#(This kind of happens in similar parts of the stuff I've done already)

[koushirouizumi]

Meanwhile with Digimon Adventures' KouTai{/shiro} (Koushiro x Taichi)

Someone involved with the Chosen Children, to Taichi Yagami: Uh, so, is Izumi REALLY your "friend"?

TAICHI:

Taichi, slowly: ...Why do you ask?

That Person: Well, I mean, you guys don't even hang out super often. It's like Izumi's always off hiding somewhere. Like aside from the work he does, like that Izumi doesn't even want to be around peopl---

Taichi, cutting That Person off: "Koushiro" has Koushiro's OWN stuff to do. I don't need to "hang out" with Koushiro "24/7" to know that Koushiro cares about the team---

Taichi's mind: (And 'me')

Taichi: --Koushiro likes email communication and long distance type stuff anyway, Koushiro LIKES writing out the "thoughts" even if Koushiro rambles a lot, so I sometimes have to tell Koushiro to 'scale back' a bit so I can keep up with what Koushiro says, but--

That Person: No, I mean, don't you think Izumi needs to work on communicating with you better?

Taichi:

Taichi:

Taichi: ...It's true that Koushiro is a very private person, and our communication could always use "improvement", but I think the one that needs to ""work on communication better"" is you.

That Person, Probably:

Taichi: (I'm outta here.)

Koushiro, later on, genuinely surprised: ...You said that?

Taichi: It was either sit there and listen to them put you down for the rest of the conversation, possibly multiple times, or do something about it. I chose the--

Koushiro: --Latter.

Taichi: ...Yeah, so--

Koushiro: (I'm glad Taichi-san said that) but...

Koushiro, definitely not shyly: Well, um... "Thanks."

TAICHI: (...Koushiro's thanking me Koushiro's thanking me Koushiro's thanking ME KoushirO'S /THANKING ME/----)

[txttletale]

Your discussions on AI art have been really interesting and changed my mind on it quite a bit, so thank you for that! I don’t think I’m interested in using it, but I feel much less threatened by it in the same way. That being said, I was wondering, how you felt about AI generated creative writing: not, like AI writing in the context of garbage listicles or academic essays, but like, people who generate short stories and then submit them to contests. Do you think it’s the same sort of situation as AI art? Do you think there’s a difference in ChatGPT vs mid journey? Legitimate curiosity here! I don’t quite have an opinion on this in the same way, and I’ve seen v little from folks about creative writing in particular vs generated academic essays/articles

i think that ai generated writing is also indisputably writing but it is mostly really really fucking awful writing for the same reason that most ai art is not good art -- that the large training sets and low 'temperature' of commercially available/mass market models mean that anything produced will be the most generic version of itself. i also think that narrative writing is very very poorly suited to LLM generation because it generally requires very basic internal logic which LLMs are famously bad at (i imagine you'd have similar problems trying to create something visual like a comic that requires consistent character or location design rather than the singular images that AI art is mostly used for). i think it's going to be a very long time before we see anything good long-form from an LLM, especially because it's just not a priority for the people making them.

ultimately though i think you could absolutely do some really cool stuff with AI generated text if you had a tighter training set and let it get a bit wild with it. i've really enjoyed a lot of AI writing for being funny, especially when it was being done with tools like botnik that involve more human curation but still have the ability to completely blindside you with choices -- i unironically think the botnik collegehumour sketch is funnier than anything human-written on the channel. & i think that means it could reliably be used, with similar levels of curation, to make some stuff that feels alien, or unsettling, or etheral, or horrifying, because those are somewhat adjacent to the surreal humour i think it excels at. i could absolutely see it being used in workflows -- one of my friends told me recently, essentially, "if i'm stuck with writer's block, i ask chatgpt what should happen next, it gives me a horrible idea, and i immediately think 'that's shit, and i can do much better' and start writing again" -- which is both very funny but i think presents a great use case as a 'rubber duck'.

but yea i think that if there's anything good to be found in AI-written fiction or poetry it's not going to come from chatGPT specifically, it's going to come from some locally hosted GPT model trained on a curated set of influences -- and will have to either be kind of incoherent or heavily curated into coherence.

that said the submission of AI-written stories to short story mags & such fucking blows -- not because it's "not writing" but because it's just bad writing that's very very easy to produce (as in, 'just tell chatGPT 'write a short story'-easy) -- which ofc isn't bad in and of itself but means that the already existing phenomenon of people cynically submitting awful garbage to literary mags that doesn't even meet the submission guidelines has been magnified immensely and editors are finding it hard to keep up. i think part of believing that generative writing and art are legitimate mediums is also believing they are and should be treated as though they are separate mediums -- i don't think that there's no skill in these disciplines (like, if someone managed to make writing with chatGPT that wasnt unreadably bad, i would be very fucking impressed!) but they're deeply different skills to the traditional artforms and so imo should be in general judged, presented, published etc. separately.

[spooky-pop]

Hey found your blog and your punk rock broppy au. Got to say love what I see so far and what to know more about it like. What movie does this au take place?

When rock branch and poppy meet again after all these years apart what was their impression on each other?

Was it love at first sight ? If not who fell for who first?

Is creek in this au and did poppy have a crush on him like in the canon? What’s branch thoughts about his siblings? Is branch fully loyal to the rock tribe including twt barb plan?

Does branch get jelly of creek or hickory when their around poppy like he did in canon? That’s all I got for now.

Thank you so much!! I also really appreciate the questions and am so excited to answer them since I've been working more on this AU behind the scenes. There are a lot of details and plot points I just have not figured out yet, so there's a chance some things could still be changed, cut out or just tweaked a tad. I don't mind sharing more about this AU since the comics are already in progress haha

Excuse the text wall, haha!

-This takes place around the Trolls 1 timeline, then maybe a little into Trolls 2. The Bergens are still a danger and Branch still accompanies Poppy to save the Snack Pack. Instead of him finding the will to sing again in Trolls 1, he works on facing his past and traumas with Poppy to finally find his happiness.

-When Branch left pop village he was probably around the age of 9 or 10, he and Poppy definitely had some kind of a bond as children but as years passed, they both tried to focus on their own lives by trying to move on and forget about what they lost/left behind. They re-unite in their 20s, and since this AU follows RomCom tropes, they have a similar vibe to Trolls 1 Broppy. She wants to know more about him, and he is very secretive about it all and keeps his distance. There's a lot of banter between them. Very much begins like they dislike eachother but time will fix that :)

-It was not love at first sight for them, but Branch was the one who fell first, and the hardest. He tried to keep that hidden behind his tough exterior though, because he CERTAINLY didn't want to show that he had fallen for the princess of pop, exactly what he swore he wouldn't do since he was done with pop village. Loving her meant he would definitely have to revisit his past he tried running from, which scared him. But he finds comfort in Poppy that he was not provided in many years.

-Creek is in this AU (not much), and he and Poppy are good friends who do flirt a little, she does have a crush on him. Branch absolutely hates him, and of course, becomes a jealous that someone else is fond of the Princess.

-In this AU, Brozone was still a thing and they still broke up and went different ways. They just never contacted Branch again. Branch is very fueled by his anger and resentment, because essentially, they did abandon him and still never returned when he needed his family. (His brothers COULD return in the future, but at this point in my AU, their whereabouts are unknown)

-When Branch left Pop Village, he sort of became a wanderer until he happened upon the Rock tribe. Nobody really took him in, he just made himself at home and they accepted him. He purposely kept his distance from some trolls and focused on himself. Sort of living his life on autopilot. He is still a pop troll at heart, he wouldn't have felt that Barb's plan was right either. The Rock tribe does have heavy influence on him in his personality and his appearance, but inside he is still the Branch that came from Pop.

-And again, yeah! He absolutely gets jealous still, it's a big part of his character haha.

There is so much lore and other stuff I've planned and thought out, also a lot of points I excluded because I don't want to reveal them yet. But I can't wait to make some mini comics sowing som of these scenes :)

[general-cyno]

I've been musing about it for a while, thanks to some posts I've read recently too, and honestly... one of the (many) fascinating aspects of zolu to me is the way they share parallels/connections and or similarities to important figures in OP's world. spoilers for the most recent arcs and reveals ahead!

perhaps the most blatant and one of my personal favorites, are luffy and zoro's similarities to roger and rayleigh. as OP's mc and someone who's on the road to become the pirate king, luffy's own similarities to roger have come up a lot throughout the story and they've been acknowledged or pointed out by other characters like shanks, rayleigh himself and yamato, for example. from the goofy parts of their personalities, to the strength of their wills, and their dreams, luffy and roger's parallels are consistent in OP,

and as seen in rayleigh's brief memory of their first meeting, the straw hat luffy received from shanks was originally worn by roger back when he was young.

albeit the circumstances are a little different - with them stumbling upon each other by chance vs luffy going out of his way to meet zoro after learning of his name and reputation - this first meeting is still reminiscent of zoro and luffy's, with both ray and zoro initially rejecting roger and luffy's invitations to join them in their journey.

as for rayleigh and zoro, there's also a bunch of parallels between the two!

due to his previous time as a bounty hunter in the east blue, zoro made quite a name for himself and as OP progresses, his renown as the pirate hunter and the straw hats' swordsman is only second to luffy's. he was also the 2nd straw hat to get a bounty, and he's usually right behind luffy whenever their bounties go up. similarly, rayleigh was (and still is) considered a legend second to roger himself, strong enough that garp still views him as a powerful foe the marines can't easily defeat and managed to scare blackbeard away from amazon lily without an actual fight, despite the latter's strength.

