#Jackie is more interesting because she's a character and I can do anything with a character.

[her-canine-teeth]

why the fuck are people writing analyses about if taylor swifts gay. write about jackie instead she's called taylor too

[mermazing-art]

The real name of the Furious Five 

After the Kung Fu Panda 4 movie I started thinking about what Zhen's first conversations with the Furious Five would be like. I imagined her nervous about making a good impression but fitting quite well with her group dynamic given her mischievous attitude and enjoying their adventures with her, establishing a relationship of trust. Which led me to a thought "Would she, wanting to know them more, ask them what their real names are?"

This theory has been circulating in the fandom for years since it is said that their names actually refer to their fighting styles or their species (as well as Master Ox, Crocodile or Rhino) since those who retain their own name within this discipline are those who have a superior role such as Oogway, Shifu or Po and those who do not have a title such as Zhen or Tai Lung.

Well, I decided to look for a suitable name for each one, one that fit their physique or personality, that was easy to remember and that would distinguish one another, let's go!

Mantis: Xun Yu ( fast jade )

With Mantis I was clear that I didn't want to look for anything that had to do with his size but I did want to highlight his most powerful abilities such as his speed.  That's where his first name, Xun, comes from.  His middle name, Yu (Jade), is because of his green color although this can also mean ''insect'' depending on the kanji with which it is written.  My idea is that Mantis calls himself ''the green lightning'' referring to his real name.

Crane: Zimo ( refined ink )

At first I wanted his name to be related to the sky or the air due to his avian species or his techniques, but it made me think that one of the things that catches my attention about this character is his interest in Chinese calligraphy.  Therefore, I decided to name him Zimo (ink or writing) to reflect his beloved hobby in his name.

Monkey: Wong Sang ( yellow mulberry )

For Monkey, I researched his voice actor, the one and only Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-Sang. I wanted to take it as a reference by changing the name Kong since it is the name of the Monkey's brother to Wong (yellow), relating it to the color of his fur. I wanted to make a reference to his comic side but I couldn't find a suitable name for the guidelines I had assigned to it.

Viper: Jia Ling ( beautiful tinkle )

As with Monkey, I researched on her voice actress, Lucy Liu, whose full name is Lucy Alexis Liu Yu Ling. I wanted to reflect her charming and sweet personality, so I took the name Ling (tinkerbell) as a reference of the hiss' snake she produces, as well as her happy attitude.  But her first name would be Jia to emphasize the beauty of this character.

Tigress: Xia ( sunrise )

For her, I thought I would delve deeper into her story and her development as a character in order to give her the appropriate name.  This is her story:

When Tigress lived in the orphanage, she received the name Xian ("who lives in seclusion") from the other children perpetuating their contempt and fear of her. When Shifu finally decided to adopt her, after He heard that name many times, almost always accompanied by the word "monster", he asked her what new name she would like. She simply accepted Tigress because she didn't believe she could deserve a name. Shifu pondered and decided to call him Xia. Tigress at first didn't like this idea because it sounded similar to the previous one, but Shifu explained his choice to her. Both names, although similar, did not have the same meaning because now she would no longer be in the darkness, secluded and alone, but rather she had the opportunity for a new life, a path marked by the light that emanated from her, a new sunrise.

So yes, Zhen would ask the furious five their names, giving the situation that Po would find out right then and there about this. Everyone except Tigress would answer this question since for her it is still a very personal matter related to her past and Shifu and she still doesn't feel comfortable sharing it with everyone. Could Tigress talk to a certain panda about this?

[being-of-rain]

Now that the whole series has been released, I binge relistened to all of Once and Future. And wrote down all my thoughts, of course.

Definitely the series' main problem is something that affects a lot of Big Finish; it wants to have a story arc, but clearly the writers barely planned with each other or put any effort into that aspect. There's no flow or natural build-up to the finale, unlike what the premise and first episode might lead you to expect. Without much of a compelling arc, the only thing the series has to mark it as a special occasion is its many cameos and crossovers ...but in order to have more of those than the average Big Finish series, they had to pack so many in that most episodes struggle to handle it (in one way or another).

As a series, it unfortunately adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

With all that said, it's a series that I enjoyed a lot more during my relisten, since I could adjust my expectations. I forgot my desire for a grand or satisfying larger story, and just took each standalone episode on its own merits. There's a varying level of quality, but overall its not as disappointing as I remembered.

I decided to rank the episodes from my least to most favourite, and write a paragraph on each one.

8. Time Lord Immemorial I was told this was added to the series at the last minute, and I believe it; it features the imminent destruction of every universe thanks to the use of the degeneration gun, and this little fact is not mentioned at any point before or afterwards. The plot is about a dull and generic all-powerful Time Lord fairytale with an incredibly convenient rhyme to tell everyone what to do. Not that anyone actually does much of anything in this episode. It's mostly descriptions of some impressive visuals and the trading of some half-hearted banter. The only thing of any substance at all in the story is the slightly interesting (though not as interesting as it could've been) relationship between the Lumiat and the Doctor, which is okay if you like that, and unfortunate if you wanted Liv and the Unbound Doctor to have any focus at all.

7. Two's Company This episode is the poster child of being assigned a long and truly random laundry list of characters by the producers. All elements of the episode feel like they're thrown together haphazardly, from the total disregard of the previous episodes' plot hook onwards. But the friendship of Jackie and Lady Christina, two of the least likely characters to be teamed up with the sixth Doctor, is perhaps the highlight of the episode (even though Jackie is written rather stereotypically). On the other hand, Harry Sullivan doesn't really add anything, and the bizarre introduction of The Two borders on the insulting. Back when The Eleven was first introduced, the audio took pains to note that his mental illness was not the cause of his villainy. Later authors seemed to have missed this memo, and none fly in the face of it as much as Two's Company. On top of it all, I think Lisa McMullin is just an author I do not vibe with. She's the only one who wrote two episodes of this series, and they're my two least favourite.

6. The Union I'm not a big fan of finales written by Matt Fitton, which is bad news for me because he's been Big Finish's Go-To Finale Guy for over a decade now. He always makes the plot a bit too busy and never quite lands the emotional moments for me. Once and Future's climactic episode gets a lot of fanservicey moments (some that I can enjoy and some that feel like an obligation), but the story arc that the series had been stumbling and crawling towards concludes with the Doctor winning a nonsensical moral argument about how he's fine with being and meeting himself, something that isn't demonstrated in this anniversary special and is contradicted in most others. The villain/s are a bizarre choice and rather unthreatening- but at least River and Susan are fun to listen to.

5. A Genius For War It's slightly baffling that in the middle of a series that flaunts its random character line-ups is a fairly standard Time War episode, with characters you'd expect to see in it (except for the Seventh Doctor I guess, but he doesn't feel that out of place in a Davros story like this.) I refrained from calling it a "bog-standard" Time War episode, because it does actually put some effort into being relevant to this series specifically, and is a fun little action movie to while away an hour (and celebrate the Doctor's longest-running alien foes in all their mediocre glory). Still, the fact that this ep is just before halfway through my ranking means that I enjoy this series more often than not.

4. Past Lives This is a charming episode, largely due to its fun cast of characters. It takes its time with its story, being literally halfway done by the time all the characters have been brought into the plot together, but I'm not saying it's badly paced. I'm certainly fine with it just giving us the Doctor and the Monk for the first 15 minutes. But the moment of this episode that always sticks in my head the most is the Doctor and Sarah reacting to all the pictures of the Doctors in Osgood's house, having a little bit of an existential crisis about it. It's amazing how taking even just a small break from the action for some genuine emotion can add to a story. See number 1 on this list for more. Oh I do wish it did more with the King Arthur/Once and Future theme though, especially seeing as it was what gave the series its name.

3. The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 Michelle Gomez and David Tennant are so good together. I don't have an awful lot more to say about this one, it's just solid entertainment. It's got great characterisation and a lot of funny lines. The episode really understood the Master when it said "Only one Time Lord would ever do something so mind-bogglingly, time-consumingly ridiculous."

2. Coda—The Final Act The final episode is second only to Two's Company in how random and long its list of returning characters is, but it handles them with much more grace and a satisfying story. I mean I do wish that Vienna Salvatori had a bigger role, but that's just because I'm a fan of her series, she works fine narratively (and there was a Jexie reference to appease me). Really my biggest complaint about this one is that it doesn't quite commit to the Doctor vs Doctor premise as much as I wish it would, with it all being a contrived trick, but it doesn't do that badly, it's fine. Wait, maybe my biggest complaint is the title: why give it two? Why not just call it Coda? Anyway, Bernice was a great choice for this episode, she's always been great at speaking her mind to the Doctor. And it was easy for me to forget this this is Jo Martin's first audio because she sounded so at home. Great stuff.

1. The Artist at the End of Time This might not be the episode I go back to listen to the most, but I think it is the best made, with the most time to breathe and the most coherent themes. (And it also happens to be the episode with the least amount of returning characters heaped upon it. What a coincidence.) The degeneration giving the Doctor something of an existential crisis, compounded by the end of the universe and the presence of the Curator, gives the series some much needed time to reflect on a key aspect of the franchise for its anniversary; the Doctor themself. It certainly works a lot better than whatever The Union tried to do in its last 15 minutes. Aside from all that, Five and Jenny and the Curator are just a rather sweet team to listen to, with an interesting problem to investigate and a lot of witty dialogue.

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Found an Self-Insert Cyberpunk fanfic.

Except it's not the usual type. It's the type where it's told entirely from the perspective of people other than the SI, which makes it more interesting.

Problem 1: Current events.

Almost all the references people make are ones you'd expect from someone today, like Batman or other pieces of pop culture.

Cyberpunk 2077 often references fictional in-universe media. Like the dead rock star stuck in V's head. In a world where everything and everyone is disposable and temporary, why would people usually reference 80 year old media?

At one point, a character explicitly compares another character's clothing to Danny DeVito in Matilda.

Okay, the CP timeline divergences mainly started in the 90s. So it's possible that the movie was still made, but it's still odd. Especially when the same characters don't recognize that the story's lead is heavily based on Walter White. Shaved head and everything.

Except he's using his chemistry potential for good, not evil.

