#I mean I'd love any fan art of any parts of that fight. But that might be my favorite specific image.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 24 thoughts:

. . . fucking . . . fuck. Just . . . fuck. Fucking fucky fucking FUCK, THAT WAS SO BADASS!!!!!

ALL OF IT HOLY SHIT I DON'T CARE, JUST PICK ANY MOMENT!! EVERYTHING EVERYONE DID WAS BADASS!

LIKE. FUCK. COLIN GOT TO LOOK BADASS.

He even got "yelling in caps" badass. Just for the one scene when he picked up Chevy. He did one fucking thing right, which was help someone up and then let THEM be cool.

And speaking of . . . HOLY FUCKING SHIT CHEVY! YOU DIDN'T GET KILLED BY TIME TRAVEL CHAD!

WHICH MEANS I DON'T HATE YOU ANYMORE!

WHICH MEANS I CAN SHOUT ABOUT HOW BADASS THAT WAS!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fuck waiting for my interlude section to talk about this. That final scene with Behemoth was one of the most visually badass things I have ever read in my life! Fuck. I get fucking chills just thinking about it.

I can see that entire last fight in my head very clearly, almost like remembering an anime scene. Perfectly written.

And Regent! Look at you go, that's character growth!

I mean sure, you died. But growth!

Besides, you dying legit made Imp cooler. She was already great but "I'm going to fucking kill his dad for him" is even better! And Wanton's apparently got jokes so we still have a funny guy.

Basically if someone had to die I'm happy it was you. Sorry not sorry.

ALSO FOIL WHAT THE FUCK YOUR POWER COULD ALWAYS DO THAT AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN SITTING THERE SHOOTING THINGS?

I . . . I just . . . girl! How?? You could literally have turned a piece of rebar into a sword that Alexandria could have cut Leviathan in half with! And that's just what I thought of in the first few seconds after seeing this! Spend some time actually thinking about what you can do lady!

But luckily my daughter is here to do the thinking, and be FUCKING AMAZING AT IT!!!

LIKE HOLY SHIT TAYLOR, YOU CUT OFF BEHEMOTH'S LEG!

AND THAT PLAN HOLY SHIT! YOU MADE A PLAN THAT SET RACHEL UP TO BE THE BADASS HERO WHO CUTS OFF BEHEMOTH'S LEG, AND SETUP REALLY POWERFUL HEROES AS HER SUPPORT!

Fuck half of Eidolon's fucking job was "Catch my girlfriend and fly her back to me."

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOLFSPIDER WOLFSPIDER WOLFSPIDER!!!!!!

And the snuggling at the end, as they were leaving!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my god and the lightning rod! That was insane!

Golem just has really cool powers. Glad Theo is doing ok.

And Alexandria's power preserves the body so Pretender can just puppet her. That's wild. Kinda annoying, my daughter just killed her!

And and and Taylor talked with Contessa!

AND CONTESSA SHARED HER POWER!!!

I was pretty close, didn't have it that specific, but basically was expecting something similar. Fuuuuck it's so cool!

Also the underground cities and the secret capes were wild. Kinda unfortunate that you guys set things up for Behemoth to be able to collapse the entire city, gave him lots of existing tunnels and such to work with.

My daughter could have done a little less bonding with Phir Sē. Ideally. Would have made me feel a little better.

But holy shit a time portal bomb made of looped light?? GOD DAMN. That sure hit like a truck. Just not a big enough truck.

Also Grace and Cuff are dating. I don't make the rules I just enforce them.

And the rules are "make it gay"

God and the whole "thinkers stuck on a roof" bit. Christ that was planned badly. They almost died because nobody had some rope. Embarrassing.

I'm glad Tattletale is doing ok. She got her girlfriend to steal a dudes phone for her, which was pretty funny. And I loved how she still got to do her big reveal to Chevy, she needs that.

HOLY SHIT AND TAYLOR TELLING RACHEL HOW TO TAKE CARE OF IMP?? SHE UNDERSTANDS HER GIRLFRIEND. GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAAAAAAYYY!

And fuckin Tecton just trying so hard to do the same thing with Rachel first and just failing so completely. And then trying again. And again. Bless his big himbo heart he's trying.

Fuck there's so much, I'm sure I'm missing a dozen other things. Every chapter had 20 moments I could mention.

Seriously though, sucks for New Delhi. "There’s nothing left to protect here" is a heck of a line and it is not what anyone wants to hear.

Chevy interlude (the rest of it) thoughts:

Holy shit Chevy's shadows! I wish he had described more of them, I wanted to know everyone's image! Just so much data there.

Fun to see the early Wards. Fun to see that Colin was always like that.

Hero's death was absolutely a targeted hit, he started asking too many questions, pushing back on things.

Chevy's whole power is just really fascinating. Really interesting to think about.

RIP Mouse Protector

Also the fact that her shadow was her laughing makes me think she might have lost the ability to be sad when she triggered, which is unfortunate if true. I mean Bonesaw got you either way so I guess it doesn't matter now.

Loved getting a wonderful list of Endbringer attacks. Sure it still wasn't all of them, but up through Simmy showing up is still pretty great.

Extremely curious about Mr. Keene, keeping an eye out for more info on him.

Tattletale just needed this poor man to read her texts and let her do her fucking THING! It's all she wants.

Anyway ya turns out powers (except Scion of course) can't touch the actual core of the Endbringers and I'm like 95% sure I have a good idea as to why it works like that, but still got a little bit of that uncertainty.

Endbringers are directly related to Eidolon in some way, I am pretty sure of that. Created by him. Previous bodies. Sentient poop for all I know! They're connected though.

HOLY SHIT WHEN HE SEES TAYLOR'S SHADOW DURING THE FINAL FIGHT!!!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! SHE LOOKED SO BADASS!!!!

Aftermath interlude thoughts:

Pretender and Satyr are so gay. That one's easy I don't even gotta try.

Everyone just starting to freak out about how things are gonna escalate instead of just celebrating the win is really unfortunate.

I mean, they aren't wrong. Another Endbringer is gonna come. But it would be nice if they could live in happy ignorance for a few days.

I'm guessing it'll either be two Endbringers that always attack at the same time or one Endbringer that uses teleportation to swap to a different city after a certain period of time. In either case basically fucking up the organized response ability.

Already mentioned this, but Rachel and Taylor fell asleep on each other!!!! GGGGAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!

If Dragon comes back wrong I'm putting all of the blame on Colin.

Fucking Danny just fucked that phone call up so bad. This man can not get it fucking right. FUCK.

GLENN YOU FUCKING FUCK I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR REASONS ARE YOU DON'T PUT SOMEONES PRIVATE VIDEO THEY TOOK FOR THERAPY ON THE INTERNET!!

AND YOU NEVER EVEN FUCKING SAID "SORRY"!!!!! YOU EXPLAINED YOUR ACTIONS AND WHY YOU HAD TO DO IT EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD HURT HER AND YOU COULDN'T ASK HER CAUSE SHE WOULD HAVE SAID NO BUT YOU NEVER EVEN SAID SORRY!!!

Like for real. Taylor says "You could have asked" and you respond with "You would have said no." Fuck at least just say sorry!

[deadbeatbirdmom]

Happy Valentine's Day my fellow RWBY fans. This should be a day focused on love. Which is why I'm going to talk about something that's been troubling me for a while. This isn't about any single post, and I'm not singling anyone out. I'd put this under a read more cut but I think it's important enough not to do that. Scroll down for TLDR and a poll.

One of the common courtesies of tumblr etiquette is: don't tag hate with things like a ship tag or character tag. Or should be common, but let's face it, it's more like uncommon.

A good chunk of tumblr users who I end up blocking are those who post hate in tags like the 'Bumbleby' tag, or 'Yang Xiao Long' tag (it'd be the 'RWBY' tag too, but I don't often go there and rarely post in it). No, it's not toxic to block people, it's how you control your tumblr experience. It's how I avoid seeing hate, or try to.

But there are some tumblr users who I don't want to block but also end up putting hate in the tags: some of my fellow fans. It's not intended the same way as those who do it out of spite, but the end result is the same: your fellow fans end up seeing stuff they might prefer not to.

