#Kel is such a pure fucking character

[identityarchitect]

the relationship votv has to player agency is so special to me

the way dr kel says - to the player specifically - i dont want to sleep. i will not go in there. a character that has thus far been silent, allowing you to spend their funds and crash their vehicle and make them eat bugs off the ground. and sure, it's just a signal that there's an event on, but there are other ways to signal an event - an email, or an alarm, or whatever. it forces you to separate from dr kel for a moment, and makes it known that dr kel knows something you dont, and that they make the choices. a reversal of the typical player-character dynamic.

and the way the game allows you to choose exactly how much horror is in it, and yet revokes that choice constantly. you can choose not to go into the spooky cave at romeo, but you can't not get fucked up signals, like the one that turns your power out. you can choose not to do any of the 3:33 events, or to check out the smoke, but you can't not huddle terrified, indoors, during the bad sun, or the darkness event.

even just the act of doing your job! you can make money purely by fishing or metal detecting if you want, fuck these anomalous signals. you dont really have to get the satellite hash codes, but you will anyway. you dont really have to fix broken servers, but you will anyway.

its just neat

[extant-exhaustion]

Can I ask, what are your top 7 favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 7 favorite ships (can be canon or non canon) from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to ask! I'm sorry for the delay in my reply. I'm so excited to be here to answer though. I didn't rank these in order, but here they are (and oh my gosh was it tough to choose! I especially agonized trying to narrow down the last spot in my ships list, and honestly, it could have gone so many ways...):

My Top 7 Favorite Media

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: If we’re basing purely off of what I think is the best media maybe ever written, FMAB is close to the top. It is the full package of stunning worldbuilding, characterization, emotional depth, intricate yet clear plot lines, and incredibly important themes. I could write an essay on each of those points. It’s the sort of show (and manga) that is a masterclass in how to tell a story beautifully.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke and Team Urameshi mean so much to me. YYH is a classic ’90s anime in some ways, but it has so much heart. Yusuke’s character growth is amazing. And the humor in the English dub never fails to make me laugh. Yet this show also deeply affects me and has such beautiful messages about love and friendship. What a dichotomy.

Assassination Classroom: This show is criminally underrated. Or, rather, not enough people have seen it. It is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. It’s so sweet. It’s so fucking funny. And it’s so heartwarming. I love these kids so much. I adore Korosensei. Every episode teaches us something—like a real learning opportunity!—and I genuinely cannot say enough good things about it. It makes me smile forever.

Kuroko's Basketball: I am a huge fan of sports anime and this one has so many elements I’m obsessed with. (Plus, Kagami Taiga is in my top ten favorite characters of all time.) There’s Kagami and Kuroko—a red/blue duo who are in love. There are emotionally high-stakes sports games. There are compelling “enemies.” There’s an incredible soundtrack. But most of all, there are basketball superpowers—things no ordinary basketball player could ever do (100% accuracy!?) that just make it so much fun.

Haikyuu!!: My other favorite sports anime is on the other side of the spectrum for realism. It has no superpowers, just hard work and friendship and lots and lots of great characters. I love this show so much because it constantly makes me root for Karasuno, but then I’ll still cry when the other team loses because the characters have all been shown to just be high school kids with dreams who love the sport and are having fun. It’s really sweet.

Demon Slayer: As a total package, Demon Slayer is incredible. It has stunningly beautiful animation; a wonderful protagonist in Tanjirou (and deuteragonist in Nezuko); a lovely sibling story that drives the narrative; a compelling and mysterious central conflict with the series’ big-bad Muzan; an absolutely kickass soundtrack; lovable side characters; high stakes; questions of morality and duty and tradition; and honestly, more that I’m struggling to even name. It’s just an incredibly good anime (and manga).

Tortall books by Tamora Pierce (includes 3 quartets, a trilogy, a duology, and a few standalones; my absolute favorites are the Protector of the Small quartet): Tamora Pierce shaped who I am as a person. I grew up reading her fantasy series and still reread them often. Essentially, they’re books about heroines who conquer various odds, save the day, etc. And because there are so many books that take place in the same universe over many years, you get to see various characters in different lights through different characters’ eyes. My favorite series is about Keladry of Mindelan, the first girl to pursue her knighthood since the king made it legal for girls to do so. Kel is an absolute badass, and she never turns away from injustice, and I genuinely want to be the type of person she is.

My Top 7 Favorite Ships

Kagami/Kuroko (Kuroko’s Basketball): These two will forever and always be one of my top ships. I genuinely don’t know how people can hear some of the things they say to each other and come to a not-in-love conclusion. They complete each other in the way only a true light/shadow metaphor can, but they’re also best friends who laugh together and support each other and have an insanely strong bond. By five episodes in, Kagami is already so protective over Kuroko that he's ready to throw down with street basketball punks over his not-boyfriend. And by the end of the series the trust they have in one another is so beyond a basketball anime that it’s almost ridiculous.

Yusuke/Kuwabara (Yu Yu Hakusho): The number of times these two were willing to die for each other (or gave up their life energy to save the other from death; or found hitherto untapped power as a result of having seen the other hurt) makes me want to scream. Kuwabara crashed Yusuke’s wake to scream at his corpse that he couldn’t die (“You’re supposed to be here…for me!”). Kuwabara shared his life energy to save an injured Yusuke after their very first mission. Yusuke fought multiple insanely powerful demons spurred on at least twice specifically by the fact that they’d wounded Kuwabara. Kuwabara faked his own death thinking it would help Yusuke in battle (which it did, but it also devastated him). Yusuke chased a car down on a bicycle when Kuwabara was kidnapped. Kuwabara cut through the fabric of reality for Yusuke. You get my point. I fucking love them.

Yusuke/Keiko (Yu Yu Hakusho): Yet, I also love Yusuke’s canonical love interest with him. Keiko is his reason for fighting, the light at the end of the tunnel. In one of the very first episodes, while he’s still trying to earn his resurrection, he says that he sees no point in coming back to life if Keiko won’t be there when he does. She’s the only person who stuck by him until he met Team Urameshi. She’s always believed in him, but she doesn’t take crap from him either. They have such a strong relationship that he even once saves the world by essentially trusting in his love for her. (When asked by terrorists to press one of three colored buttons to save the planet, he chose the blue one because blue is Keiko's favorite color.)

Zuko/Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender): I will probably never shut the fuck go about how important Mai is to Zuko’s journey or how cool she is as a character and how ridiculously underrated she is. She’s so much more than people give her credit for and she understands Zuko on a deeper level than so many other characters. She counters his angst (as only Iroh can do) and she tries to cheer him up (and she inspires some of his only true smiles in the series!). And most importantly, she stands by him even when he abandons her. For me, “I love Zuko more than I fear you” will always be the standard by which other Avatar couples will be measured.

Tamaki/Haruhi (Ouran High School Host Club): I love these two so much. They’re both so queer. Haruhi is my gender-nonconforming fave and the most wonderful character who’s ever responded *shrug emoji* to the question of their gender or sexuality. She’s sassy and hilarious and the reason I say “these damn rich people” with relative frequency. And the fact that she fell for Tamaki, the flamboyant dumb-dumb with a heart of absolute pure gold…ugh. I adore it. He is too good for this world. And they bring out the best in each other. I love them so much.

Ed/Winry (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood): The balance that Edward and Winry strike together is beautiful. They’re both insanely strong people emotionally, and they’re both wildly intelligent and talented. But their compassion and care is what truly helps them shine. They’ve seen each other at their lowest and supported each other through those times, and they know the weakest and most vulnerable parts of each other. The strength of their bond covers distance and time, and Winry is the home that Edward can always return to. She holds him (and, by extension, Al) together and offers the unwavering support he so desperately needs throughout his journey.

