#(iirc. i dont know the book too well but i think thats right)

[alien-enjoyer]

im skimming through the good omens musical for references and. musical!crowley is a duke of hell. good for him

[ID: two screenshots from the good omens musical with subtitles. Crowley and Aziraphale are hanging out and Crowley is saying “Well, and all I’m doing is my duty” / “as Duke of Hell”. End ID]

[akascow]

Dead Boy Detectives and The Divine Comedy

Dante's Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory), and Paradiso (heaven/paradise)

its not a complete one-to-one but its a neat thing to think about in regards to dbd

it kinda makes sense because the levels of hell in the show are based off the depiction we see in Dantes Inferno, and the next in the trilogy of the divine is where they travel the mountain of purgatory

but anyway edwins file in the night nurses book said he either goes to Hell or PLV-4s

okay this is kind of a long one so strap in

Overall:

this is based on shotty memory bUT

in the trilogy you would be put to the respective layer you belong (hell, purgatory or heaven)

if youre a sinner, hell, but Dante goes through all layers going down, then to lucifer who blocks the path leading to purgatory.

youd then have to climb up the mountain of purgatory depending on your sins for like a number of eons until you cleanse yourself of the sins, once you make it past a layer youre free of it forever and one step closer to paradise

and only then are you able to get to paradise and i THINK the layer of paradise youre placed on is based on how good a person you are or smth

Purgatory:

someone pointed out it could mean Purgatory Level V (5) or just level, and the 4s could mean how long he should spend there (?) but layer 4 is also Sloth so theres that too (the souls being that theyre forced to run all the time which is lowkey what edwin goes through in hell)

which is the path you have to travel AFTER getting through hell you would normally go through up purgatory in order to get up to heaven once youve proven ur self worthy and ur sins righted iirc

so i think he would have to be placed somewhere in the middle (based on the level V if thats the right theory, theres 9 layers total) of that mountain based on his life and unfinished business and everything hes done while as a ghost he would have already been pushed up a few levels

so im assuming the night nurse's book was like glitching out because he was supposed to be in hell (on a technicality) but he served time there being passed around demon to demon, made it out of hell, but in the opposite way of purgatory

according to Dante's i believe he would have gone to purgatory IF he had unfinished business but he made it back to earth (the wrong way), and because of the things he did helping ghosts it technically counted towards his unfinished business so like he should be in hell because thats where he was placed last BUT everything hes done post-post-mortem wouldve counted towards purgatory and (maybe up to heaven ?)

Paradise:

on another theory, PLV could either mean paradise level Venus (the lovers) being the 3rd layer but the layer of heaven granted to those who in life were deficient in the temperance of love (smth smth edwins repressed feelings and never engaging in then smth smth)

the 4th layer is the Sun (the wise) -4s maybe?- which hold the souls of the wise, which kinda plays into edwin being the brains of the team so to speak, and he was seen reading in his mortal life before dying, as well as knowing a bunch of languages and probably a whole bunch more in his afterlife (in the comics they taught french at st hilarions so im assuming he knew that before he died)

the 5th layer is Mars (the warriors of faith)- maybe layer V?- i dont really believe this is the case bc this layer is given to those who gave up their life in the name of faith, but i would like to believe everything he went through in hell and also everything he gave up eternal virtue for to help the lost souls left on earth could grant him to be a warrior

heres a diagram to put into perspective

but yeah theres a little divine comedy lesson for yall

idk take it all with a grain of salt because i learned about dantes inferno like last year and really only remember the hell part of it all. also dante thought that gay people were worse than murderers in hell so thats another issue. aND the sandman universe takes into account all faiths and religions and gods and mythology theres not actually a true one god. and the divine comedy is very much a catholic read so yeah

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

know of any shows with positive poly representation? everything I've seen either kills a part of the polycule, or they break up and the two with the most chemistry end up together in the end

i dont watch a lot of shows, but here's what i learned from running this:

the main one that has been recommended here by other followers is Leverage, the polycule even won the first showdown! from my understanding, in the original show they werent able to make it explicitly canon but the writers confirmed it's a polycule, and people mentioned a newer version but i know less about that.

the polycule from The Expanse just got second place in the canon showdown! so thats another one

I was told Siren is good but to not watch season 2 iirc cause thats where they do exactly what u dont wanna see (end the polycule in favor of a couple) but alot of Leverage fans recommended that one as well

Sens8 has one canon polycule and one trio that can also be interpreted as one, but arent confirmed canon. The canon polycule had to be rushed because netflix cancelled the show, but i hear its still v good!

If you count podcasts as shows, Penumbra Podcast Second Citadel has also been highly recommended and ive heard amazing things about the polycule in that one!

And idk if you only mean live action but if you include cartoons, there's Amphibia! How canon it is has been oftenly debated in my notes so i cant advocate much but a lot of ppl seem to feel like the show heavily supports that as a possible direction for the relationship of the protagonists?

those are the ones i can remember right now, im sure if you keep an eye on the notes to this ask there will probably be other recommendations! i also have the tag #polyam rep (which ill add to this ask since tumblr's search function likes to act up) with lots of recommendations by many different people, not all of them are tv shows, i think most are books? but still worth it to check it out imo

the only media with canon polycules i personally consumed have been two webcomics (Charity Case and Shootaround), one book (Iron Widow), and a game (Hades), also a spanish movie i watched before i knew what a polycule was and idk its name :( so yeah unfortunately i dont have too many personal recs, and none for shows, but i hope you find smth in the replies or in the polyam rep tag!

[vyladromeave]

If MCD gets turned into a book I am almost certain the autism ghosts will possess me again and I’ll have to making a 5 hour long rant with a conspiracy style string chart on my wall

GOD mcd as a book genuinely makes me both so excited and terrified at the same time. I've had this ask sitting in my inbox for like a day now because idk entirely how to voice all the opinions i have about this. AT THE VERY LEAST: It's cool that Jess hasn't forgotten entirely about MCD, and while it sounds like the plans to continue myst are more clear/doable (its the same format she's always done, all it takes is for her to write a conclusion she feels satisfied with. which is definitely a large feat but it feels more in-reach than expanding on mcd right now), its cool that theres still an interest for MCD as well.

SORRY THIS POST IS ABOUT TO GET LONG TURNS OUT IM VERY MENTALLY ILL ABOUT THIS SERIES WHO COULDVE GUESSED. SORRY. HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO ESCAPE PLEASE TAKE IT NOW.

CONTINUING: MCD continuation sounds like it is not in reach right now, and not entirely a priority either. It's not even in pre-production yet, it sounds like she hasn't even decided on a format to release it as, which means relatively zero work has gone into making that yet. (Beyond the guideline that has already been written for it in the form of the existing MCD story that we know and are familiar with.) We don't even know if it would be a book!! JESS doesn't even know if it would be a book!! I don't know how I'd feel about it if it WAS a book! She's been vocal about wanting something akin to an anime or animated series before iirc (though i dont remember the source for this so correct me if im wrong), so it could be that thats still something she wants to pursue with and getting a whole animated show at a good quality is hard! I don't know!!! Nobody knows!!!! (And I don't know if she's ever even produced anything aside from Youtube Video Storytelling/RP series. Sure she has a very successful toy line, but that's not really a writing/storytelling medium. And I guess there's the music videos, but those are... um......... bad........ And we know she's no stranger to fanfic, thanks to the fucklist if nothing else, but i've literally never SEEN her writing go towards something that wasnt a Minecraft Youtube Video. On this note, if anyone is familiar with work Jess/the team has done for something that ISNT the medium of things she posts to her youtube channel, please send it my way I'd be very interested in checking it out.)

I think I'm glad that at the very least, it wont be produced in the same style as her modern rps (the style used for mcds3 + modern mystreet content + Rebirth too actually...) because I really don't enjoy that style... to me a big part of MCD honestly is the fact that things are for the most part kept in Aphmau's POV of things, something they ditch alot in modern rp content. But switching that format to something else might not lend to telling it the same way. Which is scary to me!! (honestly I personally think mcd would function really well as a first person visual novel or something along those lines. but if anything, that might require more writing than a book would, since there'd be choices and paths...) And obviously ppl HAVE attempted things similar to retelling mcd as a book before, there might be more MCD rewrites out there than MCD fanfics at this point tbh im not blind. But there's still the difficulty of being able to tell that story well in a medium it was not originally produced in/arguably meant for.

