#At the very least- i'll post the exposure tags

[amethysts-prompts]

Prompt #232

“You’re stewing.”

“I’m not stewing.”

“You’re still in pajamas, Villain. It’s 9pm.”

“Exactly. It’s 9pm. I can very well be in my pajamas at 9pm.”

“You’ve been in those pajamas since 9pm three days ago.”

[moodlesmain]

Hi. Look at this.

I just spent two days straight making a digital conspiracy board trying to piece together my favourite genre that isn't really a genre and more just a very particular niche which doesn't really have a name.

If you want to look I reccomend downloading and zooming in on the image to read everything LMAO, I want to try and convert it to a page on my neocities at some point so its easier to view but for now you guys just get a big ol' jpeg. You're welcome :)

[poetrysmackdown]

some informal thoughts

hello! hope the holiday season has been kind to all of you. and i hope all my jewish followers had a lovely hanukkah! anyways, since i said a few months ago that i’d pick poetry smackdown back up sometime around this time of year, i thought i should make a post. the gist of it is that i’m still quite busy, i have a break that’s about three weeks shorter than I was planning on, and i don’t currently have the mental bandwidth required to read, contemplate, and sort through poem submissions in a way that does justice to them, even if i were to recruit some friends to help out. since running a tournament format requires at least five weeks of continued engagement once it’s underway, and since i’m not at capacity to offer that right now due to the change in my schedule, i’m gonna have to bow out for now. sad bc i was looking forward to it!

my hope is that i’ll have some more time over the summer to hunker down with it, in which case you’ll be hearing from me. it’ll frankly depend on the kind of job i land in for the summer, but i find that my unemployed spirit can typically keep me doing stupid shit regardless of workload...to a point. i don’t want to make any promises because i don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up just to let them down again LOL. i do admit the amount of exposure the first tournament got has made me feel like more of a perfectionist this time around, doubly because i don’t feel that i’m very suited to being a public online presence (even a relatively quite small one)—i’m bad enough at responding to emails for my own real life responsibilities, let alone tumblr asks for the silly responsibilities i invent for myself lol. that’s not to say i no longer want to do it, or i don’t enjoy it, or even that i don’t feel capable of making a really interesting bracket—just that if i am working to put something new together, and if people are taking the time to submit poems they care about, then i don’t want to half-ass it.

my second admission is something like this. I made the original bracket as a celebration of poetry and our relationships to it. yes it was silly and competitive, and the poems were very tumblr, but still, celebration was the intention—I wanted to have conversations about poetry. I stand by the bracket format as a fun and valuable way to foster conversations about poetry, but truthfully, the poems i’m wanting to have conversations about right now—the poems that we should be talking about right now—are ones that i'm not comfortable putting in a bracket. I reblogged The Baffler’s Poems from Palestine collection on here earlier, and Najwan Darwish’s “Who Remembers The Armenians?”, which I still often find repeating through my head when I'm traveling from one place to another, walking home or riding the bus. I came across this beautiful thread recently where people have been translating Dr. Refaat Alareer’s “If I Must Die” into their own languages (this just makes my translator's heart sing!!!!!!). @havingapoemwithyou has been posting some great poems from and for Palestine as well—check out their tag here.

There's always more to add, and I'll be posting more on here as I come across it, but that's what I feel anyone should be focusing on right now when it comes to poetry. i think poetry can be an escape but it should never be a distraction. does that make sense? i wouldn't be against doing a one-off poll here or there, but it feels weird to be making a tournament for poetry right now, or anytime soon. i feel like what free time i have right now is still best utilized helping my friends with organizing in the real world. and god, a bit off-topic but while I'm talking, fuck poetry foundation—I have so much respect for all the poets keeping up the boycott, because while i think it's a simple decision, it's not always an easy one (Aurielle Lucier discussed that here).

anyways, if you read all of this, thank you for your time!! I could go on and on, but really this was just meant to be a message telling y'all that there won't be another tournament for a while lol. even so i'll be trying to use this small silly platform as best i can until palestine is free because that's the absolute least i can do.

[campingwiththecharmings]

tagged by @soft-girl-musings ❤️ ty, this was super fun! tagging whoever wants to do this (please tag me in your posts!!!!)

1. Type your name followed by core into pinterest and paste the first pic. 2. Refresh your pinterest homepage and paste the first person. 3. Refresh your pinterest homepage and paste a random aesthetic picture. 4. Write a little story :)

(Please be gentle, I have not actually seen Dune, tho I did read a little of the novel, and am basing this characterization on my very limited exposure to Leto lol)

Dune Modern AU (I guess??) - Leto Atreides x F!Reader | (1,840 words) | Not proofread

AN: i...might've gone a bit overboard with this lmaooo. i blame oscar. 🫣

Warnings: murder, allusions to SA, probably a tad stockholm syndrome-y (lol), vague smut, some angst.

---

You struggle against the crewman's tight hold on your wrists, knowing that even if you were to break free, you'd have no where to escape to. Your ship had been attacked and boarded that morning by pirates, after which you, along with a handful of others, had been left to die on your pillaged ship.

When a ship flying the flag of Caladan had happened upon you, you'd been relieved, over the moon, even. That is, until they'd boarded and killed everyone left alive save for you. You should've known something was off as soon as they stepped onto the deck, their uniforms filthy and unkempt. But you'd been so desperate, had wanted to believe so badly that you were being rescued.

You don't know where he's taking you now, but given the lecherous look he'd given you just before grabbing you, you can take a guess.

Hopefully he'll at least have the decency to kill you once he's finished.

You growl as the man pushes open the door at the end of the hall, dragging you swiftly behind him. He throws you into a chair and looms over you, caging you in with a hand on either armrest.

"Feisty, aren't we?" he says, his dark eyes cold and cruel. "I like the feisty ones."

You stare him down with a glare, determined to not let this man take the only thing you have left: your dignity. He smirks at you and leans in, but it halted by the sound of the door opening.

"I'll take it from here, Yueh."

You watch as the man's lip curls slightly, annoyed at being interrupted. Nevertheless, he stands, schooling his face into an indifferent mask and turning toward the newcomer.

"Of course, Captain."

The crewman leaves, closing the door behind him with a loud "thwack," leaving you alone with this new man, apparently the captain.

You study him, noting that his uniform is in far better condition than that of his subordinates. Even his knee-high boots have been polished to a shine. You drag your eyes up his torso, then his chest, your eyes snagging on the insignia pinned over his left breast pocket. It looks familiar, but you can't seem to immediately place it. You allow your eyes to continue their journey, sliding up his neck, over his graying beard and stately nose, until you meet his eyes.

They're a warm, deep brown with a gentleness in them you are not accustomed to seeing in men (especially those in authority). He smiles at you apologetically, knowing he is at least partially responsible for the terror you've endured.

"Are you alright?" he asks, his voice soft and gentle, just like his eyes.

Inexplicably, the facade you've erected to make yourself seem unaffected by all of this crumbles at his question. No, you are absolutely not alright. In less than a week you've been attacked by pirates, had all of your possessions either taken or destroyed, and have watched almost every person you care for die. Tears well in your eyes and you're helpless to stop them from falling.

Embarrassed, you hide your face in your hands, silently sobbing into your palms. You flinch when you feel a hand on your shoulder. Was he...comforting you? You look up, his eyes radiating sadness and, dare you say, compassion?

