#A day for meta a day for reflection

[divinekangaroo]

In one of those writer-equivalents of ‘redo the drawing/art 1 year on’ exercises, the two fics I’d rewrite (this won’t happen BTW it’s just me thinking) and why/what to improve are:

-melting point of gold. I was trying really hard to show Tommy slipping through time back into traumatic past events as a trauma response to Ruby’s death, a breaking down of all his walls and barriers in his mind such that he couldn’t anchor himself in this time where his daughter is dead. But, couldn’t get a smooth narrative voice established. (I still find it difficult to re-read so would want to improve that.) it originally included a lot *more* going back into the past (and his mother, and his caretaking) than I left in the end. It also included a phone call with Ada which goes wrong because she keeps wanting more explicit direction from Tommy, and also a phone call telling Arthur the news about Ruby which goes terribly wrong because of Arthur’s addiction and his manipulation by Mosley, triggering a deep segue into the past trauma and particularly his mother and Romani context as a consequence, as well as one about John and the nuns. I just couldn’t get the intent and flow settled to my satisfaction. I cut so much to try to smooth the narrative voice and improve readability but in hindsight it’s left the ‘slide backs’ and the scene at Johnny’s camp very disjointed and without a satisfactory arc of their own to a point of revelation. The problem was narration/voice not the scenes I wanted to include, and in trying to improve voice I stuffed the scenes. -pride is the prevailing spirit of the superior man. This is the Mosley/Tommy one. As a first re-entry to writing and this fandom, I find it’s a little stiff around the edges in narrative voice and scene transitions. It’s not something I can improve in micro edits; every time I try there’s nothing I’d actually change because I still agree with the content, and what’s a word really matter when the content conveyed is the same? But a full rewrite would make the room for softening the voice and smoothing scene segues. I’d also add a little more dialogue between Tommy and Mosley, and Mosley and Lizzie, but *most significantly* I’d completely redo the scene w Lizzie and Arthur. I’ve always found Arthur difficult to get into, but I just had this *drive* that a fic where Tommy lets himself get fucked neeeeeeeded Arthur in it, but at the same time Arthur couldn’t actually ever speak to Tommy. Arthur had to be lurking, somehow. So I wrote it in but had only half thoughts about what it was supposed to do. I think I could do that Lizzie and Arthur conversation more justice and weight after working more through Arthur in other fics, and especially now thinking more layered things of Arthur’s role in the source material thanks to @vertigosuite’s visual/scene analyses.

[purble-gaymer]

simple thoughts on meta knight and gender euphoria

[veinsfullofstars]

🪞 Kirbtober 2024 Day 18: Mirror 🪞

(ID: Kirby series fanart of Kirby stepping out of a Mirror Door and looking up in curiosity, while Shadow Kirby peeks out uncertainly from behind the golden artifact. Inside the sparkling navy-blue glass, Dark Meta Knight can be seen in faded profile, his tattered red cape flaring dramatically around him, a single glowing eye glaring out through the scarred visor of his mask. END ID.)

Previous Day | Next Day | Prompt List (made by @/paintpanic)

Started on 09/26/24, finished on 09/27/24. | Kirbtober 2023 Comp

[afterthelambs]

"Silco didn't create Jinx, you did" lives in my mind rent free because throughout season 1, Vi has been convincing herself that Silco is the obstacle preventing her from getting Powder back. She's traumatized and guilt-ridden. When Vi is traumatized, she simplifies things as a response. She has to believe that getting her sister back is that simple. But when Silco is finally dead, Powder doesn't come back to her. In fact Silco's death is what solidifies Jinx's decision to be Jinx (the complete Jinx aka Jinx + Powder, not the broken version of her that she tried to erase Powder from).

And that's likely why Vi switches on her so quickly. By the time season 2 starts she's fully on board with Piltover wanting to kill Jinx and when she confronts her in ep.3 she says Powder is dead and they're not sisters anymore. Which is wild considering just a few days ago she was reassuring her that they'll always be sisters.

I think Vi meant all of it. At the time she really did want Caitlyn and the enforcers to kill Jinx. But that's because she's still just as traumatized and guilt-ridden as she was before. She can't deal with the fact that Jinx herself is the real reason she can never get Powder back. And as I said, Vi simplifies things as a trauma response. However if they had actually succeeded in killing Jinx, I think Vi would live in regret and self-hatred forever. What someone wants when they're traumatized and hurt is not what they want forever, and Vi does love her sister.