There's also the point of: I don't really Like a lot of the more recent choices Jess has made with MCD's story somewhat recently. The stuff with Irene in Mystreet just feels like a mess, I don't like the idea of the two having crossover. And while Rebirth for the most part was pretty good, there are still some things I have gripes with, mostly with how Aphmau is presented as a character and agency problems she's had since all the way back in mcd s2. There's a very real possibility that I just wont enjoy MCD as the way Jess wants to tell it now. And thats like fine, obviously, but it is also a little disheartening.

and then there's the point of: still knowing that i probably won't like how it ends, WE WILL LIKELY GET AN ACTUAL END. can you imagine that. MCD with an ending. a canon ending. I doubt it would be in the first installment of whatever MCD gets published as (if it gets published at all), seeing as even in Rebirth jess was planning on it having 2 seasons, but still. Even if I don't like the ending, the idea that there will BE ONE OUT THERE for me to bounce off of is incredible to me.

when it comes down to it: i honestly don't have much hopes of MCD ever being officially finished in any capacity. I hate to be a downer about it so soon after news that Should be Good. But the fact that she doesn't even know what MEDIUM she wants it to be in is not a good sign. If it Will ever be officially published in some form, it's likely it won't be for a very very long time. Not like mcd fans are strangers to waiting, but still. As a professional MCD Waiter, I would not be surprised if we are left waiting forever. It happened with original mcd, it happened with rebirth, i do not doubt it will continue happening for a very long time. I'm scared to get my hopes up for a finished story of any kind, because it's never approached Finished before. Its very hard for me to get excited over something I know will likely be abandoned, possibly before it's even been started.

but yeah if we get mcd book ill read it probably. ya know. whatever or something. <guy who is trying not to look like he cares about this a lot

[red-dyed-sarumane]

okay! i've finally finished the southern reach trilogy & want to thought dump bc thats what i do when i enjoy things 👍 im going to assume most people have not read this & explain as such

i'll be real i only picked this up bc i saw the movie based off the first book & was like "well huh" & then couldnt get the idea of an environment that just... refracts everything back and in on itself is just. so cool. it's such a cool idea. so when i saw in the credits it was based off a book i HAD to go read it the concept was too interesting i had to know what was in the book they couldnt translate to the movie

i got such a treat oh my god.

something that stood out to me pretty quickly, given im into a completely separate other series where none of the characters have public names, is that, iirc the movie DID give names but the whole first book theres no names. they each have a profession & are called as such. even as we get names in later books, only one of the og characters is ever named and the biologist thats one of the most important characters is simply that. the biologist. & it means absolutely nothing in terms of how impersonal or deep the character feels. because shes utterly complete and herself. respectable. i like that.

but most importantly the world, oh my god the world. the movie has its own not entirely off base take on it. different and yet similar enough. if u like fucked up worlds im recommending this 200% its just SO fascinating. its a little area cut off from the rest of the real world they call area x & it is protected by a sort of boundary but its. self refraction of things doesnt even begin to cover what its got going on. i dont even know how to describe it right. theres THINGS just so many unexplainable things, you think the area is out to get them but it ends up more like... the area's attempt at self preservation at the cost of the other, the intruders. like the whole thing is self aware.

the plants & terrain arent ever changing, not anymore than they would be with time, & not all of the animals are some fucked up threat out to get them. the area itself is the threat, impossible things in the sky, ocean, shadows weaving into the world & messing up whoever happens to come into contact with it. weird inexplicable things happening to those they send in to explore.

and at first it seems like a survivors came back wrong story. like whatever's in there, whatever fucked them up did so to such an extent none of the survivors even live long. which is fascinating in its own right like what is it that harms them to such an extent. & ur introduced to all the weird monsters & occurrences in a way thats like. well this things out to get them. & u need to know more.

& man the more the next 2 books give u is just so INTERESTING.

but first i have to say i hated the corporate mind games that took up 2/3 of the second book. hard to get through. johns such a man baby sometimes & its so frustrating seeing him just decide pieces of the puzzle are no use to him & getting rid of them. sick of his shit. i dont like him much in the 3rd book either but fine whatever.

the last 1/3 of the second book & like all of the third had the same "no what!?!? ur kidding!?!?" reaction as the first book had & was again interesting & easy to get through. LOTS of juicy secrets & info that ties things together & makes it make as much sense as it can & ends off in such a solid way, not without questions, but with a sense that even if those questions were answered, it wouldn't make any difference, would be maybe a trivia fact more than some grounding breakthrough.

also to whom it matters the cast is pretty diverse & natural about it, having them just be people in a situation & not relying on that to be a selling a point like i see in posts all the time here.

im going to get into spoilers here

the nature of area x is so interesting to me. the time paradox, the fact that time moves in a linear fashion and yet the area contains so much passage of time that just. doesnt match the outside world. the shock of grace saying she'd been there 3 years when it'd only been weeks and yet all the signs proved she wasnt lying. the way how suddenly all the decay & change in the area held just that much more weight to it. that things were even less what they seemed. that lended to knowing the biologist's 30 years in there vastly outweighed the real world's time. that part saying that people couldve lived there, lived out whole full lives between the time the border/area was created & when it was first explored because if the time difference just really hit me for some reason. its such a weird space.

and how the area handles people, not the book but the area, how it gets inside them, turns them into something else. learning that what came back from expeditions wasnt the originals. that the area got inside the people who went in & changed them into something completely unrecognizable. turned into a pig slug hybrid with only their face intact, into an owl, into some Thing writing in life itself on tunnel(tower) walls, into a giant fucking whale that can exist wherever it wants to. the fact that, initially, these are viewed as some fucked up creation recreated from who died there, only to be revealed that these forms ARE the original people and they ARE still alive, just in this new form, and while its implied they may not have the same frame of consciousness as people, its also not stated thats 100% the case- that no outsider can know for sure because people can only know people(or at least hope to know people). the whole concept that the originals have become part of the area living there or dying there in this new way, while the world creates copies of them, sends them back to the real world, fools everyone into thinking these copies are the originals, that something just happened to them and somethings not right anymore. that even when ones like the biologist's copy admits they arent the same person, no one believes them. thats so wild. & its framed that 3 people made it back for real, no copies involved, but the only one with any proof is the director. sure whitby & lowry have life spans unlike other "survivors" but at the same time, its also said theres no real way of knowing if the real or copy whitby lived, & iirc the footage seemed to imply lowry was different on the way back too although i guess that could be attributed to stress but its not like the things he says are very trustworthy either. anyway thats just to wild & intriguing to me, that while they're off living or fighting for life or dying, theres a copy of them they arent even aware of, creating a different truth of them to the outside world. neat concept.

the lighthouse keepers story, the way it all started, that kind of got to me. the way he was just doing his best at his job & the more and more u read u know its about to catch up, he about to be consumed by this & start its spread, and theres nothing anyone can do about it. and god the letter to him at the end. i came here to be fascinated and yet that final moment of human respect across people who were no longer people got to me & i ended up crying. which may be stupid of me. but i LOVE when a world can draw u in so thoroughly & then have characters to get caught up in & care about too.

& i love that the nature of this area is so bizarre that, even when things are stated as directly as possible , u think for a moment the narrator is hallucinating or or being vivid & only to moments later have it shoved it ur face that no, thats the reality, thats word for word whats happening. i had a LOT of "what in the actual fuck" moments & they were jarring of course, as they were meant to be for such a peculiar world, but jarring in the way that drew u in more, made u need to know more.

basically i had a good time & this is going to be constantly in my mind or at least in the back of it. a lot more going on then im saying here & if ur into fucked up world building then definitely give it a chance at least

[goodmorningdove]

eyy tell us about the book you fuckin hate! i would love to hear about it!

Ok so its called atlantis grail and right off the bat it breaks 2 of my big rules when writing a story: 1 the main character is an ugh im different because i read books character (it gets so much worse too) and 2: there is a utopia world (atlantis)

The general plot of the book is that earth is about to be destroyed and the atlanteans have come back to earth (they used to live on earth but they left) to collect like 2000 15-24 year olds or something like that. So all people in that age range are put through these tests so that only The Best make it to atlantis (are you getting eugenics vibes from this? Because i am!) I remember there was a wheelchair kid but i don't remember what happened to them. They probably got rejected on account of. Wheelchair. Im not fucking joking. These kids are basically being trained to be warriors.

