#I've actually never checked the room needed for that dialogue

[buttercupshands]

(Forgot to post again)

A birthday present for a friend :)

[revalition]

OCTOBER 17 - PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT Flex powerful muscles. Enjoy healthy organs.

Coach Physical Instrument!! This guy has lots of great dialogue... but his design isn't that interesting to me. and I struggle with buff people haha. look at his weird... trapezoid head. I wanted to incorporate a way for him to emote a bit better but that will have to be a project for later. I love him very much anyway though

(also it is just barely past midnight, it definitely still counts as october 17 shhh)

as usual lots of quotes under the cut!

coach quotes:

this is a godly check lol. thanks for the commentary coach...

poor coach

this one is so funny

harry talking back to coach is always funny

this one is my favourite.

coach noooo. had to include the awful dialogue option he opens up too haha

he loves his prybar <3

coach knows... this is when interviewing klaasje, so decently early on

mmm... discus

coach's comment isn't even dependent on failing the ency check, he'll say it regardless. though you can only ask lena if you look like a dweeb if the ency check fails haha. sorry man, harry is absolutely a dweeb...

I mean, I think encyclo does...

phys int taking any opportunity to dig at kim's bad eyesight is ridiculous. there's several but I can only have so many screenshots...

his worst nightmare 😔

he's so stupid (this heals morale)

good to know coach has his priorities sorted out. you heard him -- it's intellectually stimulating to talk to buff men

fist bump!!

he's so, so disappointed if you leave titus hanging. (I am too)

I find it a bit funny that this doesn't do any morale damage. Harry loses morale over far less... maybe he just doesn't care if coach calls him lazy and bad.

this guy *cannot* sit still. stop it coach, harry needs this bath

he's so stupid

holds the idiots in my hands so gently... theyre all so stupid...

thank you physical instrument. this is also the only time he says your name - super important

he knows :(

much much love for the three skills who will store the blue spirits as a sellable item for you. (if coach doesn't fire, logic will store it, and if logic fails too then volition does it)

he gets *so* excited. I love it

him calling it 'The Wonder' noooo

coach is so funny. i love when harry's choices are so biased haha

why is he so stupid?

this one always kills me. there is *so little* insight into what these guys are doing in there! but savvy is pushing other skills outta the way for this <333 he's brave to push past coach haha. what's he at the front of? is savvy actually small or just in comparison to coach...? hehe

we're out of screenshot room but can't forget this classic:

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - Yes, this man is definitely one of the homos, I've seen them homos with my own eyes.

other fun facts! there are too many good coach quotes :(((

- he's the only one to call Inland Empire dreamer! - electrochemistry calls coach a sinewy idiot! - calls you Harry just once, but son 26 times, boy 3 times, champ 3 times, officer once... - physical instrument is confirmed compromised... - he never says 'Kim', only lieutenant - my spreadsheet has him at a moderate swear score of 6/10 because I didn't factor in how many time he says goddamn... oops

ok that's it for physical instrument!! tomorrow... it will be extremely hard to pick only 30 quotes :(((

[goldenshrikecomic]

do you got any tips to start comic pages? Or any tutorial you would recommend in mind

Look I know how to use a read more tag now

I've no tutorials in mind really. I did look through plenty of them way in the beginning, but later found what worked for me the most! And it's just having your script and deciding how much of it you want to jam in that one page, and most importantly, what panel you want the page to end with so the cut-off doesn't feel clunky. Check how much space your dialogue takes before sketching, make sure it has room to breathe.

I like it when there's at least one establishing shot in the page that shows the characters in relation to each other and the environment. Sometimes you can get away with not including it but a pageful of headshots gets boring easily.

Some people just sketch freely and add build the panels after that, it's pretty good for more action-packed scenes since not being bound by an existing layout tends to make things livelier. I sometimes use this for silent pages, since they're the ones that give me the most grief to plan.

If you're on the boat of being afraid to actually START making a comic, there's plenty of you! It's self-preservation talking, and it's so super normal, especially if you've never made a comic before. Comicing is hard work and offers a tons of things to keep track on. In the very start your story's spine is so flexible it's hard to see how you can make it hold weight, but with every page you'll be cementing it. Half of my comic feels wobbly right now because I'm not there yet, but 200+ finished pages have told me it'll be okay. It'll hold weight when we get there, because all that work we've done till then is now foundation.

I won't lie, sometimes paging is pain in the ass. Sometimes it's so hard to figure out what kind of shot to use, how to avoid repetition in conversations, deciding on panel size, how to fit all in, where to cut the page. Sometimes I've feared that this is where it ends, I can't figure this out, but then I remember I have so much done already, and I've met these troubles before. It doesn't need to be perfect, just get it over with! The next page will be better.

With these in mind, it'll get so much easier after you've started. White canvas is scary, were it a new page or a whole new comic.

[mychlapci]

requests? I've had vampire Springer x First Aid on the brain all day... (but only if you're up to it!)

for some ungodly reason i decided to put a bunch of dialogue into this one. and dialogue is the bane of my existence.

Springer’s frame was odd, to say the least. First Aid was utterly fascinated by what little specs he possessed of Springer’s internal systems. Apparently, he was very adamant about never taking his check-ups, which the wreckers tolerated if not outwardly ignored completely, but First Aid was not having that. He wanted to see more. Something could be seriously wrong!

Getting Springer into the med-bay was the hard part. Scanning him was just as hard, if not harder.

„You could’ve gotten seriously damaged out there, if I could just check you over”–

„It’s fine,” Springer mumbled. He looked fine, but he shouldn’t, not with how hard he’s gotten banged up on the battlefield just mere cycles ago „I’ve had worse,”

„You don’t know if you have internal damage,”

„I don't,” Springer was clearly getting irritated, when his facial plate suddenly softened and he shrugged „Take your readings, or something, you’ll see I’m not bleeding,”

First Aid huffed. Wreckers and their pride. Fine. He plugged a quick medical interface cable into Springer’s arm and checked over his energon readings. How odd. He wasn’t losing energon, but it burned at an odd rate, and was currently pretty low „No bleeding,” First Aid begrudgingly admitted „Fine, but you should drink some energon. You’re low,”

That made Springer’s EM field ripple, but he quickly hid it underneath another aloof shrug, pedes twisting as he gets ready to leave „Sure, I got some in my room,”

Oh, First Aid was onto something „No, you’re going to drink energon here, so I’m sure you’re actually fueling,”

He throws a look into the corner, where some stray cubes of med-grade and standard energon were waiting for consumption.

Springer snorte „You're gonna make me drink in front of you, like a sparkling?”

„Yeah,”

„That’s stupid, I’m leaving,”

First Aid blinks „What? Hey! Your systems are, as per medical terms, all out of whack, you need energon,”

„Not your kind of energon,” Springer said as he exited the room, briefly looking back with an expression of regret on his face, as if he didn’t mean to say that.

First Aid spends the rest of the day and also maybe the rest of the week thinking about it. Something is up with Springer, and he’s not telling him what. That’s okay. First Aid can’t let that get to him, they’re not all that close, Springer doesn’t have to tell him anything. A dietary restriction, though, that's something you let your doctor know about.