[canarybell]

It might be an unpopular opinion...

...But I think we might not see Aziraphale and Crowley actively interacting in present in the first few episodes of S3 (i.e first two or even three episodes). There might be some flashbacks, some ways for them to check on each other (probably without the other knowing), and them both visibly reflecting on what was done and said in the Final Fifteen, so it won't be a complete absence of aziracrow content - but there won't be an actual interaction.

Iirc, Neil Gaiman said that the third season wouldn't be that aziracrow-focused as the second season was. So it wouldn't be just a story about their little divorce.

And I don't think they were separated just for the sake of the drama of the Final Fifteen. They both have plot-related things to do on their own - Aziraphale in Heaven and probably in America (as we know from a little information we have about the sequel), and Crowley...probably in London (because the bookshop is still there and we still have Whickber Street decorations intact) and in Devil's Dyke (I just have a feeling that South Downs thing won't be just a last-episode "oh, let's move in a cottage" and will actually have some plot significance)?

It was like that in the original book too - we had them mostly separated and acting on their own from the moment of Aziraphale finding Agnes' book and until the airbase reunion. TV show changed it, including a 30-minute flashback, all the bandstand/"I forgive you-1" drama, and the pub talk - this was necessary to flesh out TV versions of the characters and their conflict. But would it be necessary in S3, with us knowing these characters and what their problem is? Especially if aziracrow would be in a very different places due to the plot (unlike book/S1, where, prior to Aziraphale's discorporation, they both still were in London)? I'm not sure.

[0809sysblings]

maybe this will get rocks thrown at me but i kinda hate when people call the 18+ prisoners "grown adults" as insults and ways to like... shut down any sympathy with them. how because they are "grown adults", they "should have known better". this has just always bothered me. i see it and i have to sit and stare at the wall for 10 minutes.

like. idk. being an adult does not automatically give you skills like Emotional Regulation, Impulse Control, Ability To Learn From Consequences, Ability To Plan For The Future, Critical Thinking, Interpersonal Skills, etc etc. you have to be Taught these things no matter how old you are. if you are not taught these things, and you are not supported in an environment that helps you further develop these things... you just. Aren't gonna be able to do them well.

adults just, typically, have accumulated enough experiences in life to have been able to learn these things. but not every adult has had that privilege. or some adults have had to just shut off the parts of their brain that would allow them to learn these things to be able to function at a basic level.

[hekateinhell]

accidentally took somewhat of a vc fandom break for a while and i come back and it’s almost vamptember lol oops

[viric-dreams]

I may have lost this painting when I quit my drawing programme, but I can offer a small writing snippet to accompany the WIP screenshot, so it's not all gone to waste:

“What are you painting?”

Tamara hadn’t heard Ockham come in, but the way the corners of her vision shift around her, harsh lines of light softening to a dreamy blur, she should’ve realised it much sooner.

“It’s the view from my bedroom balcony. In Varchas,” she says, choosing her words carefully in a tongue that still feels foreign and clunky.

Ockham squints, studying the painting with a furrowed brow, and the expression suddenly reminds her of her auntie. Tamara shakes her head, dismissing the illogical comparison. They clearly look nothing alike. They shouldn’t, at least.

Ockham’s hand traces along the line of a wall of mirrors, where it intersects with a planter containing long dead greenery, careful not to touch the still wet paint. She’s suddenly aware that the perspective on the planter is off, and makes a mental note to fix it as soon as she’s able.

“It is not a very nice view,” Ockham finally says.

Although it’s a somewhat rude thing to say, it’s not entirely wrong. There was nothing special or aesthetically pleasing about the view. She’d barely paid it any mind herself, in all of the years she’d lived and slept in that room. The part of her brain that had been slowly developing since she’d picked up this new hobby urged her to move some elements, give the piece stronger tones than the monotonous muddy yellow characteristic of Varchaasi evenings. But that would go against the aim of painting it in the first place.

“It is not a very nice view, no. But it’s the one I had, and if I don’t paint it how it was, I fear one day I won’t remember how it really looked like anymore.”

Ockham’s studying her now, and she wishes, not for the first time, that she had any insight into her flatmate and companion’s mind, whether it even worked the same way as a real person’s would. If Ockham would find her thought offensive.

“Ok.”

“Ok?” she repeats, confused.

