#Don't read too much into that I just find the contrast very funny.

[diloph]

's funny, but I only stumbled across the leaked pilots because I was absently refreshing youtube on the off chance there was a new Alien: Romulus trailer, then they popped up in my suggested feed.

So asides from my Pepe Silvia-style corkboard theories, it turns out I've finally got a tenuous reason for me to associate Marcy with a Xenomorph after all!

[justabeewithapen]

Sniling so widely at the critters

What’s the dynamic when Doey, Lucas, and Bella are together?

GRINNING SO BIG BACK AT YOU!!! I have so much I am so sorry here, have a doodle before I throw you into the read more:

Their dynamic is very much like siblings. There is definitely a reason they usually only use one at a time as being in a group together emboldens all three of them. It is hard to fully describe the change, but when they are all together you can actually tell they are kids, they act like kids. Being put together is generally a reward for particularly good behavior (conditioning always works better if you mix both positive and negative reinforcement, even if they lean negative) and VERY OCCASIONALLY they are allowed things like crayons or books. Lucas has self proclaimed himself the older brother of their squad which he takes very seriously, which really doesn't mean very much besides the fact he is very loud, loves to "older sibling" brag (make stuff up haha), and thinks he is really funny. He is the one that gets the energy going in a room, and if there is a tussle it's probably his fault. Bella is a very obvious contrast to that, she is quiet and would much rather go with the flow of whatever is happening than take charge like Lucas. However, I think she is hiding a sneaky side under there that doesn't come out very often, but if given the chance to grow up normally she would probably enjoy pranks and get away with them. She likes to draw and she likes listening to stories. She's much stronger than she looks, Lucas knows this first hand (if Doey was in a normal situation/environment he would probably know her "wrath" too.) Doey has the most noticeable shift, and it would be even more if he wasn't in his current circumstances. (I wrote a ton a ton here but I think I'll save it for a second post). It's kinda hard to explain? Big ole' "it depends" I suppose? Sometimes he is more in-line with Lucas, more mischievous and playful, liberally using his abilities to make up for their lack of playthings. Sometimes it is more like a contented air where he will just sit and listen while the other two do their own thing, but he'll still be an active part of conversation. They talk a lot, all three of them, there aren't many occasions where they can talk and feel listened to. Even Bella who is more quiet. It's the only opportunity for play they ever get, unlike some of the experiments in other sections of the building. Obviously if things are not great(tm) for one of them the energy mellows out more, but even if it isn't acknowledged they treat these opportunities like it will be the last time it ever happens. I don't even know if I answered the question right at this point T-T I have been typing and retyping this for hours at this point. It's like, I know it but I don't know how to say it. They act like siblings, sibling who are keenly aware they are all each other has, while still being themselves as much as they can while they have the chance. Being able to all be together without having to worry if anyone is alright genuinely is a reward for them, and it just makes punishments more effective. I think they used to be more reserved, especially Doey who is very keenly aware of being observed like 24/7, but it wasn't worth caring about, they didn't have that luxury. It probably freaked the hell out of several scientists observing him who are generally more used to "Perpetual glower", or "intentionally trying to push your buttons", and on good days "quiet compliance". He got along with critters in places like the courtyard, but he was generally avoided by other toys because he is massive and scary looking, when he walks the ground literally shakes in game. It would be worth looking into more to find a less volatile way to control him, if he wasn't considered such a liability and didn't already have a body count pre-HOJ Man I hope this doesn't suck to read TwT sorry for the messy word vomit here!!

[alexthebordercollie]

it's nice to see mystery trio aus that aren't fiddlestan tbh. The amount of times I'll see one, think it looks interesting, and then it just turns into "wow Stan, you're so much nicer and cooler than your lame brother! Lets date!" And act like it's some kind of karma for Ford or something.

I definitely agree with your take that so often fiddlestan is just used as a way to express dislike of Ford, while ignoring any of Stan's canonical flaws

As a side note, since this is more of personal headcanon territory, but i think Stan would find Fiddleford too reminiscent of Ford when he was young to actually be interested.

Anyway, i always love to see Stan in his natural habitat (being a chaotic uncle)

I love the idea of the Mystery Trio. I think these three would play off each other really well. They're cute and funny together, but you don't need Fiddlestan. It feels like people treat it as a given that if offered the choice between Stan and Ford Fidds would choose Stan. Which is kind of shitty. (Low key it kind of reads to me like Ford is assumed the worse partner because he's autistic :/ even if people aren't consciously treating him that way.)

I think it's kind of presumptuous to assume Fidds would be into Stan anyway. Like physically attracted to him? Sure, obviously. If he finds Ford attractive odds are good Stan would also be nice to look at, but relationships aren't just physical attraction and it's obvious from the journals and BOB that Fidds had a very strong connection to Ford. If he's in love with an autistic nerd enough to throw his life away for him why would people assume Stans's wildly contrasting personality would somehow be more appealing?

I've actually had this comic kicking around in my mind for a while and this ask gave me a good excuse to draw it. (Though it took longer than expected)

While I don't think Fidds would ever choose Stan over Ford, I do think Ford would be a bit of a jealous and insecure partner. He's used to a lot of social rejection and struggles to maintain connections with people. Not to mention trust issues, especially after Bill who tried to sabotage his faith in Fiddleford in particular.

I wouldn't put it past Ford to get antsy seeing Fidds get along with his brother even if there's absolutely nothing going on there.

Also, I hadn't considered the suggestion that Stan might find Fidds nerdiness a turn-off because it reminds him too much of his brother, but yeah I could see it. Still, I'd buy Stan being interested in Fidds before I could really see the other way around happening. I think Stanley's tastes are bit broader but Fiddleford I imagine to have a bit more of a type. At least where romantic attraction is concerned. That said I don't think Fiddleford's actual tastes are really considered, I think he gets shipped with Stanley by people who want to see Stanley get that kind of overbearing love that Fidds showed to Ford. I do understand wanting to give him that kind of partner but Ford deserves love too, we don't need to be taking his healthy romantic option away from him and leave him with Bill. (His abuser.)

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi, do you think that Harry's personality was altered to fit with Ginny's in HBP? I can put my money on the fact that the Harry Potter from OotP would not put up with any of Ginny's bullshit. He wouldn't even talk to her if he could help it let alone date her.

If jkr wasn't on her trojan horse to make hinny endgame, Harry probably would not date anybody in sixth year. Not with Sirius's death, voldemort's horcruxes, his disastrous relationship (really, it's a stretch) with Cho the previous year and his new found obsession with Malfoy. His brain could only hold so much.

Hi, like, Harry's personality definitely changed in HBP, but I don't think Ginny was the only reason (Ginny's personality also changed from OotP, for the worse if you ask me). Harry's personality change between OotP and HBP isn't all that bad. Last time I read the book, a lot of it can be explained by his trauma response (his sass and even less self-preservation than before).

What is a little odd about HBP Harry is that he is way calmer than OotP Harry and tries harder not to annoy Ginny, even early in the book, before he supposedly realises his crush. Which is in stark contrast to Harry with anybody else and in any other book. Harry isn't scared of calling out people for bad behaviour, even people he likes (Lupin, Ron, Hermione, etc.), and who is outright rude to Ginny late in OotP. Basically, the transitions in Harry's opinions and behaviour towards Ginny didn't change naturally and go against how he usually reacts to people. Because you're right that OotP Harry would not try to appease Ginny when she gets all worked up over Fluer, he wouldn't care what she thought, and we don't see the summer between OotP and HBP when he supposedly changed his whole treatment of Ginny — which is a problem.

As for whether he'd date at all after Sirius' death... it can go both ways. I actually think it's very possible Harry throws himself into a relationship with Ginny — who he sees as a normal and safe dating option, she represents normal teenage life, and not being the Boy Who Lived — because of his trauma and Sirius' death and everything going on with Voldemort.

I mean, we are told pretty explicitly he sees his time with Ginny as a break of normalcy from his eventful life. It's a distraction and a coping mechanism:

“It’s been like . . . like something out of someone else’s life, these last few weeks with you,” said Harry. “But I can’t . . . we can’t . . . I’ve got things to do alone now.”

(HBP, Ch30)

So, I don't think that's inherently out of character, actually. What is, is Harry thinking he loves Ginny as much as he does, without knowing her and being chill with a lot of her behaviour he would have called her out for before:

“She’s a damn sight nicer than Phlegm,’’ said Ginny “And she’s more intelligent, she’s an Auror!” said Hermione from the corner. “Fleur’s not stupid, she was good enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament,” said Harry. “Not you as well!” said Hermione bitterly. “I suppose you like the way Phlegm says ‘ ’Arry,’ do you?” asked Ginny scornfully. “No,” said Harry, wishing he hadn’t spoken, “I was just saying, Phlegm — I mean, Fleur —” [...] “I wouldn’t go in the kitchen just now,” she warned him. “There’s a lot of Phlegm around.” “I’ll be careful not to slip in it.” Harry smiled

(HBP, Ch5)

First, Hermione and Ginny should lay off Fleur. Second, how come Harry finds Ginny's comments about Fleur funny after he just spoke in Fleur's defence? Why is he regretting having talked? He doesn't regret it when he speaks up to defend people he cares about or to say what people need to hear when it's the truth, even in HBP and DH. Ginny is the only exception, and we don't see what made her that exception in the books. Especially when Harry repeatedly shows he cares for Ron and Hermione more than her.