There's another rule, an old one that predates tumblr: don't feed the trolls. Don't give them attention. Please delete anon hate rather than answer it, although I definitely understand how trolling trolls can be fun. Just please don't tag it with the main tags or you'll do the anon's work for them if it's hate about a ship or character.

I see all too much fan art around that gets far less engagement than posts trying to fight back against hate (and unfortunately share the hate at the same time, especially when it's something from elsewhere like reddit or twitter). If you like the art, don't only hit that heart button, reblog it too!

RWBY fandom isn't dead, but we do need to do our part to encourage artists to make and share more art. Likes alone don't help the art get in front of more fans. I don't think everyone looks in the tags to find art, some will rely on those they follow reblogging art. This goes for sharing fic too! And giving fic writers comments (and kudos on AO3).

This is an appeal to keep negativity out of the main tags. I'm not saying you can't post whatever you want, just when it comes to tagging: please spare a thought for your fellow fans who are incredibly tired of negativity. If all else fails, maybe include a tag that can be added to filters? 'Wasps' for posts about Bumbleby hate, maybe?

I don't know about anyone else, but if I wanted to see hate and get angry, I'd be on twitter or reddit. I check tags here on tumblr to find fan art, and to see fellow fans talking about how much they love RWBY and its characters and ships, and find interesting theories and analysis.

I'm also not entirely sure how tumblr works with followed tags and words mentioned in posts. Do untagged posts still show up if the word appears in the post? Does that mean breaking the word with a backslash or something to avoid it showing up? I don't know, perhaps something to consider.

TLDR: please don't feed the trolls and don't tag hate with main tags. Show RWBY fan artists and fic writers some love and reblog their posts, and comment on fics!

One last thing: a poll to find out if I'm an outlier and posting hate is actually normal in this post-twitter world.

[zeldaversed]

Four Swords Adventure Manga: My Thoughts

(as requested by @chatter-crow)

@chatter-crow FSA was actually one of my favorite manga before they released the Twilight Princess manga. I'd love to talk about it!

[Disclaimer: It's been years since I've read it, so if there are any mistakes please correct me!]

Released in 2004-2005 in Japan (translated into English in 2009), the manga coincided with the game's release earlier in the year of 2004. It, along with the other manga released for the games, are officially considered non-canon.

Four Swords Adventures, however, is beloved by Zelda fans around the globe because of its character development and insight into how each of the different Links think, behave, and even fight. Many even consider it canon after its story changes deepened the plot and enriched the relationships between the characters.

The story begins with Link, a childhood friend of Zelda's, who ends up pulling the Master Sword after she and her maidens invite him with them to check the seal on Vaati. The maidens disappear, and in their place is Shadow Link. After a brief battle Link is knocked unconscious, and when he wakes he pulls the Four Sword so that he will be able to save Zelda-- as a result, Vaati is released. The manga follows the plot of the original pretty closely, but there is variation.

I think the best part of these manga, however, was the character development for the different colors.

Green (our main Link), Blue, Red, and Vio, and even Shadow all have amazing character development showcasing different aspects of Link's personality as if they were there own people and for awhile, they were.

Green is the embodiment of all of the colors, but he has his own weaknesses. Throughout the story, he's focused on saving Zelda and is the designated leader. Blue is aggressive, quick to anger, and is often mean although he has a good heart. Red is the optimist, facing any situation with hope in his heart. Vio is cool, calm, and collected, even cunning, double-crossing Shadow in the end. Shadow had an excellent arc, beginning as an "evil" entity because all he knew was the much darker side of Link's personality that he'd smothered. In the end, he turned against Vaati and helped save Zelda. Shadow was honestly my favorite character, since we've never seen a rendition of Dark Link fully fleshed out before.

He appears in both Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess as an obstacle Link must defeat, but never as his own person before. This provided insight into his character, even getting empathy and sympathy from the audience.

Another aspect of this manga that I really liked was the switch up between blue and red. Typically, blue is associated with sadness or calm, whereas red is the more aggressive one.

Four Swords Adventures is still one of my favorite manga, second only to Twilight Princess. I loved not only the story, but the characters, setting, and art style. It's one of the best manga that there are.

Have something you'd like to add? Reblog with your thoughts or submit an ask! If you'd like to join the tag list, you can submit an ask or request it directly on a post.

[go-learn-esperanto]

Considering the recent situation relating to Shelby's abuse story I will take some actions that sadden me but are, unfortunately, necessary for my peace of mind.

I will shut down my @socket-duo blog. If you want to reblog something from there for archival purposes please do so until tomorrow.

Same for @sootings-fuck-you. Even though I don't think there's much to get from there as it was a joke blog.

I will discuss how to proceed with the Crimeboys Ao3 Feed (@ao3feed-crimeboys) with the other mod.

I might not have the time to take a lot of things related to Wilbur from my pinned for some time, so be aware that's not because I'm taking his side on this. I will also probably not remove all posts related to Wilbur from my blog as there are most likely thousands of them.

I may also not remove posts related to Wilbur from the cursed and iconic masterposts however, as those posts were intended to be an archive of the fandom. I'm still considering what to do about this. They'll stay for now.

I will change my blog theme when I have the time. I will keep talking about Hermitcraft as I've done in the past few months however I may start posting about something that isn't MCYT too. If any you likes to talk about Honkai Star Rail you are encouraged to ramble about it on my asks ^^

To end, the MCYT fandom, even the late Dream SMP fandom, here on Tumblr was amazing. You were the biggest community I was a part of and so many of you I love and have been friends with. I don't regret joining it all as I got to see such cool art, stories, theories and more from everyone. You all are amazing, and having been a fan of someone who turned out to be shitty doesn't mean you're shitty.

Support Shelby if you can as all of this must be taking quite a lot from her. This has such a big impact and she's a queer woman revealing something personal about herself when her (very plausible alleged) abuser has so many fans. And while I'd like to believe most of us that were his fans can think for ourselves and recognise when we should say "fuck you" to someone who we enjoyed I know that's almost certainly not the case for everyone.

... I also please ask you all to stop fighting eachother. This is all quite recent and there's probably people who aren't really aware of the whole situation or aware of it at all. Please have some patience before starting call out posts. If someone is being stupid just block them.

[kvalenagle]

Okay, I've been summoned to Tumblr by cute Satra and Lei fan art, so I should probably introduce myself and my books. Hello! I'm Vale, and I write creature fantasy as K. Vale Nagle. If you like interesting gryphons, you're in the right place: aquatic diving petrel/fishing cat gryphons, poisonous hooded pitohui/tiger gryphons, pretty gyrfalcon/snow leopard gryphons, intimidating Haast's eagle/saber-toothed tiger gryphons, soggy sandgrouse/sand cat gryphons, and a lot more. My series are epic fantasy using mostly real (though sometimes extinct) animals, free of humans but full of queer characters, intrigue, large battles, and ecological apocalypses. My cover art is by Jeff Brown, with interior graphite pieces by Brenda Lyons and gryphon chapter headers by Kittrel (whose chibi hearts you may have seen). I also have a short story collection (best read anytime after Starling, book three) with a beak-cute lesbian gryphon love story with terror birds, a Gryphon vs. Nature blizzard apocalypse tale, a Christmas-y story, and something pretty close to zombies. I've also written a full novel set in the world of Dire by John Bailey called Coldbright which can be found in the Tales of Feathers & Flames anthology. If you like GryphIns but you want something with more mystery, almost horror, as told through the eyes of a snarky little opinicus and his dire gryphon ex-boyfriend, it's a great read this time of year. I love and appreciate all the fan mail, fan fiction, fan letters, and people reaching out about this series. I'm a little slow replying, as I started writing the series right after getting diagnosed with a catastrophic autoimmune system. The treatments are pretty intense, and it's easiest for me to spend my time and energy writing. I used to have a few pen names across several genres, but for the most part, all of my energy goes into finishing up GryphIns. I'm married to dragon author Glenn Birmingham, so if you've seen us posting pictures of our cats and thought it's strange they share a name, they're the same cats. And that's about it. Just a queer author writing gryphony books when I'm not walking my cat. A few common answers to questions: Q: There are sometimes typos in social media, why is that? A: Catastrophic APS means I've had a stroke (and associated memory loss), so when a copy editor isn't coming up behind me, there'll be doubled words and typos from time-to-time. I used to worry about them, since they don't look good if you're an author! But I'd rather reply to fan letters and kind posts. I think if you've read my author notes at the back of my books, you know to expect a few doubled words here and there. Q: When you say a queer author, what do you mean? A: Since people ask about own voices and I have a lot of lgbtqia+ characters in my books, I'm pan, demi, trans, and genderfluid. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of queer friends and first readers who make sure I don't mess up any characters. Q: When's the next GryphIns novel coming out? A: Some years, I spend a lot of my time fighting health insurance battles, and it slows me down. Pridelord (#8) is currently in line edits. It's twice as long as Eyrie and three times as long as Coldbright, so it's a pretty big book! It shouldn't be too much longer. You'll know it's just about time because you'll hear James Scott Spaid talk about narrating the audiobook. Q: How many books will there be in GryphIns? A: I'm famous for underestimating how many books it takes to finish a series. My other pen names all wrote short stories and standalone novels, so my proposal for GryphIns originally had five books. Jeff Brown is wrapping up the cover for Saberbeak (#9) and Nighthaunt (#10). If I end up needing one more book to finish, though, don't be too surprised.

