#*forces myself to stop writing and post it*

[vi-is-badass]

At this point I’ just going to break this down into characters because this is going to be long… well longer. (At this point I feel kinda bad that I can’t seem to be brief. Haha. I have a tendency to overexplain so I don’t get misunderstood.)

I’m going to get the short ones out of the way first.

Jinx

Yeah, we do completely agree on Jinx and her ending. I simply misunderstood you and also definitely overcomplicated it haha. (me overcomplicating something? surely not.)

I think the point you made about Jinx and Vi's contrasting flaws is really neat. I hadn't actually thought about it that way, but you're absolutely right.

I also wanted a hug. That family hug at the end of episode 5 healed something in me haha.

Caitlyn

Huh, I guess I linked the wrong post. Oh well. But I definitely agree with you on Caitlyn. The biggest weakness of her arc is that it was a casualty of the limited time and the shift away from the political themes the first season and the first act presented.

Since I’m a writer I look at it more from a character writing/structural standpoint. So, while I do agree that Caitlyn’s arc ultimately didn’t work, I think I differ from other people in what section of the story ultimately hurt her arc the most. I felt like it was the second act that hurt her arc the most rather than the conclusion.

I think the way they framed her eventual betrayal of Ambessa is the biggest issue for me. Her half of the story in act 2 is centered around her growing distrust of Ambessa rather than confronting her actions against the undercity or showing the self-hatred over her actions she tells Jinx about in act 3.

This makes it so that what she says about her actions "We can't undo our crimes" and "hating you, I hated myself" rings hollow.

I think this hits me as especially odd because Arcane really likes to make characters have to look at the consequences of their actions. Look at Vi and Jayce. They're the two most consistently well intentioned characters in the show and despite those intentions they constantly make mistakes that the narrative makes sure they have to confront the consequences of. 

I’m going to expand on Jayce since I’ve already talked a lot about Vi haha.

Jayce's decision to resort to violence over peace when he raids the shimmer factory leads to the creation of hextech weapons and the death of a child at his hands. It warps his dream and puts them on the precipice of war. He has to face the consequences of how he gave ground on his morals and confront the privilege he has had. He immediately shifts focus to broker peace and destroy hextech weapons.

In season 2 Jayce's creation of hextech-- his dream-- is revealed to have worsened the class divide between piltover and Zaun and will lead to thousands of deaths. Even though his intentions are good he is forced to face the negative ramifications he didn't consider in his desire to bring about his dream through his experiences in the future. As a result he resolves to destroy it and stop Viktor.

It's a very basic “character does things with negative consequences and they are forced to face the consequences and grow” type narrative. This makes the moment they change feel earned and you understand their change. Caitlyn's arc in Act 2 lacks this.

Caitlyn doesn't have to see the police brutality happening at the barricades and checkpoints that we see in the "paint the town blue" montage.

Caitlyn doesn't have to confront the fact that people and children were imprisoned in Stillwater without true cause by enforcers and ambessa's soldiers in episode 4. She only sees Warwick's rampage and comments on the fact that she thought she'd seen the most warped creations of Zaunites, but apparently she was wrong.

She doesn't have to confront the fact that illegal arrests were happening under her watch or that some of those people were beaten for information as well.

She doesn't have to come face to face with the brutality that's happened with her at the helm. The show doesn't have her acknowledge or confront the fact that she has become the oppression she swore to Vi she would oppose in season 1.

Even if Caitlyn opposes these actions (something the show makes sure to remind us of), it doesn't change the fact that she's made the oppression of Zaun worse and actively participated in it through her role as the strike leader and the commander.

I can in some ways be okay with this because Ambessa is implied to be hiding the worst from Caitlyn so she can keep her hold on her (at least I think that's what the show was implying), but with that in mind I wish the show had scenes where we got to see her hesitation and self-hatred.

There was a cut scene of Caitlyn breaking down alone that I feel like the second act sorely needed. This would have been a great way to show that she hates this and she hates herself, but she feels like she has to continue because she's already in too deep.

Or at the very least have Caitlyn look conflicted in the background when she realizes Ambessa plans to attack a peaceful commune. Just some sort of conflict over her actions towards Zaun.

If there had been some variation of these things I would have found her turn more believable (ideally all of these options combined IMO). As it is, it's incredibly abrupt and makes the consequences Caitlyn does face for her actions feel less significant since they don’t feel tied to her actions against Zaun like they should.

So even though she does face consequences— she faces down Ambessa, gets stabbed, loses an eye, lets Jinx go, and gives up her counselor seat to Sevika— it inevitably feels hollow.