Warriors who can sing because all atlantean tech is song based? Shenanigans had happened and main character was about to get expelled but like as shes being brought to the office a thing falls on her and the person taking her to the office and mc SCREAMS but its like singing and she has like a special singing voice that makes her extra good? So they cant expel her??? This came out of nowhere no one in her family was a singer iirc and because all the other people with the special singing voice are dead so shes just like adored by everyone now. Fucking plot convinence powers is what she got. Its unclear if her siblings also have the special singing power. That should not be unclear. She's already got a "im better than everyone here because i read" and now she's all "im better than everyone here because i read and have special singing powers and dont care about said singing powers" like girlie shut the fuck upppp!!!!(Theres also this like. 4 sector thing that everyone is divided into. And she and her sibling are all in the same sector which isnt a crime but it is very boring because like. I wanna know what the other sectors are doing?)

Also, atlantis fucking sucks? I dont know a lot about it because i gave up on the books before i got there but apparently they have poor areas? Which is like. Ok so its not a utopia. "Um aktshually it issss those people could be rich if they tried" SHUT THE FUCK UP. what really reaaaaally gets me is that they 3d print all their meat so they dont have to kill any animals. I didnt ask if they 3d printed other foods as well because thats just. Thats just easier. I was too busy being weirded out by the notion that we should separate ourselves from the food we consume. You think you are better than a snake or a bear? You think you are better than an owl? For shame. For shame. "Not everyone eats meat" yeah yeah lol the poor people who live on the coasts eat seafood which like. Not what would happen in real life? The rich would be enamoured by the idea of eating meat straight from the source so they would force the poor people to fish and hunt for them while they fed those same poor people off brand 3d printed meat slop.

Anyway i was willing to deal with all that but the straw that broke the camels back was when she introduced a shy lesbian character who rarely spoke but then had 1 interaction with THE MAIN BULLY GIRL and said "damn she has a nice rack" and i went OH OK you dont understand shit and youre not willing to change your ideas. If you think A SHY LESBIAN would act like a dudebro in front of friends she just met, about a girl who was just an asshole to all of them. She Would Not Fucking Say That. Shut the fuck up author lady. (In essence it appears as though she thinks all attraction to women is the same, all consuming, sexual, abrasive, and wrong. Compare this to how our main character feels when she crushes on a guywhich makes her go from "ugh im better than you all" to "owo omigosh hes so hawt do u think he noticed me???" Shut the fuck up)

So yeah this is a steaming hot DO NOT RECCOMEND from me bestie :)

[shadeslayer]

I completely agree those are great points, I'm hoping he won't be a sadboy the entire time because that can be really exhausting, but I won't lie my primary motivation for wanting to read the book is I really want to know more about Thorn, I think he's really interesting and I'm hoping the story will focus more on their bond and Thorn healing from being magically forced to grow. It sounds like it's pretty soon after the end of inheritance

YOOO OKAY. you have SUCH a good point actually. we havent gotten Fuck All about thorn. its been too long since i read brisingr and i only ever read inheritance once or twice so i may not remember, but do we even *ever* get a pov from him or murtagh communicating with him and showing his internal landscape at all? bc i dont think we do, at least not one with any real insight into him or his mind

YEAH !!!!!! gd like the thing of thorn being forced to grow and hatch is so insane is the thing and i do actually really want to see what that really means for him. because i remember like.. i think it wouldve been a quote from brom or oromis probably about shruikan, where they say how shruikan grew dark and twisted internally bc of it all. but i cant remember if theres a quote like that about thorn, i feel there might be?

and this concept of like. the dragon hatching and the eldunari is all really cool on its own but like that dragons are sentient pre-hatch and that thorn iirc was forced to hatch for murtagh and then forced to grow as well, and this discussion of a twisted broken mind re: dragons under galbys control... it introduces this concept of thorn being "born broken" in a sense. like hes already been abused before he was even hatched and then all hes ever known is that and has only ever been able to take comfort in the (forced) connection to murtagh. and murtagh connecting to this bc of his childhood abuse etc but that thorn is like. it goes even deeper for thorn bc it was pre-hatching, but also that it raises consideration for what murtaghs childhood fully looked like outside of the little we do know, and it just AWOOOOO its a really good concept and ur actually so right i might have to read it just to see what thorn is like and what goes on there

thats honestly too part of why im wary about canon murtagh stuff - because his character touches on/brings up a lot of *really fucking interesting and complex* questions and issues about abuse and mind control and trauma that i dont know if i would trust anyone outside of like, some random ao3 author with a 30k slowburn backstory fic to have the chops to really do justice, yknow?

like as long as we're talking about old fandoms i was deeeep in that mcu back when the 2012 avengers came out and i got hooked into clint/hawkeye particularly the fanon version and theres some really good fics exploring like, post-avengers (2012) what that would look like for clint in recovery from mind control esp one where he was aware of everything he was doing but was powerless to stop himself from it (or, some interpretations consider, if his mind was warped into truly being happy/relishing it/wanting to do it) - esp if he had been abused as a child and still had that trauma to reckon with. and theres only a few fics that i really would say "THATS a Good Fucking Job writing it" and thats in a fandom with like hundreds to thousands to who knows how many fans + massive fanon pushing that type of longfic into popularity and giving lots of diff takes on it

[leynaeithnea]

...fine

The story has great potential, the concept is great, the writing isnt good enough to live up to it imo, Im glad some other people can read this without issues, but when i read them i kept wanting to shake the pages and edit them into smth better myself

Im not the biggest fan of school type stories anymore, but I could gloss over that if it wouldve been done well. But it didnt rly feel well done for me, the pacing was off, we kept being made promises about/told what these characters were supposed to be - and then....the characters didnt live up to the potential.

The "mysterious and dangerous morally grey" character rarely acted in any way that wouldve made him dangerous (rn i remember exactly one scene, and that was mostly justified because it was a response to an assassination attempt?? yes he didnt hestitate, a normal person might have, but theyre in a college where less than half of the students graduate, the rest DIE)

The mc is supposed to be "super smart" its her one strength she has above the others (since she has a physical disability (hypermobilty iirc, correct me if im wrong, that makes surviving in a school thats focused on fighting and dragon riding quite hard! (that part was acutally pretty nicely written and good rep, i think so the one thing thats rly well done in this story is diversity, i dont have any complaints about that) but , despite being supposedly super smart, the foreshadowing wasnt done well, since there were some VERY OBVIOUS hints that only "we" as the readers were supposed to realize but they were written in a way that SHOULD have the MC realize it too

the one nice character got killed of for shock value, it gets brought up again later but it feels awkward the way it was dealt with, I was shocked but couldnt rly feel the long-lasting pain of this loss later on, emotionally it didnt hit me enough to move on (i know it hit other people more, so its again a me thing)

it both carries over to book 2 too, where things also kind of get worse?

The romance (it is romantacy, admittedly not my main genre because i dont tend to like romance main plots,....esp straight ones, written like this...) developed in a really awkward way considering its supposed to be enemies to lovers, but then the characters have so much sexual tension because of their....dragons?

then theres this whole conflict about "pls tell me your deep dark secret! id never shy away from you!!!!" ..... so he gives in after her begging finially and guess wHAT she hates him for it, dispises him and refuses to properly talk to him for ALMOST A WHOLE BOOK

MISCOMMUNICATION AND PETTY IMMATURITY IRK ME

another thing is that these characters are supposed to be in their mid twenties but they act like theyre in their teens, awkward.

(kind of the opposite from six of crows ngl lmao, there they act like theyre in their mid 20s and then you learn theyre 17, one of the bigger things that bugged me about SoC but it was still...better) Anyway, so what else was there

...so many things i could go on about this for another fifeteen pages or smth idek, the story had a lot of potential, esp the Male love interest character design as well as the main character have rly nice concepts but both fail to live up to it, and largely to blame on the romance. The mmc ends up too obssessed with the mc and that becomes his only purpose and reason and its BORING i know some people like it, thats fine, i get it, but it couldve been written so much better

the fmc could also be really neat! the disabled youngest child of a war general surviving at a brutal dragon riding college against the odds and balancing her physical disadvantages through her wit and maybe friendships

but

it

just

doesnt

get

executed

right

I'll give the author some grace because shes been a romance writer for so long and it was her first fantasy story, but even then I feel like all of these stories would've needed more...editng? so much more editing

and i know theres stuff getting published that are so...sigh badly written in the sense that the writing isnt rly effective and immersive as much as it COULD be, and i know these books still have a lot of fans and thats good, and I know that publishes dont want to spend a lot of time on editing but i dont like where the publishing industry is going, its falling victim to wanting to push out stories as fast as possible and going for tiktok trends (gotta publish them fast before the trends move on to the next) but it just makes the quality of those suffer SO MUCH and they focus so much on tropes (like in fourth wing there are so many tropes that people love mixed with some spice and dragons and its basically garanteed to be a success because thats whats popular BUT THE QUALITY SUFFERS and i hate that

there you go @lorethebookworm

EDIT: another thing was the story kept managing to build up nice tension and then the resolution of these conflicts were really anti-climatic, disappointing too

What is a famous book that , in your opinion, did not live up to the hype ?