He hugs you then, gently pulling you against his chest and wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He murmurs soothing words, promises to keep you safe, tells you you'll never have to live in fear again so long as he is with you. .

And you believe him, God help you.

He asks you to call him Leto despite clearly holding some kind of title. It feels odd to be so informal, but you do as he asks. He does not appear to have much trust in his crewmen, namely the group who'd boarded your ship. As a result of this, he is reluctant to let you out of his sight, so you spend most of your time with him. He does most of the talking, telling you of his beloved homeland Caladan, of his son Paul...of his late wife, Jessica. When you are ready, you do the same, telling him about where you grew up, of your parents, of your desire to see the world.

It's not until a few weeks later that you realize you're falling in love with him.

You do your best to hide it but he seems to sense the shift in you. The night before you are expected to return to Caladan, he finally asks what's troubling you. As when you'd met him that first day, his eyes are what get to you, the gentle kindness and patience in them like a balm to your soul.

"I...I think I'm in love with you," you admit, sure he doesn't feel the same.

But he surprises you yet again.

"I love you too, my darling," he rasps, leaning in to press his lips against yours.

He makes love to you until the sun rises, his movements gentle yet still passionate. His fingers tangle with yours when he pins you to the bed, making you come over and over, you body shaking with pleasure as he smothers your moans with his kiss.

He asks you to marry him in the afterglow, his head nestled between your breasts as you comb your fingers through his soft hair. You tell him you will and he looks up at you with a smile, sitting up so he can steal another kiss from your lips.

There is a commotion on deck as soon as the ship docks and it takes Leto a moment to realize it's not the usual flurry of activity that usually comes with a return to land. Sensing something nefarious, he tells you to escape through the window in his quarters. You don't want to leave him, flat out refuse to, in fact, but he convinces you yet again with his gentle, earnest eyes.

"I need to know you're safe," he says, taking your hands in his. "I'll find you, I promise."

You wait for him at an inn a few blocks from the docks but he never shows. You don't sleep, you can't, too worried about Leto and what might've happened to him. At the first sign of dawn, you leave the inn, returning to the docks in search of your Leto.

His ship is gone, the slip where it had been empty, and your heart sinks. Had it all been a trick? A game? A way to pass the time while at sea? Had he even really loved you or had he just told you that so you'd warm his bed?

You consider asking the harbormaster if they know what happened but...what would be the point? You know all you need to know: Leto is gone, has left you here alone, despite his promises to protect you, to love you, to marry you.

You do your best not to break down, to not give in to the crushing weight of your broken heart. Using the last of your coin, you decide to stay another night at the inn Leto had told you about, and in the morning, you convince them to hire you as a housekeeper in exchange for a bed and a meager salary. You work there for months, saving every penny you can for passage back to your homeland.

The night before you're set to leave, he finds you.

Leto.

"What are you doing here?" you ask, crossing your arms defensively over your chest.

He's disheveled, almost haggard, and much skinnier than you recall. You wonder briefly if he's been ill but quickly decide it doesn't matter--he left you, fooled you into thinking he loved you.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long," he rasps, his voice strained, as if he'd been screaming for hours.

You scoff, doing your best to avoid looking him directly in the eyes. That's how he always got you, manipulated you.

"It's too late, Leto. I'm leaving in the morning," you tell him, turning away to fiddle with your already-packed bag.

"Will you at least let me explain?" he pleads, shuffling closer.

You sigh, shaking your head. You tell yourself no, that you don't owe him anything, that he doesn't deserve a chance to explain himself...but you can't help but be curious.

Without looking at him, you nod, bracing your palms on the dresser before you.

He thanks you, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before he dives right in. He's been in jail, he claims, was locked up as soon as he stepped foot on land. Evidently, there was a mutiny and some of his crewmen, led by Yueh, had framed him by planting an illegal drug called Spice on board the ship. As soon as it had docked, the mutineers had sent an anonymous tip to the authorities and, as the Captain, Leto was arrested and thrown in jail. Unable to prove his innocence, he'd had no choice but to serve his time.

The story sounds plausible, and you're almost inclined to believe him but....you just can't. Your heart wasn't just broken by him, it was shattered. Irreparably, you think. Even if what he claims happened is true, you can't see how you could ever trust him again. Not after everything you've been through. You tell him as much, back still turned to him. After a beat of silence, you hear him shift closer, feel his warmth against your back, your eyes falling shut as he presses a gentle kiss against the base of your neck. You swallow a whimper, inhaling shakily when he runs his knuckle down the back of your arm.

"Please look at me, my darling," he pleads, voice thick with emotion. "Just one more time."

Hesitantly, you turn and your heart breaks a little more at the pain and desperation in his eyes. He smiles, taking your hand in his and gently squeezing it. Your eyes well with tears, one escaping and sliding down your cheek, and your curse yourself for your weakness. Using his free hand, he swipes the tear away, his touch lingering on your face.

You're not sure who moves first, but suddenly his lips are on yours, and a fire ignites in your chest. More tears slide down your face as you kiss him back, your arms winding around his neck as he hoists you up to sit on the dresser. The action knocks your bag to the floor with a dull thud, but you can't bring yourself to care as Leto licks into your mouth, his tongue hot as it slides against yours.

When he finally thrusts inside you, it feels like coming home. Suddenly you feel safe again, you feel at peace.

In the end, he travels with you back to your homeland. Slowly, the trust that was broken is rebuilt and before you realize what's happening, you allow the love you have for one another to heal your shattered hearts.

[sunieepo]

been thinking of quitting tumblr or at least... idk... using it really differently

i feel like scrolling the dashboard i'm just inundated with so many bad takes / sexism / racism / horrendous world news / doomerism / things i've asked ppl to tag but aren't (not upset about it because i get that i'm asking a lot). and i get that it's supposed to be funny/absurd seeing people online say bad takes but it just makes me feel pretty down sometimes. in general i think exposure to random people's takes on the internet is just very damaging to my mental health. same with the constant stream of awful news

i'm currently finally seeing a therapist to try to help me with some of my more serious mental health issues and i think i'm overall just much more sensitive now than i was in the past. especially with the sexism stuff man. and i get why people wanna post about and complain about bad takes they see online regarding this but... god, i'm just exhausted. i'm tired. i don't have any more rage or ridicule left in me. i'm just incredibly sad at the state of the world rn and i have no more energy left to feel anything but sad about it.

scrolling specific character/fandom tags is still pretty safe so i'll still have that, but... yeah, for similar reasons to why i left twitter, i'm kind of feeling evacuating my main tumblr dash if nothing else.

that or i could get really aggressive about muting/unfollowing people for posting untagged bad take shit, but i'm already only following about 200 users and my dash would literally just be a ghost town if i did this lmao.

shrugs. idk. tl;dr i'm a baby and my headspace is the worst it's been in years and i just don't have it in me anymore to tolerate being exposed to bad takes, even if i'm supposed to find them ridiculous.

[thesnazzysharky]

Eh. I guess I'll make one of these. Why not

Hello hello! I'm TheSnazzySharky, but you can simply just call me Sharky for short.

What is there to know about me? What is this blog about? Well to put it simply, around 2 years ago I found something about myself. I love writing, being apart of discussions, making theories, and overall just waffling about shit.

