#I Kinda have her some of my own ace perspectives on this

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[pkspade]

Hey this is not something i usally descuss but I want to talk about my chapter 2 killer theorys for despair time okay? okay(also spoilers up to chapter 2 episode 13)

first things first, Xander,Min,And Arei, are clear, there dead and it is not possible for a dead person to do this crime

next, i want to clear people who are unlikly from a meta knowledge of how fangans work

Levi,Nico,And Arturo, we already discussed them early in the trial at some point, the most recent being Nico him being the Most likly but they are also non binary, and i don't see the author's killing the non binary character the chapter they came out,

now going on with the "they probably are not the killer based on story writting perspective, Teruko, David, and Charles are ALL also safe due to them being the protagonist,antagonist (Kinda, david is weird but even so he just would be a weird killer from what we know if you ask me) and support, all of them have a arch going on and is weird to kill them off now.

here is all the people i have crossed out from the meta perspective

(Xander,Min,Arei,Levi,Nico,Arturo,Teruko,David, and Charles)

Leaving the Following characters as suspects

(Eden,Hu,Whit,J,Veronika,Rose,And Ace.)

But wait we can still cross out more characters,

Eden's talk with Teruko would be a really weird scene if they killed her of only a few episodes later, J has not done, much besides call people hypocrits and bastards, and even if J and comment on points adding to points, I feel there is more to her coming and don't see her dying chapter 2, and i think the chapter card is a red hearing. I feel like a similar sentiment applys to Veronika, also adding to the fact she allows the writter to explain the characters thought process (Teruko,Ace,David,Levi) killing her now is unlikly due to how good of a writting tool she is (not hating on the writters, in fact that is a really good idea it just disqualifys her in my mind. and lastly.

this leaves just just Rose, Ace,Hu and Whit.

and here we have to bring gender BACK up, normally in fangans, and dangans, even as best as possible, and currently we have 1 dead male, and 2 dead females, and while this does not ON IT'S OWN clear Rose and Hu. other evidence adds up to make them clean in my book,

Mainly that Rose is connected to alot of cannon events and it would be a weird chapter to kill her in not knowing these facts (I know A similar things happened with Both Xander and Min but we learned those things post mortim and and that gives me more reason to believe she is innocent) and finally Hu, we are learning things about Hu, VERY SLOWLY, and it would be weird pacing if we just slowly learn things about Hu and then suddley we get slammed with a ton of new info, and she dies shortly there after (I know AGAIN this applys to Min and Xander but we both A. don't if all dead characters will get these and B. Hu does not seem to hold any plot relevence and if she does we lack evidence to prove it, and these videos were more about setting the scene of the fangan, and important names to think about)

and this just leaves Whit and Ace.

And with just close Whit is with Charles, and how Whit dying would destroy Charles and how Suspicous whit has been sense right before the body (aka the Hanging line, up to him being weirdly smart about the rope......i think he didn't do it, i think the author would like to let Whit and Charles get a little closer before revealing Whit to be an evil bastard and hurt Charles(also He is being uncomfortably helpful, and i doubt, the writters would pull the same trick twice in a row

ACE IS GUILTY(Imo)

Okay but why would he do it, simple. Nico/Levi

BOTH characters have threatend his life (Albeit he antagonized them so kinda his fault) and Nico STAIGHT UP TRIED TO KILL HIM. and his personality would make him a paranoid mess about this and make him try and get out asap.

And to add to that. during the trial,Ace mentioned thinking Levi was (at somepoint) a friend, and Levi (Claiming) he doesn't care if Ace bites the big one, i think both of these are Complete horse I think Levi DOES care about Ace, and seeing him die would upset him naturally, And I Levi , to an extent considers Ace a friend. so if Ace dies it would kick start some character development.

Anyways who do you think the killer is, Im excited to see theories^^

[cursecuelebre]

All about me!

I just feel like it’s time to put a little post about me!

My name is Ashlyn and I’m from New England America, my pronouns are She/Her ~ Age is 22 - I am bisexual ~ Neurodivergent

I’m a pagan and a witch based upon my ancestry, Hellenic polytheism and Norse/Germanic paganism and witchcraft.

I’m mostly started out as a tarot reader then became a witch and a pagan, I practice mostly folk magic and Ancestral Magic. Right now trying to find a traditional magic practice. I do a lot of knot magic and needle work presently.

My guardian animal: I don’t know if that’s the correct term but Bears 🐻, I always had dreams/nightmares about bears since I was little and when I did a tarot reading on what my familiar spirit is the bear came up.

Why I started this blog?

I guess the main reasons to keep a digital record of my experiences, thoughts, lessons, etc. to share my experiences so I thought maybe it can help people find what they are looking for and learn about it. Also a chance for me to learn about other people’s perspectives and ideas. I’m always open to learn more and share more information the best I can.

Also I like to swear in my blogs because I like to, I don’t do it excessively but it’s prevalent if you aren’t comfortable with it.

My hobbies!

I read a lot. Not just one subject, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical fiction, Non-Fiction, and Classics. I might post some book reviews and recommendations on this blog. My favorite book is LOTR it’s my cozy and feel good book, Tolkien also had a lot of pagan inspiration for his stories.

I also write! Short stories to writing long stories about whatever comes to mind. I write fantasy and historical fiction, but also horror and thriller. At times I write poetry. Sometimes when I’m bored use my tarot for a creative writing project.

I like to do crafts. Especially when it comes to paganism and witchcraft. I sew and embroidered poppets, sigils, or symbols. I wouldn’t say I’m neat with a thread and needle but I get the job done.

Video Games I love Halo, Skyrim, Fallout, AC Valhalla and Odyssey, Animal Crossing, Red Dead Redemption.

Hiking and Foraging in nature

Witchcraft and Tarot cards (obviously)

My Likes!

Season: Autumn

Holiday: Yule/Saturnalia

Music: Anything that sounds good to me: Right now Opera is my most listen to. From Opera to Oldies to Folk music to Heavy Metal to Pop songs. R&B is a guilty pleasure of mine and a couple of rappers and hiphop artists. So again I kinda like everything.

Animals: I love cats I have three of my own, Rabbits, Squirrels, Deer, Horses, Bears, Ravens. I like any animals but those I wanna say are my top ones 😂

Insects: don’t necessarily like them but spiders and moths are pretty neat, but Honeybees or bees in general are my favorite they’re quite special to me. Hopefully one day I start beekeeping.

TV Shows: Penny Dreadful was amazing if you like dark horror, witchcraft, in a Victorian setting that incorporates a lot of classic horror stories like Frankenstein and Dracula highly recommended it with Eva Green and Helen McCoy. I don’t have a favorite movies or tv shows definitely but Legion, LOTR, Immortals, Harry Potter movies, the show Vikings. Are great and anything like it just 🤌

ASMR/Meditation ambiences

Smell of burning wood

Tarot cards and reading and finding anything that I can do with them that is new

[colourprinter]

Probably too personal thoughts, feelings, and ramblings around Our Wonderland

A couple of warnings, this will likely spoil all of Our Wonderland and this will likely get personal on the thoughts and feelings. It's a personal look (and total ramble) at this game more than anything.

If you haven't played or don't know what Our Wonderland is, I don't know how you found this but you can find it for free on this link.

To keep the spoilers hidden and to prevent forcing , I've put everything in the expand below.