*ahem*

Fourth Wing

*leaves before i go on a tirade*

[gilshaelos]

tag game!!!… tagged by @alovelysickness thank u beloved 🥺💕.. a get to know you game!! :3

fave color: i love greens and peachy colors.. i like a lot of colors i think theyre all nice :) but green and peach and some blue have me :3

currently reading: this is embarrassing in a way but were healing atm , im close to being finished with forest of secrets by erin hunter of the warrior cat series XD im reading the series slowly again with my gf

besides that however i usually read manga and not so many books. i got caught up on dungeon meshi the other day which im THRILLED is getting an anime!! iirc the mangaka had mentioned that she wouldnt approve an anime unless she knew itd be good so 👀.. i have very high hopes.

besides that ive been continuing my read through and analysis of one piece! im near the end of the skypeia arc now, its of course wonderful. i enjoyed the anime arc a lot as well but the end felt a little clumsy, im interested to see if the manga is any better. no harm if its not, cant all be the goat ALL the time. currently, sanji just got blasted by enel and i was talking abt in my server that he’s incredibly self sacrificing and this is like the third time this arc he takes such a horrible blow its a miracle he wakes up. but honestly his little excursion onto the ark maxim and then subsequently getting electrocuted reads to me like some sort of sui attempt… but thats me. lololol. i love analyzing manga.

last song: this is sooo hard honestly cuz i listen to music constantly.. but the song i woke up with in my head is Bitter Boogie by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. (while rn playing is Am I In Heaven? by the same band!) heres some of my recent spotify likes of kglw however.. i have more but HAHA

last series: this may come as a shock… but the answer to this is also One Piece. lmfao. im nearing the end of the dressrosa arc and people were not lying. flashbacks abound. a lot of good character moments felt ruined by it. OH WELL. but right now luffy just shifted into fourth gear and its really exciting, but nothing is that easy to im waiting for things to go wrong.. despite being a mess of an arc im having a great time with it!

last movie: im so bad about watching movies and my friend mo has described it being a ‘herculean task’ for me to watch a movie which is true so i dont have a clear answer. i recently saw thor love and thunder with family. it sure was a marvel movie so its very whatever. last GOOD movie i watched and remember watching is The Last Unicorn and i cried like the whole time.. LOL.

currently working on: oh lord well i always default to saying im working on my oc universe story thing Masters of None! but the honest answer is really nothing too much atm i havent drawn in over a month or so. i just havent felt like it. ive got the itch to do so but no energy LMAO but i try not to force it. however im playing a new game that came out yesterday if that counts for anything? cult of the lamb, its phenomenal so far im really enjoying it.

feel free to do this if you want to :3 but im gonna tag a fee people .. do ot if you want to!!! but if u dont its ok :)

@why-its-kai @linnellgender @joltikgenes

[skaianet]

so i swapped them hives (act 2) and...

huh i have some thoughts. like gameplay thoughts and some tinfoil story thoughts. spoilers below, obviously

- i loved the game, generally speaking. the grand majority of the puzzles were good and the writing had good moments and it did make me laugh/chuckle out loud a several times

- character writing was fun, except for some parts. even then im not sure if the characters were written bad or if i just got mad at the game and it made me bored of the characters

- the “parts” im speaking of is actually just one big part which you probably guessed right away. THE TRIAL. it was genuinely fucking awful. the game was great before and after it, but that single thing just dragged on way too long and was god damn obtuse (though i was playing it at...... 3 am or something. maybe not the best time for detective work but oh well. tyzias i hope your hand isnt sore from all the holding)

- everything else besides the trial was great. to give an overall rating for act 2 would be difficult due to such a wild disparity in gameplay quality.

- the other puzzles were good. i had to use the hint button only a few times outside the trial for genuine clues. the last puzzle is fresh in my mind because in the end i just kinda spammed the button to be sure i was safe to break the glass/turn the switch because i didnt want to do the whole process over after failing so many times. that was annoying but otherwise the puzzles were cool in my book.

- OBSERVATIONS: some early parts seemed disjointed, like right at the very beginning (after the explosion, in the cave and the bee farm). There were some weird excuses to cover the fact joey and xefros just somehow ended up to the cave. Also it was OBVIOUS the screens from the cave didn’t lead up to the farm properly. We’ve seen in-development animations and screenshots from Zebede and Charun in these areas previously, looking pretty complete. Also the gears at the farm windmill were very intricate, suggesting that maybe there used to be a puzzle there at some point? Also the skip to the train station from the forest was very abrupt. I feel kind of... sad? knowing weve lost some cool content probably forever for whatever reason, but the game is still good. the dev team said that if some troll call trolls are missing from the game they will appear in future acts, so its not like zebede and charun dont exist anymore, but... i wonder why they were scrapped. i mean, probably due to the absolute development hell, but at least charun was in the first steam trailer a year ago iirc. id love to know why this stuff was scrapped

-PLOT THOUGHTS 1: okay okay theres a lot im still thinking about but what im most curious about is the jeevik week. like its some kind of a festival but to what end? the tetrarchs (dammek, cridea, fiamet, xefros/chixie) were apparently planning something and i believe the jeevik week is supposed to be the culmination of those plans. in addition to the tetrarchs, i think marvus has some interest of their own in this, but its uncertain if theyre in on the same plot. he protected joey a lot, and i think it was kinda suspicious how they emphasized how marvus just “happened” to be on this train.

-PLOT THOUGHTS 2: so what happened at the end of the act. it seems likely that the first guardian axolotl thing from the concept art just blasted the train (directly hitting the rustblood car, mind this) though that thing seemed to have wings? does the axolotl have wings or is this something else? its most likely the axolotl, but there are more options... the green fire seems to hint at a green sun-powered creature either way. could there be a link to the act 1 creatures? which were black with green insides, like some kind of nega first guardian? could someone gotten their hands on ectobiology equipment and started producing first guardian-like creatures, powered by the green sun? on alternia, obviously as lusii, but as earth doesnt have them, as some kind of weird mutants? just food for thought

-PLOT THOUGHTS 3: okay, this is kind of a wild idea, but i suspect the attack at the end was intended to eliminate joey and xefros. the creature specifically targeted the lowblood car, and from one of the ending freeze-frames we see half of the wagon being obliterated probably killing everyone inside. xefros is a lowblood and joey was posing as one, so if the attack was intentionally directed whoever is behind it couldve assumed those two were in there. and if the creature was indeed the axolotl, the culprit is likely fiamet as thats likely her lusus or something (something that has been theorised from some in-development screenshots having a axolotl character as a stand-in chitter avatar for her). fiamet also knew joey and xefros were on the train. anyway if thats in any way accurate theres a chance shell be the secret final ultimate antagonist of hiveswap. but who knows

anyway thats my two cents...  mean at this point, my about 30 cents on hiveswap act 2.