Simon/Baz (Carry On series by Rainbow Rowell): This series hit me like a punch to the gut when I first read it. I love chosen ones who don't really match their prophesies and star-crossed lovers who find workarounds because they care more about each other than whatever is standing in their way. And these two are wonderful together. They're so messy and hopeless and sad sometimes, but they have each other and it's really lovely. Simon Snow is a disaster who loses just about everything except his friends and has to claw his way back from the brink throughout the series; and Baz Pitch never thought he deserved much happiness anyway but finds out that he does, but he's going to have to fight for it.

[neomedievalist]

shuake ................. worried emoji

Sigh. like as i was writing that pre-royal thing i kinda realized like damnnn they fucked his shit up so bad in the game they needed to make a new version to make him an actually compelling character and theres obviously shipbait like damn. I think i just hate persona 5 kel im gonna be honest. I think i hate persona 5. i might like yaoi a little bit and part of me has a small soft spot for them i will admit! i was a shipper! maybe i still sort of am! but my pure hatred for persona 5 AND ITS FANDOM* overpowers everything. its just like. Like all things persona 5 fans do they act like its the most peak compelling thing of all time and its just. Oooouhghh maybe branch out. maybe branch out. maybe go outside even a little bit. Pleak

[bijoumikhawal]

Bite the Hand that Starves You: Chapter Four

Fic as of this chapter contains: discussion of abortion, references to drug use, intersex and trans characters, torture/graphic violence, colonialism and its aftermath, implied sexual violence, disassociation

Kardasi: Peikirvi - would translate to something like "concubine", specifically refers to an individual that socially presents as male, and was assigned such at birth, but can carry children (and often could impregnate someone else), who is legally bound to someone. Usually this is done with a pre-existing couple who has fertility issues.

---

It wasn't a baby. In terminating it, you were admitting that- it wasn't a baby. It never breathed, thought, or spoke.

Garak wished there was something physical that made sense. He knows if he asked, they'd show him some vial, or petri dish, with an unidentifiable clump, and that didn't feel right. It didn't feel like something worth funding over. In terminating it, you were admitting that it wasn't.

It wasn't a baby, so of course it didn't look like one, and it wasn't worth fussing over. Not once it was gone, anyway.

“Everything checks out.” Dr. Ammshah said. “I also talked over a few options for your care going forward with Dr. Bashir. First, I know you said you wished to keep all your organs, but we still can do a tubal detachment-"

“No.”

“I thought you might say that.” Dr. Ammshah looked away- purposely a display of deference. “In that case, there are implants available which don’t need to be replaced more than once every kashmim. It’s a lot longer lasting than the shots preferred in the Federation, and if you ever want to have children, it’s not too difficult to remove. I know you’ve had issues with an implant before, so let me reassure you: this implant has no electrical components. The worst it can do is move somewhere it shouldn’t.” She's rolled her sleeves up- most likely a nervous habit. It reveals inked scars on her forearms.

Garak thought for a moment. “Doctor Bashir.” The observation of her arms is distant and evokes no feeling in him. He knew from the moment Julian said her name why she had been eager to help him in particular.

His head turned to Garak quickly- he hadn't stopped paying attention, but hadn't expected to be called upon. “Yes?”

“If I were to do shots, would I be allowed to keep the doses on hand and self administer them, or would I have to come to the infirmary every time?” His own arms are unmarked. It was too dangerous, given who would see his bare skin, for Tolan to give into that form of sentiment- to permanently have Garak carry evidence with him.

“Normally I give patients a few doses and they self administer. I see no reason why you'd be different.” It was not said with anything but pure neutrality.

“I wanted to be sure. I'd rather use the shots, in that case.” His name would have become fetid in her mouth if she knew of Garak outside the boundaries of this room and those marks.

“Would you like me to go ahead and give you the first dose?”

Garak nodded. No more incidents like this. At last.

The first time he sees Kel, the stripes of her childhood have faded, and he assumes she is Barkan’s. So did everyone else. As her age of emergence approached, its clear to everyone they'd assumed wrong. One time at Bamarren, in the garden, and Barkan a week late coming back for Palandine's cycle-

It must've been embarrassing, when Barkan realized. Most peikirvi fucked the wife too, at least once. Historically, it was thought all they did was transfer the husband's seed, with a little of themselves- ultimately, they were not recorded as the father in that case. They knew better now.

Barkan never allows the two of them in the same bed without him as a physical barrier. They went back to Prime a few times- Garak has his own room in the historic Lokar home after the ceremony.

Dr. Bashir put the hypospray down next to his hand. “I'll go ahead and have the pharmacy retrieve a few more doses for you so they're ready when you leave.”

Garak’s hand curled around the handle. “Thank you, doctor.”

The round circle of metal (always cold) went a half inch past the end of his neck ridges, under the chin, like always.

He never sleeps well there. He kept remembering- one time he'd been helping prepare guest rooms, and fell asleep on top of an heirloom silk quilt. Mila never locked him in a closet, but she'd roll out a mat of rough sticks and make him kneel on it in front of the estate cenotaphs for hours.

He'd lived decently on his own as an Order agent, but never that decently.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Dr. Ammshah asked.

“No.” He'd already dismissed the one from earlier. Except- “If this happens again, will Dr. Bashir need to call on you?”

She turned to him. Like with now, and the examination, she'd had Dr. Bashir take careful watch. “I think that may be something at his discretion. Normally, I would have someone observe quite a few procedures before trying to undertake one. But usually I'm dealing with residencies, not a full fledged doctor. Most likely, I'd still end up supervising over video at least.”

Dr. Bashir inclined his head. “I do think I’d be able to handle it, but yes, I would most likely call you just in case.”

The Lokars have silk quilts too- they'd been very fashionable, six to eight generations ago. Barkan has him on top of one once. The whole time Garak is thinking about the launderer, a quiet young thing, and wondering how the hell he was going to clean it.

The Garak cenotaph on Tain’s estate was blank in his childhood (Tolan is on it now), but the message was clear- you will die here.

Garak nodded and leaned back. “I don't plan on this happening again.”

It was better if it wasn't a baby. If it was, where would he bury it? Where you buried your dead was your home. What name would be put on the cenotaph he did not have, on a station with no soil deeper than his knee?

---

Jabara sat next to him, jarring him out of his thoughts. “You're three hours into overtime today.”

Julian wished he could say he hadn't noticed, but he had. Perfect internal clock and everything.

Dr. Ammshah would be leaving in a few days. A check up after a day, a few days of buffer in case of a last minute emergency, then she'd be on her way back to Vulcan. Which left him with one less pair of hands soon.

“I'm just trying to make sure everything goes smoothly.” Julian rubbed a hand over his face. “How's setting up the storage bay going?”

“It's going fine. It hasn't really been used since the last time we needed it, so it didn't need to be cleared out.”

He had been to send his earliest cases home with a minder. That freed up eight beds, with more flagged as being viable to go home under the same conditions. However, he still had more patients coming in- both newly ill and those who'd tried to tough out what they'd assumed was a bad dining choice at first. The surgical suite had a few beds in it now.

Calculations in his head guessed that at least they'd seen a slowdown starting the day Dr. Ammshah left. “That's good. Are any beds ready yet?”

“A few. Yaatare wants to move the first patient over in the next hour or so.”

“I'll want to look things over first.”

“I know. And I was hoping I'd have to comm you to tell you instead of finding you still here.” Jabara stared scalpels in the side of his head.

“Everyone's doing overtime right now.”

“When was your last day off?”

Julian sighed. “Jabara-”

“You're comfortable telling off the rest of the medical staff and any Starfleet officer you see for poor work habits like too much overtime, but you set a poor example.” Jabara leaned back. “You asked me to be blunt with you from the beginning sir, so- it gives the impression that you're a hypocrite, or that you don't trust your staff.”

