#Also! I forgot the name of the main protagonist but I know he was a guy so. Transfem pomni real I take no criticism

[teethbomb]

hrrnnggg digital circus…

[blueteller]

I found this on reddit it's not my opinion but it's kind of funny and disconcerting.

What do you think?

( https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterRant/s/uwKw63Cgoc )

"A rant on Trash of the Count’s Family

Alright before I begin I would like to preface by saying that I am a long time reader of the novel and love this novel to death. It kept me company during my darkest and lowest points of my life and I am forever grateful for it !

The rant also in no way affects the brilliance of the story. With that out of the way here it goes:

This is an amazing fantasy novel filled with great visuals, writing, story and top-notch characters. However it has TWO big problems that broke the story smooth sailing for me and I need to rant about it because where I am from I am pretty sure no one reads TCF in a 6000 mile radius.

One big problem was the romance. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NONE OF IT. This is not a problem if the main character doesn’t want romance (he doesn’t nope) but NONE of the main/side characters that has been introduced so far also want nothing to do with romance. It was a little awkward to read the story based in medieval setting where characters are as pure as angels as they come.

Now, you can of course raise the point that romance was never the main focus of this novel (it’s not even a background focus or some D plot) but let’s analyse this novel here for a second okay? This novel is very gore and never ever shy away from very dark themes or stories.

- The main protagonist of the story (sorry forgot his name it’s been a long time) has his entire village with whom he has spent 20 years murdered and burned to ashes, all the men women and children are totally dead.

- The Prince story is also pretty dark and deals with some adult themes about race and identity.

- The dragon raon (is that the name?) backstory is…holy shit some hardcore torture and let’s not forget the revenge torture that happened later with raon eating steak.

- The butler and his butcher son

- The absolute crazy HUMAN EXPERIMENT arc that was happening in the Empire. I mean holy shit they really went into crazy detail about body mutilation and the scientists are absolute psychopaths in how they love their job.

And I am just scratching the surface about how dark this novel is and there’s plenty of it. The point is that it is very adult oriented novel with these stories but on the flip side their romance department is so negligible that even Tom and Jerry had more romance than this.

It actively avoids it like a plague. Why is this an issue? Let me explain.

Simple answer it feels a little jarring or disorienting when you read the novel like going back and forth between watching the looney tunes movie and switching immediately back to a Black Mirror episode.

But I have to give where credit is due. I didn’t notice the romance problem until after some 500+ chapters later (that’s how good the novel story is ) and how did I notice it?

After some battle trying to reclaim the south (north?) tower and this is the part where the Empire’s royalty is on the brink of collapse the redhead girl (I also forgot her name but she is part of the main gang) is extremely tired after a long battle and Cale tries to help her by giving her some healing potions (remember at this point she is the only female character that understands Cale the most and their relationship is the most developed of all) but she says she is so tired she can’t even lift her arms, so Cale (as logic would have it) offers to feed her the potion himself (see completely logical under the circumstances) but Raon the dragon out of nowhere says, “You are too weak Cale! Let me do it”. And I am like…say what? We know the main gang always comments that Cale is weak and all but come on guys we know he isn’t and in fact he’s been through crazy shit. During that battle he never had to fight and was in top condition so that remark from raon made even more less sense.

And then the redhead laughed it off and said “it’s okay I will do it myself” and she does…after a bit of struggle to lift the said bottle.

It’s a small thing but it did break my immersion (it was already broken before, I will explain later). It forced me as a reader to actually “think” about the author intentions something that should never happen when reading a fantasy novel. And it made me go “hmm wait a minute” and then I reflected back on all the 500+ chapters I have read and I came to a realisation that…forget main character romance there is hardly any romance of any proportions from any and every character in this whole novel! It was so impossibly impossible that it teared through the immersion completely.

The second reason for this rant and this is connected to when my immersion showed a small crack. And this reason is purely a preference thing so feel free to ignore this as you want.

I personally believe that when you make a “reborn in a fantasy world” story you absolutely must never collide “our” world with the fantasy world.

Don’t do that.

From page 1 you are setting up this fantasy life, fantasy way of living and thinking, fantasy people, fantasy stories and most importantly a fantasy you. Don’t break this immersion by literally making the world he (Cale) came from an integral part of the story.

When the main protagonist found out who Cale really is and confronted him about it by listing some Korean food items I was a little disappointed because it felt like a parent telling a child that role playing as a prince and over now put the castle made of pillows back in place and do your homework for school tomorrow.

Maybe it’s just a me thing but after that confrontation, every time Cale interacted with anyone be it the redhead, his dragon, butler or anyone it all felt so plastic and fake, like I was overly conscious of the fact that this is a fantasy land filled with fantasy people and well…it made me feel a little lonely."

Wow, this is quite interesting! Thanks for sending me this. Not because I agree – anyone who knows anything about my opinions on TCF would know that the very 2 points that the author of this post has "problems with" are the things that I embrace with great enthusiasm.

So, prepare for a long ride!

First of all, let me make this absolutely clear, the same way this person did at the beginning of their own post; they are allowed to have their own opinion on what they like or dislike. The same way I am allowed to like or dislike certain elements of stories. I don't claim that TCF is a flawless work either – it's just that all the flaws it does have, at least to me, are so minor I don't care about them in the slightest.

I might actually be "brave enough" in the future to actually make my own post about the "flaws" of the story for me, no matter how few. But not today. Today, let's focus on the reddit post.

Now, imagine a person (the author of this post) is given an apple pie in a restaurant.

This person very much enjoys apple pies. They continue to visit the same restaurant and keep ordering this apple pie. But after a while, they discover "two big problems" with the apple pie.

First of all, it does not contain cinnamon. So this person is like – why not! That is, they did not notice before, but it is SO jarring to them now that they know! Because they believe all apple pies should contain cinnamon. Secondly, this apple pie is made out of a species of apples they do not like. In fact, they are convinced this apple species is not fit for apple pies! So, they quit ordering apple pies at this restaurant.

Meanwhile, there's a second regular customer (me) who orders the apple pie at this restaurant. This customer, in fact, is kind of sick of cinnamon. They were so happy they discovered a restaurant that doesn't use it! This person also notices this apple pie has a very interesting texture to it, one they very much enjoy, because of the specific apple species this restaurant uses. It quickly became their all-time favorite dessert.

Obviously, neither customer here is wrong. "The customer is always right in matters of taste" is a saying for a reason (although people usually say only the first half of it, forgetting the second part), and just because I love the "apple pie" in question, I am not going to shame the other person for their own taste.

With all that said, please allow me to address to the post properly, step by step.

First, when addressing the lack of romance as a problem, this is this person's argument: they list major dark moments in the story, like Choi Han's village getting massacred, dark race racism, Raon's torture et cetera. Then they say, "The point is that it is very adult oriented novel with these stories but on the flip side their romance department is so negligible that even Tom and Jerry had more romance than this".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe… Tom and Jerry had any romance either. That cartoon did not even have dialogue. So like, huh??? What kind of argument is that? Should I say that Tom and Jerry has a critical flaw that is has no talking despite being all about comedy? That it would have been better if it was dubbed or something? Well, there was that one movie I remember from childhood but – never mind, we're getting off track here. This argument kind of, completely falls flat for me.

I get the implication. "TCF is has so many dark themes, it should be mature enough to contain romance as well". Which is, completely off the mark for me, personally. Maturity and romance have NOTHING to do with each other.

There's also the statement that "It actively avoids [romance] like a plague." And I agree, kind of. This story avoids romance on purpose. But It never felt unnatural for me. I was kind of expecting it to pop up eventually, back when I first started reading. I thought for SURE Rosalyn would be somebody's love interest – because she had to be, right?? But it gradually dawned on me that there are so many cool, pretty, strong, independent female characters… And none of them are representing a specific fetish or exist solely to be somebody's wifu. The women are PEOPLE, they are fleshed-out, complex characters who have goals and ambitions and just like for the men, there is no thought about romance here because there is so much going on – most of it world-ending, in fact – that focusing in romance would actually DECREASE the maturity of the story instead of enhancing it.

The author of the post said, "It was so impossibly impossible that it teared through the immersion completely". What, do you need characters getting laid to be truly realistic mature adults or something? I think you have the wrong idea about adulthood… Let me say it again, those people are too busy in this story to focus on dating. Even if Cale himself wasn't so obviously ace, his life has been so crazy since he transmigrated, I have no idea HOW on earth he could have found the time (or anyone else for that matter: just look at poor Alberu, swimming in paperwork 24/7!). He can't even sleep for more than 4 hours per day during the war arc. What I personally would find jarring is exactly this: characters trying to freaking date or play off romantic subplots while the world was LITERALLY GETTING DESTROYED. That would have been so petty and ridiculous.