[rouge-the-bat]

OOPS I HAD STARTED THIS THEN SAVED AS A DRAFT TO FINISH LATER BUT THEN FORGOT SO ITS. BEEN A BIT SINCE I WAS ACTUALLY TAGGED FOR THIS LMAO

ANYWAYS i was tagged by @skayforrest :'33

Rules: Please make your own text post when answering these to avoid long posts. Highlight/bold what applies to you!

for me to make it easier for me to read im going for:

bold: definitely me :3

italics: kinda me!

strikethrough: not me at All

(subscript parenthesis): my comments! (bc im very rambly lol)

also changing // between different phrases to ♡♡ to make it easier for me to distinguish between phrases too owo

♡  Appearance ♡

I am over 5’5 ♡♡ I wear glasses/contacts ♡♡ I have blonde hair ♡♡ I prefer loose clothing over tight clothing ♡♡ I have one or more piercings (my ears!) ♡♡ I have at least one tattoo (i want to get one of a drawing ive made soon tho!) ♡♡ I have blue eyes ♡♡ I have dyed or highlighted my hair (its p much back to normal now tho- and i want to dye it pink someday) ♡♡ I have gotten plastic surgery ♡♡ I have or had braces ♡♡ I sunburn easily ♡♡ I have freckles ♡♡ I paint my nails (not super often but i have fun doing it occasionally owo!) ♡♡ I typically wear makeup (i rarely do and usually its just lispstick, with maybe eyshadow and/or eyeliner) ♡♡ I don’t often smile (i can be really smiley sometimes but i dont interact with others much (esp irl) so i tend to not emote a whole lot) ♡♡ I am pleased with how I look (im cute round n chubby!!) ♡♡ I prefer nike to adidas (i literally dont care) ♡♡ I wear baseball caps backwards

♡ Hobbies & Interests ♡

I play a sport (i play... wii sports and real life bowling sometimes at most :'3) ♡♡ I can play an instrument (its been a really long time but i learned clarinet from school band) ♡♡ I am artistic ♡♡ I know more than one language (id like to learn some tho, like japanese, french, and/or korean maybe?) ♡♡ I have won a trophy in some sort of competition (never a Literal trophy :O) ♡♡ I can cook or bake without a recipe ♡♡ I know how to swim ♡♡ I enjoy writing (i like to but school has made me anxious anytime i try now ;w;) ♡♡ I can do origami ♡♡ I prefer movies to tv shows ♡♡ I can execute a perfect somersault ♡♡ I enjoy singing (exclusively for singing along, i dont really ever sing on my own lol) ♡♡ I could survive in the wild on my own ♡♡ I have read a new book series this year ♡♡ I enjoy spending time with my friends (who wouldnt!! esp with my friends, theyre amazing :'3) ♡♡ I travel during school or work breaks (id like to travel more..) ♡♡ I can do a handstand

♡ Relationships ♡

I am in a relationship (my girlfriend is so wonderful 🥰) ♡♡ I have been single for over a year (been dating my gf for almost 2 full years now!) ♡♡ I have a crush (fictional crushes count right? bc i have a million of those lol) ♡♡ I have a best friend I have known for ten years ♡♡ My parents are together ♡♡ I have hooked up with my best friend (thats meaning sexual right? bc im sex repulsed and so is my gf whos my best friend so, absolutely not lol) ♡♡ I am adopted ♡♡ My crush has confessed to me (im p much always the first to confess lol) ♡♡ I have had a long-distance relationship (hopefully someday tho it wont be long distance :'3) ♡♡ I am an only child (dear god no i have. 1 full brother, 3 half brothers, 1 half sister, and 2 or 3 step brothers gjkxjfk) ♡♡ I give advice to my friends (im not the best with advice but i try when i can!!) ♡♡ I have made an online friend (all of my current friends are online!) ♡♡ I met up with someone I have met online (GOD I WISH)

♡ Aesthetics ♡

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell ♡♡ I have watched the sunrise (many times, after being awake all night bc im p mych nocturnal lol) ♡♡ I enjoy rainy days (god i love rain so much) ♡♡ I have slept under the stars (iirc im p sure ive slept in a tent for going camping before ??? but my memory sucks so im not sure if that happened or i just always wanted to gjkdjg) ♡♡ I meditate outside (maybe i should try that sometime..) ♡♡ The sound of chirping calms me ♡♡ I enjoy the smell of the beach (ive been to a beach just a couple times.. i dont remember what it smelled like) ♡♡ I know what snow tastes like (i eat snow EVERY time it snows here, esp to make snow cream) ♡♡ I listen to music to fall asleep (on occasion! always instrumental stuff, sometimes meant for relaxing or sometimes just a comfort song from a game i love) ♡♡ I enjoy thunderstorms ♡♡ I enjoy cloud watching ♡♡ I have attended a bonfire ♡♡ I pay close attention to colors (ofc ! i love colors and graphic design is my passion- but like Actually, im not quoting the meme lol) ♡♡ I find mystery in the ocean ♡♡ I enjoy hiking on nature paths (would REALLY need to be in the mood for it) ♡♡ Autumn is my favourite season (close ! i love the chilly air and aesthetic of autumn as well, but winter is my ultimate comfort season <3)

♡ Miscellaneous ♡

I can fall asleep in moving vehicles ♡♡ I am the mom friend (mom friend mode can activate on Occasion, but usually im silly bastard friend) ♡♡ I am involved in extracurricular activities (im not in school) ♡♡ I enjoy mexican food ♡♡ I can drive a stick-shift (i still havent learned how to drive yet owo;;) ♡♡ I believe in true love (probably not in a typical sense?) ♡♡ I make up scenarios to fall asleep (oh no, i make up scenarios constantly in my head throughout the day, i get way too invested in them so they usually keep me up if i think about them when trying to sleep) ♡♡ I sing in the shower ♡♡ I wish I lived in a superhero movie (i def wanna live in some fictional worlds, but superhero movies arent things im usually into) ♡♡ I have a canopy above my bed ♡♡ I am multiracial (im not super familiar with my ancestry rn, so idk. would like to know sometime tho) ♡♡ I am a redhead ♡♡ I own at least 3 dogs/cats (rn i have 2 dogs and 3 cats!)

and uhhh ill tag @spiiderbiites @miphelda @kipokin @queerplyke @ameila if yall wanna do it :3? (if yalld like i can go thru n supply a version of this without all of my font edits and comments!) AH WHOOPS I GOT A URL MESSED UP BUT XENOLEAF U CAN DO TOO IF U WANT

[themagiciansreccenter]

Author Spotlight @echomoon

Every week we are going to be interviewing a writer from The Magicians fandom. If you would like to be interviewed or you want to nominate a writer, get in touch via our ask box.

First things first, tell us a little about yourself.

what up im jared, im 19 and i never learned how to fuckign read. JK my name is Theo and I super know how to read. Most of the time. Also I’m 22. Anyway I’m one of the more OG members of the Magicians fandom, having been here since back in the early days of early s1. Uhhh I’m nonbinary and hella queer. Metafic is my most favorite thing in the world other than puppies. I cry at least once a day. I have adhd and depression and chronic pain and hella other issues. I’m an anthropology major, in my third year. I’m a slytherin, an illusions discipline, and a pisces.

How long have you been writing for?

Since I learned how, basically, but I only really started posting things online because of the Magicians and also because of Twilight?

What inspired you to start writing for The Magicians?

It’s the BEST and I find it very easy to write from Quentin’s pov which means I actually finish things sometimes lol.

Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? What it is about them that makes them your favourite?

Quentin, because he is essentially me if I was born as a cisdude except more repressed in terms of sexuality and also more wealthy, which makes him super easy to write and super easy to get ideas about. I also like Penny, because for some reason people think I’m good at writing him?

Do you have a preference for a particular season/point in time to write about?

I write a lot set in the Brakebills years because I like the whole magic school thing and the exploration of magic and interpersonal relationships without having to deal with the Beast or other threats trying to destroy everything they know and love? Like I like that slow burn, spread out, things are happening but they’re happening slowly and also heres some meta about magic kind of exploration that that time gives me the opportunity to do. I think this is partially influenced by that the first book has them in that setting so much longer, and partially because I’m still doing the whole college thing myself and find that easiest to relate to (because no one really wants to read ‘Quentin working two part time jobs and struggling to survive and nothing else happens’ unless it’s just a tiny segment of the fic lmao).

Are you working on anything right now? Care to give us an idea about it?

Well, in regards to Magicians fic, I’m still trudging along on chapter two of Magician’s Path - I’m trying to introduce more of Julia’s side of the story as well as working on how to warp the two canons into each other while also making the storyline unique - and also on the next part of crazy/classic/life, my paradise kiss and magicians crossover au. I’m also trying to find the time to record more podfic of my fics, because I think its important to have audiofic available. But nothing new, just continuations.

As for other fandoms, I’m working on a HELLA long reworking of the Descendants universe (hi i love disney channel movies dont judge), and that’s my primary focus right now in terms of fic.

How long is your “to do list”?

Very

What is your favourite fic that you’ve written for The Magicians? Why?

Oh heck, um… probably either all tied up or The Magician’s Path. all tied up was my first time writing PiV smut and also writing shadeless!Julia and I’m just really proud of it? And TMP is like, my baby, my huge multichapter canon reworking that I’m putting so much planning into and I’m always so excited to talk about it. I know it doesn’t seem like much yet but y’all I have so many plans for it and I hope you end up loving it as much as I do.