Julian flinched. It wasn't the first time Jabara told him that- the fact that she fully took him up fully on the request to be blunt was why he preferred working with her. “You want me to check on the storage bay and go back to my quarters.”

“At least. I also frankly don't want to hear you came back here any sooner than eight hours from now. Ten would be better.”

Julian put his hands up. “Alright. I'll go.”

---

Quark’s was perhaps not the best place to unwind if your stress came from how busy you were. Normally the sights- bright lights, Dabo attendants covered in glitter and rhinestones, flashes of brilliant color everywhere- sounds- shrieks of delight and anger, the wheels turning, glass clinking, conversations- smells- all kinds of food, astringent alcohol, a bit of sweat, cleaner (Quark never allowed vomit to sit the way he never let a paying customer's glass sit empty)- made it exciting.

Right now, Julian was just regretting his choices, holed up in a corner alone. Quark had taken one look at him and mixed something without even asking what he was in the mood for- it was vaguely reminiscent of a hot toddy. Julian found he didn't mind it.

He wiped the red foam from the corner of his mouth and sighed.

“I don't usually see you here by yourself.”

Julian managed a smile as Jadzia slid into the seat across from him. “Well I'm not by myself now, am I?”

“Mm. Is this how it usually works for you?”

“How what works?”

“Dates. You sit alone, looking sad and pretty, and someone eventually walks over.”

“Ah, so I'm pretty.” Julian said, sipping his drink. “And no, usually I'm here for fun and enjoying myself.”

Jadzia peered at his mug. “Oh, Quark gave you a Sweet Howler.” She grimaced a bit. “I heard kunowaat was going around. I didn't realize it was this bad.”

How badly was this going to hit him in the morning? Julian sighed. “It's not the worst thing to deal with. A steady, high, clean water intake, and a constant drip of diozaine, and basically anyone who catches it will live. It's just resource intensive and… annoying."

“I can imagine. I'm glad I'm vaccinated.”

“We've been working on that.” Julian muttered. “I told other Starfleet Medical doctors on Bajor to make it a top priority, but the problem with Bajorans and vaccines…”

“We still haven't built up everyone's trust after the Occupation.”

“No. Especially not in rural areas, like where it started this time.” Julian looked up at her. “Enough about work. How have you been? Any interesting holosuite programs you've discovered?”

Are you alright after the Joining Council almost let you die to save themselves some face?

“I've been okay. And no, no new interesting programs have made their way into my clutches.”

I've been okay, often meant something very different, Julian found.

“And which ones does the major like?” Julian asked.

“I don't think she has a preference yet.”

“Really?”

Jadzia shrugged. “She likes a little of everything, and nothing in its entirety out of what I've introduced her to. We've been trying out more programs recently…” she cocked her head. “Some people are just a bit picky. That makes it all the more special when you do find what they like.”

Interesting.

“How has Bareil been?”

Jadzia gave him a puzzled look. “Why would I know?”

Julian tapped his fingers on the side of his mug. “You just mentioned you've been with the major a lot lately. I thought she might’ve mentioned something.”

Jadzia doesn't quite buy it, still giving him an odd look. “She hasn't, really. Since when are you interested in what vedeks are doing, Julian?”

“Well, he's not just any vedek. If I'm to live right next to Bajor I ought to know what's going on with… politics.”

Jadzia squinted at him. “Do you know something I don't?”

“About Bareil? No.”

“Hm.” Jadzia leaned back.

“Are you going to report me to Odo?” Julian said lightly.

Jadzia softened a bit, not that she was especially hardened in the first place. “For all I know, he put you up to asking me.” She looked around, then peeked under the table. “Doesn't look like he's nearby, though.”

“You can't tell.”

“Well, not anymore.” Jadzia admitted. “It used to be something was a little off about whatever form he took. He's gotten better recently. A spare jacket in one of the labs turned out to be him and made me jump half a Quark into the air a few days ago.”

Julian snickered. “Half a Quark… I'll have to remember that one.”

---

Garak sat on the floor.

His holding cell was now an apartment. A ransacked apartment- Garak had accidentally slept in his shop last night, and Dukat hadn’t hesitated to seize the opportunity to target him in his tantrum- but just. An apartment.

He wondered if he'd be pushing his luck to request different quarters now.

He looked around, taking stock, and halted on an ajar wall panel. He yanked at it, heart pounding, and the metal bent- the red box was still there. Garak cradled it in his lap for a moment.

The recitation mask stared up at him. And kept staring.

Garak picked it up and threw it at the wall.

It only bounced off. The mask was lightweight, but the stone was strong and resilient.

Garak let out an angry sigh- bordering on a growl, really- as he got up off the floor. He picked up a chair leg that had broken off.

The mask gave him no more satisfaction than a clunk.

Garak tried, all night- throwing it, stomping on it, putting it under a table leg and then pushing down with all he had- the mask did not break.

[malverav]

beasts of the briar: 2 books in 9 hours and absolutely all of mega rambly stream of consciousness thoughts about beasts and i shill for garth nix, not for the last time

So i started reading book 1 at 2am as an insomnia read, because once my insomnia hits, it stays, and i'm awake until bedtime tomorrow (thanks vyvanse!). Wanted easier than my recent bedtime reading, a small town in germany by john le carre. It's dense and i read the looking glass war right before it, which was clever but a slow burning, subtle novel. i was in the mood for something lighter, and was thinking about trying to read more sarah j maas (i read acotar in 2022 and hated it. I'm giving the next one a fair crack once my reservation comes in, but it was just so... not fun? Not boring but really dry). I have a fairytale themed market coming in march, know fey are big, but haven't been keeping up with popular fey lit At All so if i want to make fanart to get people to look at my stall, it should probably be a throne of x an y?

ANYWAY

(also don't follow me please if you want like, uncritical take or breathless praise of a series/author (unless it's garth nix, we stan nix on this blog). i'm not attacking you personally if you love it, but i'm over 25 and this is my tumblr blog where i have my opinions. peace)

also im spoiling stuff if you care about that

My friend recced beasts of the briar as totally unconsciousness madness with a plot as subtle as a sledgehammer, so obviously i'm in for it. I'd rather have rubbish someone cooked with pure joy/horny than something boring and technically "good".

Anyway i finished book 2 at about 11am. I'm a fast reader and couldn't sleep, but i like it a lot! I read 2 books in 9 hours! Like let's be real, it is not Classically Good and it definitely reads like fanfic of something else, but it's like, fanfic on a03 in 2010 that's got an air of respectability, it's had a couple of betas and a regular update schedule for a while. You can tell that someone's having a blast writing it. I'm interested to see if they keep the core heat of the dynamic as they start to you know, spoilers, pair people off and solve curses. For me, I feel like the dynamic is starting to cool/stale with Kel/Rose and Farron/Rose. Kel/Ez? *sucking in a breath thru my teeth, leaning back in my chair, white knuckled* anyway Book 2 has barely touched this ship and I'm reading for it. Thank you, EH, for writing this for Me, your horniest nb reader. I appreciate the slow burn while Day/Fare make me roll my eyes so much they roll onto the floor after a while. Don't ever talk about your feelings directly in a romance unless you're forced to. My cardinal sin. Tension evaporates when people therapy talk. Therapy fuck instead, that's how kink works and you get an insight into a character with how they process what scares them into what turns them on this is a post for another time moving on