“Ok,” Ockham nods, then moves away from the painting towards the door, “I go now on the market. Is there something not on the list that we need?”

She nods no, then catches herself and changes the motion.

“No, nothing.”

“Ok.”

Ockham is gone again. This time she hears the door click closed. With a sigh, she draws her brush across the canvas, determined to fix that planter before it cements itself as warped in her memories.

[yuhenglesbian]

The naming of ‘Oshi no Ko’ is so so clever. I'm sure people have talked about it already but every time I think about it I am so genuinely impressed at Akasaka's cleverness.

The most direct translation is of course "My Idol's Child". It reflects the surface-level view of the story so well: An isekai-esque story about a man who has been reincarnated as the child of his favourite idol.

But then you have "The Girl that You Support". And it really lets you see the whole story as something you must unravel as a reader from the point of seeing Aqua's and/or Ruby's and/or the rest of the characters' actions as manifestations of the desire to love and to be loved.

Especially because "子" in Japanese isn't just used for the girl child — it isn't a gendered term to the best of my knowledge. "子" is child, so the title may also read as "The Child that You Support". And it is the story of children — or people who have been children — who haven't been supported wholly, and who are looking for ways to support each other.

Whether it is Ruby and Aqua's desire to avenge Ai, who was barely an adult when she was killed. Whether it is Aqua's own fears about the women in his life, all of whom are in the showbiz and his attempts to make sure they are protected even at the cost of him being harmed. Whether it is Akane's willingness to go wherever Aqua goes because she wants to share the burden of his pain, or the way Arima doesn't leave the revived B-Komachi until she is sure that they will be alright without her. And even the smaller singular arc-limited instances: Yuki choosing to calm Akane who is having a breakdown and later the entire Love Today cast being immediately onboard with saving Akane's reputation.

Throughout the story, the children consistently step in to protect each other when the adults have shorthanded in or are unwilling to do so. Over and over again, the horrors of the industry everyone is placed in is touched upon through a child/teenager in the business and as a viewer, you are made to witness these horrors and the way it impacts them.

Everything about the story is so very well done, it almost makes me a little ill. It's so very brilliantly thought through.

[cdroloisms]

my personal interpretation of c!wilbur is someone who read a lot of left over (functionally) historical propaganda over the revolutionary war and became radicalized, not fully grasping how his position in the world changes what his own desire for revolution really means. hes like a white knight lib to me (simplification but i hope it gets across)

ehhh i see where you're coming from but i don't really agree

to be clear i'm not super c!wilbur brained he's a fascinating character but i haven't watched enough c!wilbur content recently (especially early c!wilbur content) to really consider myself particularly uh able to give like, a nuanced read of the guy. but c!wilbur is honestly a lot more self-aware than a lot of people give him credit for. he crafts these narratives not because he inherently 100% believes them, you know?

there's a lot about mmm the lmanburg revolution and all that's quite openly ig like, underhanded even in the way that he plays it early on. the whole "words, not weapons" moment where he reveals that that's actually a ploy to stab people who believe them in the back comes to mind. the content creator himself has always asserted that a significant part of the creation of lmanburg is meant to assert and keep power, and this is something we see reflected again in the elections, which--uh, pretty obvious power thing, imo.

this isn't to say that like, being a good person and all isn't important to c!wilbur. it is. it's very important to him, and part of what shatters him so much in pogtopia is looking at what he's done and realizing that it doesn't really make him the best guy. but i don't think c!wilbur buys what he's selling like, at all in early lmanburg era. mans knows that he can speak things into reality and he uses that. a lot. part of why c!quackity unsettles him so much even as early back as the elections is because c!quackity was someone he couldn't get a clear read of and someone that therefore left him on the back foot. but in terms of the revolution, delivering them from oppression, etc etc--the fact that he owns this whole "we aren't like the brutish, tyrannical americans and their barbarity" while himself being american as established in boundless sands reeeeeally hammers in the whole irony of his lmanburg sales pitch.