I found this game from the Queer Halloween Story Bundle on itch, I was looking around what was in the bundle and enountered this game. I had already played a visual novel from the bundle that didn't gel too well with me so my hopes weren't too high.

I had no idea what this free game in a bundle had in store.

I was casual during the intro, I don't know when it hit but I knew I was locked in when act 2 hit and I saw what the meat of this game really is.

Something in this game sucked me right in, and wouldn't let me go.

I can't say I remember every detail but I was quickly emotionally invested, trying (and almost always failing) to keep Iggy alive and seeing how this friend group had completely gone off the rails, how their wishes twist around them.

Everything gave me the feeling I believe it was meant to, Gidget's advances on Iggy, Orlam, Buck's outright brutality, Genzou trying to get out alive while throwing the worst words at Orlam (I think he's just like that anyway) and Iggy having the worst time of his life.

While that doesn't sound like much, I don't usually get a reaction from a lot, the mix of visual and words hits just right... or wrong given how horrifying some of this is. Well, some things in the game would easily get a reaction...

For a bit of context for the next parts, I am aro/ace, something I truely discovered myself in the middle of a relationship, not that I hate being in a relationship but I think I'm completely incapable of feeling romantic love, there's just... nothing there. With being ace, I kinda resented the way my brain would react, litrally wishing sometimes that I was ace, glad I grew out of that for my own sake.

I also tend to feel awkward enough around sex in video games. I got goaded into the House of Hope scene, the first time the game crashed to save me and the second time I went dead slient and fixed my eyes down, only looking up enough to see the choices... I've now got an agreement to never have that happen again.

So obviously Gitget's sections got a big reaction from me, I thankfully haven't had any expriences close to anything like that, I could understand Iggy's perspective.

But enough about the horrible stuff for the moment, I'm not going to explain that, yes, seeing Orlam's and Buck's scenes were also shockers because eating human flesh and brutally murdering people are kinda bad things as well.

What I want to focus on next is something I currently only have one full perspective of, the romance. I usually verbalise everything to myself in RPGs and VNs, doing silly little voices for everyone (doing 6 children voices at the end hurt) so when I was given the choice of an ending... obviously, I chose the Genzou ending. Usually I'd feel awkward and stilted reading out the words but this time, it felt nice, I haven't done the other endings but I'm sure they're just as good, even if they're not, I got at least one good romance which given that this topples my fav VN romance (Slay the Princess which is pratically a joke romance anyway), I'm more than happy with it.

Niceness is over, I have another list topper, worst thing I've ever encountered in a video game, something so bad that even being foribly censored (I'm not checking if there's a visible version this time), it made me sick to my stomach. The tree and the infant in Her branches. Now I've played though and done some horrible things in video games, including child murder, but the way the body is described, the way everyone reacts to it. I can't call it anything below truely horrible and I'm putting this above freaking turn based RPG murdering children, I thought after that nothing would get me again (I think doing it actually knocked a screw loose because I've suddenly stopped being a goodie two shoes in video games, that's how bad that was). I mean this as a compliment but that is the worst thing I have ever encountered in any media.

And I think because I've felt these strong emotions where I haven't been hit so hard before, I've become completely pulled into it all. The fanwork contest was the first bit of my own art I put online in years and that kick started me getting back into art as a hobby, something I don't think I would have gotten back into if I didn't do that bit of Iggy art to prove to myself that I could do it if I put myself into it.

So... Carrot, thank you so much for this game of romance, fun, death and wishes.

If I land on my feet, I'd like to make a game with multiple acespec PoVs one day, much less horror though.

[thatiranianphantom]

So I'm writing a fic (slowly, ever so slowly) where Nancy and Ace finally have the talk they really, really need to have. Kinda about why this is so hard for them, when these are two people who have always understood each other extremely well. Behold my opinions (only my opinions!) below:

There are some very clear miscommunications going on here, and a lot of it is centered on both them being much more careful with the other's life than their own, and some pretty personal issues that existed before the advent of "Nace".

Namely, for Nancy, she is going classic Nancy. She is trying to lash out, she is trying to close him out, because she was and continues to be incredibly hurt, and because she thinks closing herself off to this will hurt less. Nancy has some significant abandonment issues, and Ace is the person who convinced her time and time again that she was worth it, that he would stay, and she actually so believed that he would. So him giving up, especially after he pushed her so hard to think they could solve it, I think is reading to her as Ace abandoning her like so many do, leaving her alone. He's making her feel like she's not worthy of fighting for, which is compounded by his unwillingness to try again and to accept needing space without a fight. She really seems to want him to fight for her, and it's likely really hurtful that he won't.

For Ace, this is also a lot of his own issues. Chiefly, he values her life a lot more than his own. Ace's self-esteem issues are big here. He really thinks a lot more of Nancy than he does of himself. He is absolutely willing to risk dying for her, but he is completely unwilling to have her die or be in any danger, particularly if this is his fault. He undoubtedly thinks of her as his great love, and by his perspective, he is sacrificing so much and giving up his chance at love to sit on the sidelines as he did before so that she'll be alive and happy. And that's such a huge sacrifice that he can't understand why she's angry at him. She also is a bit of a magnet to him. No matter how much he's hurting over her, he can't stay away from her, and he's certainly not willing to stop throwing his own life into danger to protect her.

Also, for both of them, they really don't seem to have considered the "you can't unring the bell" concept. Their relationship is forever changed after this, and as Nick pointed out, they were never only friends. Once they expressed what they feel, they can't shove it back inside. The relationship is never going to exist in the platonic iteration again, if it ever did. And for all the talk of space, and moving on, they really don't seem to be doing that. Nancy is passively allowing herself to be pursued by Tristan, Ace will likely get a one-episodeish love interest. But they are so soulmate-coded and unable to stay away from each other that I'm going to guess this won't last long. And if they could just TALK ABOUT THIS HONESTLY, they could sort a lot of this out. But now there's so much heartache and pain surrounding them, that they can't do what they've always effortlessly been able to do, and just talk to each other.

[alexlesuagz]

Criminal Case fanfic ideas (because IDK, I’m bored)

[Possible spoilers for all 8 seasons]

{S5} Prequelfic where Amir realizes he’s gay and confides in Rupert about it.

{S5} Rupert having an ace awakening (because yes, I headcanon him as ace) and being extremely confused about his feelings, so he confides in Amir about it. (No seggs, only tea, amirite)

{S3} [TW: SA] Jack finally gaining the courage to tell Lars about Lavinia DeBrils SA’ing him.

{S1} How Chad Whickman and Rose Cassidy first met (because goddamnit, they deserved better).

{S1} AU where Chad managed to calm Joe Stern down, not die, and get the job.

{S2} [TW: Abuse] A day in the life of Duncan Young, living with his mother and sister and having to deal with her emotional abuse.

{S1} Adam Bentley talking with his foster brother at his grave.

{S1} The aftermath of Julian Ramis’s arrest from the perspective of Julian’s parents.

{S2} [TW: Homophobia] The end of Zack and Becky’s friendship.

{S5} James Savage first meets Carter Hayes.

{S4} How Timmy and Bridget Baker first became friends.

{S5} [TW: Implied Sewerslide] Rene Narcisse’s words almost push Julian over the edge until the player and Gabriel show up.

{S2} [TW: Murder] A young Yann Toussaint has an argument with his parents and storms off. That would end up being the biggest mistake of his life.