So, fed up with Springer’s lack of professionalism, First Aid raids his room one day. While Springer is in it, of course. He’s not a creep or anything like that. Just a bit pushy.

„Hey, I have energon,”

Springer sighs where he was caught idly standing by a closet „Again with that? I said I’m not bleeding,”

„Yes, but you’re not fueling,” First Aid raises his voice „I saw it, you never go out for morning energon, I don’t know what’s going on, but”–

He could say he cares about Springer, but he fears that might lay it on too thick. Besides, curiosity is First Aid’s drive right now.

„It’s weird. And I want to know what it is,”

Springer scoffed.

„Close the door,”

First Aid’s spark almost jumped out of his chassis. He’ll be in a closed room with Springer! In his bedroom! Now, only if he knew why the bot’s gaze made him feel oddly uneasy. But it’s too late to back out, the doors already slid closed with a pressurized hiss, and Springer was on top of him in an instant. The cube of fresh energon shattered on the floor.

„Woah woah woah, I’m sorry, I didn’t see anything, I'm not telling anyone”–

„I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m trying to show you,” Springer said when First Aid wouldn’t stop squirming.

„What?” First Aid’s visor blinks, and he stills under Springer as the bot slowly leans forwards and… presses his lips against his neck tubing. Now, First Aid could be a romantic and just assume Springer was so in love he couldn’t fuel, but that was wishful thinking that has no place in this war, and easily discarded when Springer’s dentae suddenly perforated a non-major line in his energon cabling.

First Aid shuddered at the sound of Springer’s wet lips sliding over the dribbling indent.

„I’ve been like this since my creation,”

„Like what?” First Aid cringed at how quiet he sounded.

„Hungry,” Springer answers, and then wraps his mouth around First Aid’s neck again, sucking on his warm energon with audible gulps. First Aid doesn’t think to move, doesn’t think to squirm, he just lies there and stares over Springer’s shoulder with awe in his optics, vents growing more and more laboured as Springer’s heavier, bulkier body presses down on him.

Woah! First Aid wakes up in his bed, panels painfully hot. Primus, that was a weird dream, he thinks as he brushes a hand over his neck. It felt so real, he can still feel that ache in his tubing. Odd.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

Majexatli as a Companion

[Part 1/?]

[Questions from here]

Where can your Tav be recruited?

Majexatli can be recruited in Act 1. They are found on the Risen Road, by the hyenas. When approaching for the first time, a cutscene will play, in which the player sees a dire coyote eating one of the hyenas and being attacked by gnolls. The dire coyote races after the gnolls beyond the trees and out of sight, allowing the player to investigate the dead and dying hyenas on the road. 

After the player begins combat with the hyenas, Majexatli will join initiative, rushing into combat to assist the players from where the dire coyote has disappeared. Once combat ends, Majexatli will introduce themselves and their tadpole will connect with the players, indicating that they too were on the Nautiloid.

Your tadpole squirms in recognition, their fragmented memories becoming your own. Flashes of verdant forests, vast grasslands, kneeling before a gathering of druidic elders, wandering overgrown paths, the title of Faithwarden. With each flash, however, an undercurrent of hunger, growing in intensity with each passing memory until it erupts into something blood-red and razor-sharp.

The Dark Urge will get a unique dialogue option here, relating to the bloodlust in Majexatli’s memories. Druids will also get a unique dialogue with an insight check where they can mentally speculate on Majexatli’s druidic background and note that Majexatli’s druidic armor is very different from most druids. Druid players will also recognize the title of Faithwarden and note the high honor of the title. Rangers can notice that their armor and clothing seem more reminiscent of a ranger than a druid. Clerics can notice their lack of a holy or druidic symbol.

Majexatli will offer their assistance to the player, saying that they are an accomplished druid and alchemist and that they can help navigate the area.

If allowed, Majexatli will either join the player's active party if there’s room, or be told to head to the player’s camp.

Does your Tav have any comments or advice when you recruit other companions?

I can't imagine Majexatli being recruited before some of the origin companions, but I've included everyone anyways for the fun of it.

About Wyll: The Blade of Frontiers... I haven't actually heard of him, I'm afraid. He seems a good man, though, and rather charming...

About Karlach: It's nice to have another tiefling in camp. I imagine she's one hell of a fighter, too, anyone who's lived in the hells has to be.

About Astarion: Hm. I'd keep an eye on the pale one.

About Shadowheart: If I've learned anything during my years, it's that you should always have a healer with you, regardless of whatever they have going on. Shadowheart will be important if we want to stay alive.

About Lae'zel: Lae'zel is quite the warrior, it's wise to have her around. I don't know much about her people, but if she says she knows the cure for our parasites, I'm willing to follow her lead.

About Gale: Stranger as it is, I've never met a wizard. Gale seems quite knowledgeable. He's kind of everything I imagined a wizard would be like, if I'm honest. Very... wizardly.

About Halsin: (sighs) I suppose it's good for Halsin to finally join us, given how long he's been in our camp.

About Minthara: I think it's good to have Minthara with us, as long as she stays on our side that is. I might not agree with everything she says, but she's quite impressive in battle.

About Jaheira: Hm. Another druid.

What sort of general actions raise or lower their approval?

Raise approval: helping people in need, killing people who are abusing power/authority, respecting nature, some violence, survival skills (foraging, gathering plants, gathering loot from killed beasts) being kind to children

Lower approval: senseless cruelty, delighting in the suffering of others, expressing disgust for monsters, abusing authority/power, taking advantage of innocent people, neutrality, maintaining balance or status quo

[thevulturesquadron]

Hey remember that post you made a time ago about E9?

I agree with it all, but I wanted to talk especially about the rushed part, i.e Roberto and Rogue immediately going into the "villain guards" roles. It is missing a moment between them joining Magneto and the following fight against X-Men

What would you put as this moment? A dialogue? I've been thinking about this and I even want to write a fic, but my brain can't chose. (I've been leaning on Rogue reassuring Roberto somehow) So?