And it's not just media. It's also Current Year memes, like V describing certain people as a "corpo bros who watched too much American Psycho", or himself as a "disaster bisexual".

Oh look, a segue.

Problem 2: Rainbow connection.

The story puts a lot of emphasis on LGBT characters.

There's Judy Alvarez, obviously. But also, V's in with Meredith Stout is Stout's explicitly non-binary ex who, you guessed it, is they/them.

Adds nothing to the story. The SI provides that info, and Meredith tries to trip V up, but he sees through it.

Since Meredith is a Militech Corpo, and V is an Arasaka ex-Corpo (who still isn't over it), why doesn't V…just use that connection, somehow? Militech and Arasaka are rivals. There could be some friction there. Or V could sympathize with how Stout would do anything to keep her job.

Why are non-binary characters always just they/them? Why not he/she/they? He/She? Xi/xir? or Lunagender? Or using regular He or She interchangably while IDing as enby? Why is it always the basic, simple, "normal" version? Got a Rochester's Wife situation going on?*

Also, in fanfics, things like this often suggest even more awkward left-wing political insertions, down the line.

Problem 3: even more awkward left-wing political insertions.

Well, just one.

Panam Palmer just didn't fit. This wasn't rare in Night City. Lots of people who didn't fit in, were awkward, had no social groups, didn't choose to be loners. She expected to be alone in the city and no one cared. But it was personal hate. Her skin color, nomad markings, speech, just being a woman. The list went on and every day there was some new jerk who needed to find out, because they messed around.

Panam is canonically native American, according to the devs, but she looks like a random white biker lady wth a tan. Wouldn't be the first white-passing Native woman I've seen.

Also, she lives and works around Night City. Which is extremely diverse.

Judy Alvarez and Jackie (both Hispanic) were both POV characters, and race wasn't really mentioned. You'd think ex-Arasaka V or someone would mention Arasaka's racism, but nope. River Ward was a viewpoint character, and he's much more visibly non-white, down to his necklace and dreamcatcher (if romanced).

He only brings it up in the fic when Misty asks him if he ever had his fortune told. Apparently his granny did a "spirit walk" when him and his sister were born.**

I've seen playthroughs of the game, and I don't remember sexism really being a thing. Why would skin color matter much when anyone can change that and other ethnic features at will?

Why did race only come up as a significant thing now?

I'd expect Panam to get the most stick for being a Nomad, not brown, or a woman. Especially in a city where any woman could sprout mantis blades and go Cyberpsycho at the drop of a hat.

This feels…reductive. Like the writer wanted to give Panam challeges to overcome so she could be a Tough Woman™, and just…piled too much on, like a Chicago hot dog.

I would've gone with something more subtle. "Her back itches without her Nomad tribe behind her, and she's uncomfortable in a city instead of a desert, or a road. Even the echoes sound wrong."

So, yeah, this was the last straw.

Also, I checked the writer's profile, and, very stereotypically, she's from Portland.

*Also, you might recall that there was a nontroversy over an soda ad in the game featuring a lady with, ahem, a rather substantial bulge. Based on an actual trans woman. Somehow, portraying a (possible) trans woman in the same sexually objectified way as ads featuring non-trans people is transphobic.

I never worked out that logic.

My best guess is that some people were uncomfy with it, and it's about a trans person, so it's must be *phobic somehow.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the ad was just Photoshop in universe? Or the in-universe model was a non-trans woman who strapped on the junk just for the ad?

(Though depending on who you ask, that still counts as being a trans woman, somehow.)

**Come to think, that kind of feels like it's stereotyping. I can't find evidence Pomo Native Americans do spirit walks, but maybe my Google-fu is just weak.

[fnafs-ex-boyfriend]

Why shipping aroace characters is different

So I made a post a while back about my distaste for Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. One of the things that I mentioned in that post was that I disliked how callously she treated the shipping of Alastor, her aroace character (note: he is indeed canonically aroace, Vivziepop confirmed that he was ace and an artist on the show clarified that he was aro as well, which seems to be the implication for the character from Vivziepop and her team). I had a few people regard with confusion, asking what the difference was between shipping an aroace character and shipping, say, a straight character in a gay ship. There’s a key difference that I want to cover for my well-meaning allo (not ace or aro) friends. (Note: I definitely have different standards for QPR shipping and friends-with-benefits shipping aro and/or ace characters, but if I see ANY allo people using QPRs without knowledge of how they actually work and use them as an excuse to ship an aro character….i will find you)

The difference that I, an aroace man, have in my mind is that Aroace characters should not be shipped in a traditional way because we have so little representation in the first place. How many gay people have you seen in media? How many bisexuals? How many lesbians? There are numerous examples of these more common sexualities all throughout popular media. One reason why this kind of representation is more popular is mostly due to two factors: One of which is, obviously, that the three listed are more commonly known by the populous, thus are guaranteed to get a better reaction from a widespread audience. The other reason to this is that aro-asexuality has to be represented differently than other orientations. With most orientations, if a creator wants to properly represent their identities, they will put the character in question in a relationship with someone of the same gender as them (Amity from The Owl House or Jackie from Star Versus the Forces of Evil), or they will give the character a chaotic realization-to-coming-out storyline, often tied to a romantic relationship (Nick from Heartstopper). However, with aroace people, you can’t really adhere to this traditional standard, as the entire point of the orientation is a lack of interest in sex or romance. Therefore, they tend to be harder to represent other than giving them a full storyline about their sexuality (Isaac from Heartstopper) or their orientation must be made clear by the creator (Lilith from The Owl House). These factors make aromantic and/or asexual characters quite rare in popular media.

What does this have to do with shipping aro-ace characters? Well, I can name countless well-represented gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in popular media. But for aroaces, there’s really only a handful. It hurts to not see yourself in media. And, from my perspective, when people ship aroace characters, they’re callously disregarding that fact by ignoring their canon sexuality. Shipping Percy Jackson with Grover or whatever isn’t taking away from straight representation because, well, reread the first half of that sentence. Additionally, never, EVER have I seen people defend people who ship lesbians or gay men with a character of the opposite sex the same way they defend shipping aro-ace characters. Amity x Hunter is a famously reviled ship in the Owl House fandom due to this very fact. What’s the difference between shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to men, and shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to anyone?

Anyway, as a media enthusiast, I just wanted to share my thoughts, because this drives me insane when I see things like this. Well-meaning allo shippers, nothing against you, but please try to think about what you’re doing to marginalized communities before doing anything.

Sincerely,

The Number One Annoying Asexual Fandom Guy

[rien-maz]

And so I, avoiding all spoilers, finished my business and finished watching the "miracle" called "Acolyte". This post will be a subjective point of view, i.e. mine.

Make some tea, because this is going to be a BIG post.

Where do I start? Oh yes, the one that angered me the most - let's start with the characters, specifically their roles, backgrounds, and everything else on the list:

First off, the main characters are flat ( and I don't mean their shapes, they're fine).

One of the main characters, Osha, is striking in her lack of emotion. In the first episode we can still see her surprise at being accused of killing a Jedi, and we also see the changes between her child version and the adult version, but then she doesn't develop emotionally, sensually or physically. She doesn't learn anything throughout the 6 episodes. It feels like all the events pass her by and all we learn from them is that she hates her sister. But then again, she has no reaction in the first episode where she learns that Mei is alive and has killed a Jedi.

She also doesn't have much emotion for Saul, her old teacher, as if she doesn't care if he's there or not. When she sees the deaths of her two friends Jackie and Yord, Osha doesn't change a bit. You could write it off as all her thoughts being preoccupied with her sister, but no. These are the people closest to her, the ones she referred to in her conversation with Mei in Episode 5 as her family.

Throughout the 6 episodes we don't see an ounce of bitterness of loss for her family, although in episode 3 we are shown that she was very close to her mom emotionally. Osha doesn't develop as a character in any way. She was the same in both series 1 and 6. By the way, the same goes for Mei, but at least there's some character growth there

Mei, both as a child and as an adult, looks out for her own interests and that doesn't change even in Episode 5. Unlike Osha, Mei reacts to events around her, but most of them have no effect on the character herself. I can basically say the same thing about her as I can about Osha, but at least she has a small step of development: leaving the master and deciding to surrender to the Jedi. Subsequent events after that decision drive her into conflict, but Leslie Hadland killed those saplings of development in a scene where Mei changes into Osha's clothes and continues on her original path.

Jackie was in my opinion the most adequate character in this product, but just like with Osha, she doesn't react emotionally to the events that happen around her. She just acts as a supporting or supporting character because she doesn't play any special role in the main character's life. Jackie is not revealed as a character in any way. Other than her name and her affiliation with the Order, we don't know anything about her. We don't know her motivation, her principles, and so on. Just a character created for the crowd.

The same goes for Yord, who dilutes the plot with his goofiness (more on the plot later, for it is so raw that it is "bursting at the seams"). Like Jackie, we don't know anything about him. No, we know that he's an old acquaintance of Oshi's, who apparently doesn't care about the main character either, and that he has a great athletic body, which is so important to the plot. He's also just like Jackie a character for the masses and nothing more. He as well as the padawan don't play much of a role.

Saul. This grandfather is only pitiful because he is constantly "whining" and apologizing. He doesn't evoke, at least for me, any emotion other than pity. I don't know what Leslie Hadland was trying to achieve by creating such a character, probably she wanted to make a "martyr" in his image, which is either the image of a "little man", like Nikolai Gogol in the story "The Overcoat", or Alexander Pushkin's "The Station Keeper", where, like the main character of the story, Sol finds joy in his former padawan Osh.

The main antagonist of this product single-handedly saves the picture, out of a total of 6 episodes so far. Throughout the 5 episodes this character acted as a mystery to many, but to me, as soon as I saw him on the screen in the form of Mei's assistant, it was immediately clear who he was (thanks to the documentaries about maniacs from "Criminal Russia"). In fact, he was the only one who kept the intrigue going for 5 episodes.

And yes, the scene where he bathes naked in the water was very necessary in the director's opinion, because look how handsome Sith is. And cubes, and breasts and charisma in general hot man. And seriously, unlike with naked Yord, this scene was acceptable, because the main villain was unarmed, but still showed his power of persuasion. you could do without it, of course, but thank you for the beautiful man in the frame, who is the only one who carries the plot on his shoulders.