{S5} Jones accidentally stumbles upon Zoe suddenly using telekinesis.

{S2} [TW: Cults, PTSD, and Implied Abuse] Not even Russell is safe from flashbacks, and surprisingly, the one who helps him out of a PTSD-induced panic attack is Frank.

{S4} The events of Vittorio Cappechi’s murder from Seamus’s point of view.

{S6} One of Amy’s therapy sessions with Marina following Nebet’s betrayal.

{S6} Sirius wonders why Orlando constantly ignores him, so he decides to ask. It doesn’t really go well.

{S6} Sequelfic(?) where Tony meets the player during S1 and tries to recall why they seem so familiar.

{S3} Baxter Fraser goes to therapy.

{S3} AU where Obaasan (IDK how to spell it, sorry) is found dead and Tsukada Hiroshi is alive because he killed her.

{S7} An apology note Dolores wrote to Gwen before her demise.

{S7} Inspired by @katrinahood , a crackshipfic between James Savage and Sam Ellis.

{S5} Crackshipfic between brunette bastard Louis Leroux and Joe Warren.

{S8} Jones and the player bond and catch up after 3 years.

{S8} Hugo Mercier giving love advice to Carrie.

{S5} Jones copes with Tony Marconi’s death.

{S8} Hugo and Jones bond over similar experiences.

{S5} [TW: Sewerslide] Gabriel and Jones talk after Jones’s attempt.

{S2} One of Jupiter’s letters to Russell, apologizing for being a shit dad.

{S5} Jones, Zoe, Alex and Cathy have a double date.

{S7} Larry Zarus goes on a car ride with his friend and business partner, Bernie. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up in a coffin. His own coffin.

{S4} Charlie reveals that he can’t slow dance for the life of him. Maddie decides to teach him.

{S2} [TW: Abuse] Frank confronts Miriam Young about her shit parenting.

{S2} [TW: Abuse] Duncan confronts his mother about her shit parenting. It goes as well as you’d expect.

{S2} [TW: Abuse and Death] The day the Young siblings’ father died was a hellish day indeed.

{S5} [TW: Underage Drug Use] Julian and Vicki smoke weed together and have a chat about life.

{S7} Dolores tries to figure out a way to apologize to Gwen.

{S7} Arthur Darkwood never really enjoyed the small things in life, and he never noticed until he spent time with the Supernatural Hunters.

{S5} Jones is lowkey kinda lonely, so Ramirez decides to set him up on a blind date to cheer him up. Unbeknownst to Ramirez, Jones’ blind date was one of his old college acquaintances — Zoe Kusama.

{S6} The “Altered Present” Arc, but Lars is in it for some reason.

{S7} Zander Stark and Danny Kwame were queerplatonic bros, change my mind— (I hc Zander as bisexual and Danny as omniromantic asexual)

{S8} Cody reminisces on his failed relationship with Eleanora.

{S8} Prequelfic where Jean-Phillipe slow dances with Marguerite.

{S5} After skipping the trial of Rosamund Wilcox, Julian runs into Chelsea Bloom and they have a chat.

{S7} Human AU where Arthur and Reggie decide to have some “brother bonding time”, so they go to a local art museum. Things don’t go well.

{S4} Seamus makes eye contact with Giulietta at Mr. Alastor’s party.

{S2} A series of noteworthy recorded conversations between Bobby Prince and his therapist over the span of a year.

{S3} 5 times Jonah tries to smile and the first time Marina makes him smile.

{S3} [TW: Kidnapping, Torture, and PTSD] Elliot claims that he’s moved on past the whole “Anbu Devanesan” thing. He has not.

{S6} Serap and Roxelana’s love story, starting from their first meet.

{S6} Noah Lowe gets some advice from Ian Devine about love and life and shit (also, Noah lives in this fanfic concept, because bro deserves better).

{S7} AU where Rathimael lives, Arthur lives, and they live a peaceful life together in a small lakeside cottage on the outskirts of Michigan.

{S2} “What happened to the Francis I loved and cared about deeply?!” “He’s dead, and I killed him a long time ago.”

{S2} Bobby Prince’s last thoughts were about the idyllic life he would live with Amy via the virtual reality. (This was inspired by Bojack Horseman btw) (No I do not like Bobby Prince)

{S5} [TW: Attempted Murder] AU where Zoe survives Louis’s attempt on her life.

{S3} [TW: Implied Abuse] Michelle Zuria’s traumatic childhood at the hands of her nanny.

{S5} [TW: Sewerslide] AU where Jones decides to go home after Leroux is arrested, and the player decides to accompany him. Possible alternate endings available.

{S7} Fabien de la Mort chills out and asks Gwen for advice on how to properly swoon a certain someone (*cough*, Luke Fernandez, *cough cough*)

{S7} [TW: Murder] Ruth Wu’s final moments were in utter agony. (Deserved tbh)

{S4} [TW: Murder] Elias Willingham pays local pimp Kristopher Bauer for information about his missing daughter. Like many moments in the Criminal Case universe, things do not end well.

{S7} AU where Arthur Darkwood survives the events of S7 and decides to join the Supernatural Hunters.

{S2} Anjulie Cruz breaks up with Bobby and remembers all the red flags he showed while they were dating.

{S1} AU for “The Rorscach Reaper” where Ramirez arrives just in time to arrest Tess — but too late to save the player.

{S5} Canon divergence after Zoe’s arrest when Jones confronts Marconi and breaks down. Marconi talks him out of doing anything foolish and the two of them just talk while lying down on the grass.

{S7} Arthur never really had a family (besides Reggie, but we don’t talk about Reggie) due to being a demon. One of the Supernatural Hunters (probably Hope Newman) makes an offhand comment about how he’s family to them. (Bro deserved better imo)

{S5} [TW: Attempted Murder] AU where Nathan manages to regain consciousness just before Kit pulls out the snake.

{S6} Series of transcripts from Marina’s therapy sessions with different Criminal Case characters, including Jack, Amy, Jones, Chief Arrow, and Arthur Darkwood.

{S5} Prequelfic where Joe Warren meets his new college roommate, Louis Leroux.

{S2} After the events of “Once Upon a Crime”, Frank decides to call his daughter to tell her what happened.

{S5} [TW: Sewerslide] Either Alex, Grace, or Ramirez get the call about Jones’ attempt on his own life.

(I’m perfectly fine with y’all using these, just please ask first and credit me!)

[theloverscardtarot]

Joe Cole September 5, 2024

I used Tarot and my Alice Oracle Cards

Joe As A Person

Magician, Page of Cups, King of Wands

Highly skilled and resourceful and has the ability to manifest his desires. People are drawn to his charisma. He can be very influential and can inspire people. He handles himself well in social situations. He's eager to learn new skills and improve on his strong points and people notice this about him. He's a very determined person, but he also may be a very serious person. He's a person that is motivated by his goals and visions. He is a strong leader and people are drawn to his intelligence. Overall, I get the feeling that he is not a very emotional person. It could be that at the moment he is just focused on his career.

Alice Says: Never Jam Today "Promises that never comes to be. Empty Words"

Joe As A Partner

Wheel Side, Devil, 4 of Pents, 7 of Swords, 5 of Swords Rev.