Many thanks! I love your blog bestie <33

– @unfortunately-obsessed

Hey sweet thing! 🌺 (your tumblr posts always put a smile on my face) Oh! I love this! If you write something I would kill to read it! For E9 I would have loved to see a moment on Asteroid M between the two, either when they set foot inside for the first time or before preparing for the ‘meet and greet’ with the X-Men. I feel like once in space, after the adrenaline wears off Roberto would worry about the choice he made. I like to think Rogue would sense it and maybe look for him. What if she finds him in front of one of the wide panels looking down towards Earth? She would probably start the conversation by saying something like ‘quite a sight from up here, ain’t it sugah?’ Having a moment between the two with a look over the ‘dying’ earth would put things into a certain perspective. I imagine Rogue being reassuring, as much as she could, but there is a fire under her skin as well that she needs to tame - when he shows doubt she’d tell him she’s been following Xavier’s ways for years and that his heart may be in the right place but he’s living in a past version of the fight. Things have changed in his absence and she’s done with putting the idea of peace ahead of mutant lives. She’d tell him that there is no right or wrong way of doing this, that if there’s one thing he can count on is that he’s never going to have to face anything alone. I like to think she’d ask him if he’s scared and when he’d ask her back she would answer honestly - ‘ yes’. She’d admit that after Remy died she was so lost in her anger, thinking she had nothing left to lose, but has since realized that that was not true. She’d look down the hall that leads to Magneto’s ‘throne room’ and she’d tell Roberto that being a mutant is not just about his powers, it’s about something more. And any mutants that are still out there are worth fighting for. Maybe Roberto would confess that the look in Magneto’s eyes scares him even if he stands by his choice. And her face would darken in worry. ‘That’s the other reason why I chose to be here. Erik’s a good man, sugah. But he’s been through a lot. And I refuse to lose him too - not to his pain, not to his anger.’ In Genosha he asked her for help, to be the balancing force that would keep him in check. She was angry with him back then, but seeing him now, seeing how the world treated all of them, she understood how vulnerable he actually allowed himself to be. If she was ready to be by his side at his best - she wasn’t going to abandoned him at his worst. And I would have liked to see one last exchange between them as they are making their way towards the Blackbirld. Maybe Rogue would sense Roberto’s internal conflict and that would strengthen her conviction. ‘They need us. The X-men, Magneto. Things will get nasty, so we need to be strong. Sometimes you gotta punch a fella you love to get them to sit down and listen. A blackened eye heals faster than a broken arm.’ She’d wink and punch in the door key to the hangar. Or something like that! I am terrible with dialogue but I would have loved a tiny moment that shows both the internal conflict they were going through and what stood behind their choices. Even a short reassuring hand on his shoulder and a voiceless exchange before stepping in would have been enough. Taking the mantle of the ‘bad guy’ so that others can fight their good fight with lessened consequences is often times an unsung tale.

[mzannthropy]

Favorite and least favorite. DJATS scenes? My least favorite is the overdose scene in ep 8. Like,wydm Billy called Daisy "baby?" I doubt that. My favorite is either Billy saying good morning to Camila and Julia in ep 5,Daisy kicking Nicky out,or the Camilabilly s*x scene at the end of episode 5. (and he wasn't thinking about Daisy,idk what Daisybilly shippers say. He loves his wife, aurora is about her, nothing can change that.)

I can't shut up about the Pick Up Your Kid scene from Episode 3. Bc I know how much Sam loves his kids and being a dad, I knew how difficult it would be for him to film it. The tears were unscripted, that's just Sam crying for real. I've not really thought about favourite scenes. Camila and Billy on the balcony in the finale, but that's only bc of their acting. Aside from the fact that the dialogue was ridiculous, it shouldn't exist, bc there's nothing like that in the book. Erasing the Daisy and Camila hotel room scene was a huge disservice to the characters, to the fans, to TJR. Just thank the gods that Sam and Camila are such good actors. I liked all Billy's scene with Camila and Julia. As for other characters, I liked Teddy being a father figure to Billy, the final scene with Karen and Graham. I know the poor guy was devastated, but Karen made her choice.

Least favourite, where do I start. I agree on the ending of Ep 8. (It was in fact what set of me off on a mini villain arc that lasted all through till the end of June, when I accepted that Sam was not going get an Emmy nomination, which is why I wasn't even upset that he was snubbed, bc I had already grieved it, but it was a painful process.) It should have been Simone that found her. Once again, a female character robbed of a scene. Not to mention that a man cradling a woman in his arms (while she might or might not be dying) is the most overdone scene in all of TV/film history. Start noticing it and you'll never be able to un-notice. Also, same episode, when after the press conference they walk in that corridor and Billy tries to kiss her. The whole argument, even. Cheap drama for the sake of it--nobody argues with faces that close together. It gives me so much second hand embarrassment that I literally recoil any time I think of it. I don't get triggered by horrible scenes that usually carry trigger warnings, but I do get triggered by stuff like this. Bc it's stupid.

Sam has a film, The Nightingale (dir Jennifer Kent), in which he plays the most horrible character of his career. It's a brilliant film and I recommend it, just heed the warnings bc it gets really violent. Yet it's easier for me to watch than a lot of DJATS. Bc I understand his part in the story, bc he is supposed to be like that.

ETA: Bc I misremembered, I thought Simone found Daisy in the book, (I can't check the book bc I listened to it on audio.) so I thought they should have kept it like that, but she actually just woke up herself, broke up with Nicky and then called Simone. I knew Simone figured somewhere, at least. Doesn't change my point, though, bc it still takes away from a female character. It's even worse bc it means that in the show, Daisy needed a man to 'save her'.

Yeah, if anyone had to find her in the shower, Rod would have been the better option; he's the manager after all, and if Daisy saw in his face that he was really worried about her, not just bc she was the lead singer and he'd lose money or whatever if something happened to her, but out of genuine care, she'd realise she was worthy. But nooo, they had to go for the most male writing stereotypical scene instead.

[yuri-is-online]

Just finished Sinostra's chapter myself.... I gotta say though, was a little underwhelming compared to other chapters.... Honestly the entire thing felt like a one-man show by Ritsu + some sexual tension between Taiga and Romeo whenever they interact lol. MC has never felt more like a spectator than she did in this chapter, I was waiting for her to do absolutely *anything* but she really was just... there lmao. Not even hand-holding this time!

Even the Like Dove showed up AFTER mc left, when it was just Taiga and Romeo in the room, and then later again when Romeo barges into Taiga's room - this time mc was there but, just barely lol, the whole focus was on Taiga and Romeo's almost shoot-off, and Taiga's line saying "You really could shoot through my heart"?? And the fact that he sensed Romeo approaching before he even saw him, and so far is the only person who he clearly remembers and freely gives compliments to lol, Lulu is a cute nickname tho.

Regardless, Taiga's strange response to the Like Dove could possibly mean Kaito's explanation about it might not be true after all, since anomalies are still a mystery, wouldn't be strange for false rumors to make the rounds.

And I while I don't hate Ritsu - I appreciate he's a hard worker and tries to make the best of any situation he's put in - I dislike how he really just one-sidedly handled everything in this chapter and only ever explains after they're done lol. The case didn't feel like an investigation at all, Ritsu just pulls some numbers out of the air and acts on them (where is he getting all that data??) and in the end they won against it because it had to prevent a paradox from happening...? lmao idk overall just felt so underwhelming.

Also we never find out what the deal was about the girl in the tower?? Why even mention that detail if they're not gonna do anything with it... An anomaly that was born from the negative emotions gathering in a casino replaces people's memories with a girl in a tower.... My guess is it wanted enough people to "remember" her so she could come into existence? Like Takeru's ghost. I wonder what for though... Will they revisit this or not.....

You could pluck out MC from this chapter and absolutely nothing would change imo because Ritsu was doing everything anyways, only name-dropped mc when mentioning it was an investigation, that's it. While I don't necessarily need her to be the star or a hero, having 0 influence on the chapter is not great writing imo.

Kaito and his silly antics were the highlight for me. And I found it hilarious how him being stripped down and locked up in Romeo's "private office" feels like the setting of any self-indulgent "dark romance" fiction between a rich CEO and helpless debtor who has to cater to the captor's whims lol.