That was what I did for awhile on Reddit (although I don't really bother with my account on there all that much anymore) and recently I've been doing the same with Tumblr. I like making posts or comments that can get people to think a bit more about the media they love. Just kinda of a fun hobby of mine.

As you can see, 99% of the posts I make here are about Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion. That's simply because that's what I'm hyperfixating on right now (autism lol), but hopefully I can shake things up a bit later in the future and talk about some other media I enjoy.

Speaking of shaking things up, I do want to make edited videos about things I enjoy talking about at some point. That way I could possibly obtain the exposure and interaction I'm looking for. I just don't when or if I will be able to try to take a crack at it. But even if I don't, I'm at the very least grateful and find it awesome that even a small portion of people are interested in me just talking about stuff.

So... I'm glad that you're here :)

I'm a snazzy sharky and I guess there was something else to say. Have a snazzy day and check out my personal tags down below (and my AO3 account)!

[anachronismstellar]

WIP Wednesday - 28/08

Omg hi hello uh 🧍‍♀️ as we can see it's been a while? In my defense- yea no I have no defense besides falling into another fandom head first fjsbakdnakd OTZ

But here it is all the lines for Waltz for the Dead!!

I'll do my best to get back on WIP Wednesdays as soon as I'm a bit more free ❤️

Tagging everyone who requested:

@somefishycat @aparticularbandit @wizisbored @asha10100101010 @enigma-the-mysterious @sourb0i @violet-prism-creatively @kalira @kallisto-k @post-and-out @adhdavinci @lizhly

Sentences under the cut!

------

“So let me get this right,” Jin Ling pressed his pinched fingers on his nose, sending a prayer to any Gods that might be hearing that this would be just Lan Jingyi's overactive imagination. “Of all my uncles, as you're so fond of pointing out, you saw the ghost of the one we know for sure that wouldn't be able to be here because he's very much walking around and shamelessly married to Hanguang-Jun. Is that right?”

“You know very well that Wei-quianbei is not actually Mo Xuanyu,” Lan Jingyi grumbled over his cup of tea, not meeting Jin Ling's eyes.

“No, I know that, because he died to get his revenge.” Jin Ling had to take off his hair pin, undoing his updo. He could feel his headache coming. “Remember that? Because I remember very clearly telling you, Lan Sizhui and Ouyang Zizhen about that.”

“Of course I remember that!” Lan Jingyi said with his tea cup clanking loudly against the table. “But something is happening, Jin Ling! Why would Nie-zongzhu go meet me at the gates after him sending a letter to me to help him with Qinghe's resentful energy?”

“He did what?!”

He didn't intend to scream, and he had been better at his bursts of reaction, as his jiujiu would call it. But knowing his uncle, he would react the same way if he knew about Nie-zongzhu going after Lan Jingyi's help. Not because of Jingyi, but for the fact of Nie Huaisang requesting for help at all.

Jin Ling wouldn't touch that with the longest sword in the world, but the Guanyin Temple night affected them all in different ways. How could it not? Jin Ling had gone through the most awkward family secrets reveal one could go under, all while being held hostage by his own uncle. Zewu-jun had to witness his closest friend and sworn brother go through all the stages of madness before killing him in what to this day no one knew if it were a genuine reaction or another of Nie-zongzhu’s lies. His uncle had the least exposure to the entire nonsense, but he still had to deal with the fact that Wei Wuxian was back and obnoxious as ever, on top of being all lovey dovey around Hanguang-Jun.

And then, there was Nie-zongzhu.

Jin Ling didn't remember much of that night, he had other pressing things to be worried about. But he remembered how collected and poised Nie-zongzhu had walked away from the temple, as if he had just gone out from a walk instead of witnessing his revenge unfold beyond the eyes of some of the most important political figures of the Cultivation World.

And Jin Ling hadn't been fully present for the whole Chief Cultivator transition, his uncle shielding him from most of the hysterics that followed that night. But he knew enough, and heard enough, to know that the entire five Sects were expected to crumble under the scandal and Nie Huaisang's weak pulse.

However, the complete opposite had happened. Nie-zongzhu stepped in and with a sweep of his fan was able to put measures to hold back the fire and the power vacuum Jin Guangyao had left behind. And such efficiency had one and one explanation only:

“How long had he been planning for this?” he heard his uncle whispering deep in the night, while piles and piles of documents covered his desk, a bottle of wine next to him long emptied.

The answer never came, be it in the form of letters or be it from Jiang Cheng demands to speak with Nie Huaisang in person.

If Jin Ling had any resentments against Nie Huaisang, it would be for the following years of silence between him and Jiang Cheng, as Jin Ling was forced to see his Uncle grasping straws to comprehend where it all began. How much of Nie Huaisang's friendship had been real? How much of it had been him using the Jiang clan for his own gain?

And the saddest thing? The moment his heart broke for his uncle into a million pieces?

When he caught Jiang Cheng sitting in front of Jiang Yanli mourning tablet, asking again and again-

“I could have helped. Why didn't he ask for help?” as if his sister would show up with a hug and soft hands to clear his tears away.

-------

Thank you everyone for the requests!

[sleepycelestialprincess]

Vintage Camera Review

The Argus C3 Match-Matic

from 1958–1966

I was at a local thrift store and I saw an Argus camera in the showcase, I asked to see it. It had a tag saying it had been put out just the day before and was marked for $7.50. It's a pretty cool looking camera! Argus was a local to Ann Arbor camera company so its pretty well known in the area. There is even an Argus museum near downtown that's worth a visit.

It's a hefty camera, it's shaped like a small brick and weighs almost as much. It's a range-finder, completely mechanical except for the detachable light meter that doesn't even use a battery. The light meter is probably the most impressive aspect of the camera, with no battery, it has a solar cell that generates electricity. That electricity is measured to tell you how much light is in the scene and how to set the exposure. Its pretty common for cameras of this era but interesting none-the-less.

The camera it's self it pretty typical to start; a 50mm ƒ3.5 lens, it has a shutter dial, a frame counter, film winder and re-winder knobs, instant/bulb switch, cold shoe, and a very old style flash connector.

But then I notice the apertures and shutter speeds are not labeled as usual. The apertures count 3½, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. I looked this up and they are equal to ƒ3.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16. The shutters are labeled 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 which are equal to ⅟10, ⅟30, ⅟60, ⅟125, ⅟300th. Ok, weird, I know scales weren't standardized for a while but I was surprised that a camera of this era wasn't, but I can get past that. Also, the shutter dial indicates that it should only be turned in one direction. If you turned it the other way, it may not change the exposure. I haven't tested enough to know for sure.

It also has an Argus iconic Flash Finder / Distance dial connected with an external gear. It gives a (yet again) proprietary flash guide number to help you set your Argus flash. According to the manual, this only works when using ISO 10 film and a specific type of flash bulb. You'll have to reference the manual for the math for different films and if you have a regular flash, you'll have to reference the manual to convert flash finder numbers to standard flash guide numbers. (I hate flash anyway, but if I didn't, I'm glad we have TTL flash or at least automatic flash for the last several decades)

So I loaded a roll of Tri-X 400 into the camera... but nope, I had to look that up too. I've used quite a few old cameras and I wasn't absolutely sure I could figure out how. Once loaded, strange, but not that hard, I started to take some pictures. Focusing is a pain it the butt! It uses a two lens focusing system where it shows you two images similar to the split focus system in an SLR. This isn't so bad except it's in a separate viewfinder than your main viewfinder. So if you are focusing on a moving subject, you can't focus while keeping an eye on your framing. Maybe my almost two-year old wasn't a good test subject for this camera (haha).