there's other stuff too: the eye scars, both zoro and ray being greatly skilled swordsmen, their love for booze, being users of all three types of haki and even their epithets! from what I've read from other OP fans in discussion threads and through some internet search, rayleigh's title of "dark king" in jp is actually the name or word for pluto (the god of the underworld, roman mythology's equivalent to hades) in said language. in comparison, "enma", the name of zoro's most recently acquired sword and the "king of hell" title that he claimed after defeating king in wano, are a direct reference to the buddhist deity of the same name in jp mythology, also known as yama - a god of the underworld in charge of judging souls.

from the most recent flashbacks of the god valley incident, too, you can see the physical resemblance between these duos:

(as a bit of a side note, I think it was nice that rayleigh not only took it upon himself to mentor luffy, he was also the one who protected zoro from kizaru in sabaody and after the timeskip, during the straw hats' reunion in the archipelago and as they bid their farewells, zoro went out of his way to thank him for everything too.)

all in all, considering how close roger and rayleigh were (to the point roger called him "partner"), their strength, reputation and their overall journey with the roger pirates crew - the fact that luffy and zoro share more than a few clear similarities/parallels to them is really good imo, and it speaks both of the importance of their relationship and of the kind of figures they're bound to become, or are already becoming, in OP's world and ongoing history.

although it'd be sweet to have zoro and luffy directly refer to each other as partners as well (which kid and killer, another captain/first mate duo, have done too) I'm not sure it'll happen, if only for the sake of keeping the relationships between luffy and the crew balanced, so to say. still, like I said, knowing how close luffy and zoro are and that they share parallels with other captains/first mates, I think that says a lot about them regardless and the importance they hold for each other and the story as a whole.

another interesting resemblance between zolu and characters who are connected to one another involves, of course, shanks and mihawk - both of which are not only acquainted with each other, as rivals and friends of sorts, but also served as luffy and zoro's mentors/guides at different points of their lives and presently stand as their eventual foes to face in order to reach their goals of becoming the pirate king and world's greatest swordsman.

aaand last but not least, because it's yet another favorite of mine: joy boy/nika and shimotsuki ryuma. I sort of talked about it in another post, and I find it pretty cool. nika and ryuma come from different eras and don't exactly have much to do with one another but luffy's DF awakening and defeating kaido led to "joy boy" (since luffy refused to take credit for it directly by name) being hailed as a hero to wano that's comparable and only rivaled by ryuma, who in the past defended the country and was considered a legendary swordsman, whose sword shusui (that zoro wielded for a while) is a national treasure even.

since the hito hito no mi: model nika is a mythical zoan and vegapunk's speculated that devil fruits come into existence as manifestations of hope and wishes (or a potential for human evolution someone's desired), among other things, nika's existence as an actual god is kind of a subject of current debate in the fandom BUT. the fact remains that whether real or myth, he's still mentioned in old texts and his story has been shared among those enslaved by the WG, as a call for hope and freedom. in addition, even though he was human, ryuma also became revered as a savior figure and a sword god by the folks of wano.

so when you have luffy embodying the sun god of joy and liberation,

and it turns out zoro is none other than a descendant of the shimotsuki (frost moon) family, who resembles the former daimyo of ringo and the god of the blade ryuma,

well. those are some crazy parallels luffy and zoro share outside of their equally kinda crazy and meaningful relationship, as individuals and crew.

[bugtransport]

WARNING! DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS ASK UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY FINISH KUUGA! I AM SENDING THIS PREEMPTIVELY BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO HAVE IT WHEN YOURE DONE.

Image buffer

Ok so I wanna hear your thoughts on the final fight specifically. I really adored how after all this hyping up of Ultimate Kuuga’s destructive power, rather than it being something flashy and explosive, it was… down to earth. Brutal. Just two dudes punching the shit out of each other in a way that was Difficult To Watch.

The final battle of Shin Rider felt like a callback to this, honestly. Just heartwrenching impact after heartwrenching impact. It’s not big or extravagant, but instead it shows that having to fight… sucks.

Sorry, I think about this particular fight A LOT.

YEAH YEAH i completely get what you mean. your buffer worked - i didn't see this at all until i had already finished the show and compared it to that one part in black (you know, The One). i think, as i chew through everything that happened in this show, that there's more i have to say about kuuga on the whole than i've managed to render right now, mostly about how it feels like they did really manage to distill a lot of the core feelings i've gotten from showa rider into something new and interesting and fun that they could do now that it's in vogue and possible to have the episodes a little more interconnected than they were able to get away with (sans a couple areas, like the 4-episode demon world stretch in black rx) previously.

the setup to the fight really worked for me. i think it was the right choice to watch the last 3 episodes on the same night so that we could start with ichijou, just some guy, just some human guy being the one to kill... that rose lady. you know the one. the one who has been around as a boss from the start of the show and who had a couple faceoffs before with him? you know, the one who, with her dying breaths, told ichijou that she realized humans could be equals to them, capable of the same destruction that they were? that she wished she could have faced off with ichijou again? that lady.

they had been setting the grongi and at least godai up as equals for a while there - there's the obvious stuff with the back and forth "i need to get stronger!" moments but the one in specific that stood out to me was when tsubaki was doing autopsies on the bodies that they were able to recover and he was like oh shit... these guys look just like kuuga on the inside?

kamen rider has this feeling running through it, this essence of "that could have been me, but it wouldn't have been me, couldn't have been me, because i love humanity too much, but i can only say that because after experiencing this, i'm still me," which is an odd feeling to put into words, but i think it's one that many people are familiar with. to come out of something on the other side feeling worn down and miserable but victorious and look back and see other people who have been through the same or similar things to you and for whatever reason, came out the other end differently.

hongo escaping being borged before they were able to complete his brainwashing, yuki being the one picked as a scapegoat and therefore realizing that what was going on around him was wrong, shigeru just straight up being confident enough to manage to trick people into borging him, nobuhiko being chosen as the favorite son just because he was the one who stuck around for a while leaving kotaro able to make his own decisions about what is right and wrong. these are all things that each of the riders did have an active say in, but they're also a bit dependent on luck to fully and correctly pull off. and i think godai also kind of picked up on that vibe. he's both reassuring people that everything is going to be okay because he believes in himself and his love for the people around him, and he does, but he still plans for the off chance that things can go wrong by telling ichijou how to kill him should things really go to shit.

that's it think the thing i took away most from this fight. the visuals are great, the whole thing just feels raw and uncomfortable to watch, which it should! this is the reality of everything that's been going on here behind the suits. we should feel glad that kamen rider doesn't have to fight anymore once this is over. kuuga flirts with this level of reality through the show and they completely full on commit to it at the end. but i think everything leading up to it and the context of the fight really helped me to put my finger this feeling that i've been feeling through the entirety of the show.

so. there you go. those are my stream of consciousness thoughts the morning after finishing kuuga... so much more to think about later!!

[hyperfixingfr]

A little different than usual but I'll be taking oneshot/single chapter writing requests. Put them in through my inbox on this account or @spicedwatermel0n .

Allowed:

- ships! Any kind, as long as it isn't proship. Even if I don't personally enjoy it, I can and will write about any non-problematic ships. I've done it before.

- Can be angst, can be fluff. You guys know I'm willing to go pretty far with angsty scenarios too, so as long as it isn't promoting horrible things... Feel free to request some heavy angst if you wanna see it. But I'm never opposed to happy stuff if you wanna see it

- can be of any scenarios you'd like. I'm okay if you want to see something more from any of my established AUs, such as my Fallout AU, my fanchildren AU, or teen/adult AUs. Rebellion, Dwindling Future, and Apocalypse AU are off limits just because they're chapter based and you'll get all your knowledge from the actual stories those reside in.

- prequel or sequels to existing oneshots I've made. Excluding prequel to Signs, because the entire story was like a prequel almost. You already know what happened before the story.

- yes, I will do your own AUs and stories if I can manage it. I'm chill with some fun stuff. This would be a great opportunity to see your idea in action if you can't do it yourself.

Rules: (unfortunately)

- no OCs! Sorry lol.

- I kinda don't wanna do stuff with any canon adults as the main focus, so... None of them as main focus. Sorry. Will age up kiddos though! And of course, the adults can take part in it. I just don't wanna do anything focusing on them.

- vague stuff. "Hey, make a fic of 1x3" is vague. Give me some ideas, some locations, some scenes or something similar. "1/3 meet once more at a coffee shop after years of no contact and catch feelings" is a lot less vague!

- no NSFW or sexualization. They are children, I am child. Bleeeh...

- any severe canon deviance. Basically... I won't go against canon, unless it's reasonable to do such (like in the case of conflicting canons or canons that don't make sense). One of the things this includes is removal of Hoagie and Kuki's abuse history as it stands in canon. I'm not making them and their lore look pretty because you can't handle it.

- no questionable content, whether questionably fetishy or questionably hateful. Yes, this means I won't write you a fanfiction where Hoagie is a skinny teenager or Abby has an unnaturally large chest.

[elisedonut]

so hear me out

James Potter/Percy Weasley

probably the Percy/Marauder ship I've thought the least about

just by virtue of having to craft a scenario for it

Peter and Remus both already kind of have one built in (both kind of fucked up ones but you know it's there) And Pericus has that whole leaving their families thing to lean on

While with James when he died Percy was like five so like

you have to like decide what AU you want to play with

with that in mind take all of this with a grain of salt im making stuff up as go

Like I do think Time Travel could work with them possibly if the scenario played out well

and by that i mean I think that the time travel method itself has to be kinda obvious and that the Marauders have to be the ones to find him

My logic with this is

we already know because of Remus that James would be interested in something that screams adventure and intrigue because it's already happened once so i just think as long as nothing else is putting him off about him.