Finally Hotarubi is next, I've been curious about it since I got sorted into it, and want to see more of Haku. I agree he's sus, his dialogue in the prologue if you choose him only highlights the fact. But something about him really compels me

Sorry for the long ask, I have a thousand thoughts twirling around in my mind about TD, it should probably cool down between the entire month that's left before next story update.... but also there's new games coming out next month so hopefully I don't forget about TD completely either lol....

There is no shame in long asks. I'm always impressed at the amount of thoughts my dear anons manage to fit inside the ask box ♡

I also felt like the content was a bit lacking to the point I went and checked Jabberwock's chapter count and was surprised to find it's actually a tad shorter than Sinostra's. I think the main reason it felt so short to me was because I wasn't locked out of progressing this time around, but the case progression also felt much much quicker. If I'm sitting back and evaluating it as a writer, I think that's probably because of the setting being confined to the school and dorm. Sure, a lot happens, but you don't actually go anywhere, unlike in the previous three books.

Our MC has a very laid-back personality, which I don't mind. BUT the game really should allow for the chance for her to work things out on her own, even if she's too afraid of the other characters to verbalize it and keeps them to herself. There are several times in the book when she tries to point out inconsistencies in Ritsu's logic or other evidence she notices, but she's talked over pretty much every single time. It's what made me really hate Ritsu since you did not see that with Ren, Haru, or Towa, but i get that it's sort of tricky when writing more domineering characters to balance not making them overshadow the more laid back ones but still keeping them true to their personalities. I don't think Ritsu would have paid attention to Kaito if MC wasn't there, nor do I think Taiga would have paid attention to Ritsu, but that's just me speculating because the story doesn't clearly communicate it. This book was poorly written, a lot of the problems people have with MC could be fixed with a few additional lines where she's shown wanting to do something but reminding herself she has to play nice with the ghouls otherwise they won't break her curse. Her personality makes sense to me, but her writing does not.

Now. I disagree about the no real moments this chapter but ah. Well. You see. There is something deeply wrong with me so I completely get if this did nothing but disturb you but when Taiga has MC strapped to the torture chair 👉👈

Look I know potentially getting a hicky from a guy that strapped you to a torture chair and just shot you (for the second time) isn't everyone's thing but it is mine I was so well fed this chapter from that alone ( ; ω ; ) AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HOW HE CALLS HER KITTEN AND EATS THE FUCKING LIKE DOVE??? RAW??? ROMEO ROMEO WHY FOR ART THOU INTERRUPING ROMEO I WANTED TO SEE WHAT HE WAS GONNA DO- forgive me anon I'm afraid I'm most unwell.

Speaking of the Like dove and the memories of the tower. The Tower thing reminds me of rapunzel, especially because she's out alone in the woods, but it feels super out of left field, no? If the anomaly is born from the Casino, which Taiga states "is him," then I wonder if the girl in the tower is representative of something he's forgotten? The chapter places an emphasis on how anomalies can affect memory, so it's not too big of an assumption to make that something must have happened to Taiga to make his memory this bad. As for the like dove... Romeo seems very surprised to see it, almost suggesting he never has before, which can you imagine how funny it would be if it showed up for him and Taiga. They've been friends and business partners for at least two years, I refuse to believe the dove would only just show up now. The image of him just never seeing it because everyone is too polite/afraid of him to point it out is too funny. The dove shows up twice this chapter, both times it sort of read to me like it had been there for a bit before it was noticed and in both cases Taiga reacts to it negatively. Given how paranoid he seems to be, I think it's probably because the idea of him caring/having someone care about him scares him due to the unpredictability of it and the potential for betrayal. He seems to think people only want to use him, so that's probably part of it too. I'm constantly doing way too many lines of copium, so to me the dove seemed triggered by Taiga's interactions with MC but I also see where you're coming with Romeo. Their friendship is much less adversarial than it was implied to be in their little blurbs, and I quite like that a lot. You know even if Taiga seems to think Romeo is always taking away his fun. And what's up with his constant want to eat anomalies, is Romeo not feeding him enough?

Slight correction, Taiga does seem to remember who Haru is, Harry and Lulu are both derivative of their names, so maybe he can only remember people in his year clearly? Or does it also include second years? He sounds very surprised at the concept of a "first year ghoul" in his house so maybe his memories are cutting off everything other than the previous two years...

I also have a bunch more thoughts but I'll cut myself off here ×-× gotta let some of them simmer before I make too much of a fool of myself (I already have)

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Tagged by @meyerlansky

How many works do you have on AO3? 773

What's your total AO3 word count? 2,059,396

What fandoms do you write for? I'm deep in Masters of the Air now, obviously. I've also written for Band of Brothers and Generation Kill. I dabble a LOT, so my overall fandom list is very long. Way back in the day I wrote a lot of West Wing. I did a lot of Guy/Kyle in Green Lantern, and then Law & Order: SVU ate my brain for several years even though I can't actually say the show was ever good. Oh, and I was in Avengers fandom hanging out with my fellow Phlint crew at one point.

Top Five Fics by Kudos Revenge is Best Served @ (Check Please, Jack/Bitty)

But I Will Hold on Hope (And I Won't Let You Choke (Avengers, Phil/Clint)

By the Book (Avengers, Phil/Clint)

These Are Our Friends, and These Are Our Foes (You're the One I Love Most (Avengers, Phil/Clint)

5 Scenes to Build a Team (+2 Scenes of Sweet Sweet Victory) (Avengers, Phil/Clint)

Do you respond to comments? Yup! Usually in batches. I really like doing it.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? You Would Live a Hundred Years If I Could Show You How (Law & Order, Jack McCoy/Mike Cutter) -- I killed Jack.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I tend to write happy endings most of the time, so you can really just pick one, but I think it's probably A New Mode of Living (Band of Brothers, Speirs/Lipton), and I'm including the epilogue with that.

Do you get hate on fics? Very occasionally. I just delete/block and move on.

Do you write smut? Oh my yes.

Craziest Crossover? I once had CJ Cregg go on a date with Big Bird. They had a lovely time.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yup! Someone stole a bunch of my Rita/Amanda fics from AO3 and slapped them on Wattpad with Amanda switched for Olivia but everything else verbatim. I reported the shit out of her, and when she moved over to AO3 and literally did the same thing, I reported her again. She accused me of bullying, naturally.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Several! And I have blanket permission for my fics if anyone wants to translate anything. I would love if you'd link back to the original story so I know it's out there.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Eons ago there was a show called Without a Trace, and a friend and I took turns writing vignettes for the same couple. Same friend let me write a sequel to their Leo/Josh West Wing story, and we did a few more things like that. I don't think that any of those survive, however.

All time favorite ship? Speirs/Lipton, Band of Brothers. They are very important to me. They see each other in a very important way, and I treasure them.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? On the advice of counsel, I refuse to answer.

Seriously, though I don't really have that sort of WIP. Either I'm working on it (A Mighty, Vast, and Dangerous Place is still in active progress), or the idea didn't pan out (a bunch of stuff), or I actively chose to stop working on it (there's a Ted Lasso fic that I will never touch again).