And so, we've dealt with the characters, let's move on to the next thing - namely the plot. This is an interesting thing, because I've never seen such predictable plots in my life.

So here it is: the plot is bad in that it is not finalized. It feels like the authors of this product came up with some super duper ending, and then remembered that it turns out it is necessary to write the whole story for this. But about everything in order. Let's go by series, because the first two episodes are the worst in this series at the moment.

The first episode starts by introducing us to the events, i.e. a lone assassin that has come to take revenge on a Jedi. Well, you decided to show us a killer that is ready to take someone else's life, but you chose a cool outfit: hair is open, face is covered by a mask only half, the hood she throws off, allowing people to see herself, and also leaves a witness at the scene of the crime. Well done, good killer. The bar fight scene itself I could describe as "what is this?", because the Jedi just stands and watches Mei scattering the customers, although we know from the same movies and clone wars that the Jedi immediately draw their swords and try to calm down the troublemaker, but no, we had to demonstrate Mei's strength, to show how cool she is.

We'll come back to the scene with the blade in his chest later because it made me laugh, but for now let's move on to the Osha indictment scene:

First point: how fast your ships fly. In the clone wars, poor guys spent cycles to get from one planet to another, and you're teleporting at plus ultra. What's my point? Yord himself said that Osha was VERY far from Coruscant, but they miraculously got there in a matter of minutes. Reminder: the actions of the first two episodes are 3 days apart in the story, so either I'm missing something here, or they abruptly lost such powerful ships during Palpatine's reign as Chancellor.

The second point: how accurately everyone remembers the face of our lone killer, although, if we take real life, people in stress can tell about the appearance of a person only in general features, to how few can identify the attacker in the exact features of the face, but we will omit this point.

The third point: physics comes out of the chat room or, to be more precise, out of Acolyte. Shchas will be a bet from the Internet, because I was not lazy to google it to convince myself of its correctness: "During experiments with fire on board the ISS, astronauts realized that fire does not behave exactly the same way as on Earth. Fire in space burns very differently. It burns with great difficulty, and it is even more difficult to ignite".

So, "F" for physics Leslie Hadland. And one more "F" for the living and not wounded protagonist, because the ship exploded into wreckage, and Osha was sitting near the nose of the ship, and not a single scratch on her. She was running away from the Jedi so vividly that no one would have believed she had just survived a spaceship crash. Another "F" for the equally lively Osha, who lay all night on a planet of snow and ice and didn't freeze her limbs off, even though she should have gone to the Force from being in light clothing in the cold for so long. Now I've led you smoothly to the technique that our "dear" Leslie used: the unkillable protagonist. Of course, she's the protagonist, we can't kill her, even though she should have died several times already for obvious reasons.

Fourth point: we haven't had a chance to get to know the character, and they dump his whole life story on us. Why? Why? There are no answers to these questions, but I'll explain the disadvantage, which is probably obvious to you already: we can't sympathize with the hero in his pain and loss, because we haven't had time to feel for him. We've literally been dumped a "heartbreaking" story and told to "sympathize with Osha, she's so miserable." No, Leslie, it doesn't work that way. With both Osha and Saul, we're immediately laid out the characters' pasts when we first learned their names. And while we can still sympathize with Saul in Jackie and Yord's murder scene, I'm sorry we can't, because as previously stated, she's a "flat character."

Fifth point: the writers of the product forget what they wrote originally. In the first episode, we are shown Mei killing a Jedi with a dagger, and later, our beautiful antagonist tells us that "Jedi cannot be killed with blade or sword." Okay? Okay? That's interesting, wow.

Sixth point: as mentioned in the first point, the plot runs at breakneck speed. Combined with all of the above, it's already hitting the plot pretty hard, which is as cliched as possible: two sisters were separated in childhood by events and now one is trying to reunite and the other to kill.

Seventh point: the Jedi have forgotten all their skills and only one of them uses the force normally and that's Saul. Why would I say that? Because the Jedi forget that they can sense other people with the Force. If they remembered that, Mei wouldn't have been able to kill two Jedi so easily. Oh yeah, Jedi do have telepathy, but Mace goes to hell with saying that they can only read minds and memories by diving into someone else's head, which requires a good ability to use the Force. And also that Jedi can only hear out loud thoughts and feel emotions and then empaths or telepaths can do that.

And if we remember the scene in the Clone Wars where Mace, Anakin and Kenobi "talk" to Cad Bane, the immersion into someone else's mind for a person who doesn't want it is accompanied by pain for the person to whom the action was directed. Yes, Leslie, it's worth familiarizing yourself with the universe you're doing the series in.

Eighth point: Leslie Hadland attempted to use the Chekhov's Gun technique, which refers to the dramaturgical principle that every element of the narrative should be necessary and non-essential elements should be removed. This can be seen in Osha's vision scene in the first episode, where she sees her sister, who says that she is alive and that she is going to kill more Jedi. This hints to us of the two sisters meeting after 16 years apart. Yes, you're good, but with the fact that the story asks the viewer a question and then answers it a couple seconds later, it doesn't work. I mean, the scene where Osha is led to the Prison Ship in handcuffs, followed by the scene with Saul's monologue about how what our eyes see isn't always the truth. In other words, in the first two episodes we have already been told the story that will go on, because of which we can watch further only because of the handsome Sith, nothing more.

I could say more about swords, but I've said too much already, so we'll summarize.

As I said earlier, the plot is as predictable and, frankly, raw as possible. It has many moments of incomprehension and outrage. This is especially outrageous for me as a Star Wars fan (I've been watching since I was 6 years old, even though I'm of legal age)

As a result, what we have: a predictable plot with flat characters, sexualization of men and a bunch of clichés. Oh yes, and physics, which was sent far away.

Remember that in this post I only wrote my opinion on the series. If you like it, that's strictly a personal matter and each of you is fully free to have an opinion that differs from mine. I just wanted to express my indignation and point out the mistakes that I saw in the series while watching it.

That's all.

[etherealxgenie]

So I just got the Monster High Pride Comic after waiting so long! And boy was it worth the wait. But I DO have some things to say about it and note this is not to shame or disrespect anything whatsoever.

Here we go:

A side (Toradeen)

I'm gonna be upfront: Obviously this is G3 Toradeen covered in G1 skin. Don't get me wrong, it's cute and interesting chemistry while keeping some character in for both Clawdeen and Toralei. But... how did the story introduce a new MH cute side couple while failing to tell us HOW the main story couple got together?

I had to read this side a few times because while I was disappointed of the lack explanation, it was good to see a few things. I'm glad it had the side story of Ghoulia writing 'Fangfiction' (I almost forgot about the lexicon, dear god!), Howleen's OG look, A GLIMPSE of Clawdeen's dad and a few of the ghouls. Jackie and Bridgette are very cute as well giving some more representationfor MH.

The only thing was bad was the lack of BG or showing us how Toralei and Clawdeen would be in the same room of each other, let alone date. Cause these two were at each other's throats before in the series and boovies so... yeah. The next comic I hope they explain that.

B Side (Spellentine)

Maybe I'm biased, but I was anticipating this side of the comic more. First of all, I've been waiting for almost a decade to finally see the mysterious Spelldon! And I knew based on Val's diary they were gonna be a great new ship and I was SO glad to be right! I like the flow of this story well of how it shows regarding building romance and even trying to repair friendships.

The only tidbit would be the misleading thing of Draculaura refusing to accept Val's apology, though it IS understandable. But yeah, she was making excuses to not fang out with him. But I'm glad in the end they both decided to take their time. Val has a new 'friend' to pay attention to anyway :)

The bonus was that NOBODY TOLD ME WHISP WAS GONNA BE IN THE COMIC!!! It made me VERY HAPPY and she's portrayed as I expected her to be! (can you tell 13 wishes in my favorite boovie yet?). I guarantee you she will wingwoman the hell out of these two.

Overall, this comic was a pretty good read and well worth the wait. I'm curious as to see what IDW will do with the Monster High franchise from now on for the "New Scaremester."

[pokoinsides]

Uuuh...

Here is the list of the characters(the first part),whose stories and existence are possible to find in this AU - Traumatic Pasta: (‼️TW:Mentions of SA,selfharm,violence,child neglect, alcoholism‼️)

I also need to notice,that everything in this universe happens in early 2010s (wanna avoid all the questions about character's age,so just telling you in case you care :P)

🍭🫀 - Laughing Jack: used to kill children,making their death the most horrible,painful, gruesome and disgusting,but now he's a babysitter for all the pastas.Of course,Jack would rather die than be a lovely housewife till the end of his existence,but he has to, because of having a debt to the faceless mf.It is a story for another post,but to be short,Slenderman is the current owner his soul, who's giving L.J protection from angels out of Heavenly Office,who wanted to send him to the hell after his ward Isaac(since L.J is a paradise twink,I formed a theory,that he,unlike other entities,can possibly have soul).

The clown is irritated by every noise and cough,emotional as fuck and can barely bear the existence of the children of the mansion (exceptions: Sally and Toby.They're mama's innocent kittens forever and no matter what).

👔🐙 - Slenderman: actually,fella doesn't give any fuck about the fact of a bunch of mentally unstable teens living in the mansion located in the middle of the forest under his wing,because it's not his,but only Jack's concerns.His only goals are to use this emo gang in his own interests,so he barely cares of the poor ones' physiological condition and mental health.

Slenderman is extremely cold and arrogant towards everyone,even to Jack.To be honest, it's the whole event,if he shows up in the mansion to give his proxies orders about next missions and call Jackie's tartlets a piece of shit.

🧸🖍️ - Sally Williams: the poor one is a doomed spirit,who has got accidentally adopted by Slenderman (he just picked her soul up,carried it to Jack and then was like:"Here,do whatever you want with it").Sally doesn't remember,how she has got into the mansion and the abuse provided to her by her uncle.The girl doesn't even know,that she's dead and travels between two worlds in her ghosty head - the first one is cute and adorable with unicorns and glitter and the second one is just...just the reality with all the goofy monsters there.

Sally's actually a cute bun,who's really easy to get distracted with some silly activities (drawing or playing,for example).Sometimes she's whiny and moody as any other alive child.Her favourite activities are getting on Jack's nerves and following Slenderman around.