Many writers have a fic that they are passionate about that doesn’t get the reception from the fandom that they hoped for. Do you have a fic you would like more people to read and appreciate?

TMP for sure - I hope that when I’m done more people give it a try.

What is your writing process like? Do you have any traditions or superstitions that you like to stick to when you’re writing?

Ha my writing process is either ‘has no ideas for months straight and then suddenly idea when I’m supposed to be doing something else but I gotta write this down!!!’ or ‘one sentence every month at most’. Now that the FTB server has gotten bigger, I’ve found some people who will proofread for me, so there’s that editing process afterwards (thanks @oneeyeddestroyer for being the best beta).

I guess my only superstition is that if I’m doing a multichapter or big work I try not to give too much detail out when I talk about it because I get worried that saying about the plot too much will make me lose interest in it.

Do you write while the seasons are airing or do you prefer to wait for hiatus? How does the ongoing development of the canon influence and inspire your writing process?

I do tend to write more when the show is airing, because more people are engaged and it’s something to fill the void between episodes - during hiatus I tend to drift away a bit and focus on other fandoms. This is the first show thats been so all consuming for me, I don’t usually watch things while they air because I tend to forget about remembering to watch them after a week or so? But Magicians keeps pulling me back and keeping me in.

As for ongoing canon developments, it really depends on the thing. If it fits into my plot of it’s a detail I want to put in, I might, but otherwise I’m comfortable lifting what I want from canon and throwing the rest out for a fic - we follow a show with canon multiverses, we can do what we want lmao.

What has been the most challenging fic for you to write?

Honestly, most of my fics? Because I try to improve every time I write and like, explore new things. So whatever I’m working on at the time is the most challenging.

Are there any themes or tropes that you particularly like to explore in your writing?

EVERYONE BEING HAPPY AND NOTHING BAD HAPPENING EVER cough cough I mean, um. I like meta, I like worldbuilding and exploring meta and seeing what I can change. I keep accidentally writing soulmate fics? So that’s a trend I guess.

Are there any writers that inspire your work? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Oh heck, so many dude, I don’t even know, I’m gonna just link you to my bookmarks because that’s the fic I love and probably unconsciously imitate on the often

As for nonfic, like I def want to write like Marisha Pessl or Tamora Pierce or Donna Tartt or Lev Grossman or Mark Z Danielewski but more in his house of leaves phase than his current stuff tbh or Neil Gaiman and also like. Everything that you read or watch or experience makes up how you see the world and how you create what you create and I consume so much stuff I can’t even begin to guess my influences beyond the little tidbits that I keep in my bookmarks or on my shelves.

What are you currently reading? Fanfiction or otherwise?

Currently I’m reading a lot of harry potter fic - the mood is the department of mysteries or other exploration of magic, so things related to that. HP fic is my go to when I’m not revving for any fandom in particular. Nonfic, I’m working my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is hella fucking good, as well as a bajillion textbooks.

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?

Fuck canon do what you want

Cringe time:

Are there any words or phrases you worry about over using in your work?

Yes but now that you ask can I remember any? Nope.

What was the first fanfic that you wrote? Do you still have access to it?

Oh shit dude I don’t even know. The earliest one I can remember was this like, post twilight self insert fic where the cullens came to my middle school for some reason? I barely finished the intro of it iirc but it might still be in my stack of papers in my old room somewhere.

Rapid Fire Round:

Self-edit or Beta? Beta (always get a beta kids! They’re worth their weight in gold)

Comments or Kudos/Reblogs or Likes? Comments!! (please, leave me comments, i live for them)

Smut, Fluff or Angst? fluff

Quick & Dirty or Slow Burn? Slow burn

Favourite season? All?????? Dont make me choose

Favourite episode? Im stuck between life in a day or all that josh

Favourite book(The Magicians books)? Probably book 2, i love seeing julia’s side of things and exploring hedge magic

Three favourite words? BUTTS, lore, hearth

Want to be interviewed for our author spotlight? Get in touch here.

[derekhalesdeadfamily]

gotta have my genshin impact thoughts in a place thats a little more reachable than just texting my partner SO:

1. ayaka haver, which is good. her talents are currently 6 6 7 which is fine but i do need to start genuinely grinding for those talent books now bc i only have 30 left. [talent book ELEGANCE.] also i need fo fight azhdaha maybe a million more times bc my other dps yanfei not only uses him but uses the bloodjade branch as well.

2. in addition to being an ayaka haver on that front, i need to further optimize her by maxing out the blackcliff sword AS WELL AS finally getting my hands on the amenoma blueprint and start refining/building that one. amenoma has a higher attack iirc and i would rather accumulate fairly low but serviceable crit rate from artifacts (below) and gain some energy recharge from a weapon over healing from her weapon. although, letting her heal from her sword nullifies adding a healer in a different place. it depends on how things go but having options is nice.

3. artifacts. right now im at like 38 cr 180 cd which is serviceable but underwhelming. this is because blizzard strayer is the most abyssmal place on planet earth. i want an attack timepiece and crit dmg hat and cryo goblet, obviously. and i want my substats to be, ideally,

crit damage>attack>er>crit rate>em>hp/def. ideally those last two will basically never be there but artifact grinding is the most awful thing in the world so cope is what i will do. and since i run her on permafreeze i dont really need em but itll at least be on occasion useful with certain bosses and team comps.

on sword users i see 70% cr 250ish% cd fairly frequently, but that's usually with the help of mistsplitter. sadly the weapons banner was just too abysmal for me to pull so im making do, BUT i think not having to worry about crit rate basically at all means i can afford for more cd rolls in my artifacts than most other builders. i havent done any math but i would love to have like a 30/300 ratio with ayaka which is POSSIBLE, but only in theory (my dreams.)

i dont need to do too much math because i know a good artifact when i see it but it's just good to know where im aiming and what is acceptable.

AYAKA CONCLUSION:

azhdaha x 13 mats, ~ 3/4 runs.

elegance x 80 mats, ~ 40 runs (condensed).

acquire anemona. ascend blackcliffe.

blizzard strayer optimize, ~ until i die.

__

YANFEI TIME!!!

yanfei is in an awful position because she shares boss drops with ayaka AND talent books with xingqiu. however i DID just pull mona which is pretty exciting (but mona is for another section.) yanfei talents are at 7 6 6 since i use her charged attack a lot. im NOT planning on triple crowning her any time soon, in fact i might stop at 8 8 8. regardless, i do need to get some more azdahas for her and some more gold books. i also want to give her better artifacts and one day a better weapon. my weapon luck is so toasted i have the royal grimoire on her right now - which is actually treating her quite well especially since my crit rate luck is in the garbage. royal grimoire gives u up to a 40% crit rate buff even at r1, so her natural crit rate of 40% is just right, maybe even a little high. so while im building her artifacts, i can again aim for a pretty high crit damage!!

here, i want crit dmg>attack>crit rate>em>er>hp/def.

i usually run yanfei on overloaded, swirl, or vape teams - she's pretty limber. but shes basically never on true monopyro, and she is never without a battery. her burst has high cost for pretty piss poor payoff, so i use it when it's up and dont sweat it when it isnt. also i imagine burning will be the new meta so im just prepping for that.

crit damage hat ofc, and attack time piece and pyro damage cup. im not totally clear on this aspect of how damage is calculated, though - so yanfeis skills and bursts are x% of her normal attack damage. is that damage calculated with her elemental damage bonus in mind and thats how it gets incorporated? or is the damage calculated with her base attack and the elemental damage is calculated afterwards. let me do the math to see if it even matters.

actually, okay, no need to do math, i figured out my issue. this doesnt matter for non catalysts but for basically everyone else they will sometimes even if accidentally be doing some instances of physical damage. isnt an attack bonus more ubiquitous? why do elemental goblets get so much hype when theyre only 100% useful on catalysts? like ayaka is pretty easy to keep infused w cryo but sometimes i do physical damage! why am i not calculating for those instances as well! two goblets that are exactly the same but one is pyro bonus and the other is attack, on a catalyst - will there actually be a difference? even not on a catalyst?

HM ive had a breakthrough. we will never get elemental bonus as a substat on an attack goblet but we CAN get attack substat on an elemental damage goblet. so elemental damage goblets leave more room to pack extra damage for what space you have. even an extra five to ten percent adds up! ive figured it out everyone clap.

her best in slot weapon is skyward atlas so im not gonna sweat pushing for it, itll come home when it comes home. maxing out grimoire would be good though especially since its great on any dps.

okay so basically i need even more azhdaha and gold books and crimson witch farming. i think ESPECIALLY once dendro drops that 40% burning buff will be super sexy so no need to get another set, esp since her skill cool down is within the 10 seconds.

kay im done for now and once i get the energy im gonna figure out what to do about shenhe (shenhe.....)