“And Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, you’re not the Captain of this team —” “Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should —” Harry forced himself not to laugh.

(HBP, Ch14)

You're telling me Harry would find this behaviour funny, JKR? He would if he didn't like Ron, sure, but Ron is one of his most important people, more important to him than Ginny (as proven time and time again in DH), and he knows Ron's insecure enough as is. Harry would not stand for the Ron slander, even if it's from his sister.

Harry looked over at Ron, who was hunched in a corner, staring at his knees, a bottle of butterbeer clutched in his hand. “Angelina still won’t let him resign,” Ginny said, as though reading Harry’s mind. “She says she knows he’s got it in him.” Harry liked Angelina for the faith she was showing in Ron, but at the same time thought it would really be kinder to let him leave the team.

(OotP, Ch26) - Harry likes when people show faith in Ron's abilities! Wild that he's a good friend!

For context, Harry to Ginny in OotP when he's stressed over Sirius and annoyed with her:

“Hi,” said Ginny uncertainly. “We recognized Harry’s voice — what are you yelling about?” “Never you mind,” said Harry roughly. Ginny raised her eyebrows. “There’s no need to take that tone with me,” she said coolly. “I was only wondering whether I could help.” “Well, you can’t,” said Harry shortly.

(OotP, Ch32)

But I wouldn't say Harry won't talk to her if he could help it. He likes Ginny in OotP but not more than Fred and George. He finds some of her comments amusing and thinks she's alright. He doesn't hate her, far from it — but he doesn't see her as a romantic interest, he sees her as Ron's little sister. He's actively surprised she has any interest or talent in Quidditch and finds it unlikely. OotP Harry doesn't think very highly of Ginny, nor is he super interested in her as a person:

“You and Fred and George,” she said impatiently. “We’ve got an- other Seeker!” “Who?” said Harry quickly. “Ginny Weasley,” said Katie. Harry gaped at her. “Yeah, I know,” said Angelina, pulling out her wand and flexing her arm. “But she’s pretty good, actually. Nothing on you, of course,” she said, throwing him a very dirty look

(OotP, Ch21)

“Well, that was a bit stupid of you,” said Ginny angrily, “seeing as you don’t know anyone but me who’s been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels.” Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face her. “I forgot,” he said. “Lucky you,” said Ginny coolly. “I’m sorry,” Harry said, and he meant it. “So . . . so do you think I’m being possessed, then?”

(OotP, Ch23)

And even the "best" hinny scene in OotP in the library (in quotations because that scene is really weird), Harry isn't really telling Ginny what's bothering him. He tells her he wants to talk to Sirius, but not why (Which is his doubts about James and what he saw in Snape's worst memory. He doesn't tell Ron and Hermione about it either, but it is an example of him not being more open with her than with Ron and Hermione. He isn't).

It's not all out of character in HBP, and Harry could get to a point where he treats Ginny and her comments the way he does, there's just nothing that happens in the books that justifies it — hence why it's so jarring. We didn't see Harry's emotions evolve to this point; they just sorta appear, and are really weird when they are there (god, I hate the chest monster).

[zoropookie]

HOW HATERS ARE BORN (HHAB)

♡ chapter thirty-three — give it time (💋)

“I’ll admit, you made it look like a home.”

You looked around, enamored by the mutable blend of the other’s home. There was oddly a cozy charm that bled in the space, a mixture of contrasts that you wouldn’t have thought he would involve himself with.

There were soft shadows playing against the walls, promenaded by the warm and golden glow of the lamps. It was really elegant in here, yet, meticulously chosen to make you feel comfortable enough to sit down on the obviously expensive furniture.

“Didn’t know you had a…knack for interior design either.” You said hesitantly, looking at a very abstract tiny statue of a triangle on one of the shelves. Even thought you were interested, it still just felt like a painted on canvas for you. Kind of like...the idea that there can be paint on a canvas, but it doesn't make it a painting. "Learning a lot more about you everyday."

"It wasn't my idea," He sighed. "I told the interior designer 'not too many colors', and I guess she thought I was talking about completely mute."

"Feels like a sanctuary," you murmured.

Despite the dismissive words he gave you, the effort that was put into everything was clearly crafted and corroborated. You walked over to the books sitting on the coffee table, the only things out of place from the rest of the textures, reading the hard cover and smiling.

"You're really considering it?" You asked, to which Kuni turned towards you, "Taking care of the orchard outside."

He shrugged, his eyes moving back to making tea in the kitchen. "I don't have a choice. It's either me who does it, or it dies."

"That's not true, you can always pay someone to do it for you. I know there's a lot of people who may want it for themselves, it's completely healthy." You rambled, trying to see it through the long windows. "I take it that was a housewarming gift too?"

"From Furina. Came with the house, thought it'd be funny to see me struggle with something mundane."

"I heard," You grinned, not being able to keep your laugh in. "Love that for you, it's like a package deal! Did it work?"

He sighed again, running a hand through his hair at the thought. "I guess, I don't know," He started pour the tea once the pot began to steam. "I know her goal was to drive me insane. A constant reminder that no matter how far I try to distance myself from complications, they find a way to root themselves in my life."

"Hey, I wouldn't see it as that." You chuckled, the sound mixing with the soft clinking of the ceramic cups he was setting on the table. "It's probably just a way to keep you grounded after everything."

"I don't see the appeal in tending to trees."

"Maybe it's not even about that," You mused. "Maybe it's just about finding a healthy medium in your life, don't suppose you had that before, right?" You said, teasingly.

He rolled his eyes at you, a humored smile tugging at his lips. "You're one to preach about silver linings."

Your jaw dropped, a small scoff coming from your mouth. "I actually came here to truce, thank you very much. Even though you're the one who tried to run away from me — news flash, didn't work, genius. Still pissed off about that. I'm glad that Furina is looking to help you as much as she's looking to out you."

"Running away is my thing." He squinted playfully, "Like she's big help anyway. The only reason she's in on it is because she wants us to have this romance trope going on for real this time. It's stupid as fuck."

You paused at his words, feeling yourself swallow a big lump some of the tea nestled in your mouth. You shivered at the heat that washed on you, pursing your lips in thought as you let the conversation simmer. The two of you standing in a companionable silence. The trees outside rustled gently in the breeze, their leaves a vibrant contrast to the muted tones inside.

"I mean, I don't know," You paused, cringing as your fingers tightened on your cup. "I don't think it's stupid."

Kuni stiffened too, gaze flickering away for a moment before returning to meet yours. There was a certain look that you've never seen before from him. You couldn't decipher his actual feelings. "I figured."

Your cheeks flushed. "Holy shit, never mind if you were expecting it already." You hissed to yourself, trying to ebb how much embarrassment was on your skin. "Look, I need to check into my hotel soon—"

"Sit down." He cut you off, assertiveness in his tone enough to get you to immediately listen, plopping back down. There was an unexpected gravity that was with him, another departure from his nonchalant attitude.

Your heart hammered rapid fire in your chest, a mix of fear and total apprehension were doing a waltz on your general disposition. The more time you were here, the more you worried about the next time you'll make an absolute fucking fool of yourself. You fidgeted with your fingers.

"What really brought you here." He asked, expectantly. "First thing you give me is a hug, and some words of affirmation. You're not here just to catch up, especially after I blew you off."

"I wanted to see you again." You admitted, the weight of your own words pressing down on you. "You owned up to it, left your part of the Internet in a spiral, and then didn't bother to talk to me after that."

He was looking at you, you sensed it. And it wasn't like you could look at him back, otherwise you were going to melt. It was different seeing him from up close, it was an original experience to you if you could name it anything.

His eyes were searching you, despite all you said, as if trying to decipher if you were being genuine. His eyes bored into you like a tiny laser burning your skin. He nodded, a sliver of understanding crossing his face. "You gave me the impression that you were done. I left it at that."

"Yeah, well, I felt like the only one who could leave it at anything was me."

Despite how sticky and tense it was again, you felt relieved that he wasn't as malicious as he was behind the screen. You were relieved that at least the worst of it was over. But it didn't didn't help the burning in your chest, the aching of the bubble in your throat. "Ei really made you do all that stuff? It's not because you really do hate me, right?"

There was no more pretending anymore, no more hiding behind false bravado or dissing each other behind screens like pussies. It was only raw honesty, vulnerable and exposed.

"(Y/N)." His expression softened, a silent dilemma clear on his face. He gathered his own courage, squaring his shoulders a bit and looking at you again. "I'm sorry."

You felt dazed, electricity in the air around you, the world officially tilted on its axis to you. "What?" You accentuated snippier than you intended.