He may run hot and cold with his partners. One minute there is stability and then next there's change and upheaval. This kinda makes me feel like he doesn't stay in relationships for very long. He may get into toxic relationships, he could be toxic himself. I hope he's not abusive, but it's a possibility. Maybe he has dealt with abusive partners, or abuse from his past that has made him the way he is now. He may be a bit codependent or is attracted to people who are. There's potential for more hookups than relationships. This may be why the wheel is always turning and changing. I feel like he's a bit sneaky and deceitful. He may not stay faithful. I feel like he's frugal and doesn't like to spend money. He may know hardship. However, I feel like this means he's not very generous with partners money wise. Not that he has to be. But I can almost see him going Dutch on dates or expecting his date to leave a tip. Heated arguments may easily lead to breakups with partners. Sorry to those who are fans, but I feel like he could potentially be a womanizer.

Ideal Partner Type

7 of Cups: I feel like he doesn't have one definite type. This is a card of having choices. He either likes to have women lining up at his door. Or this means he doesn't really go for one type of person.

King of Pents: This is interesting because it kind of contradicts what he is as a partner. he may want someone who's looking for a serious relationship. Maybe he just hasn't found it yet, hence his possible dating around. His type may be someone who is well off. Who has their own money and is secure. That makes sense though!

2 of Cups: He may be looking for someone that wants to get married. This is a card of unity. he's looking to connect with somebody and have a strong partnership.

Ace of Cups: Is his current girlfriend a new relationship and were they possibly friends first? He may want to find someone who he can be friends with first or will be his best friend. New romance is exciting. He may like the feeling of the new relationship. Is he possibly looking elsewhere despite his current gf? I do not know. Alternatively, he may be ready to take his current relationship to the next level. There's potential for deeper intimacy.

Lovers: ultimately he wants that bond and that lasting love.

9 of Wands: He may be looking for someone that is willing to put in hard work to ultimately reach a successful outcome. He may know he has to work on some self improvement.

Knight of Pents: I feel like he's looking for someone who is secure in themselves and will be a reliable and loyal lover. Maybe he's been through some shit with previous gf's and it's made him kinda jaded. I get that he may be stubborn and maybe he's lacking excitement, or isn't very exciting as a person. It's possible he is looking for someone that can deal with this and not stray.

Current Relationship

8 of Swords Rev, 4 of Swords Rev, Emperor Rev, Empress Rev, 3 of Pents Side

There may have been a time of tension that has changed his or her perspective on the relationship and what they were blind to has now become clear. There is a sense of freedom or they are ready to be free from each other. Someone may be pressuring the other in an aspect of their relationship. It's causing stress and they may need to take a break. Perhaps they are on a break right now. They may feel that when they reunite it will spark the passion they once had for each other. The Emperor and Empress are counterparts and both these cards are reversed. "coldness, tyranny,emptiness". He may be domineering and she may be clingy or jealous. 3 of Pents Side, Upright suggests working well together on projects and possibly finding love at work. Does this check out with his current girlfriend? Reversed this means that even though they work well together professionally, they are not doing that well together romantically.

Alice Says: "Don't drink the poison: Stop doing things that are bad for you" and "Clock Time: Time-Pressure. In a rush" This could go with someone pressuring the other or it's time for them to let this go.

[onyxandemerald]

Hey, I’d love a tarot reading! My question for you is: What strengths should I focus on developing right now and which fears are holding me back?

If you’re not doing questions a general mini reading is cool too! Get to this whenever you’d like. Have a beautiful day. ❤️

My first reading how exciting! I consider us friends, obv, so I got a little carried away lol. Sometimes more cards is in fact better lmaaooo. Love you! I hope you got what you're looking for! <3

Okay so we started with the three in the middle. I went with fears/current situation/strengths, in that order. I flipped the Two of Wands first. Since you're asking this question at all, I'm getting the sense that you're feeling stuck, possibly in the middle of two opposing forces. There might even be danger on the horizon; this feels like an urgent dilemma. Then I pulled The Moon, XVIII, your strengths. I did in fact notice you're a Cancer sun! And then I pulled the Four of Wands to represent the fears you are inquiring about. This kinda threw me off at first, and that's when The High Priestess reversed showed up.

From this reading, I'm getting the idea that you may be neglecting your true self, your true path, your authenticity as a way to keep the peace in your mid-world, possibly with the intention to please others. In my personal practice, I associate The High Priestess with Hekate, that spooky mysterious force that seems to guide us all. Are you saying no to her? She's ready to hand you the key, but are you ready to receive the mysteries she has in store for you? When I see the Eight of Wands, I read it as, "Do it scared!"

Your emotional power is your strength! It looks like you are so ready, so willing to dive into your emotional world. You understand balance is the key to harmony; Temperance. You are searching for something new, or a new perspective, Ace of Cups, but are your own cups full or empty?

The impression I'm getting from this whole spread is that you want to grow and to feel, and you are ready, but you might be unwilling to shake up your day-to-day to make room to accommodate the growth you're seeking. If you want your irl community to accept you, find a community where you belong! If your support system (whether they know it or not, intentionally or not) is holding you back, it might be time to make some changes to your relationships. You have the power and the intuition to succeed, you just have to take the first step and actually go do something with it.

I'll relate this to a personal anecdote- My biggest anxiety when starting down the path of witchcraft and the mystical was how it would effect my relationships and my support system. I was afraid I would get sideways glances for wearing crystals and bringing incense everywhere like literally everywhere with me, even from people who I knew loved me. But I decided hiding my intention and my truth was not worth the suffering I was going through by neglecting that it even existed; I was not praying to my spirit guides as regularly as I needed, I wasn't making offerings, I wouldn't even bring my tarot cards into the living room w me. These things were really effecting my spiritual health. So I just started doing it. I started reading tarot in front of my family, asking them if they wanted readings to help me practice, and it was really awkward and a little uncomfortable at first, but now literally everyone in my home is a witch. We have a community altar in the living room. Not only was I hiding for nothing, being authentic and true added value to my relationships! Because I had the bravery to be weird without feeling embarrassed for doing things that bring me joy and more importantly healing, the rest of my roommates finally felt the comfort to be weird back. We do yoga together when last year even I would have cringed at it.

Moral of the story is, if your people can't love you totally and fully, your wounds and weirdness and all, then they're not your people. When you are completely and wholly authentic, the people who want to be around you will find you. The people who don't will make a hasty exit. Tell them, "Good riddance." They were never serving you to begin with.

[wakebymoonsleepbysun]

On Ace Awareness Week, from a formerly unaware ace

Since Ace Awareness week is drawing to a close I figured eh, why not share my perspective as someone who didn't know what asexuality was until I was 22 and why teaching kids about asexuality is fucking important.

This is basically a long winded personal story. Not the most profound thing, but eh. It's our week so why not? (Warning: Long)

I'm also bi/pan (I use both for reasons I won't get into here but if you're curious just ask I guess?) and while THAT did not exactly go smoothly and is still a sore spot between my mom and I, I will say that not knowing what asexuality was during hs and most of college caused me far more anguish than anything related to me liking girls. It was just largely invisible to others.

High school and college became very isolating times for me. For a lot of reasons but partially because of my asexuality. My peer group talked pretty openly about who was having sex and when, and for awhile me not feeling ready was fine, but after a time I had to just learn to keep that to myself.