[blackjack-15]

Hi I just got through reading all of your liveblogging posts about The Bear! It was a delight to read all of your real-time predictions that ended up coming true, you really had this show’s number from the jump lol. Do you have any predictions for next season? Most fans think Carm and Syd are headed for an explosive confrontation, but are any other storylines, scenes, character beats, etc. that you think we might see?

This is super nice of you, anon! thank you so much for following my chaotic ramblings XD and hey it's a lot easier to know what might happen in the show when they've got such competent writers/directors! tho they surprised me a fair number of times (i don't think i'll be over the interplay/intercuts of claire, carmy, and syd at the end of 2X07/start of 2X08 any time soon), which keeps things fun

as far as predictions for next season...i think it's hard to say without having the first five minutes of S3 in front of me (they do such a good job setting up the tone and conflicts of the season in the first little bit of S1 and S2!), but i've got

a couple things i'm pretty sure about:

-more REM songs (only thing i'm 100% positive on)

-more kitchen/cooking time for our mains, especially carmy. last season's renovations + cliche john hughes nonsense kept him mostly out of the kitchen from ep 3 on, and i'm 99% sure he'll be back with a knife in hand come S3

-nat giving birth to a girl (i'd love it but am not solid on predicting she'd be named some derivative of 'mary' (or a name meaning 'victory', such as nicole), given the berzatto family prayer).

i know the temptation for her to have a boy named after michael is strong b/c it's TV, but this series (rightly, in my mind) tends away from Lionizing the Dead simply b/c they're dead, and after spending S2 breaking down mikey (and showing mikey and nat's relationship, which like ever berzatto relationship wasn't super healthy), i'm hopeful and trusting the writers to avoid this. it wouldn't make me hate the show or anything, but it would honestly disappoint me unless done in a way (i honestly can't think of what way) that would make it okay. plus pete kinda screams girldad to me, and seeing carmy and richie with a little niece would be incredibly precious

-sydcarmy dustup of some kind, but i doubt it'll be as explosive as we've seen in the past, mostly b/c syd was stressed but exhilarated by success at friends & family and b/c i think carmy's (lack of) mental health will be brought up in relation to it

-solidifying of a secondary staff at the bear to let our regulars breathe a bit and have the bear feel like a real, functioning kitchen, not a mom and pop greasy spoon -- this started at the end of s2 but it needs to continue

-cicero setting the tone of the first few months of The Bear (and probably his commentary on carmy's relationships) -- we're not out of the realm of Complete and Utter Failure yet, lads, and the money is gonna come due -- whether by the guise of Friendly Uncle Jimmy visiting with Nat, or the mask of Cicero the Loan Shark coming out in full force

-art storyline with carmy figuring out what will replace the awful painting (i'm going to guess it'll be something of his design, but it'll at least be something he feels represents him, given the comments last season)

-major theme of carmy figuring out what he wants vs what others want for him. him analyzing his relationship with claire by himself -- or, my preference, talking it out with Tina, who he seems to be able to open up to pretty well -- is part of this

things that have to happen but i have no idea how/to what resolution:

-carmy and richie addressing the "donna" fight/comment. it's gonna be multi-ep (neither one is great at complimenting the other to their face and tend to do it behind the other's back, but richie is especially bad at it), and it's gonna hurt.

-pete spilling the beans to Someone (not nat but not sure who) about donna being at f&f

-resident claire's poor little hurt feelings from trespassing into the kitchen and eavesdropping on then leaving carmy in the middle of a really, really bad attack (yes i'm phrasing it that way because it's true <3)

-something about tiff's upcoming wedding (marcus getting contracted/recommended to make dessert for it would be painful but oh so crunchy)

-carmy meets syd's dad. he's proud of her and her success and you know he's gonna want to meet her business partner

nebulous predictions:

-ebra's storyline with him carving out a niche at the sandwich window getting screentime

-tina coming more into her own and maybe getting a designated storyline (about what? no idea)

-more gary nonsense. man lives the wildest life and we see almost none of it

-carmy working through what cooking means to him and what it means in relation to the bear/the berzattos/sydney

-nat's water breaks/she goes into labor at the bear. not sure the baby will actually be born there (i'd guess probably not on the whole), but the process will Begin there

-syd distraction/love interest storyline. not even her dating particularly, just her attention being Split and having the shoe be on the other foot for carmy as they navigate what being business partners means outside the kitchen

-fak time. he's a little uncertain, a little wandering in the restaurant, and he was a major...antagonistic force, let's say? in S2. his place in the world of the bear needs clarification and harmony, and his identity needs solidity and sureness

things that aren't impossible/improbable but would be a Little Treat for Me specifically:

-chef jess being invited to the bear by richie (let the man have people outside the bear and his kid/ex! garrett may come too i'll allow it)

-the return of louie my beloved (helping out at the sandwich window? he makes a good foil to Young Carmy, so i would like to see him more -- carmy in Full Mentorship would be a thing to see, and it would be a being-better-than-mikey-was-to-him thing as well. it's narratively crunchy and provides lots of room for growth, but can be done in ways that don't involve louie, so that's why it's here)

-syd's best meal + comment about being a regular at The Beef coming back. do i think they eventually will? yes. am i aware that my desire for them is prolly stronger than it narratively should be be predicted? also yes. could this easily be combined with carmy meeting syd's dad? yes and i will break the sound barrier

-carmy drawing a dish syd comes up with. a hand-drawn menu for the bear would be Incredible, and syd's face looking at a sistine-chapel-style drawing of a dish she came up with? tremendous, chef

thing that i want to be brought up more than Anything but don't predict it'll be touched (at least directly):

-carmy yelling for syd during his attack in the walk-in (i'm sorry you can't have the man yelling "MARCUS GET ME SYD. GET ME SYD" and expect me not to want it on a billboard

that got long, sorry anon, but there we go -- 4am rambling off-the-cuff about S3...only months to go, hopefully....

[kingbryancroidragon]

Darkness Rising Part 3 Commentary

It has been a while, but let us carry on.

I remember Jeff Kline saying that he imagined Jack and Miko getting married in the future with Jack becoming a well-known motorcycle racer and Miko a distinct and successful artist and in hindsight with his admiring of Arcee in her alt mode and Jack saying "Bring it" to Arcee going for more of a joyride in this episode, I can definitely see that. Oh, yeah, and Miko would so be wanting to use the ground bridge to visit various art galleries around this time.

Meanwhile, you have Miko... I don't know? Playing rollercoaster? I don't know what to call this.

I find it weird that Bumblebee isn't playing as the yellow car.

And Ratchet does battle with what must be like if a human was fighting with a Japanese spider crab. I don't know, does that size comparison work?

A bit brief to have the mouth plate on, isn't it, Optimus?

I'm pretty sure killing Optimus yourself would be a good way to get on Megatron's bad side considering that's what he wants to do.