"You were collateral. Nothing that you did deserved what happened to you. Makes sense that you did what you did, you weren't the problem." He explained, shoulders slumped again. "I was behind what I did, at the end of the day; Ei just told me to do it. I'm sorry for being part of the reason you couldn't bounce back. I know if the situation were different, I'd leave you alone."

People kept saying that to you these days, that nothing that happened was because you deserved it. Maybe you never quite got the picture until Kuni said something along the lines of it. You never thought that him apologizing to you would garner the oddest reaction out of you.

Because why was it sexy..? Stop.

"And," He sighed, grabbing your attention lightspeed again. "I would consider liking you more if this all didn't happen. You're alright."

His admission of everything was catching you off guard left and right. You had no idea what to feel with the prominent knot in your stomach. "Do you like me?" "(Y/N), I don't want to—"

"I'm alright, in your words, but do you like me?" Your tone solidified with each word slowly jutting out, assertiveness hardening your composure. "Tell me. Look at me and tell me."

The uncertainly stretched on for what was practically indefinitely. He held his breath, as did you, waiting for his response. Your heart was ruthless against you, beating against your body. He sized you up, seeking an answer for himself.

"...Yeah?" He admitted, voice barely audible as he tried to find his own words. But everything he did think of was so unlike him, out of his personal way of handling things like this. "Yeah. I do."

You blinked, both of your eye contact filling a certain, more romantic space that neither of you even thought was there before today. But the more you realized it, the more you realized that maybe the sexual tension was always there.

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YOU ARE on your way to being one of the hottest streamer in your nation at the moment, racking a monthly average of 10 million viewers, but something specific bothers you about it. you know that a lot of people hate you, but there's this one account. one account that's been following you since the early days of your career. they leave a flood of rude comments in your stream, your moderators banned each account they made, but they keep making more. you are at the end of your tether. but you are yet to find out that this persistent cockroach is none other than your friend's friend (and the only other streamer that's bigger than you), scaramouche.

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[shouldertheskies]

I would love to see your infodump extensively about the Thebaid (and particularly Polynices and Tydeus, both together and separately) if you're willing? I haven't read it yet and I'm not sure if I will (kinda struggling to find a translation that I don't find awkward to read, my brain just does not take in the words lol) but I love these two and want to know as much as possible

I am asking you mostly because I think you would enjoy talking about them lol but if you don't have time or wouldn't find it entertaining then you don't have to!!

hii thanks so much for the ask! i am literally always down to infodump about the Thebaid and especially about Polynices and/or Tydeus because those two freaks live rent free in my brain. i honestly have so many thoughts on them idk where to even begin lmao.

i guess I can do quick summaries and highlight some things from my previous read of Statius' Thebaid:

[got too long oops]

Tydeus is the son of Oeneus of Calydon and Periboea, daughter of Hipponous. This makes him the half-brother of Meleager (famous for being the host of the Calydonian Boar Hunt), who was the son of Oeneus' first wife Althea.

While this is not mentioned in Statius' Thebaid, Meleager and his siblings (Althea's kids) were likely already dead by the time Tydeus was born: according to other traditions, Oeneus marries Periboea in the aftermath of the quarrel over the Calydonian Boar (wherein Meleager and his brothers were killed, and his sisters were turned to birds by Artemis).

Tydeus does have a full brother in Statius' Thebaid, though; said brother is never named, unfortunately, but in other sources he is named Olenias.

Tydeus is exiled for the crime of killing said brother; we know he feels horror and guilt over it, but this is never brought up again. My personal headcanon is that the killing was accidental; for a very well written headcanon compilation on this, please check out Ley's post! (also: @aster-aspera wrote a fic!)

He encounters Polynices outside the palace of Argos, while trying to take shelter amidst a storm during the night. Neither of them are in the mood to tolerate each other's presence and decide to throw hands about it like mature adults. Here we learn that neither is unwilling to fight dirty - theyre kneeing the other's nuts and trying to jab out the other's eyes and almost end up taking out their swords before Adrastus intervenes.

Now, Tydeus happens to be wearing a boar's hide, and Polynices a lion's skin (notably, both of these animals are associated with the famous monsters of Calydon and Thebes: The Calydonian Boar, and the Sphinx, respectively. The narrative starts associating our two heroes with monsters very early on). Adrastus had received a prophecy telling him to marry his daughters to a lion and a boar - to ''men one mistakes for beasts'' - and so he almost immediately offers Polynices and Tydeus his daughters' hands in marriage.

Polynices is the son of Oedipus and Jocasta - and let's just say he's not exactly proud of the fact. he hesitates to reveal his parentage to Adrastus not once but twice, and when he finally does so, it's in a notably self-pitying manner. Polynices in general has a tendency towards self-deprecation, and though sometimes it's a ploy to gain sympathy, often it comes off as just. genuinely low self-esteem

Polynices and Tydeus become friends almost immediately after the brawl. the narrator in fact compares their relationship to Orestes and Pylades in Book 1, and literally calls them soulmates near the start of Book 2. like in case u had any doubts: these bitches gay

Also, Tydeus is actually more likely to insult Polynices than the other way around: he offhandedly insults Polynices' bloodline in Book 2, and calls him an idiot in Book 7 (to be fair, that time is more so out of concern). Polynices in contrast actually repeatedly praises Tydeus everytime he speaks to him (iirc he refers to him as ''greatest Tydeus'' at least twice). I know its funny for Polynices to make fun of Tydeus in fanworks, but there is literally zero evidence for that ever happening in the Thebaid lmao

Even though Adrastus promises both of them that he'll help them regain their kingdoms, Tydeus seems. honestly just uninterested in regaining Calydon? Like he brings it up exactly once, in his address to Athena after the ambush at the Sphinx's Rock, and never again. on the other hand he's more adamant about going to war against Thebes than even Polynices is - Polynices if anything is honestly very half-hearted about the whole thing, and Tydeus ends up being the real instigator of the war on several occasions.

Also - Tydeus is noted to be utterly incapable of sitting still or tolerating boredom. when he's not training or preparing for war he fills in the time with sports, more specifically wrestling matches. King of hyperactive ADHD tbh

I've also noticed that Tydeus has a tendency to allude to mythical events/past heroes etc. far more than others, in all his speeches? like all characters do it, because it's a staple of the epic genre, but Tydeus notably does it more often than others. i'm not saying his special interest is heroic history but. I'm also not not saying that

ok i actually have. way more things to say but this has already gotten Quite long so ynw. I'll stop yapping here and continue in the reblogs at some other point in time. ty for the ask again and ciao <3

[greenerteacups]

Midway through Lionheart, and I'm fascinated by this Butterfly effect situation you have going on. Draco is a catalyst for so many things, in canon, that I wouldn't have noticed, and it's interesting how the web weaves itself. I love that he doesn't replace any of the og trio, but instead occupies this very unique position, and that in itself changes so many things. For example: Snape, although still a jerk in his own right, feels almost like he's a bit nicer, compared to canon, and I wondered if Lucius being gone meant that he grew much closer to Draco, and that softened him, if by a bit. You mentioned in a previous comment in one of the vol. 1 chapters that canon harry feels more cautious than fic Harry, only trusting those he's closest too. It made me think, Draco was such a vocal part of the canon books for disliking harry, and I feel like that increased Slytherin hostility? Not only did anyone who wasn't close friends either hated him immediately or only wanted to get to know him because he was the "chosen one", but he also genuinely never had any semblance of a positive relationship with Slytherin, and had an overall harsher experience compared to LH harry, which had understandably molded his perspective. On the contrast, in your fic, Draco has this very unique position as this man of two world, close to harry but also the slytherins. He isn't a vocal harry-hater and there's none of that hostility harry experienced in canon because Draco isn't ferrying the boat. Theo instead takes over what would have been draco's role in canon, except Theo's personality isn't like draco's at all, and I'd even say hes more open-minded, likely from his distance with his father? Because of this, things are less hostile for harry compared to canon.

I also feel like Slytherin-gryffindor relations are much better here compared in canon because of this– Theo still likes Draco and thus is willing to tolerate Gryffindor and there's no anti-harry influence that canon Draco cultivated, while Hermione, harry and Ron, though reasonably defensive, are generally tolerant towards people who don't immediately attack them. Draco isn't outwardly pushing hostility towards harry and instead becomes a sort of bridge between the two, as both sides find it easier to see the more "human" Side of the other, for lack of a better term? And find a common ground, that is being teenagers going through puberty. The trio feel more relaxed here, too, because of it. sorry, I must be rambling- I just adore what you did here, with all the butterfly effect web and how these characters grow and interact with one another. I really liked how you write our four main characters especially– Harry and how he's less anxious, in a way? Ron, and the way he interacts with Draco. Of course, Hermione's conversations are an absolute delight to read as well. I find it so funny that Draco Malfoy's consolation is "it's okay, we're gonna sue". I also loved the PROM CHAPTER PROM CHAPTER and how they're all jealous of each other and are all sort of in their own love triangles lmao??? Teen angst!!! Hermione's jealous, ron's jealous, draco's jealous, harry's jealous– wait nvm Harry is fine actually I think? He actually feels very stable compared to the other three (which is saying something, considering he is the one in the tournament), but really I love how Cho and Harry interact. If not a couple, then they'd be fantastic as good friends too. I love how much they feel like teenagers. The bit about pansy's hair being splinched is fantastic, love that that was the thing that broke the awkwardness lmao ofc it would be that. Daphne is a dear, and I hope for the best for her. This is a wonderful fic, really, thank you for sharing it with us. I adore your writing.

thank you so much for this!! have been rereading it constantly ta xxxx!!!!