Occasionally I did mention things like not feeling like I could have sex with someone after only three dates, or after only a month. (Since I didn't know what asexuality was I reasoned that I would get the urge eventually in the relationship, just not as soon as my peers seemed to.) By college this got some pretty hostile reactions from some people in my peer groups. Mostly from guys but certainly not EXCLUSIVELY from guys. (A lot of patriarchal bullshit of the mid 00's was mixed in for good measure, not purely acephobia.) I was called abusive and manipulative for "stringing guys along" and "making them pay for x amount of dates with nothing in return". (I was back in the closet during college and trying to gaslight myself into forgetting I'd dated a girl in hs but that's a whole nother thing.)

I would hope these are things most college kids today wouldn't say, both because of having healthier views on dating and at least knowing what asexuality is. It's also worth noting I had exactly one relationship during college and it only lasted six weeks. So no I was not leaving a trail of broken hearts and blue balls in my wake. I was also happy to pay for my own dates but the one guy I dated would get absolutely FURIOUS with me when I suggested doing so.

In fact after that one relationship (which was when I was 18) I pretty much decided to just give up on dating until I felt ready to have sex in a timely manner. Even after I found out what asexuality was I still kinda reasoned it as something I had to get over. I didn't really think I'd meet anyone else who was ace so I still reasoned that sex would just be something I'd have to learn to tolerate if I wanted a relationship. So for 7 years I didn't date or do anything romantic with anyone. An occasional crush maybe, but I generally got over them before I even thought to try to pursue something.

When I was 25 I met my partner, and after being online friends for awhile we became a couple. Neither of us knew THEY were also asexual, that was just a happy accident. Or maybe our hearts knew something our minds didn't. I don't know, but it sounds romantic, doesn't it?

But even after that, there was one final round of acephobia from one of my hs/college friends. (I am not friends with her anymore but her acephobia is actually not a huge factor in that.) It's worth noting my partner was male presenting at the time and had not yet started to question that, so for the first few years of our relationship they were my "boyfriend".

This friend of mine was skeptical that a young "man" such as my partner would truly tolerate a sexless relationship. I assured her that my partner was ace, like me. She said I should be prepared for them to change their mind. I said if they did, they did. We would probably have to break up.

Her conclusion was that it was extremely fucked up for me "dump a guy for WANTING to have sex with you".

But at this point I felt more equipped to call her on her bullshit than I'd felt in hs and college. At least internally...I didn't turn the conversation into a fight but sometimes I kinda wish I had.

It's gotten easier, and honestly part of that comes from people in their 30's just not talking about sex as much. So if you're a younger ace and still feel like people can't shut tf up about all their sexing...they will eventually. Or at least tone it down.

But still, I think I would have felt less alone and isolated if I'd realized I was just some lone, broken person unworthy of love just because sex terrifies me. There will always be some skepticism and pushback, but I would have had a word for myself. A way to explain how I feel and that I'm not the only one who feels like that. (Not that being the only person who feels a certain way means you're invalid, but it IS easier when you can point to some article and be like "Look, here's me and how I feel and the others who feel that way".) I would have had the words to explain my boundaries and limitations.

And I hope nobody else has to feel as alone as I did back then. So yeah. Teach kids about asexuality. Both to prevent them from feeling like I did, but also to prevent them from MAKING others feel like I did by acting like some of my more douchehat college friends.

[ooops-i-arted]

Look, I know only like 5 people including myself care about Cara Dune The Character, but season 3 really missed a chance to give her a good character arc that could mirror a "redemption" arc for Din. (This assumes the show actually goes into that instead of solving it in two episodes.)

Cara may only be a secondary character but she's been one of the more significant ones, and she has had a lowkey character arc + character development each season.

Season 1: Drifter with no purpose/no longer caring finds something to stand for and rekindles her desire to fight the Imperials. She goes from an opponent to a trusted friend for Din. At the end she starts to set down roots on Nevarro.

Season 2: She's been actively helping clean up Nevarro and has found purpose in helping protect its people and continuing to fight Imps. She accepts a role of New Republic Marshal despite previously leaving the New Republic because she felt it "wasn't what she signed up for." She still prioritizes Din over her New Republic duties.

In season 3 we get the see the New Republic up close. Cara would've been the perfect character to see it through. She knew the Rebellion and fought for the same future as Luke, Han, and Leia. We could have seen Coruscant through her eyes, perhaps starting with her being honored for capturing Gideon. At first she sees the good intentions and glitter on top, but slowly the layers are peeled back. Perhaps she sees conflict in what to do about Gideon and is ignored when she says how dangerous he is. Maybe she mentions Nevarro, or the scattered Mandalorians, and is told "the Outer Rim isn't our business" and she questions why they're bothering to patrol it. She gets a medal for her actions but her input isn't valued by those in the Core Worlds. She starts to get disillusioned again - she has been "redeemed" in the eyes of the New Republic, but she sees the same things that caused her to leave ("protecting delegates, suppressing riots" instead of fighting the evil of the Empire and its ideals) creeping back and no one is listening to her try to help her friends back in the Outer Rim by offering the perspective of someone who's been there.

Cara potentially could've faced conflict if the New Republic went so far as to take up a position against the Mandalorians or she was required to go against her friend Din in this season or future ones. Maybe this once again leads to her striking off on her own - but this time she isn't a lone drifter but has a community to return to. Maybe Greef funds her own independent anti-Imperial militia based on Nevarro. Or, Cara becomes an ally working with the Mandalorians with Din vouching for her. This could also mirror an arc of Din learning to walk his own path, on his own terms, as a Mandalorian.

Perhaps Cara could even choose to become a Mandalorian herself, and finally finds peace in belonging in a new community in a way she hasn't experienced since she was on Alderaan with her own people. If the showrunners decide they have to have a romance, this would slot in a LOT more smoothly imo than "Bo and Din are allies using each other and things are tense whoops Bo's character suddenly got half-erased so we can pretend she was always straight heroic and now she and Din are friendsies." (Tbh my first choice is ace Din in canon, but I do like some Caradin and it's because they have a strong friendship.)

Anyway I'm really sad about Cara Dune being written out of the show because I think they could've done some really exciting things with the character. Cara Dune's song was not ready to be ended. Although season 3 in general makes me kinda glad she escaped.

[thecloudstan]

Yeah, I thought the entire time that it was AC Sephiroth in remake but that he was just using clones the entire time and not showing up physically until he literally rips through time itself. By the way, what did you think of the ending as a whole? And how they handled Aerith’s death? In my opinion there wasn’t any emotional impact for her death because the second she dies you just go into boss battle after boss battle and the time shenanigans happen, and you have no time to breathe and absorb it. The ending itself I found confusing, but I can’t say I completely hated it. I think all the time stuff is interesting and it makes me more invested in the third part because- presumably- that’s when all the questions get answered. Maybe that’s just because I never played the original though and wasn’t even a fan of FF7 until remake came out.

This is a very intriguing question, and as someone who has been playing this game since its 1997 release, I can only answer based on my experience. None of this is meant to sound unapproachable or anything...I just have an embarrassing amount of knowledge and attachment to this game and its characters...so...

I found how they handled Aerith's death to still be deeply stressful, emotional, and impactful. By that point, my husband and I had nearly convinced ourselves that they wouldn't go through with it. We expected her rescue, some sort of immediate fallout that would tie Zack in, and that the third game would be a sort of "World of Ruin" wherein the events have to be fixed and set right in order to stop Sephiroth. While Cloud DOES act, it doesn't result in her rescue in the way we anticipated. I'm actually really happy about this! Theorizing is fun, but I don't WANT to be right about everything. I'd like to be surprised.