So, the expectation that there HAS to be romance, just because… I think it is a faulty expectation to have in the first place. And it is NOT unnatural that the characters don't do romance (especially with how many species there are among the cast and the age gaps between them, it would have been awkward to say the least; unless you're the type to like Twilight style of romance). The story put a lot of focus to forge familial bonds between the characters. It doesn't lack in the relationship department, just non-platonic one. And if this is a problem for someone and they find it jarring, well… Again, no cinnamon in apple pie, I guess.

Next, we have the argument that "when you read the novel like going back and forth between watching the looney tunes movie and switching immediately back to a Black Mirror episode". I don't know Black Mirror, but I get it. The author of the post claims that the comedic character interactions – the ones that had been very well established in the first 200 chapters of the story, covering full 2 years in the timeline – are… what, unrealistic? Inaccurate? Cartoonish? I’m not 100% sure what the exact issue is here.

They quote a scene where I assume Rosalyn is too tired to lift her arms and Cale offers to help and Raon says he's too weak and let him do it instead. The author of the post then acts confused, as if it was completely unreasonable, because Cale is not weak. Um…. I don't know if they were not paying attention, but that's just false. Cale is PHYSICALLY weak, despite all his Ancient Powers. That is exactly the whole reason why he keeps coughing blood and fainting and stuff. So it was funny, and in-character, and fitting with the rest of the story – at least in my opinion. If that broke this person's immersion, then fine I guess, but I really don't see the reason. I guess they don't enjoy the "texture" of this "apple pie".

Speaking of texture, the last point pf the post I want to address: the belief that you should not mix "real world" and fantasy. They say, "I personally believe that when you make a "reborn in a fantasy world" story you absolutely must never collide "our" world with the fantasy world. Don't do that". Excuse me, but uh… why? That is not the case at all, for many stories? I mean, you could approach it that way, nothing wrong with keeping it separate. But most classic isekai examples usually stray from that idea, actually. Are you familiar with Chronicles of Narnia, by any chance? Did you know that the magical lamppost that Lucy found in the woods actually came from England? It was a very fun bit of backstory from the Magician's Nephew.

"Don't break this immersion by literally making the world he (Cale) came from an integral part of the story." Why not, man??? It was so brilliantly done! In fact, it was so freaking cool, the way TCF did it! What, is "our world" so boring and terrible you must keep it separate from the fantasy at any cost? It was plot relevant, it gave Cale legit ties to the new world, it fleshed out his character, it was incredible! 10/10! If TCF lost that element, it would have been a great loss.

And even if you don't like the mixing of "fantasy and reality" as something "immersion breaking"… there is one problem with this kind of argument, in TCF at least.

Kim Rok Soo is NOT FROM OUR REALITY.

Let me repeat: the man is not from regular, modern Korea! HE IS FROM A FANTASY MONSTER APOCALYPSE DIMENSION!

The whole reveal of what kind of place KRS comes from is what make this story so good to me. It was an incredible twist. The "regular, normal man from modern world" was a red herring meant to hide the fact that he was an ability user from what is basically a superhero world full of monsters! It is not! Regular! Modern! World!!!

"When the main protagonist found out who Cale really is and confronted him about it by listing some Korean food items I was a little disappointed because it felt like a parent telling a child that role playing as a prince and over now put the castle made of pillows back in place and do your homework for school tomorrow." That… you really, REALLY missed the point here, man. That was not the vibe of the scene at all! Choi Han and Cale are both essentially war veterans, mentioning foods from their childhood! This the "Frodo and Sam talking about the flavor of strawberries from Shire at the foot of Mount Doom" from Lord of the Rings type of moment! Only, well, a bit more comedic. Still, it was so touching!! But, well… again, you don't like the taste of the pie, there is nothing I can do about it.

And lastly, there was this paragraph at the end of the post:

"Maybe it's just a me thing but after that confrontation, every time Cale interacted with anyone be it the redhead, his dragon, butler or anyone it all felt so plastic and fake, like I was overly conscious of the fact that this is a fantasy land filled with fantasy people and well… it made me feel a little lonely."

I never noticed such a thing. I do not know if more people felt that way. But I always thought that the characters were well-established and their behavior natural. I am sorry that the immersion break made the author of the post lonely. I hope they can spend time with their friends and feel a little better. Fantasy shouldn't just be a tool to "fill an empty void in your life and escape terrible reality". For me, stories are meant to create something beautiful, to inspire, and to make one consider the possibilities of reality. I mean, if Cale can stop world-ending threats by being brave and making good strategies, why can't I handle the minor problems that reality has to offer? It's all a matter of perspective.

So, that is it. That's my whole response. I hope it satisfies you! Have a great day!

[physalian]

On "immersion" in narrative

I should be relaxing today taking a victory lap because my book is finally live on sale, woo!

But I have this to say first, in the realm of “you can’t please everyone”. I am not a reader who enjoys extremely fluffy narrative, not “fluff” as in “feel good cotton candy stuff” but as in “300 words of describing the layout of a bedroom” fluff. I don’t like when the pacing moves as slow as molasses, not for introspection, but for telling about every little thing that happens in the story no matter how irrelevant it is to the story or its characters.

I had a beta reader for ENNS who left at least 20 comments across my narrative asking for all this extra material because my book felt too lean. I had a birthday party for a side character’s newborn daughter, when the side character herself was never even named. The plot takes place in a castle, and, shocker, the castle isn’t only populated by Main Characters.

It was just the inciting incident of the chapter that got my characters staged in the right location and the right mindset (happy fun birthday party, sourpuss self-saboteur protagonist is really missing out).

But she’d left me a comment asking for probably at least an extra 500-700 words of details about this party. She wanted to know about the food that was served, what everybody was wearing, what music they were listening to. She wanted to have actual dialogue between the new mother and some important character, some comment about life and death and parallels, and wanted all these details about a three-day-old newborn baby.

I deleted that comment. And every other comment like it.

Why? She is not my target audience and was my only beta with such notes, but also, even if this was that kind of book, she failed to understand what, I think, counts as meaningful to the narrative. That baby only showed up maybe twice in the book. The mother, like I said, never named.

The point of the party was simply “hey happy times exist in this place that you hate, Protagonist”. Spending paragraphs upon paragraphs on a little narration side quest to give you irrelevant details that don’t advance either the plot, the worldbuilding (there were other parties where I described the clothes and food and music), the important characters’ thoughts, feelings, goals, or conflicts, at the cost of keeping the pacing more consistent would have been superfluous.

And that party in of itself was fluff. I was following through on the set up of a pending newborn, spent time describing how a castle full of immortal vampires who don’t have to sleep can crochet baby clothes for a week straight and now this baby has far more clothes than she could ever hope to wear before she grows out of them. I had my narrator, a vampire, comment on how much he likes these events because new life is so rare in this bleak setting. I spent a few sentences describing the baby herself, and then he left to continue the story, taking talk of the party to the pissy protagonist and going “buddy you are allowed to have fun and meet the baby and your attitude is really getting old.”.

500 words might not sound like a lot, but she had asked for these extra paragraphs constantly. She argued it was for immersion.

The thing is.

I don’t like superfluous fluff, but I do like fluff in moderation. I don’t think any one element that takes up more than two sentences or so should exist for one sole, niche purpose. Meaning: You want to toss in a detail about a supporting character’s woodturning hobby? Great! You want to spend two whole paragraphs going on a tangent about this hobby that never comes up again and isn’t actually that important to the character? Why?

This is not to say that I think all books should be lean, this is just what I like. I don’t have the attention span to sit around waiting for the plot the author forgot about so I can read a whole page about the kingdom’s irrelevant potato farming practices. I do have time for a couple sentences about the irrelevant potatoes. I do have time to read a whole page about the kingdom’s potatoes if it’s setup for a potato famine.

There are ways to be immersive without overkill. All this counts as exposition—establishing details that set up your world and your story—and what she was asking for was a series of exposition dumps, several of which were redundant.

As a writer, I work very hard to give expository details as they become necessary. I won’t describe the dresses at a party until my narrator has time to thoughtfully comment on said dresses at said party—which he did. He came from a place that didn’t have dresses, much less lavish parties, and criticized the castle’s hedonistic opulence. He wasn’t plotting his escape, stopping mid-thought to tell the reader about the costumes, and then carrying on.

I could have waxed poetic all day as well-constructed and seamlessly as I could to work in those details to try and make them matter, but a) that would be rehashing the ‘hedonistic opulence’ and b) it really, truly, did not matter.

Would a reader like her enjoy my book? Eh, probably not. Would a reader like me enjoy her book? Eh, probably not.

There is plenty of room in libraries and on bookstore shelves for “lazy river” style books where the whole point is reading about as many details as the author can cram between the pages and there really isn’t a plot, it’s more about the setting and the relationships. Can’t mess up the pacing with an exposition dump if there is no pacing. Not my kind of story.