[eowynstwin]

I just love love love the way you write! Especially sex scenes! You make them so intimate when they need to be, and absolutely filthy simultaneously.

Have you taken any inspiration from published books? And by that, I mean have there been any notable books that have helped you navigate your writing process, or is it all just organically from the brain?

<3

gasp I love this question. I'm going to ramble.

So the first books that spring to mind are The Locked Tomb books by Tamsyn Muir, I love how simultaneously sincere and irreverent she is!! She has this way of describing things that i find really evocative and charming, and the charm contrasts really sharply with the subject matter (gore and grief and cosmic horror), so it makes it lowkey really funny.

Example, while giving a seminar about not getting swallowed by the ninth layer of hell, a character draws diagrams on a whiteboard with a "chubby marker." Chubby marker has always stuck with me because it's not a pair of words I would normally put together, and that's been pretty keystone to me. It taught me that the way you describe things matters just as much as describing them at all.

I also think about timing a lot thanks to The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. She's another writer who knows how many times she can make you laugh without undermining the seriousness of the things she writes about, and she is so so so good at character banter and relationships.

There's a bit in Blue Lily, Lily Blue where one character is harassing his friends by rickrolling them with a horrible song, and it's not really important to the plot, but it sort of embroiders the friendships that are important to the plot. Fucking with your friends is a time-honored tradition and it just makes everything feel a bit more real and precious—it makes you really believe in the verisimilitude of the relationships, like they have lives outside of the prose itself.

Then there's Robert MacFarlane! I've only just gotten into him. I'm reading Underland, and I started listening to The Old Ways audiobook but I'm gonna find the book at the library instead. i love the way he sets his scenes, or establishes his details. He's got an economy of detail that I've really been loving.

What I mean is—"The cave is dark and quiet around me" will become "Quiet cave, dark around me" or something similar. He eschews articles like "this" "the" "that" "is" and "are" because they're not necessary, and they'd slow down the pacing. It lends to a very dreamlike quality to his prose, I feel.

I feel like that's a commonality between nature writers too lol because I also love Robin Wall Kimmerer (who he quotes in Underland!!) so I'm going to search out others in that genre.

Honorable mention—I do love Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry for getting the cadence of a western too. Especially when listening to the audiobook. The narrator for that one is GREAT.

For sex scenes—lmao I've honestly never read any in published work that do anything for me. Fanfiction smut still blows trad pub AND self pub out of the water. I suspect that may be because very explicit sex scenes (ironically) put a good majority of readers off—I couldn't say why, though, other than to speculate that a lot of romance readers don't really have a good relationship with their own sexuality. (Hot take.)

How I write sex is instead influenced by the way my friends in this fandom write it, and it's also me thinking about what is noteworthy to ME about sex. I think about the smell, the weight of another person's body, where I want them to put their hands on me.

Sex is also sometimes the vehicle for the narrative, rather than the point in and of itself, so I ask myself "how do I characterize this interaction to serve the story?" It's a conversation, after all; two (or more) bodies navigating each other.

I think that's it! Dear god that got long.

[cursedappendage]

Slay the Princess Vessels in Japanese Pt 1

Part 2(Chapter IIIs)>> Part 3(Narrator, Princess, Voices)>> Part 4(TLQ, TSM, Echo)>>

LONG TEXT POST INCOMING though I guess that's normal for tumblr

Anyway I wanna geek and talk about the Japanese translations for the Chapter/Vessel names in Slay the Princess(could also do one for the voices but thats another post probably)

format will be: OG name JP Name(Romanization) [ENG Translation of JP Name](Japanese has no articles so just assume presence of "the" when you feel necessary)

OK LETS START(StP spoilers obvi)

Chapter I The Hero and the Princess 第一幕。勇者とプリンセス。(Daiichimaku. Yuusha to Purinsesu.) [Act 1. Hero and Princess]

Pretty direct translation, not much to say here(voice of the hero is also referred to as 勇者の声(Yuusha no Koe) but that's for the voices post)

Now, most of the chapters after chapter 1 have the word 乙女(otome) to refer to the Princess. The word means young woman, or maiden. This translation will use "Maiden"

Going in the order of the game's "Memories" Menu, left to right, starting with the ten Chapter 2s

Chapter II The Adversary 第二幕。戦士。(Dainimaku. Senshi.) [Act 2. Warrior.]

Only 7 out of 22 of the vessels don't have 乙女 in their names. 戦士(senshi) means soldier or warrior, referring to someone who fights on the battlefield(not necessarily belonging to an army, in contrast to 兵士heishi also meaning soldier). Pretty straightforward, I guess you could say the JP name is more focused on the fact that she fights rather than her being a rival.

Chapter II The Tower 第二幕。塔の乙女。(Dainimaku. Tou no Otome.) [Act 2. Tower Maiden.]

This can be read as "Maiden of the Tower", but as we know the "tower" part actually refers to the Princess herself(I think). Basically the same as ENG, not much to say. (Any vessels with の乙女(no Otome) can also be read as [Maiden of ___] instead of [___ Maiden])

Chapter II The Spectre 第二幕。亡霊の乙女。(Dainimaku. Bourei no Otome.) [Act 2. Ghost Maiden.]

亡霊(Bourei) means ghost, a dead person's spirit. Another one that's pretty direct. Though, the dialogue in this chapter uses the term somewhat interchangeably with 幽霊(yuurei), meaning spirits in general, and おばけ(obake) a very broad term for spirit/monster(they're a class of youkai).

Chapter II The Nightmare 第二幕。ナイトメア。(Dainimaku. Naitomea.) [Act 2. Nightmare.]

This one is just the straight up english word. Not much commentary besides the fact that i'm not entirely sure why some of them don't have "maiden" in their names.

Chapter II The Razor 第二幕。刃の乙女。(Dainimaku. Yaiba no Otome.) [Act 2. Blade Maiden.]

The JP name is a lot more obvious than "The Razor" but you kinda get the idea with both(sharp stabby stabby woman).

Imma do the Razor III & IV chapters here too cuz they are all considered part of The Razor vessel

Chapter III The Arms Race 第三幕。腕比べ。(Daisanmaku. Udekurabe.) [Act 3. Contest.]

腕比べ(Udekurabe) is contest(usually of strength/skill) and i find it funny cuz this one also has the word arm in it(腕Ude)

Chapter IV Mutually Assured Destruction 第四幕。恐怖の均衡。(Daiyonmaku. Kyoufu no Kinkou.) [Act 4. Terror Equilibrium.]

Or "Balance of Terror" but I like "Terror Equilibrium" more. I think like with the ENG name this refers to how, by the end of the chapter, both the Princess and TLQ are equals in their fight.

Haven't seen any JP streamers not take the blade in The Razor Ch 2 so I don't have the names for "No Way Out" and "The Empty Cup" ;-; I don't have the game myself so if anyone could show me any screenshots or smth of the JP title cards for these chapters i'd appreciate thank you

Chapter II The Beast 第二幕。ビースト。(Dainimaku. Biisuto.) [Act 2. Beast.]

Like the Nightmare, straight up English word

Chapter II The Witch 第二幕。卑劣な乙女。(Dainimaku. Hiretsu na Otome.) [Act 2. Foul Maiden.]

One of only 2 Princesses where an adjective is used instead of a noun. 卑劣(hiretsu) means lowly, mean, base, despicable, etc. This is basically the Witch's attitude(can be seen very clearly in our interaction with her and the fight to the death). This chapter is one of the only ones where the title differs quite a bit from the ENG name, though I also think that's what the English name is supposed to imply, rather than her being magical in some way(though she can call the roots of the wild apparently).

Chapter II The Stranger 第二幕。冷淡な乙女。(Dainimaku. Reitan na Otome.) [Act 2. Cold Maiden.]

Cold as in indifferent or apathetic. The 2nd and final adjective Princess. I'm actually unsure about why this one is named this way, as the Stranger is actually everything at once.

Chapter II The Prisoner 第二幕。囚人。(Dainimaku. Shuujin.) [Act 2. Prisoner.]

Direct translation. Another one where I'm not sure why she doesn't have "maiden" in her name, especially since both her Chapter 3s do

Chapter II The Damsel 第二幕。乙女。(Dainimaku. Otome.) [Act 2. Maiden.]

This one is interesting to me. Like most of the other names, this one has the word "maiden" in it. But here it's just "Maiden". Guess it makes sense though. This chapter we see her as just a damsel, just a maiden locked up in a cabin basement. Anywayyyyy Chapter 3s will be their own post as well as the voices Hope this was interesting for y'all, I wonder what the translations are for the other available languages.