Like any mechanical camera, you have to cock the shutter. The lever is in a very inconvenient location. Its right where you want to hold this (did I mention) very uncomfortable camera. Ok, there is a lever in the way, thats not the problem. If you take a picture with your finger in the way of the lever, it'll stop the shutter from moving, giving you a much longer exposure than the dial is set to! It even says this in the original manual, its not just because its old and needs lubrication.

Film winding is weird, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure I loaded the film correctly. I have checked, it is winding the film but the counter doesn't count right. (I'll update this post with more info on that later) Also, when winding to the next frame, it doesn't stop it's self, you have to look at this little button next to the counter and when it moves, you've reached the next frame. Its very easy to under or over wind unless you are paying very close attention.

Resources with more info: http://www.cameramanuals.org/argus/argus_match-matic.pdf https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Argus/Argus-C3-Matchmatic.html

Summery:

Its a cool looking, "entry level" camera for its time. It's much more difficult to use than other cameras of it's era. It's heavy and very awkward to hold. The light meter it pretty cool. I won't use this camera again. Its a display camera only.

Here are a few pictures of the camera, light meter, and viewfinder. Maybe later I'll add a photo of the inside (there is still film in it now).

In the closeup of the light meter you can see it is set to ISO 400. The outer ring rotates to let you choose a combination of aperture and shutter. If you follow the line, the needle is pointing to the 7 which is ƒ11 while the shutter is 7 which is ⅟125. The last two are looking through the viewfinder and through the focus finder. A double image as seen would be out of focus.

BTW was this interesting? Would anyone like to see reviews of other cameras I've used? Petri FT, Nikon F100 (my usual 35mm), Minolta SRT 101, Minolta XD5 (my secondary 35mm), 4x5 view camera, Sony HVC-2400 video tube camera, Kodak ADVANTiX F350 (my first camera as a kid), Polaroid Automatic 250 Land Camera?

[herrscherofmagic]

IMO, the current story arc in HI3rd might just be my favorite one so far. i've got a lot of thoughts to share on it, so I present to you this post! But first, a preamble :)

This is a really long post, I think I used the right tags for this? idk

I'm basically just copying over a post that I made for Reddit, so idk if this is way too long for tumblr or what. I've got a habit of writing pointlessly-long things on Reddit and idk if the Tumblr folks appreciate this or not x-x

but without further ado! my thoughts on the whole "city of salt and sand" story we've got going on right now.

P.S., this is mostly spoiler-free; I don't make any specific references to events in the story, except for Susannah's feelings but even that is really vague so it shouldn't reveal any plot twists or anything like that.

I remember how confusing and awkward it was when I first started playing HI3rd.

I didn't have a clue who any of these characters were, some parts of the story seemed weird, or convoluted, or had no explanation. Over time I caught up through reading the manga and catching up with the story; I looked through past events to figure out the story of the Captainverse; and I've been thinking plenty about the story of HI3rd and the other Hoyo games, trying to piece together different ideas and themes.

With all that in mind, I feel like this story arc has been probably one of the strongest pieces of storytelling in all of HI3rd, and maybe even across all the Hoyo games (that I've played, at least).

I'll make the obligatory disclaimer that yes, sometimes the technobabble gets a bit confusing. Thankfully I can understand a fair bit of it because of some exposure I've had to math and science, but I can't pretend to be at Schrodinger's level.

But I think this chapter did a great job at presenting some of these ideas in a way that felt natural to the progression of the story, while also making it understandable. We might get a statement that makes 0 sense, but you can usually figure out what's going on through context clues, as well as the analogies that some characters have been making.

I think the cast chosen for this arc has also been a huge help. This is probably the single most diverse cast we've had, in terms of personality, behavior, and mindset. Whether it's Kira repressing her "dislike" of Misteln, or the banter between Senti and Seele, there's been a lot of fun moments where these characters aren't all thinking on the same wavelength. Instead they need to find ways to understand each other. It really feels like there's an effort being made by these people to understand the situation they're in, and every step forward or misstep backwards feels meaningful. It's that variety in beliefs and personality that really spices things up and makes it feel so much more lively to me!

Building on that, I've also really enjoyed some of the themes being presented here.

Especially Susannah... oh boy do I have a lot to say here!

I think Susannah's development has been phenomenal (though it's absolutely criminal that a lot of it is limited-time events... THREE events now). In fact, while this isn't quite as serious of a situation, I'd go so far as to say that it's vaguely comparable to Kiana's experience in Arc City.

Yes, the severity is different.

But the thing that made me love Honkai was how we saw Kiana grow very slowly. It was an imperfect journey and it took tremendous effort on her part, but she was able to keep moving forward. Sometimes it felt like Kiana made progress (such as her training with Fu Hua), but this progress masked deeper problems that she couldn't run from (her sacrificial nature). This led to that emotional back-and-forth, where Kiana had real victories and real defeats over time. It wasn't just "The power of friendship!" saving the day in one fell swoop, but instead it felt like a much more realistic take on how difficult it can be to recover from trauma.

Susannah doesn't have to deal with the freakin' Herrscher of the Void inside of her, but her own mind puts up a big fight nonetheless. The more I see Susannah move forward and stumble back time and again, the more I feel a stronger connection with her as a character. For crying out loud, just in the last week or two I've lost count of how many times I've felt like I've been making great strides in my art one day while being a complete emotional train-wreck the next day.

Seeing Susannah breaking down but picking herself back up and moving forward nonetheless... That is why I put so much of my energy towards the idea of storytelling. It's why I play games and obsess over stories and analyze characters and dissect settings and come up with theories and headcanons and fanon and more. Being able to see these characters go through these struggles and seeing how that can relate to my own experience in life is something that has genuinely made me a better person over the years, and might have even saved my life in a way. I want nothing more than to be able to tell stories just like this someday, so that perhaps others might be able to learn and grow from my own stories that I conjure up.

While Susannah is the one I personally relate to the most, I've still been able to appreciate the rest of the cast, too. It's enjoyable to see the way they interact with each other, but I also feel invested in every single person here. There's even a particular someone I've especially grown to love here, but there's leaks and spoilers a-plenty out here in the internet right now so I don't really want to push that subject.

For the sake of keeping this spoiler-free I've been avoiding specifics, but honestly there's just too much for me to talk about even if I wanted to dive right into it. From the setting and stage design, to the character interactions, the development of the plot, the conflicts and resolutions we've had so far, it all just feels so satisfying to me.