Do I think the consequences were handled perfectly? Not at all. I’ve made my feelings clear on the baffling choice to not show Caitlyn give her seat to Sevika, that people forgave her way too easily, and that her self-loathing/conflict is told to us after the fact rather than shown. But all of those issues come back to the second act for me.

Vi

Ooooh. I understand your point better now. I was thinking of it purely in the context of the finale. I do agree with your statement that Vi's powerlessness is integral to her character, but I think I can voice where I differ better now.

I think the biggest way in which we differ is in just how active/passive we think she is. I believe that in the first season, Vi's actions combined with everyone else's and the systemic and societal themes of Arcane are all responsible for bringing about the tragic ending of the season.

I do agree that Vi’s helplessness is an integral part of her character and I do believe there are parts of the series that make a clear statement on it like you said. I believe act 1 (season 1) is clearly making the statement you expressed.

But once again I believe the outcome of act 1 for Vi comes about due to a combination of her flaws and the sad reality that you can’t protect the people you love from these larger systemic issues and the violence that is born from them. (The super fun helplessness, responsibility, and guilt inherent to the experience of the oldest child.)

To expand on that statement I'm going to look at her impulsiveness and anger in the first season because it explains what I mean.

Vi’s flaws are part of what kickstarts the series. It’s her anger at topside over what happened on the bridge that causes her to want to strike out against topside. This causes her to lead the job that ends in the explosion. (We know this action and the consequences of it have major ramifications throughout the series.)

It’s Vi’s anger that leads her to impulsively lash out at Powder. Despite the understandable nature of the action (seriously. No one would react any better than this. In fact most people would likely react worse) and her attempt to almost immediately go back and fix things this is still a formative moment for Jinx, her relationship to Silco, and the series at large.

After she’s released from prison her impulsiveness causes her to charge in headfirst and attack Sevika to find her sister, alerting Silco to her presence which causes him to try and kill her before Jinx and Vi can reunite. This leads to the growing rift between Jinx and Silco and Silco’s hold on the undercity slipping.

Vi’s impulsiveness leads to her teaming up with Jayce for the shimmer raid. This leads to worsening tensions between the two cities and Jayce’s attempt at brokering peace.

And finally, at the tea party, Vi’s impulsiveness causes her to unintentionally push Jinx further away from her by reminding her of their dead family during Jinx’s breakdown. This is fueled by Vi’s desire to help but it’s her failure to stop and realize that what she’s saying is negatively effecting Jinx that leads to Jinx believing Vi can’t understand her. Which is part of what leads to her fully accepting the Jinx moniker and firing that rocket.

Her impulsiveness isn’t the only factor in these actions. Her other flaw of failing to accept change is also a massive factor, especially at the tea party, (and one I’ve already expanded on in other posts) but I still think this illustrates my point that many of Vi’s actions drive the story in some way. They are driven by her own motives rather than being reactions to what’s happening around her. Vi isn’t passive in season 1. 

Vi’s actions in season 1 clearly weren’t the only factor that led to this tragic outcome. Your points about Vi's agency being taken from her are valid and completely true. The flaws of all the characters involved came to a head along with the systemic strife. They go hand in hand. 

So it's not that I don't think Vi's powerlessness is a core piece of her character (It definitely is and I think you're right about the impact is has on her!) it's more that I don't see her as passive and is tragically part of the thing that propels the tragedy of the first season of arcane.

It's just that her good heart isn't allowed to make the impact she wishes so badly she could due to a combination of her own flaws, the flaws and actions of the characters around her, and the oppressive societal structure of arcane. It all comes together.

This isn't really a counter. Everything above is more of an expansion of my own thoughts on Vi's character, her flaws, and the kind of fascinating mix of agency and passivity she has throughout the season. Because I do agree with your core argument! I think you're right on the money in a lot of ways. I just view it a bit differently I guess.

I think the main reason I chafed against this idea is when I thought you were purely looking at it as a statement on the finale and this is primarily because Arcane drops the class themes in s2 act 2. So I instead mainly view her lack of impact on the finale as a failure of character writing.

I apologize for the long explanation and my first ramble. I didn't fully understand what you were saying the first time and was thinking of it purely in the context of the finale. Sorry about that. Plus, I hadn't really taken a step back and considered how her powerlessness was a statement from the show on the systemic issues present and was instead only looking at it from a single character perspective. I genuinely appreciate the new perspective!