It's a common issue in romance imo where once the initial tension wears off or breaks, if there's no other "plot" to carry the book it's really hard to keep me hooked. It's best short and sweet, in maybe 20-80k word bursts imo. More than that wordcount I think you need to dream up a plot first and a good romantic dynamic second - most writers (including EH) aren't good enough to carry full novels on characters alone. I can write smoking hot 10k word smut scenes. That's the hard limit for me before I have to start spinning a plot around it, which is so much fucking harder so I absolutely sympathise with the dilemma - if she'd solved the personal issues of the 4 MCs (and +1 secret love interest with Cas, honey, EH, that flower on the ground representing her mate bond with him was so blunt I flinched but you know what I like it anyway because I think you liked too). The plot/worldbuilding is on the thin side, not meaty enough to carry the book all by itself without the romance. There's a huge disparity in stakes with the fate of the Enchanted Vale HANGING in the BALANCE of this ROMANCE and not on the actions of any other character's plots or actions

I think this book reading like fanfic (and let's be real, the trope marketing of these types of books) makes the romantic conclusion generally a sure thing, which takes the air out of any non-romance plot conflict because the characters will solve it with romance. Eg, the bond/mate thing here being the plot answer means that characters who aren't in the main romantic sphere mean very little. So you can kill them as the author because we know they're "safe". . Niamh (queen shit rip miss u already) did nothing meaningful. The side characters (Fare's cool adorable brothers, Rose's dad, Astrid, Marigold (love her tho)) and even the VILLAINS all feel really cardboard because we as the readers know they won't impact the final stakes unless it's to drive our MCs further in love. We know the resoution is that they're all gonna live in a happy polycule and Cas will be fixed with the power of love. But, that means that when you kill Niamh or imprison/defeat uh... Jafar - sorry, evil vizier Perth (reading this book as an Aussie is so fucking funny but that's a separate post ok) it's a bit meaningless. Perversely (hah!) it has a negative impact on the sex, too, because it's too much sweet and not enough vegetables (other plot stuff/character connections). It's like watching a movie that's nonstop action scenes - you feel tired watching it because there's no variety. How many times are Day/Fare/Rose/some combination going to fuck with basically the same beats in the sex scene? Too many. I was getting bored. Sorry.

side note GIIIIIRL PERTH IS VILLAIN QUEER CODED LIKE JAFAR IN A BOOK WITH 4x QUEER MALE MCs I praise EH for the courage to fall back on the classic lazy tropes in book 1 so they can handwave politics and get back to the porn. Shine on.

And the author's game of keep away with the specifics of Kel's vow with Cas, what exactly happened there at the start is wearing preeeeetttttyyy fucking tired. Fucking talk to each other. This stuff only works in a romance with a small cast because there's very few other characters Rose isn't romantically involved with that she can talk to, and fewer still that she's on equal terms with - remember, Astrid and Marigold are servants and serving in Castletree is a big honour, and while they act like the prince's friends/fans let's not forget how some of the pretty boys (Day) kill their own citizens pretty thoughtlessly, so if Astrid was to betray her liege lord's trust and tell Rose (and the reader) the truth, she's risking death by Kel's hand, being banished back to Winter, or having to flee to the Below. And there'd be no concequences for Kel apart from Rose probably having a huff a bout it but getting over it eventually. Not great!

The "oh I can't tell Rose this it's my GREATEST SHAME" is dull after the first two reveals, and I feel like we have more of these to go where she accepts them and heals them because Castletree is a fucking construction site with how Rose is fixing these boys (lame! hate how she's always the damsel/healer/fixer - ez is literally a healer but doesn't fill the healer/heart/gendered female caretaker role in this polycule and i reckon i'd like it a lot better if he did - based on sexual tension with kel and the early line about mummy and daddy fighting, this shit writes itself (ok personal ick to daddy/mummy dynamics but im too genderqueer to not like to fuck with power + gender/roles another post another post omfg)). There's other ways to create tension in a romance, but you need to lean harder into the Other Plot to make it richer. Or have Rose be a Bad Person and be disgusted at what they've done, but imo backstory reveals are boring, tell your story onscreen, coward.

In my opinion. In minecraft. This is longer than I thought. Also for the record! I like this series! I think it's still fun and the narrative voice is cheesy but I really like it, and I'm looking forward to reading more books. Oh, and looking at the community on here, it's been so long since I engaged in a fandom.

Ok last side note I also like how everyone's super normal about everyone being bi/pan, at least in the male MCs. I haven't caught much queer/poly romance elsewhere in other characters - lots of 2 parent households and het monogomous relationships, apart from the random hot fae people of various genders except Rose fuck. No nbs so far but I'm used to not seeing anyone resembling me in a book.

(Notable exceptions to the romance notes above? Garth Nix's recent books (Frogkisser, Terciel and Elanor, Booksellers books) all are a great romance and have a fabulous plot, so the romance in a book like that feels fleshed out and meaningful. But that's another blog post. But, rest assured, you like Regency fantasy? Read Frogkisser. You like to read/like books (or like American Gods, Good Omens, Skulduggery Pleasant)? Read Left Handed Booksellers of London. Butchy FMC and NB love interest in the 80s, come OnNNNnnnNNnNNNnn Garth Nix writing books for healing my inner queer teen. If I read Angel Mage or Booksellers I'd probably be out with they/them pronouns being a blazing queer in all spheres of my irl life, not just the close ones. I cried a bit reading Booksellers when Merlin is just, very genderqueer as a matter of fact because that's a character like me and my favourite childhood author knows people like me exist and lets them be awesome in his books. I tear up thinking about it and I'm nearly 30. Fucking read it even if there's no smut. Angel Mage is on the three musketeers. There's a great female villain. If you're from the US you may not have heard of Nix. You're missing out so fucking bad and I'm sorry.)

I ramble. My vyvanse wore off a couple hours ago so this is my diary now. Never expect short posts.

[dukeoftheblackstar]

Why do you even like Plo?

This is like asking me why I breathe, nonnie <": But let me try and answer this as sensible as possible ♥

Plo Koon is 385-years old

Imagine the sheer amount of knowledge in that squishy, cute head of his and you decide that of all the questions you could ask, you decided to go with whether he'd still love you if you were a worm. (1) Plo would either give you the laziest, most resigned 'Yes, dear' and go back to his naps ♥ or ... (2) Plo would exasperatedly sigh over the fact that you test his resolve in this silly, little, questions and give you the same resounding, 'No, I will not" and you will crack at it for the 128391231923th time.

There is nothing he probably can't do or know a thing or two about. Bet you my left lung that man can knit like a god.

There will always be a fine line between days of keeping himself (1) fit — which means I need to buckle tf up before I combust seeing this old man fuck someone up and be cool-dad about it <": (2) Lazy Days with Plo is my jam ♥ <-

Plo is discreet sassy. I'd go over this but I will need a year.

Plo Koon is Old Money.

If you don't know what that is, babe. Let me tell you when I say you're missing out. if you have been following me or have seen all my shit posts and tags on the Plo Koon / Kel Dor / Dorin tags, old man knees are fabulous — let me tell you why. (1) In a modern setting/au, he will enjoy short or maybe long walks that are not stressful. Will he walk under the blazing heat because the day looks great? No, neither would you bestie so sit tf down ♥ (2) Everything is made for comfort. Fuck the vow of poverty because when when you be rocking like a proper Balenciaga Sugar Daddy while traversing the Underworld, you best believe Daddy Plo be loaded AF. We're talking the Egyptian Cotton Sheets,

Plo Koon is one you would not want to shut up. Ever. At all. Like. Babe. If you ever shush this man. I will hunt you down, huntie ♥

'Ts my favorite thing in the world ♥

Plo Koon has wholesome sassy chaotic gae friends.

Plo Koon just too pure for this world ♥

Now please watch that last gif on loop and tell me that that does not make you feel things because babe, if it doesn't... Idk man. You need to get them eyes checked ♥

But in all seriousness, my love for Plo Koon is because we don't always get wholesome characters that live long and it makes you wonder what life would have been like if he did.