Doesn’t make either of us bad writers. She will have her audience and I have mine. I only argue for details that serve a purpose, and if that purpose is a solitary and weak one, then that’s not enough for me.

[the-tcclique]

okay hold on i don’t care that nobody following this blog knows them but as the ceo of i will always believe i got inspired by a random comment i made about them and made a (pretty generic) iceberg and i will be sharing & explaining it

but watch out! it’s a lot

Layer 1: Les Mis 25th

Superstar was in the original West End cast of Les Miserables in 1985, originating the role of Marius, a student involved in the rebellion that falls in love with the daughter of the main protagonist, Valjean. The role launched his career, and he’s been associated with Les Mis ever since.

During another show a couple years prior that we’ll talk about late, he introduced the producer of Les Mis to Tenor Boy. The producer was really impressed by him, so when it was came time for the 25th anniversary concert of Les Mis, Tenor Boy got the role of Valjean. It was his first major venture into musical theatre (he previously worked in opera) and pretty much his first encounter with Les Mis, but like with Superstar, this performance made him a huge name in the West End and Valjean became his most iconic role. If you’ve heard that audio of Nick Jonas going “my place is here i fight with youuuu” then getting cut off by a guy putting his whole pussy into “OOOOOONNNEEEEEE DAAAAAAAYYYY MOOOOORRREE” then you’ve hear Tenor Boy’s Valjean.

For the encore, the original cast joined the 25th anniversary cast to sing One Day More, the iconic Act I finale of the show. Most of the originals went cast was next to or at least near their counterparts, but Superstar sure wasn’t standing next to Nicky J. In fact, even though he was singing with his on-stage girlfriend(s?) (even though they’re not standing together in the song during the show mind you) he was still next to Tenor Boy. And when they did their bows after the song, they seemed so excited to be able to be next to each other and hold hands that there was one moment where they were so busy looking into each other’s eyes that they quite literally forgot to bow.

Layer 2: Ball & Boe: Together Albums

In 2016, the two released the first of several albums that they’d make together called, well, Together. A third of the songs on the album are love songs. Coincidence? Yes, probably, but it’s more fun to imagine they chose those songs because they want to sing them to each other.

Their next album was released the next year, titled Together Again. There were less love songs on it, but it was another album, which meant that this ball (heh that’s a pun) was just gonna keep rolling. Bonus fact! This album has one of, if not the only rendition of The Prayer that’s sung by two men. Granted, it’s not a love song, but that sure as hell is gay.

Layer 3: Les Mis 2019-Present

In 2019, Superstar rejoined the cast of Les Mis- this time as Javert, the main antagonist and old man yaoi toward Valjean. Tenor and Superstar starred alongside each other for a couple months as the old man yaoi enemies and it rocked. The production closed but was set to reopen near the end of 2020, but its run was shortened due to the pandemic- but we’ll talk more about that.

In 2024, an international arena tour of Les Mis began, with Tenor and Superstar starring once again as Valjean and Javert. As of writing this, they’re currently still on tour and are currently in Sydney! I was lucky enough to get to see them in Manchester and omggggggg they were incredible i fujo’d out so hard <3333

Layer 4: Together Album Series Tours

For every album, there has to be a tour. And these two have had six albums, so we got six tours. And in every single one, they’ve done some gay shit. Hugs, kisses on the cheek, dancing together, constant flirting, innuendos, all of it. Most of the time Superstar cracks the joke and Tenor Boy gets grumpy and flustered, but recently, Tenor’s been making more moves, if you will, toward Superstar. And considering I basically selfship with Tenor, I am all for seeing his flirtier side.

Layer 5: Together Era Interviews

Also with a new album comes interviews. Specifically during the release of Together, they had some wild interviews. My favorite of theirs was when they were on an episode of Loose Women together and before one of the cut to commercial breaks, Superstar fully (stage) kissed Tenor. This energy continued through the episode, with Superstar claiming that they got engaged and leaning on Tenor A LOT.

I’ve also found some pretty banger quotes from transcribed interviews

Layer 6: The Honeymoon Era

For the promotion of their third album Back Together the two filmed a bunch of videos in this beautiful French city and it reallyyyyy looked like they were on their honeymoon together. In one, Superstar got a motorcycle for Tenor, so Tenor got him a boat to repay the favor (and also one up him). In another, they were eating together and they were holding hands from across the table while Superstar went on about how happy he was that they were “back together” and commenting on the chemistry between them. And then there’s one where Tenor basically asks him out.

I think most people would consider the Back Together period the honeymoon era, but I actually think that extends further, or at least there was a second honeymoon era. Their fifth album was called Together in Vegas, where they sang songs by legendary Vegas performers. Tenor actually has a residency in Vegas (at the Westgate Casino where Elvis used to play- he loves mentioning that) so he’s a Vegas veteran. But Superstar had never been. So Tenor does the most logical thing and brings his best friend on a two week escapade to Las Vegas. And we all know what they say about Vegas. The first place they go together? The Little White Wedding Chapel. Whatever man.

Layer 7: The Classic Brit Awards 2018

Jarvis, roll the tape:

Layer 8: Kismet 2007 (i got the year wrong on the iceberg don’t worry about it)

So you may be wondering (probably not but maybe)- how did these two old men with a lot of homoerotic tension first meet? Well that would be during the glorious production of Kismet 2007.

Superstar was floored by Tenor’s voice, and Tenor had looked up to Superstar as an idol for years. Superstar has literally described their meeting as love at first sight. They instantly hit it off and became best friends, which really really REALLY saved them throughout the rehearsal process.

So. Kismet. The script was….. pretty outdated to say the least, but the director assured the cast that they’d be able to rewrite the script to make it better suited for modern audiences since the original writer had died. Yeah, so he was actually still alive and made sure that the production team didn’t touch a word of his script.

It didn’t end there though. Eventually, the director and the choreographer had a falling out which led to them making choreography and blocking specifically meant to spite the other. Then a week before the show was to open, the choreographer quit. Which was pretty bad. Superstar and Tenor took to becoming the unofficial directors of the show in lieu of their current one being dogshit and decided that they’d go down with the ship having as much fun as they could. During Tenor’s big romantic duet, he would look over into the wings and see Superstar mooning him from offstage. That’s the kind of show it was. This was actually the show that Superstar invited the Les Mis producer to come see, both because of how hilariously awful it was but also because he wanted to show off his new best friend.

Layer 9: Their Quarantine Together

They didn’t spend most of the quarantine together, or else I’d somehow be ten times more annoying about them than I already am. But in late 2020, a brief run of the Les Mis Staged Concert was performed in the West End once again starring Tenor and Superstar as Valjean and Javert. So since they’d be onstage together a lot, that means they’d get to be near each other. So what do they do about this? They fucking live together and quarantine together for a bit. They were the only people allowed to be in such close proximity to each other while not onstage, and Superstar described himself as Tenor’s “significant other when it comes to this.”

Layer 10: Tenor “Stalking” Superstar

Okay this is my top 1 favorite piece of lore about them. So at some point in the late 80s-early 90s, Superstar had already made a huge name for himself while Tenor was just starting his musical journey. He had looked up to Superstar for a while, and somehow he found the apartment where he lived. He wrote him a note with his phone number asking for advice and slipped it in his door. Superstar never called back (but there’s a banger fic on ao3 about if he did). Their meeting during Kismet was a miraculous coincidence.

The best part about it? Apparently Tenor has written the note in purple crayon on a sheet of toilet paper. He’s so cringefail and he’s the love of my life.

.

if you actually managed to read all of this hats off to you and thank you for indulging me.

i will always believe in them

[n0tamused]

✮⋆˙World of Maii'ard

Hello! I recently did post about wanting to make my own original word and expressd some doubts about doing so, but thanks to some encouragement (and scolding from a friend/pos) I decided to give it a go, even if it doesn't end up going anywhere. But I have to admit that it was way more fun than I would have thought! I was in fandoms and creating for fandoms so long and tied myself to only that canon, that I forgot how it delt to make something for just myself. But I'll not yap for much longer.

I want to introduce you to the first three characters I created! Although there are many more that I have, and that I want to draw, but the story of these three has grown very close to me and I just had to draw them first.

First character I want to introduce is - Izarra Mayfindel Kalint'ara, an elf King in the North.

After the Year of Woe, he found what survivors of his kin there were and led them to the safety of the Mountains in the North. Although it was far from home and full of the unknown, he rallied his people and made it all work out - and for his efforts and good deeds he was crowned as their King.

I really am so proud of the embroidery I did on his outifts, I was just sort of winging it and hoped for the best. And it turned out really good!