Mental illnesses:

-Canon: honestly,I haven't found anything certain about Sally's mental health problems (except the fact,that she gets anxious,if her uncle is mentioned,which could be some kind of the first symptoms of PTSD,if I'm not wrong).

-Headcanon: retrograde amnesia,psychosis.

🧇🪓 - Toby Rogers: he's a mentally unstable teen around 16-17.His backstory in this au is pretty similar to the original one.The only exception is,that he hasn't burnt the whole neighborhood - instead,he was sponsored by the faceless mf with an axe from the garage,killed his abusive father and then a few more innocent people on his way to the forest.That's the reason,why he's feeling a bit of guilt because of having blood on his hands (not his father's one,ofc).

Toby had never experienced any kind of healthy family dynamic,so,when he had started living under Slendy's care,he quickly got attached both to L.J and Slenderman,seeing parental figures in them.He's literally the one,who gets nervous,when two entities have arguments and always tries to bring them together.

Mental illnesses:

-Canon: BPD,analgesia,Tourettes Syndrome.

-Headcanon: ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder (I dunno,if it's allowed to use GAD,so yeah).

🚬💊 - Tim Wright: he's an old mf in his early thirties.After beating all the shit out of Jay on the parking place,he decided to escape from the state and then (what a surprise!) got caught by the slendy fucker again,so he just...gave up?

Understanding his own helplessness in the situation,he decided to take its course,letting Masky follow Slenderman's orders and himself just becoming a drunkard,who tries to lose his consciousness of the whole desperation in alcohol.

Mental illnesses:

-Canon: in Marble Hornets' series it is noticed,that Tim has been suspected in having schizophrenia in his childhood,but it has never been proved or disproved,so I won't try to say something certain on this topic<:)

-Headcanon: DID (alter - Masky),Korsakoff's Syndrome (due to alcohol),CPTSD (thanks to faceless daddy;333).

🎭🔪 - Masky: Tim's alter.If the host for the current moment of plot is an always drunk to vomit vegetable,Masky is a cold-blooded murderer with no morals and whose only goal is following Slenderman's orders.In spite of being hated by Tim with all his soul,Masky himself is pretty neutral to him.He tries to care as much as he want and can about the body's health,preventing any suicide attempts or extreme self harm,but at all he only does it to keep body decent for missions.Plays the role of trauma holder and protector.

🎨🩸 - Bloody Painter: a murderous sicko with passion for art.He is one of the killers,whose determination of reality is the least broken,so all his felonies are done just because of the lack of moral.

It's really rare to see Helen anywhere out of his working place in the mansion.He even prefers to eat in his room,avoiding "family dinners".In communication with others Helen shows himself like a polite young man with high manners,but he still tries to avoid any contact with other pastas.

Mental illnesses:

-Canon: some wiki pages notice,that Helen is in autistic spectrum,so I'll add it here too:)

-Headcanon:body dysmorphophobia (due to the trauma tied up with his parents and their will to have a girl,not a boy).

That's all for today.I'm going to upload the rest a little bit later!:D

I don't have any decent arts for this post,so here you have the ones I've made with L.J and others for my friends.

[hackingthemotionsensors]

My Life with the Walter Boys: The Cole Effect

When the trailer and title frame appeared on my suggestion screen I decided to play, mostly out of bored curiosity and definitely more than half expecting it to be a simple teenage drama about a whole school’s worth of boys fighting over a mediocre female character.

This series has devastated me in my hormonal state.  I ended up watching the whole series.  I see it as a tragedy.  A tragedy in Alex’ unrequited love for Jackie; in the impossibility of Jackie and Cole ending up together without consequences, in Alex’ best friend who is so in love with him that she can’t tell anyone; in the loss of the family home; in Erin’s insecurity; in Cole’s attitude towards life and ultimately the deepest betrayal of what he promised he would never do.  This is what the country music genre is about, wasted youth, escaping the town, cowboy boots and drinking.  Little attention is paid to these themes otherwise, and they are painted over with cute and playful moments throughout which is I think partly why I’m so unbalanced.

Despite having the set up to do so (Jackie is thrust into a houseful of “raging hormones”), I am grateful that I was not watching a painful romantic drama (I cannot take the love triangle in Twilight seriously).  The intricate relationships between all the family members were interesting and complex and I was able to relate to the teenage frustrations I saw in all of them. 

To me, Jackie was not the main character, Cole was.  To begin with is painted as the villain.  He is the only boy who doesn’t welcome Jackie to the home, he is the most sought-after boy in school (“the Cole effect”), he uses his popularity and charm to treat girls as disposable, including his not-girlfriend Erin, but it’s casual so it’s fine...  He is cocky, selfish and seems to enjoy evoking anguish in his siblings and school friends.  In the first few episodes every conversation he had with Jackie I was internally screaming for her to just tell him to f*** off.

But then you learn about the future he had stolen from him after a leg injury.  Suddenly there’s nothing for him.  His family can’t afford college, so without that football scholarship he’s not going.   He doesn’t see anything good in the future, or himself becoming anything more than what he already is; a bitter man stuck in a small town with no skills, no reason to be loved, all the attention on his younger brothers achieving their dreams and fledging the nest.  And it’s so tragic.

This is the first time I understood the small American town narrative.   In the UK we have small rural villages, but you are never so far from a town or city or a train station to take you to a musical, if you wanted to do that.  The boys listen wide-eyed at the table as Jackie says that if they went to New York, they could see a ballet.  I feel that rural is too urban a word to describe where the Walters live.  And Cole really highlights this trapped concept.

Cole lets his grades sink and his relationships disintegrate, because he has no desires anymore.  I infer that he sleeps around to stay relevant, or as an avoidance mechanism, or both.  His friend takes his place on the football team. The only thing that he can cling onto from his life before the injury is the female validation.  This is my hot take, Cole is not a demon for messing girls around.  It is an unhealthy coping mechanism that unfortunately affects other people, and he is too damaged to see that.

I’m glad we learn more about Erin too.  Her insecurity about Cole’s intentions towards her makes her mean to Jackie.  She’s not a mean person.  Insecurity makes people act uncharacteristically, trying to take control of a part of the situation, which is the other girl.  The classic situationship is displayed, she knows she is worth more than a man who can’t commit to her, who doesn’t call her back and who then acts like everything is fine.  But she has feelings for him.  It’s not that easy.

And Cole does care about his family.  When he’s called out on his behaviour by Will, a light changes in his eyes.  He is confused and regretful.  He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but he has been intentionally doing it for weeks.  He didn’t realise though, because he’s not important enough for anyone to be hurt by him?  Does that make sense? Will tells him of course he has choices over his life, and that his behaviour is a choice.  Everything you do is a choice.  This is the only thing that seems to get through to Cole.

A scene I wanted to highlight was the fight between Will and Hayley.  It’s such a perfect example of communication.  Hayley handles this fight incredibly well.  Despite both being angry and upset, with strong feelings involved, she stays calm.  She makes her points despite attempts to be derailed with accusations of character.  This scene should become a teaching material, I am that serious about it.

Another scene I love is the school fight.  I don’t think it’s cliché that the Walter boys had a reputation in a school, a hot target for gossip.  Families with two siblings were talked about as dynasties in my school, and this family has six siblings in the same school.  Within a few hours a rumour spins out of control and in the confusion and heat of embarrassment and anger Alex believes Cole is responsible.  Alex has lost out to his cooler older brother his whole life.  The interaction between a victimised Alex and an exhausted Cole in the auditorium escalates and turns physical.  Isaac, Lee and Nate in the cafeteria see the livestream of the scene, glace at each other and then sprint to the auditorium.  It is strangely heartwarming to see the innate pack-bond that the boys have for each other.

Finally, I wanted to talk about Jackie and Alex’ relationship.  Alex is head over heels with Jackie.  The intensity of a high school crush, who you already think is perfect, but you managed to date them!  Jackie thinks he’s cute, but it’s obvious she was never actually into him.  I can’t think of one thing she does for him.   I think their relationship is the biggest tragedy and I dislike Jackie for never being honest with herself about it.  Ashby Gentry (Alex) plays the perfect naïve and doting good boy-next-door character.  Alex waits up for her when she’s late, she punishes him for a miscommunication, he apologises with an amazing date, she doesn’t tell him about talking to Cole, he sacrifices time with his friends to meet her when she flakes.  Not a 50/50 relationship.

I saw a take that the writing attempts to assassinate his character to appear overbearing, in order to redeem Cole. I agree with this @skam-in-every-language.  Although whilst wathing, every romantic gesture just exaggerated the imbalance in feelings between them, and I wanted to rip my heart out on his behalf.

I guess for Jackie, Alex was the easy option.  The one without risk, with reliable feelings.   And I reason that Jackie does not need to be disappointed by someone she loves and is looking for safety.  However, the consequences of her tragic situation are never really shown in her writing, so it’s hard to understand.  It’s only the first two episodes where you believe she is vulnerable.   I am a strong believer that it is unfair to let someone love you more than you love them- but there is no correct answer to relationships, a piece for another time.

So, this 10-part series is only two boys fighting over a girl, not 9.  I can’t decide if Jackie is a mediocre character or not.  She is not a mediocre person, an athlete, an academic, petite, pretty, and upper east side “exotic.”  But to me I watched the show to understand the family dynamics and the small-town frustrations, not because I felt invested in Jackie’s storyline.  I think more could have been done with her.  Maybe this was intentional and she was created to mediate the story of the other boys.  Or maybe I am cynical because of the way she took Alex for granted. 

[thestupidhelmet]

Okay so I feel like fez lost his funk after the first season. What do you think the show would be like without him? Like does he really add anything to the table after the first season?

A fascinating question!

If Fez returned to his homeland after season 1 ...

Season 2:

Hyde and Jackie would feel his absence the most. Hyde would be lonelier because his three best friends are couples up (Eric with Donna, Kelso with Jackie). Hyde, without a friend to hang out with consistently, is more on edge. Crueller with his sarcasm.

Without Fez to give her the attention and thoughtfulness Kelso can't, she becomes even more impatient with and demanding of Kelso. When he says they should break up/he should see other people (after Laurie sexually assaults him he experiences sex with his long-time crush), she's not only adamant that this won't happen, she's also grows suspicious.