Then Percy coming out of seemingly no where despite this being somewhere like Hogwarts where he wouldn't be able to apperate would be able to fuel his curiosity for awhile

I keep just thinking that James is convinced Percy's just also a secret Animagus

Also Percy's kind of like Lily if you squint, and take a step back, and turn your head to the side a bit so could make for a rebound

The only thing here though unlike a lot of other Percy time travel ships I feel Percy would be pushing for James to still get with Lily

unless this more like an Alternate Universe time travel scenario where it seems like the characters in the past but them all of a sudden

*gasp* Myrtle Warren is still alive???

Or you know a different tell that's just the one I've personally seen used

Showing that it's always been a different world entirely

But yeah i don't think Percy would try to take Harry away from his siblings no matter how old he was when he went back so i think he'd still be pushing for James to end up with her

Which i mean could also be fun also it would be funny if it back fired

It could also work in that one Soulmate Au concept i really like

The whole "Meeting your soulmate stupid young is a sign of one of you not living to adulthood" concept

Though for that one my brain is thinking less about James/Percy and more about Harry & Percy

and as with any soulmate au what stupid laws would be in place in that kind of world and could Percy try to claim guardianship over Harry on account of Harry being his soulmates kid (and so by the laws eyes his too) Since I think Percy would be paying alot more attention to him in that kind of universe

Oh and also who Lily's soulmate would have been and also maybe a that person/Percy situation

Let's see let's see

There's the obvious(to me) scenario of the Map having something similar to clones

I've seen it done once with Sirius I want to say? but idk it may have been James

but it's where a part of what they did for the map was stupid and led to one or all of them ending up with copy's of their younger selves stuck in the map for years and stuff

point is easy way to make any ship you want with the marauders imo because it can put them in a situation where their old world is gone and their only choice is to pick up what they can and move along

Even more so with Weasley one's since we know the twins had the map for years so you can have James "wake up" at any point you want

and added bonus for James/Percy

Percy doesn't share a room with anyone so if you were to have it happen pre-war and have the Weasley's just take James in. It would make the most sense to room him with Percy since even if James is the youngest he could possibly be he'd be closer to Percy's age then to Ron's

Yeah yeah Bill and Charlies room would be empty so yeah he could stay there too and it would work too because then he'd be pushed to sleep in Percy's room when Bill and Charlie come to the burrow for holidays and such which could be just as fun because then they would have short times of not being used to it vs constantly being in each other's space

even though I do think Story wise him being pushed into Percy's room with him from the start has more potential for fun interactions tbh

Last one

James lived somehow au

Maybe only James and Harry

maybe they all lived somehow

Divorced DILF James/Percy

its a simple one but sounds fun to me

I have no other thoughts other then that though

Maybe Percy's a tutor for Harry or something idk

Anyway

Personality wise i think they could maybe work depending on how you interpret them and what directions you lean for them

James is an asshole but that's never kept me from shipping Percy with someone before

and James is a Quidditch boy and a Head boy like 👀 that's like two of Percy's types that i like to give him rolled into one If you find a way for James to live until middle age you can have him tick the older man box for Percy to

I do worry if i went looking for it though That Percy would be written like snarky/sarcastic and way mean for no reason and feel nothing like Percy to me and James like all the stuff i hate when reading really off (to me) Oliver depictions though so you know

Final answer idk Fun to consider though

[mysteryman-17]

* MUSTACHE GIRL EX ATK 180 DEF 280 * Guess she did have a breaking point, after all. * ...There must be a way to get through to her.

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! Like holy FUCK, I can not stress enough how awesome they are to work with. They're amazing!!

Motifs:

Mustache Girl EX

Main Theme/Title Screen

Reflections Past

Judge, Jury and Executioner

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here! The rest of the description is underneath the Read More.

Mustache Girl takes on a hybrid Asgore and Asriel role. Already feeling trapped and conflicted, her emotions are finally pushed over the edge when an incredibly large group of people -- though it feels more like the entire world with how suffocating the crowd is -- barge into her throne room and hurl insults her way, telling her to "get lost!" among other things …and (almost) all in the name of Bow Kid, mirroring what happened years ago to a disturbing degree. Finally overwhelmed by all her painful thoughts and emotions bubbling back to the surface, she snaps and violently shatters a Time Piece in a fit of rage. And thus history is made to repeat itself once more. But this time, something's different.

BABY'S FIRST HOPES AND DREAMS REPLACEMENT FOR THE WIN :D Also Happy belated New Year to all my peeps here on Tumblr lmao But ye, this is actually happening! Aside from using similar instruments (and a somewhat loose idea for the very beginning of my track,) this is very deliberately unfaithful to the typical H&D structure. Knew right away that I wanted to use Mustache Girl EX as the base for this track, and that sticking too rigidly to the structure of any other H&D would do a disservice to the feel I wanted to go for: that same kick-you-in-the-dick level of power from Mu EX, but with a LOT more of a melancholy vibe underlying all that fury. Plus, bit of a fun fact: adjustments have been made since obviously, but the first "complete" mixing draft of this track was finished on New Year's Eve 2023! (This kind of constant revising is why the His Theme track is still not done on my part btw lmaooooo.) Also… I'll fully admit something here. For the first time on a track I've done, the drumbeat's backbone is comprised of loops I got when I bought Mixcraft 10 (especially with some of the things they were offering during the first week of its launch,) and the only supplemental VST I used was Abbey Road 80's Drummer for the left panned hi-hats. I know that EDM-type stuff similar to the actual Mu EX track is completely out of my wheelhouse, and I didn't want to royally screw up the drum pattern with this different metal-ish take on it, seeing as those are something I have a TON of trouble with. All things considered, drumline came out ok! And ye on the whole, I'm incredibly happy with this track, and it's easily the most ambitious arrangement I've done to date (and the most difficult too in some aspects.) Hope you all enjoy! :)

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The Superman Logs: MAWS Season 2 - Episodes 1 - 3

Well, hey, it's me again! My Legion of Super-Heroes DCU essay series has been more difficult than expected to put together (for a whole buncha reasons, I won't get into it), but I also haven't written much on this blog in a while. So, may as well get back into the swing of things, which I've been planning to do regardless. Just needed an excuse, and oh look! My Adventures with Superman just released their long awaited second season! And hell, better now than ever!

Since three episodes have released, with some new characters introduced, I may as well jump in. I'll also say that, from now on, I'll be posting actual character retrospectives and concepts on here, in a style similar to what I've done before, but looking at my headcanon versions of characters, as well as already existent versions and adaptations of characters. Spoilers ahead, by the way. Not gonna go crazy with spoilers, but they'll be there, so, you've been warned! And so, without further ado...

Episode 2.1: More Things on Heaven and Earth

This episode focuses on some of the fallout from the first season, but most importantly gives us and Clark a few answers about his origins. It also throws a pretty major change to Clark's origin our way, but I won't get ahead of myself. The purpose of this post is to look at these episodes from a fan's eye (or an overly picky nerd's eye, but whatever) and inspect them for what happened, and what may be coming. And I have a theory here, so hang tight with me.

As I said, amongst the smaller revelations about Jimmy's quickly decaying fortune and Task Force X discovering Kryptonite (fuck), and the normal shojo stuff between Clark and Lois that is genuinely cute, one of the first big things we get is Clark and Jor-El finally having a conversation. And I gotta say...I really like this version of Jor-El.

Now, I've done a retrospective on Clark's parents before, in my DCCU essay series that you're more than welcome to check out, but at the time of writing that essay, I hadn't yet seen MAWS' version of Jor-El. And I hope we get to see more of Krypton in this universe as well, because I appreciate what they've done so far! We've gone back to the origin of Krypton as a conquering empire, destroying itself by war and inner conflict. Classic, nice. Jor-El, once again a voice of calm scientific reason amidst the chaos, sees fit to send his son to another world as the planet of Krypton is being destroyed. Again, classic stuff. But this version of Jor-El is different from most for one reason: he seems more caring than most.

Don't get me wrong, we've seen kinder versions of Jor-El in adaptations and original source material (although recent comics have COMPLETELY fucked his character into straight-up villainy; thanks a lot, Brian Michael Bendis, GODDAMN IT). And most versions of the character want and support Kal-El being a hero to the down-trodden. But the vast majority of them are a bit cold and clinical from beyond the grave. Obviously, part of that is the fact that the Jor-El that interacts with Clark is basically always a computerized duplication of his personality, but still. We rarely ever get a Jor-El that expressed emotion towards his son, or even acts like...well, like a father.

But this Jor-El simulation? In a short period of time, he gives advice to his son about his love life, he tells his son about his origin story without dicking him around constantly (lookin' at you, Smallville), helps his son as best as he can from the grave, and expresses how proud he is, while addressing him by his Earth name! And most importantly, he does something I have NEVER seen a version of Jor-El do in any of his incarnations.

He...hugs Clark. Maybe that sounds like the exact opposite of a big deal, but it kind of is. This is somebody who Clark can miss. Somebody who, were he to live, Clark could've had real connections with. Somebody who is...well...a dad. And come on, have you ever seen a version of Kal-El who feels like a caring dad? Not a father, a dad. Somebody you can talk to, somebody who can give you fatherly advice, somebody who would give you the world if they could, and is proud of you and your accomplishments. A dad. Sure, an idealized version of one, but still. It's something I've never seen in Jor-El, and I honestly love this version of the character. Hopefully, we get to see more. Especially because of the...OTHER big revelation to happen in this episode. But BEFORE getting to that, I wanna touch on the smaller-but-important stuff.

The crashed Kryptonian ship from last season becomes the classic Fortress of Solitude in this episode! Now, I've barely talked about the Fortress of Solitude, but it's one of the most classic of superhero headquarters in comics. Usually composed of either ice or crystal, and on one of the two poles (Antarctica, in this case), this is typically a Kryptonian repository of knowledge for Clark to visit. There's a bit of a trend that says the more alien Superman is, the more he spends time in the Fortress. That is to say, it's a symbol of his Kryptonian heritage, and he uses it as his knowledge of the past increases.