I will admit that, while I still stand by my thoughts that she should have been integral to the final battle, I also acknowledge I can’t talk about Vi’s character objectively.

I relate a lot to Vi for many reasons I won’t get into here. It was this connection and The lack of impact she had on the final battle felt like it added insult to injury. I felt like her character arc was fumbled and then she didn’t even have a part to play in the conclusion to the series. It felt like she was an afterthought. 

So while I already explained why I don’t think the lack of impact worked I also acknowledge that I don’t think I can address your point the way I would like to because of my personal bias and I can’t tell right now if my personal feelings are the root of my pushback or if it truly doesn’t work for a conclusion to her character.

I actually think this video is really interesting. Not because I fully agree with it (there are a lot of points in the video I don't agree with and a lot that I do), but because I appreciate its intent.

I also fall in the same boat where I really liked the second season, but I didn't love it like I did the first and I appreciate that this is a video that wants to start a conversation. He wants to talk about why things didn't necessarily work for him, why it didn't seem to have the same impact as the first, and about how he wants to hear why those things might have worked for others.

So much discourse about this season has framed it as either the best thing ever, above any criticism, or the worst thing ever with no redeeming qualities and it's made it very frustrating and demoralizing to try and talk about it online.

I want to talk about how I loved aspects of this show and that I was also let down by certain aspects of the show as well, but anytime I try and talk about criticism it's rarely met with a genuine conversation.

I would love to hear how people interpreted things differently from me, why they felt that way, how it connected with them, because I feel like that's the purpose of stories. It's never going to resonate with anyone the same way and there may have been things I missed.

I also know I haven't always worded what I've wanted to say and my criticisms the way I want to get across what I mean. It has never been my intent to sound like I wasn't open to discussion, different interpretations, or counterpoints. I would like to actually talk more about this season and hear other people's thoughts as well.

[14dayswithyou]

no way you dropped the biggest river lore in the tags and moved on like it was nothing 😭 can i ask if this is still your intentions with him? bc it sounds like you changed your mind halfway 🤔

im ngl though i really enjoy how ren and river are similar and different to each other, but does that mean river would hurt his angel but leave our friends alone the same way ren would never hurt his angel but would unalive all of our friends? since they're suppose to be each other opposites. i really hope this makes sense 😬 my final question is what is ren doing on thursday? i want to go on a cute pier date again 🩷🌸

@secretkoa asked: and can i hear more about what unsent memory is suppose to be about or is that off limits? idk if i asked this in my previous question so ignore me if i did! thank yuo and remember to drink lots of water 🐸🌱

⌞♥⌝ For those who haven't seen the original post, I want to quickly clarify once more that while River was originally my OC, he's since been picked up and revamped by my friend Jesse/@unsentmemory!!

However, now that Jesse has stepped away from the yandere community, River's fate (and da fate of Unsent Memories) has kinda been put on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

‼️ Massive Unsent Memories and River spoilers under the cut ‼️ CW for: mentions of gore, torture, mutilation, self-harm, etc.

With all of that being said, yes, Jesse's original intention for River was for him to be your standard "serial killer-turned-yandere once he accidentally catches feelings for his latest victim (Bunny)". The only main difference is that I originally planned for River to be a generic murderer first, whereas Jesse had him become a yandere right off the bat.

You also asked to know more about Unsent Memories, and I think giving a general synopsis(?) would be fine?? ^^ But basically... After getting involved in a car accident, Bunny wakes up with amnesia and gets tricked into thinking that this random guy — whom they've never met before — is their loving, supportive boyfriend named River. In turn, he convinces Bunny that staying in their shared home would be more beneficial than staying in the hospital as it might rekindle some old memories, he'd be able to take care of them, and it would be easier for them to recover at their own pace. But surprise!! River is actually a frequent patron at the Murderer Motel™ and now has trapped Bunny in his Torture Basement®!!! <3 He also maaaay or may not've been the one who hit them with Ren's car as well... ^^ Oopsie daisy hehe

And yeah!! Similar to what you've said, River was also supposed to share (somewhat of) a narrative foil with Ren!! I personally wanted them both to have similar, complimenting vibes with each other — all while having completely different/separate motives and incentives when it comes to the object of their affection. I'm glad to see it was conveyed well enough; even after Jesse's additions to River's characterisation :3 I know I already shared some examples in the previous tags, but I can share a few more:

Where Ren puts Angel's feelings and opinions above his own, River purposefully ignores Bunny's and does everything for his own personal benefit. Essentially, "I'm doing this for you" vs "I'm doing this for me".