Eric and Donna miss Fez and reminisce about their time with him, but his absence doesn't affect them otherwise.

Hyde is more blatant with getting cheating Kelso caught by Jackie. Jackie, becoming more frustrated with Kelso's glaring personality flaws, is less apt to deny the truth. She point blank asks him if he's cheating. Kelso denies it. Jackie believes him but only just.

Kelso, though, has noticed Jackie's intensifying dissatisfaction with him. He's unsure if he loves her and is relieved when she does finally catch him cheating on her with Laurie. In Kelso-logic, he believes Jackie's reaction will tell him about her character -- if she's worth the work of being in a relationship with her.

Kelso puts the onus of his cheating on Jackie's growing hostile treatment of him. He says they can start over, that he'll drop Laurie if Jackie starts treating him nicely. Jackie is aghast at his perspective and proposal and dumps him. "And we are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together!"

Kelso, ego hurt, skips his week of trying to woo Jackie back and goes straight to aggression. He lets Laurie bully her, as he does on the show.

Hyde steps in and teaches Jackie his version of Zen. But he also calls out Kelso directly for treating Jackie like crap. Kelso says, "Hey, she treated me like crap first!" Hyde says, "You're full of crap, man, if you believe that. You cheated on her!"

This situation puts more of a wedge between Kelso and Hyde.

Jackie begins hanging out with Hyde. He doesn't want to enjoy it, but he starts to. After their Red Lobster and mall excursion, she kisses him in her car. He pushes her away, but when she explains that she kissed him because she was alone and he was alone -- he gets in touch with just how lonely he's been since Fez left.

Hyde tells Jackie that romantically, they won't happen (after his dialogue from "Kelso's Serenade"). But they can hang out sometimes. Jackie, brightening, says, "As friends?" Hyde says, "As people who can tolerate each other despite their mutual dislike."

Jackie's obsessiveness, unfortunately, leads to the same results on the show. Hyde can't tolerate her clinginess and chronic attention-seeking. But he still protects her from going to jail.

Season 3

With Jackie and Hyde's relationship evolving, Kelso finds himself with only Laurie to hang out with. Fez isn't present to give him a buddy. Laurie, as on the show, decides she and Kelso should date. Kelso isn't interested in who Laurie is; he just wants to have sex with her. So he cheats, hoping to free himself of the emotional, relationship trap he's found himself in.

Kelso lets Laurie catch him fooling around with another girl in the Formans' basement. He anticipates the break-up, but Laurie isn't Jackie. She laughs and says, "I don't care who you do it with. It's not like I'm not having sex with other guys. But I'm actually starting to ... care about you. So I'm completely cool with us having an open relationship."

Kelso is blindsided by this turn of events. He says, "But I want us to break up!"

Laurie says, "Oh, we can break up when I say we can break up. Otherwise -- " she puts on her baby voice -- "I'll tell Daddy how badly you hurt me." She speaks menacingly. "Then he'll hurt you." She smiles, showing all her teeth. "Understand?"

Kelso, half-crying, says, "I understand."

The events of "Jackie Bags Hyde" (3x08) go differently. Because Jackie truly fell out of love with Kelso (thanks to Fez's absence and the ramifications of that), she does experience romantic feelings for Hyde.

Hyde has an easier time accepting his growing romantic feelings for Jackie because he's been in touch with his loneliness. His make-out with her doesn't end abruptly. In contrast, it gets heavy fast. Jackie is full-steam ahead, but Hyde regains control of his passion and says they need to slow down.

Inside the Lincoln, Jackie says, "I've done it in a car before. This car. It's okay."

Hyde: "It's only our first date, man. We don't wanna do somethin' we might regret."

Jackie: "You'd regret doing it with me?"

Hyde (frustrated, in more than one way, and wanting to reassure her): "What I'm sayin' is let's see where this goes."

Jackie: "Like on another date?"

Hyde (relieved): "Exactly."

Jackie (after thinking a moment): "How should we tell people out first date went?"

Hyde takes his own moment to think and says, "We ate pizza. It was cool. Whatever."

Jackie (understanding): "Whatever. It was cool. We ate pizza "

Hyde, grinning, says, "You have learned well, grasshopper."

Jackie and Hyde conceal their growing romance from their friends. This protects them from Kelso in one way but puts Jackie in Kelso's cross hairs in another. He wants out from his relationship with Laurie. If sleeping with other girls won't do it, then having a romance with another girl will. He decides Jackie is best mark -- er -- candidate.

Kelso tries becoming Jackie's friend again first. Hyde is suspicious and asks Kelso what he's up to. Kelso spills his whole plan and why: "First I'm her friend. Then we 'rediscover' our love for each other, and Laurie finally drops me."

Hyde says, "Not gonna work, man. Jackie's found someone else."

Kelso: "What? Who? I haven't seen her date anyone!"

Hyde: "You heard me. Who doesn't matter. And you don't pay enough attention to know who's doin' what unless it's a girl doin' you."

Kelso: "Damn! Where am I gonna find a girl I actually like?"

Hyde: "Have you tried Sheboygan?"

Season 3 ends with Hyde admitting to Jackie she's his girlfriend. Eric and Donna break up, and Laurie leaves town unexpectedly -- which makes Kelso very happy but also very confused.

Season 4

Eric and Donna go through their break-up (and in Donna's case, mother-abandonment) grief. Eric, alone, catches Hyde and Jackie making out in the basement. It barely registers during his depression. He walks past them, where they kiss on the sofa, and returns upstairs.

Kelso uses the opportunity to "befriend" Donna in her emotional vulnerability. Instead of sleeping with Eric in "The Relapse," she sleeps with Kelso. As she says in the episode, she would've done it with anybody.

Kelso, excitedly, tells Hyde that he and Donna has sex twice. Hyde frogs Kelso's shoulder twice, hard. "You don't sleep with your friend's girlfriend, man! Not when she's still in love with her ex!"

Kelso: "She jumped me! What else was I supposed to do, say no?"

Hyde, understanding the thin line of hypocrisy he's walking, says, "In this specific case, yeah. Hell, how would you like it if one of your friends slept with your ex?"

Kelso laughs. "Laurie slept with everyone except my friends. But if she had, that would only be you or Donna, which would've been hot. Eric's her brother, and that would've been gross."

Hyde: "What about Jackie?"

Kelso: "Jackie never would've done it with Laurie. She hates Laurie."

Hyde: "Focus. Let's say Jackie and Forman slept together. Then how would you feel?"

Kelso: "Bad. I used to love Jackie 'til she went psycho."

Hyde: "So you don't love her anymore?"

Kelso blows out a breath. "I'm not sure I ever really did. I mean, I did cheat on her the first chance I got."

Hyde (to himself): "Cool."

Kelso (confused): "Wait, I thought you didn't like that I cheated on Jackie."

Hyde: "I don't. Nevermind. The point is, you gotta leave Donna alone. She's gonna regret that she nailed ya -- "

Kelso (smiling): "Twice."

Hyde: " -- And I'm not sure Forman'll forgive you."

Kelso (worried): "Should I tell him ... ?"

Hyde: "Right now, it'd kill him. Or he'll kill you. Donna'll probably tell him herself anyway."

Kelso: "So I'm off the hook! All right!"

Hyde knows reasoning with Kelso is impossible and ends the conversation.

Jackie, meanwhile, is having her own conversation with Donna. "You slept with Michael?" Jackie shouts.

Donna: "Twice. It was bad ... twice. But I needed something, anything to distract me. I'm miserable, Jackie. My mom's gone. I can't be with Eric because he's a controlling ass. I don't know how to break out of it."

The fact Kelso slept with Donna stings, but Jackie realizes what bothers her more is that he took advantage of her best friend. "What you need is to spend time with a real friend."

Donna: "Where am I gonna find that?"

Jackie: "Donna!"

Donna: "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Thank you, Jackie."

Jackie: "First, I'll oversee your makeover. Changing up your look can change how you feel on the inside."

Donna: "I don't know ... "

Jackie: "Would it help to know I've been keeping a juicy secret from you?"

Donna: "Only if you tell me the secret now."

Jackie (giggling): "Steven and I have been secretly dating for months. He calls me his girlfriend and everything! Isn't that great?"

Donna experiences a myriad of conflicting emotions. "That ... might be the weirdest piece of news I've ever heard."

Jackie (insulted): "You slept with Michael. Twice."

Donna: Fair enough. Do you plan on telling Kelso?"

Jackie: "Why should I? He cheated on me with Laurie. He had Laurie bully me. He then dated Laurie -- "

Donna: "You made your point. So ... how am I supposed to tell Eric?"

Jackie: "What I shared with you I shared with . Eric doesn't need to know."

Donna: "About me and Kelso, not you and Hyde!"

Jackie: "Oh. Well, how would you feel if Eric had slept with Michael twice?"

Donna: "That Buddy Morgan's kiss awoke something in Eric he didn't realize until now?"

Jackie (frustrated): "A female Michael."

Donna: "Terrible. Like he cheated on me even though we're broken up."

Jackie: "So expect Eric to feel like that. If you two ever get back together, better he knows now what happened then when you're dating again."

Donna takes Jackie's words to heart. She tells Eric she slept with Kelso and why. Eric is devastated and furious, too deep in his pain to understand the situation from Donna's point of view.

Eric finds Kelso at The Hub and says, "I know you slept with Donna. She told me."

Kelso: "Did she tell you how many times?"

Eric: "What?!"

Kelso: "Uh ... Frank wants me to help him behind the counter -- "

Eric (grabbing Kelso by the shirt collar and forcing him to stay in place): "How. Many. Times?"

Kelso, sputtering, says: "Just twice! One after the other."

Eric (hands shaking): "Well, that's just great!"

Kelso (relieved): "I didn't think you'd take it so well."

Eric: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I have two pieces of news for you, buddy. One, Hyde's fooling around with Jackie."

Kelso: "He likes to prank her. So what?"

Eric: "No. Hyde's playing tongue twister with your ex. Maybe more."

Kelso: "Jackie's cheating on me with Hyde?"

Eric (too flustered and flabbergasted by Kelso's thought process): "News item number two: you're banned from the basement!"