Now, based on the events of this episode, the usage of the Fortress is something yet to be seen. Jor-El, who's traditionally the guardian of the place, appears to be gone for the time being. He may come back yet, though, especially as we see if the effects of the Kryptonite are long-lasting. In either case, this floating temple of ice is here to stay for the time being, and we'll see if this version proves as useful and seminal to the Superman story as others have. Oh, and for the record, by favorite version of the Fortress is from Smallville, but this has my favorite design for the Fortress thus far, from the outside.

But Jor-El isn't the only thing in this Fortress during the episode. Task Force X shows up with a new member, whom I can't find in GOF form outside of this one above. But yeah, this is also a comic book character, a little-known Rebirth-era one named Damage AKA Ethan Avery. Now frankly, Damage is...a choice to use, especially considering that he was an attempt at a popular character that nobody's really bit into, and is also basically DCs version of the Hulk. MAWS decided to tone down his appearance significantly, but he's presumably kept his army origins, and added Kryptonian technology to augment himself here. Arguably, there were other characters that could've filled this role, but I do get the feeling that we're not quite done with Damage yet. We'll see what becomes of him in the future.

That said, we also get a far more interesting character reveal in the form of Hank Henshaw, an employee of STAR Labs (who also makes their first appearance in this series), former classmate of Lois Lane, budding astronaut, and potentially the future Cyborg Superman! Which is...kind of a big deal, especially considering that I have a hunch that Damage may turn into this series' version of Doomsday. Oh, did I not mention that? Pet theory, and I don't want it to happen, but we'll see. We'll see. In any case, are we hinting at a Death of Superman arc down the line? It'd be too soon for it now, but who knows how far this series is going to go? But continuing with the villain talk...

We get yet another glimpse of those familiar three circles, and confirmation that this technology is indeed Brainiac! Looks like we're taking from the Superman: The Animated Series version of this character, making Brainiac affiliated with Krypton and Kryptonian technology before the fall of the planet, as well as getting hints from last season that Brainiac is involved with the current remaining vestiges of the empire and their conquering forces. And that reminds me...there is one more little hint that we've gotten about something. And I have a hunch about it.

So, the other big villain revealed in the end of last season was a bruiser in a Kryptonian battle suit, speaking with Brainiac. The symbol on their chest was roughly Z-shaped, leading most people (me included) to assume that this was classic Kryptonian villain General Dru-Zod. But, uh...another likely suspect just reared their head. One who may have been raised by Brainiac technology their entire life up until now, in the tradition of the Kryptonian conquerors of old. One who has a last name starting with Z. And I think you know where I'm going with this. Because, in this episode, we (and Clark) found out about...

Clark has a surviving cousin, Kara Zor-El. Yeah. I realize that she's a part of the House of El, and their naming conventions mean that the girls take the name on their father, BUT...last name starting with Z. Just saying, I think the bruiser in the armor very well COULD be Kara Zor-El, wearing a new crest, rather than that of the House of El. We know for a fact that Supergirl appears in this series, but who's to say she starts as an ally of Clark's? Especially considering that she has no actually familial memories of him. Which reminds me!

That's a hell of a change, huh? No older cousin turned younger cousin this time; Kara and Clark are the same age! Who knows, maybe we will get time-dilation or suspended-animation shenanigans, because we still haven't been introduced to the idea of the Phantom Zone or such folderol in this universe, but as it stands now, Clark and Kara are age contemporaries! A very different take that I'm not sure we've ever actually seen before in media adaptations of Supergirl. And this Kara hasn't been raised by her parents AT ALL, as far as we know. Meaning, we're going to see a VERY different version of this character. Exciting!

There was some other stuff seen here too, like more Cat Grant, and the hinting at another major antagonist that I'll talk about with the next episode, but still, this was a good amount of set-up for what's to come! With that in mind, time for episode 2!

Episode 2.2: Adventures with My Girlfriend

OK, before I bring up anything about this episode, I have only one real comment: a REAL Superman villain, baby! WHOO! Up until now, we've had pretty bastardized versions of Superman villains, for the most part. Mr. Mxyzptlk was even a drastically different version of the character, while still being faithful to the original. But no, we now have the best adaptation of a major Superman villain in this series in the form of Joseph Martin, AKA Atomic Skull! And damn, this dude is a bruiser, and a great looking one at that!

There are a few versions of Atomic Skull, with a few different identities, but the Joseph Martin is the most iconic in terms of appearance and ability. In the comics, he's the second Atomic Skull, and a human college student whose metahuman genes are activated via a Parasite-related explosion, triggering an absorption and generation of radiation, as well as a mental break that makes him think he's a character from one of his favorite movies. Comics are weird. Anyway, Martin's continued to be a foil of Superman's, mostly acting as a mook or powerful obstacle, rather than a mastermind of plotter of any kind. It's still awesome to see the character, and this is a somewhat faithful version of him as a result. Hell, him working for another organization that gave him these powers is sort of a reference to the first Atomic Skull (whom some of you would recognize from Young Justice), Albert Michaels, who worked for STAR Labs until joining up with a terrorist group that wanted to take out Superman.

And of course, we get yet another villain FINALLY confirming his appearance: Lex Luthor. Yeah, a lot of us figured this out last season, and it's nice to see him FINALLY making his fully red-headed appearance. Interesting...very interesting. And he's partnered up with Checkmate and Amanda Waller, a winning combination when it comes to villains. This is, of course, not the first time this has happened in media, comics and otherwise. The two famously teamed up when Lex became president for a minute there, and had an incredible joining of forces in Justice League Unlimited. So, not an unprecedented combo by any means!

Other than this, we get confirmation of Amanda's pure villainy (even worse than a lot of other versions, scarily enough), the rivals to her position in Checkmate, Clark and Lois' first argument, Clark getting the Beacon that'll help find Kara, and the official hiring of the Newsboy Legion working under Jimmy Olsen alongside Steve Lombard for Flamebird! Lots of stuff, not to mention setting up tensions between Clark and Sam Lane. But not much else for me to report on here. SO, moving on to episode 3!

Episode 2.3: Fullmetal Scientist

Hoo boy, THIS is a hell of an episode when it comes to references! We start off with a literal bang with the scientist that Superman saves, Silas Stone! You may know this guy better because of his son, who's referenced briefly as being 9 or 10. This is, of course, Victor Stone, AKA Cyborg! If this series gets a future lasting into the Teen Titans era, we have a contender for a member! Only time will tell, but this is a neat name drop! Plus, who knows where Silas is gonna go from here...

Then, right after that (and a cameo of The Flying Newsroom, a Daily Planet helicopter in the comics reduced to a toy helicopter owned by Flip), we meet AmerTek Industries, CEO Thomas Weston, and the most important character spotlight in this one...

Vicki Vale is back! OK, obviously, not the most important character in this episode, but lemme milk this a little. Vicki (who is VERY tall, by the way, holy SHIT) made her appearance as sort of a heel at the end of last season, and has now apparently become a rival for the Daily Planet this season, reporting for the Gotham Gazette. I can't wait for this to inevitably lead us to our Gotham cameos, which may hopefully include you-know-who, but her rivalry with Lois here is pretty fun, and sets up some new conflicts down the line for our central couple!

As for Amertek, I should talk about Thomas Weston and the...other cameo made in this episode. Weston is straight out of the comics, as the CEO of AmerTek Industries, a weapons manufacturer based in Baltimore and Washington D.C.. They're important to the comics of one character in particular, who I'll obviously get to, but I want to mention the OTHER thing introduced in this episode...considering how...upset it makes me. Because once again, this series completely RUINS a major Superman villain by turning them purely technological. And if you've read my previous essays, in which I develop a cinematic universe Superman, as well as my desired villains...you'll know why I'm upset.

LOOK HOW THEY MASSACRED MY BOY

Seriously? THIS is Metallo in this universe? God...DAMN IT! Look, I can already tell that Lex is going to use Kryptonite to stabilize the power core in the chest, giving us a Kryptonite beam that fires from their chest like the REAL Metallo, but GODDAMNIT AGAIN! The point of Metallo is that he's humanity corrupted! He's not JUST a goddamn ROBOT! Seriously? This was a slam dunk character for this show; should've been an easy one! But...I dunno, maybe the real version of the character will appear. I just...really hope that this isn't it. But that said, Metallo is sadly not the real highlight of this episode. Still...dammit. Dammit dammit dammit.

One of the other highlights of this episode, before I forget to bring it up, is the extension of Superman's bioelectric field as one of his powers. This is a recent comic book expansion, which has been hinted at as a possibility since the '90s. Basically, Superman generates a bioelectric field of invulnerability which, with enough focus or external energy input, he can extend past his bodily boundaries and around others. It's the reason bullets bounce off his suit without rupturing the fabric itself; they're actually bouncing off his microscopic bioelectric field. Comic books, what can I tell ya? Anyway, it's a very anime power, which is this series vibe, and I can't help but think he'll figure out how to focus that into some kind of energy blast by the end of the season. Time will tell!

But the REAL big feature of this episode is, of course, John Henry Irons, AKA Steel, one of the most prominent supporting characters in the Superman family. His role is extremely important to the Superman mythos, and this is already a fantastic version of the character. It also does something with him I rarely see with the character, and makes him TALLER than Superman, considerably so! He's also a bigger guy, and as a bigger black man myself (well, not vertically), I appreciate the representation quite a bit!