I guarantee that there are some objective flaws somewhere in this story arc, and I wouldn't be surprised if others were to start pointing out those flaws. But I'm still enjoying the story, so even if I can't say "This is an objectively great story", I can still say "This is a story I love", and that's good enough for me~ ^_^

[sol1loqu1st]

under a readmore because. yeah. cw for discussion of like. everything happening on the news rn

i don't know how to talk about any of this without it sounding like i am making. like. Literal G*nocide (censored to avoid tags not because i think it's a Bad Word) about Me And My Mental Illness so i guess prefacing with. like. this is not any sort of #Take, i'm just processing some complicated personal feelings that i don't know how to talk about with my therapist. at the core of it all i'm scared and not sure how to help and i feel like there's so much confusion that if i ask for real, tangible things i can do, there's a not-insignificant chance i might end up helping to make things worse.

anyways like. i've probably got moral ocd and at the very least have a lot of the symptoms, and i also have cptsd from like. a million different things but partially from constant, unrelenting exposure to horrific news (specifically, in a way where the narrative tends to be both "if you aren't spending a majority of your time and effort thinking about and trying to solve this, you are complicit" AND "this is hopeless, there's nothing the average person can do, no amount of donations and calling your reps and front line activism is ever going to help") since i was a young teen, again, who probably has moral ocd, and just. idk. everything happening right now is immensely triggering on so many levels.

i don't know what's *actually* happening because it feels like there are a hundred different narratives but i know there's a horrific genocide happening and i'm terrified that by not reblogging or talking about it much i'm not doing even the bare minimum of my part. but so many of the posts i would actually reblog (specifically, posts with actual information or ways to help -- as a personal rule, i won't reblog posts that are just fear or anger or venting (not because i think that's Bad(tm) but because it just makes me feel hopeless and suicidal)) seem to go out of their way to like. pin the blame on average citizens, or even jewish people, instead of the israeli (or hell, the united states) government, and i know that like. nuance gets lost when you're scared and angry and grieving and as an outsider it would be ridiculous to tone-police but with the rise in rampant antisemitism in the last few years, at least in the US, happening alongside all of this i am so so scared for my jewish friends and i'm scared for what it means for me when i eventually start my conversion process (or if it means that i'll never start, for my own safety) and i've already been struggling with activism burnout since like 2020 and i'm just. i feel sick watching genocide happen across the world and not knowing how to help and being scared that even if i attempt to help it's going to make a different problem worse. and i feel disgusted and horrified at myself for being so paralyzed by fear and confusion and my own much less significant trauma that i'm essentially no better than someone who intentionally sticks their head in the sand and doesn't care at all. which, see above, makes me worry that i'm complicit.

i'm open to replies to this post, including ones that challenge the way i feel and especially if anyone has any suggestions on constructive ways i can help (or groups i can donate to who are doing constructive things -- i've heard someone say even donations aren't helpful right now, i don't know if that's true or not) but i'm begging for compassion because like. believe me, whatever thing you're going to say about my position of relative privilege or like. White Guilt(tm) or anything like that, my brain has already guilt tripped me about it. i'm not necessarily asking for advice on how to turn this into actually constructive activism because i know that ultimately it's kinda on me, but i'm open to hearing advice anyone has

sorry for this being kinda incoherent, i didn't want to talk about it at all since i know it is like. the way i personally feel about this is not relevant or important. but it's consuming a lot of my thoughts and energy and i'm trying to find a way to find some sort of balance where i can still function without just sticking my fingers in my ears and pretending it's not happening

[theoutcastrogue]

1) While I am personally repulsed by the influencer / self-promotion / instagram Type of Posting, and it's extremely off-putting when I see it on tumblr (the very place I frequent to get away from all that), I have THE GREATEST sympathy for people who just wanna share their work with the world, and discover that it's only feasible if you do the whole social media song and dance, and they happen to simply not be into this social media song and dance. Ideally, they'd want to set up a portfolio and let the work speak for itself. And most of the time they can't, because no one sees it. It's terrible.

2) On the other hand, on this very site, it WAS once possible to gain an audience with a portfolio of your work, and zero reblogs or memes or addressing said audience with your words. My experience on that was with #photographers on tumblr. I don't know how that tag is doing now, but I'll tell you how it worked back then, because that's why I came to tumblr in 2012: the ease of use, the custom themes, and the native image hosting made it surprisingly good for a photography blog/portfolio. (Extra surprising if you consider how atrocious the code was overall back then, and in the crucial matter of resizing images for display on the dashboard, STILL IS.)

I am definitely NOT into the whole social media song and dance. All I did was post each photo with a single-line caption (incomprehensibly obscure title / location / date), and tag it with said location, #photographers on tumblr, and maybe #street photography or #portrait or something. Almost all of them were black & white. I didn't maintain a steady flow, sometimes I didn't post for months and sometimes I unloaded a dozen at once. Fanart was not applicable. And I reblogged nothing, not even my own posts. I did everything "wrong", and I was not interested in doing it "right".

But there are other photographers on tumblr (often but not always amateurs), and I followed a bunch of them, and I interacted with them at least with Likes. I got a handful of notes on each photo (double digits), once in a while triple digits. Which was fine, I didn't whine about it. The OP talks about artists pointlessly complaining that the fandom site is not good for engagement (duh), but I very intentionally misused tumblr and regretted nothing. The main thing that got me here was "it's prettier than flickr". If that also got me 20 notes per post, great!

And then some of my photos got picked up by curating blogs (let's call them that), which are hardly a thing any more but were prominent back then. There was no smalltalk on these blogs, just reblogging art, making it clear that their job is to find art on tumblr and show it, and they might add a short comment on composition or something. E.g.:

"Very interesting point of view, lights and framing. I like the misty mood and the sky. Very well captured cityscape."

That definitely brought "exposure", and lots of photographers got an audience through such blogs. And they didn't need to fill their own blogs with memes and shitposts, or share their inner thoughts and feelings. Just their work. It speaks for itself.

Now, to be fair, a large chunk of that audience was other amateur photographers. But I mean, we're talking about black & white photography in the 21st century: how many people (other than goth teens) are into that without also being into creating some of that?

And here's something that doesn't exist any more, tumblr used to have Blue Tags. Does anyone remember Blue Tags? It was like Radar, the mods selected posts to promote, except it was themed, and there was a Blue Tag: Fashion for example, a Blue Tag: Black and White. That's the one I got, for several photos. (Not my best ones, lol.) And triple digits weren't rare any more.

Blue Tags

I started getting asks and replying poorly (i.e. belatedly or never, I am still SO bad at this), I got fans which was hilarious, I added words to a handful of posts (like a paragraph on the process, technical stuff, composition, musings on photography), I once posted a shout-out to other photographers and curators I liked, I technically did a fanart (lol) which also got a Blue Tag

aaaaand that summed up my concessions to the whole social media song and dance. I still didn't reblog, I didn't chat with anyone on my blog, there were no memes and no shitposts.

And just as I was getting traction, and we got to quadruple digits,

(which hardly made my blog famous or anything, not even in that small corner of non-fandom tumblr, but it got the job done of sharing my work, which only happens when there are other people there to share it with, whether it's 5 or 50 or 5000 of them), I got bored and kinda quit.

I might have made a comeback. Until the 2018 purge came, and FULLY sapped any desire I might have to share my photography, or even explore the work of other photographers (which, to be clear, I used to be VERY keen on, both for famous professionals and unknown amateurs) on a site that takes issue with female-presenting nipples.

Now the Blue Tags are long gone, reblog chains are the norm and non-personal curating blogs are declining, you shitpost or you die, and I am SO glad I don't feel the need to share my work on tumblr any more. Because if I did, I'd be fucked.

I sincerely hope others have found ways to accomplish that without having to do the whole social media song and dance, and without having to put on the spotlight their whole personality (well, a persona thereof) just to get their art seen.