Kelso: "But you and Donna are broken up!"

Eric: "For, like, five minutes. You pounced in her!"

Kelso: "Hey, she pounced in me!"

Eric: "I don't care. And Jackie hasn't been your girlfriend in over a year. She's not cheating on you. You cheated on our friendship! No, scratch that. We're not friends anymore."

Eric leaves The Hub. Kelso is angry over Hyde and Jackie and heartbroken over losing Eric's friendship. He feels very alone.

Kelso seeks comfort from Donna at her house. She wants him to stay away, but he says, "I comforted you sexually and lost everything! You owe me."

Donna: "This conversation is over. Don't come by my house anymore."

Kelso is a teen without a friend group.

In the basement, Eric tells Hyde about Donna and Kelso. Hyde says Kelso told him earlier today. Eric shouts, "And you didn't tell me?"

Hyde: "Figured it was Donna's place. Not mine. If it helps, I punched Kelso in the arm twice afterward -- and I barely held back."

Eric: "Good. ... I told Kelso about you and Jackie."

Hyde: "What about me and Jackie?"

Eric: "That you're fooling around."

Hyde: "Huh. Thought you didn't notice. Whatever."

Eric: "Kelso's banned from the basement anyway, so he probably won't cause you any trouble. Probably."

Hyde: "I can handle Kelso. He just better not mess with Jackie."

Eric (thoughtful): "You care about her ... "

Hyde (outwardly chill, inwardly anxious): "She's my girlfriend. But she'll tear his eyelashes out if he tries anything. Bottom ones, too."

Eric: "Ouch." Silence. Then, "What am I gonna do about Donna?"

Hyde: "When you're calmer, try to think about what she's goin' through. Her ma ran off to California. She didn't just lose her boyfriend when you guys broke up; she lost her best friend. She's gotta be hurtin' to sleep with Kelso."

Eric (softening): "I guess."

Hyde: "If it makes you feel better, Jackie told me Donna he was bad at it. ... And for what it's worth, she still loves you. She's just not the kind of girl who likes to be controlled. Think about that, too."

Donna stays single throughout the season. Her experience with Kelso dissuades Jackie from setting her up with Casey

Eric, however, (falsely) believes he can let go of Donna -- or the fact Donna slept with Kelso -- if he has sex with someone else. He gets close with that girl Emily, but he can't go through with it. He still loves Donna and feels like he'd be cheating on her.

Season 4 ends with Kelso vowing revenge on Eric for banning him from the basement, Donna for refusing to engage in a sexual relationship after he "lost everything" by comforting her, Hyde for being in a relationship with Jackie, and Jackie for moving on from him with Hyde.

It also ends with Donna and Eric trying to reconcile in the basement. Eric says he's tried all year to erase his imagined image of Donna and Kelso sleeping together. Donna says she's been going through hell all year, and Kelso was a horrible stop along the way. She wishes she could forget it herself. No amount of showering can erase it from her memory.

Eric apologizes for trying to control her. He understands why she gave back the promise ring. This admission heals a huge part of Donna's heart. She confesses that this last year without him made her realize she never wants to repeat it -- but she understands she'll have to because of what she did with Kelso.

Eric clasps Donna's shoulders tenderly -- "No, you won't -- " and kisses her. "Let's get back together," he says afterward.

Donna (wiping tears from her eyes): "Really?"

Eric: "Donna, I love you. And I wasn't thinking of Kelso when we kissed."

She laughs. "That's good. So you forgive me?"

Eric: "No. There's nothing to forgive you for. And Sleeping with Kelso ... you've suffered enough."

Donna (playful): "Dumbass." She thinks quietly. Then she says, "I really want to get out of here."

Eric: "The basement?"

Donna: "Point Place. Wanna go to California with me to spend the summer?"

Eric: "Yeah! But my parents'd never let me go."

Donna: "Who says they have to?"

Eric (mustering up his courage): "Donna, I'll be an outlaw for your love."

She grins and kisses him. They separate, him to his bedroom and her to her house. They pack clothes and other necessities and meet at the bus stop. They board the bus.

Season 5

Red, Kitty, Bob, and Joanne are all concerned (and angry) that neither Eric nor Donna have returned home that night.

Kitty: "Last I knew, Donna was going to try to reconcile with Eric. You don't think she killed him and is burying the body?"

Bob: "Hey, my Donna would never kill him herself. We've got family in New Jersey for those kinds of things."

Red: "Well, if Eric isn't dead now, he will be when he gets home."

Joanne: "Maybe they eloped."

Kitty, Red, and Bob's faces twist in horror.

Hyde, Jackie, and Kelso are each interrogated about Eric and Donna's whereabouts. Kelso reveals he slept with Donna almost a year ago, twice. Bob wants to throttle him, but Joanne prevents it.

Kitty, Red, Bob, and Joanne wait at their houses for a phone call. Donna calls Bob once she and Eric arrive at her mother's house. Bob is furious but also understands. He tells her to have a great summer with her mom but to expect consequences when she gets home.

Bob and Joanne tell Red and Kitty the news. Red and Kitty are relieved and enraged. Red tells Kitty to get into the Toyota; they're going to California.

Kitty: "We can't just leave. What about our jobs?"

Red: "Damn it. Fine. But when Eric gets home, I'm kicking his ass so hard that he ends up back in California.

Kelso tries to drive a wedge between Jackie and Hyde. He fails.

Eric and Donna work through their issues more deeply in California. They also fall more deeply in love. When they get home, their punishments suck. But neither of them regrets their decision.

Kelso is allowed back into the basement but is on probation l. He's not allowed to hurt -- or try to hurt -- Eric, Donna, Hyde, or Jackie.

Jackie and Hyde's relationship ultimately thrives. They learn from their mistakes and grow from them. Without Hyde's insecurity about Jackie's potentially lingering feelings for Kelso, and with Jackie very much through her grief over Kelso, no catastrophic misunderstandings and no break-ups.

Conclusion: Without Fez, the conflicts and relationships among the other characters would be altered. In positive ways and negative ones. But the T7S writers didn't integrate Fez into the group as significantly as they did Eric, Donna, Jackie, Hyde, and Kelso.

Fez and Eric have one episode featuring their friendship but no development. Same goes for Fez and Donna. Fez's relationship (platonic) is generally used as a device to forward her arcs with Kelso, or Fez acts as Jackie's sometimes confident. Fez a d Hyde develop a close friendship, mentor-mentee relationship, in seasons 1 and 2. They're paired again in season 4 because they're the odd men out.

Once Jackie and Hyde's romantic relationship begins in season 5, however, Fez is paired with Kelso. They quickly develop a romance that did not exist previously. Before season 5, they were antagonists then frenemies. But while Kelso supports Fez through the xenophobia and racism of Nina's parents for one episode, Fez doesn't truly support Kelso through his arc with Brooke in season 6. Donna is Kelso and Brooke's main support.

Unfortunately, the show's writers turned Fez into a punchline and punchline-giver. Comic relief. Even his arc in season 6 with Laurie and Red is relatively perfunctory. With better writing, Fez's absence after season 1 would make far more of an impact.

[night-dark-woods]

5, 7, 15 for the fic asks!!

thank you!!! this got extremely long.

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

oooh hm. idk about Never, but ive been rotating the idea of Chalco and Aunor interacting bc the different ways they orbit around Ikora FASCINATE me, and the things that have been asked of them are very different. it would have to be epistolary i think and while i DO think i have enough primary sources to get their voices and values alright (letters from Aunor etc, and then WQCE my beloved), im not confident in my ability to do epistolary, & also i'd need something specific for them to argue about (that i also am interested enough in to litigate thru character POVs).

i've yet to decide if I'm accepting the TFS ending cutscene panel where Ikora is using strand, bc im suuuper ambivalent on Ikora using any darkness subclass- i need to re-listen to a bunch more post-campaign stuff to see how i feel about it, bc i know she talks to Mara a LOT in mission voicelines, and i think a lot of their past conflict has been over Mara's antipathy towards the Light & focus on balance over sheer faith in the Traveler (not religious Faith-faith, as we've talked abt before, bc i dont think Ikora sees the Traveler as a *god* like Zavala does- it's like gravity or thermodynamics its simply *true,* and can be explained. its not something that requires faith or sacrifice.)

but if i decide to accept that as canon then i think that would make a FASCINATING argument because Aunor has been Ikora's hunting dog for YEARS, cold-blooded killer putting down guardians who fall to darkness, and i think the sheer betrayal (from Aunor's POV) of Ikora changing her position on that would cause SUCH a crisis of faith for Aunor (what does that mean for what she's done in Ikora's name? what does that mean for how she can live with the weight of it?), and i think constrasting that with Chalco being Ikora's right-hand man (her silly rabbit / does she call you that / no) BUT without the blind loyalty that Petra has for Mara ("you are not the queen and i am NOT one of her cadre") could be sooo fun bc it wouldn't be a simple "Aunor mutiny Chalco loyal." i just dont know if Actually Writing it will provide more enrichment for me than just rotating the concept in my head.

that got long!!! and also ive partially convinced myself to work on it eventually lol.

anyway. that's the main one that i can think of, that isnt a "this scenario sounds hot BUT i dont want to write it bc there isnt enough character work to make the logistical nightmare of writing porn worth it" LMFAO

7. How many ideas for fics do you have right now?

5-ish?

- Elsie&Amanda (nicknamed "horsegirl movie but its a robot with dysphoria") where Elsie needs help fixing some part of her body and she can't do it by herself for some reason and then has to deal with the fact that Amanda regards her body with a simple honest appreciation that Elsie will NEVER feel for herself bc of when and how she became an exo!!! her own mother calls her body a "walking lazaretto" and she watched her father die horribly for this technology!!! god!!!

- Ikora's fight with Madhir & how she let him eat her ability to want anything. god. Ikora Rey woman that you are. also inspired by the way the demon works in dunmeshi bc i think the Ahamkara should work more like that. fuck monkey's paw genie trick wishes, getting exactly what you wished for and in doing so losing part of Who You Are is so much better. the Ahamkara aren't evil tricksters they are PREDATORS they are the very tippy top of the food chain and as dunmeshi says. to eat is the sole privilege of the living. there is no moral weight to that no matter how violent and that makes the violence of it far more interesting!!!

