him. It’s a sad day when even Negan was attempting to save Gage, but she let him die. First example of Maggie the hypocrite.

Maggie leads the group RIGHT into the hands of The Reapers, getting her entire group killed and also some of those in Alexandria. She was warned her plan was shit. She was told it was a suicide mission. Negan gave options to make it less dangerous, she ignored him and look where it led her.

This whole event was HER FAULT. The reapers marked her. She knew they were dangerous. She knew that things were bad. Yet, she still took this group right into the center of it all. Yet she has the audacity to tell Negan this is his fault. That he caused this. Maggie! I know it’s hard to blame yourself because let’s be honest (she never has) but you are the reason your friends are dead. It was your fault. It was your shit plan! Not Negan’s.

Then she goes and lectures Negan about how he doesn’t have the right to choose who lives and who dies because he’s awful blah blah blah! Okay. We just watched this girl let a teenager die. She GETS to pick who lives and who dies, yet she is going to lecture the one person who is trying to help her. God, this woman gets on my nerves so much because she is such a hypocrite.

Blaming Negan for everything going to shit? Yeah, Negan did shitty things, but Maggie you have too and you continued to make stupid decisions. This shit is a hundred percent her fault and listening to her go off about how it’s Negan’s fault when the people of Alexandria are still alive because of Negan irritates the hell out of me.

I like Negan because I’m a fan of morally gray characters where they can be both good and bad. But with Maggie, I have never been a fan of her hypocrisy. Is she a bad ass? Sure. Lauren is also a fucking fantastic actress, but overall, Maggie is very unlikable in my opinion and she is awful. Listening to her lecture Negan about her own faults is making me hate the character more. She can’t even blame herself for her own faults and that makes her character twice as frustrating.

Even on The Talking Dead when Josh called out Maggie on being a liability, he was right. She is. Her character is making shit decisions and it’s obvious. 

I also want to add how she told Negan that it was impossible for him to change. Yet, it’s acceptable for her to change and it’s okay that she became dark? It just brings us back to that whole hypocrite thing. 

[stealing-jasons-job]

Dear fanfic readers...

I want to start this by saying I love you all. Seriously. I honestly wouldn’t still be writing fanfic if you guys didn’t exist. And I think that’s probably true of a lot of writers. We thrive on readers enjoying our work, leaving kudos/comments, reblogging, sharing with friends, etc. And 99% of people who read/comment don’t fall into this category. 

But I have to address something. Er, I have to address a few somethings. Tonight, one of my dear friends received a nasty comment on one of their fics. It was, frankly, a mean rant disagreeing about the choices said writer made in the chapter update. But what really struck me was what they said at the end of the comment—that they admire the author’s work and that they are excited about future chapters. Which to me, meant that they meant their comment as a constructive criticism rather than to be purposefully hateful. 

Which leads me to my first “something”: 

Long comments about things you personally disagree with in a story is not constructive criticism. 

I say this as someone who gives actual constructive criticism to writers for a living. Calling someone’s work horrible or hollow or misguided or flat or [insert long list of other adjectives I’ve seen non-writers call someone’s work] isn’t constructive criticism. It’s not constructive. It’s just mean. 

Moreover, constructive criticism has to be founded on mutual trust. If you’re commenting on ao3 or Tumblr or Twitter on someone’s work who did not ask you specifically for constructive criticism, that trust isn’t there. 

You’re welcome to your opinions about someone’s story or work. But you are not welcome to share those negative opinions when you don’t have consent. Even when you DO have consent, that constructive criticism needs to be well-structured to include real reasons why something isn’t working in a story (”I don’t personally agree with this choice” is not an example of a real reason) and ways to improve. That respect is the very least a writer deserves when someone is asked (notice how I bolded asked, bc it’s fucking important) to give feedback on work that they spent time and effort on.  Which leads me to my next “something”: 

Fanfic is provided for free, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t cost something. 