I keep meeting artists who complain that Tumblr Is Dead then when I check their blog they've made four posts in six months and all of them were self promo lmao. Influencers whining that "tumblr is useless for engagement" tells me every part of the problem, like sorry you can't just show up and farm this userbase for clicks by waving buzzwords around the way you can on tiktok. This is the Excited About Stupid Things website reblog some shitty fanart or die

[saetoru]

ok since the entire dash is on about reblogging n stuff i think i'll leave my two cents bc we all know i can never not give my two cents sdjshdgf

anyway i think reblogging has two main purposes—at least to me—and that is either sharing something you enjoyed to the rest of your followers to help spread it, or to leave feedback / comments to express that you enjoyed it.

if you are a blog with a following, as in a blog such as my own, where thousands of people follow you and are likely to see your posts on dash, you should feel inclined to drop a reblog of content you enjoy or content of a mutual that you see to boost it. that doesn't necessarily mean you have to reblog everything you see on dash, but writers tend to have much larger followings in comparison to readers, so if you are a writer who for the most part does not reblog other writing, you are a LARGE part of the problem. and "i don't read as often as i write" is not an excuse bc i don't read that often either, and i do usually prefer ao3 over tumblr if i do read, but i try to reblog what i stumble across on dash to offer a work some more exposure. and while we're on the topic, i think "fic rec blogs" essentially kill the purpose of reblogs because your followers are on your MAIN BLOG not your fic rec side blog. lets all be honest no one ever really follows rec blogs and you are essentially sharing your work to nobody. tbh tagging ur reblogs will organize them just as fine as having them on a separate blog, so kindly consider sharing works to your main blog with ur following and not one that is close to empty.

if you're a reader with a blog with little to no following, i think tbh leaving a comment can be just as good as reblogging. i know there are a lot of readers on here who basically have no followers and don't see the point in sharing a work onto an empty blog, or if they do have followers its friends who they don't want to see the things they read, so i get it, sometimes you'd rather not reblog. but leaving a comment on a post instead of reblogging onto your blog is also a great option—and tbh, i think that serves the same purpose if you don't have people to rly share the posts to. the main point is that if you enjoy a work, leaving a comment here or there—whether thru a reblog or on the post itself—can go a long way for a writer, more than you think !! liking and moving on does little to indicate you've enjoyed something since a lot of ppl just like posts to save something for later, but if you take the time to leave comments on the post or thru the tags, you can really help a writer find the motivation to produce more content. please also kindly kill all mentality that being a writing blog has to tie a blog to being only writing—that is very unfair to a writer's personal interests and passions and ultimately reduces them as someone you only think of as a means of entertainment rather than an individual who shares work out of passion for their hobby.

the moral of the story is reblogging is important, especially if you have a decent following, but at the very least leaving a comment can be nice. being offered a form of feedback is the reason why writers share their writing, not why they write.

[procrastinatorproject]

I did a whooooole bunch of writing today! This chapter is getting ever so slightly out of hand, but oh well 🙈

(This is back to, as @jazzfic called it, the prompt that keeps on giving 😋 If you're also interested in sending in a prompt, btw, here is the orinigal post about that. Go nuts! I'd say the chances that I'll actually manage to get something on paper have increased by A Lot since I originally reblogged it, so the original tags are now a little too pessimistic... Anyway. I'm always happy about Picard-character prompts :D)

Context: Emil has been fretting over Rios, who had been unconscious in sickbay after some misadventure. Rios has woken up, but he seems a little worse for wear...

After a moment, Rios asked: “What happened in that… nebula?” He sounded uncertain, like he had already forgotten what the EMH had told him moments earlier.

Emil grabbed a neural scanner from a nearby instrument stand and started running it around Rios’s skull. “Our shields failed, courtesy of all the phaser fire we took, and then the ship was flooded with gas and radiation.” He stopped his work and gave the captain a long look. “You don’t remember any of this?”

Rios blinked up at him, then shook his head and immediately grunted in pain.

Emil recalibrated his scanner and waited for a moment until the captain stopped rubbing his eyes, then he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible: “What is the last thing you do remember?”

There was a long silence. Emil’s instrument registered heavy activity in the memory centres of Rios’s brain, but it wasn't sophisticated enough to give him any idea what the outcome might be.

Finally, the captain took a deep breath and said: “I… I don’t really…” He looked up at Emil and his expression was utterly helpless and lost. “I don’t know.”

Emil lowered his scanner. “Do you know where you are?”

Rios blinked, then he shook his head and immediately winced again.

“Will you please stop doing that? Your brain is clearly scrambled enough as is.”

“Sorry,” Rios said sheepishly and ducked his head.

Emil hesitated. Normally, a remark like that would have earned him a derisive retort or at least some Spanish invective. Instead, the captain was looking at his hands, fingers playing nervously with the hem of his pyjama shirt. He seemed almost abashed to have be told off by the EMH. Something was seriously wrong, beyond the effects of prolonged unconsciousness and exposure to poisonous gasses.

Emil had done some research on the impact of this nebula’s radiation, but reports were scarce. Some of them mentioned an association between prolonged exposure and various neurological effects, but he had dismissed them at the time. Their own stay in the nebula had been too brief to expect any of these effects to manifest themselves. But then again, the other ships had probably been travelling with intact shields…

The EMH straightened a little and twirled his scanner through his fingers in growing concern. Perhaps some basic diagnostic questions would give him a better idea of where they were at.

“Can you tell me your name?”

Deep lines formed on the captain’s forehead as he concentrated. THen, finally, he offered a very hesitant: “Chris?” He pronounced it differently than he normally would, the Spanish trill replaced by a drawl that could have rivalled Steward’s, but Emil still felt his behavioural algorithms relax a little from the building tension.

“Very good,” he said. “Last name?”

Encouraged, Rios sat up a little straighter and focused some more. Finally, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a rush, like he was reciting something committed to memory through countless repetitions: “Cristóbal Rios, Lieutenant Junior grade, Starfleet ID SC-850-705.”

[stained-glass-salamander]

Happy Birthday!! 🎉🎉 - First of all I want to say how happy I am having found your blog relatively recently 😊 I really enjoy your style and look forward to your work every day. Be it in a post, or in the tags. I also want to thank you for being so supportive of mine! So, thanks! 💙 I hope you'll have a wonderful birthday.

1) truth: when I read your words about MCU it immediately had me thinking about its signal function in a broader social context, so what are your insights on that?

2) dare: I woke up one night and wrote this half sleeping, haven't used it yet, so this is a prompt: "Rhythm. Everything in existence logic pattern path of least resistance repetitive. Human = chaos. Repetition is boredom. The rhythm the pulse is distorted. Life! Life is chaos. The rest geometry."

3) we'll skip three 😋

4) I'd love a prompt!

5) and a flower, of course!

But because it's your birthday, I have a flower for you as well 😊 - enjoy your day!! 🎉

Hello and thank you for such a nice message - I thought about ways and words to convey how happy I am to have you enjoy my posts because I sure do enjoy yours, but got nowhere beyond a simple thank you. Rest assured I'll definitely keep on supporting your work as there is something enchanting in the way you write that got me transfixed - maybe it is the perspective from which you see things, maybe it is the way you use words to compose what reads like a piece of music, maybe it's everything at once or nothing at all - I can't quite name one specific aspect that makes it so alluring and beautiful, alloting your poems into my personal "resplendence" category along with nice landscape views, stained glass, flowers and 19th century piano compositions. I find myself gravitating to your words over and over again, and I sure am grateful for the serendipity that allowed me to find your blog. So, thank YOU!💙

And now that I had my fan-girl moment (please don't be scared, it's just me riding out the thrill of someone whose work I admire saying they enjoy my work too 😁), let's get onto the asks. I'm going to leave it under "read more."