as far as i can tell, i usually operate on the assumptions that like. 1) c!wilbur wants to make an impact, be remembered, legacy is a whole thing yadayada my unfinished symphony yadayada ozymandius yadayada literally all of the hamilton references. self explanatory. 2) c!wilbur is a character that often navigates the world + relationships to power in terms of "either you're the one with power or you're the one having power used against you"--a lot of his interactions reflect a need to have control over a situation, his interactions with people that he perceives as having power or threatening his power/control tend to involve challenging them and their authority, stick it to the man, the whole thing of putting a block under himself while talking to people. this could've been put better but yeagh. 3) c!wilbur wants to be respected + wants to be, like, a good leader? and he can get wrapped up in a lot of that while you know not having the most accurate perception of his Actual strengths 4) c!wilbur is self-aware and intelligent and charismatic, and he's quite confident of all of these qualities. he's a hell of a manipulator and uses manipulation quite often to get the upper hand in social situations 5) a lot of the power/control issues have roots in very real fear--he's a guy that's quite ill and obviously as we get into elections and pogtopia especially (schlatt scares the bejeezus out of him) we see a lot of that. realizing that his actions makes him a bad person affects him greatly and he ends up struggling with this idea for Quite a long time--he tries to get control over this by trying to Own the whole "i'm evil" thing <- also not put the best but ehhhhh ehh. again, not a c!wilburian and 6) c!wilbur, in the role of the "lmanburg narrative", takes the role as its writer. he's the one that comes up with the story in order to validate his creation and make it into a Thing, and this succeeds--but the mythos also quickly snowballs beyond him. he creates the story as it exists but it becomes something More, yknow? i don't think he ever truly believed in it i don't think that c!wilbur actually buys any of his stuff about revolutions and oppression and all of that, i dont really think lmanburg was any more legitimate of a cause when he began it as the drug van breaking bad rp that he made the day before. but it's a story that took hold and grew to have very real, tangible power that affected the whole server and affected him as well. which obviously goes into the whole exiting the narrative thing.

anyway that's all a bit of a rant and i'm not exactly the person to ask for c!wilbur thoughts but yeahhhh 🤷. i tend to no-nuance him a little bit bc he's a complicated character and im a hater 😂

[crescentmp3]

love planning out an entire video game that will take me years of learning to get started on making.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Worst Guy Ever - Also, Unfortunately, Very Homosexual Convo. (subtextually)

[veinsfullofstars]

💥 Kirbtober 2024 Day 21: Duel/Rival 💥

(ID: Kirby series fanart of Shadow Kirby about to engage in a two-on-one battle against Shadow Dedede and Dark Meta Knight. Clad in the Sword hat, the nervous but determined puffball leaps up with the sword Master held high, golden light and a spiderwebbing crack emanating out from the shining tip. His rivals loom over him, the king grinning wickedly and brandishing his great poleaxe, the knight glaring coldly and gripping his six-pronged sword. END ID.)

“Ain’t room for deadweight in my army, pipsqueak. C’mon, show me whatcha got!”

“Hmph. Don’t disappoint me, kid. Let’s see if you survive round one.”

Previous Day | Next Day | Prompt List (made by @/paintpanic)

Started on 09/30/24, finished on 10/02/24. | Kirbtober 2023 Comp

[quanblovk]

Now you all know i like to write and draw DMK and MK having a really complicated relationship with each other in a /neg way- wait what? I never drew them together like that? Damn.....

But anyways, deep down, i think those two.......have sunday brunches together!

[achilleslyre]

you cannot love ash while hating yut lung i’m sorry but using the point that he tried to hurt ash and eiji will never get me……. this is a 16 year old boy who watched his brothers rape and kill his mother at 6 years old while he was being held in place to watch and was then trained for special assassination and used for his entire life with no free will by said brothers until he killed his brothers freeing himself and others from their control because he despised the lee bloodline and with the new freedom that came with the lack of control and the aspect of no guidance in life from any respectable adult he grew a deep hatred for ash and eiji because he sees ash as a reflection of himself so they should be the exact same except why does ash get to have someone that loves him and guides him out of the darkness of hatred and self loathing that comes with the life they were dealt when they are the same person and yut lung does not have anyone to love him. so as any teenager would do he has a breakdown about it and then uses control (the only thing he’s been taught) to try to take that away from ash because they’re supposed to be the same but when it’s addressed to him that what he’s doing is wrong and that taking eiji away from ash would just create another yut lung, an unlovable and unloving person (as told from the perspective of yut lung), he stops what he’s doing despite his own sorrow and breaks his contract with blanca so that blanca can go try to save them…………….. he was a 16 year old boy with absolutely no guidance in life and when hit with the voice of an adult who does not hate him nor hurt him he listened and stopped…………………..

[sistress]

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