I'm always fascinated by age apart from it being so damn sexy.

You hear talks about clones and their strife on how hard it is being the remaining survivor and I don't want to invalidate that. Not at all. But imagine having to relieve that through centuries. Imagine how someone like Plo, who has so much appreciation for life and everything both having spent at least a few years of his life at Dorin and him returning to become a Baran Do Sage, only to constantly practice the lack of attachment?

I'm not saying that's bad or conflicting, but imagine all the things he had to repress to fulfill his purpose both as a Sage and a Jedi. And he's smart, super damn smart. Someone who's smart with a guarded heart is a lie. His heart isn't guarded, he hurts. But he he has to swallow that because he has a role to fulfill.

I could go on so much about why I find him so interesting but I'm stuck in a bad vibe rn and all I can say is I love him so much because I want him to rest? Like hello?

Let that man take his goddamn afternoon nap and teas? And for someone so loved as a wholesome character, he's slept on and frankly, I don't like that.

Plus, I bet you Kel Dors got big dicks, so there's also that. ktnxbye.

[shipperoffanonships]

FIRST SWORD CATCHER FIC!

Title: Of Confessions and New Beginnings

Characters: Kel Saren and Antonetta Alleyne

The five of them- Kel, Conor, Joss, Charlon, and Antonetta- were in the Crown Prince's apartments when Conor stood up, swaying and drunk.

"I bet you ten crowns I can hit those targets." He boasted all of a sudden, indicating the targets leaning against one wall. Joss snorted. Antonetta, who was looking at them with a bored expression, spoke. "Conor, you're drunk as fuck, and you're literally swaying like a fucking pendulum."

"Language!" Conor slurred, but there was no bite. Kel chuckled.

"He's right. What would your mother think? Her darling Antonetta swearing so colorfully."

Antonetta's eyes flashed, but plastered a fake smile on her face. "Of course. Very unladylike of me."

"Indeed." Kel replied through gritted teeth, before storming off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kel was pacing on the hallway, trying to calm himself down.

"Kel." Shit. He turned. Standing before him was Antonetta, face neutral and unreadable.

"What do you want?" Kel snapped.

"I want to talk to you."

Kel looked at her, surprised at the cautious yet unguarded body language.

"What's there to talk about?"

"I want to talk about five years ago. When we met again."

"You mean when you left us? Left me? When you threw away all the memories the five of us made when we were children?" Kel asked, "That night?"

Antonetta nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes."

Kel laughed coldly. "I thought you made it pretty clear for us: We are no longer worthy of your attention. What do you want, Alleyne? If you've come to apologize, hate to break it to you but, we're past that. We're way past that."

"Let me explain." Antonetta snarled with a viciousness Kel wasn't expecting. He made a "go on" gesture. The blonde took a deep breath,

"I never liked this." She began slowly. "This...thing. The fake cordiality, the artifice, the- well, pretty much everything. I never liked it. I hated it."

"You seem to be a natural." Kel said, although it was more of an observation than a barb. Antonetta laughed bitterly.

"Spend enough time trying to be someone you are not, and soon that will become the dominant part of you, with your true nature shoved back to the recesses of your psyche."

Kel looked at Antonetta in wonder. Never before had she spoken like she was speaking now, with raw emotion and genuine vulnerability.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Kel asked quietly. When Antonetta looked at him, her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

"I want to bring her back," She whispered, and Kel instantly knew who the 'her' was, "I want to bring her back, but I can't. I have no idea how."

Instinctively Kel reached for her hand.

"It will be hard," Kel began, "and the road will be rough. But listen to me when I tell you this: I will be there with you. I will guide you. Every step of the way. And I know you are wondering why, it's because I believe. I believe that beneath all this, the real Antonetta Alleyne is still there. The one we grew up with, the kind and may I daresay pure Antonetta is still there."

Antonetta nodded. "Now let's get back before they wonder where we are."

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Aubrey (OMORI) Propaganda Post

First Multi-Paragraph Submission:

hear me out. shes no criminal but please.

also full of spoilers obviously general death trigger warning also

she was a pure, good kid, but when her friends all went to cope with Mari's (one of their friends) death in different ways, she felt like they were trying to abandon her, and she grew bitter because she felt that she was the only one who was actually hurt by Mari passing away.

the way Aubrey coped was not exactly the best way, as she followed through with her and Mari's promise of dyeing their hair matching colours, purple for Mari, pink for Aubrey. not only this, but Aubrey took Mari's clothes and wore them as her own, since they reminded her of Mari.

Aubrey tried to get her friends back together, but it was impossible. Kel was trying to move on and distract himself with sports and other people, Hero tried to ignore it and go to college, Sunny was nowhere to be seen, and Basil was merely a shell of who he once was. this led to her finding a new group of friends, known as The Hooligans, who are a gang (although their biggest crime is shoplifting small things such as sweets) of five other teens. Aubrey also begins to carry around a wooden bat with nails in it for intimidation when she joins The Hooligans.

one day, Aubrey went to Basil's house to study with him. when Basil went to the bathroom for an unknown reason (probably to calm himself down as shown in-game) Aubrey had noticed that he still had their old photo album, so Aubrey decided to look inside for old time's sake. what she found, however, shocked her. Basil had used markers to cover up and ruin every photo of Mari he could find in his photo album. Aubrey was understandably furious, and so she confronted Basil when he came back into the room. Basil simply stared at her, and she eventually left his house, seething with rage and album in hand. she tries her best to fix and clean the photos, eventually succeeding.

presumably not too soon after that, Aubrey and The Hooligans started bullying Basil, calling him a freak and possibly even physically hurting him. The Hooligans had no idea why they were doing this, but they weren't going to go against their leader.

depending on what ending of the "Sunny Route/True Route" you got, it shows that if Basil successfully kills himself, Aubrey feels terrible, claiming that it was all her fault due to her bullying.

so please, consider. vote Aubrey.

Second Multi-Paragraph Submission:

in the beginning of the reality section of the game, she is actively bullying her and the main characters ex best friend, basil (he deserved it). gets mad if you pull a knife on her when she fights you even though she carries around a baseball bat with nails in it (the dull side is exposed). fights you in a church later that day and admits to stealing basils prizes possession (he deserved it) and the next day she gets so mad at him she pushes him into a lake (he can’t swim, and she didn’t mean to, but i’m biased, so he, again, deserved it). she’s really just angry because she felt abandoned in her grief and felt she was the only one who cared about the death in their friend group (she says this to the guy who’s sister literally died which she was wrong for) so she was taking her feelings out on basil (he was mostly responsible for said death but she doesn’t know that <3) they end up making up but i still feel she was right for bullying basil for 4 years. for bonus points, during a nightmare the main character is having, she beats basil over the head with a baseball bat and it one shots him.

her actions are mostly ambiguous by how her actions are influenced by her anger, because if she wasn’t bullying basil, it’d be fucked up, but she just didn’t want to feel abandoned by him so she rejected him first. she’s a girlboss because she bullied basil and she’s a real sweetheart at her core, which is seen through other actions (like how she meticulously cleans damaged polaroids, even one’s with the people she felt abandoned by in)

[aroace-poly-show]

yes okay

so the game starts off with you waking up as a completely white and black boy. no color nope.

wait no i lied it starts off with a little cut scene of these two kids and text saying something like "promise me we'll stay together. promise me."

i think this was the cutscene.