I saw a post on here recently (linked here) that talked about how fanfic is provided at no cost to the reader, but that doesn’t mean it’s “free” for the writer. And this is something I think some non-writers don’t quite understand. 

Writing a story—whether it be based on characters from a TV show like this fic or based on original characters of your own creation—is a lot of fucking work. It takes hours of your time and so much mental energy. There's the planning and the plotting and the actual writing and the editing and the working up the nerve to post it so that others can see it and hopefully like it. And all of that labor, all of that emotional/mental/physical labor is done for free. So that the stories in our heads and hearts can exist and so that readers can enjoy them.

EVERY choice is thought out. Every. Single. One. Every conversation is considered, every dialogue tag is placed with intention, every choice the character makes is one we make first. And do we always agree with the choices our characters make? Do these choices always perfectly mirror what would likely happen in real life or even if another write were to have written the story? No, not always. But damn if we didn't have a reason for letting them make them regardless. Every facet of a story is considered—especially for longer fics. 

So hours of work and a mountain of emotional, mental, and physical energy is put into a fic. Writers open up a door for readers to see into our minds and hearts and souls for these stories. And the very least readers can do is tell us when those stories resonates, and be kind and respectful regardless of if it resonates or not. Deciding to shit on a story because you don't personally agree with the direction the story is headed? That's heartbreaking. And irritating. And frankly unmotivating. 

Which brings me to my final “something” of this post: 

Negativity and indifference are killing Fandom. 

We’ve all seen how Fandom (and I’m not just talking about one specific fandom, I’m talking about capital-F Fandom as a whole) has gone downhill in recent years. There’s less engagement with works, less discussion happening between readers/creators/writers/casual viewers of a fandom, and more writers/creators leaving Fandom behind. 

That’s mostly because of negativity and indifference.  There are a lot of posts about how people (and I include myself in this because I really need to do better, and I’ve been trying) need to make a mindful effort to comment on fics you like, kudos fics you like, reblog, retweet, converse with your favorite writers/creators, etc. So I won’t harp on that again here. 

But negativity is another culprit here. Putting a fic or a piece of art out into the world is terrifying. More terrifying to some than others, but there are nerves and anxieties that go into it no matter who you are. And unlike paid authors publishing books or showrunners air tv shows, the only thing we get in return are the kudos/comments/reblogs/retweets from readers. That’s it. So when we put hours of time and effort and those little pieces of our soul into works only to be met with indifference or hateful comments (even when they are misguided attempts at constructive criticism), it makes the benefit of all that work less and less appealing. 

I’ve seen too many writers abandon works and leave fandoms (including t100 fandom, specifically the bellarke fandom) because of this. And I hate it. We have too many talented writers and creators for that. Moreover, the world needs those talented writers and creators to keep making things they love for it to keep spinning (a topic for another long Tumblr post). 

So how can Fandom be a better place for writers/creators? 

First thing’s first, participate. See a piece of art you loved? Reblog it. Read a fic you adored? Comment something to that effect. Find authors or creators you admire? Reach out to say hey! Or just hit the follow button and interact with posts if you’d rather not say hi. We appreciate all of it and love you immensely for it. 

But the kicker once you start participating is doing it mindfully. Think about what you’re commenting and whether it’s helpful or harmful. A long string of emojis bc you can’t put how much you loved a fic into words? We love to see it. Novel-length tags in your reblogs about your favorite lines? Will probably make our day. DMs or asks about upcoming chapters or fic ideas? We’ll scream our joy and talk your ear off. 

A rant about how you thought the characterization of Bellamy in this fic was off? That’s not helpful if the writer didn’t ask you specifically for that kind of feedback. And hateful comments about how a fic needs to be updated sooner or how a certain update didn’t mean your qualifications for how you personally wanted a story to continue? Definitely not helpful (and a honestly a dick move). 