In the original, Aerith dies, there's a VERY brief conversation between Sephiroth and Cloud, and you're immediately launched into a fight with Jenova. PROBABLY still crying your eyes out, because Aerith's theme is playing all the while, and just the juxtaposition of those two things was incredible. The party had just lost her and they're fighting for their lives. You, the player, have just lost her and now you're fighting, too. You don't have a choice. You don't get to rest. There is no respite.

Every step through the Forgotten City in Rebirth was nail biting, and her loss was still a tear jerker for me because the devs had thrown me enough off kilter that I kinda had no idea what to expect and had come to doubt my own predictions. Furthermore, it really did pull up a lot of latent emotion tied to this loss. It will always be deeply emotional for me with this game. In ways, I'm not even a good person to ask because I've been so intensely in love with them all for the past...27 years? I imagine the anticipation alone is giving old fans something to chew on that perhaps newer fans just can't relate to. I don't want to paint with too wide a brush. Everyone is different and I just have no other perspective than my own (admittedly very specific) experience.

I have no notes on the ending. I guess I'm actually really happy with it because a lot happened that I didn't expect and couldn't have predicted. I didn't approach it as something that needed to impress or regale me, rather I was curious what they would do and how I could immediately leap to interpret it. It was the same with the Remake ending. Everyone hated it and didn't understand it, but when the dust settled it became something to pick apart and theorize on. They gained my trust with Remake, so Rebirth to me is just a "sit back and enjoy" sort of experience. I also know what's happening because of my knowledge of the original. I know what's happening to Cloud, I understand Reunion, I know how some of these things come to their resolution in the third game (which is basically only the half way point of the original game). Of course, I'm sure they'll change it up because they've VERY MUCH been telling the same story by slightly different mechanisms, but I see the setups already in place in Rebirth.

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

@heartstringsduet replied to your post “BOOYAH I mean, December was mainly short stories,...”:

woah impressive!! :D Which were your three favorites?

Michelle I have had this in my drafts since January 2nd. It's partially a straight up copy-paste from an ask I had a while ago, but I added some more thoughts.

ANYWAY.

I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy; this book was a fucking ride and it deserves all the praises it got. Like, there is a backlash against autobiographies right now, or so it seems, about how it's just rich people writing stuff that will sell anyway, but Jennette can write. She initally wanted to be a writer, but her mum didn't want that, so her actually being an accomplished writer is also some form of sweet revenge, I guess. Jennette’s experiences are harrowing, but so… almost intruiging to read, since she wrote the story from her own perspective and it is also interesting how her perspective on her mother changes. The scene where she realises she’s been abused is extremely emotional, because her entire worldview has been shattered, but the road to recovery that follows is so worth it. I got it from the library, but bought it myself, because it is just so good. (Also, my mum got me this as a gift, and it is kinda funny that my mum bought a book called I'm Glad My Mom Died.) So yes, I totally recommend this book, but it's also not easy to read.

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune; TJ Klune delivers once again, mom, holy FUCK, this was so good and touching and ace representation!!! It’s fun how much this book comments on humanity. Apparently, initially it was going to be a dark book, fueled by TJ’s resentment towards humanity, but he decided to focus on the beauty that humans can bring, instead of destruction. In this book, humanity is gone apart from the main character, and it’s a very interesting story about mind, consciousness and thought. It;s kinda funny, because I finished this book the week before we had a class on robot cognition and consciousness in a course about cognition philosophy and the philosophy of mind, and it's cool that this book doesn't take a typical approach you see in other sci-fi. I mean, it's still a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been eradicated by robots, but it's so much more interesting.

The First to Die at the End - Adam Silvera; a surprise prequel that I didn’t know I needed till I read it, and it was also a fun way back to 2011. So it was also kind of nostalgic at points? It's funny to laugh about how Valentino is so advanced for having a smartphone, for example. The title is what it says on the tin, of course, but like with They Both Die at the End, I always say it’s about celebrating life, not lamenting death. Death will always be unfair, and this book is filled with it, but there’s also connection and life. I heard Adam is going to write another book in this series and this part only made me more excited for it. And once again, it has some great discussion points about deep subjects. I actually once used They Both Die at the End for a paper about death and technology.

[liria10]

What would you consider some really good books/audios for Benny characterization?

Oh anon. I am sorry for the absolute *massive* wall I am about to write :3c

... under a read more because I take pity on my dash

Tbh, I haven't read all of her VNA outing so far, but out of the ones i've read, some that do a really good job at her characterisation are:

Love and War : It's her first outing after all, but she comes in the doctor's life as a fully realized person already, with a strong personality that shines so much, it's a really good one to kinda. Get her as a person, at least how she started. There's a reason she ended up such an iconic companion, and that book is part of it.

The Left-Handed Hummingbird : While not quite Benny centric, it really highlights all that she adds to the TARDIS team, and I think really showcases her ability to deal with both Ace and the doctor.

Theater of War : That one opens on Benny on a dig, and then things start to go wrong, which is like. Peak Benny stories tbh. It's a good one to see also how she interacts with the academic world, as well as her in the more physical, dirt up to her knees and trowel in her hands aspect of her job.

All-Consuming Fire : The entire second part of the book is written from her perspective, through her journal entries, and it does a really good job at capturing her voice, as well as showing how she as a human from the future adapts to more long term stays in the past.

Return of the Living Dad : That one is all about Benny, it does a great job at showing her familial issues, her starting to build a married life, her future prospect, how she'd regard being a mother... Really good character stuff throughout tbh?

The Dying Days : The last doctor-led VNA, and one where Benny is pretty much guiding everything throughout. it's both a celebration of her as a character, and of the entire range as it stood so far. Does a wonderful job at highlighting how well Benny does as a lead, she truly shines in it.

I'd say there's likely a lot more in the VNAs, but I've still got a lot to read there!

Ok so!!! Onto her solo NAs, which I have fully read! I've got Opinions :3c

Dragon's Wrath : Another strong one on Benny as an archeologist, and also showing how she fits (or more like, doesn't really fit) in as a teacher in an university. It's fun, it's well made, and it has some really good Benny stuff, especially with regards to her own perspective towards history, artifacts and learning. I wouldn't really recommend the audio version though, I feel it doesn't quite nail those elements the same way.

Beyond the Sun : I love how that one highlight Benny as teacher, how much she cares for the kids in her care, and how she does struggle a fair bit between that and her rather complex feelings towards Jason. It also features her writing her own code of ethics, and I feel it's worth checking out, both the book and audio version.

Down : A strange and wild one. Not the best Lawrence Miles book tbh, and with some of the issues to be found in many of his work, but it does a rather good job at also exploring the contradiction and hypocrisies of Bernice Surprise Summerfield. She's far from a perfect person, and she struggles with that knowledge.

The Medusa Effect : Benny and dealing with conspiracy and the fallout of the war with the daleks decades ago, something very personal for her. It's another good show too of what she is willing to do and accept, and what she isn't.

Tears of the Oracle : It does a good job at showing both Benny mourning Dellah and all she lost there, and her exploring and carrying on that legacy, through yet another archeological dig. Tbh, I just think that one is a very good book all in all, highly recommend on all aspect.