Part 2(Chapter IIIs)>> Part 3(Narrator, Princess, Voices)>> Part 4(TLQ, TSM, Echo)>>

[dualityvn]

Hey Nightmare! I replayed your game recently and wanted to explain why I chose music in the survey. I love the game on almost all of its sides, and a lot of them just stayed with me. The sprites are so afshsg, Keith's smug expression portrays a lot of the character that I saw in the blog when he gains confidence. His jealous/worried expression frightens me because he looks very unstable. And about Tene, he really looks like the socially awkward /and dangerous/ dork he is. I can see when he's nervous and when he's relaxed. I can read his face and not misunderstand when making choices around him. Their sprites are more than good for me, they're charming. If I have to be picky I'd say maybe the backgrounds could improve. The characters don't mix well with it, but sometimes that's good because contrast;; and also gives you a mysterious, foggy vibe like everything is just a bad dream and you don't know what is going to happen.

I love the writing too, especially the last date! I got the scary vibe (and the fae painting was great!), it gave me chills. The writing stays with me during my daily life, I love the dialogues and I repeat them all through my brain. I like how you show things, imply things instead of just saying them. I like that the MC is smart enough to know what to do in different, unexpected situations. If anything, I think you could make that feel more natural. For example, sometimes you can choose "I'm not scared" after a scene that freaked your character out. Maybe make us choose the option earlier and show during different scenes how the MC is not scared, that way MC's acts match their words. Still, the writing is awesome for me. The romantic scenes just make me all giddy amdjsk, I wouldn't change a thing about that, and the MC's options during them (i like that I have the option to say I'd put a collar on tenebris, and you can also not be into that just bc tene is). But ofc changing the writing and art is up to you! I shouldn't mention this because it's evident but it's your game and more important than making a game that people will enjoy is making a game that you'll enjoy making and you're satisfied with!

My point is (sorry that was long!) the only thing I don't remember after closing the game is the music. I slightly remember Tene's main theme (which I find funny when it starts playing because it's like HELL YES TENE IS HERE TO MAKE TROUBLEEEE BABY) but the rest doesn't really stick with me. This doesn't mean it's bad, it's actually good but I know it could be better, it could add a lot more than it does. There are some moments when the music goes off (like the first date) which I don't think is a good moment to go off because you usually get worried/scared when that happens. Walking home after the date during night should feel more tiring and nostalgic, yet romantic. There should be a way to differentiate a happy charming, magical night with the boys from a calm, nostalgic nightly path. And if there's a way to add more life to a VN, that's music! It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, but feel more 'full of life' if you get me.

I hope my review is useful and not bothering agshsgs. This is all me trying hard to find things that could be better. The demo is already so so good as it is! I was surprised to see the survey in the first place when you're already doing great and hard work. If you have to point a gun at me to choose, music is my choice. I think a lot of VNs underestimate it (not that I think you do!). I say this as a person who used to undervalue music, I can draw and write but cannot make music to save my life, I suck at it 😭 but now I wouldn't be satisfied until finding the perfect piece.

Take what I say with a grain of salt Nightmare!! Thank you for giving us this masterpiece already. 🙇 Hope you're doing great!!

Hi! Thank you for your feedback and for all the praise! 💕

Honestly, I absolutely get where you're coming from in terms of the music. But sadly, music is something I can't do all that much about. I don't have the budget to hire a composer, so I'm stuck with using whatever royalty free music I can find. I will try to plan it out a little better in terms of when certain tracks play, though!

[pillowfriends]

Unfiltered Towers of Midnight review

Hello. I'm going to say right out the gate that I did not like this book very much. I am NOT a Brandon Sanderson hater, and TGS was amazing, so I had high hopes and really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately my dominant emotions were boredom, annoyance, and impatience. I'm going to try to keep this short.

PACING

We all know WoT has wack and often terrible pacing, but in TGS a lot of the pacing problems got fixed! Say what you will about Brandon but he understands how to structure a story and tie up loose ends. Now, to his credit, we did tie up a significant number of loose ends in this book - Mesaana and Graendal are both defeated, Perrin stepped into his role as Lord and made peace with his wolf side, the Whitecloaks are on our side now, Elayne has Cairhien, Gawyn and Egwene bonded, and extremely importantly to me, Moiraine is back! However, every single item on this list except the defeat of Mesaana felt drawn-out or unnecessarily delayed to me. Also, one of the big players of this book, Slayer, is still not defeated?? Oh my fucking god I'm tired. It's been 1000 books of this shit.

CHARACTERS

[Note: I didn't talk about everyone here, just the characters I have strong feelings about in this book. I'm glossing over a lot.]

I imagine this was a great book for Perrin and Gawyn fans. I am neither. The Perrin development is way too late for me to give a shit - not that it wasn't good, but if it had happened, idk, four books ago, I would have felt much more invested and much less "ugh finally, can we move on now?" I just hate Gawyn. I want to drop-kick him off the White Tower I'm so serious. Also I hate Tallanvor. At this point I hope he and Morgase both die speedy deaths in the AMoL prologue so I never have to see them again.

Galad though!! Now here's a Trakand brother with a repetitive moral struggle that I actually find compelling. I thought this plotline was pretty good! Long, and his relationship with Berelain was the most boring romance I've ever had to read, but I like his moral fiber, leadership, and struggle to reconcile his black-and-white worldview with a world that is much more complicated than that.

I also met Androl, Brandon Sanderson's specialest boy. Again, this could have been a cool window into the Black Tower a few books ago, but now I find myself largely uninterested. Also he's just boring.

I spent the entire book waiting for Moiraine to come back but also dreading it. I was both nourished and disappointed. There are a lot of things I wish were handled better (her response to the trauma of her imprisonment, offering to get rid of her ter'angreal for Thom, etc) but I am much less of a hater than you might expect. I actually don't mind Moiraine/Thom and I find it very funny that RJ/Brandon decided to go for the angle of "oh yeah they were totally in love in Tear and none of the main cast noticed." My fanfic brain is on board with this! I'm good at filling in gaps! In my mind edit, Moiraine and Thom's relationship is solidly mediocre and that's good enough for me. The ending of this book was incredibly emotionally draining for me, even though I'd already been spoiled on the broad strokes (Jain Farstrider dying, Mat losing an eye, Mo being much weaker in the Power and making up for it with an angreal), and I have a lot of conflicting feelings as I expected. They're not as negative as they could be, though. I just have to do a lot of work to square things in my mind.

CHARACTERS: SEXISM SIDE RANT

This book made it very, very clear to me that while RJ and Brandon both have issues with sexism in their books, they take very different forms. RJ loves writing about women! He writes diverse, interesting, plentiful female characters... under the assumption that they are somehow a different species from men. In contrast, Brandon cares more about male characters than female ones. He writes women like they're slightly less interesting versions of men. This is not to say that either of them are Capital S Sexist, just that we all have biases that affect our writing and the difference was obvious to me here. I was a Brandon fan first and although I love some of the female characters in his books, there are Not Many of them, so I love that in WoT we get so many amazing women!! Not in this book though.

SHORTER SEXISM SIDE RANT

I've said this a million times but it bears repeating: why can't a woman just die in these goddamn books why do we have Cyndane in a torture cage and Graendal being raped by Shaidar Haran and Mesaana being brain blasted to childlike intelligence and Elaida as a damane. I'm tired!!!!!!!! #KillMoreFictionalWomen

OVERALL

This book felt extremely sloggy to me. Too much focus on characters and plotlines I didn't care about, and they dragged on for too long. I lost the sense of urgency ramping up to the Last Battle that was so strong in the previous book. This book ranks quite low, definitely the bottom third of the series for me. I liked the ending and have high hopes for AMoL though!

[billveusay]

I watched Gundam: The Witch from Mercury and...

Wow, it's a doozy. There's so much to talk about. Lots of qualities, lots of flaws but overall... I like it a lot. I've been very critical of stories with wonky pacing and writing, and while that's still the case here (and it still annoys me), it does compensate by having a lot of heart.

But bitching about pacing is starting to become the theme of these reviews, so might as well start here. After all, it seems to be the consensus that the second season was rushed. However, while it was probably due to studio meddling, I think they could have made it work. But sadly... this show has a chronic case of too much goddamn stuff. Too many characters, too many subplots, too many factions. Really needlessly so for the latter, it's like they knew Gundam was known for featuring complicated geopolitics and wanted to showcase their Gundam street-cred by having lots of it. But please, explain to me why Dominicus, the special forces of Cathedra, needs to exist when Cathedra is already a military organisation and the only times they feature in the plot is through Dominicus. The show is full of redundancies like this, and because of it I had to alt+tab out to the wiki at the end of every episode to read the summary of what I just watched. The prologue is especially bad in that regard.

As for the characters... well it's a bad sign when everyone is gathering in preparation for a final battle and I'm squinting my eyes at a third of them. Who were you people? Are you the guys from Grassley or the duel after-school club? Especially when everyone is wearing helmets. I jest you not, that's the reason why I only realized that Guel had killed his father after he got explodified. And too many characters lead to too many subplots, like the stupid brotherly fight in the middle of the final confrontation. Though I liked how it concluded with... some lady yelling at them to cut out the bullshit. And if they edited a lot of the disposable stuff, they'd probably have more time to develop the most important aspects.