Well, Ratchet has a point. Unless the Ice Age Wars happened in this continuity, there wouldn't be any on earth, but as we all know, that is not the case.

Well, someone finally put Bulkhead in charge.

Band practice apparently.

Head canon: Miko's actually a closet country music fan.

Well, Megatron has to be what? Six million years old, sixty in human years? I'd say there is a good reason his memory is so long.

Who needs Big Brother when you have Soundwave listening?

I'm not sure how to feel about Laserbeak's design here, but on the other hand he hasn't had the most consistent design in the franchise's long history.

You have to give Fowler credit for trying to take down Laserbeak.

I have to wonder if Fowler was micro-chipped voluntarily of if he was knocked unconscious/drugged and then micro-chipped.

Honestly, getting snarky/snippy/sassy with the giant killer robot is probably not the best idea.

I mean, it makes sense leaving Jack in charge since he's the oldest, but does this mean Arcee is older than Bulkhead or is she just more responsible in general?

At least Miko has the sense to know she made a mistake.

In charge of the base, Raf. No wild parties.

The prod, that's not good.

I love Jack's shrug to Raf's question. It's like he isn't sure if his bones are vibrating.

Seems like the less fresh the corpse the slower the zombie.

[cultho]

rant about lotk that i suddenly remembered

totally valid if you enjoy the series or the points im abt to mention, these just b my opinions

worldbuilding / aesthetics i distinctly as a just started middle schooler being disappointed by the designs 'modernized' world i'd so come to love. ie, the western/european industrial revolution influences. sure, historically, due to colonization imperialism etc from western powers that's how a lot of it happened (to my understanding); but for me there was no 'europe' equivalent in the atla world,,,, so like where would those visual influences b coming from??? tbh it's less even 'oh it doesnt make sense in-world' but more just wanting to imagine what modernized asian aesthetics would look like sans western influence. i'd also hate to equate 'modernization' with 'westernization'. Perhaps sth like an AsianFuturism. for me it felt like a shame that the creators couldn't imagine more tech advanced asian cultures without the influence of the western world. This was also the desire of a younger me, pre-Asian American media boom (think starting somewhere around crazy rich asians, EEAAO, Michelle Yeoh, etc), back when i almost literally never seen ppl who looked like me portrayed meaningfully not even gonna lie i thought the giant statue of aang was cringe LMAO,,, i was like bro this isn't manhattan like hello????? like to me if aang were to be memorialized in world that's not how it would look.

2. explaining too much/avatar wan's arc again, completely valid if you enjoyed this part. i just personally didn't care for it.

i felt like it was explaining sth that didn't need to be explained, and then explained in an overly literal way that didn't add to the overall work. for me spirits/spiritualism/the avatar were a deeply ingrained given part of the world. the avatar especially was just a built-in self-regulation mechanism (essentially a guaranteed diplomat who has had to live/experience cultures of the 4 dominant nations)

then the way the first avatar was explained felt overly literal; the world of spirits/spiritualism became just a gigantamax pokemon fight - oh, who's the bigger spirit??? will they have the muscles to beat the other meanie spirit????? rather than spirits being portrayed as sth just beyond mortal understanding, ineffable & transdimensional, fickle beings in their own right. Even the spirits who appear frightening or uncomfortable weren't portrayed as necessarily 'bad,' they were just spirits, and with that came with their own moral codes that human perceptions didn't strictly apply to. and like also the raava/vaatu dichotomy was stupid. it reverts to (tired) white = good and black = bad tropes. and also yin/yang DOES NOT mean good/bad LIKE PLEASE. in general i feel like a lot of the tlok plot points came from a (unecessary imo) need to explain everything, make sure everything was black&white (ha), either good or bad, rather than the complex morality a lot of OG atla writing portrayed and further implied. Reminds me of famous concept artist Lorraine O'Grady's essay 'Olympia's Maid' (ctrl F "both: and" to jump to the sections im referencing), critiquing Western 'either:or'ism that struggles to accept the multiplicity of "both:and"ism having watched atla, my questions weren't 'oh how did the avatar come to be?' i was more curious to see different corners of the world, different expressions of the cultures of the four nations (we've seen the swamp benders, the sun warriors, what else was out there? SHOUTOUT THIS RAD ART). i also rlly vibed with a lot of fan writings, such as what may have happened to any underground air nomad diaspora. i wish they focused on using bending/atla world mechanics as vehicles to allegorize concepts & human experiences rather than wasting spending all their time explaining those mechanics to death.

and yes im aware the show is made by western creators for western audiences (and the four element system is western, by contrast for example chinese theology (?) concerns 5 elements - wood, metal, earth, water, fire) and yes OG atla definitely had a lot of flaws, but for me these were the points where i stopped enjoying tlok ykwim

[turtlemagnum]

made 2 more threads on bluesky about Myself, here's one of them! warning, long!

q: first video game a: pirated spore on my dad's lap

q: favorite character a: undyne… how i love undyne…..

q: a game that is underrated a: the turok games on N64 and yugioh dark duel stories on GBC, the best yugioh video game adaptation because it doesnt follow the real rules at all

q: guilty pleasure game a: i don't feel guilty for having pleasure because i'm not fucking catholic

q: game character you feel most like (or wish you were) a: every day that passes is a day that takes me closer to becoming harry du bois from the hit game disco elysium the final cut

q: most annoying character a: i've never played the games but there's a little white haired boy from i think danganronpa(?) who always attracts the most insufferable people to choose him as a profile picture, so probably that guy

q: favorite game couple a: alphyne

q: best OST a: UTDR & PMD

q: saddest scene a: papyrus fight during a no mercy run

q: best gameplay a: celeste

q: gaming system of choice a: PC and switch because switch emulation isn't there yet

q: game everyone should play a: no good game is gonna be for everyone, so i can't really meaningfully answer this question

q: game you've played more than 5 times a: i'd assume this means like, start to finish, and the closest i can think of is that i've beaten skyrim and oblivion's main quests a few times each? i dunno i'm bad at finishing games (ADHD)

q: current (or most recent) video game wallpaper a: when i was a lot younger i had my ipod touch background as art of the hylian crest that was all like, cyan and burning and such, and i think that's the last time i remember having a dedicated gaming background on any device i had

q: post a screenshot from a game you're playing now a:

q: game with the best cutscenes a: i play games to play games, not watch movies

q: favorite antagonist a: flowey UTDR

q: favorite protagonist a: meeee =D

q: post a picture of a game setting you wished you'd live in a: i don't feel like posting any more pictures but i think the best game series to live in would probably be pokemon? mostly because it operates on logic where you're probably not gonna die from shit like hugging a slug that's the temperature of the surface of the sun or getting a million volts run through you by a magical electric rat, and if you know what you're doing even a 10 year old can become the most powerful person alive. imagine being an adult with a real world degree of intellect! i'd build a champion tier pokemon team easily, make a living off of that AND i'd meet people & make friends through it. plus, have you seen all the women? i'm gonna professor oak some milfs, i swear

q: favorite genre a: i'm not sure i have a favorite, but i probably spend most of my time in open world games and RPGs

q: best story a: undertale & fallout: new vegas. both appeared in my life at a deeply young, formative age and i've never been the same since

q: sequel that disappointed you a: honestly? totk. i think a big part of it is just how similar the overworld is, and at this point in my life i'm not really that big of a fan of the whole "create your own fun" thing that it took basically wholecloth from gmod and such. i probably would've loved it to death when i was a kid, though

q: best art style a: probably botw/totk

q: favorite classic title a: majora's mask babey!!! probably my favorite zelda game, and i fuckin love zelda

q: a game on your list to play a: pathologic classic HD

q: best voice acting a: oblivion

q: most epic scene a: hashtag epic hashtag awesomesauce…

q: favorite game developer a: probably a tie between nintendo and valve

q: game you were surprised you liked a: the first FPS game i ever played was CoD, and i fucking hate that style of shooter but since it was my first shooter i thought i just hated shooters, but then i played tf2 and hl1 and iliked both and was surprised about that so yeah, turns out that i don't dislike shooters, i just dislike mediocre military propaganda

q: favorite game of all time a: peggle 3 for nintendo gamecube (i can't reduce complex pieces of art to something as simple as "favorite")

[orionsangel86]

who cares about fandom. it's shows. shows aren't important american

This ask is really confusing to me. Are you calling me American as an insult? If so thats super funny to me since I most certainly am not American!