[diamondnokouzai]

lets talk about the culture of kamisu 66. heres what i think their culture values most strongly

self-control

self explanatory. if you cannot control yourself you cannot control your cantus and if you cannot control your cantus you will destroy the village and everyone you care about. the one i like the most

obedience/conformity

this one is also very clear. even the adults dont like leaving the spiritual barrier and its only done under special circumstances. also during the boy k attack (which happened like, just a few years before saki was born iirc- maybe same year as yoshimis birth?) all the people in town ran the same direction- obedience/conformity brainwashing at its finest.

lack of genetic/physical/mental imperfections

they killed yoshimi because she had poor eyesight. theyve killed dozens (hundreds?) of children because their cantus were too weak or because of astigmatism. literal eugenics nightmare society.

emotional stability

goes with self-control. if youre emotionally unstable, you could easily develop fox in the henhouse syndrome and kill a bunch of people.

emotional vulnerability

despite how much horseshit i think the so-called ‘society of love’ is (hint: a lot) i dont doubt that kamisu 66 encourages its people to speak openly and honestly about their emotions. i think that emotional withdrawal is probably a sign of mental instability (shun begins withdrawing when he starts becoming a karmic demon, and boy k i think canonically was very withdrawn)

heres what i think their culture does NOT value:

drive/desire for more

kamisu 66 is very much a culture of settling. no, dont go past the spiritual barrier, its dangerous. no, we cant use any technology better than water-powered electricity, its dangerous. no, dont read those books, its dangerous. within the context of the world kamisu 66 is in, this is very understandable, but its also very alien for most cultures. kamisu 66 is a lot like the town in ‘the giver’ in that you arent meant to stretch yourself too far. side note i think also theyre against the introduction of new stories/any information that isnt already in kamisu 66- when saki says ‘boo authors stupid’ i dont think thats just a take that to yusuke kishi himself.

excessive empathy

now to clarify: i think SYMPATHY is highly encouraged in kamisu 66. how could it not be, with it being a ‘society of love’? BUT. empathy i think is not. emotions like pity/sadness/love are all well and good but feeling the same as someone else i think is something that would trigger some kind of alarm. i think excessive empathy could probably cause multiple karmic demons to develop at the same time. this is also seen in the text- when saki starts using sex to calm down satoru, that was just what she was taught to do- they were feeling the same fear, but saki didnt actually care about the sex. also they sentence squealer to infinite pain and suffering because he was like ‘actually id like some human rights’ (and the murders but i mean)

sustained same-sex relationships

so we know that kamisu 66 is a ‘society of love’ that allows same-sex relationships freely...until adulthood. canonically, same-sex relationships are something for prepubescents and people going through puberty. its probably considered juvenile in kamisu 66 to have a sexual (or romantic) same-sex relationship. yusuke kishi homophobe king.

anyways. lets discuss. lets debate. lets argue. im going crazy.

[deadmanzp]

aftg asks; questions by triquetrine

these are so interesting so i did all of them.. i want to come back after a year and see if id still answer the same! 

op is the post before this or also tagged “misc” 

neil josten: favorite/most iconic line?

first one that comes to mind I’m not sure is a favorite or iconic line? but it’s a line i think about a lot and it always hurts to read. it’s when they're at the cabin in TKM. 

“He didn’t care how much it hurt so long as he could pull Andrew closer, and he let Andrew take him apart until he couldn’t think anymore.”

that comes at the very end of Chapter 14 and gosh just the paragraph that line comes from and the paragraph before…. the fact neil thinks andrew doesnt care about him the way he cares/feels about andrew is like….. CMON MAN but also i just love the pining angst of it. i like this line especially because the line right before it mentions neil working his “bandaged fingers into Andrew’s hair”. so the “he didnt care how much it hurt” to me always carried a double meaning of 1. the physical pain he felt bc of his injuries but also 2. the pain of unfamiliarity abt his feelings towards andrew and thinking it was unreciprocal AND THAT HED HAVE TO “WARN” ANDREW like the implication.. of neil thinking abt their “relationship” possibly ending bc andrew doesnt feel the same and maybe wouldnt want to be entangled in whatever neil was feeling …… IM LIKE neil knows andrew so well and him being so sure abt this but hes like …. WRONG …. e

nathaniel wesninski: one thing you would change about the books? (plot, characters, etc)

there is very little id change about the books if at all. mainly bc while i know there are upsetting things that happen/the charas do, i think all of those things make the series really interesting to analyze and talk about. i will say a moment i hated was when neil touches andrews scars when andrew makes it clear he doesn't want neil to pry about them. i know neil offers his scars in turn when he's trying to convince andrew to let neil look over kevin but that was controlled. he let andrew touch them and find out about them of his own volition. neil touches something directly related to the trauma andrew had just experienced again when he had 0 permission to do so. while i always get mad at neil for this when i read it i still dont think id change it or get rid of it. im not really sure how id change it anyways and i think andrews relationship with his scars (and himself in general) is probably what allows him to brush it off(?)/never bring this up (plus maybe neil offering his scars was enough for andrew) but i havent thought too hard about this. but ya i remember i got rlly angry w neil the first time i read this scene and i still get mad abt it when i reread.

andrew minyard: if you could be friends with one of the characters, who would you pick?

i mean realistically i wouldnt be friends w jocks ILL BE REAL LOL and i think as much as i love the monsters, theres no way id be friends w them haha uhm but prob dan would be most realistic! maybe even katelyn tbh.. 

kevin day: if you played exy, what would your position be?

oh i think dealer! in sports i liked being able to do both defense and offense bc it made me feel i had more control over the field, like i could always do something if there were any holes

dan wilds: favorite moment/scene?

definitely the hotel reunion scene. theres so much to it; it drives me nuts!!!!! but honestly there are probably a lot of really good moments im forgetting. to me the whole series is really enjoyable and every scene has something i could say about it haha

matt boyd: song you would love to see in a live-action adaptation?

Oggghh this is so hard… esp since it takes place in 2007???? Idk.. iconic artists then i suppose ghfgkjhf BUT i think general vibes i think itd be so cool if paramore (time relevant), ptv (also time relevant), and mitski were on the soundtrack……. Ya…….. 

nicky hemmick: which made you more emotional, neil at evermore or neil in baltimore?

neil in baltimore for sure… neil at evermore i can't remember what i felt the first time i read it (maybe pain LOL bc he was doing it for andrew and i felt like riko wouldnt keep his promise) but in my latest reread i was unimpressed by it (mostly bc i think riko is boring and unimpressive). i think i mightve said evermore in the past though….. maybe... neil in baltimore is like … GOD neils emotions are so strong during all of that its really juicy haha. i think like him being angry bc he was on the cusp of having everything he couldve ever dreamed of; the desperation of wanting to fight back and get away; even just the fear of being in the same room as his father for the first time in so long... all really juicy 

aaron minyard: a character you will defend to your death?

defend…. im not sure is the word i would use and i dont think i really believe in defending any of these charas “to death” bc of how flawed and complex they are; id like to acknowledge when they did wrong. i think id “defend” any of the characters if i saw anyone misinterpreting or misunderstanding them.. theyre all really interesting even if they didnt get too much spotlight. except maybe riko. hes incredibly boring to me. and also nathan ig and any of his crew just bc there is Nothing abt them rlly...

katelyn: which minor character do you wish you could see more of?

uhhhmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm….. idk maybe… jeremy…. gjfjgkdngmdghs just bc him and kevin r so funny.. i was thinking maybe jean too but…… idk a diff kind of kevin relationship lol (yikes) (pain) but really im satisfied w jeans screen time. i think ichirou is interesting but again i think he didn't rlly need more. maybe erik actually. im interested to know what nicky is like with him :0

allison reynolds: favorite headcanon about the foxes?