I have no qualms about speaking on behalf of all fanfic writers when I say that we LOVE every single person who reads our shit. We thrive on people reading our stories and then telling us and their followers how much they loved it. No (kind) comment goes unnoticed or unappreciated. 

So please, please, please spread kindness whenever you can to writers and creators. <3 

All my love, 

A fanfic writer who is terrified that negativity is going to drive all my fandom friends away, and who might get carpal tunnel if I have to write another novel-length rebuttal to someone being an ass on AO3 to one of my friends

[bjornsonbrightman]

A (not-so-brief) list and analysis of the things that were changed in the set design of Phantom London, part 1

[*includes things that were changed in between the release of the infamous Planning Document™ and opening night!*]

WARNING: long, image-heavy post

The past week has undoubtedly been very confusing and anxiety-inducing for a lot of phans, I myself included, who were (and are) still horrified of what C*mM*ck has done to Phantom London.

So naturally, as someone who lives somewhere that couldn't be farther from the UK, I decided to compile a list of all the things that I've learned — through hours of shamelessly scrolling through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook tags — about the planning, creation and production of the new set design.

Hang on tight, it's a bumpy ride.

1. The proscenium

The most obvious thing that is now different from the OG. Let's take a look at the concept art shown in the original planning document:

Ahh, I remember the release of this picture and the Tumblr/Twitter/FB explosion that ensued like it was yesterday. Good times.

The new set design by Matt Kinley is mainly derived from what he did for the UK tour, which introduced the cracked, sculpture-less proscenium and the separate proscenium frame/boxes that appear only during the opera scenes. Unlike the greatly simplified UK tour design, however, this design for London appears to have the original lyres and garlands at the top, as well as some structural elements of the OG proscenium (see the outward curved trimmings on the top sides). The surrounding areas of the auditorium are also shown to be restored to their original colours, the most interesting of which is a new false wall in the area behind the top part of the proscenium. These areas were previously blacked out with black paint and black masking.

Despite hewing closer to the OG than the UK tour did, this was still a sacrilegious bastardization far cry from Maria Björnson's design, and I guess the creatives were aware of it too, as they seemed to try to soften the blow by:

using actual pieces of the original proscenium that weren't a part of the OG plan such as this satyr-riding angel...

including an "homage" to Maria (according to ALW) in the form of a new sculptural bust that fills up the Golden Angel's spot (picture from @mariussansmerci) ...

The design of the false wall behind the lyres on top was also changed to... something that I guess gives off the impression of a false dome?? Not too sure about this one but I kinda like it ngl:

Something that the planning document mentions is that the removal of the side sculptures and the installation of a "cracked" proscenium allows for sound equipment to be installed behind the sides of the proscenium, which frees up the two side boxes to be "used as originally intended". And that's exactly what happened. Surprise, C*mM*ck now has 4 extra seats that he can sell overpriced.

And here's the finished result (photos from here):

With the safety curtain that was brought over from the UK tour and without the inner proscenium/boxes:

To be honest? I kinda like the final result. Those (possibly face-saving) changes really saved the design from looking like a bad copy of the original proscenium; now it just looks like a mediocre copy. But don't worry, whenever I get too comfortable with this new design I just pull out pictures of Maria's OG proscenium and my fiery anger for the new one is reignited.

And that's all I have on the proscenium!

Next up we have something that I believe had the most confusing and troubled development out of all the new set pieces:

2. The Chandelier

Man, this poor thing has been through a lot.

When it was originally designed for the UK tour, the chandelier was intended to utilize much of the same technology that the r*staged tour chandelier used, namely the drapes that are "magically" sucked into the chandelier itself and the straight-dropping mechanism. Hence, the new chandelier was made to be circular and non-collapsible, featuring a decorative spike on the bottom. According to pictures of the model and the concept art shown in the planning document, I suspect the drapes were to be sucked in through the decorative lyres (see the circular openings):

But this mechanism was precisely the reason for the downfall of this design. Come opening night of the UK tour, and this chandelier was nowhere to be seen. My suspicion of what went wrong? Either the drapes were snagging on the lyres (kind of like what happened to the short-lived garlands on R*staged Tour Chandelier), or the retractable frame that held up the drapes wasn't working properly.