I know this is just someone being a dick for the sake of being a dick, but I will take this ask sincerely because I have the freedom of choice to do so. Who does care about fandom? Lots of people actually.

You know what is a huge and important fandom to lots of people worldwide? Football. Maybe you don't see it the same way because it's not about some dumb TV show, but its still a fandom. They even have different factions for different teams, and it gets weirdly nationalistic during global competition events. So who cares about fandom? Well, for football fans, I'd say about 5 billion people.

But limiting it to those unimportant shows anon has chosen to sneer at, well, in recent years comic cons around the world have reported a total of 1.8million+ attendees each year. And that is just a fraction of the fans who can afford to attend these conventions (plus these are only the big conventions not including the likes of Creation cons). Regardless of how much you sneer at it, fandom is huge and a huge part of many peoples lives. Fandom has brought people community, support, connection, and a mountain of creativity at its heart.

On a personal note, some of my best friends were met through Supernatural Fandom. We still talk regularly to this day and I try to meet up with them as often as possible even though we are all dotted all over Europe and America. Without Supernatural, a so called unimportant show, I wouldn't have those real life connections which mean so much to me and have made my life better.

Ask any actor from one of those unimportant shows, and they will tell you how they have met with fans who literally found reason to keep living through the shows that they loved, that the struggles and journeys of the characters they are passionate about literally saved their lives. Tell those people that fandom isn't important, that their shows are meaningless eh? Tell that to someone who was thinking of ending their own life but chose to keep living because they saw how important that was to their fave characters.

The Supernatural actors put out an actual crisis hotline to support fans struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts. They started campaigns like Always Keep Fighting and You Are Not Alone because they saw how much their fandom relied on them and the fandom they were apart of, because the show was their only escape from a harsh reality. Misha Collins was able to get his Random Acts charity off the ground through the support of fandom, and to this date Random Acts has succeeded in supporting communities worldwide, including providing disaster relief in Haiti and building a school in Nicaragua.

So much for an unimportant show, when its very existance has spurned a crisis network and a charity that continue to support and save lives globally.

And thats JUST Supernatural. There is so much work done by fandoms everywhere, for all different shows. Fandom is Community. And when communities get together they create wonderful things, they support each other, and sometimes, they save lives.

Who are you to say community is unimportant? Who are you anon? a user of Tumblr.com, the fandom website, to make such a bold and wrong claim? Television is storytelling, and storytelling is one of the oldest art forms. It makes us human, connects us with our past and speaks to our hearts and souls. We share our love and joy and passion through storytelling. It is where we find escape from the humdrum of our daily lives, it is where true magic lies. There is nothing unimportant about that.

[sergeifyodorov]

As a Scheherazade super fan, I'd LOVE some DVD commentary, not sure if this is 500 words sorry but I love this bit:

The memories surge up into Auston’s mouth like vomit now, Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch. A teammate, but not a friend. No mini-sticks in Patty Marleau’s basement, no Matt Martin ruffling Mitch’s hair, no Bogo fumbling in the kitchen with them as they stumbled through an Internet recipe. 

Their first or second year, Babcock cornering Mitch at one end of the locker room and muttering to him in a low voice, the Babs voice that means it’s this or a bagger worse than any you’ve ever had, and Mitch not even bothering to protest, just hanging his head low and ducking like he had a tail to put between his legs. The list, teammates that hustled hard and then ones that put in the work and then the lazy no-good sons of bitches and then Mitch dead last, and not one person in the room even daring to talk back to the coach about it. 

John Tavares, coming to Toronto for Mitch. Because he wanted a true superstar winger, and Mitch was producing seventy-odd points a season as a perennial thirdliner. Johnny, proud and composed, getting laid out against Montreal, blood on the ice and jerking limbs. Mitch flinging the puck over the glass, fighting tears in the box. Johnny, who failed his physical before training camp cause of the concussion and never played again. There’s time left on his contract, sitting forever in LTIR now. He’s still the captain. He won’t be back.

Auston chokes, putting his hands on the floor, trying to ground himself.

“I’m sorry,” Barilko says, and Auston jumps. He didn’t realize he was still here.

“Of the hockey gods,” Barilko says, sounding a little sad, “I have never been known for kindness.”

Auston lets out the rest of a ragged breath, then takes one more.

“But then again,” says Barilko, “have any of them?

“Good luck, thirty-four; you will need it.” There’s a sudden silence in the room; the newfound quiet after background noise disappears. He’s gone, then.

Auston allows himself one more memory on the floor: the apartment fire. He wasn’t there for this, but Mitch’s house burned down while he was at the draft. Auston was there six months ago when his own apartment building burned down -- a cold snap raced through Toronto and much of continental North America, and someone in his building had a space heater that caught something. He remembers coming back to the burning condo, the air hazy with smoke and the fumes of his breath, the fire the brightest light for miles.

So where is he now?

He opens his eyes. The floor is hardwood, but not his own; probably maple from the colour, brushed to prevent scrapes for longer. The memory of this universe is still coming back to him; this place isn’t so instantaneously recognizable. He stands up. It’s a bedroom, even if it’s not his. There’s no dresser, just a few folded sweatpants and suits next to a case, and no art, at least nothing that wouldn’t be amiss in a mid-level hotel. The feel of it creeps in before the context: he’s stayed here for a while, but he doesn’t think of it as home.

He also doesn’t have a bathroom connected to the bedroom, which is fine, but he kind of does need to pee right now so he heads for the door.

There’s a dog on the other side. The flow of memory has slowed to a trickle, and some part of it has caught up enough with him to supply that Felix (God and Jesus -- he missed having Felix, he doesn’t know what other-universes him was thinking) is sleeping downstairs, you’re ever-grateful that you were out on a walk with him when the fire started and also that this dog is not Felix.

It’s Zeus. Mitch’s boy.

Zeus taps his toes a few times on the hardwood floor in front of Auston, whistling out his nose and giving his tail a hesitant shake.

“Hi,” Auston says, and the last piece of this world clicks into his brain, like it was kept from him for a dramatic reveal. He’s staying at Mitch’s house, has been since pretty much the New Year -- a week after the fire. It’s June now, Cup Final season. Toronto still hovers ‘round sixty Fahrenheit, even if the days last well into the night. He’s not usually here this late into the year, doesn’t realize how sticky the first few hot days can get.

“You’re right,” he mutters, to Barilko in general, but, since he’s not here, to no one in particular. “It does hurt.”

Zeus snorts at him, comes up to poke at his hand for pets. Auston gets a wet nose in his palm and sighs, because there’s something Zeus clearly wants from him that he doesn’t have.

“What’s up, bud?” he asks, and Zeus takes a few steps back, snorting again like he wants Auston to follow him.

Okay, sure.

SCHEHERAZADE mon ami my debut showcase still the best thing ive ever written imho etc etc. anyway. yes i can dissect EVERY word if need be

The memories surge up into Auston’s mouth like vomit now, Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch Mitch. A teammate, but not a friend. No mini-sticks in Patty Marleau’s basement, no Matt Martin ruffling Mitch’s hair, no Bogo fumbling in the kitchen with them as they stumbled through an Internet recipe.

The idea for this fic as a whole came about in a discussion with some friends of mine on a discord server; we were talking about the ultimate tragedy of this draft class and how no matter how it goes, it would be terrible, dramatic, miserable, et cetera. One of us pointed out how even if the picks were in the same order it could be worse: if Connor had been injury-prone instead of unlucky his first season, if the other, veteran Leafs hadn't so willingly embraced and defended Mitch. I don't entirely agree with Kyle Dubas' modus operandi of summoning exclusively sentimental old men as Leafs depth for those first few years, but without them maybe it would have been worse.

Notes for the specific examples: Marleau's kids LOVE 16 and 34, and what is it hockey kids do besides mini-sticks? Also, Zach Bogosian is apparently an accomplished cook.