Of course, even though we get to see him in the suit with the hammer, it's obviously soured when Lex Luthor and Checkmate buy Amertek and the Steel suit, as well as all the Metallos. Like I said, Lex'll stabilize the Metallo units with Kryptonite, but it's NOT THE GODDAMN SAME, NOW IS IT? In any case, what we're likely to get is John creating his own Steel suit, closer to the classic suit we usually see in comics and adaptations. I may actually do a full retrospective of Steel, since he is one of my favorite characters. I feel like I'm short-changing him here, but understand, Steel is one of the best supporting characters in DC, who became a major hero in his own right. Hell, his niece Natasha Irons, who's also name dropped in this episode, is a major hero herself! With her and Victor Stone confirmed to exist in this universe, I can't help but think that we're setting up something special in the future.

With all of that said, that's the summary for these three episodes. I'm actually a bit inspired to do some character retrospectives now, but please let me know if you have any requests for retrospectives. Thank you to the (probably 3 max) people who read this essay, and I'll probably see you after the next three episodes! Unless, of course, something massive happens that requires my prompt response after episode 4 or 5. Honestly, we'll see what happens! In any case, see you later!

See also:

[heaventree13]

How Jikook Found Me

Hi anyone who happens upon this!

**I'm going to preface this with the information that I don't know how to link stuff, embed etc, so hopefully my attempts to do so will work!!**

I've been thinking of doing a "how I discovered jikook" post forever, because I love coming across other's similar stories, and was inspired this morning by @jiminieloved post below:

We discovered jikook at pretty much exactly the same time, if in slightly different ways.

I first joined instagram around October 2019, after only being on facebook prior to that (I had started a twitter account at some point, but had never used it), and somehow the algorithm decided I would be interested in Larry Stylinson. I don't know why. I knew who One Direction were, but didn't really listen to them. I didn't know what a "ship" was, except for "Bennifer" and "Brangelina", and that's not even really the same thing, is it? Anyhoo- it turned out I was a bit of a Larry. They were adorable and what I saw was compelling at the time.

Then, of course, the algorithm started throwing in some other ships for my consideration, and along came the vmin ship videos.

I had no idea who they were at first. I had heard of BTS, vaguely recalled seeing them on some entertainment news program once, but (much to my chagrin, as I could have been listening to them earlier), hadn't paid attention. I'm embarrassed and a little ashamed to say I just remember they all had different coloured hair, were so impossibly pretty, and thought they were likely just a fad.

Don't hate me!! I would fight to the death for all 7 of them now!!!

But I digress! So, I thought vmin were so sweet. Nothing necessarily romantic there to my eyes, but I had an open mind about it, and I had never seen that kind of affection between males. I ate it up. I'm a 50 year old female (46 at the time), and from Canada, and this was so outside my personal experience. I adopted them into my heart. I watched everything I could find on instagram.

And then some stray jikook content started sliding in.

And I got worried. What about my vmin babies? Was my mischievous little V ( I didn't know him as Tae Tae yet) going to get his heart hurt? Of course, I was seeing stuff that had already happened years before in most cases, but all very new and "real time" to my heart, that was slowly turning a vivid purple without my knowledge 💜. But what I was seeing in jikook was quickly becoming undeniable in my eyes.

And I was blown away. My heart remembered what it was like to believe the stories I read and watched in romantic books and movies when I was young. I had decided that was all just the stuff of fiction, and that maybe I was a fool to have believed in it. But no- these two young Korean men were putting Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth to shame! In real life!! I had to slide over to YouTube. I had to start searching stuff like "the way Jungkook looks at Jimin":

And I was able to reconcile vmin and jikook for what I believe it is- no animosity, no competition (at least romantically) because it's two different kinds of love, both just as real. Not that I don't see moments in the content where I think our Tae Tae felt left out, but our babies (all seven of them) had all lived together and done everything together for so long, I think their relationships are not like anything most of us will ever experience or be able to fit into any tidy relationship categories. They are so much more than that.

Somewhere in my searches I found this excellent 3-part commentary by @mimiandkookie4607 :

And this then this favourite by @themooniswaitingforus (who also makes some really beautiful song edits ,btw) :

Then I started wanting to watch original content, so I joined WeVerse and VLive. And then of course, as will happen, I fell in love with all 7 of our amazing, hard working, passionate, talented, brave, fun, impressive young men. I will love and support them until they are old men (or at least much older, as I won't be around as long as I fervently hope they will).

There is more, of course. So much more, but I've run out of steam for today! I do want to say that I joined tumblr because of jikook, as well. I first discovered @dalloga through the Korean Perspective video (they haven't been active for a little bit, but it's worth it to go read their blog, for those who haven't), and then @stormblessed95, and went further down the proverbial rabbit hole from there.

Thank you for reading. Stay positive. Be kind. Seek out happy!

[camp-counselor-life]

What does the future hold for GS?

So I've been thinking about what the future is going to look like in Girl Scouting. And, while I imagine this will be a gradual shift, it's already happening. So here are my predictions for the next 10, 20, 50 years, below the cut because it is loooooong:

This is in no particular order because tumblr isn't letting me reorder stuff:

More multilevel troops - we're really seeing this in my council, but in a lot of areas single grade troops are a thing of the past. I don't think I know any in my council right now. I think we'll also see more demand for multilevel badges and Journeys, especially for Cadette and older (yes we miss the IPs).

More demand for progression building badges - GSUSA prides itself in Girl Scouting's progression, which is seen in some places but not in others. For example, it's seen in Safety Activity Checkpoints, with Girl Scouts getting more and more options available, and in travel, where you're supposed to start with an indoor overnight, then a one night activity, etc. However, a lot of the badges do not have that sort of progression. Some, like robotics, sort of do (although often they're super similar to each other OR lack the background needed for older girls they assume already earned the DBJ version and remember it), but others that are in the same series have little to do with each other (looking at you, Science of Happiness going with Home Scientist) and don't really provide the opportunity to build skills the way the Try-its, badges, and IPs I grew up with did. I think there will be more of a demand for all level badge themes, such as horseback riding, paddling, and specific types of arts and crafts.

More diversity in programming - this means programming beyond badges, programming beyond Journeys. I think that we're starting to see this, and some may say that this is the duty of other youth-serving organizations, schools, or parents, but I think that demand will by far outpace this argument. There's already a huge push for more outdoor/camp, so I think that will continue as well.

More demand for accessible outdoor programming - this means two things. One, it means accessible to those with disabilities, from better inclusion of autistic youth to making facilities more physically accessible (this is a huge debate in camping as a whole rn). Two, it means that it needs to be accessible in other ways, such as financially accessible, locally accessible, and ease of use.

Better badge resources - right now, a lot of supplemental badge resources are developed by councils, so they're very hodge-podge. GSUSA has made some starts, but lacks a comprehensive plan for supporting badges, especially more technical or challenging badges, or older GS badges. The VTK is a start, but tbh it sucks in both content and functionality, so GSUSA will need to do some serious overhauls of their resources in order to make things usable.

No more Journeys - Sorry, I do not think that Journeys will last the test of time, especially with the way they're formatted now. Troop leaders hate them, because they are challenging in a lot of ways, so there's a huge demand for council to run them, and like, they are not meant for a one and done Journey in a Day format. There's also the Take Action Project, which I feel is not part of a proper progression with how they dump new Daisy leaders in with similar guidelines as Seniors.

More emphasis on non-troop leader volunteering - this varies a ton between councils, and my council is in the infancy of developing non-troop volunteering (which is actually my job lol). But I think that less and less people are looking for the kind of volunteering required to be a troop or service unit volunteer, so there will be a greater demand from volunteers for short term or low commitment volunteer positions. I see this especially coming from young alums, but honestly for anyone looking for an organization emphasizing female empowerment without devoting hours upon hours to its service.

More emphasis on short term troop volunteering - again, people don't have unlimited time and bandwidth for leading a troop year after year. Having a short term opportunity, especially for young alums, college students, and busy professionals, will be an important way to increase volunteers and have Girl Scouts continue.

More non-parent volunteers - I think that this goes with the whole "millennials" aren't having kids trend. Right now, non-parent volunteers are an outlier, and sometimes treated like they're weird or creepy for wanting to work with kids that aren't their own. Grandparents, aunts, cousins, sure. Young alums without kids are acceptable. But just random adults who want to help? What are your qualifications and who "hired" you? Developing pathways for non-parents to volunteer with GS is definitely needed.

More embracing of gender diversity in Girl Scouting - this does not mean I think they'll allow in boys, but I do think they'll need to at least adapt to nonbinary participants, volunteers, and staff, because troops are already doing it and GSUSA has not caught up. It puts councils in an odd position, because leaders are doing one thing, GSUSA has been putting off commenting on gender stuff since 2020, and councils are in the middle, making up their own guidelines.

What are your predictions?

[s0ckh3adstudios]

Curious, What’s ur beef with Miguel

you asked for it. slightly long post ahead i'm so sorry

WARNING: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

i have spent the last several days ranting and raving about about Spiderverse related things and like. I have such a complicated relationship with this movie, but THAT'S FOR ANOTHER POST IF SOMEONE ASKS LMAO but Miguel. Miguel O'Hara. Miguel.

I HATE HIS HOLOGRAM SUIT WITH NOTHING UNDERNEATH ASSS HE'S SO. WAGHGGHGAGK Like I know a lot of people do like him and there's stuff to like but I just don't see the appeal, and I'm also slightly biased because I can't enter the Spiderverse tag without seeing unfiltered Miguel NSFW LMAO

The first thing I thought after watching the movie was that it felt like he wasn't like... built up to enough? Like, my writer brain never turns off, and from a writing perspective it felt kinda weird. A lot of things in the movie did, but to me it just felt like there wasn't enough intro to him. Like he's supposed to be important but we don't like. i dunno HEJGKHKFL it sort of felt like we were already supposed to know a lot about him. WHICH I GUESS IS FAIR MAYBE THEY EXPECT ACTUAL SPIDER FANS TO COME IN AND KNOW WHO HE IS and I'm only a Spiderverse fan.