But whatever the reason for the failure of this mashup chandelier, the designers must've realized and abandoned ship pretty late, because pictures from one of the prop makers showed that it was still being made with frames that were very much non-collapsible as late as February this year:

Once they realized it wasn't going to work, I believe a series of last-minute actions were made. My theory: they brought back the OG chandelier in all its missing-bulbs glory less than a week away from opening...

... and stripped it of its lyres, which were transplanted onto the new chandelier, as is evident from the final product (photo from @soulsoaringphan):

This hypothesis is bolstered by the fact that the new lyres were originally going to have holes in them for drape-sucking (ew), and so once the decision was made to have the chandelier work more like the OG, the logical step would have been to just borrow the lyres from the old one instead of making new ones in less than a week or two from opening.

Also note the gaps in the beading that would've had the rigid golden frame trimmings seen in the model and the in-progress photos above; the designers must have removed them hastily to allow the chandelier to collapse, but unfortunately they just... left it empty. Oh, and the absence of the spike on the bottom, which is now just a huge gaping hole (again, ew). There's also an additional tier on top that wasn't present in the OG, model or any of the concept art.

I'm actually quite relieved that the new chandelier is pretty similar to the OG and the Palais Garnier one, but if I have to nitpick: I miss the horizontal decorative beading, the ones that were on the top tier and in between the lyres in the old chandelier. Maybe it's just me, but the chandelier looks... incomplete without them.

And that's all I have on the chandelier!

3. The Orchestra Pit — wait, I can't upload any more pictures??

Welp, guess I'll have to make a part 2 then. Thanks for reading this long, long rant post, I hope it was at the very least entertaining and slightly informative!

And lemme know if I forgot to credit anyone whose pictures I used!

[schmergo]

People really need to try and, like, READ a book before they try to correct people about it.

Once again, a silly tumblr post I wrote about Frankenstein (the one about calling Frankenstein's creation 'Frankenstein's lil boi') has made its way to a popular facebook page and everyone is coming out of the woodwork trying to sound smart, but I am concerned a lot of them are actually posting from a parallel universe or something because they... are saying some silly stuff.

First of all, my BIGGEST pet peeve, is people smugly saying that actually his name is Adam. I counted and 6 people independently asserted this. And in response to one of the comments, people said things like, "It's the name he chose for himself 😭" and "Adam is the name he gives to the blind people he lives with. His name is Adam." 

WHAT THE HECKAROO, GUYS? The creation is simply going through a bit of a Milton fanboy phase. He reads 'Paradise Lost' while secretly observing and learning from a blind man and his family (not a whole blind family, mind you) and feels struck by identification to some of the characters.

I did a search in the virtual edition of Frankenstein and these are the instances when the name 'Adam' comes up:

"Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect. He had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous, guarded by the especial care of his Creator; he was allowed to converse with and acquire knowledge from beings of a superior nature, but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me."

"Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend."

"No Eve soothed my sorrows nor shared my thoughts; I was alone. I remembered Adam’s supplication to his Creator. But where was mine? He had abandoned me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him."

He's saying that he SHOULD have been like Adam, the first man created by God, but instead, due to Victor's rejection, he relates more to Satan, who was cast out of God's favor. How are people not getting that he's not literally naming himself Adam?

(Side note regarding commonly held literary tidbits that aren't the case in the original book-- a lot of people also confuse Paradise Lost with the Bible by saying that Satan is a fallen angel... the Bible never specifically says that. But that's a rant for another day!)

Other weird things people in the comments said:

"He killed a little girl and threw her in a lake!" 