anyhoo NOW you wake up as omori, the central protaganist for headsapce/dream world segments of the games. you wake up in white space which is, if you couldn't guess by the name, completely white. theres some black stuff for like. outlines and the cat mewo and the lightblub and other stuff but the entire area is jus. pure white. it's just omori's lil square of stuff and white as far as you can see. if you walk a bit out you can find the red hands that'll just send you back to your little square

so so after you interact with everything and pick up your shiny knife you can open the door and meet your friends!!! aubrey kel and hero!!!

this is like. a mirror area but that's not important. aubrey's the girl with the bow, omoris the one in the middle, kels the happy one smiling, and hero's the tall one in the back. he's kel's older brother!! siblings!!

then you meet mari and basil at the playground at her picnic!!!

i can't find a photo of just them together, but basil's the green one and mari's the one with long hair that isn't aubrey (also i think that's it for pictures for now until we get to the real world since they look different there)

anyway after some introduction to the basic mechanics and stuff you get to basil's house with everyone but mari bc she wanted to stay behind with her picnic, and omfg how have i not summarized the characters yet fuck

aubrey: she's described kinda tomboyish? her like classic weapon is a baseball bat. she argues with kel a lot, she's protective of her friends here, and she's rlly sweet and cares alot about her friend group. in the real world she's alot more like,,,angry but thats bc that's how she's dealing with the hurt of the [incident] and how she feels her friends abandoned her when she needed them. also bullied basil but i will get into that soon enough, but she did fuck up but also had her reasons (just,,not great ones,,, but she isn’t a bad person i swear she’s just traumatized and needs to cope in better ways)

kel: he's kinda no thoughts head empty but he's such a piece of sunshine. adhd. he has adhd bc i have adhd and i said so. he's pretty short and has a fun dynamic with hero and he's good at sports and his weapon is a ball! in battle he's the quickest but also like really easy to kill. in the real world he's still very upbeat and happy, but like in the way that he's using it to cover up and ignore his own trauma of the [incident] and also the issues that came with his parents ignoring him for hero and his whole friend group falling apart. he also reminds me of joe from yttd for some reason. idk they both give me like. really similar vibes.

hero: malewife. he's good at cooking and is dating mari and he's a bit of a people pleaser who doesn't know how to say no. he's very charming as well, one of his skill is literally charm. sweetheart (a character that isn't rlly important to like the main storyline mystery but she's a fun boss character who is truly the most pulchritudinous. donut girl my beloved <3) literally tries to marry him in headspace. he's also very good at school and stuff in the real world, he's kind of the golden child of his family. wow i sure hope that doesn't affect kel as the younger sibling in any way! (it does.) i'd mention the real world stuff about him but i can't bc then i’d need to reveal the whole truth/incident thing which is y’know big spoiler. but he is in college now in the real world. he used to want to be a chef but is now studying to become a doctor.

mari: dating hero and sunny's older sister!! she's very sweet and loves picnics and plays piano and loves her brother so so much and also teases hero all the time bc he gets flustered and is a bit of a perfectionist and she's great <3

basil: MY BELOVED. MY LIL GUY. MY BLORBO. MY KINNIE. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. I'D DIE FOR HIM WITH LITTLE HESITATION. I LOVE HIM DEARLY HE'S SO SWEET. he's a rlly sweet and shy lil guy who doesn't like fighting and loves to garden and take photos and is sunny's best friend and he has flowers that remind him of his friends bc of their flower meanings and lives in a big shoe in headspace and has a flower crown and he's genuinely the sweetest and if you remember he covered up a murder but thats like. a massive spoiler so i’m not gonna explain it. just. pretend you didn’t see it. in the real world, just so so much trauma and anxiety. so much. he suffered so much i want him to be happy :(

omori: sunny's representative in his dreams. he doesn't talk much, doesn't show much emotion (aside from in battle), uses a knife as a weapon. he's also like. sunny's coping mechanism. he really just wants to protect sunny.

sunny: ALSO MY BELOVED. MY KINNIE AS WELL. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. so like. omori but slightly taller and also isn't literally white as paper. he still is a little pale but that's bc he hasn't left his house in 4 years. sleeps alot bc he gets to go on adventures in his dreams and not have to deal with his trauma in the real world. also plays violin. well, played.

so anyway omori and the dream world gang go to basil's house and after they have to put basil's photos back after kel and aubrey knocked the photo album over an ominious moment happens where a photo falls out, basil's like "whats this?" gets this really panicked and fearful face and mentioned mari, the photo glitches on screen and boom you're kicked back to white space. and theres no door this time. there's a way to leave though, but i don't think i rlly wanna spoil it aside from this biggggg tw for suicide.

(the whole mari/photo/basil thing eludes to a truth which is the whole point of the game, to find the truth and then decide what to do with that (or alternatively get so close to find it and then giving up depending on which route you take)

anyway a lot of headspace isn't SUPER important to the main mystery. a lot of it is just fun and games bc it's basically sunny's coping mechanism. so i'm gonna skip over a lot of it. but i will say it is really fun and silly. theres so many fun silly characters that are so unique and i love them all <3 like sweetheart the donut girl who is so pulchrito- uh i forgot how to spell it,,, or space (ex) boyfriend who was dating sweetheart!! or snaley, the pathetic lil dude. and pluto the strong (not) planet. headspace is fun.

anyway sunny wakes up overcome his fear of height and goes back to dreaming to find basil is gone oh no!! the main plot of headspace is pretty much just to find basil. but like i said, the main headspace plot which is kinda seperate to the mystery/truth plot doesn't contribute much to the finding the truth thing. it's still very fun (imo) and does have very small hints here and there but those hints don't make sense until you actually DO find the truth, and then after you're like "oh my god". that was my experience at least. at the end after every headspace adventure though, usually after the final boss fight for that section, you do get a somewhat omninous and foreboding segment before being kicked back to white space every time. later you go to black space after your last adventure there. which is basically. repressed trauma headquarters. lot's of spooky stuff with lot's of cool details (more specifically in black space 2) i would love to ramble about but they involve MAJORRR spoilers so. another time. you meet lots and lots of silly characters and the fighting mechanics can be really fun and the tag mechanic is super cute with the photos and stuff <3

so sunny has the choice in the morning to answer the door for kel. i think personally the only reason some people might choose not to was bc you got a very similar thing earlier in the night with mari that ended up being a jumpscare, so you might think it's just another jumpscare. it's not though, its where the main sunny route and omori/hikkikomori route diverge. the sunny route lets you find out the truth, the omori route kinda hints at it but they never fully tell you i think.

also forgot to mention but sunny finds out he's moving in three days? i think. that is fairly important.

if you wanna go in blind as to which route leads to what, ignore the following 2 paragraphs :D

the sunny route is where you go outside and meet all your old friends. this is the route that also leads you to the truth. what you decide to do with that truth leads to around 3 or 4 different endings depending on what you choose to do.

the omori route is where sunny stays inside. a lot of the adventure is the same aside from the end of your headspace adventures when you finish in black space. after that there's a lot more content unlocked, like boss rush. in the hikkikomori route you also just. generally have some more headspace stuff. theres optional bosses like space ex-husband, perfectheart, abbi, i think hero jawsum? (that might only be on switch if i remember right) and lots of other stuff like black space 2. you don't get any real world segments at all though, for obvious reasons,,, you do get some but like it's just in your house doing chores. you also overcome your fears a lot different on this route than on the sunny route. (i actually mildly dislike how one of the fears was handled, mostly cause i find it stupid, but i guess that was the only way to actually do it on this route. oh well lol.) it also can only lead to 2 different endings, however they're very similar to 2 of the endings from the sunny route. they have some slight differences, especially the second one on moving day. just. go to the bathroom and check in the mirror. you'll see if you decide to play it and do this route.