Moving on to Sulemio. I like them, but I have to admit I found Suletta irritating at first. It's the "well now I'm not doing it èné" syndrome of writers trying so hard to make the cutest possible character, and the constant awkward stammering didn't help. But she did eventually grow on me somewhat. Her little "...eh?" after Guel made his declaration really got me. Plus I think they did a good job of having a miscommunication "breakup" at the end of the first season stemming from a character being stupid in-character, and not because she picked up the idiot ball for contrived reasons. Or because she overheard half of a conversation through a door and drew the wrong conclusions.

Actually, the miscommunication is resolved by a character overhearing a conversation, which I find very funny. As is the following sequence. There is also some good writing in how her heroic traits, like her devotion to her loved ones and determination are twisted by her mother. Nicely done on that front.

I like Miorine alright too. She has some nice scenes, like the aforementioned post-toilet chase, and I was invested in their relationship enough. I just don't have that much to say about her. Though I do have something to say about something she does at one point.

However, my favourite character is Elan-4. In one single episode they managed to make me go from "oh cool, an ice-prince type archetype, literally referred to as the ice-prince. And he is contrasted with a hot-headed, fiery guy. And he's an emotionless asshole but he seems to have feelings for Suletta, how original, fnar fnar" to "wow, that's the most tragic fucking character I've seen in all of Gundam". His death is the peak of the show for me. Which is sad, cause it happens at a quarter of the show.

I'm teasing, there are still plenty good episodes after this. Like the 15th one, which is similar to the Norris fight from 8th MS Team: It's an episode that is not only very good, it can almost be watched in isolation. Useful if someone you know is interested but hesitating to jump into the franchise or a specific piece of Gundam media.

Going back to Elan, I like how they kind of did the same thing with the two other duelists. Introducing them as random archetypical husbando material and then gave them depth as the show went on. I also like Belmeria, she reminds me of Marcoh from Fullmetal Alchemist. And the team of students from earth. Even if many characters were cut, I'd keep most of them, they managed to give them convincing personalities, relationships, funny moments contrasting with more serious stuff, making the most out of their limited screentime.

Now for the characters I don't like. The two terrorist girls from the Dawn of Fold could have been interesting but they sorely lacked nuance for me, especially considering what they represented. I couldn't take Sophie seriously because of her uwu kill-crazy schtick, so I didn't really feel the emotional impact of her death. Which didn't help me get invested in turn in Norea's vengeful arc, consisting of yelling in a locked room for far too long, getting angrier in a Gundam and then dying. And somehow, Elan-5 fell in love with her in that interval. Not a fan of Elan-5 either. I mean, it was fun seeing him suck ass at being seductive and not fooling Suletta for a second. But overall he's one of the characters that I think they could have done without.

And Suletta's mother is... hm. Actually I don't dislike her overall, she's interesting as antagonists go, and the way she manipulates Suletta is really creepy. But in the end, even though she's done really awful stuff, she gets away with an easy happy ending.

And look (tangent alert), I'm really not in favour of the idea that every character needs to be "punished" by the plot for every bad action they've done. Actually the opposite, more stories should acknowledge that even the biggest arseholes are human, often driven to arseholery by ignorance, external influence, systemic issues, etc... and can become better people given the right circumstance. And there are no arbitrary lines where they have sufficiently "atoned" to receive the official "redeemed" stamp, nor is there a line where they are officially "irredeemable".

But with Prospera... it don't think she even acknowledges that she caused the death of dozens of innocents civilians and probably thousands more to come in the following years because she re-ignited the conflict between earth and space. It's just... "yeah, I guess I was a bit obsessed by bringing back my ghost-daughter and being a dick to my clone-daughter, I shall be a better mommy from now on". Pretty weak, and I'd say the oppressed earth/capitalism message is what suffers most from the rushed ending. But at least with the dissolution of the Benerit group, there are tangible things being done.

But while we're at the ending... a Gundam pilot using their weird psychic powers to block a colony-destroying laser beam in the climax. Didn't think anything of it at the time. But since then I have watched Unicorn. It does seem to take a lot of things from Unicorn actually, even the theme sounds similar. But it's not like Unicorn was the most original piece of Gundam media to start with (I shall get to it).

What else... ah yes, Miorine's stunt in episode 7. Can any econ major tell me if it made any kind of goddamn sense?

"Gundams are illegal. And because Shin-sei and Peil both made gundams, they will be dissolved and the Benerit group will lose billions. So instead, I propose we relocate that money to create a new corporation that will make... gundams" "But gundams are still illegal" "Yes, but I will ask my father to not make them illegal" "...But it's not corporate regulations, it's the law now, he can't change it like tha- oh I guess he can. But if he makes gundams not illegal, then Shin-Sei and Peil won't go bankrupt and so there won't be a need for Gund-arm to be created..."

Please tell me I wasn't the only one bothered by it, cause I felt like I was going crazy.

And a small pet-peeve: Post-credit scenes. I didn't know they had them, and so I almost missed the splat before going into Season 2. And after that, I had to check the 12 previous episodes to see if there were any. And there were, important ones at that. Not cool guys. Is it to spite people who skip the endings?

As usual, let's conclude with the animation and the designs: top-notch on both sides! Fewer 3D shots than I was expecting, lots of gorgeous 2D. Also, while I like the very grounded mechanical designs of ye olde OVAs from the 90's, I also love them slick and sharp designs. And some Mobile Suits are straight up armored cores (like the Zowort) which is a big plus for me. If I have one complaint though, it's that funnels, or in this case Gund-bits, make for less interesting choreography. You don't get a Mobile Suit overcoming another with precise shots, or by being more agile, or with a clever strategy, you just get pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew pew. Except in the conclusion of the fight against Shaddiq, really cool moment.

And that concludes it! As I said, I have a lot of complaints, but it's probably still in my top 5.

Now for the biggest tonal shift you could imagine, next is Thunderbolt!

My gundam reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative > Iron-Blooded Orphans

[megatraven]

This is an invite to yap:

Sell my non-disney-plus ass on watching Moana 2

YIPPEEEE!!!!

okay first i want to lay out the biggest Problems(tm) that aren't hard to look past imo:

moana 2 was originally going to be a tv series, but it got scrapped and turned into a movie. the pacing isn't the Best because of this, and it introduces several new characters without giving them a lot of space to be fleshed out. there are scenes where you can really tell it was meant to be a tv series, but i don't think it's a make-or-break situation. it's still Good.

the animation is slightly different in some ways (ex: moana has larger eyes than in the first movie), BUT this is a sequel that came out 8 years after the original. so. not surprised that there's some change in the style! it's not very noticeable unless someone points it out imo

the songs aren't as memorable as the first movie; they're still really good though, i'm especially fond of the prayer-song at the end, which isn't in english but fucks regardless. (sidenote, none of the non-english songs are given words in closed captioning, but ARE written out in the singalong version of the movie)

the big blobfish thing that just randomly screams during a very emotional part of the movie.... obviously put in to soften the scene for kids, but truly unneeded imo. funny if you like that sort of thing, but i could do without

i WILL say that on my first watch of the movie, i thought it was just ok. but after sitting on it for like a day, i started to really like it more and more as i realized how much it contrasts the first movie and shows growth not just in moana, but in her village. when i watched it a second time, i was sunk. and ever since it came out on disney+, i have been watching it in every moment i can.

now that that's out of the way. ahem.

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE MOANA 2 A CHANCE!!!:

the new characters are really fun!!!

you have loto, who's a genius that builds new canoes and is obsessed with figuring out how to make them perform better and better. she's very fun!! very logic-oriented, but also very creative.

then there's moni, who makes fanart of him and maui being best friends. he's a huge maui fanboy, it's hilarious and also sort of charming. he's a history buff, too- he knows his tribe's history and how to read the ancient texts of his people, so to speak.

next up is kele, an old farmer who is Very Ready To Retire. he's against change. can't swim. perfect candidate to be on a canoe! very grouchy, but he still accepted his role to help on moana's journey.

their kakamora buddy, matangi, simea (moana's little sister), and even nalo are all interesting characters, too. i won't rant about all of them for the sake of my fingers, but i will say. that matangi. is GORGEOUS and she can HIT IT!!!!!!!

look at her. look at matangi. she's incredible

i'm like. in lesbians with her.

ahem. anyway.

MOANA AND MAUI'S RELATIONSHIP IS SOOOOO GOOD IN THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! it's acknowledged MULTIPLE TIMES how much they care about one another. moni calls them besties!

since this movie takes place 3-4 years after the first, that makes Moana both older and more Aware of Maui. there's a scene when they meet up where she double-high-fives mini Maui... on Maui's chest.... and she kind of jumps back and is like "oh! sorry! that was weird. was that weird?" and another where they're in the middle of a song and.... idk how to describe it. picture incoming!!

it's. kind of very funny. and im obsessed with them and the progression of their friendship/moana's growth.