What the heck? He saved a little girl from drowning in a river and her father thought he was trying to drown her and shot him instead. That was, like, the moment he realized no matter how much good he did, people would always think he was evil.

"He poisons a little boy!"

...No, he strangles his victims. It says there was a mark on the victims' necks. He just happened upon Frankenstein's little brother, got really mad, and strangled him-- he didn't have time to plan out an attack and make or obtain poison. Why would you poison someone if you were a super-strong giant?

Weirdest of all, someone said, "Not to mention the creature has a mental breakdown when Frankenstein dies from old age."

...What? Victor Frankenstein is a young man in the book-- in fact, he's in undergrad when he first makes the creature. He dies after trekking through the arctic for the creature. All of his sled dogs have died, he's endured exposure, exhaustion, mental strain, he's feverish and clearly unwell after being rescued and continues to pursue the creature. 

Also, fortunately nobody on the post said this, but people on tumblr have commented to say that the Creature was actually described as beautiful in the book. Uh... nope. If he was beautiful, why would people instinctively react to him with so much fear, disgust, and hatred? Victor Frankenstein DESIGNED him to be beautiful. He didn't do a great job of it. The text from the book says, "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips."

SO BASICALLY, he picked the most beautiful features possible (from corpses), but unfortunately, when he animated the creature to life, he still looked... like a dead guy. He was so focused on each detail of what he was doing that he wasn't looking at the big picture of what he'd created until it came to life and still didn't look like a normal person. I know the paragraph is a little confusing, but he's listing the beautiful things about him, but then he says, "But unfortunately, despite having naturally good features, he was clearly a rotting decomposing corpse, but living and breathing and moving, and let me tell ya, that is DISTURBING." 

Anyway, to make a long story short, maybe read the actual book before you try to prove how smart you are on a silly Tumblr post about it? Or don't quote selective passages like 'I ought to be thy Adam' or 'I had selected his features as beautiful' without reading the surrounding sentences. Reading comprehension is important!

I know this may sound super pedantic, but all I did was make a silly joke without taking the book itself too seriously and everyone had to swoop in and 'well actually' me about the book, so yeah, I am going to 'well actually' right back at them.

[domesticated-feral]

Thank you @nacreousgore for tagging me, oh boy was this fun to do!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 52 works on AO3 as of writing this.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

Since it's been a year that I've been writing on ao3, I've amassed a total word count of 149,243 words.

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Only 2 so far. I used to write Twenty One Pilots bandom fics before and now I just write Teen Wolf fics.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

So, I have 4 Sterek fics and one Stackson fic in my top 5; they are:

Yellow for Happiness and Purple, Because of Stiles (YFHAPBOS) - a good old falling in love Sterek fic with blind!Stiles and synesthete!Derek

Intoxicating - Stackson oneshot which has smut and possible interpretively werewolf!Stiles

Lunch with Sticky Note Compliments - Sterek in an office AU. It's literally what it says on the box.

Happiness in Your Arms - an abandoned WIP that's for some reason still on my AO3. It's sterek and takes place in the early 1910's. (I do not recommend reading this fic of mine..)

Sterek One Shot #2 - the second tw fic that I ever wrote on ao3. Didn't even bother to give it a title cause I didn't know what to title it...hah. it's also the last first person pov fic that I wrote until I transitioned to mainly writing third and second person povs.

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

No doubt it's You Wish I Was Yours (And I Know That You're Mine) because of the overall dead dove: do not eat essence of the oneshot. After all, it's Void Stiles/Kanima-Werewolf Jackson who's under Void's manipulation.

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

So, I have two contenders imo for this. Yellow for Happiness is one because the ending is cute, and the overall fic mood is happy if you average it out. Then there's To Fall For Him, which I recently wrote and the ending ends on a really happy note compared to the rest of the fic so the steady incline in fic mood makes it have one of the happiest endings. Although, most of my fics (expect for that void/kanima Jax fic) have happy endings. I'm all for leaving a fic on a bittersweet/good note y'know.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written?