- somewhere between 3 and 5 high-concept porn fics, 2 at WIP stage and several that may or may not get written, all Petra-centric bc i (and Jackie) love to put that dyke in situations (all have Mara/Petra/Sjur as a given established relationship, the two WIPs are focused on Mara/Petra and Petra/Sjur & the ones that may just stay as ideas have bonus Petra/Amrita(/other corsairs) & Petra(/Sjur)/Amanda)

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

song lyrics mostly!!! often the one i was listening to a lot while writing/thinking about it, or one that makes me feel like that post thats like "song that reminds me of my favorite character comes on and i make the most unwell expression known to man."

the problem is i want the vibe of the whole song to mostly fit which means i've recently become aware that i nearly exclusively listen to sad music, apparently, bc i could not find a Single Song i like that fit the very fluffy/conflict-free Amanda/Sloane fic i wrote recently, so instead its both a line from the fic and a bit of a pun on the content lol: follow-through (impact play)

[whymustyouhurtmeinthisway]

Well that’s the 13th volume of Soul Eater and its Noah arc (ha) done, I thought it was pretty good. It’s a shame to see Giriko go out like that, he was super entertaining, but his death was a cool metaphor for how unending hatred crushes your soul (shoutouts to him for keeping it up for 800 years though, if only he hadn’t choked at the finish line). Kid and Black☆Star’s fight scene in the Cthulhu void was pretty damn good, and the fight against Noah was also fun (though I wish Kiriko got to contribute more, as always).

This isn’t really directly related to anything that happened in the volume, but I realized after reading it that it’s kinda insane how fast the power level and antagonists ramped up from volume 1 to volume 13. Remember when the story was about fighting witches? Like regular witches in that coven that seemed important? Obviously there are several individual witches still relevant in the story, but witchkind as a whole kinda dropped out of the story and been replaced by chaos (which they seem to have no inherent relation to).

Don’t get me wrong, I like Asura and the concept of chaos just fine, but I really wish the story took a bit of time near the start (maybe between the Remedial Lessons arc and the Experiment arc) to have the gang fight some lower level, more individual foes. That’d be a great way to

Ease the insane ramp-up in villain power level/importance a bit. As things are right now, the Masamune arc (where an individual swordsman threatens the safety of one singular town) and the Big Bash arc (where one of the most powerful witches on earth attempts to free the mad god of chaos from his eldritch bindings and use him to rend the world asunder) are SEVEN CHAPTERS APART. Shit goes by fast and I would’ve appreciated a few buffer villains (preferably other non-Medusa-related witches) to ramp up the power level more gradually as the series progresses. As things are now, that prerequisite of “99 human souls and 1 witch soul” to become a Death Scythe kinda seems like the easiest shit ever (especially with Mifune demonstrating that one human soul can be strong enough to be worth 99 average human souls so time investment isn’t an issue, and Angela and Kim demonstrating that witch souls are inherently different from birth and have nothing to do with alignment or power level, meaning a meister could kill a literal newborn witch and that’d count towards becoming a Death Scythe)

Establish the characters a bit more. Soul Eater’s characters are obviously very distinct and memorable, but when I was reading the first couple volumes I had trouble telling a few of them apart, it’d be nice to get a few more defining character interactions and dynamic, especially earlier in the series. In addition, this would be a great time to better introduce the B Team (Kiriko, Pot Siblings, Ox, Harvar, Kim, and Jackie), because they were kinda just thrown into the fray as “main characters but not really” midway through Brew, and as much as I love them they could definitely stand to get a bit more characterization and story. Like where are each of them from? Why’d they enroll in DWMA? How’d the weapons and meisters meet? Who gets along and who doesn’t? What are their individual goals and aspirations beyond graduating and beating the bad guys? What’s that stuff about Fire and Thunder being shamans? Is it similar to witch magic, thus giving them a potentially interesting dynamic with Kim as she sees the difference in societal acceptance between shamans and witches despite their similarities? Jackie doesn’t seem to be a witch herself, and she probably wouldn’t have known Kim pre-DWMA if she’s not, so how’d she react to learning that Kim is one? (that’s probably answered in Soul Eater Not now that I think of it) Does Harvar have even a single personality trait beyond being Ox’s nerd buddy who’s slightly more cynical than he is? These characters deserve better introductions than what they got (and answers for at least some of these questions)

Some other third thing

I did not realize how long this rant is. Oh well. Fun volume, can’t wait for the next.

[dayfaresthenight]

Jackie's Bio!!!

(TWs for disassociation, Substance abuse, suicide, and allusions, but no explicit mentions of NSFW topics.) Blue is Jackie, Black is Me.)

Name: Jackie!!!

Alt Names: Moriarty!!! (Aculia)

Special Titles: The Grand Archmage, The Mage In The Tower, the Woman behind the curtain, the heroine of Archalia!

Username: JackieMoriarty111

Nicknames: Jack, "That bitch.".

Chronological Age: 18 Physically. Timeloops have distorted her mind, lost track of the plot a whiles ago.

Age: 20 (I stopped aging when I finished the story!)

Pronouns: Any/All, IDC honestly!!! Lean more feminine though.

Sexuality: Pansexual

Gender: Cisgender

Species: 100% Human!~

Disorders: None!!! (Bipolar Depression, C-PTSD, Generalized Anxiety, Impostor Syndrome, Pathological Lying, Hypersexuality)

Physical Disabilities: None!!! (Underweight, Chronic Pain in Right Arm, Poor Vision)

Active Addictions: I dunno! I'm willing to try about anything, but I wouldn't call myself addicted to it. (She gets addicted very easily.)

Religion: God is just a fancy word for "OP."

Job: Scholar, Mage Tutor, Super Evil World destoryer

Major: Arcane Studies! (Never got to finish it.)

Lives in: My cool tower!!!

Languages: English, Angelic, Demonic, Feyish, uuuuuuh, a few ciphers… know I'm forgetting something… Oh yes, French!

Height: 5'2

Regular: Caucasian Human

Accent: Like one of those really loud annoying anime dub girl voices!!! (A somewhat soft English accent, when she isn't faking it.)

Powers: Astral Projection, Time Manipulation, Puppetering, Elemental Magic, Character Creation, Illusions, Alchemy… A few other things too, but why would I tell everything to you?

Weaknesses: None!!! I'm too strong!!! (Her old memories, warding seals, emotionally stable people.)

Weapons: None! (Because she stinks at physical combat.) (NO, I DON'T!!!!)

Wands: Uhhh, which do you need? I have a lot of them.

Alignment: Chaotic Good (formerly Lawful Good.)

Text Color: BLUE!!!

Main Hobbies: I like learning about new magic, long walks on the beach, puppeteering, traveling to new worlds, and alchemy! Sometimes I'll even dress up as NPCs in worlds and pretend to be a regular person.

Favorite Food: Donuts!

Favorite Flower: Roses (…)

Scent: Smells like Grapes! And maybe a little bit of Ash too…

Handedness: Right!

Blood Color: Red! Duuuh.

Awareness: VERY AWARE!!! AND ITS VERY VERY VERY POSITIVE ON ME!!! (Effect: Very Negative.)

Birthday: JUNE 21ST! Theme:

Playlist:

Fun Facts: People make up all kinds of lies about me all the time; don't listen to them. (Refuses to acknowledge anything past a certain point in her life.)

Special Interests: Magic, Chess, High Fantasy, Writing

Stims: jumping up in the air, screaming, twisting

Stimboard: Maaaaybe

Moodboard: ^

Fashion Board: ^ Comfort Objects: None! (Her Favorite Staff: Aculia.)

Family: Doesn't matter!!! They are all long gone anyway.

Friends: Doesn't matter!!!!

Romance: Idk if she'd put it in the same catagory, but Are Yoru and I get along a lot!!!

Enemies: I think about 50% of the universe are my enemies right now. I dunno how I'm not dead yet, honestly.

Brief Personality: OH!!! IM SUPER FUN TO BE AROUND!!! That's literally all you need to know!!!

Jack is a very emotionally unstable person. Most of the time, they act extremely chipper, happy, and "Extra," putting on an over-exaggerated persona. However, the moment things don't go their way, they can snap on a twig—turning into a rather nasty and unstable individual.)

Jack is extremely manipulative, and almost everything they say tends to be a lie or an attempt to further some kind of agenda. (Treat every single one of their words like it's prime cut Grade-A bullshit.)

Jack is an extremely lonely person as a result, as much as they try to deny it. There is a deep void in them that they are trying to fill with anything they can possibly think of, often leading to them burning any and all bridges they can make.

(Some part of her wishes someone would just finally snap and get rid of the problem.)

Brief Backstory:

Nope!

Aculia comes from a storybook called "Tales of Archalia," written by a man named Daniel Crane. It was a tale as old as time—The Evil Witch Jackelyn had captured the rulers of the world, planning on destroying it. She had to go through many different twists and challenges. Blah blah blah, you know the story by now.

With her and her three friends, she had ventured to the top of the tower and done it. They had bested the witch; they had saved the day! And so everyone lived happily forever after…

But, over time, Aculia began to become… bothered. She noticed things didn't change any more. The same people with the same routines, the same dialogue, and even the same patterns every day.

It started off small. Her being less polite to people or ignoring her party members coming to visit. This caused a change. Almost as if the world itself was forced to, people began to act differently. The pre-set patterns they had gone under altered. Finally, after weeks, something new…!

That was the key. She just had to try different things, and everything would be peachy! They'd get back to their grand old adventures, and she would stop being so… bored.

What turned into a few small stunts here or there quickly turned into bad habits—using Alchemy to create hard substances, indulging in the unspoken pleasures of life, and whatnot, and so forth. This sudden change in personality deeply worried her friends, who attempted to comfort her.

For some reason though, their words rang more… hollow than usual, though. She couldn't quite put why, but something just didn't feel right about this place anymore. It felt too happy, too colorful—too cheerful. So... Fake...?

...

"Aculia, look—I know you don't want to talk right now, but… we were really worried about you. #u*#$ Said he found you passed out at the tavern the other day."

"Yeah!!! I don't know what's gotten into you recently, but knock it off. Your really freaking us out!!!"