actually something i recently thought abt was neil and photography. iirc? andrew gives neil a camera in the ec and i also imagine kevin eventually gets another camera too (i loved that detail when we saw his room at the nest) so i thought abt neil and kevin sharing/trading pics they take of (mainly) scenery. i imagine neil takes pics of anything he wants to remember/keep while kevin is more prone to taking pics of subjects related to some nerd history stuff (lol) so thats why they trade scenery pics mainly. but i like this small connection bc i want more to their relationship than their exy obsession and i imagine they have room for more now that riko is gone and i just like this other commonality btwn them. i think maybe they mail the developed pics to each other maybe w small descripts/notes but thats it. and i also imagine it kind of just is something that started happening.. neil and andrew r on a roadtrip and some building reminds neil of kevin so he snaps a pic and eventually sends it to kevin w some note. kevin replies 1. either a text being like that is nothing. > neil: shrugs brushes it off but figures he is welcome to send more when kevin sends his own picture back or 2. kevin simply replies back similarly w his own photo. i dont know.. maybe this goes beyond what their actual relationship would be like but i do like the idea of them just bein like… dude friends u know so i want them to have more than just exy and a traumatizing experience between them. 

as for common headcanons within the fanbase…. i do like the allison + neil haircuts thing.. although im not sure if i imagine it the same as most haha i feel neil would know how to cut his own hair from his life on the run (though theyre not Good or bad just like ok u know like passable generic w/e) i think hed definitely be tense the first couple times but he has experience w allison being close from needing to be covered up w make up after winter break so i think she would be allowed. 

renee walker: favorite non-canonical ship? (renison, jerejean, etc)

uhmm to be honest none really… im way too attached to canon to be able to dismiss any established relationships. i think kevemy (??? is that the name) is rlly amusing but i dont want them together necessarily haha i used to rlly like renison mainly bc im a lesbian and i want “main” chara wlw relationships lol but i recently read something abt how bi allison doesnt rlly sit well w some bc she outs andrew and neil during the hotel scene.. i also agree this is kinda :/ if she was bi Mainly bc i feel a lot of ppl (or at least this is what i gather from renison stuff ive seen) portray allison already being established bi? if this makes sense. i think if renison/allison realizing shes bi is a later development id feel better abt it but usually renison is already established so ya her outing them does bother me…. BUT aside from this, thinking about them as characters and what their partners (would) look like… im not sure if theyd rlly choose each other.. but i still enjoy seeing them together in art and in fic bc in the end…. im a sucker for women lol….

seth gordon: most underrated dynamic? (matt & neil, wymack & andrew, etc)

my first thought was wymack and andrew bc i rlllllyy like their dynamic especially after reading their ec stuff. i loved their first meeting (andrews terrible sandwich??!?fhdhfjd) and when andrew breaks into wymacks apartment BUT i think ppl mention them enough its not underrated. i Actually think renee and andrews dynamic/friendship is rlly underrated/overlooked!!! especially after reading the son nefes ec i love their dynamic a lot… 

some son nefes moments of them i liked:  tw // rape

renee convincing andrew to go with her to see matt after his trip to edens

how many knives do u carry / one more than u IS SO FUNNY and just andrews persistence abt fighting renee is also rlly funny to me

tw // rape : the moment when andrew asks renee if she killed her rapist/abuser that whole convo was good… 

their convo in the rain w their tea

i cant remember when this happens or rlly exaclty what was said but renee offers andrew something (some help??) and he says i dont need (w/e it was) and she says something along the lines of  i know but it wouldnt do any harm or SOMETHING like that.. i like this bc she acknowledges their abilities while showing shed still like to offer some help. im p sure she does this another time too (w neil???? or someone i cant remember maybe it was andrew again) and i remember liking it too. she has a way w words and talking (also seen in her convincing andrew to see matt)

BUT regardless of ec stuff i think their relationship/dynamic seen in the books is rlly good too. theres def enough to be intrigued by them and i always have been? so i'm reeeaallly happy son nefes exists i loved reading it..

david wymack: which ncaa team would you play for?

oh to be honest i dont rlly remember many of them but of the Three (ravens, foxes, trojans) prob trojans. i remember i even got them in a uquiz once… 

abby winfield: which character was the most realistically written?

first that came to mind was aaron actually.. i remember before when i didnt rlly like him or care abt him it was actually bc he was too “boring” to me. i always thought he had the most realistic reactions to things which is what made him boring to me amidst the ridiculousness of, well, everything in aftg lol… i still think he is really realistically written but now i dont think hes boring haha

besty dobson: how many times have you read the series?

fully i think…. only 3 times… i wish this were a higher count but i actually feel guilty everytime i try to reread it.

riko moriyama: coolest exy moment? (kevin’s last-minute point against the ravens, andrew shutting down the goal, etc)

uhhmm uhmm i def think kevin during the final game against the ravens…. hes so cool haha but i KNOW there were a lot of game moments that i thought were really cool so i cant rlly say…. oh also i love neil being defense in that game too rlly juicy wish i could pull up obscure moments bc i know i rlly enjoyed reading the games but terrible memory...

jeremy knox: which do you like reading more, domestic!foxes or chaotic!foxes?

uh i guess chaotic? not rlly sure exactly what that could entail but i do like… their chaos.. when they have fights and squabbles and stuff… this includes the high tension moments. ALTHOUGH i do like the tiny lines in the books when we see the monsters just doing like random basic everyday life stuff like playing video games or whatever. i like…. imagining them... fhdjfjshfjs… as for fic def chaos. i feel domestic is usually too softened….. 

jean moreau: favorite friendship?

oh i think this goes back to andrew and renee. but other than them… i do like neil and matts friendship.. though probably not the same as its typically portrayed 

[nyalisa-landale]

it's super hilarious how my brother like... Doesn't Believe In video game speedrunning

like, one time I tried to show him this neat reverse boss order super metroid run, right, because I know he likes super metroid and because isn't it so crazy that you're not really intended to play it that way but you can???

and his response was just. completely the opposite of what I expected. he like, flew into this frothing tirade about how they were Using An Emulator (also a crime in his book - I guess I shouldn't tell him what the Nintendo brand mini super nintendo he loves to pieces is) and Must Have Been Cheating because it is Impossible to play the game in any way other than how the developers intended it. or maybe it's just sacrilegious to, I don't remember.

anyway, we were talking super metroid earlier tonight - I honestly forget why - and we were discussing the ridley "fight" on ceres station, how you just take damage until the game decides you took enough (although to be fair I think if you do enough damage to ridley the game will also continue, idk) and I said that yeah, iirc most speedrunners just jump into him hella to get that part over with

and then he says something about how super metroid speedrunning is dumb because they skip all of the game, rather than going and taking the time to explore and collect everything like a REAL GAMER (aka him) and I'm just like "dude 100% is a category too you know" and so he asks me what the record for that is. so I dutifully look it up and tell him. (it's real time 1:14:xx, something like 22 or 23 seconds iirc, in-game time 43 minutes exactly.)

and my brother IMMEDIATELY calls bullshit. "he was using an emulator!" no, i filtered out emu runs, he was on console. "I won't believe it unless I see it!" I've got the run video right the fuck here. "that's just a video on the internet. it's fake." uhhhh, it looks like it was on stream.. "that doesn't mean anything!" and all those gdq runs I have watched, live, those are all fake too? "thats just video online, it's hella easy to fake." I'm pretty fucking sure the 2.2 million they just raised for pcf two weeks ago says otherwise. "that's a whole different thing entirely, that's got nothing to do with it! I play this game all the time, I play it like once a month, I know what's possible!"

these top-level runners play way more fucking frequently than that, but I'm not about to tell him that, because then he'll say their runs are invalid because they're jobless losers with no life. (my brother tends to sound an awful lot like our dad when he's drunk. of course, point that out to him and you're the problem, so...) (also, he wields the fact that I've yet to beat the game once as if it means I know absolutely nothing about how the game works. all I do is sit and watch other people play video games, so it's impossible for me to know anything about any of them ever. ...he says, while I'm sitting there PLAYING A FUCKING VIDEO GAME.)

so instead I ask him, how's your bomb jumping? can you infinite bomb jump? "no." can you infinite wall jump? "no." well, these guys can. and that's how you do all the crazy sequence breaking shit that lets you finish the game with all items in a fucking hour and change.but nooooooo, he refuses to believe any of it is possible. just because he hasn't 100%ed the game yet ever, and his best time is around like 3 or 4 hours, means that nobody could possibly be better at super metroid than him, at all, ever. despite the fact that.. people clearly are. nope, it's impossible. there all cheating somehow.

honestly, short of the world record holder coming to our house and playing on my brothers cartridge and my brother's hardware, I'm not sure anything would convince him of the validity of these runs. and even then I dont know if that would work.