While Ren would never dream about harming Angel in any capacity, he's perfectly happy to kidnap, extort, torture, and kill everyone else... In contrast to River, who's accustomed to torturing and brutalising others for his own twisted enjoyment and sees it as a way to show his interest in Bunny.

Kinda silly how Ren claims to be a freelance programmer (but is actually a hacker) and how River claims to work at a music shop (it's a coverup for his second torture chamber lmaoooo).

[CW: implications of SH] Ren is willing to go as far as mentally and physically hurting himself if Angel asks him to, whereas River is willing to physically mutilate Bunny if it means keeping them by his side. [end CW]

With that being said, you can assume that Ren is easily swayed by Angel's words, opinions, and emotions, whereas River can easily sway and manipulate Bunny due to his own feelings and emotions.

This is something I've actually mentioned before, but Ren always prefers things to be tidy, so he often cleans himself up after disposing of his victims. Compared to River, who casually wears the bloodstains with pride and blames it on getting a bit rough with someone else during a boxing match.

It's no secret that Ren is willing to change every aspect of himself to earn Angel's love, and River is willing to change his serial killer ways to return Bunny's love. Da power of friendship and repressed childhood memories gksdgjh T_T /silly

Ren pretends to be a Normal Guy© with tons of empathy to spare, whereas River pretends to be a Regular Person℗ with the heart of a himbo.

I could go on but you get da point lol

So, yeah!! This is essentially the vibes we had planned for River (and Unsent Memories) before Jesse stepped down /pos ^^ I feel like talking vaguely about UM is fine since River only has a small cameo in 14DWY — and I'm sure that if Jesse ever returns from war (/silly), they'll give River muuuuch more justice than I possibly can :3c

[marclef]

today's a special day.... in celebration of my 800 Follower milestone, i've decided to finally share some writing with everyone! i've... never been brave enough to share my writing online, besides a few very close friends, so i do hope you enjoy it!

but, it's a little backstory stuff with Peppino, Fake Peppino, and Eyhm! a Chef and a Kitten's first meeting with a strange creature... i hope everything goes well...

(i am nowhere near brave enough to ever make an ao3 account... a Google Drive link will have to do 😅

and some EXCEPTIONAL art the wonderful @pizzabox-box made based on it!!! (and if you aren't already following them, you need to do so NOW!!! 👇)

[chocolateteapotsvis]

Happy @halbarrysecretsanta to @bitchyblkqueer!

Hal’s been through a lot, and left almost as much behind. He’d much rather the past stay in the past, but as usual, the universe has other ideas. Something magical’s taken an interest in Helen. Hal's not letting anything happen to his niece, not when they're finally building a relationship outside of a time in in their past Hal knows they'd rather both forget. So he's bringing in Barry, despite things between them being, well…

Not the best conditions for a family holiday mall visit.

[red-hood-vigilante]

if you stopped watching spn or continued watching just to finish the series (but did so with disdain or with little to no attachment to what was going on) - what was the moment/storyline/character/something that made you start losing the plot? for me the first moment of disconnect was in 6.06 when sam says 'you're right there's something wrong with me, i need help' to dean who proceeds to beat him unconscious and it's not until the next episode they find out sam's soul is gone and dean does not make amends in any way for beating sam unconscious without grounds

[ahollowgrave]

sensory prompt: 31. The cold, sharp smell of the first frost

(don't know if you wanted us to specify for which oc so i'm just letting you choose ahahah)

This takes place during one of Odette's earlier adventures. Traveling alone through long abandoned ruins. We're talking about skeletons, boys.

Odette hadn’t expect them to smell… cold. She wasn’t sure what a pile of bones were suppose to smell of. Grave dirt, decay, oldness perhaps? The nun sat back on her haunches and folded her arms across the tops of her knees. They were bare of flesh in a way that suggested time but they were not clean. Dirt clung to them and in the low light she could spy shiny black carapaces of living things crawling among the heap. Moss had stretched over a few of the larger bones, a few of which looked cracked.

She was pretty sure all the bones were there for a complete skeleton… or near enough. Which made their haphazard arrangement on the floor of this abandoned place even more curious. With self-preservation far from her mind, Odette leaned forward to caress the curve of the grinning skull.

“How far from your resting place are you, my friend?” Her voice was soft, hardly above a prayer, but even still it echoed in wide and empty halls.

Frost bloomed where her fingers touched and though she yanked her hand back it stopped nothing. In rippling spirals the frost reached every part of every bone in a matter of moments. And then the skull sighed -- breath pluming before it like a winter morning -- and the pile began to rise.