(note: I think I'm going to scream, no wait, I'm already screaming - I wrote an approx. 5000 characters essay about MCU and tumblr glitched, leaving me with absolutely nothing. Yeah, I know, it was stupid of me not to save the draft after I finished or write it in an actual text editor, alas, here we are. Lessons learned. So just you know why I am answering so late. And why it is brief.)

1 - Ah, the MCU. First of all, the idea of kalokagathos is, unlike God, very much alive in the western society of today. As much as people enjoy heroic stories, they want to see beautiful people in tight costumes even more (when did we as a civilisation decide it is better to cover the body in neoprene rather than observe it nude? It would make more sense to wear a mask and some kind of briefs but nothing else given the unshakeable uniformity of the hero body shape.) The need for perfection is so great we are allowing Marvel heroes to be void of anything resembling a real human personality. This is nicely illustrated in Endgame, where Thor's depression is something we are supposed to laugh at. He is no longer perfect, and we are allowed to laugh at him displaying emotions and putting on some weight, and I hate this with a burning passion. Instead of giving the audience the story of Thor overcoming what more than fifty per cent of all people worldwide suffer from with help of friends and making positive changes, he is a laughing stock. And then there is the problem with heroes coming to existence through a quick process, usually some kind of exposure to radioactivity or a different substance that "mutates their DNA" (which in itself is laughable, but let's leave that aside for today.) There is no instance of people working hard to become strong, they simply get bitten by a rabid spider and get their code changed to wake up as a beefcake in the morning. I think this is a very common symptom of our western lifestyles where fast is not fast enough anymore.

Second of all, the films are void of any profound message because everything else is oversaturated with deep messages. The target group (which is huge judging by the money Disney makes off Marvel) wants to leave their dystopian lives outside the theatre, and watch morally flat characters fight other morally flat characters. We want to engage in an escapist fever dream full of stunning visual effects simply because it is better than anything we could do for those two hours.

Another reason for so many people to love it might be their feeling of having no power over their lives whatsoever. The idea of a hero coming and saving them, however improbable and illogical it is, might bring a certain level of comfort. Films such as MCU ones know this very well and are used as a tool to steer the masses where the government wants them. That is why heroes need to fight aliens to protect the earth - Hollywood past 9/11 is nothing but a tool for pro-war propaganda, and when we look at the parallel of good heroes fighting bad aliens, we don't have to look anymore.

Now, I also want to mention comedic interjections in MCU movies. Watching a film is not unlike travelling by submarine. Where captains like Bergmann immediately drop into the depths of the Marinara trench and stay there for as long as possible, Marvel regularly resurfaces to keep people alert and ready for another part. The comedic break not only serves as a way to divide the story into more digestible chunks, but it is also an attempt to make heroes more human-like and overtakes the comedy market. I have already mentioned that 9/11 has steered Hollywood into propaganda and as such, the comedy genre took a blow. But then, in 2008, Marvel came and gave people something they can laugh about, and voila, people wanted to see more of the silly jokes.

To conclude, the popularity of the MCU stems from the disillusion a large number of people are going through in relation to the dystopian nightmare they live in. All they seek is a visually appealing epic with likeable characters that would allow them not to think about the real world for a moment.

2 - I'm going to post the prompt as a separate post :)

3 - oh thank you :D it wasn't the best idea to list this so I'm happy you left it out

4 - and I am more than happy to provide: being a sanded down shard of glass is not the end of my journey, it is merely a beginning. Where others see nothing but void I walk with a prism in my eye and birdsong in my heart.

5 - thank you so much for the flower, it's so beautiful!!! I love that it looks like a little star - and maybe it really is a star that fell from the night sky for you to find it. By the way, is that your hand in the background holding it upwards? That's so very sweet of you - you managed to position it right in the middle of the picture, so it looks very aesthetically pleasing - thank you so much 💛

I thought about what flower to give you, and picked out three:

this rose because you seem to like yellow flowers. Also, their scent is amazing and maybe the sweet fragrance would be nice and soothing to fall asleep to.

Another flower would be this beautiful peony - and as a fellow bee enthusiast, I thought you would like to see these two ladies grinding hard to get that pollen.

and the last flower I wanted to give you was these chives flowers, simply because they are a lovely shade of lilac and look like fluffy pop candy, but my cat had a different idea and didn't quite approve of me taking pictures in his garden :) so here's the little fiend instead.

thank you again for the birthday wishes - they made me very happy 🤗 and before posting, here are the encouraging words I promised: your sense of humour is amazing! I haven't stopped laughing about Nostramarkus ever since you posted about him - and what I wanted to emphasize is, even if it doesn't feel like it, you are making difference, even if it is only as simple as brightening up someone's day. So keep pushing forward, it's worth it!

[kodzukoi]

farewell 2021, greetings 2022 :)

if ur seeing this, it's bc i decided to write something for the new year... (well i'll schedule it to post at 11:59 or 12, idk yet lol but if i forget to save it then that's another thing HAHAHA anyways) hm, i'd love to do personal messages but i hate leaving people out (lol bc ik i would definitely get hurt if i got left out-) so i'll just do general messages instead:

to my moots:

hello, i can't believe u guys follow me BACK, not just follow me but follow me back- what i've done to interest u guys, i'll never know... it was crazy to be honest: some of y'all i found through the haikyuu tag, others through other moots - some are people i've looked up to in the 6 or so months i've actually been active on tumblr and others are some of the best people i've ever met in my 17 years of life (stupid fireworks going off already :/ it is 20:10 or 8:10pm as i write this lol). but i'd like to take the time and thank each and every single one of u who've stuck with me (surprisingly bc i don't really think i have that much to offer - anything worth staying over that is) and i hope i get to see u all succeed and do everything u want in life. u all deserve it and i'm cheering for u all - there's more i wanted to say but i forgot... hopefully i'll remember soon lol

to my anons:

i'm really thankful for and proud of u for having the courage to come talk to me in my inbox. truly. before i've gained some exposure on this blog, i spent my time just talking to people through their inboxes on anon because i was too scared to actually talk without using anon (um idk why, i think i was really scared of getting hate bc hate was really big in june if i remember correctly... or in the hq community at least?) but yeah! if ur not a hate anon, i promise i won't bite so feel free to come talk to me anytime <3

and last but not least, to my followers (so literally everyone):

i'm so very thankful for u all for making this second half of the year so great. every like, comment, reblog, follow - it all meant the world to me and i loved posting content because it meant that i got to read your tags/comments and it made me so so happy. (why am i talking like i'm gonna die- i promise i'm not trying to die or anything lakjsdf-) i actually just ate dinner so i apologize if literally nothing has made sense bc my train of thought was broken (i also need to go shower...) but yes, i love you all so much. if ur on good terms with friends and family and other loved ones, tell them how much u love them and are thankful that they've made it to 2022 with u, if not then i'm telling u that i'm very thankful that u've made it to 2022 with me. i'm also very grateful that each and every one of u exists in this world and i hope all the good things happen to u guys <3

with love,

koi

[coinofstone]

2x11 The Witch's Quickening

Hey Arthur, remember last time you were on a manhunt in Camelot and it led you to Morgana's chambers, and she talked you out of searching them and later admitted that she'd been hiding a fugitive in there? Have you learned NOTHING

And Merlin too, he doesn't like, double back and confront Morgana or suggest Arthur do that?