ALSO ALSO ALSO. there's a scene where Maui is like. "Look, I could pull up a thousand islands. But if you're not there to land on em...." like. HE CARES ABOUT HER. SO MUCH.

Matangi actually orchestrates things so that Maui can't find the island they're after until Moana shows up to go with him. And Maui had only been trying to go there without her to keep her safe.

Speaking of the island- Moana's goal in this movie is to find Motufetu, an ancient island that was said to connect the people of the sea. She gets a vision from her ancestors about it and knows that it has to be touched by a human to break the curse placed on it by the god Nalo, which will reconnect her people to the rest of them.

Which like.

That fucks????

An angry god separating people in order to weaken them? Prophetic visions granted by the ancient spirits of her people?

That shit is awesome!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the music!!!! Yes, it's not all as memorable as the songs in the original movie. BUT! They're still really good imo, they make me Feel many many emotions. Matangi's song is pretty fun. But my Favorite song in the whole movie is the prayer-song that Maui sings towards the end of the movie. Even during the time that I'd just seen the movie and thought it was Okay(tm), I was OBSESSED with that scene and the song. Some fans have translated it and it wrecks me. It's such an emotional scene, genuinely I think like. the last half hour of the film are the best. that scene makes the whole movie worth it even if one doesn't care for the rest imo. i don't want to spoil anything major but what happens to moana is SO. FUCKING. GOOD. i rewatch the scene multiple times every day.

Also just watching all the main journey characters come together at the end of the day feels good, you know? they didn't get the screentime i wish they did to develop them fully, but i do still love what we got of them, and how they change by the end of the movie.

OVERALL while I agree with most people that it's a weaker movie than the first, it's still a DAMN GOOD ONE!!!!!

and if u need any extra convincing, we learn that mini maui is capable of giving maui a purple nurple. a titty twister, if you will. so. yeah. 10/10 movie.

[ranger-jahen]

hi hi sorry to overwhelm you with tav asks but im so curious!!! answer however many you want to, no pressure!

2. Describe their tent setup! What’s on the outside? The inside?

3. What would their character quest be titled? Why?

9. What’s the significance behind your Tav’s name?

16. What do they do for fun, when not adventuring? What are their hobbies?

25. What is something they would die on a hill over?

30. What does your Tav want more than anything?

thank you thankyou!

no worries at all, I'm flattered you want to know so much!! ;u; I am SO sorry it took me (checks notes) a whole TENDAY (heh) to finally get to this, but I wanted to draw Jahen's tent rather than just describing it aaand that's about how long it took me to get enough free time to sit down and do it. xD

funny enough though, another bg3 blogger sent me two of these same questions just a day later, the tent question and also the one about hobbies, sooo in order to be able to get the art up in a post on its own, I'm gonna answer all but #2 here and then post a link to the second ask here! :D

these asks are all from this ask game~ ^u^

3. What would their character quest be titled? Why?

Jahen's quest would be titled "The Lonely Ranger." his past experiences have left him avoidant of too much fame or prestige for his heroics or escapades, because he has learned the hard way that the trouble that comes with your reputation preceding you is not worth the come-and-go recognition of friendly eyes... at least, not when you don't have loyal allies you can turn to for help when things go south. he has been alone for a long time, slowly finding himself turning into something of a shadow in crowded places. not for lack of trying; he's very friendly! and very warmhearted. but his roaming has simply never afforded him the benefit of long-term friendships, at least, not until the start of the in-game story.

to that end, a lot of his personal internal difficulties stem from feeling apart, adrift, and extremely sore for care and companionship. I think there could be a pretty solid arc for him that dove into helping him feel real and wanted, or even just a worthy ally to stay at your side through thick and thin. especially if the player was willing to take an interest in his troubles beyond the role he played in the party.

9. What’s the significance behind your Tav’s name?

no significance at first! I had started the game initially wanting to play a different character of mine named Jorah, but after many frustrating hours in a no-facial-sliders-only-presets character creator, ultimately decided I couldn't get the model to look close enough to them to make it satisfying to play with them. so I changed tack and started adding different features to get a different character, but I'd already been thinking in my head the whole time "this is Jorah," so I ended up picking a similar fantasy name that also started with a "J."

in-universe there's a tiny hint of something signifiant about Jahen's name, only because his name phonetically is more "human-sounding," and his older brother's name I picked to contrast his to sound more "elven," so I could have there be a little extra flavor behind him wondering if his human father named him, and his ever-absent elven mother had named his brother, Ianvic. (when you say "Jahen" out loud it sounds similar to "John" with an extra vowel thrown in, so it rings as very human to me.)

16. What do they do for fun, when not adventuring? What are their hobbies?

Jahen loves simple pleasures. he'll find a town with a good inn or tavern and indulge in some fine wine or cakes and listen to the bards play their music. he has a little kalimba of his own that he plays by his campfires at night to keep himself company, and after an arduous journey of teaching himself how to read and write when he was younger, he's now got an never-ending thirst for new songs to learn to entertain himself. if given the opportunity to thumb through old books, he'll do so just to look for old verses to add to his evenings.

he's also very creative and inventive, and even though it does technically contribute to his adventures, he genuinely gets excited over digging around in the woods to find unique plants and mushrooms for either foraging or alchemic purposes. during any wild berry season you will find him knee deep in brambles covered in juice and lugging around a basket full of fruit. y'know that Wyrm's Lookout camp location you get right at the start of Act 3? it's got like 10 raspberry bushes. I was very pleased on Jahen's behalf.

25. What is something they would die on a hill over?

hmmm I'm gonna give a silly answer for this one 'cause its fun. :] I think Jahen would die on a hill over the best way to preserve food (like fish/meat), and he would be adamant that smoking and dry salting it tastes waayyy better than brining it. I feel like he could argue for a good solid 2 hours on this before running out of steam.

30. What does your Tav want more than anything?

honestly, I do not think Jahen knows this about himself, either before the in-game story, nor does he realize the reason why he's so happy after the game story is that he's finally had this fulfilled - but I think he most desperately wants someone to love. I think he wants to be loved too, and he does respect himself enough to not be taken advantage of in a close relationship, thankfully. but he has a lot of energy, a lot of passion for life, a lot of warmth in his heart and I think he went through a lot of genuine heartache not having anyone to pour any of that into for so, so long. any sort of bond would have fulfilled this for him, romantic or platonic, but the fact that he gains so many different relationships in such a short time has just set him ablaze in the best way possible.

[aurorauau]

some thoughts on Xiaolan and Meixue

when she's first introduced in the story of the fragmented GDS, Xiaolan works directly under Meijiu where Zel works for the elder council and specifically Wang. one is treating this young girl who was trained to kill as a tool of violence, as Meijiu himself says a product. and the other is treating another such girl like family! does that make it any better? does family guarantee fair treatment? so I want to look at her situation...

Ryukishi sets the scene with their interactions bringing to mind (imo) Rosa and Maria. here's another young single parent in a very stressful environment. while Rosa verbally and physically abuses Maria to "correct" her speech issues, one of the first things we learn about Xiaolan is that she's not comfortable with speaking, but Meijiu communicates with her by reading her lips and never forces her to speak. he uses only positive reinforcement, rewarding Xiaolan with food she likes when she does something well rather than punishing her when she makes mistakes. so far, so good! but I would say Meijiu relies on her in a way that's too much for a child, not unlike Rosa

since Xiaolan is not quick to trust, her affection for Zel says more than enough. the girls see each other and their goals as equal, with Zel ready to do anything to save her father, and Xiaolan being just as protective towards Meijiu... despite their young ages, they carry a lot of responsibility and pressure in exchange for their loved ones' safety. I've talked about Meijiu and Zel already, but how did Meijiu allow Xiaolan to get into this situation?

Xiaolan choosing to protect Meijiu with her life is to be expected of a child who had nothing, and a sudden ray of light in the form of an adult who actually cares for her. because she has nothing else, she wants to use what she's learned on the streets for espionage to make his work easier...

Meijiu accepting this and even training her as an assassin affirms Xiaolan's wishes and makes her feel needed. and after all, he couldn't just tell her she can't, that's too dangerous, he knows what's best for her and she should go to school instead

... can he?

a similarity of Xiaolan and Meixue is they both seem to have the freedom to choose their own path in life... the second arc is all about choices, whether it's the best one you can make or not... what's the significance of a kid who is ready to sacrifice her own wellbeing to protect an adult and of that adult to accept that as her choice?

when Meixue was first introduced, she kind of recontextualised everything. she's portrayed in sharp contrast to most of the other youths. an upper class womanhood from a childhood that much younger Meijiu made it his primary goal to provide. Meixue's innocence is not something that applies to the Wandering Dogs... or indeed Xiaolan

but Meixue's life and relationship with Meijiu isn't idyllic, despite his love for her, or rather because. Meixue (an adult) has her privacy invaded many times, since her brother wants to keep her safe from... everything. because of how they grew up Meijiu's whole identity was built around Meixue and what role he plays in her life... Meixue is the one who looks at this critically and wants to be independent... what is Meijiu without Meixue?