What are your writing strengths? I do good character voices and can get the emotional response I want from readers. I have fun coming up with interesting descriptions.

What are your writing weaknesses? Losing steam. Getting distracted by a new fandom. From a writing-writing standpoint, I have a hard time remembering room layouts or where people are in them. I don't think visually, so I'm always having to scroll back up or make a note so I don't forget a piece of furniture or a whole guy.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I got no problems. It's about being able to understand the point of the conversation, not necessarily the words themselves. There's lots of ways to get it across while having the dialogue in a different language than the rest of the fic for whatever reason. But the use of the other language needs to fit the story and the characters, and if you're writing in another language, you better know it's quirks.

First fandom you wrote in? Ahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahaha

Oh, god, it was Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers back when god was a child.

Oh, man. God, I just got the goofiest memories. I was SO into that show.

Favorite fic you've written? Oh advice of counsel, I plead the fifth.

Honestly, I don't know. It changes constantly.

Tags (very optional): um, @dytabytes, @infiniteeight8, @daysofxavierspast @sarahcakes613, @ralkana, @lunaris1013, and anyone who wants to. I swear I barely remember my own name when it comes to tagging time.

[weer02]

thanks for the tag @lenorelovesmax!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

just one, my current one - ambivalence! sooo i'll probably be a little too repetitive in these responses, 'cause all i have to say is about this fic.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

138k so far

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

-ambivalence (211)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

of course i do! i appreciate every single one of them and i always reply to let the person know that i'm thankful for it.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

actually, i haven't completed one fic yet... but apart from that i would never write a fic with an angsty ending. only angst through story, ending must be hopeful!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

like i said above, haven't completed one fic yet.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i got one short hate comment back in 2019, but i deleted it✨ i don't need that kind of negativity in my comment section✨

9. Do you wrote smut?

i sometimes kinda wish i was able to, 'cause there moments later in fic where they'd fit, but my ace ass (ace-spec to be precise) just has no idea how to do it. but if i ever was to write smut i'd like it to be not really straightforward if you know what i mean. fun fact, in chapter 21 i wrote a scene between max&warren where they get a little closer than usual (it's nowhere near smut tho) and that felt...off? like i had no idea what i was even writing! ok. thats it hahaha

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written?

never wrote crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

fortunately not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

actually someone offered to translate my fic and i agreed, i've been checking their profile and the translated fic never appeared . it was in 2020, so 4 years ago and the translation is nowhere to be found unfortunately. but i once translated chapter 1 into my native language just for fun.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

never, but that could've been fun!

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

hmmmm, that's a tough question! im not that big of a shipper i think. and lot of my ships are considered to be controversial in fandoms... i'm gonna sound boring and obvious to say caulscott, cause it's the first ship that came to my mind, but is it my fave? it's very interesting to explore, and i love to read numbers of fic with them falling for each other over and over again. from the more " wholesome "ships i can think of, it's dani and jamie from the haunting of bly manor. their story is beautiful and tragic at the same time, and quite important personally for a reason.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i won't say that i doubt it, but i really really want to finish ambivalence. it's been so long since i started it and there's either personal stuff that gets in the way or lack of inspiration/motivation that makes the process go on for so long. but i have to finish it no matter what, 'cause i don't like leaving stuff unfinished and i really want to see the ending of this fic written down!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

oh that's a no from me. i tried it at the beginning, but the dialogues sounded awkward and cringy. the reason i edited chaps 1-5 is that some of dialogues there have been translated from my native language and they sounded off.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

life is strange. i started writing my fic 'cause i was starved for content and wanted to fullfil my wish of nathan saving max from the dark room.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

how do i choose a fav when there's only one? so i have to go with ambivalence. it's my first fic, and it's also very long and i often struggle with stuff that it involves, but overall it's a fun experience.

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Steph's Crew - Bonus Scene (Friendship Day)

Intro:

I've been trying to clear out the storage on my laptop, and I found some really precious scenes that I forgot to include in the dialogue series! Reading them again after not seeing them in a while really made me smile. Thought I'd share one with you real quick.

This scene is a bit of a flashback. Takes place at the start of Year 7 (so the characters are about 11-12 years old). It is a Brelise scene (you know how much I love this dynamic lol), and it's essentially their friendship origin story. A lot of people I've shared this story with had expressed confusion as to how these two became as close as they did, especially considering how different they are. So I thought I'd give them a nice wholesome starting point.

Something I should make clear to you is that they've known each other for a really long time before this point (they went to the same primary school), but this is the point where they become actual friends (since you can be in a person's life for a while, but not really know them or have a close bond with them).

(Today is Friendship Day. It is a big annual trip that the school does in late September, where all the new students in Year 7 and Year 12 get taken out for the day in order to build relationships and learn new skills. Everyone always has fun on this day, and it is a great way to get used to being in a new school and making new friends, like the name of the trip suggests. About halfway through the Year 7 final group activity, Elise notices Bret sitting outside by himself, facing away from the window. She leaves the room and goes out to go check on him)

Elise: Bretton Christopher Carter.

Bret: (looks up from his phone) Oh. Hey, El.

Elise: What on earth are you doing? Why are you using a cut-down tree log as a bench instead of having fun with everyone else?

Bret: Because I want to.

Elise: (sits down beside him) Why?

Bret: Because I feel like a failure.

Elise: Ok… why's that?

Bret: Today's Friendship Day. The whole point of today was to make friends, and barely anyone has wanted to work with me since we got here!

Elise: Maybe they would if you took things seriously for once...

Bret: I AM being serious! It's not my fault that everyone else thinks I'm not, is it?

Elise: Well, I mean… you do have a reputation. Mostly due to actual legit facts. And I get that changing people's minds about you can be hard, but something you need to understand about life is that people are going to judge you based on your past actions, whether wrong or right.

Bret: I know...

Elise: But hey, look on the bright side. You still have a bit of time to turn things around. You can still make a friend, the day's not over yet!

Bret: May as well be. Nothing's happened so far, so it probably never will happen.

Elise: (rolls her eyes) Certainly not with that attitude, it won't.

Bret: What's that supposed to mean?

Elise: No-nothing!

(Bret glances at Elise, clearly not convinced)

Elise: It's just that it won't kill you to lighten up. Having a positive attitude works wonders, believe me.

Bret: It's hard to be positive when positive things aren't happening to you.

Elise: Oh, I know, I know.

Bret: Making friends was so much easier in primary school. You didn't need to get to know one another, you could just throw a ball at a kid, and then sooner or later, the whole class is out playing catch together.

(Elise chuckles at this)

Bret: There wasn't any need for formalities or nothing. Back then, we just had fun and just... acted like yourself. That's it.

Elise: Those rules still apply now.

Bret: No, they don't. Everything's different now.

Elise: But does it have to be?

(There's a slight pause between them as they think about this)

Elise: (nudges Bret's arm) Come on, B. Up you get.

Bret: What?

Elise: (stands up, pulls Bret by the arm) We're going back inside.

Bret: (stands up) Why?

Elise: To have as much fun as we can before the end of the day. And then, later on, I'm walking you home.

Bret: …Why, though?

Elise: 'Cause that's what friends do.