Odette fell backward and scrambled wildly away from the half-formed skeleton. Watching with horrified fascination as little blue flowers continuously blossomed and withered along the ribs and across the shoulders, as steady as breathing. As the complicated bones of the hands and feet sorted themselves into their proper places it took the early steps of a fawn. Several of the crawling things that had been living among the pile fell and, absently, newly formed hands caught them and pat them back into place. Moss trailed behind it like a ruined veil until gravity reinforced itself.

It never once stopped watching her.

Odette riffled through her catalog of prayers and rites and collection of stories and myths.

And then it stood before her, tall and complete, still shedding dirt and long insects with many legs.

Wordlessly and with a chivalric tip of its head, the skeleton offered the still-prone nun a hand.

Thank you for the ask @oneiroy! ][ Sensory Prompts ][

[hoppipolla]

Except for you. You whose eyes saw the pain buried deep within. You who saw my trembling hand and held it.

(scp)

[theoldmixer]

well how did i get here? 13 going on 30 AU

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

[tenderhooked]

[deeply breathes into my hands] the carmy has to stay at donna’s house for a few weeks while she recovers from a fractured arm fic almost has a finished first chapter. that is *checks notes* 11k words. booyah

[divinekangaroo]

falling - pettiot - Peaky Blinders (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

PART ONE - DAY ONE

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9

PART TWO - MONTH ONE (Or Maybe Month Two, Or Three)

Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18

PART THREE - YEAR ONE (Or So)

Ch 19 | Ch 20 | Ch 21 | Ch 22 | Ch 23 | Ch 24 | ??

A Modern AU take on Tommy's immediate return from military service, and the period between his demobilisation and the start of S1.

(Tags shall be progressively updated)

.

Tommy Shelby/Lizzie Stark, Tommy Shelby/Freddie Thorne, Arthur Shelby, Polly Grey, Ada Shelby, John Shelby, Johnny Dogs, Various Lees, John Shelby's Children, Mr Zhang, Mai Zhang (S1E1 Red Dust Girl), Sergeant Moss, Jeremiah Jesus | Alternative Universe, Modern AU (ish), more tags at the link

[kyoosoup]

rating things people have told me about my ADHD diagnosis

mostly because I'm bored

me: "I got diagnosed with ADHD!"

friend: "I thought you were gonna say you had something serious, like autism"

0/10

this is a paraphrase but yes I was told something very similar to this pretty soon after getting my diagnosis. unfortunately it has also stuck with me and made me sometimes feel like ADHD isn't as serious as it is. I know a lot of people will compare ADHD and Autism, often saying that Autism is "worse" or something. But they are two different struggles and shouldn't be compared. Not to mention that a lot of people with one tend to have the other as well.

me, to my dad: "I have ADHD, and it's genetic, so there's a high chance you have it too"

my dad: "oh, I know I have it"

3/10

also a paraphrase but this one annoyed me. you're telling me you KNEW you had ADHD and didn't think hey maybe my kid who has been struggling in school for half her life would want to know that was a possibility??? Dawg.

my mom, driving me home from the therapist office after I had gotten officially diagnosed: "this label doesn't have to define you, you don't have to feel bad about it"

3/10

paraphrase (I didn't write down our spoken conversations). Dude if my mom was paying attention she would've seen that I was HAPPY and RELIEVED about my diagnosis. Suddenly years of feeling stupid, worthless, lazy, like I wasn't trying my best- were all explained! I literally had a disability this whole time woops. And yeah so my mom was seeing this as a bad thing?? or something. it kinda crashed my mood and I had to explain that yeah I was actually glad to have the diagnosis.

my friend, who has diagnosed adhd, during my ADHD assessment: "Stands outside with party poppers. Welcome to the club! /j"

10/10

thought I'd throw a few nicer things in here. All my friends have been super supportive of me ever since I got my diagnosis and even in the research process. shout out to all my neurodivergent friends that made me aware that ADHD was a possibility :D

Neurodivergent people tend to stick together and peer reviewing is quite real

Also to the friend who bought an ADHD book to understand better you win 11/10

[bonebabbles]

im curious, do you think there is any good way to portray a redemption by death? like, can a character truly be made a better person by dying? or is it just an all-around bad trope? i vaguely saw what the authors were trying to do with tom and sandgorse's situations, but they just sucked too bad and gave it the absolute wrong effect imo

I think there's a way to make anything work! So I won't say "NO NEVER." But personally, I have a big bone to pick with it so I avoid it

A redemption death doesn't give the character time to meaningfully change, imo, or truly make up for their actions. That all has to come before the death itself. And even the very idea of giving your life up to "redeem yourself" just... sits uncomfortably with me.