this isn't in order but i forgot to mention why aubrey was bullying basil. basically she went to his house once to hang out and while he was acting weird and went to the bathroom, she found his photo album was all scribbled out. it was all their memories and she was really hurt, and she got mad and stole it bc she thought he was a weirdo now. she started calling him freak and stuff and then her friend group kinda joined in and so they don't have a great relationship. you find out why basil scribbled out the photos later but like i don't think it'll be what you think. (its sad to me bc aubrey was also the one that met him first and invited him to the friend group :(( )

---

so like i think that's all i can say without mentioning the spoilers some how?

if you were wondering about what the incident is, i can explain without like. revealing the big secret but it still is a mild spoiler,, it's heavily hinted to already though and it's not that hard to figure it out. (ignore the following paragraph if you don't wanna read it) ok we good? we good. anyway it's the fact that mari isn't in the real world. and that's cause she's dead. she died 4 years ago on the day of the recital mari and sunny were going to do together. they never say it outright but its really obvious when they say she "chose" to leave them, that she killed herself. she was hanging from a tree. the friend group took the death really badly, and it kinda fell apart. hero was really depressed, kel probably dealt with it best at the time (though it's not a high bar to cross) but also kinda. kept trying to be happy like he wasn't sad and shouldn't be sad. he's the happy one. aubrey was hurt bc she felt abadoned by her friends and like the world and everyone was moving on too fast. sunny and basil became shut ins, sunny started first and basil did it not long after.

i could say. so so much more,, but i can't bc spoilers and yeah. but i hope i interested you somewhat?? this game took over my life its still gripping me by the throat (affectionate)

anyway here's real world photos of the gang (first two are height charts but i couldn't find the original photo without it so congrats you get their probably heights with it)

oh they make me cry so hard

this was official art for the omori merch, they're all wearing their own shirts <33 (i have the mari one i love it)

OH THEY MAKE ME CRY SO HARD

auby

(oh i forgot to mention sunny canonically had a crush on aubrey when he was younger and in his dreams that version of aubrey has a crush on omori and it's?? a little implied?? that real aubrey actually has a crush on sunny. idk for sure though. their ship name is sunburn though. they're really cute i love them (personaly my fave is suntan <33) )

^this one always makes me laugh. im giggling as i write this. theyre so goofy

^THIS ONE MAKES ME LAUGH EVEN HARDER. THEYRE SO GOOFY

^me and the trauma demon. (did i mention this is technically a psychological horror game? cause it is. idk if you knew that though)

^LOOK AT HIM. HE'S SO PATHETIC AND HAS SO MUCH ANXIETY AND I WANNA CRY HE NEVER LIKE SMILES IN ANY OF HIS REAL WORLD SPRITES I WANNA GIVE HIM A HUG SO BAD BASIL I LOVE YOU SO MUCH 😭

^this is from when they were like 12 (mari and hero were 15)

^(if you didnt read the part of me explaining the incident ignore this text here but THIS PICTURE MAKES ME CRY EBERYTIME. THEY'RE SO HAPPY HERE THEY'RE SO IN LOVE THEY LOVED EACH OETHER IT WASNT FAIR 😭)

^suntan suntan suntan suntan SUNTAN. LOOK AT KEL HE'S BLUSHING SO MUCH. i love suntan so much. they're so sweet and adorable i they'd be so happy an di wwant them to be happy

^this. this is the best photo. sunny. in the sand. what more could you need in life.

^sunny getting his violin from his friends for christmas. they all care about each other so so much i love them all so much i need them to be happy i love them i love them sobs

anyway thats it i hope you are mildly interested i need to do an essay now for a college health class god help me i haven't even started and i didn't even get the notes on the subject 😭

i made the great choice of scrolling on pinterest looking for stuff to add to my yttd board and god fucking dammit im so fucking sad (spoilers) but it’s not fair it’s not fair why didn’t they all get to live none of them deserved to die no it’s not fair they all lived happily as best friends after this they didn’t die reject canon embrace denial i want them to live and be happy ITS NOT FAIR

[sunnysviolin]

Do you ever consider the implications of Sunny helping all the side characters with their day to day life problems and the exact problems he's helping? Preventing a divorce because of an accident? Helping a father connect to his son who's different while he's putting pressure on his daughter? Helping another father learn how to connect with his son at all? Trying to help someone who's constantly trying to fix something that eventually gets fixed by having someone come and help?

Pt 2: Like maybe I might be digging too big into symbolism but if you dig _really_ deep down into it you can find bits of symbolism in almost every single thing Sunny does in headspace to help others, almost like it's mirroring a lot of the issues he personally dealt with himself. I just think it's neat!

So the entirety of dream world is Sunny’s subconscious. It’s not just the Black Space (Although that is the *deep* subconscious right there...wooof) so I definitely think that some of the side quests are him working out how to solve his own problems. This is actually something all of us do in our dreams, some of us more than others- Hello to my personal hell of knowing I’ve been somewhere in a dream before even though I’ve never been there in person. It happens constantly -_- Ask anyone who knows me occasionally when I go somewhere brand new I’ll have Jason Bourne-esque flashbacks to a dream I had years ago in full color HD. It’s freaky but that’s how it be

N E WAYS

For Sunny specifically, I think the side quests are targeted more towards issues he’s dealt with for a long period in his life. I’ve talked about this in another meta, but I think Sunny had his dreamworld long before what happened to Mari. It’s a series of lovingly crafted daydreams that he used to escape his life or when things got too hard being ‘Sunny’ It was only the trauma of killing Mari that caused all of his dreams to be mashed together in an effort to quash down the black space. 

Going back to his dream world though, the side quests he solves are usually family related or small things. Find lost toys, make friends happy, things he probably did a lot in his normal day to day life. The family related ones, well they’re all related to bringing families closer together. Sunny is a very perceptive person, and we can assume at the very least his father was hard to be around for him. I think specifically of the Whereabouts of Duckie Jr. quest. A dreamy boy who gets lost in his head a lot and a father who is affectionatly frustrated by this? Yeah that’s very much Sunny 

Long story short I don’t think your digging into symbolism at all!! This is a great short paper on Jungian Dream Theory and this is how I view Omori. Everything has a symbolism but it’s specific symbolism to Sunny. That’s why Pluto looks like Kel’s real life pet rock, but why Dream Kel’s pet rock is named after his actual pet Hector. It’s the reason that his blackjack game in real life has a shark mascot and Mr. Jawsum is a shark in the Last Resort. Symbolism goes from the lightest layers to the darkest depths (Re: why I think the strangers take the form of Basil specifically) 

It’s also why Sunny’s dream world so quickly begins to deteriorate after he goes out for the first time in four years. His subconcious can add new context to everything, Sunny is reshaping the narrative to include what he now knows to be true. Someone pointed out that after Day one, Aubrey and Kel’s follow up move makes them both enraged. That’s directly linked to the fact that Sunny knows his friends loathe each other because of what he did. He can’t escape it anymore, he’s seen it with his own eyes. It’s why the scarecrow says all of those mean things to Hero (Sunny realizing that Hero has become broken by Mari’s death- Hero who was strong and perfect to him) Sunny was saved because he could no longer escape, because he had the strength to get out of his house and face the world that he had shaped through his actions- the real one not his dreams 

But more than anything Sunny was saved because Kel never stopped reaching out for him. 

[1c3d-choco]

Since I didn't introduce myself, here you go!

Names you can call me: Shree(IRL name), Sunny(Nickname), Cocoa Cookie(since I’m her IRL) Iced Choco(Internet name, I think?)

Nationality: ASEAN(GMT time-zone/I live in SG lol and I’m a hindu.)