Next up, we have Nurul Layla (not the real name, also it is subject to change too)

Believed to be half elf by outsiders, she is the legend of the Northern Kingdom held by Izarra. The stories told by the Va'banova (Kingdom of Men located to the southeast of the continent) speak of the maiden that swallowed the star and fell into deep slumber when she reached North, whose soul now travels across the mountains. But her tale has been told my many generations and changed even more times than that. To carry the Zvyezda is no easy feat and the North offered her shelter against those that wish to misuse it.

Some of you may remember Elinsaer, my LOTR sona, and my HSR sona Jien, well this is her just in this universe lol. I love my sona too much to not include her in this world as well. And tbh she gives me comfort writing all the lore. She is not the main protagonist of the overall story, but nonetheless she does play a big role anyhow. I love her <3

And last but not least! Isto'nad!

Isto'nad, they call him, but he was known as the Breakspear during the old years before the Year of Woe. He served dutifully as the knight of a lesser noble house in the South (of the continent of Heart of the World), before advancing in ranks to the Court of Geregheid. But his story is lost after the disasters hit, and he only resurfaced years later in the Northern Kingdom.

He is so precious to me, I can't explain to y'all. I'm still on the lookout for a better name for him, Isto'nad is his last name and I really love the meaning behind it. I combined two words of my language meaning 'east' and 'hope' and mashed them together to have somthing that sounds like a name hehe

I'm still working out the details of all of them here, but they do have connections to one another. Also, intentionally or not, but I love that their dynamics correspond to the sun-moon-star thing. <3 (so tempted to make Isto'nad and Nurul/Jien romantic AAAAAA)(they're comforting to me ok?)

I already have some sweet sketches of them that aren't so platonic lmao. But in their story I'm not sure how they'll go just yet. But they're there and they make me happy

Also here's some sketches I did of all their faces, as I'm trying to escape the same face syndrome and also draw them more accurately as well.

Again, not finished, but it's close!

I have so much more worked out in my world that I hope to share with you all, but I don't want to make this post too long, so expect me to make more posts in the future as I work out more details <3

Let me know what you think.

So many thanks to @eebeewrites for both the encouraging words and the useful tips for writing, I'm so grateful pookie <3 thank youuuu <33

Ⓒ n0tamused/jarttavia_. Do not repost, translate, edit, and/or copy any of my works. Likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated.

[amistyshadow]

I had a really, REALLY weird dream about The Amazing Digital Circus last night!! ( @gooseworx you wanna weigh in on this?)

I have had a lot of wierd dreams but I’m usually in all of them as the main protagonist in first person view, but this is the first time that it felt like I was watching an actual episode of a series.

The cast was on some adventure and the main npc villain was actually someone who used to be at the circus, but abstracted and is now used as an antagonist npc (I think her name was Victoria? She’s themed as some giant aquatic monster with a bunch of starfish and kelp on her, think of like the Big Daddies from Bioshock, but with more sea life on her, and you could see her scarred up face).

Pomni gets paired with Jax throughout the episode and Jax FINALLY gets some character development instead of just being some kids cartoon bully with no background or character other than just annoying & torturing people. The entire cast is supposed to defeat Victoria but Pomni being the hero that she is, tries reaching out and helping her, despite Jax constantly trying to mess this up. Jax Finally gets the character development I was talking about and is still a jerk but is now more like Buford levels of jerk (still mean, but you can tell he cares and he’s a bully friend that you would invite over for a game of baseball) instead of being like Denzel Crocker (Fairly Odd Parents) or Brad (Kick Buttowski) levels of bully.

One thing I forgot to mention is that in the adventures, Caine gave the characters the ability to fuse together to become more powerful and fight through. At first, Jax simply just uses Pomni to get stronger and the fusion they start out with is like; INCREDIBLY toxic! Think of it like from Steven Universe, with Lapis and Jasper becoming Malachite and showcasing a toxic and abusive relationship. (As Garnet said; “They’re a bad match for each other”) But as time goes on, Jax starts to see how fast Pomni’s already non existent mental health is deteriorating faster and faster, even when he stops fusing (mostly because he’s annoyed with how Pomni is slowing them down and making the fusion weak with her problems) her problems starts showing on Jax. After the both of them almost abstract because of Jax trying to do something he sees as “fun”, (trapping the rest of the cast in a cave to make them panic) Jax and Pomni have a heart to heart and realize how they need to work together to complete this adventure and get back to the circus. Once Jax finally realizes that, he lets go of the controls a little bit so that Pomni can also take charge. By the end of it, they’ve bonded and their fusion relationship is more like Stevonie with the fusion even changing to show both of them equal amount.

For some reason, Caine absolutely HATES the idea of Victoria coming back to the circus, something about “it’s not up to him” and “against the rules and company policy” several times the cast has to stop him and beg for him to not turn her into confetti like he did with Gummigoo. Caine ends up putting the cast into a new adventure and sets them up with an impossible task. They all have to agree on something or team up together to let Victoria stay.

The cast is transported to some falling apart school that is floating in the middle of space with some dim sun in the center, yet it’s freezing cold. The way I can describe the school is like Elmore Junior high (from amazing world of gumball) I think I even saw some of the gumball characters here and there? But the students and teachers were more like demonic zombies…

The cast is split up and only Pomni and Kinger are the only ones who believe that Victoria should get a second chance at the circus, after all, she was human just like them. Even Ragatha doesn’t want to know what might happen when they bring Victoria back (as she’s been playing the villain for so long she doesn’t know how be a supporting role) not to mention for as long as any of them have been there, they’ve never seen Caine act so hateful towards any of the npcs or avatars. But when Jax is struck with an ultimatum, and chooses to save Pomni and the cast over himself, the rest of the cast says Victoria’s name and they are all transported back to the circus with Victoria.

Victoria’s look has changed almost entirely. I’ll do my best to describe it… she had blue skin now, blonde hair in a high bun, but she looked very abstracted (not tadc abstract! Like an abstract painting) very blocky, and chunky, and she only had one eye now and it was on her right side of her face, which still looked scarred, but no where near as bad as before.

The dream ended with the cast showing her around, and telling her to take it easy as she’s the first person to not only come back from being abstracted, but also the first so-called “npc” to come back to the circus. Caine was floating near by still glaring at Victoria like she was a piece of filth that shouldn’t be there, while bubble is annoying him. Before I wake up Pomni and Jax are wondering if all abstracted humans became npcs or if this was just something new that Caine tried like with Gummigoo ai and making something actually scary for zooble like before.

That’s when I woke up. I’ll tell you that had to be the weirdest dream I’ve had in a long while. @gooseworx you wanna say anything about this???

[jullythevamp]

ok here are my opinions of nocturne s2 as someone who rewatched all 4 seasons of castlevania and the 1st season of nocturne for idk how many times

spoilers below the cut

so i did not know s2 would come out bc netflix decided to stay quiet and not advertise it! 😍 lovely

it's almost 8 months since the last time i watched season 1 so i did not remember all the details but i did not enjoy it like i did with all 4 seasons of castlevania. i watched season 2 today and i already prefer s2 over s1

good parts

the animation is soooo good even if i prefer the old art style over this new one the animation is soooo much fluid esp in the last 2 episodes

alucard is finally here !!! my fave from the main series and seeing him made me so happy :( his scene talking about da vinci... u 2 had gay sex say it . also the scene of him getting out of the river wow

also alucard mention of trevor :( stop

droltas backstory !!!! i love actual character building instead of just throwing characters into the narrative !!! the fact that she was the big boss instead of erzebeth made so much sense !!!! and she got her ass in the end !!!

the night creatures revolution !!!!! i love a story that happens in france around the revolution (im obsessed with innocent for this reason) and seeing the night creatures fight against erzebeth people while eduard sang a song he heard in HAITI????? wow

ofc annette is one of the best things of this show by far, i love her journey of finding her powers, even tho she did not show up her power as much as last season her arc was soooo good to watch i love her sm seeing her hugging her mother :((((((

and my favorite part of this season by far, MARIA!!!!! MARIA MY BELOVED DAUGHTER !!! her struggle with her powers and her mother becoming a vampire was sooooo idk how to even say it!!!! also the fact that as soon as she discovered that she had more powerful beings to conjure SHE WENT AFTER HER FATHER!!!! GET HIS ASS!!!! GIVE YOUR FATHER DAUGHTER ISSUES BY KILLING HIM !!!!! also her relationship with juste :((((((( so cute

mid parts

idk how to feel about richter so he's here. hm he's a good protagonist. idk what to say about him he's just cool

olrox and mizrak... i adore them but idk i feel like they could be so much more this season. also no gay sex. i know they're in the middle of war but why. also mizrak had to be transformed last minute? also couldn't they show it in full? like why cut it i loved that scene but why can't u just show the full moment

bad parts

olrox spent the season doing a whole lot of nothing??? last season he was actually doing something but from ep 1 to ep 6 he's just there. well at least he slays in the final battle

marias father whose name i forgot and i don't care enough about him to remember died in such a cool way and just. died. where's haunting the narrative? he was a forge master i thought he would try to at least protect maria in his ash form?