Miguel does have really charming and funny moments! Like, in the beginning Gwen section of the movie, he's got pretty funny dialogue while still remaining stern. He's got kind of a flat charm to him. But for me he just. loses it. after that part of the movie. He's a lot more of an asshole, which yes he's supposed to be. But for me there's just not that much to like. and just. and. and

Okay, kiddies, get out of the pool, that was the formal discussion. Now I'm just gonna LOUD

THIS GUYYYYY. IS SUCH A DUMBASS!!!!! He is so obviously wrong about the entire canon event theory. At least he is mostly. THERE IS SO MUCH EVIDENCE POINTING TO HIM BEING WRONG. AND WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO BACK IT UP??? ONLY ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT HE EVER BRINGS UP IN THE MOVIE!! And that's when he was Stupid and took the place of himself in a universe where he died so he could be with his daughter! And when you think about it, he didn't necessarily break the canon event rule- That canon event already HAPPENED. He DIED. But I guess you could suggest that him coming back ruined it. But that's the problem; these multiverse rules and regulations and details are just so confusing. And they're supposed to be.

Miguel doesn't necessarily have the right to put himself in charge of protecting this and claiming these things to be true when he absolutely does not know the full scale of the multiverse- Nobody knows exactly how all this works!! And we have seen so many things to contradict him!! If what he says is true, the events of Into The Spiderverse would have absolutely shaken things up. But the everything's fine for the most part, isn't it? The events of that movie changed all the characters in different ways (except for Ham. Ham's ok. Ham didn't change LMAO). Peni's SP//DER bot was destroyed, Noir brought color to his universe in the shape of a rubiks cube, Gwen made a new friend. Peter B was inspired and fixed things with MJ and went onto have a daughter, a DAUGHTER WHO'S VERY EXISTENCE ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF MILES! And if what Miguel is saying is true, why is the fact that Miles is Spiderman now and everything he's done not severely messing things up? The 42 spider's corpse is still chilling in his universe, too.

I've seen people compare the Spider Society to like. a cult? And honestly I can see that- Unintentional by Miguel, I'm sure, but it does seem similar. He's gotten everyone to believe in his theory and have them acting upon it, even Gwen, Peter B, and Peni. (Noir and Ham we never saw in the Spider Society, likely because their VA's weren't available. But I also like to take this as like. These two would not join the Spider Society, no way in hell they would. The society is against a lot of what Noir fights for and Ham would see this as a joke LMAO) NOT TO MENTION THAT OH MY GODDD LIKE GWEN KNOWS NOW THAT IF SHE GOES BACK TO HER UNIVERSE, SHE'S GOING TO HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THE CANON EVENT OF HER DAD DYING. AND MIGUEL AND THE OTHERS KNOW THAT TOO. AND THEY THREATEN HER WITH THE IDEA OF GOING HOME. THEY KNOW THAT. LIKE WTF?????

A detail I'm also obsessed with is that in Pavitr's universe, you see the damage and glitching before the Spider Society shows up. They call it a "quantum hole" or something, because that's what they believe it is. That's what it HAS to be, right? It can't be anything else. It has to be damage from the disruption of a canon event. But that is NOT what that is. That deep blackness- That's damage from The Spot. You can even hear it in the music, you can hear Spot's motif. It's probably also glitching because Spot is literally becoming some multidimensional being.

BUT MIGUEL IS SO DUMB AND SO UNLIKEABLE TO ME LIKE HE COULD HAVE AVOIDED THE WHOLE CONFLICT WITH MILES IN THE FIRST PLACE IF HE DIDN'T TELL HIM HIS DAD IS GOING TO DIE!! LIKE HE SCREWED HIMSELF OVER!! Sure, maybe he figured he should know what's going to happen, just accept it and join the club, but like. MAN.

BUT WHAT GETS ME. WHAT GETS ME THE MOST. WHICH MAKES ME ROLL MY EYES HARDER THAN ANYTHING.

"I'm this dimension's one and only Spiderman. Or, at least I was. But I'm not like the others. I don't always like what I have to do. But I know I have to be the one to do it. I've given up too much to stop now."

OH BOOOHOOOOOOOOO, CRY ME A RIVER. LIKE OH MY GODD. THIS IS LITERALLY ALL THE MOST CLICHE AND GENERIC QUOTES FOR A CHARACTER OF HIS TYPE. LIKE HOW DO YOU TAKE THAT SERIOUSLYYY I'VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE. OKAY DRAMATIC EDGY MCEDGE I GET IT. I DON'T FEEL BAD FOR YOU!! I HAVE NO REASON TO!!!

I can not WAIT for Beyond The Spiderverse to have Miguel be faced with the fact he's wrong. But he can't face that. Because if he knows he's wrong, he has to face the fact that he's done all of this for nothing. And when people learn the truth, they're likely going to be a bit pissed!!

This came out a little more disorganized and incomprehensible than I wanted, but I think I expelled all my energy yelling about him and stuff in DM's on Discord, so I'm just piecing together all the pieces I left scattered LMAO

Sorry Miguel fans,,,,, you may think he's hot but I do not. This is all just my opinions and thoughts, keep that in mind!!! No hate to anyone who likes him, I know a lot of people do!! I'm just not that big a fan

anyway if anyone wants to hear more of my thoughts on Spiderverse ermmm shoot me more asks :] I enjoy talking

[dreamingdarklyblog]

So what to write?

So I'm trying to think of what to write for my writing partner. He got called away before he could get off, and that's just no fun. Though I did get him to fuck my big soft tits and cum allll over them... Mmm...

If you're confused by how those two thoughts make sense it's because the tit fucking happened all in my head =/. I mean, that should probably be obvious since I don't have big soft tits, lol

It's also kind of a let down, cause... Well I guess it depends on how it's implemented somehow, but the way he does these things I don't have a lot of control over what happens. I mean I can more and do whatever, but because everything else is happening in my head, it can be hard to interact with it in like, unscripted ways?

Basically I really wanted to blow him and have him cum down my throat but I couldn't even get a taste, tried licking it off my tits but I guess my brain just couldn't make it happen. *sighs*

I'm not sure what the difference is, as I'm not generally awake for that part, but I've done uh... similar things before, and it worked okay. So there's something different I'm not seeing. *shrugs*

Aaaanyway. I'm trying to think what I should write about, and I figured actually I sorta did write about one thing earlier today when I was trying to make him cum.

So he asked me to like, make up stories about images and gifs for him to jerk off to? Which is pretty hot ;). I mean, I'd rather blow him, of course, but if the things in my head are getting him off, that's great too.

So anyway... I'm doing that, making up stories, and then I hit one and I started making one up and I realized, wait a second, I don't have to. Cause I've basically done this one before. So the gif is this lady sucking a guys cock by some trees, and I start telling him a story about how she's out for a walk with her boyfriend, and he whispers in her ear and she just HAD to suck his cock...

So yeah that totally happened to me when I was younger. The same guy as the classroom story I told you earlier. Really all these stories of me going along with really stupid shit were all that guy. We were young and stupid. I was reeeally far gone into how hot the hypnosis kink was, and making some REALLY poor choices, lol. And was letting him get away with stuff I really shouldn't have. Way worse than this. But yeah.

One of those things was a blowjob trigger. I know right? So creative... Did I mention we were young and stupid? I don't know if I always would have had a thing for giving blowjobs, or if it just started because of him abusing the fuck out of it, but yeah, I've had a thing for sucking cock ever since. But like I said, he was my first for a lot of things (including that) so maybe it's like, hypnotic conditioning, or maybe it's just the totally standard "formative sexual experiences establish very strong neural connections" thing. But like 95% of the physical stuff we did was what you'd call 3rd base. Oral, manual, etc.

So it was a pretty established trigger. I knew it existed, but not what it was, still don't really. We were out on a hike to a place not that far from here, a fairly popular hiking spot. There's lots of those around here. There were other people on the trail, we'd passed a few as they came back down, and could occasionally hear other groups in the distance behind us. The hike wasn't that long, about a half hour or so. And when we got to the top of the trail, at the nice scenic overlook, he sorta pulled me in and kissed me. A kiss with intent, I'd call it. I kissed him back, but pushed him back a bit. I didn't really want to make out in a public place. I was pretty embarrassed by the thought of getting caught (and we'd already been caught in the parking garage at school like the week before).

He smirked. And I had about two seconds to be concerned before he said something, and I wanted his cock.

That's how sudden it was. Always was. I just wanted it. Really badly. I kind of clenched my hands and closed my eyes I think, biting my lip, reminding myself we were in public and I couldn't suck him off. But I heard him say something again and my knees got weak. All I could see were scenes of me sucking his cock. His glorious cock. Rock hard and filling my mouth with cum. I wanted it so, So badly. I opened my eyes so I'd stop seeing those images, those thoughts, and I saw him. All I could see was his crotch. The jeans he was wearing. The zipper. His belt. It was like the rest of him vanished. The forest vanished. The world shrunk.

I was breathing hard. Trying to control the urge, trying to say something about it being a bad idea, but I don't know what words actually came out. And then he said something again and I couldn't think anymore. My knees gave out. My mouth was open and moaning. My hands were fumbling with his belt, waddling towards him on my knees as he back-peddled away from me to the side of the clearing. He was saying something like "Stop, Wait" but I didn't care. I needed it. I needed his cock in my mouth. I needed his cum down my throat. It was all I could think about. I could taste it. I was desperate. Like I was drowning and it was a giant inflatable cock for me to float on while I sucked it dry. Yes, terrible metaphor, what are you gonna do?