Why is Arthur yelling at Merlin so much in this? Who wrote this episode.

::Coin watch the show instead of playing on her phone challenge::

Morgana being manipulated by a nine year old

Why is Arthur insulting the food as if Merlin cooked it himself? Every other meal he brings up is from the palace kitchens but on this occasion Merlin cooked himself? Ok.

Even the fkin dragon is OOC in this ep

Morgana is so much more intelligent than this.

Gaius needs to bring this to Uther in the throne room like a member of the public? He couldn't get a private audience with the king? Ok.

I really don't remember this episode being so terrible, maybe I'm in a bad mood.

You know, not for nothing, but from Mordred's perspective Merlin is being an absolute dick, not only siding with the oppressor but actively working to sabotage their plans and hurt their people. As we, the audience, are privy to the reasons behind this, WE don't necessarily questions Merlin's actions, WE know he's after the crystal because he's trying to prevent Mordred and Morgana from teaming up and bringing harm to Arthur - that's all good and well but like... Merlin could never bring himself to kill Mordred because he's just a boy, but yet he's allowed the boy to go off and become somewhat radicalized (I say 'somewhat' because honestly, it's not all that radical to plot to overthrow the king that has been waging a genocidal war against your people for twenty fucking years) without ever trying to bring him into the fold. If Merlin had explained his and Arthur's destinies to the boy, made an argument for waiting out Uther's reign in the hope that Arthur's reign will bring peace and magic back to Camelot, but which may not happen if he sees his father killed by sorcerers, and explained his reasons for hiding who he is from Morgana, regardless of Mordred's ultimate destiny to be Arthur's doom, Merlin would've at least had a shot at cultivating an alliance or at very least an understanding between them. Instead, all Mordred sees is this supremely powerful sorcerer who isn't even a druid, serving the very people that would bring an end to their entire race if they could. Although, it seems as tho Mordred has forgotten who exactly snuck him out of the castle and back to the druid camp in three first place. Makes you wonder if Morgana never explained to him that she was believed to have been kidnapped when they found her with the druids last time, and that she went along with that lie for her own safety.

Tl;dr: communication is important kids!

Do I even need to point out how much sense Morgana's little tiff with Uther did not make? Or her sudden distrust of Gwen? If anything she should think Gwen would be an ally considering a) her father was killed by Uther, as an innocent victim of Uther's war on magic, b) Gwen was party to Morgana's previous involvement in aiding and abetting a druid fugitive, c) Gwen L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y sacrificed herself to save Morgana from Hengist's men, the is zero reason to question Guinevere's loyalty to Morgana, and d) Gwen has never said a WORD against sorcery or hinted at any kind of prejudice against druids or anyone with magic.

I looked up the writing credit for this, it's Jake Michie who is also credited with some fantastic episodes like Lancelot, Beauty and the beast, and the Lamia to name a few. It was directed by Alice Troughton who has also done some good eps, including other eps written by Jake Michie, so like I really don't understand what went wrong here.

Oh God there's a commentary track on this episode. I don't wannnnnaaaaaa but maybe I'll learn something, like why it turned out the way it did.

Commentary by Julian Murphy, Alice Troughton, and Katie. I do not have high hopes.

Katie right off the bat explaining shit that's important to note, God I love her on these tracks. Apparently, this was one of the last things to be shot (Merlin films everything out of order and films several episodes concurrently, depending on filming location.) and it was being shot while three other episodes were being wrapped up - so they had FOUR episodes filming concurrently and a lot of THIS episode was directed by Julian Murphy, and Jeremy shot some of it as well. This COULD explain a lot of the inconsistency, but I question how much since Julian seems to be involved in filming lots of scenes in lots of episodes. But I guess it's possible that just that on top of the rush to finish and the pressure of so many spinning plates in the air right at the end. They've just said that for this episode they had the least amount of days to shoot it out of all the episodes they've done, which is partly why they had so much going at once. It's as good a reason as any to explain it being so off, but I don't really see that explaining the wildly off characterization.

Katie going on the whole thing about Alvarr-as-revolutionary and Alice picks up on Morgana's sort of desire to be in that position and they're having a quite meaningful discussion then Julian:I think she just thinks he's hot 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Katie says the script changed a lot even as it was filming, and that things were being changed as it was filmed so I'm kind of thinking for whatever reason this entire thing was a mess and that's why it came across looking so disjointed to me.

At least Julian realize the soup scene was terrible.

Idk why they're ganging up on Katie over the chemistry between her and Alvarr. She says she wasn't playing it that way and that she wasn't feeling it and they're just like "yea uh huh sure."

They're talking about having two units filming like a few feet away from each other in the forest, while there is another two units going in France.

Julian says they had added Alvarr's girlfriend in because they wanted to dramatize his charisma and calculation... but it's not manipulation - ?????????? Someone get the man a dictionary. 'We added a random blonde in four him to kiss so that the audience knows he's got a girl already, who sees him working his charm on Morgana and comments on it 'you played her well', but Alvarr isn't actually manipulative' ??????????

They've just pointed out two entire significant beats within a sequence that was constructed on set and off script. Arthur's confrontation with Alvarr in the forest and Merlin's slow motion tracking the crystal to show its got a powerful draw. The more they describe the specifics of filming the more it sounds like an utter disaster which kind of makes me feel bad for being so harsh on the episode.

I keep having to rewind to focus on what they're saying and I feel like I've been watching this episode for about 4 hours.

Awkward bit of prop-exposure there. Trying to work out what LK could even stand for.

Idk everyone's really happy with this scene between Morgana and Uther and I'm still sitting here thinking the dialogue was utterly ridiculous.

They talked about changing that final scene, where Uther clearly knows/suspects it was Morgana who helped Alvarr escape, so that it doesn't prematurely push the story too far ahead. They cut a look Morgana gives Merlin which, rightfully so, because it would've been too much too soon. The ending to this episode still feels wholly unsatisfying to me. I understand the little tag with the dragon yelling for Merlin to release him, I don't mean that, but the ending to the main story where Alvarr just escapes and Uther not only accepts that but also accepts that Morgana must've helped him. Overall Uther's been entirely sort of neutered throughout this episode, which I understand that partially has to do with it being Morgana, but like, in previous episodes when she's been so defiant against him, he's had her by the throat and locked her in a dungeon overnight. So I just doubt understand him being so subdued here, especially since he directly threatened her when he found pr Mordred escaped, and now another druid's escaped and he essentially knows she was involved given how she spoke to him, yet he doesn't do anything? Just wildly inconsistent behavior.

Anyway apologies for overanalyzing this episode, I realize I tore it apart pretty thoroughly during the commentary and the post became quite long. I wish there was a way to add a cut on mobile but there isn't. I'll have the S2 finale post up in a few hours - I might hold off on posting until I've watched the extras, I didn't do that for S1 but then I felt the extras didn't quite warrant a whole post on their own, so I might just tack on any thoughts I have to the 2x12 post. We'll see.