Their first or second year, Babcock cornering Mitch at one end of the locker room and muttering to him in a low voice, the Babs voice that means it’s this or a bagger worse than any you’ve ever had, and Mitch not even bothering to protest, just hanging his head low and ducking like he had a tail to put between his legs. The list, teammates that hustled hard and then ones that put in the work and then the lazy no-good sons of bitches and then Mitch dead last, and not one person in the room even daring to talk back to the coach about it. 

The infamous list incident. In real life, those that were shown the list were actually really mad at Babcock, but in this universe, again, playing off the concept that things could be a lot worse just where they are, no one defends him. God Babcock just makes my fucking skin crawl.

John Tavares, coming to Toronto for Mitch. Because he wanted a true superstar winger, and Mitch was producing seventy-odd points a season as a perennial thirdliner. Johnny, proud and composed, getting laid out against Montreal, blood on the ice and jerking limbs. Mitch flinging the puck over the glass, fighting tears in the box. Johnny, who failed his physical before training camp cause of the concussion and never played again. There’s time left on his contract, sitting forever in LTIR now. He’s still the captain. He won’t be back.

I'm not sure how known this particular part of Leafs lore is, but Mitch's whole Mitch thing was actually a huge part of the dramatic Tavares signing. Part of the reason he came home was for Mitchy -- not the only reason, but part of it.

I've talked about it a few times, but one of the first times I decided to actively sit down and watch hockey was the Montreal series, game one, where JT caught an edge and hit Corey Perry's knee. Injuries are never fun to watch, and that was horrifying in real time -- it certainly looked like he'd never play again. Actually, it looked a lot closer to him dying than ever playing again.

Like Strange Trails trying to elicit emotions like disgust, visceral sensation, etc, Scheherazade is more of... a kind of meditative depression. I wanted to twist the knife at every opportunity that I could, and the JT injury is a pretty clear candidate for "could have been a LOT worse," so I took the chance to make it a lot worse.

Auston chokes, putting his hands on the floor, trying to ground himself.

“I’m sorry,” Barilko says, and Auston jumps. He didn’t realize he was still here.

“Of the hockey gods,” Barilko says, sounding a little sad, “I have never been known for kindness.”

Right. Bill Barilko. I've been utterly fascinated by him and the story of his disappearance ever since listening to the song -- you know the one -- and have kind of always thought of him as a representation of The Curse ever since. In a way, he's kind of like the Vladdy Konstantinov of his time: spirited, a team's lifeblood, wins the Cup and never plays again. In the years since his disappearance (they won the Cup twice after he died, but only twice in seventy years) nothing really good has happened to the Leafs. Or, at least, nothing that made the Curse go away.

Auston lets out the rest of a ragged breath, then takes one more.

“But then again,” says Barilko, “have any of them?

“Good luck, thirty-four; you will need it.” There’s a sudden silence in the room; the newfound quiet after background noise disappears. He’s gone, then.

Isn't all of hockey a tragedy, though? To go out on a high note is rare, and more common are the ones who flame out or never go back to the ways they once were.

The luck thing is largely a marker of my personal philosophy towards the playoffs: there's skill, there's learning what it's like to win, but it's also knowing that you have to roll the dice -- one bad bounce can end your season, one good bounce can write you into the history books forever. In a seven-game series in the NBA, the "better" team -- the one with the higher standings placement after an eighty-game season -- wins about 80% of the time. To have the same kind of predictability in hockey, you'd need more than fifty games.

Also, for the line about silence: I always thought of that sensation as like... imagine you're running a fan or some kind of white noise generator in the background, and you run it so long you don't really notice it's going, and then you turn it off and are suddenly wildly aware of the lack of noise.

Auston allows himself one more memory on the floor: the apartment fire. He wasn’t there for this, but Mitch’s house burned down while he was at the draft. Auston was there six months ago when his own apartment building burned down -- a cold snap raced through Toronto and much of continental North America, and someone in his building had a space heater that caught something. He remembers coming back to the burning condo, the air hazy with smoke and the fumes of his breath, the fire the brightest light for miles.

I also tried to play with a lot of repetition, recurring instances of things -- why Auston always seems to be losing his airpods, for example. Mitch Marner's house actually did burn down when he was at the draft, and I needed a way to get Mitch and Auston together so they'd FINALLY start solving problems instead of crying on balconies.

So where is he now?

He opens his eyes. The floor is hardwood, but not his own; probably maple from the colour, brushed to prevent scrapes for longer. The memory of this universe is still coming back to him; this place isn’t so instantaneously recognizable. He stands up. It’s a bedroom, even if it’s not his. There’s no dresser, just a few folded sweatpants and suits next to a case, and no art, at least nothing that wouldn’t be amiss in a mid-level hotel. The feel of it creeps in before the context: he’s stayed here for a while, but he doesn’t think of it as home.

He also doesn’t have a bathroom connected to the bedroom, which is fine, but he kind of does need to pee right now so he heads for the door.

A couple of notes here: Auston strikes me as someone who's very aesthetically driven, very interested in making things look pretty and understanding art and design -- why he notices the colour of the floor and that the wood has been brushed.

Another note is that the feeling of Mitch's whole house was inspired by my ...stepmother's? suburban house. (She and my father are married, but they only started seeing each other after I was already almost an adult, so she never actually did anything close to parenting. Father's wife, I suppose. I do like her, though, so that kind of feels insulting? Anyway). It's a very nice home, comfortable and large and well-lived-in, but it just doesn't feel quite like somewhere I personally could live whenever I visit.

“Hi,” Auston says, and the last piece of this world clicks into his brain, like it was kept from him for a dramatic reveal. He’s staying at Mitch’s house, has been since pretty much the New Year -- a week after the fire. It’s June now, Cup Final season. Toronto still hovers ‘round sixty Fahrenheit, even if the days last well into the night. He’s not usually here this late into the year, doesn’t realize how sticky the first few hot days can get.

"like it was kept from him for a dramatic reveal," lol. It was kept from you for a dramatic reveal, I'm just being a little-tongue-in-cheek.

I use Celsius, but Auston's American so he would definitely use Fahrenheit -- I tried to keep track of Canadianisms and Americanisms throughout the fic. For example, if you go back and reread Eichel's section, the narration uses American spelling, meanwhile everything else I spell shtuff the Canadian way. Except "defence" versus "defense." Can never decide about that one.

Also, as a sadly-former Toronto resident, summer gets HUMID and STICKY and it is the WORST. It's not as wet in the spring and fall as somewhere like Vancouver would be -- prefers to storm instead of constant fog -- but in the summer it is so wet it's like breathing in soup.

“You’re right,” he mutters, to Barilko in general, but, since he’s not here, to no one in particular. “It does hurt.”

After several lifetimes of hunting down Mitch, I can only imagine how awful being right next to a very close but fake version of him would be. Yeowch!

[0809sysblings]

Hi!

For the general questions! - 1, 7, and 8

For the trial questions! - 3, 4, and 5 for both trials

For the prisoner questions - 1, 2, and 4 for Mikoto, John, and Amane

hi!!!! sorry, this took forever to answer because my brain likes to fight itself over the most trivial things lol. also this got kinda long so a read more!

General questions

1) Which Milgram character is your favourite, and why?

how could you make me pick between my two beautiful children :(??

well if i had to pick between Amane and Mikoto+... i think Amane probably makes me lose it /pos more frequently ♡

as for why? well.

7) Which prisoner do you think you would get on with the most if you met them in person, and why?

hmmm..... this is a difficult question to answer because I feel like there really isn't one singular answer for me. the kind of people I get along with and the kinds of behavior I like or dislike changes and ping pongs around too much.

that being said, I'll try to pick at least someone I think I'd get along with at some point in some capacity.

I think I could possibly get along with Fuuta. mostly due to the fact that we could have interests in common, so it'd be easier to talk. if we like some of the same video games we could talk about those. and I'd maybe be able to contribute to conversations about soccer since I used to play for awhile.

8) Which prisoner do you think you would get on with the least if you met in person, and why?

same idea as above; there's not really a single answer for this, but I'll try to pick someone.