Ok, staying with the books!! Her Big Finish books start off strong, but frankly there's not really anything worth checking out post-collection era in terms of Benny characterization in the books.

The Doomsday's Manuscript : It's in the same vein as Theater of War and Dragon's Wrath, and I feel like reading it after those two also really shows her evolution as a character. it sets the tone for who Benny is in her Big Finish era as well.

The Squire's Crystal : A bodyswap story! And as such it also explores... what makes Benny well. Benny? What defines her as a person? Good stuff, lots of gender feels too, and Avril Fenman is here so like. A win for sure.

The Glass Prison : Not always an easy read, as it covers the birth of her son while she is locked up in a prison by a fascist empire, but Boi does it do some wonderful thing with Benny at her lowest & most doubtful. Some gruesome bit for sure tho.

Genius Loci : This one is about a younger Benny, barely in her 20s, not yet a professor, or even pretending to be one. We see an extremely raw Benny, and we also see the roots of who she will become. I love this book so much and I love how Aaronovitch writes Benny, and I'll forever be sad that the planned young Benny series by him didn't pan out, because he sure knows how to get her character right.

For the anthologies... A bit of a less complete list, because there's a Lot tbh

Nobody's Children : All three novellas are great and have got such good moment about Benny as a person tbh?

... Be Forgot (from the Short Trips: A Christmas Treasury anthology) : Benny in the aftermath of the Collection occupation, and just. it's a short one, and I think it's really worth reading!

Life During Wartime : Not all stories are Benny centric in that one, but I would recommend the entire anthology nonetheless. It has some of my favorite Benny moments, both in how she navigates resisiting the Axis and trying to survive and keep her son safe. Really, really good stuff, especially the story "Drinking with the Enemy"

Collected Works : A bit hit or miss, but Benny does shine a fair bit in it!

Present Danger: Not super Benny centric, but the stories she does get are frankly, very good!!

Now, onto her audios! There's going to be a bit less there, because tbh, I feel like prose is just a lot better to express her character.

Walking to Babylon, Birthright, Just War (also known as the time ring trilogy): While being adaptations, they take a lot of liberties, and overall create the first original narrative from Big Finish about Benny. It's quite good stuff, not always the easiest to listen to, but frankly, that's kinda par for the course with the Benny series

The Extinction Event : Mostly for her perspective on planetary destruction and artifact preservation, considering how recent losing Dellah is for her at that point.

Death and the Daleks : The climax of everything going on in Life during Wartime, and some good Benny moment in there. Good audio tbh!!

The Goddess Quandary : Benny and her best friend Keri, and their relationship is a bit explored in that one

Tub Full of Cats : Frankly one of the best outing for Benny on audio, I feel it highlights well the multifaceted aspect of her character. She makes some decisions in that one, that's for sure.

The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel: Benny and Mycroft Holmes on the case! A fun one, good stuff too to contrast with All-Consuming Fire in terms of how she's grown since tbh.

Resurrecting the Past/ Escaping the Future : The climax of the entire single releases, a good double parter, and a good Benny story.

Aaaaand that's about it really!! A long, long list, so to thank all of you who bothered to read this far, have a picture of Benny:

yes my cat is named Benny

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Tilting at Windmills

🎶 "Such a fine and natural sight...everybody's dancing in the lab light." 🎶

It can't be the moon or Bonney would get worse, pay attention. This one's a trip. Because it's 95% of what I expected...then takes a wild last turn I'm still lost on. We fill in pretty much the stuff we kinda knew about Kuma. I like how Kizaru folds in and reinforces his maudlin attitude about his mission. The weight of self sacrifice is on display here and that is naturally something that's bled over from Wano. That concept of willingly giving up free will, individuality for another...you know what I'd say about that. But we're past the point it's worth the time to point out every example of that.

This chapter also takes us on a whirlwind tour of old faces and things that are reminiscent of our own experience with this story. Panel reminds you of the wolves on Upper Yard right? Very cool, it's like seeing a different angle of Luffy's journey which I'm big into. Since this appears to be going longer I hope we see Kuma watching the Moria fight from the sidelines. Speaking of...

I love this panel of Moria and Perona. When we see so many cameos this time it doesn't feel right to say hey, look at them creeping back in, but it's a very cool panel of the pair to be sure. Warlord Jinbei & Miss Allsunday were excellent additions. What I do like is how it slips in Sabo/Ace in a way that'll subtly help out with putting this at the right point of the timeline. Like I said, a lot of this was just connecting dots we knew about it, it's cool but we sorta got what I was expecting? Most of the chapter was just that, then the last panel threw us a big curveball...

Okay...we're not back to Egghead but this is 1000x weirder. No one saw this one coming. All of a sudden, Kuma's grand flashback just met the #1 most interesting character to cross paths with in a flashback. The fuck? This is such a wild proposition, if Ace is part of Whitebeard's crew Luffy is less than a year from setting out to sea. He cannot have a significant moment with Kuma directly. We smartly kept him unconscious during Thriller Bark yes but resolved that at Sabaody. That doesn't mean they can't interact. The tone of that or even if they never do but Kuma has say, some impact on Goa is a total toss-up and the answer can take the story so many ways. It also does not have to be a super big deal.

I'll say my first thought for sure. If we started this flashback with Ginny showcasing the role and end it with Kuma providing a vignette into the one core person Luffy has here, Makino, I'm gonna get very invested from a certain perspective. If he's in that stretch between Ace leaving and setting off himself, running down to Party's Bar frequently makes plenty of sense. Get what I'm saying? Luffy would never remember a big guy that stopped in for a drink one day when he went to go see her.

Like, if you wanted to drop the subtlety...have Kuma stop in and ask her for information. He comes in as Makino is being Makino, humoring Luffy and asking what kind of crew he wants when he sets off soon. To which Luffy rattles off nine ideas you recognize and caps it off by saying he wants someone like her to keep him in line. Maybe reinforce it with Kuma watching the Moria fight, chuckling about how he only needs two more. Show us the last notes of Bonney escaping and Kuma protecting the Sunny.

That's one way you could do it. Still do the same thing getting us back. Or maybe there's a whole fuckin untold story of Goa waiting in the wings that made Luffy the man he is. The playbook is straight out the window now and nothing makes sense anymore.

[thesilvercondor]

(Spoilers for Aim To Be A Pokemon Master Ep1 (JN137) below the cut)

ok so i am perpetually obsessed with Anabel and thus extremely biased but like. fun little conspiracy theory. Ash is actually developing Empathy (ability to sense pokemon's emotions, and use this for knockoff telepathy with them).

I have not seen past the first episode of this series, if there’s further evidence I might return to this theory but I kinda doubt there will be any lmao. Proceed beneath the readmore if you want to see my insane ramblings (1k words).

So, let’s look at this episode real quick, shall we? First major event- Ash accidentally attacks a Beedrill nesting site, potentially angering nearby Beedrill. And like, in the vast majority of Bulbapedia’s anime entries about wild Beedrill- those things get angry all the freaking time. I’ve already seen people down in the comments of this episode talking about how they didn’t think they’d seen a wild Beedrill be calm before.

However, Ash manages to calm it nearly instantaneously- which one other character has actually pulled off before- the only canon Empath, Anabel (S9 E24, ‘Talking A Good Game’).