I have yet to write a crossover, but I weirdly enough have a Five Nights At Freddy's x Teen Wolf crossover planned out in my Google docs. Don't know if it's ever going to see the light of ao3 or the internet.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Since I started writing smut only recently, I have been experimenting with many different types of smut, mix and matching a lot of things. Most of them are made with love so ig it's the loving kind of smut, excluding that one void/kanima Jax fic (again).

9. Do you respond to comments, why, or why not?

I def respond to each and every one of the comments I receive. It's not much since I'm only a rookie fic writer but every single comment lights up my day whenever I get them and I hope my response lights up their day too :D

10. Have you received hate on a fic?

Nope, so far I haven't gotten any hate on any of my fics and hopefully that sticks for a long time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

To my knowledge, nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. Not yet.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Unless talking to my sister about fic ideas and about how the story is playing out and ranting about plot holes to her is co-writing a fic, then no.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

My otps change periodically and I multi-ship like crazy so I don't have an 'all-time' favourite. But atm, the most mind-space-taking ships are Stackson, Scerek, Scydia, Stalia and Sciles. Sceo and Sterek sometimes show up.

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

One day, I aspire to have less than a 100 wips, but there's just a few select ones that I am not going to touch on ever again. Either out of sheer confusion of what the story is about or because I do not want to continue on them anymore. They are titled in my Google docs as;

• It's a Jacksciles fic now

• Smutty Sterek pls send help

• Look, when i find an angsty dialogue prompt and song (especially if it's by Panic! At The Disco) you know im defaulting to Stackson Second Person Smut + Angst mode in a heartbeat

• yeah, i have a specific trope i wish to write.

These are just some of them that either I rewrite completely or just not touch ever again.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The ability to write a lot in the spur of the moment. I can easily get into a writing mood if I'm not in a writing rut.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The ability to write only in the spur of the moment. My motivation comes in either 5 hour feasts or 30 minute scraps. (easily burn-out able)

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

It is cool, and I'd love to give it a try. Sometimes I deeply want to include my native language in the fics that I write, but the thing is that it's not known widely across the Earth.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Twenty One Pilots bandom!

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

I cannot choose one from all my word vomit creations, but I had a lot of fun writing these.

Cinnamon Rolls & Intimate Control - Stackson smut with the added bonus of Stiles making Cinnamon Rolls.

My Heart Races Whenever I Look At You - Sceo, Street Racing Au, so very cute

The fics that I have so far written for the Finding Your Soulmate: Werewolf Edition series - Scerek for now, the fics have been a delight to write and so far, the story is just getting started.

And a honourable mention, Perceptions of Perfection - SCACKSON, what more should I say?

Tagging: @scilessweetheart @shyawkwardwriter @nutellarghh @sequinedmonkey

[bcbdrums]

Wildest Dreams

 A missing scene from the KP Live Action Movie.  Happy birthday, @talisablackfyre!!!

FFn     AO3

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

Shego leaned back on the red throne as she surveyed the lair—the rusty construction, the vines overgrowing everything, and the very out-of-place new equipment her henchwomen had hauled in...including the work table Drakken was currently hunched over.

He was muttering to himself in sheer delight as he put the finishing touches on the project for which she had stolen and scavenged the components over several months. Every now and then he would turn slightly and she would catch a glimpse of his brilliant grin. At other times he would nearly stumble on the moss-covered floor and toss a verbal barb at her about how low they had sunk when other villains flaunted their state-of-the-art lairs on social media.

It was almost enough to make Shego reveal the true lair hidden behind the facade of squalor she had so carefully constructed, but his blaming her for their current state caused her to hold her tongue. Still, she was tempted.

She glanced at the fridge where she knew were dozens of milk bottles. She could ask him to take a break to share in a few with her... She shook her head and looked over at the single bed where he'd dropped his bag of junk upon arrival, but then abandoned when he'd said something insulting and she'd shoved his stuff to the floor.