Bret: (smiles) Really?

Elise: (smiles back) Yeah. I think. (pauses) I don't know, I've never done this before.

And then, six years later, they fell in love haha.

But yeah, that's basically it. It's sweet! They're both so awkward lol.

The actual chapters/book I've been working on reveals that the walking home together after school ended up being a routine with these two (The introduction to these two characters is them driving to the park to meet up with the others lol. They're singing and rapping along to "Empire State of Mind," I think. Not a big fan of it nowadays, but back in the early 2010s, that song was my jam). They'd go home together almost every day, and they'd discover new places in the town because of this (like their favourite record shop, for example). Once Elise got her own car, they'd drive home after school instead of walk.

Btw, the concept of "Friendship Day" was actually a real thing in my secondary school. Anyone else have an experience like that? Or is it just me?

[webbywatcheshorror]

Webby Reviews Horror: We Need to Do Something (2021)

We Need to Do Something is a movie about a family trapped in their bathroom during a violent and possible unnatural storm. The premise really set my expectations high, but left me pretty disappointed, to be quite honest.

Don't let the little blurb at the bottom of the above poster fool you- if you're expecting anything like the Saw franchise, you're going to be let down. (That said, Jigsaw would definitely put the dad character in a trap and I'd pay to see it.)

Review under the cut, and as always, SPOILERS ahead!

It starts off with some promise. A storm is coming, gather your family into the safest room in the house until it's passed. I've done it plenty of times in my life and I daresay I'll do it again- so I have what you might call some experience. Which, clearly, this family lacks, as they bring absolutely NOTHING by way of supplies. Not snacks, not blankets and pillows, not spare chargers, NOTHING. Aside from Dad's thermos with what appears to be an alcoholic beverage of some sort and a few board/card games.

The bathroom itself is nice and big, which makes me wonder about the rest of the house, but we never actually get to see it. With the exception of a few flashback scenes, the entire movie takes place in the bathroom. (I'm officially calling it- Bathroom Horror is now its own sub-genre. I'm going to make a list.)

My one complaint about the bathroom is but a simple one- why in the name of CAD does the only door open OUTWARDS? Go ahead, look at all the bathroom doors in your house for me. Hell, ANY of the doors in your house. They all open inward, do they not? This simple issue is what causes the rest of the movie to unfold the way it does, so it's not like it was an oversight or anything. It's just baffling to me.

Now onto the characters. I couldn't really feel much attachment to any of them, but I did feel sorry for the kids. Dad's an alcoholic asshole, Mom's a passive aggressive adulterer, and they spend most of the movie bitching at each other at the slightest provocation. The kids are better, they're just fairly typical kids. Sister's a teenager who snarks at her kid Brother (age not stated that I recall, but he's younger than 11 I'd say? I genuinely cannot estimate people's ages.) who pokes fun right back at her. Fairly decently written siblings.

I spent most of the movie waiting for things to get weird, to get creepy, but almost the entire time is spent watching them slowly just unravel- which could have been fine and dandy except I was promised something MORE. And it would have been fine if we were given any indication of how much time has passed, because otherwise they start losing their shit about ten minutes into the storm.

The storm brings down a tree directly through the roof of whatever room the bathroom is attached to and blocks the door, which, again, opens outward for some reason. The 'windows' are far too small to be of any use, and Dad claims the walls are *checks notes* SIX FEET THICK. Now, I never actually used my drafting training to actually make anything, but I'm pretty damn sure nobody builds houses with walls that are six feet thick.

There are so many hilarious moments, but I get the sense that they weren't intended to be funny. But how else am I meant to respond to things like the World's Most Aggressive Rattlesnake and the demon not!dog? Or when, in some kind of fit of madness, Dad starts whipping Mom with the dead rattlesnake after having bitten its head off? ('Like Ozzy,' he says, because 'snakes are just bats that can't fly!')

Most of the dialogue is weirdly phrased or just unrealistic in general, as well as their decision-making. Not once do they search for anything to try to unscrew the door hinges. Towards the final scenes, Mom is able to bust through a part of the wall that leads... Elsewhere? But they didn't bother with doing that anytime beforehand, only after two of them are dead and demons kill the only other people they hear from.

But by far the most unrealistic part is when, in complete seriousness, Daughter confesses that she and her goth gf might have summoned the demon storm with a spell they found on the internet and then didn't even do right. And her parents BELIEVE HER lmao. Like, right away, even. No 'oh sweetie that's ridiculous' or anything.

Some parts felt too rushed through, and some felt too drawn out, and some I wished were handled differently. There was a lot that could have been done with this story, and it really did have some good beats, but overall it felt awkward and kind of boring. And the worst part is the ending- it finally got interesting! Mom comes back from checking what was going on outside (absolutely COVERED in blood by the by) and outright refuses to say what she saw, then there's Sounds coming from the hole she crawled through, they scream, and it ends. We never even got to see the Demon whose tongue they (for some reason???) decided to eat.

I really did want to like the movie, I did, but you can't promise me a supernatural storm and then make me sit through a whole lot of pointless, baffling family drama when there's demons and shit out there. I give this one four outta ten ghosts. It just didn't work for me, but it had me laughing whether or not it meant to. Both times I watched it, I could not help but laugh when the kids are excitedly letting the 'dog' that's just out of their view lick their hands and asking 'oh who's a good boy?' only to be horrified when it answers, gleefully, 'I'm a good boy!' as it licks them.

[deiliamedlini]

PORTAL AU?????

SO THIS IS ONE OF THOSE DEEPTIVE NAMES! IT'S NOT PORTAL LIKE THE GAME! IT'S A MODERN AU WHERE THEY'RE MILITARY HYLIANS AND ZELDA IS A CIVILIAN SCIENTIST AND THEY USE PORTALS TO TRAVEL TO DIFFERENT WORLDS!

So like the first portal they discover takes them to Zora's Domain (which is not on the same planet) so Zelda has to come up with ways to communicate while Link has to fight foreigh threats with weapons that don't work on the world (like his hylian guns don't work there while he's trying to fight a lynel with the Zora's so he has to learn to fight with other styles, and they accidently attract another portal user, Ganon, who considers himself the god of all these people and has never found the Hylian portal.

So the big plot is them trying to keep Hyrule safe and keep him from finding the portal, while at the same time exploring and understanding new worlds. It's AU so like, there's different areas of the Zora planet. One area is the BOTW area, then there's Great Bay. There's the Domain from OOT. Like, the games are combined for the sake of worlds. Like Gorons have two species: the MM ones who live in snow, and the others who live in hot climates, etc.

This is one of my fav AU's to work on, but it's so big that I just don't have time cause I have so many other AU's I'm writing at the same time. It's one of my fav plots I've given to Link (nothing I said here, just like his backstories and future things he'd have to go through). I have a ton written, but I started rewriting it because I couldn't get the beginning to work well. Link and Rhoam are besties, so it's actually a good Rhoam fic too LOL!