I just find it interesting that this scene was included in the episode, given that it has no obvious importance to the rest of the storyline, you know? Unless it was meant to draw parallels, between this episode and *checks notes* some obscure episode from the early 2000s that barely anyone remembers. *sweatdrops*

 Uhhh but anyway!- next major event in the episode- the token ‘Empath’ finds an extremely powerful Pokemon, who is openly hostile to them, but calms it down by helping to care for its wounds.

In JN137, this is Ash helping Latias with a (burn?) on its wing, while in S9E24, it’s Anabel pulling out a stick from a Gyarados’s injury.

 Then, the third (and most major) event is the reveal of Empathy being used as Telepathy in a battle situation. This one uh. This one I have less evidence for, but we’re just going to pretend that Ash isn’t good enough at empathy yet for the parallels to be perfect, ok? Just to stoke my own ego.

Anyway- S9E24, Anabel first uses this with her ace, Alakazam. It’s characterized by her giving orders without talking- aka, though Alakazam can’t physically hear her, he can still hear her.

In JN137, Ash is captured by Team Rocket’s ‘Supercooled Capsule’. Here, Ash’s voice is extremely muffled- to the point that even Team Rocket (1-2m away from him) can’t hear him well. Meanwhile, Pikachu is uhhh 25-40m away? Down on the forest floor. (perspective is unhelpful, here’s the best screenshot I got).

Anyway, while being extremely muffled and getting progressively further away, AND while having his back turned on Pikachu- Ash proceeds to practically whisper his command to Pikachu to aim a 10, 000 Volts at him. And Pikachu understands instantly. Like yeah, I get it, this is an anime, not everything is realistic- but doesn’t this feel at least a little sus to y’all?

(left: Ash’s whisper, right: Anabel’s Empathy)

So yeah uh. I’ve yet to watch the other episodes of this anime. But if he gets overlaid on Pikachu at any point to give commands, then Imma 100% claim Empathy my dudes.

Especially since, the next RSE episode (S9E25, ‘Second Time’s The Charm’) is partially about Anabel trying to teach Ash Empathy- with the final line of the episode being her thinking- “I guess you can’t sense feelings yet, Ash […]”. Here, please just picture me pointing commandingly at the word ‘yet’. She reckons he had potential- and maybe that potential is finally coming true.

 Since we’re doing Anabel quotes right now, I’m going to throw another one at you- her response to being asked how she talks to Pokemon like that (aka while using Empathy):

“"I don't even really know how I do it. I guess its been happening ever since I was a little girl. I'd come to the forest and talk to everything. Trees, grass, the stars; and all the wild pokemon- and that's how it all started!" (S9E25)

So you know. She went into the forest. Not much of a goal. Interacted with literally everything she saw, without discrimination. Sounds kinda like the start of the episode; with Ash stopping to interact with every single wild Pokemon he sees. That’s how she developed Empathy- so maybe this is how he develops it too.

Like, this is Ash’s final series. Why start with him just wandering around looking at random mons, unless that act is something seriously important?

 Finally, just to add a bit more pizzazz; this episode is about Latias and Mew. (Oak’s poem at the start is something about if you want to make a lot of friends, you need to find 151- and 151 is Mew’s Pokedex number so. Yeah.) These two just so happen to be two of 9-12 ‘Empath Pokemon’ I have currently identified.

I’m counting Empath Pokemon as anything that has a Pokedex entry that mentions its ability to sense emotions (like Anabel does). Not just influence emotions (like Milotic), or get attracted by specific emotions (like Shuppet/Togetic/Blissey), but actively sense all emotions.

Latias’s Pokedex entry mentions that it “…is highly sensitive to the emotions of people.”

Meanwhile, Mew’s Pokedex entry mentions that it “…only appears to those with a pure heart.” (this is one of my ‘debateable’ Empath mons, as like. What is a pure heart exactly. I’m guessing it needs to be able to see all emotions in someone to decide whether their heart is pure or not, but I could be wrong.)

But yeah, if this series is about him trying to acquire two Empath Pokemon… it might also be about him trying to acquire Empathy itself.

 Anyway I’m gonna. I’m gonna watch the other episodes eventually. Not just yet, cos I wanna dream about a world in which this conspiracy theory is any way feasible-

  (oh yeah also before anyone asks. Anabel didn’t use an Empathy Pokemon in the anime, but in the games (Emerald and USUM) her ace is either Raikou or Latios, with the latter being another Empathy Pokemon- “…it can sense the emotions of others.”.)

(oh and full Empathy Pokemon list: Latias, Latios, Ralts, Indeedee, Hatterene, Sylveon, Audino, Solrock, Finizen. Bonus: Mew (how do you determine a ‘pure heart’), Mesprit (it created emotions so surely it can sense them?? But no pokedex entries on that) and Lucario (can sense emotions but through Aura not Empathy).)

[scrapcheese]

rw!dragon maid: ilulu

continuation from my other post

i think i misspoke when i said in rw!dm character designs are less fanservicey. i meant something more along the lines of “existing character designs aren’t aggresively used to portray fanservicey scenes”

you need to understand i’m somewhere on the ace spectrum so my headcanons basically cut out like half of this stuff already

So Lucoa can have her giant chest, big titty represent!! Boobs aren’t inherently a problem so cutting them out or her character entirely isn’t going to solve anything.

So now to my main thoughts: Ilulu.

ilulu is a character i have mixed feelings about, because i know she’s technically supposed to be an “adult dragon” according to the author, its just that she really does have a pretty similar face shape to kanna (rounder in comparison to the adult dragons, generally more child-like?) idk i kinda wish they made her look a bit older because god the giant boob flame sac thing feels pretty weird

ALSO I WANT TO SAY THAT THEY MAKE IT A PLOT POINT THAT ILULU BEHAVES LIKE A CHILD;;;; Its literally her whole character arc, she had to grow up too fast and she just wants to play, so Kobayashi and her family give Ilulu the chance to behave like a child again and just,, do her own thing yknow. All the adults treat her like a kid/teenager, she is grouped with the rest of the kids, so I’m pretty sure that you are supposed to read her to be younger or child-like, which makes all the ilulu stuff EVEN WEIRDER. aughhhhh i really don’t like it but eh the point of this is I get to rewrite canon, so thats what we’re doing.

By the way, I know that at some point Tohru says that her and Ilulu are the same age, but again THEY’VE MATURED DIFFERENTLY, WITH ILULU VERY CLEARLY STILL supposed to be read as like a teenager. Is Tohru childish? Yes, sometimes she acts that way but she is still generally portrayed as an adult with adult responsibilities.  Also Fafnir makes it clear that dragon’s generally don’t have a concept of age, rather it’s the power level (how strong they are) that expresses the "age” of the dragon. (although the concept of child and adult dragons came around and kind of stuck after they began interacting with humans more) **For all we know, Ilulu could actually be around Kanna’s age, just much more powerful, which would theoretically make her the same “age” as Tohru in dragon terms

another thing to note is that japanese media has its own culture and tropes that, while normalized there, will be seen as weird in places outside of japan because of the different cultural lens we are viewing it from. I think the difference in perspective is what causes all those controversial issues with dragon maid, so we have to take that into consideration when talking about rw!dragon. I am changing the things that I personally find weird or uncomfortable

that being said this is my headcanon and i rewrote it in my head for myself to enjoy, therefore i get to bend reality to my will so yeah