Dying never makes a person better. It just kills them. A person who's dead is not changing nor growing.

So Tom and Sandgorse... what their deaths are supposed to do is re-frame everything they did before that point. With no apology on Sandgorse's end for how badly he hurt his son or wasn't there for his mate, he was a good enough person to die for someone else and thus must be forgiven. Tom thrashes two women and they both die because of him, but he was still willing to heroically throw his life down for his child, and so he is 'worthy' of being avenged and honored.

No growth. No change. No acknowledgement. The death is supposed to add sympathy to them, while there's no actual reckoning of how they hurt their victims. Not even a real consequence. "Their intentions were good, and this is proven through the ultimate sacrifice." As if that changes anything. It doesn't.

I think if there's an decent example of a redemption death in warriors, it's Bluestar's. I still have problems with how it believes Stone and Misty have to "forgive her" for some reason, REALLY don't like the fact that this series has always equated redemption and forgiveness... but that aside? Just focusing on Firestar, ThunderClan, and Bluestar?

I think what makes the moment so strong is that it is a moment of clarity through her cruelty arc. We saw the heroic person she was at the start of TPB. We know that her actions are coming from anger, spite, and paranoia. That is never shown as a thing to be excused. But while she's wrapped up in her own misery, Fireheart is being the leader she isn't.

And her last life is a return to form, spending it the way she is supposed to, as a leader, and as his mentor.

Her arc could never be about 'growth' because... she WAS a great leader. She WAS selfless, long ago. Her redemption death is a return to that, and a plot necessity. Bluestar and Firestar cannot both exist.

But, anyway, it's generally a trope I'm not fond of. I think that nearly anything can work in the right context, but I think it's so situational that I personally avoid it when possible.

[divorcemotif]

"oh hey a real person followed me, I should look at their blog"

soon

"...perhaps I should listen to Eskew."

oh boy you caught my blog after an exciting weekend lmao

I absolutely recommend eskew! I don't have a lot of coherent thoughts, since I got into it over a very physically and mentally draining summer job and have yet to relisten, but it left an impression for sure. I will say what there is of an overarching narrative felt a bit jolty to me in places, for lack of a better term— I think you get the vibe of a show that’s figuring itself out somewhat as it goes, however the ideas are very interesting and I could make a long list of moments that really really affected me. my recent posts probably give a good sense of what I liked most abt it; david ward is just. endlessly interesting as a character imo. the writing’s good— there's a kind of.. ironically humorous edge to a lot of my favourite episodes, something I’d have to relisten to properly articulate. there's a tic of referring to one-off characters by a title instead of a name— the correspondence editor, the architect, the witness— that scratches something in my brain. in contrast with the slimy fleshiness of much of the horror, the sound design is just nice, actually— the rain never stops in eskew and the tone of the narration stays pretty level no matter what’s being described. there are only two narrators and I found both of their voices pleasant enough to close my eyes to on the subway after a long day. very solid show

[dougbowser]

🥲

[ranger-kellyn]

i always see posts about not having enough inspiration for creative projects, but my problem is i have quite literally too much inspiration. like. i'm not saying it to be Quirky&Cute when i say i have over 100 WIPs just sitting on the back-burner. i mean i am haunted by the countless stories my brain has in rotation, all while knowing i do not have nearly enough time to ever actually write all of what i want to write. right now my biggest struggle is getting my brain to actually decide what it wants to work on. no matter what story i go into, my brain then goes "i wish i was working on [other project] :\" and so then i go to that other project, and my fucking brain is like "no, actually, i don't want to work on this one, i want to work on OTHER project" and it's just an endless loop and AHHHHHHH

[omskivar]

So watching the show has reawoken some Big Fucking Feelings and ideas, and I think I'm going to try to write this idea for an AU where Jerry DOESN'T die, and instead of killing Joel Abby's goal is to kidnap Ellie and take her back to Seattle so they can try again for a vaccine. And I am very excited for this idea! I'm just also running into the problem of trying to not recreate scenes from the game verbatim, and also Ellie. Because if the plot is no longer Ellie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, then suddenly I have to figure out what her motivation is and that's not really my strong suit.

Also I could use someone to bounce ideas off of, and right now the main person who can fill that role is Husband. Which would be a lot more helpful if he actually played TLOU.