I think Muu maybe. I love her as a character, and I don't really feel any negative feelings toward her, but I just Know that I would struggle trying to get along with her. I can admittedly be very self-absorbed and egotistical, so that would not mix well with her tendency to make things about her.

Trial questions

3) Which [T1 and T2] song do you enjoy the most, and why?

for T1, MeMe !! i'm a big fan of how the genre(?) sorta switches up and back and forth throughout the song. and also just.. the struggle portrayed in the song is #relatable. i like to listen to it when i get into those moods.

for T2, The Purge March !!!!!!! forever and ever. song of all time. it's just so. AAOAOAOOUGUGUG.... it just hits so hard. it's so real. just like MeMe, it too is very #relatable, and i will listen to it on loop while in that mood.

4) Which [T1 and T2] cover do you enjoy the most, and why?

not to give both Ws to Fuuta but... i think both of his covers have to be my favs. his voice is just That good. god i love his voice so much... and also the redone instrumentals i like a lot too.

for T2, a very close second would be Yuno's Vampire cover <3

5) Which [T1 and T2] MV do you enjoy the most, and why?

for T1, I think it'd have to be Magic. I just really like how innocent and "perfect" it tries to look. it's a perfect way to show how much Amane downplayed the abuse, and I also think the way in which it was portrayed as a show was very good meaning and narrative wise.

for T2, another 'W' for Amane because The Purge March MV is my favorite there. I just really really love it a lot. the animation is great and I very much appreciate the fact that a lot of it is based in reality and is not buried six feet under a thousand metaphors. like, don't get me wrong, I love metaphors and when art uses them. but I'm glad they decided to put the visual and narrative metaphors aside for the big parts in Amane's MV because she really needed all the help she could get with securing an innocent verdict...

Prisoner questions

1) What do you think of [Mikoto, John, and Amane], and why?

oh god, I don't know if I can put most of it into words 😭.

well, I like all 3 of them a lot! i simply think too many things about them. i apologize for not being able to properly answer this 😔..

2) What are your headcanons about [Mikoto, John, and Amane]?

hmm i'm not one to hold many headcanons about characters, and if i do theyre usually not super serious or big. an exception here for Amane tho <3. my biggest headcanon for her is that she's a (poly-fragmented) DID system. i mean just look at her.

one i can think of for Mikoto thats just small but sweet is that he learned a lot of ~girly~ skills for his little sister. being a single mom after the divorce, i doubt Mikoto's mom was able to have a lot of time to do that stuff for her. and i feel like Mikoto would be the kind of person to try to supplement that himself. so maybe he learned how to do her hair and helped her with makeup and stuff like that...

i'm not sure if i can think of anything for John.. 😔

4) What do you wish more people understood about [Mikoto, John, and Amane]?

hm........ many a thing...... i'm not 100% sure what a lot of ppl say and think about these characters bc i dont really interact or see much outside of my handful of mewtuals. so take these with a grain of salt.

for John... i know i saw a bit of this around when Neoplasm and Double first released, so maybe it's gotten mostly cleared up since then idk! but... i guess i wish more people understood that just because John is self aware of being an alter and is aware of their DID... doesn't mean he actually knows whats going on and what he's talking about MFDLFLDS. i mean this mostly in regards to the comment he made in Neoplasm about how if Mikoto is forgiven, he can "disappear and take everything with him". i would like to trust that Yamanaka is aware that that's not really how it works. John is just as much of an unreliable narrator as Mikoto. and i also like that he's this way. i think it's realistic and makes sense. of course he wouldn't want to have people know he's pretty fucking clueless about what's going on. because then he couldn't get people to believe him and listen to him when he's trying to get people to vote Mikoto innocent.

idk a lot of ppl have this idea that it's the host in DID systems that are completely clueless, but all the other alters understand it and know what's happening and know who they are and who everyone is. and that if an alter who is not the host doesn't know something, or is god forbid mistaken about something, then something ~fishy~ is going on.

tl;dr John may know more than Mikoto about some things, but that does not mean his information is complete or even accurate.

for Mikoto... i guess it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when ppl talk and jokingly(?) complain about the other characters not telling Mikoto about his DID and continuing to leave him in the dark. i know it's all probably just lighthearted and that im just being pretentious, but its just.. not that simple.

also for Mikoto.. his negative feelings towards John and how he thinks about him. i guess i feel like ppl can be kinda quick to look down on Mikoto for it? or act as if it's just a problem born from lack of communication and misunderstanding, or even an unwillingness on Mikoto's part to communicate and understand. when like... just like the other thing i just mentioned, i don't think it's really that simple? idk i think there's alot of factors at play. a lot of which are pretty inherent to DID and trauma and are not things that can easily be overcome on your own.

i may make this into a separate post actually... who knows if i'll actually do it tho lol

now for Amane... dear lord (haha). just. everything. i feel like if i open this can of worms i'm going to break tumblr and crash my browser. so forgive me once again for not having an actual answer <3

tysm for the ask!!!! sorry for the uh. wall of text <////3

[daniels-rwby-blog]

The S.S Bee has Sailed

The bees are free and the show is essentially now part over, 2 of the title characters are completed in "friendship" BY is indeed; or at least blake is, bi. All that's left is ruby; the story of motherhood and doing the right thing even when the odds are against you, and Weiss who's learnt her lesson so many times over it's hard to count. But we're done now, the bees have kissed the ship is a relationship and the GF jokes can start, its phase 2 of the SS bumblebee and I really hope it gets mentioned in the show (the ex-ship name). Kinda wonder if Monty had planned this (seems like he did not gonna lie) but there was time for black sun to have it, but ultimately CRWBY kicked in their teeth. Here's my message to Blacksun or anyone who’s not happy about BB. This is RWBY, a show that while at its core is a fight anime about 4 girls, in a wacky world of monsters and God’s, finding themselves and their friends in the midst of it all, it always had a second message… Be yourself. Wiess tries to become her own person rather than the rich heiress. Ruby tries to be a huntress and later a leader and later still whatever this is. Blake and faunus are an analog for minorities and fitting in. Yang is the “just being physically strong doesn't mean you're good mentally”. This show is about change, finding your place and I don't think that having a Gay ship means any less. In fact it seems fitting. And regardless of all the other gay media you may point to and tell me that RWBY shouldn't have to conform to it, i'd like to point out this show is a decade old (ish)! This ship was there from day 1, and now it's over, its cannon and that's it.

For my fellow Bee’s, it's done, we can have our few weeks (heck the whole rest of the volume) but we have won. The signs were always there, it is now our job to become the defenders, we must gather our memes, our evidence, our mighty clips; and we must, it is our destiny to use them to back up CRWBY, to defend, not our opinions in hate-filled fury, but the Show we love with dignity and respect, we need to tone it down once our victory lap is done and keep a level head as we show the world all the hints and love-filled moments that led up to, what i hope is one of many Bee Kisses.

we did it yall, we made it, so let's defend the show we love and show everyone; lovingly and calmly, why the bees make sense.

Also all the fan art OMG it's so cuuuuuteeeeeeeeeee!

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I’ve appreciated your interest in and insight into whatever Taylor Swift and Matty Healy are doing, as well as your anon who made the connection to what The 1975 have been up to with videos. A majority of what I see online about them and about celebrity culture in general is so reactive and incurious that I really really value the rare exceptions who take the time to be thoughtful. Just, thanks. I probably would have left tumblr by now if it weren’t for you and a very few others. Happy to have broken my addiction to twitter and don’t miss it at all. Have a great week, Ralph.

Thanks anon - that's a really lovely thing to hear.

I do think the fact that it's so easy to reach an absurd number of people with our incurious reactions means that working to process as much we can before pushing our ideas out into the world is really advisable (particularly if we're operating in an environment where you're working together to make things normal).

But reacting is definitely part of being human. I have had a very strong 'THIS IS NOT POLITICS' response to the fandom discourse. And the question of meaningful political action - particularly the importance of building collective action solidarity rather than individualist responses - is incredibly important me. The idea that yelling at or about people on the internet helps build a better world infuriates me. But that wasn't that was all that was going on (I probably would always have felt it, but it might not always have been in caps).