getting the story behind erzebeth and drolta just now kinda made s1 look like shit bc these 2 were just the villains and in s2 they are, yk, characters with motives and such

alucard seemed so weak for some reason? like yeah it was obvious that in castlevania he was going to not be the strongest in the room but how many years have passed since then?

also something about him giving his sword to richter made me mad for some reason like idk if he would do that...

annette leaving the spiritual world bc of ricther did not made me happy like girlie is SO POWERFUL she has the blood of OGUM SHE COULD DEFEAT THE BEAST BY HERSELF AND RETURN NORMALLY

some people commented that this season feels rushed and i am lowkey inclined to agree, some of my problems with this season could be fixed by just making it 2 episodes longer

overall i did enjoy it i am just really picky i give it 3,9/5 :D

here's my final ranking of all castlevania seasons:

castlevania s2

castlevania s3

castlevania s4

castlevania nocturne s2

castlevania s1

castlevania nocturne s1

that's it um ... thank u for reading c:

[smallsinger5901]

my squid game s3 predictions (based on the teasers)

This is all just my personal predictions and theories based on the teaser images they released so very unlikely to happen but i wanted to share anyway :))

so. Who’s in that coffin huh? Personally, and it sounds crazy but hear me out, I think it’s Gihun. But he’s alive. I think theyre gonna psyche us out at the start of s3 by putting gihun in the coffin and delivering him back to the room, but he’ll just be unconscious and wake up soon. That way he’s still made an example of but inho doesnt have to kill him, plus it put more suspicion on gihun from the other players.

and speaking on making an example of- when the voice on the intercom said ‘any players still outside after bedtime will be eliminated’ (or something like that) i think that’ll still apply. I think Gihun will be eliminated as a participant but still forced to stay. Its probably just the angle, but in the teaser image where he’s handcuffed to the bed, you can’t see his number or an X on his jumper. I think that possibly when he’s returned to the main room, thats when he’s chained to his bed as a punishment, eliminated from the running but forced to watch as everyone else dies without him being a ‘high and mighty saviour’. Like putting him on house arrest for disobedience, kinda. They could make up some bs for the other players and him about former winners being protected or something idk, but i think it would be interesting (tho not probable).

then there’s no-eul. I think that was her who ‘shot’ 246 (forgot his name) and that she shot him somewhere nonfatal or not at all, then snuck him out maybe through the organ trafficking scheme (hopefully she gets to kill those two other guards 🥰) and then goes on the run to escape with him. I think she’ll meet up with junho. But i also think that the captain of the boat is the guy who theyre doing the organ trafficking with. I think thats why the boat was around the area to pick junho up at the end of s1. So she could recognise him snd either sound the alarm or straight up kill him. Either way i think she’ll send 246 and the rest of the side characters home and her and junho will infiltrate the games once again.

and inho. I cant stop thinking about ‘once they know who you are, youre dead’ from the first season and it just makes me think that inho will 100% die. My personal theory is that he’ll have a minor redemption and do something to stop the games, or at least save gihun/the infiltrating junho (or maybe even junhee?) and in turn be shot probably by the masked officer or another guard. Still, i feel like junho will deliver the killing shot. as a mercy. I think if its the masked officer he might even be doing a nonfatal shot on purpose since he seems fond of the organ harvesting scheme, so junho killing inho would be a final bit of dignity he’s giving his brother to prevent the guards from basically tearing him apart. Plus, we did kind of make a big deal of his organs (1 kidney) soo…

thats why i think its junho in the frontman suit in the final teaser image. It doesnt look like inho and tho it could be gihun i feel like junho fits better narratively. I don’t think he’s becoming the frontman, but i do think he’s imitating his brother to gather evidence on the VIPs to shut the game down (or at least try)

also idk how this fits in but i think the police higher-ups are in on the games

i can see the series ending with gihun successfully stopping the games in korea, but i feel like anything more than that would be too utopian. Despite everything, squid games is too rooted in reality i feel for the protagonist to be able to just ‘fix everything at once’. He’ll probably leave the games having stopped them, but look around outside and realise people are still suffering under the system that made people need to go into the games in the first place. The games may be over, but capitalism is still killing them all, yk?

Anyway this is a long post and entirely theories and speculation leaning almost into fully fanfiction but i just wanted to get this all off my chest. I cant wait for s3 to see if a single part of this came even remotely true lol!

[magicalyaku]

Hehe, while writing this, it's still 2024 where I live, so I'm still on time. After the excellent reading month of October, I decided to go back to a book I started in September and didn't finish. Turns out I didn't finish this time either. So next to three anticipated reads and two spontaneous picks is my only DNF of the year!

Fallen Thorns (Harvey Oliver Baxter): I started this on a 12-hour-flight and continued to slog my way through it the next two weeks in October and then another week in November and then I realized I still had about 100 pages left - and I just couldn't do it. I just did not care one ounce about the characters. It's so slow and tedious and while I think the writing and pacing is fitting for the protagonist's personality, I guess we just don't match. I didn't hate this book the way I loathe Saint Sinner Sorrow (which I read in September), mind you, there's levels between, I was just bored and there were passages written in a way I just didn't understand (like the one when the leader of the group puts down two captives and suddenly there's a monster. But where did it come from and why was is just one and not two and why was is written that way?) and other passages (from the 'other's' pov) that I just felt exhausted by. It's a real shame, though, because it's another book with an aroace main character this year that I didn't like. /D That being said, I do want to encourage you to take a look for yourself if you're interested in vampires, found family, some sinister conspiracy and a character grappling with his lack of attraction.

Don't let the Forest in (C.G. Drews): Well, this was wild. In a good and also a disturbing way. Andrew is so not okay (honestly, why did they ever let him go back without therapy or a councillor?). It's an interesting book and makes you want to know what's going on/how they deal with it in the end and if it's real or just some hallucination. Just that at some point, it was very obvious where the monsters came from and I wanted to shake the boys for not drawing the last conclusion. (There were still things I didn't anticipate.) It was still good and the writing with all its forest-related imagery is pretty. Fun fact: The cover illustrator went to art school with my best friend and they still talk once in while. When I told my friend about the books I wanted to read, she was like "Oh, I think Jana did the cover!" and I was like "Oh, that's fitting. This one has monsters!" (Because she's always been drawing creepy shit). Even if I only know her second-hand, I'm always proud when a fellow German artist is actually being successful. :D

Nox Winters and the Midnight Wolf (Rochelle Hassan): Another forest-book with more pretty forest-similes. It's a solid adventure story with good character growth. Nox is fun, because he is so grumpy (which I can relate to so much). Compared to the author's other middle grade book I probably like that one more, just because the twist of that one is good, but Nox is also pretty good and I enjoyed reading it. Thinking back to it, all I see is dark forest and stars and I like that.

Fall for Him (Andie Burke): Hmm, I was looking forward to reading this and then I almost forgot to add it the list of books I read. :'D I think it was good? Like very down to earth with money problems, work, nosy neighbors. A story that's probably easy to relate to. There's a bit of on and off between the characters while they sort themselves out, but ultimately everything does get sorted out. Yeah, it was good. Just for the love of cats, don't use names for your characters that spell so similarly. Even if the characters looks are different, I can't see them! I only see the written characters on the page and both start with D and have 5 letters in 2 syllables (Derek and Dylan) and that was actually really hard for me. For half of the book, everytime one of them spoke I had to take a moment to ensure which one it is. (Maybe that's also why it's so difficult for me to remember what happenend in this book. I'm trying hard here.)

They hate each other (Amanda Woody): I was sick again and thought, it'd be the right time for another audiobook from the library. Just that I really didn't want another adult romance with adult scenes. /D I was reluctant to pick this up, because the summary sounds incredibly shallow. They start fake dating to show their friends that they don't fit. Woah. Ugh. I wanted something easy to read, though, being sick and all, so I went along with it. The thing is, the summary is a blatant lie of omission. Because half of the book isn't even about the dating thing but about the family issues of the one guy. His mother is dead, his father an alcoholic and he has to care of his younger sisters, earning the money, next to keeping up in school. It doesn't go well and he is on the point of breaking. And then his estranged aunt starts poking her nose in. It's really tough, actually, and mean at times. Like when the aunt asks the (not so fake anymore) boyfriend to provide her with information when he doesn't really know her intentions and has to decide if he is ready to lose his boyfriend's trust forever over it. I liked that the book has an actual story that is not at all shallow but I still felt betrayed. xD

Fake Dates and Moon Cakes (Sher Lee): I picked this one up, because I read the author's second book Legend of the White Snake a little earlier and still needed something light, this time for traveling not being sick. But after the betrayal of They Hate Each Other, I ended up reading this a week before the actual travel. :'D What I didn't realize at first is, that it's another fake dating story with a rich guy. xD This one was fun, though. It did exactly what it promised and I really liked it. The author's shtick for giving a lot of background facts is in here as well, like about the Chinese calendar and the food. It's sweet, the protagonist is not an idiot and family is important. Fun fact: This is the third book with a Dylan in a row. Yes. And remember Fall for Him with Derek and Dylan? In here, there's a random girl approaching the protagonist Dylan and can't remember his name and asks "What was your name? Derek?" Not surprisingly I laughed out loudly. I'm not the only one mixing them up!