He kept trying to pull away but I wouldn't let him. I couldn't. He had the cock and I needed it. He couldn't leave! I yanked his pants down and grabbed his ass so he couldn't back away, but he tripped over his pants and fell on the ground. Bare assed on moss and dirt. I just followed. I was on my hands and knees over him, his legs under me, his cock in my mouth, and that was the only thought I had room for. His cock was in my mouth! I had it! I was sucking his cock! His amazing, perfect cock that I needed more than anything!

I sucked and slurped but, he was barely hard. He was talking but I couldn't really hear him. I assume telling me to wait, or get off, or something like that. But I really didn't care. I had his cock and that was all that mattered. I stroked him with my hand, sucked on the head, frantically trying to make him harder, moaning around it in my mouth. I'm not sure what worked exactly, but clearly something did, because he quickly got hard. Rock hard. I bobbed up and down, stroking him faster and faster. I wanted his cum. So badly. I needed it.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position so he could push my hair back (it was longer then) and put his hand to the side of my face. He was still talking, I ignored him and just sped up. He was so close. I could taste it. Literally. I could taste his pre-cum and it tasted So fucking good. I was moaning louder. I could feel myself getting more and more worked up too. Which was a thing that seemed to happen when I sucked his cock. I wonder why? (sarcasm)

I heard voices coming from down the trail. He tapped me on the head, once, then again, then repeatedly. Probably trying to get me to stop, but I didn't care. I couldn't care. He was going to cum. I could taste it. That was all that mattered. I just sucked harder, my neck was straining. I knew somehow if I didn't hurry than he wouldn't cum. That I wouldn't get to taste it. And I couldn't let that happen. I needed it! So I did the only thing I could think of and sped up more. My tongue was circling the head of his cock while my hand pumped up and down frantically. I was moaning, gasping for air around his shaft, when he finally came.

I could finally taste him. Exploding. I could hear him gasping. Feel him twitch and pulse. Every glorious spasm. It filled my mouth. I gulped, swallowing as fast as I could, and I felt that heat spreading through my body. That taste. I could feel the heat burning through me. Feel my body pulsing in time. Feel it building and building as I moaned and gulped and shuddered and Came.

So hard.

I lay gasping and moaning and twitching on the ground. In that little clearing. As he pulled away and pulled up his pants. Zipping and buckling. I caught my breath and pulled myself together. Straightened my clothes and took a big gulp of water. Then blushed furiously as we quickly left, passing another group on their way up, who gave me so strange looks.

Was it because I was blushing? Was it because they had heard what happened? I have no idea.

Anyway. Most of the walk back down was me telling him what a colossal moron he was, and to never do that where we could get caught again... >_<

Sadly he... Wasn't a great listener. *sigh*

[phantomofthehoepera]

PLEASE i wanna know all your hcs about the largo siblings and their moms

YAYY OKAY LOTS OF STUFF UNDER THE CUT <3

so basically I've just made a bunch of shit up bc we don't get a lot in the movie and I like to have fun and be myself. none of it is based off like the weird semi-canon myspace stuff I've heard abt?? if there are similarities they are pure coincidence bc I'm not reading all that god bless.

so for the moms they unfortunately still don't have names so I'm just gonna call them by their colours love and light. I've talked abt them before here but the short version of the story is they, along with marni and mag, were in an opera troupe and caught rotti's interest. they sort of just formed a social circle which nathan was also part of bc like idk college besties or something idk. rotti married red and had luigi, after which red was like you know what I'm kinda craving some nathan and left him. during one of her visits luigi killed her not like with ill intent or whatever bc he was like 5 but still he did fully murder her. rotti, not knowing a warning when he saw one, married blue and they had amber, and then blue was like you know what red was absolutely right I also want some nathan in my life and also left rotti. blue was the least well off of the opera troupe, though, and had some unpaid geneco bill lying around so she got repoed. rotti was still determined to have an opera wife so he married ourple and they had pavi and once again one of rotti's wives left him for nathan at which point he was like you know what if this ever fucking happens again that is IT I am DONE. also ourple died badly from a parasite bc me and my friend had just watched venom when we came up with this. at this point rotti married marni and we all know the rest

AS FOR THE KIDS I think luigi would basically always have been pretty unstable so he wouldn't have been put in the spotlight as much as a kid. also if you've seen a lot of my repo art you might have noticed I draw him with this big scar over his forehead which is bc in my brainverse at some point rotti would have had him undergo some sort of brain surgery in an attempt to calm him down a bit tho I can't imagine it worked at all. also think that basically from that point rotti was basically set on at the very least not letting luigi inherit and probably a bit doubtful of his other kids already

I picture amber and pavi being closer in age and like somewhat closer at least for the first few years of their lives. also I feel so strongly that rotti would have given them like ALL the spotlight just to balance off how little the public would have gotten to see of luigi, so I always picture them as basically child stars. when the novelty of being talented kids started wearing off and the public got a little less interested in them I think amber took it the hardest which is why she's so insistent on returning to the opera when mag quits

also with the kids I wanna stress I don't imagine any of this in my head to make them more sympathetic I think in the present they are all horrid bitches and deserve the guillotine but I am also a fan of succession so I was kind of primed to make up a lot of rich person lore sorry :(

[variousqueerthings]

handmaiden au??? say more ...

aw jeez ok so! SO! I started writing this... a year and a half ago? it's so Developed, but I just don't wanna start posting it until it's done, which means there's so much to talk about because I've written so much of it and I know what happens (strap in!)

(also disclaimer, I call it handmaiden au rather than fingersmith au, because vibeswise it's echoing more the park chan wook movie than the original source material, but youknow. the Format was fingersmith first. it's also a dash of shootfighter)

I NEED YOU TO KNOW HEADING IN THAT THIS FIC IS SO DEAD DOVEY. I LEAVE OUT A FAIR FEW DETAILS IN THE RUN DOWN BUT IT STILL ALLUDES TO STUFF AND THE FIC ITSELF. MMM SO FUCKED UP!

(I mean if you know the source material you know it's already fucked up, I just do it in different directions)

Current day is set in the 1920s in California, Johnny and Daniel are in their mid/late-20s

BACKSTORIES

DANIEL LARUSSO

back in the day Daniel and Lucille moved to California from New York, to an area that was up-and-coming. He met Miyagi, got into some scrapes... and then left California with his mother and Miyagi and moved to Okinawa.

Whilst there he met Chozen, which, in a similar way to TKK2, we're in the aftermath of big changes related to colonialist violence, in this case related to the change of the name Ryūkyū to Okinawa in connection with the Japanese annexation of the kingdom, which Chozen's uncle, Sato, profited off of and was one of the reasons Miyagi left in the first place. So Chozen was a very angry young man and took it out on Daniel and then they become friends, but ofc then Daniel stays...

Sato and Miyagi make up and start to work for the betterment of the Okinawan people, and when Sato dies Chozen takes over his criminal empire (which Miyagi never approved of), which he starts slowly retooling to eventually attempt to regain control of Okinawa and reclaim it as the Ryūkyū kingdom. Kumiko is involved tangentially in this business, although, like Miyagi, she doesn't approve and tries to keep Daniel somewhat out of it

eventually Miyagi dies and Daniel's mother returns to New Jersey, and Daniel -- whilst becoming ever-more a part of this place -- eternally feels like an outsider, and in the midst of all of this he and Chozen become a secret item, which of course makes it nearly impossible for Kumiko to try to extricate him from the Dangerous Dealings of Chozen's crime and revolution

and then Chozen starts to deal with American businessman Terry Silver....

JOHNNY LAWRENCE

Johnny lived in California with his single mother. they're incredibly poor and so she marries a rich man (not Jewish, jeez Cobra Kai tv show) to try and help out her son and it's all kind of a disaster and eventually something terrible happens to her, but idk if I should say, because it's kinda like. yo. fucked up revelations

anyway, in the meantime Johnny has become the favored student of one John Kreese, who teaches Jujutsu (Karate at this point still being relatively specific to the Ryūkyū kingdom, while Jujutsu was becoming increasingly international, especially within world militaries...) -- John Kreese introduced Johnny to rich businessman Terry Silver with the intent to have him become Johnny's patron once Johnny left his home

I don't know if Johnny killed his stepfather or if he's still alive, there's still some niggling in all of that, but either way, Johnny and his mother needed some help, because Johnny's mother was permanent resident in a sanitarium at this point

Terry agrees, but then he and Kreese have an unspecified (read: gay) falling out and Kreese abandoned Johnny in Terry's care and disappeared...

Terry honors his agreement with Kreese and remains Johnny's patron, pays for his mother's treatment, and starts a supremely messed up sexual relationship with Johnny. he also starts running Very Very exclusive gladiatorial games, in which rich people come to his house with fighters that they've chosen and Johnny fights them all, while they bet on the outcomes -- these games exacerbate until they're to the death and naturally have a very voyeuristic component to them in which these rich people ogle Johnny

and then one day Daniel Larusso arrives at the house...

THE STORY

the story has a similar structure to the original, in that we begin with Daniel arriving at this place ostensibly to do one thing (in this case barter a deal between Terry and Chozen that will provide blackmail material for Chozen to use against his enemies in return for a great deal of resources...) and is actually doing another (getting blackmail material on Terry, while also stealing the information)

the reason it's Daniel is because Terry met him during early negotiations and I mean. he wants to seduce him/own him. obvs. and both Chozen and Daniel know this and are banking on Daniel's outward-appearing innocence/naivety to give him cover while he infiltrates Terry's business

he first sees Johnny during one of these fights and is a. obvs struck by Johnny being very beautiful and b. super disturbed by this killing machine and doesn't technically want anything to do with him

but then they start getting closer over time, despite it all, helped by Ali (who's the resident medic) smoothing over some initial bad impressions and wanting to get Johnny out of a bad situation

also it's important to add that Ali and Susan are dating in this

so Daniel is in secret communications with Kumiko who's also currently in California, and dealing with the fact that he hasn't been back in nearly 10 years and that he met Miyagi in this part of the world and his relationship with Chozen and trying to avoid Terry getting his hands on him and meanwhile there's this weird blonde guy who seems to be going through just the worst life of all time and he wants to help him + is very attracted to him

so he and Ali and Kumiko decide they're going to save Johnny and his mother and this takes precedence over his original mission

and then it turns out...

ok well idk if I should say. this is when things get into the fun twisty-turniness that is fingersmith/the handmaiden, which if you know you know, right? but I could say

if you want to know the next part (which would also feature the reveal about Johnny's mother)

[tadpolesonalgae]

CBMTHY gang, unite.