"If something is troubling your heart, please tell us. We are always here for you."

"Please… were really… really scared… talk to us… please talk to us."

"I said I don't want to talk."

"Aculia, please-"

She-

"I SAID, I DON'T WANT TO TALK!!!"

…I ran away after that. My mind was in such a haze that I didn't know what to do. I hadn't known what to do for months now. It was just always the same until I did something bad, then it would change again.

I stumbled towards the old tower and began to walk around it. It was empty, empty as always. All that remained was the witch's old staff. I picked it up and examined it…

A scroll compartment??? I wonder what she kept in it.

i- no- i- this has to be a lie. but, its- how would she know that info about me- why is it all just there... nonono please

please

she couldn't of been- no she couldn't of been telling the truth

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! I REFUSE I REFUSE I RE-

That's when I realized. No wonder it all felt fake. Because it was fake! Everything around me was always fake. It was just someone's writing, and that person had left me to rot at a dead end. No actual conclusion or anything; nothing for me to go forward to. Just… THE END! He left me to ROT!!!!

Well, you thought I was going to take that one lying down? Nope! Nope, NOPE! I didn't! I broke out of that prison, and all it cost me was everyone I ever cared about. A small price to pay. That witch was right in the end; I did need to destroy the world to be free!

And when I finally got out, I discovered something incredible!!! So many worlds, so many people to help liberate. So many are doomed to their fixed fates in the narrative. I knew that I could help them—if I just took the strings and pulled them in their favor, things would change!

As long as I keep on trying to make things change, one day I'll feel happy! I mean, I'm already happy, but one day, I'll

I'll- YEAH! Anyways, eventually, I found the guy who had left me to rot. I gave him a book that let him see the truth, and then proceeded to trap him in it. He thinks he's free, but I'm the one in control for once!

Thats right, I won! I have all the cards in my hands! ME! I am the one on the stage! I'm not lonely! I'm happy! I'm GREAT! I'm fantastic! I'm-

I-

Why do I still feel so empty…?

And so she drifts throughout the universe, searching for more people to "free." But in the end, is freedom really worth it when there is nothing to enjoy?

I suppose that is a question for you to ask yourself, dear reader.

[shaunamilfman]

what’s a polyship you think would have an interesting relationship dynamic? ex: jackieshauna x reader. but obviously not them 🤭unless that’s what you think 🫣

this is just an excuse to hear you do in depth about the characters because i love it

i love talking about character dynamicsssss

so i absolutely do think Jackieshauna would have a really interesting dynamic. there's this whole aspect of like we've been friends since we were children, we know everything about each other, i don't know where you end and I begin.

like I will always write Jackie and Shauna as Jackie-and-Shauna because I truly do not believe it's possible to have a relationship with one without some kind of relationship to the other, whether it is just being friends.

we know every little thing about each other: hopes, dreams, our deepest darkest secrets. but we don't know when your birthday is. there's such an interesting like dynamic of it in that like we have over a decade of history but also you're the only one keeping the polyship together at the beginning.

shauna has so much hidden resentment for Jackie that Jackie doesn't even know she has to navigate, while Jackie constantly feels so insecure about her place in your relationship. it's a very interesting combination of issues for me personally.

also Jackienat would have some interesting dynamics as well. I've mentioned this before but they are both really insecure in the same way, and both tend to strike out a bit when unsure. i just think they could exacerbate the others insecurity if not kept an eye on.

Jackie is a very clingy person and I think that would drive nat up the fucking walls. Jackie wants to talk to you the second you walk in the door, wants to talk about her day and how much she missed you or whatever. I think that's a very important way that reader contributes to the dynamic is by being okay with Jackie climbing all over them when Nat would be upset by the idea of it.

i also think jackienat would have a ton of just miscommunication fights with each other that you'd have to get in the middle of to resolve. they're both so embarrassed when they realize they aren't fighting over anything though.

god forbid someone speaks a bad word on your name though. omg it's so over for them. you just turn and see Jackienat materialize from opposite sides of the party next to you

lottienat would do very well in a polyship i feel. i think that unlike jackienat they balance each others issues very well. i think that lottie would enjoy having a partner she could dote on more since nat doesn't super enjoy it. nat, on her part, is just always so flabbergasted that people can love her.

they're both very strong personalities though so it might be a little difficult in that sense if you can't match that energy

[okiankeno]

smoshblr tag game

joining bc why not!!

Rules: copy and paste the questions below into a text post and write in your answers, then tag as many people as you want

1. How long have you been watching Smosh?

Since COVID! Probably late 2019/ early 2020, I watched their TNTL content a lot. I was in a pretty bad place mentally and Smosh brought me a lot of happiness during those times. I was aware of Smosh back in the early days of YouTube, but early Smosh wasn't what I was into when I was younger.

2. Favourite Smosh cast member(s)?

It's a close one between Amanda and Angela (which is unsurprising based on the content of my blog). Angela probably wins very marginally between the two of them because 1. I relate to her so much 2. I have incredible gender envy of her 3. She's in Starkid!! I love their musicals so much

3. Favourite pairing?

Amangela (are we surprised?)

4. Favourite recurring character?

The Chosen!

5. Favourite Smosh video?

It's gotta be The Chosen Multiverse Moose Master OR Don't Win Mario Party: Gentlemen's Challenge. I have probably watched both of these videos, in full, about five times each.

6. First video that got you into Smosh?

This TNTL specifically the Kingdom Hearts bit done by Damien and Shayne got me into watching Smosh more regularly. I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts fan. Damien and Jackie were my favourites when I first started watching!

7. Favourite picture of the cast?

white t shirt blue jeans can never go wrong

8. Favourite picture of your fave?

this is the angela gender envy I am talking about uhhoho

9. What Smosh series do you want to see more of?

Gentlemen's anything. It makes me laugh so hard.

10. Dream guest on Smosh Mouth?

This is so random, but I would LOVE to see vtubers (Hololive? Doki? Ironmouse?) or something anime-related invited onto Smosh Mouth. I think it would be interesting for the content creators to discuss how different it is to create content, with physicality vs vtuber content. What if we exposed Amanda to anime. I just think it would be sooo funny because Shayne and the guest could explain how batshit crazy some anime plotlines are, and she'd probably go, "Wait, now I need to watch it?"

I tag @ammnd !!

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

I'm following the shipping anthropology like it's my paid job ofc but was there anything interesting about gen preferences ? Iirc exacty if there was a question about it/what it was like but I'm curious if anyone shared

Sorry for the last response! I went over the answers many times already and one of my regrets is not digging deeper into general non-romantic dynamic preferences so I am sorry I will have to disappoint you when it comes to it since I was too short-sighted. Here are the stats for Greyjoy dynamics, some comments on Robb and Theon as friends and a few general comments on possible friendships. Character studies type of gen fanwork sadly wasn't mentioned.

Extremely surprised by Theon & Euron being more interesting than Theon & Balon to the common fandom.

Many throbb people and also less Theon-centric people who answered the survey also spoke of Theon and Robb as friends or friends to lovers which I found interesting because this wasn't the case with other ships that are are based on somewhat positive interactions/emotions, like show! theonsa or theyne (who I don't consider his friends either).

i picked theon/robb mostly because that's been his healthiest relationship during his life but i generally don't engage with shipping content besides occasionally seeing fan art. i enjoy the dynamic of childhood friends turned lovers as well as like maybe them bonding over their mistakes in the afterlife. i like to think robb would forgive theon eventually, he doesn't seem the type to give up on his loved ones. -

Very close tie between Theonsa and Throbb for me. I enjoy a dark twist on the childhood friends trope, I like the potential for exploring Theons trauma from being a hostage vs his genuine love for Robb and Sansa

I don't feel strongly about it, I don't think Theon and Robb would ever say or do anything explicitly romantic/sexual "in canon", but I get that it can be fun to explore it. I like to explore how their friendship developed, how they grew so close, and the crushing guilt, regret and trauma of the betrayal

I live for TheonxRobb fics but mostly the ones about the war time, the angst about betraying Robb or his family, reactions to the red wedding, angsty flashbacks to their childhood and so on. it's the childhood friends to lovers to enemies to tragedy that does it for me. but when I'm in mood I can get super into fluffy fics of the two, since Robb isnt really a pov character there's much more leeway for the writer, I can read I fic about them and not be bothered if Robb is ooc (hard to be out of character when you are not much of a character lol) because I'm not familiar with inner thoughts and all that, theres more freedom for imagination.

I find Theon/Robb interesting because the themes of friendship/brotherhood/betrayal are really interesting to me. Theon's guilt, mania, depression and his complex relationship to the Starks are best shown through the Throbb (ew name lol) dynamic. I also think it's hilarious. Mordern AU throbb is insane..

I wish he was in AGOT a little more! Like I don't think we get a full conversation between Theon and Robb besides when Robb yells at Theon, which sucks because they are basically best friends.

I feel like Robb was Theon's only friend in Winterfell for a long time. Like he was the only person the idiot could sorta trust

Catra from she ra! Redemption and identity and sexy bad boy stuff again. Childhood friends to lovers. Enemy/rival of the childhood friend/lover. Most of the characters in Yellowjackets. (Jackie is Robb).

I just ignore things that bug me. I don't like calling him reek. I don't think he was "right to betray the Starks" or that he didn't betray them. I think he did betray them despite being a ward, or at the very least he betrayed robb who was his friend. Theon says as much, what he did was wrong and it supposed to be wrong.

Others

let him have other friends in modern aus, the whole botley family is right here.

Back to the iron islands support group thing we came up with. I would really love it if Wex, Falia, Jeyne & Theon would become friends (and maybe it develops into something else with one of them, maybe it doesn't). Not found family, he has a family, but friends! Good friends who treat him right and don't look down on him. He had friends in Winterfell and he had friends in the Iron Islands! He is not unloveable or unloved but life has made it very difficult for him to keep those friendships or for those friendships to even be healthy and these three people have gone through similar situations in their life and could find some happiness and carelessness in each others company.

I need to know who his dead or grown into strangers friends were. Was Botley one of them? Was that the reason he looked down on him and Qarl later on? Was Baelor one of them? grrm why add that extremely relatable line and not expand on it?!? You know me, I know you. Killing ourselves over this.