He had taken that hint clearly, but it wasn't the one she had meant to give. She hadn't intended to spend the cold nights alone in that awful bed, with him ironically on the floor next to her... But she'd never given him any true indication she wanted him to join her.

Part of her almost wanted to tell him to stop the revenge plan he'd been working on for over a year, and tell him that she'd missed him in all that time—that his choice to stay in prison to allay suspicion had been the loneliest year of her life, and that in that time her feelings toward him had...changed.

As she watched him work on his creation she debated with herself. She could show him the true extent of the lair... Invite him to a milk break... Invite him into the bed that night... Or she could simply walk up and kiss the oblivious blue-veined man.

'No.'

None of it would work, she realized, as he shouted a gleeful, "Yes!" and stepped back from the work table. Fists in the air triumphantly, he turned to face her and she instinctively sat up at attention, feeling her heart begin to flutter at the intensity of his smile as he gazed at her.

"It's finished!" Drakken continued.

As Shego stared at his bright, joy-filled eyes she knew her own desires would have to wait, as always. Nothing would sway Drakken from his revenge plot against Kim Possible, and neither did she want to sway him. Especially since this plan would definitely succeed, and they would benefit long-term. Not that she would ever tell him how great it was.

"Come Shego, come come!"

She rolled her eyes and hefted herself out of the throne, though she let a hint of a smirk show on her face. When she reached his side to stare down at the invention she was surprised to find his arm suddenly around her shoulders. Was it some sort of...buddy hug, or...?

"Just look at it... It's perfect. The perfect weapon to take down Kim Possible!"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, though she didn't shrug off his arm as she looked down at the robot—because of course it was a robot; it was Drakken's standard operating procedure, next to mind control.

"My most brilliant creation..."

Shego was ready for a long-winded rant about his genius, but it didn't come. She felt his eyes on her and she looked at him with her brow twisted in confusion.

"And I couldn't have done it without you."

Shego felt her face flush. She crossed her arms and stepped out from where his hand had started gripping her shoulder more tightly, and then immediately gave herself a mental kick as the brightness started to leave Drakken's eyes.

"About time," was all she managed as she tossed her hair back and gazed down at the robot again.

"Well. Get to training it. Shouldn't waste anymore time," Drakken said, turning and stepping away from the table.

Shego felt her stomach twist as she mentally kicked herself again, but she looked down at the robot that was staring back at her. The lifelike realism was very disconcerting, and Shego frowned.

"Does it have a name?" Shego called out.

Before Drakken could answer, the robot sat up. "Uh, I'm right here," it said.

Shego eyed the thing as Drakken returned to her side.

"Fine. What do I call you?"

"Athena. And I'm not calling you 'mom' anymore than I'm calling him 'dad.'"

Shego looked at Drakken with raised brows, who glanced away in further embarrassment. Shego let the question die on her lips about when he had made that request of the apparently very independent cyborg...

"Good. So you want to...start with combat training, or learning about Possible?"

"Combat, if you're up for it. How much am I going to need to pull my punches?" Athena said, the last addressed to Drakken.

Shego frowned as Drakken seemed to wither a bit.

"Don't do any harm. People need to think you're human, remember?"

The robot—Athena—rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Drakken glanced at Shego as the teenaged cyborg creation hopped off the work table and started down to the more open floor space where she would spar with Shego. Shego's brow rose as Drakken smirked.

"She gets that from you, 'mom.'"

"Don't you dare... If you think for one second I'm playing some...parent role with this thing—"

"I wouldn't dream of it, Shego," Drakken said, waving her off as he retreated.

As Shego stepped down to meet...'Athena' on the floor to train, she could have sworn she heard Drakken mutter something about not sharing the bed with him. But that must have been her imagination. He didn't share her feelings...

Only in her wildest dreams.