In all honesty, regarding your question about reader and mor forgiving each other i think it'd be complicated.

Reader is passive enough to let mor walk over her (for now), as seen by her just walking away rather than defend herself. Mor however? I think for her to completely forgive reader, part of her would also have to acknowledge that Eris isn't the monster that she believes he is.

For example, when i imagine Mor TRULY regretting what shes said to reader it couldn't be an argument or a disagreement of any kind. Mor is too stubborn for that imo, i think she would personally have to see how eris and reader speak with one another. And i have a feeling even then, with how shes been spoken about in acowar (amren mentioning theres truths even THE truth teller is avoiding as well as eris implying theres more to the story several times to several different characters) i don't know if she would be able to *ACCEPT* that about him. (the IC's blind rage when something bad happens to one of their own is sweet from their POVs? but theyre DEFINITELY biased so i cant trust any of their takes atp 😭)

Part of me admittedly wants to see eris get defensive over reader in an older sibling way against specifically mor. i think that would be a real stone to the head for ALL of them. To know that she found family in someone that they found so horrible, and to know in the back of their heads that eris was better to her than she was? and for that to torment them all for a long while.

Now, I've had a theory for a while that eris KNEW that if he laid a hand on mor at the border that she would be chained to him permanently and that not helping her 💫directly💫 wouldve been best. Think about beron, if eris had taken mor home and HE found out what mor did? i think beron would've killed them both for the disgrace. We already know eris isnt what he seems, so this seems plausible to me 👀Especially because eris said "how do you think lucien got to the border" to feyre when she implies in acowar that he helped kill jesminda. I think he may have done something similar here and sent an anonymous tip of sorts to the night court, that fuckery was happening on autumn's borders... where mor happened to have been left by her family.

As for CC and TOG 👀 cc starts really 💫dense💫 a lot of information all at once and it made it very difficult to begin, (similar to priory of the orange tree imo). But its easily SJMs best written series that is currently published, acotar and tog both were started very early in her career and it shows. While not perfect, CC shows that that sadistic woman has improved 😭 (she pulled off the ending to CC2, which at the time of reading i can say i debated whether buying CC3 would even be worth it)

and id LOVE to chat about TOG however, last time i did i accidentally info dumped to my ex for six hours (he was a great sport 😭) so uhhh brace urself 😂

-🤠

Warnings: big spoilers for the Crescent City series, some pretty heavy CC slander on my part so please look away if you don’t want to read!!!, also spoilers for the Throne of Glass series 🧡💛

Small note: I feel I should also mention that I haven’t finished CC3—I got about halfway through and had to put the book down so if some massive stuff happens at the end, I have no idea about it 🫣🫢

I think I agree with you about Mor being kind of stubborn in her forgiveness but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad trait of hers? I think for the most part Mor’s able to stand her ground perfectly fine and reader did kind of mess up to be fair? So yeah, if reader were to just amble up to Mor, even if it was done in private, entirely sincerely and reader explained her side of things with perfect clarity (explained her side as in, reader saying she didn’t do it to hurt or betray Mor, but reader would leave out all the personal/emotional stuff because it’s reader 🤨) Mor just wouldn’t be able to do it? I think it would have to be a candid/genuine moment? Especially if because of Mor’s past she feels reader is being kind of manipulative (even if she might not mean to be) it would take Mor witnessing reader either interacting with Eris on her own or seeing reader do something genuine that isn’t just apologising and trying to sweep it under the rug for her to understand fully/see reader’s side?

‘(amren mentioning theres truths even THE truth teller is avoiding as well as eris implying theres more to the story several times to several different characters)’

While I’m kind of interested to see what Miss Maas will do with this plot line, I’m 100% not even going to attempt to touch on it in cbmthy because I think my head would explode trying weave that into the stuff I’m already trying to remember to do 😭

‘Part of me admittedly wants to see eris get defensive over reader in an older sibling way against specifically mor.’

I would so love to write a scene like this too, and I’ve thought about putting it in, but I feel it would ultimately undermine reader further and make her more doubtful? And also just wrongly portraying the IC? To make them only forgive/understand reader when Eris/a male character steps in? That’s one of the reasons I want reader to handle it herself because while it would be super satisfying in theory to get a scene of Eris ripping into them, it would be too unrealistic for me :/

‘But its easily SJMs best written series that is currently published, acotar and tog both were started very early in her career and it shows.’

Okay this is absolutely WILD to me since Crescent City is easily the series of hers that I despise most? In fairness I do struggle a lot when fantasy is set in a modern word because in my opinion it defeats the point of fantasy—I read it to escape from the real world so making it contemporary immediately puts me off.

When you say ‘it shows’ I’d genuinely love to hear what parts in particular you mean since for me there’s no competition between ToG and acotar, and CC? Particularly the slightly eldritch-y feeling we get in Throne of Glass when Aelin’s first discovering the Wyrd marks, the portals, the strange creature hunting in the dark, gothic halls of the palace? I love that stuff so much, having the sense of something so vastly larger than yourself?

‘While not perfect, CC shows that that sadistic woman has improved 😭 (she pulled off the ending to CC2, which at the time of reading i can say i debated whether buying CC3 would even be worth it)’

The ending for CC2 I agree was mind blowing (for me at least) and I spent ages in a absolute awe over the connections, however it wasn’t enough to compensate for the intense boredom and disinterest I experienced through the rest of the first two books? I feel I should also mention that I genuinely can’t stand Bryce, and struggle a lot with Hunt, so I’m sure not clicking with the two main characters impacts my perception of the story a lot.

For me, while I can see how making Danika such a mystery could be really cool for the plot, it got way too repetitive? Everything being related back to Danika after Bryce was so insistent they shared everything with one another got old so quickly? I can see how miss Maas might have been trying to make it sad, with Bryce caring so much for Danika then finding out how little she really knew about her would eat at Bryce, but it did not work for me and felt cheap and repetitive.

(Also Bryce having the fourth item of the dread trove? Nesta said it looked like a skull, I think in the vision she got from Lanthys, so turning it into a trumpet felt like Miss Maas hadn’t planned it properly? A trumpet and a skull look nothing alike?)

What I most dislike about Bryce is how inelegant and uncompromising she is, which might very well be the reason other people like her (I suppose it could be interpreted as strong-willed or being brave/courageous? Having a strong fighting spirit?)

She comes off as narcissistic and narrow minded to me, particularly when being put in the acotar world how she immediately assumed the worst of the fae and her prejudices come out? I can understand with how humans are treated in the CC world why she would have those views, but they were hardly mentioned in the CC books? If we’d had a section dedicated to actually showing the imbalance between vanir and non-vanir, the violence that’s probably inflicted and maybe Bryce personally experiencing that inequality it would feel so much more justified, but none of that was shown so to me it just came off as hateful and baseless? That and also since I easily adore acotar and intensely dislike CC it was difficult to see Bryce treat the acotar characters as such untrustworthy people? I understand that from Bryce’s pov she doesn’t know the IC, but I kind of feel like Miss Maas should have taken that into account?

Then also I kind of have a problem with how Bryce is described physically? It feels like she was made plus-size to try and be more inclusive but she feels so over-sexualised, both through how much sex Bryce and Hunt have (that’s a whole other point though) and how the words ‘luscious curves’ were used for a couple of female characters? I felt Miss Maas included plus-size characters but then made them all fit into conventionally attractive shapes that would appeal to a male-gaze? Feyre and Aelin are both described as beautiful in my memory, as well as being given traits of strong-will and having overcome numerous difficulties, whereas for Bryce so many of her character’s descriptions are about how sexy she is or how good her body looks? It feels disingenuous and like she isn’t a real character and it’s such a missed opportunity (in my opinion)? I would have loved a Bryce who was a little more human (ironically) and experienced the thoughts and doubts that I think are pretty common in women regardless of their size or shape, so to dismiss that side of things entirely, particularly in a book series that’s set in a modern world? It frustrates me a lot :/

(That and also the moment in CC3 where Hunt is in the Asteri’s dungeons, being tortured, not knowing where his mate is or what state she’s in and all he wants is to have sex with her? I think the line is something like ‘and all he wanted was to slide into her sweet heat’ like are you kidding Hunt? Your mate could be in awful danger and that’s what you’re thinking about? You’re in awful danger and that’s what you’re thinking about? It felt so shallow and lust-fuelled?)

‘and id LOVE to chat about TOG however, last time i did i accidentally info dumped to my ex for six hours (he was a great sport 😭) so uhhh brace urself 😂’

Genuinely if you’re up for it I would love to hear your reply because I haven’t come across someone who’s been so enthusiastic about Crescent City and I would genuinely adore the chance to hear why you love it so much? We read the same books so I’d love to find out why we had such different reactions to it? And with Throne of Glass too, give me all of your thoughts!! Please!! I love getting to have discussions like this (as long as you don’t mind me possibly arguing against you with CC things? I don’t know if I was too harsh or unfair in my expression of what I think about CC/Bryce but I am sorry if it sounded mean) 🧡💛