That's it for all the backlog!! (Finally!) As of writing this, I still have about 80 pages left of my last book of the year, so I'll get back to that. Happy new year!

[apr1lr4in]

EDDSWORLD FALLOUT AU

Ok I'm putting this here because I have had this as an idea for so long and I don't rlly expect eddsworld fans to rlly be into fallout BUT I AM, OK? I got a lot of points I wanna talk abt and MAYBE I'll draw it MAYBE SETTING- Every fallout game is in America and EW is not, but I think I can keep the setting in England. As ur gonna see later, I thought Tord being a synth would be fitting. BUT UNFORTUNATLEY synths are only present in Fallout 4 and that is largely due to the institute not being a huge presence anywhere but Massachusetts. Compromise? There is no institute, but something similar (Will talk more in the Tord section) EDD- Honestly I LOVE cowboy Edd, but the only game with a huge cowboy setting would be New Vegas. But think about it, a survivor in the wasteland who is obsessed with prewar relics and clothing. Places like the midwest or even the Mojave are very different from England, but Edd seems like the kind of guy to be into the whole Prewar cowboy nerd. Ofc he's the protagonist, I'm not sure what kind of name he would have though. You know, lone survivor, the courier, i forgot what the protag is called in fallout 3 i havent played it. The "Goulden one" would be kind of funny though. I want him to have the same energy as the Courier, got shot and survived and is now a menace in the wasteland. But he's more heroic obv, going on silly adventures with the gang and make the wasteland a better place

TOM- I can see him being a vault dweller, but choosing to leave the life of one. It wasn't working for him and he probably didn't live in one of the good vaults. He travels with Edd and matt because he probably would get killed if he went by himself (Alcohol and chem addict) and is possibly out for revenge. Revenge for what? You'll se :3 ofc this is just brainstorming, maybe he wouldn't end up as a vault dweller and perhaps Edd was the vault dweller and Tom is the jagged wastelander. MATT- I have to say it, Matt is a ghoul. But does that affect his self esteem? No! I don't think there's a single ghoul in fallout who doesn't have a captivating personality, Matt is no exception. He is definitely the type to pick up random junk from the wasteland and is over encumbered. And he loves those fuckass monkey symbol things that make noise if you've played fallout 4, you know what I'm talking about,,,shudder) But people don't take him seriously BECAUSE he is a ghoul and full of radiation. But Edd has a good reputation and is able to vet for him. I also just thought what if he was a celebrity before the war? That would explain his lingering ego, but failing to realize nobody really cares anymore. RED ARMY- Notice how I didn't put Tord here? That's because he is unfortunately the enemy. Moreso his Red Army, but he isn't aggressive towards Edd or anyone else. He thinks positively of the 3 (maybe except Tom), but the issue is his reign against the wasteland. Think of him like Mr. House or the Brotherhood of Steel (Not the vegas BoS, they can go kys) he is the only military force around, but it's not a good one. The Red Army are known for their brutal enforcement of rules and are in fact transhumanists. They want to slowly take control of everyone and "improve" the human form. Why? Tord is essentially a partial synth. Not fully robot, but not a natural human. Yes his robot arm is coming back and YES power armor is being involved. I would like to mention that as much as I want to include characters like Paul and Patryck in this post, they are not as "essential" as the main 4. They are still Tord's righthand men, but it would be unfair of me to include them in this post and not other lesser known character. I DO have plans though, but I'll have to iron all of this out first. Larry will be thought of dw bing and larry fans, all 10 of u <3 These are all ideas! Basic thoughts i've had for a while now and maybe some ppl won't understand it. But if anyone does like fallout and EW...GIVE ME UR IDEAS!!! Perhaps even draw up some designs? I know I def will revisit this but I have a haircut today

[kestreljaylover]

My Top 10 Favorite Warrior Cats.

Cinderpelt was the main source of entertainment and enthusiasm in book 2, and 3 and I love that! She would have made it higher is the authors (don't remember the name, and too lazy to look it up) didn't kill her off so soon. Twilight was so annoying, the entire book was terrible, and I was so sad when she died. And her disability was very terribly written. She broke her leg by a car, and she can't be a warrior anymore. I would discuss about it all day long, but I need to move on to #9.

I love our little fruit loop! I mainly love Tallstar's character because of his Super Edition. Tallstar's Revenge is my favorite Euper Edition of all of warrior cats. The characters in the book got stuff done for once. (I don't remember all of the super editions, it has been a long time since I read them). And his little relationship with Jake is super cute! I met someone at a library and she doesn't like Tallstar x Jake. She was a homophobic, and I hate homophobes. She just make me angry, so I never talked to her again. Anyway, I just thought the bowtie idea was cute, and I decided to put that in.

I really love frostpaw because I can relate to her issues, but I think she was like a reboot of Shadowsight. Which Shadowsight was fine, no problem with him. I think frostpaw is just a cute name in general. I have never drawn her before, so i had to some up with grays on the spot. Anyway the next one!

Now we got some of the best kitties in my eyes! Ravenpaw was my favorite characters in the books before someone else came along that will be in #1. But he was basically the start of the series besides Firestar. Think about it, he tells him what happened with the Tigerstar situation. Firestar would have never known if Ravenpaw didn't spill the truth. And I think him moving to the farm was probably the best thing that has happened to him. Barley is not my favorite, it is just that I wanted to draw them. Next one!

Honestly Lightleap is probably the best character in arc 8 because she is so entertaining and snarky. The best type of character. And she caused a lot of drama which I love. It sucks that she has not been there much in book 3 and 4 of A Starless Clan.

She was supposed to be #4, but I forgot I didn't do 5, so instead of thinking more, I just put her there. Briarlight is the only good cat in her family. Mille is very mental, Blossomfall is very bad, and is very.... dramatic? I don't know how to describe it. Graystripe who i don't know what is going on in his head, and Bumblestripe who obsessed with a girl who doesn't want him. Briarlight is the sweetest cat and her death in the fourth or fifth book in AVOS was very sad. I love her friendship with her best friend, Jayfeather. (Yes, best friend! Jayfeather is gay in my head! I don't care if he loved Half Moon). Briarlight is just great! Love her!

Don't really have a reason to put her up here. Maybe I am just obsessed with the name i gave her. I was gonna switch her and Briarlight out, but oh well. I mainly like first arc Bluestar not her super edition (I mean, who does like her super edition)? I just like calling her Queen of the double wide.

Here's Dovewing! My baby! I am happy to put her here on this list! I really don't understand why some people hate Dovewing. She is a great protagonist, and a good mom as well. And also I feel bad for her because she was forced to be with him (Bumblestripe) for a while because of peer pressure. But I am glad she made to choice to get out of the pain.

AAAHHH! SQUIRRELSTAR!!! SHE'S HERE! I have been waiting for 4 years for this. She is basically just like me. (Except the shortness! I am not short). I do what is right, but I don't need approval from anyone. Honestly her husband is a dickhead, so I am glad he stepped down. I wished he would have died though.

JAYFEATHER! HE IS MY FAVORITE KITTY EVER! Does anyone need to explain why he is some people's favorite? Well I do. I can relate to him because everyone is an idiot! The books make them really dumb sometimes, and points out Jay's blindness. And guess who points this out? Jayfeather! He is my favorite for that reason. He is grumpy, but has a valid reason for it. And I can't get myself started on his boyfriend. He is not that interesting, but seeing fanart of Jayfeather and Kestrelflight just makes a smile on my face. (Dusklight for example, go follow them! One of the remaining kestreljay fans, and their work is flawless)! Honestly the sunglasses idea was random. I love a video that someone posted on Christmas day, https://youtu.be/ijd4YaXCjIQ?si=QY8NmE_tV46Yk_8x anyway, that is it. I am tired. :(

[bettsfic]

Oh yes! I think you would love the main protagonists and their connection. I'm feral about this movie, I just watched the day before yesterday, and I'm so anxious to have time off so I can draw fanart of the thing because it's soooo good.