Here's Link and Zelda exploring, and Zelda is claustrophobic so she is NOT happy. Below the cut bc it's a little long with dialogue:

“Mhmm,” Link grumbled, though he was feeling at the door with his hands. “Something seem off to you, Doc?” Zelda looked up. “No. Why?” “The door.” “Yes? What about it?” “It closed.” He turned back to Zelda finally. She set the stone down, crossing the room to meet him, pressing her hand on the surface beside his. “Oh.” “Yeah.” “So, you’re stuck with me for a bit longer then,” she said nonchalantly, going back to her stone. But as she went to pick it up, she stopped. “Link… there’s water on the ground.” “Of course there is,” he grumbled, pushing past her to check the other door. It was sealed tight, but there was a steady rush of water moving in from under the door, and he could feel the pressure of water seeping inside. “It’s fine. The Zora know we’re here. They’ll look for us and see the door closed long before the water—” Link turned to look at Zelda, but she wasn’t where she’d been standing. Instead, she was at the other door, pressing the sensor frantically. The door cracked open ever so slightly, and water began to pour through the widened opening. “Oh shit!” Link hissed, crossing the room as quickly as he could. He couldn’t see through the other side; the water was coming through too fast and rippled. He couldn’t even tell if he needed to close the door, or open it. “Oh gods!” Zelda gasped, stepping away from the rushing water. “Link! I’m sorry! That’s what I used to open the other door before!” “It’s fine,” he said, looking around the windowless room. No other exits. “We just had to be in a world of water-dwelling fish people.” “No, I… I’m so sorry! I don’t like enclosed spaces like this.” “Who does?” Link asked, sardonically eyeing the water. “No, I really don’t,” she breathed. Link turned to see her ghostly white skin beginning to clam up. Some of it was obviously water, but he could see the distinct sheen of cold sweats coating her skin. “Stay calm, okay? We’ll get out of here.” “That’s easy for you to say, Mr. Military! I’m a civilian! My training was in a lab surrounded by microscopes and tools, not staying calm with a room filling with water, okay? The most dangerous situation I’ve ever been in was a chemical spill that got on my hands and burned a little bit of my skin before I could wash it off. Oh, but one other time, I was looking in an old house and the beam broke and I was—” “We’re going to be fine, Zelda.” “How? We are not fish people with gills! Can you swim that whole way up, Mr. Special Forces? Because I can’t! The water is clearly not drained right now. Someone got the schedule wrong, because this shouldn’t be filling up for another hour!”

[whatyourusherthinks]

The Front Room Review

*Walks onto stage in front of the mike* Ahem. *Looks left, then looks right*...A24, as a movie company, is overrated.

BOO! BOO THE HERETIC! BOO ME! I DON'T CARE! Half the A24 movies I've watched have been GOD AWFUL. Do you want to guess what The Front Room is, Buggnutz? Based on this opening, bad? Wrong, IT'S WORSE THAN THE EXORCISM. A MOVIE THAT WAS SO BAD I COULDN'T COMPREHEND WATCHING IT. HOW YOU ASK? I wasn't goin-

What's the Movie About?

This is a "psychological horror" movie about taking care of an old lady. Not an old lady possessed by a demon or she's a witch, or the characters have to do it while being chased by a monster. Just a regular old woman. She's incontinent and racist ooooohhhh spooky.

What I Like.

The ending made me laugh. Unintentionally, yes, and a major part of that laugh was bitter since I wasted two hours of my life watching this piece of shit. But I'm saving the empty 'What I Like Section' gag for something really special, so what do you want from me?

What I Didn't Like.

The scariest thing that happens in this movie is a dream sequence about an adult man being breast fed by an old woman. That sounds horrifying. ...Fair, but they don't get up close with any details to make it disturbing. It's just kinda gross. That's what a lot of the movie is. It never goes too far with anything so it's not like it's supposed to be scary, it's just like... Do you want to watch a montage of flushing toilets? Or see every character vomit at some point? Not really. Those dream sequences are bizarre, and not in a fun psychedelic way. In a "someone told us this movie needs to be scarier and this was the first thing that we came up with" way. 90% of this movie is the old lady (who has a ridiculously over-the-top southern accent, check "Roan complains about accents" off your Bingo Card) being overbearing or obnoxious on purpose. It doesn't help that the dialogue is possibly the worst I've ever heard. It's not just that it's unnatural, it all sounds like it went through Google Translate twice. That's not the only poorly made part of the movie. They somehow fuck up the continuity between shots of the same scene! Seriously, there's a part where the the main character is putting on two earrings, the shot cuts to her husband saying something, and then it cuts back to the main character getting up to leave and she only has one earring on. How the fuck did that happen? And AMAZINGLY, despite ALL OF THAT SHIT, this movie is pretentious. The villain of the movie is basically a Southern Baptist strawman, and the lead is a a wet dream for someone who believes that "woke culture" exists and is fully in favor for it. The first scene (Well, the first scene after a ridiculously long credit sequence. Seriously, I think the end credits are shorter.) is the main character teaching a bunch of bored Gen Z'ers about the symbolism in chairs is actually about "Goddess". Then she quits her job because they were boxing her out of classes because of racism. Like... On principal I should like all that, buck the system and this is the reality flack people have to deal with and all that. But the way the movie presents it is very unlikable. It gets even worse when the old lady in introduced. Every aspect of this character is presented as the worst a human being can be, and while yes, the old lady says and does some reprehensible things, there is a difference between faking being pushed over and telling the nurses your step-daughter-in-law pushed you, and hanging up a crucifix. There's literally a part of the movie where I said, "This seems movie really hates Christians." The movie hates the elderly even more. I think the biggest problem the main character has with the old lady is that she has lost control of her bathroom functions. Like, yeah, it's gross and a pain to deal with along with a baby. But they way the movie harps on about it is so needlessly mean. There is a scene when the old woman messes the bed in the night, and the way the couple reacts feels really cruel to old people. Christ, this movie is red-pilling me. Even Reagan didn't do that. But don't worry everyone, the movie has a happy ending. The main character smothers the old lady to death with a pillow.

This is how this movie is worse than the Exorcist. Because at least the Exorcist doesn't advocating for euthanasia.

Final Summation.

This might be the most half-assed movie I've ever seen. It's so half-assed that it might be more appropriate to say it's quarter-assed. Or one-eighth assed. Like there are some ideas here that could have been interesting or scary, but the movie makers were too lazy to actually make it such. Is A24 resting on their laurels? Like after Everything Everywhere All At Once was declared the best-movie-to-grace-this-sinful-earth, they just decided to stop trying? Why did they do that after I decided to do this stupid "watch every movie that comes out" thing!?

[twig-tea]

Excellent post, MJ!

[Note, I had put this in my original reblog and then got in my head about it and removed it to its own post, but it had been reblogged, and the convo on that thread is so good. SO I've put this back and deleted the other post where I had separated it out. Sorry for the shenanigans! The rest of the text is copy-pasted.]

To make it as plain as I can state it: the tags are public space that is shared, you should expect to see things that you won't agree with in the common show tags. Tags on someone else's post, on the other hand, should be respectful of the original OP.