I think part of why most of the Meijiu and Meixue scenes were framed as comedy is Meixue herself mostly finds it funny. annoying, sure, but despite her dislike of violence she joins in on threatening to kill her brother for trying to get involved in her love life. that's the only language he will listen to. but I don't think it's just meant to be be comical. Meijiu and Xiaolan's scenes are often comical too, contrasting their personalities or Xiaolan to other kids... but the thing about moon cakes is that she wants to be loved and proud of, not just the cake

what does all this say about Meijiu and Xiaolan's relationship... Xiaolan is to Meijiu what Meijiu is to Meixue. I think on at least an unconscious level he accepts Xiaolan protecting him because he wants to be on the other end for once, having not been even as a child. never mind that Xiaolan is a child herself and Meijiu is an adult, he turned out fine so she'll be fine. he ensures that in teaching her survival and assassination skills. now Meixue...

when Xiaolan acts cold towards Meixue, it feels like more than typical jealousy and fear of being replaced by your brother's "real" sister, which is present, but I think Xiaolan understands how unequal they are, despite being raised by the same person. kids aren't stupid. she might also see Meixue as someone who's never sacrificed herself the way Meijiu has for her, and the way Xiaolan has... thus being a more worthy sister

I'm very curious how Xiaolan will feel about her upbringing in the future and especially how she reflects on Meixue now that she's dead, having protected Meijiu with her body... does Xiaolan, seeing her brother cry, despite resentment of Meixue, believe inside that it should have been her? is that what her upbringing has led us to?

[voidbeau]

-+-+- Argos and Mr. Flower headcannons! -+-+-

---

I mentioned before that I like thinking that these two have a lot of similarities.

Not just in their issues though, but I also like to think they share a lot of similarities in their day to day lives as well and I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast how I see them!

Obviously I'll be comparing my own take on Mr. Flower with my Argos headcannons lol.

---

We know Argos is a busy guy. He's got a a lot of jobs and he's got his hobbies.

I like to think Mr. Flower is similar in that he bounces around between jobs at times too.

The difference is organization.

While I don't think Argos is without his methods for keeping things in check, I always get the impression Argos probably overlooks things, overbooks sometimes and is generally looser about his organization methods than even he would like.

But regardless, he makes things work and has a system all his own that's kept him going for years despite the fact that others might see Argos as disorganized in that regard.

Mr. Flower on the other hand always came off to me as a strict schedule keeper.

Lists, reminders and timers galore.

He's always checking and double checking ahead of time to make sure he's never taking on more shifts or tasks he can't neatly pack into his calender, along with whatever other routines he might have.

The funny part is, while Argos' more lax methods keep him on his toes, he kinda thrives off it, while I imagine all of Mr. Flower's strict schedule keeping kind of adds to his stress.

I can see him obsessively checking things to make absolutely sure he's remembered dates and times right and even though he's consistently punctual and is always seen as reliable by coworkers, Mr. Flower is always afraid he's somehow misremembered something.

He'd hate to disappoint anyone or cause trouble.

I like to think that for both him and Argos, keeping so busy is just how they best function in some way, but also because it helps keep the thoughts ™️ at bay.

---

Both are definitely tea drinkers!

Helps calm the nerves and also helps with all the pesky insomnia brought on by bad thoughts and haunting memories.

And also just from the general stresses of life.

Being that busy all the time can leave ones nerves a bit frazzled even for the most energetic of people!

We know Argos' affinity for plants and his green thumb?

He must also be pretty good at maintaining those plants he finds to the best of his ability when he brings them home!

I like to think Mr. Flower isn't that great at it himself- or just isn't that interested, but he tends to his little garden of herbs and spices and has various flowers that can be made into teas. Very common things like chamomile.

Meanwhile I like to think Argos finds more exotic flowers and plants for tea making that he's read up on or heard can only be found in certain voids during very specific times.

Hard to grow outside their respective voids but he's able to collect enough to keep quite a collection of bizarre but welcoming flavours at home!

---

We've seen Argos' uhm- *interest* in photography and we've seen he does some painting as well!

I love thinking Argos has a very artsy side he likes to indulge, even if majority of the time he only gets to paint with the kids when he's scheduling activities for them.

I like to think Mr. Flower is a great sketch artist.

As a child he'd always been interested in art but never had the opportunity to explore it or wasnt even really given the opportunity to entertain the thought of it much.

But he did occasionally find time in between classes, tutoring and all of his mother's other insisted after school activities to sketch and doodle for fun.

A hobbie he enthusiastically indulged in more when he was finally able to leave home to be on his own.

---

Stargazing and cloud-watching???

I think both of these guys find the time to enjoy the skies in some way.

Whether it's Argos counting and admiring the stars, either alone or with Mr. Plant or if it's Mr. Flower idly staring out the windows at work, picking out shapes in the clouds or admiring how slowly and carefree they float by.

I like to think he and Mr. Plant just kind of picked a hill to lay on one days and just quietly stared and watched the clouds roll by.

Mr. Flower really came to appreciate cloud watching.

And maybe clouds in general.

No rush to be anywhere and no specific way they needed to be.

Just fluffy, amorphous puffs in the air traveling wherever the wind takes them.

How nice that must be.

---

I like to think both Argos and Mr. Flower have trouble sleeping at night as I've mentioned.

Tea of course helps, reading books or going out for late night walks even.

Or in some cases, one might take late night secret ventures into anothers' void for photos.

Whatever helps get them their much needed sleep!

Because both are consistently busy and often working with less than the requisite amount of rest, I think that like Argos, Mr. Flower has pretty prominent eyebags as well.

The difference being that he is a consistent concealer user as part of any skin/petalcare routine he has.

While Argos also uses concealer from time to time, he's never been able to keep up with his own routines as much as he'd like to.

He has a before bed skin and eyecare routine but often times he has only enough time in the mornings to barely shower and choke down a fruit or piece of toast before he's dashing out his front door.

---

Argos seems to enjoy company and probably a little bit of attention.

We've seen him star in commercials and appear in magazines and has likely garnered some notoriety, at least in his little corner of the void.

Obviously though, any large amount of attention has its downsides and I'm sure Argos has had to deal with a creep or two as well as potential nasty rumors.

Nothing he can't get to the bottom of and cut out at the root though.

After that, Argos is fairly good at handling something of a public image.

He's done so much good for other creature's of the Void after all, who could possibly believe any awful hearsay about the ever happy, good Samaritan, sweet little Argos after all?

Certainly he'd be the last creature in the Void to be involved with awful accusations of stalking and alleged acts of violence and vandalism?

Argos has worked so hard to get away and find and maintain a peaceful way of living. He has no intentions of letting anything get in the way now. Not this time.

Mr. Flower on the other hand is great at dodging attention altogether.

He keeps to himself and goes mostly unnoticed by the general public and prefers it that way.

While he likes to mingle and socialize from time to time, he has a very tiny circle of coworkers and an even tinier circle of friends he likes to stick to and be involved with.

Mr. Flower is incredibly strict about who he lets into his life.

Even his friends have a very limited understanding of Mr. Flower's life and again, this is how Mr. Flower prefers things.

In turn though, Mr. Flower often doesn't let himself get too deeply involved with others either.

He has a base understanding of friends and, as I've mentioned previously, mostly keeps people at an arms length away.

Just close enough to get along with but not too close that they're learning more than they need to.

And certainly not close enough to grow any unnecessary attachments.

It may seem cold and a little rude when Mr. Flower shuts down any attempts to reach out, but it becomes excusable when people take in his sweet smile, supposed friendly demeanor and ability to stay on top of tasks and lend a hand to so many others.

Mr. Flower often goes above and beyond in the work place.

Even if it's just to keep up an image.

Afterall, Mr. Flower has worked hard to find and maintain a peaceful way of living, and he's not about to let anything get in the way of it.

Not this time.

---

I think Argos wishes he were more in control of things while Mr. Flower feels like if he isn't in control of things, he's risking everything.

And anything that doesn't feel like it's in his control or something he knows he can't control, he avoids it and somehow makes up for that loss of control some other way in his life.

Even if it isn't healthy.

Meanwhile Argos just kind steeps in the chaos of things. Less accepting of it and more like he thinks that's kind of all there is for him and the best he can do is mitigate the damage.

But it sure ad hell looks like he's fine with rolling with the punches. Heaven knows he's gotten good at it.

---

---

I really like thinking Argos and Mr. Fkower are almost a reflection of one another in a way. But one the other hates looking at, yet one side wants to draw it in and make peace with it while the other side wants nothing more than to never have to take a look again.

There are also other complicated feelings involved that I want to get into at some point as well, along with the clashing of morals and lifestyles.

Again , so much stuff I had reserved as part of fic ideas that will either collect dust as wips or take years for me to finish.

orz

I wanted to add some of this stuff with my previous half shitpost about "SMiLE" but it was late then and I was already on the verge of passing out so lmaooo.

I think this has gotten long enough thst its ended up deserving of its own post anyway tho.

Anyway I'm gonna go shovel food into my face now.