Now, I love horror, so I have seen so much horror in my life that I can tell you this is one of those movies in the genre that are different. Our protagonist is Sam (short for Samira) and she has a cat named Frodo (I'm sorry but that was genius in so many ways, I can't tell you why because spoilers but they really make it made sense, there is truly a connection there). Frodo the cat is a character as well, I have never seen a movie before that has an animal that has indeed some weight into the movie (at least not one that is not like Marley and Me or those kind of movies).

Anyway, sorry, back to Sam. The first thing you know when the movie starts is that she has cancer. A woman who has cancer in a movie that develops into an apocalyptic world is really interesting. The movie explored this in detail, and I loved every second.

She is tired, she is angry, she is brave, and at the same time, you can tell she is scared af. She has some problems trying to connect with people because she thinks there is no point in it anymore, and probably because she thinks they are sorry for her and therefore their interest is not genuine.

She used to be a writer. She wrote a book about poems. She doesn't have the drive to write anymore, but she carries a notebook, whatever she goes, and I love her so much, Betty. I can't even explain the whole of it.

So next, we get to know the ML. Name is Eric, she is from England and went to NY to study to be a lawyer. He is how you write Eddie on your Stranger Things fics. I went even more feral at this point, I was chewing my fist. They were perfect together.

They connect. They make wonderful things for each other.

THEY EXCHANGE CLOTHES!!!!

OLDER WOMAN, YOUNGER MAN!!!

I don't wanna say more about it so you can enjoy it for the first time yourself, if you want to watch it. (But if you want to know more, just say so, I would be happy to talk about it for hours!)

I would say something I just learned yesterday before I go. Eric has anxiety in the movie. He has panic and anxiety attacks during the movie. What they removed is that he was trying to kill himself when the whole alien/monster ordinal began, and then, he met Sam. They erase this part from the movie, I guess because of time, because I could tell anyway while watching that Eric was maybe suecidal or that al least he was neurodivergent (again, I would love to elaborate but spoilers).

Hope you have the chance to watch it, I would love to know your thoughts if you do so. Also, you can scream at me about it if you enjoy it as much as I did.

So basically, this is a movie about two really lonely people that connect and gain perspective about life and themselves while trying to survive the beginning of an apocalypse. It felt very transformative. It was perfect.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Also, sorry for any weird grammar sentences. I hope I manage to come across all my ideas, English is not my first language.

I forgot to tell you, they are not trying to escape the apocalypse for 3rd parts of the movie. They are just trying to get pizza. SAM STOPS TO SMELL BOOKS AT A BOOK STORE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN APOCALYPSE!! HELP! SAD BOY FOLLOWING OLDER WOMAN LIKE A PUPPY!! There is so much going on, and I can tell this is not a horror per se. I just adore them so much. Sorry, I just needed to add these.

okay you have Compelled me. i will walk to the ends of the earth for any "sad boy following older woman like a puppy" narrative.

this is one of the few movies i don't want to see alone so i'll have to see if my roommate would want to go with me sometime this week. if i see it i'll let you know my thoughts!

[ibelieveinvillainsupremacy]

Finally managed to start watching the House of The 100 Corpses trilogy, and OH BOY not only I loved the first movie so much, but it reminded me how much I missed making horror movies related OCs... So I decided to do this little scheme??? Sorting??? Of my main 4 girlies right here :))

Name, and which horror movies are they from?

Madeline, Child's Play

Cecile, Final Destination

Valentine, House of the 1000 corpses

Iris, Nightmare on Elm Street

Is her story already planned or not? (meaning, would I ever write a fic or drabbles of her)

Madeline, Yes, I need to rewatch the movies though

Cecile, Yes, but I don't think her story is interesting compared to the others

Valentine, Work in progress, made her up after watching the movie two days ago... (Not ashamed hehe)

Iris, Dunno... I need to find a good idea and I'm torn between two...

Love interest? Do they have one?

Madeline, Chucky and Tiffany, Poly relationship

Cecile, Erin and Ian, Poly relationship (can you tell I have a theme? Oops)

Valentine, Otis (Yeah, that one), had also a past relationship with Baby

Iris, Freddy

Plot of their stories? (very short, don't want to bother 🥲)

Madeline, has been Charles childhood friend since they were kids, her being the sweetheart next door, and Chucky well,, being Chucky. We already know him. When eventually the whole doll mishap happens, the bastard has the wonderful idea of dragging her good old friend (oh, I forgot to say... I don't usually write good OCs... We kinda need more cruel Readers, no?) into this whole mess. Doll problems might also happen to our girl too... Following the whole movies, and Madeline is just AS unhinged as her partners. Maybe worst. 🙃

Here's this:

She couldn't believe what she saw, and she made sure to give herself a double take before catching her maniacal friend.

It wasn't long enough after, that a long and persistent laugh escaped the woman's lips, almost bending over for the amount of it.

She hadn't had that much fun since that rough jaw dropping (in all terms) activity with that asshole back in her old summer job.

The Good-Guy Charles stared at her. It took him an insane amount of force to not get to her neck and strangle her.

"Done?"

It took at least some good five minutes for her to stop.

"Yeah, yeah. Charles?"

"What now, bitch?"

He looked kind of cute, tiny and helpless like that. Madeline couldn't help but smile.

"Aw, so you did miss me! And it's really you."

"Of course it's me, Mads."

"Mhm. Just wanted to make sure. Need some help, asshole?"

"Know the answer."

"Alright, big guy. Let's get you a new body. A working one, if you know what I mean."

Cecile, like I said, is boring compared to the others. Shame since it's one of my favorite horror sagas 🥲 Just follows the third movie, with Cecile added to it. She is Wendy and the others classmate, and has been with Ian and Erin since Junior year. Still choosing if I want to make her and the two goofs the protagonists, and killing off the rest, or go full angst and see 🙈

Valentine, OH BOY. Ok, ok. So... Val lived her whole childhood and teenage years in a town near our hell on Earth, and she's always been told that no, not a chance for her to drag her curious and sometimes (more than sometimes) macabre self to it. Let's skip a few years... Everything seems okay, right. WRONG. Because on the very last few days of her senior year, the whole school building is attacked by an unknown person, and the little to no survivors barely managed to escape not only the fury of this masked figure, but also had to see that place being burned to the ground, leaving nothing but ash on its ghost. The only not found body, and still to this day, the missing person was indeed Valentine. Escaping from that traumatic event and night, her fate gets intertwined and changed (it's up to you, to know if for better or worse) with the one of a girl the same age as her (mind you, she was 18, 19? I think?). Here's how she met Baby, and then following her now only friend to her house, she never escaped from there. Not that she minded that. She always knew that she had some very morbid and wasted potential, and that for sure a deranged and weird bunch made sure to remind her that every single day. Especially a certain selfish and terrifying asshole... Follow up the first movie, I have to see the others to choose what I should do...

Take this little thing I wrote hehe:

Val got mistaken for a member of the family when she first presented herself at that damn dinner table.

Which is weird,

because the girl sure remembered looking at the news as a kid, meeting up the gaze of a girl with thin, dark brown hair, and big doe-like eyes.

Not that. She looked wrong. Wrong to be human, but perfectly fitting the family of freaks they came across that fateful night.

She went dangerously close to her face, deep eye bags and almost white hair drooping over her face.

The corners of her lips lifted into what couldn't be possibly called a smile. It was too big. Too unnerving.

It looked like a porcelain doll skin cracking up every time she twisted her face like that.

Red was pooled around her teeth. Was that-

Before she could finish the thought, one pale hand shot out from the woman's body.

"Welcome to the family"

Iris, just her being either a demon like our guy, and they both go through dreams to kill their victims, and it's just restless banter and some rough stuff too. Or her also being inhuman, and connected to Freddy's past and death. Either way, she's unfortunately also very violent and nasty. Probably the second, after Val. Oh, to keep up with Otis you have to be also devil incarnate. I mean-

If you have some questions about my gals, or maybe even some drabbles ideas for them, or want to know anything about them,,,

Go ahead! I'm all ears 🙂👍

[moku-and-his-madness]

I saw a couple posts about your book please infodump to me about it I want to know everything about it desperately

PLEAAASEEE OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOODDD IVE BEEN DYING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK MEEEE

Synopsis: so its basically like the idea of "survival of the fittest" or like, artificial selection right? so these people set up this place called the Life Management Bureau (LMB for short) and literally plan everyone's lives for them. so like, the characters train and study their whole lives and try to be perfect and the year before they turn 19 they meet up with an agent who will test and study them to help select the rest of their lives. and main character, my boy Elijah Mooring, is not perfect, he sure as fucking isn't straight like they want him to be, and I -just might- give him autism. anyways, he meets this guy called Hunter for his evaluation and hunter is *surprise* also not perfect!!! and he is one of the founders of the infamous and anonymous SSR (the six String rebellion) and he invites Eli to join. its called that because all recreational activities like art, music, performance, and shit are straight up BANNED so all these rebellion people play and do art and shit and straight up rebel. I'm gonna leave it there cuz I don't wanna spoil much but YUH jrwkhbf

characters (and the instruments they're associated with): Elijah Mooring - Guitar(protagonist), Hunter - violin (forgot his last name bc my plans book is at home), Andre - Mandolin (friend of hunter + fellow founder + works in the archives), Sam+Sunni - cellos (a couple apart of the SSR), Benny - piano (trans tech support worker), Callahan - saxophone (another founder + self defense teacher), and Rune - harp (support for the SSR and missionary) edit: if forgot one of the antagonists Jason (bullies Elijah and shit like that)

this is the playlist I created to basically give ppl a feel for the vibe and aesthetic and it helps me write ->

im going to make a doc later of which song is for which character / moment / scene

also Elijah has heterochromia, Callahan has alexithymia, and hunter just has straight up fucking adhd

annnnnd this is what I've written so far besides the plot set out and characters etc ->

Chapter One: Decided 

Elijah

Nineteen. We only get nineteen years. For what? To find ourselves before they take it all away from us. We only get nineteen years to screw up, nineteen years to make or break friendships, and nineteen years until we need to perfect ourselves before they do it for us.