Reblogging a post and adding commentary tags that are rude about the thing the person who created the post likes is not good tumblr etiquette for two reasons: it forces someone who may not be interested in interacting with others' opinions to see yours, and it leaves little room for dialogue. If you are just salty about a show, no need to bring someone else's post into it, just make your own. This is especially true with gifsets, fanart, and other transformative works. Someone spent time and energy to make something as an act of love, that is not the place to say you didn't like the thing. Just don't reblog or comment only on the gifset itself, and make your own separate post with your opinions. Similarly, don't add gifs made by someone else to criticism; you're holding up a piece of their art and saying the thing they made it about sucks. That doesn't feel good and it isn't necessary.

On the other hand, tagging your separate post of criticism with the show tag is a way to add your voice to the public conversation about a show, and I think it's critical we not make that dependent on only positive commentary. No show is perfect and being able to talk through the things that did and didn't work make us all better media consumers. It also helps people avoid things they don't want to see in shows. If you love something and don't want to see criticism of it, you can skim and scroll past in the tags, temporarily or permanently filter or block people who are posting negatively about the show, or if you don't want to manage your own feed, just go to blogs that are positive about it and let other people curate your experience by skimming their blogs only for posts they've found and reblogged and tagged within their blog. We have some incredible tag divers in fandom who go through and surface good posts and reblog them, find the ones with your taste and use them to help curate your experience.

There are limits. Spamming a show tag with multiple posts that are complaints is bad etiquette. Reposting the same complaint every week is annoying. These are the kinds of behaviours that make me consider blocking or filtering someone's tags. And if there are fandom-specific tags, eg ship couple tags, or if someone has a specific custom tag, checking in and using it as it's intended is good etiquette.

At the end of the day it doesn't actually matter what I think about whether people should tag their criticism or not, and why; tumblr is a public social media space, and we'll never be able to force people to behave how we prefer on their own blogs. This is why blocking, filtering, and unfollowing is so important and healthy in this space. It isn't rude or mean, it's just curating your experience. If folks feel strongly about not wanting to see criticism of their faves, the reality is they'll have to manage that experience for themselves because those of us who prefer to see the full range of reactions even when we disagree with them will continue to tag our criticism with the generic show tag. Maybe if there are enough of them they could make their own positive-only tags [and immediately understand why the suggestion of tagging criticism as criticism is a flawed system lol].

I'm seeing the whole "If you don't like something stay out of the fandom tags" commentary again. Honestly, it bugs me quite a bit. I would say that I try to not piss in people's cheerios often. I try to not just complain for the sake of yelling about something. I do believe everyone should get to enjoy what they enjoy whether I like it or not.

but I also think people who like a certain kind of story and watch things with the hope they will get what they like, and then are disappointed, also deserve community.

I think the opinion that people are doing this to troll or because they enjoy complaining is a bad take, at least in the fandoms I'm in. When I get that stubborn about a show it's because I genuinely loved something about it and I now have passionate opinions about it. If I didn't care, I would not be posting about it. I would just forget it.

And yes, there are different levels of critique that are productive and others that are not. But having people be like - have your feelings but keep it to yourself or only your dash where others may or may not have the same feelings - maybe are harmless when you are annoyed that an adult show has all the plot points of a high school story, but are concerning when the post is talking about the pair the spare where there is no recognition that they had painted the antagonist as an assaulter and are now rehabilitating him with no effort at all. When you start dictating what is acceptable and unacceptable fandom opinions, you start walking the line of censoring voices that should be boosted.

In my opinion, fandom is at its best when you are hearing other points of view and gaining more understanding of media by listening to other voices. It's another part of the transformative nature of fandom.

It's so easy here to block people or filter people and tags. The expectation yet again that someone else should be responsible for your experience is beyond my brain capacity.

I do know how hard it is to see a huge fandom reaction that doesn't align with yours -I have experienced it both in loving something and hating something. But that is why we all need to find our community and well, on tumblr, it's in the tags.

[thebroccolination]

i need to know all of your thoughts on the dialogue in THAT last scene PLEASE 🥺

Hi, Anon! :D

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk abut this scene.

Essentially, I put all my thoughts into this fic.

Like………I've rewatched this scene so many times, and the part that keeps stabbing me in the heart is here:

To me, this just feels like Win's giving so much of himself to Team, and Team probably doesn't have a clue how significant all of this is. Win's breaking the rules, but only for Team. He's older and more experienced, but he's willing to give up control.

Arguably, he wants to.

He's the one everyone else depends on, the one who'll step in to take responsibility for running the resort business because his older brother has no interest.

It's no wonder he'd want someone else to lead for once, but it's incredible that that someone is a first-year he's only known for a few weeks at this point. He's a third-year, and in all that time he's never met someone who interested him so thoroughly he's starting to bend his life around him.

It's not just that they're vers that I love, it's why they are. (Why I think they are.)

Some vers couples just enjoy the physical sensations of being both top and bottom, and it doesn't get any more complicated than that. But with Win, I think part of why he's into it is psychological, too. I think he wants someone he can rely on, and it's beautiful that he chooses Team: someone younger who suffers from sleep problems and possibly anxiety and PTSD.

And it's not like Win's totally clueless about that, either.

He's seen hints of it already because he's been paying very close attention.

I just love how their relationship is set up in these first two episodes. In the first episode they had a hookup where Win made sure that Team knew what he was doing, where he was, and who he was with. In the second episode they established more concretely that this is something they both want to continue, at least for now, and that Team can stop whenever he wants.

And and and! I wanted to make a whole other post for this but I'll just do it now:

The sad string music, right? It plays over them making out initially, but y'know where it stops?

It stops right after Team asks Win if he's done this before: broken the rules and hooked up with people in the locker room after practice. Because Team already knows Win went into the club's files to find out Team's room number to check on him earlier.

Win just puts his forehead on Team's, and it's such a sweet and affectionate gesture when they really, really don't know each other that well yet, but Win's starving for someone to love whether he accepts it about himself or not.

And then my favorite music transfer yet!

It starts up again when Win kisses Team.

And then back to forehead stuff. :')

Usually I tend to see a piece of music in a scene as representing one character's emotional state, but I think here it feels more like the music represents their relationship's direction, if that makes sense?

Like, the sad violins are what could have been: if Team hadn't stopped Win and clarified what they're doing, where they stand with each other. If they'd just hooked up again the way they did that first night, without continuing the conversation of what they are to each other, they could have ended up in a much darker, less healthy place.

We get two music changes after we reach what I'm calling Team's song until I find out the official title (it's Prem singing from Team's POV, for anyone who hasn't heard yet). The first change is when Team asks Win directly if he does this a lot, and the second…

Is after Team asks what'll happen if he wants to end whatever they're doing. And I love that Win's staring into his eyes, because I think it shows that he's actually listening, no matter how out-of-it he seems.

It's only when Win effectively tells him there won't be larger consequences, they'll just stop, that they get the big escalation of the jubilant part of Team's song.

And I think this just cements Win's whole belief that he's never going to have someone who stays, something that lasts. But the music isn't sad, it's triumphant. Because, I think, they're doing what they should have: Team clarified what they were doing, and Win reassured him that he doesn't have anything to fear from Win himself if he wants to end it.

Almost like Team can be afraid of anyone else, but not him. /excessivecrying