I realised today, during a work conversation, what some of the personal stakes were for me and why this week of all weeks I have had little tolerance for the idea that this fan response was political. (The very short version is that last week, someone who I'd organised with 25 years ago had died under horrific circumstances that were directly connected to everything that we'd been trying to prevent. To know that someone you worked with to try and make things better, has died as a direct result of everything you were trying to fight - really underscores how little effect you've had compared to what needs to be done. And that means that I have felt the weight of what meaningful political action is and my capacity for generosity for things that are presented as political, but aren't actually about creating meaningful change is greatly depleted).

And I wouldn't have shared any of this without your anon - but I figure one thing I can do is walk through that process - and say it's not that we need to squelch our reactionary selves. It doesn't work and anyway our reactions often come from really important places. But that it's important not to centre our reactionary tendancies and treat our reactions as the truth.

**********

I am interested in what's going on, as well as the way people are talking about. What I'm thinking about most at the moment - is the relationship between what's happening right now and Midnights. When the break-up between her and Joe was announced - I did wonder if they'd been broken up for ages. Because Midnights did seem to describe their break up. But now it's also describing what's happening now - and that's far more interesting. To me it suggests she made art that pin pointed both how she felt about her life and the life that she wanted - in ways that she didn't fully understand.

It blows my mind how much the song Bejewelled seems to fit the night Taylor played at The 1975 Concert in January. If the song was first released in six months time I would totally believe that it was about that night. But of course it's not. Instead writing the song was part of Taylor processing her feelings and we've no idea if the enactment was conscious or unconscious, but it's fascinating either way.

As someone who is often frustrated at fandom discourse that is basically 'I can figure out what was going on in people's lives from their songs. I find the messiness of this (and what it suggests of the futility of certainty) fascinating.

[shootingstars-or-airplanes]

Alright it's time for a rant! Let's talk about canon vs. fanon. This is gonna be a long one folks, so buckle up!

I see a lot of people complaining about fan interpretations of characters in art or fan works or even headcanons not lining up with the canon depictions of the characters and this always sort of bugs me a bit. I think we need to reframe how we approach the idea of canon vs. fanon.

I want to start off by saying I'm a writer. I have a degree in creative writing and have had at least one publication at the time of posting. I know what it's like to pour your heart and soul into a project and into creating these characters and the world they live in. So I can somewhat see where people are coming from when they talk about the importance of sticking to the author's vision. The author put a lot of love into that character and their interpretation is, of course, paramount. But I don't think that this necessarily means that contrary fanon interpretations can't exist.

I'd like to draw a comparison to mythology, if I may. Ancient mythology is one of my special interests and I took multiple classes on different mythologies during my time in undergrad. The professor for those classes was amazing and one thing that he said that will always stick with me is something he'd teach on the first day of any of his mythology classes: "Myth is multiform".

Ok so what does "myth is multiform" mean? Well in simple terms it means that when it comes to mythology, there is no one "correct" telling of the story. Mythology at its root was an oral tradition. It didn't have an author. These stories were built and shaped by the dozens or hundreds of people who told them. And with each telling, the new storyteller would add a little bit of their own unique flair to the story. They might change a detail they never liked or couldn't remember correctly or they might add in details where there weren't any the first time they heard it. And as this keeps happening, the story changes a lot between people and cities and villages and even time. So if you hear one story where Aphrodite's hair was blonde and another where it was red, which detail is correct? Both. Because myth is multiform. The story is changed and affected by those who interact with it.

This can even be seen in modern interpretations of classic myth. The way we tell the stories now is drastically different from how they were told back then. For example, a lot of people who are really into Greek mythology see Athena as somewhat of a feminist icon. A lot of modern depictions of her show her as a strong and independent woman. But the Athena of ancient Greece, while strong, was a model goddess for upholding the patriarchal system of society at the time. She was known for following laws and customs to the letter, including and sometimes especially misogynistic ones. To put it bluntly, she was not a girl's girl.

But today we emphasize the parts of her that feel strong and empowering. We see the goddess of justice and war who fights for herself and stands up for what she believes is right. So which Athena is real? I mean, one is directly from the time period, so that one must be the true one, right? Wrong. They are both the real Athena. Because myth is multiform.

"Yeah, ok," you say, "but modern media isn't mythology. It's not an oral tradition. It has authors and we can identify exactly what the original story was." And that's true. But once a story exists, once it is shared with others, it becomes more than itself. Even on the most basic level, an author isn't capable of conveying literally every detail and meaning they had in mind while creating it into the actual piece. Some things--many things, really--are left to interpretation. That's why we have high school literature teachers asking why you think the curtains are blue in some random scene of a book.

And every person is going to bring their own prior knowledge and life experiences to that story which will impact how they interpret it. So as soon as one person has heard your story, there are already two versions of the story in existence--the one you wrote and the one they read. The words on the page might be the same but all the little gaps are filled in differently depending on the person. There are things an author can do to steer their audience in the direction they want them to interpret things in, but your reader/listener/viewer is never going to get 100% of the meaning you put into it.

All this to say, when a story reaches fandom, it essentially becomes myth. All the slightly different little versions of these worlds and characters are floating around in people's heads and as they talk to one another about it and share their ideas and interpretations, those versions grow and evolve beyond the original work.

Fanon versions of characters don't come out of nowhere; they're slowly molded and shaped by the community surrounding them using the basis of the source material and then combining collective experiences and attitudes of fans. They grow with the community, just as a myth grows with its culture.

So my point here isn't to say that all interpretations of a character are equally true to source and should be treated as such, but rather to say that characters evolve when touched by the hearts of people who love them and enjoy their stories and while the canon character is valid and beloved in their stagnancy, fanon versions can exist at the same time without threatening the canon character's status.

Just because an interpretation of a character that you see a lot might be wildly different from the character's existence in canon, that doesn't inherently make it bad. It shows the impact of human experience and community on art and the two characters can coexist separately without one needing to wipe the other out.

[fallenorpheus]

So you're an Eret mod but you reblog and post about qsmp. Are you a dsmp fan too? I'm kind of scared because it feels like the community is shattering and I don't want to lose what we all have. Do you have any wisdom?

So this is a tough one, and first off, I'd like to start by clarifying that Eret is more than the DSMP, they have their own community and their content has evolved and adapted. There's people in their community who don't watch the DSMP, and I guess that's the whole thing here.

Communities grow and change and morph into something new. It can be scary to think that we're losing the DSMP community, it can be hard to watch as people retire from the fandom or move onto new communities.

But that just opens space for more content in the future! It'll be different, but the community is still here. And there's more people!

Maybe you love watching Foolish because of his amazing builds he did on the DSMP. Have you seen the dragon he made in the QSMP? Or maybe you enjoyed watching the early days of the DSMP and you're excited to see another SMP that has that same charm of friends hanging out. Then maybe USMP will be an excellent option when that releases!

When it comes down to it, the community is growing and changing, and it'll never be the same as it was over the pandemic or anything like that.

But there'll be more! More creators interacting with your favourites!

I got into QSMP because I enjoy Jaiden's art, and I started watching her. From that, I discovered that Roier was really fun to watch, and I've been learning Spanish passively to the point where I'm starting to understand phrases without captions!

But that doesn't mean I've left the DSMP community behind. It doesn't mean I'm not super amped for USMP, or for Karl's comic, or any number of cool projects!

Change can be scary, but it can also be beautiful! And this is an excellent time to look into fandom spaces, and experience the change with people by your side!

I'm part of two amazing mod teams, I have a network of friends. With some of my people, I joke about DNF. I write fanfic and play garticphone where we mess around create DSMP memes. With some, I talk about QSMP, or irl streams. And it makes the change so much more fun when I've got people embracing it with me!

You want my wisdom? Don't fight the change, and don't distance yourself from the community. Find people who ship the ships you do, or who like the same creators as you. Because while the community is changing, it isn't going away. It's still thriving, and there's a place for anyone who wants it!

You've got this! Things might be scary, but my asks are always open. There's people who you can talk to, and I'm sure that no matter how much things change, there'll always be people who still want to interact with DSMP content!