Others my age are studying, refining themselves. Me, I’m sitting in the springs. It calms me, and I shouldn’t have to give that up. Selection day is seven months away. I don’t need to be perfect yet. I’d rather remain imperfect. The waters are restless today, flowing by without vigilance or care. It’s fall, so leaves pass me by as they crumple into bits of orange and brown stars among a silky black stream. 

“Eli?” my mother calls out. “Eli, are you out here again? You’re going to get a fever if you keep staying in the streams too long.” I glance towards my clothes resting on a rock near the edge of the stream. I sigh, getting up from the cool waters to get dressed. By the time I’m fully dressed with my shoes in hand, my mother has made her way to the edge of the stream’s fast waters, wrapped in a thin shawl and clutching a clipboard. “You’re late,” she scolds gently.

Time has aged her face with its smooth wrinkles and roughness, and she doesn't smile as much anymore. Her face is small with rounded cheekbones and sharp black hair that falls gently to her shoulders in a stark contrast to her sharp, crystal blue eyes. She stands tall, but she is nothing compared to my father, a giant of a being. She holds the clipboard with a firm grip and a scowl and looks at me curiously. “What are you doing out here?”

I shiver, the cold finally hitting my wet skin. Water drips placidly as I stand in the cool breeze drying off. My singular crystal eye matches hers but the dark brown of the other looks out of place. A trait from my father. “I don’t need to explain why i’m out here if you already know,” I huffed out in a breath. “I need a damn break from him.” I gesture vaguely towards the house.

“I know you dislike your father but there’s nothing you can do until spring.” She finds a place to sit frigidly on a rock adjacent to mine and gives me a glassy stare. She chooses her words carefully like someone disarming a bomb, careful to never let me explode. It doesn’t work. “Dislike?,” I shout. “I’d use a much stronger word than dislike, mom. I hate him.” I’m off my rock now, pacing between the space of the stream and the rock my mother rests on.

so yeah tada ^^

[humblefryingpan]

I feel like so many shows make the worst people the main character and rely on people rooting for them just bc they're the main character

(This is a long ass really bitchy post about lots of fandoms I'm in sorry in advance if you choose to read this. Also these are just my opinions, please don't be mad at me 😅)

Once upon a time - Emma Swan screws Regina over billions of times (if you put up your child for a closed adoption, that means you can't go steal him back because his new mum is a bit mean to you??) but whenever Regina is an asshole back (or a lot of the time when she didn't do anything) she's the "evil character"

How I met your mother - Ted Mosby is full of himself, never developed as a character and doesn't really care about any of his friends feelings.

Batman - Bruce himself. What the fuck, why does he treat his kids like that??? Tim's 16th birthday? In some older comics he punched Dick? Also he's a ✨billionaire✨ in a city that's such a mess and never tried to help with that (to my knowledge)

Heathers - Veronica is a bad person that acts like she's amazing. No one in this is really meant to be a fully good person though so moving on.

Hazbin Hotel - I know I'm meant to root for Charlie's dream but holy shit can she stay out of other people's business for once? Her "rehabilitation" is peer pressure from an adult woman who acts like she's 12

Miraculous Ladybug - Marinette is a literal stalker. She's such a an awful person and I swear every season I've watched she's got worse. Just because you're a "hero" doesn't mean your life is more important than someone else's

Most Alice Osman books - Angel from IWBFT, Francis from radio silence, I forgot her name because I didn't get that far in but the girl from loveless, all drive me crazy. They're so self centered (Francis sees someone crying and immediately makes it about her?)

Also Ted from the lorax (self centered and a bit creepy), Harry Potter (billionare wizard chad), Mirabel from encanto (self centered and victim complex) and most anime protagonists

And there are a bunch of shows where the asshole main characters are intentional they still get so much more development than these people (blitz from Helluva boss, the main character in doki doki literature club, etc)

[violivs]

NMTDaily: And So It Begins

- Beatrice’s first vlog! What an opening line, I love it lol. I remembered the hand wave on “hello, people of the Internet” having a wider arc across the screen than it actually does, funny enough! Glad I didn’t specify the wide wave when I referenced this line in MARRIED, the fic I posted on the 25th.

- “I’m not too old for Halloween”, girl after my own heart!

- Always thought it was interesting that Bea’s mother is American. I wonder how/why they decided that. It’s the kind of super specific detail that makes Bea feel so real, because who would make that up? It’s also interesting that it means Bea and Ben’s families are both somewhat international. Another parallel for them, another thing they have in common.

- I bet the Aunties’ wedding was the cutest thing ever, imagine Hero and Leo standing up with them! That’s probably the last time all of the Dukes were together before the story starts.

- I’m surprised Bea’s parents moved because her dad got a promotion. I would have assumed her mom did, because we get the impression of her as the high-powered businesswoman. But good for Bea’s dad. Is it canon that he’s a university professor? (Promotion = tenure?) Or did I make that up for fanfic and/or confuse him with Ben’s parents being professors in canon? Listening for that. Maybe Bea’s dad was actually also a business person all along and that’s how her parents met. Who knows.

- Bea says Australia like I say Indiana, lol (no hate to anyone from Indiana though! Just another of those inborn rivalries with the neighbor, like the Oz/NZ one.)

- “A great science program” I forgot Bea was a science person!

- I always loved the set decoration in this room, I remember it’s Hero’s room, and it’s so artsy and cozy and pretty. Love the wall art.

- “Leo and I are in charge of the house for the next six months” Excuse me, does this series really only take place over six months? Well, it ends in the first week of November, so that’s seven full months. I think it felt like it lasted a whole year when it was airing though. Time slowed down during a certain arc for sure.

- “in-joke with myself!” Classic. I kind of love that the text on screen saying “good one Beatrice” is Bea talking to herself again in-world, but out-of-world it’s kind of the Candle Wasters talking, interacting both with their own main character and with the audience. Meta.

- “Sorry my life is so boring” are like, THE famous last words for an LIW protagonist. Honey, you got a big storm coming!

- I was always so incredibly impressed with Beatrice’s independence, her comfort with leaving her parents and essentially being on her own before she even finished high school. I was alone in a college dorm hours away from home when I first watched this, second semester of freshman year if I’m not mistaken, and I could barely believe I’d managed it. I couldn’t imagine doing that any earlier than I had. I thought she was so brave and cool. I think Bea actually shows more hesitation and nervousness than I realized she did in this episode, both because she’s not used to vlogging yet and because being in a new place is nerve-wracking, but I still think she’s so brave.

- It’s so interesting that in a reversal of the play, it’s our Beatrice who comes from away to Messina to start the story, instead of Benedick and the other men returning from war. Of course, we’ll see how the boys’ arrival on the scene is modernized soon enough!

- Harriett does such a great job making you care about Bea and like her right from the start. You just want to keep listening to her talk. I can’t wait to do just that over the next seven months.

- The Benedict Cumberbatch crush is a stroke of genius, but what are the odds that there happens to be a super famous guy named Benedict that you can reference who is at peak relevance in the exact year your MAAN modernization premieres? Truly, this series as it exists could only have happened in 2014. It was the perfect time and the perfect people. What luck.

- Oh, this is the wider arc hand wave I was remembering! It’s just at the end of the video and not the beginning. Funny!

- Covering the camera with her hand and ducking out of frame at the end of her first video is a direct parallel to what Bea and Hero do in their final NMTD video, sliding out of frame and all. Love that.

- I can’t believe how much there is to talk about even with these early episodes. These posts are gonna get so long they’ll have to go under a cut for the later episodes!

💖🦩🥭