Gender: Demi-girl

Pronounces: she/her, they/them, she/they

Sexuality: Aro-bisexual

Relationship status: Single

Mental illness: Hyperactive behavior/self-negativity

---

Characters I stan: Espresso cookie, Cocoa cookie, Annie, Charlie, Ibuki Mioda, Shuichi Saihara, Kokichi Ouma, Blackberry Cookie, Lee Hooni, Tobias Schneien, Aubrey, Basil, Sunny, Isabella, Josh, Lisa, Herb cookie, Panty Anarchy, Squid Ink cookie, Clover cookie, Sparkling cookie, Licorice cookie, Kaede Akamatsu, Sae-byeok, Skid and Pump, Pico, Boyfriend, Sarvente, Pure Vanilla cookie, Hollyberry cookie, Pomegranate cookie, Pastry cookie, Hiyoko Saionji,  Nayeon

Favourite creepypastas: Clockwork, Sonic.exe, Suicide Mouse, Bloody Mary

OTPs I'm the priest of: Austin x Charlie, Shuichi x Kiibo, Sunny x Basil, Sparkling x Herb, Adventurer x Blackberry, Herb x Clover, Toko x Komaru, Makoto x Byakuya, Lisa x Guest 404, Kaede x Miu, Aubrey x Kim

Online besties:

Ausliesail/@austinxcharlie(Zaara)

@iyahpostsstuff (Iyah)

etc.

Socia medias:

Wattpad(USER: -MsSunny_SreeLuv-)

Pinterest(LilSunflower72)

Spotify(-Missy.Sunny-)

Cookie run kingdom(SunsilForLife100)

Trigger warnings: Swearing, any spoilers, cap locks, gay ships, mentions of any content(Example: Meru the succubus/PASWG content), posts/reblogs of hated characters.

Account age rating: Suggestive

Discomforts/DNI if you support: Homophobia, pedophilia, incest, racism, social media wars, pro-ships, child abuse, futoshis/fundashis, gacha heat/fart, toxic ships, Zizzy x Pony, 18+/kink content, Hazbin hotel, Haters of my fav characters, Pomechoco, 

Ask before following: MCYT/Dream SMP fans, Helluva boss fans, my IRL friends, Junko stans, MSPEC peeps

Favourite artists/bands: Penelope Scott, Ppcocaine, Girl in red, Cavetown, The Neighborhood, Melanie Martinez, Demi Lovato, Juice WRLD, Cupcakke, Cardi B,  Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, LISA, Delli Bo, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Panic! At the disco, Twenty One Pilots, NOT THE MAIN CHARACTERS, TWICE, Bo En, Siouxxie, LoliRock(FICTIONAL)

Favourite quotes:

"Thanks... for playing with me...!" - Ji-yeong(SQUID GAME)

"You're the good guy, Kel, and I'm the big bad bully... here to terrorize poor defendless Basil!" - Aubrey(OMORI)

"Yes I'm here, what now?" - Espresso Cookie(Crk)

"Well then, take care, everyone... Perhaps we'll meet again, in another life..." - Celestia Ludenberg(DR1)

"I believe in you, guys!" - Kaede Akamatsu(NDRV3)

"Tell the principal, tell your parents, go call the police, go call the FBI," - Adam(Ghost eyes)

"Firstly, we... we... what the fuck?" - Tobias(Ghost eyes)

"One question at a time! AHEM! We are taking part of Vanilla Kingdom's trials." - Licorice Cookie(CRK)

"Have a glass, it's on me!" - Sparkling Cookie(CRK)

"Hello there, welcome to my garden!" - Herb Cookie(CRK)

"Nobody's ever complimented me on my appearance before. Not even my own mother!" - Nagito Komaeda(SDR2)

“Give me... shinies...” - Squid Ink cookie.

THIS IS A SAFE SPACE FOR ALL RACE, LGBTQ, DR FANS, ETC THAT I SUPPORT!

Alright, that's enough info about me ;-;

But if you are seeing this:

[maggiesarchives]

IS IT OC DAY YET?!?!?! BECAUSE I HAVE THOUGHTS(tm)

OKAY SO ANYONE WITH A RUDIMENTARY UNDERSTANDING OF STAR WARS KNOWS ABOUT MANDALORIANS RIGHT?

My Mando OC is from swtor and i love him. His name is Ke’ade and he was born on Tatooine to a Republic settlement, unfortunately after an invasion from the Empire left his home in ashes and he himself missing in the desert for several days he became a Bounty Hunter, running from one world to the next (there was an incident on Mek-Sha). now imagine this death-stick-smoking-sith-shit-talking-tiny-motherfucker meeting the-perfect-jedi-embodiment-of-peace-and-serenity — what happens then?? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY FIND OUT HE’S FORCE SENSITIVE?!?!???! WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A FORCE SENSISTIVE MANDALORIAN?!?!?!? (Bounty Hunter)

drinking, drinking happens

Mar’keo is the perfect jedi, serene, calm, understanding and compassionate. unfortunately he is surrounded by seven other dumbasses ranging from chaotic neutral to chaotic slut. He develops what ultimately comes to a little bit of a drinking problem (during the Mek-Sha incident)- he can’t handle this gremlin boy he meets on Nar Shadaa???? He already has Nicky???? he’s like that dad that says he doesn’t want anymore kids and yet adopts the next child he sees. After the Alderaan Accident there’s a nice little rhyme that goes around the family: “what do you do with a drunk-ass Jedi what do you with a drunk-ass jedi what do you do with a drunk ass jedi earrrly in the mooooorning?” (Consular)

And Nicky, sweet, feral Nicky, this kid took down the EMPEROR the goddamn BIG BAD. He’s so done with everything. he’s batshit 25/8. diplomacy???? Lana handles that because there is NOT going to be another Alderaan Accident. He’s married to Theron Shan who (despite refusing to admit it) is just as feral and impulsive. Mar’keo and Nicky have known each other since they were BABIES- growing up in the Jedi Order together and literally the first two members of their weird dysfunctional family that would kill and die for each other. (Knight)

Don’t even get me started on Trii’va. She’s all of them combined in a beautiful blend of chaotic dumbass and pure big dick energy. Did i mention she’s married to He’katia??? Member of the Dark Council and right hand lady to Darth Marr??? No??? Well we shall come back to that. This chick is the loopiest smuggler on the hyper lanes, she taught Nicky how to ride a motorbike and give Mar’keo and Lana an extra 35 heart attacks a month. (smuggler)

He’katia is The Librarian Lesbian That Kills People For Fucking Up The Dewey Decimal System and is the Togruta embodiment of “Books are better than people” she loves the Empire and openly advocates for change amongst the Sith while proudly showing off her feral wife and having tea parties with Darth Marr while they bitch about Vowrawn and Saresh. (inquisitor)

KEL!!!! KEL’KATIS!!!! or as Mar’keo calls him “that slut” because let’s be real he is the SLUTTIEST Sith on the block and there is an ongoing rivalry between Nicky and Kelly to see who has the softest hair in the known galaxy and let me tell you it gets VIOLENT.

we don’t talk about the Water Shortage of ‘07

Karavia- because where did Trii’va learn her sass if not from her mom? Trii’va is adopted, Karavia (or auntie Kavvy as the rest call her) is Cathar and Trii’va is Twi’lek and she is THE most badass mom ever, literally, take no shit. She hates, hates the brass, and so when given free reign over Havoc Squad and her uptight-but-in-a-cute-way lieutenant she uses every chance to piss off as many entitled fucks as she can and well...... Monkey see monkey do right? (trooper)

and then, at last, we have Ahtoan. Tony. Top-Hat-McGee as Ke’ade lovingly dubbed him. The youngest member of Imperial Intellegence and the youngest saboteur to fuck that shit up. He is by far the youngest of all of them (not even hitting twenty at the beginning of the story) and was found by Nicky somewhere between the end of Ilum and the beginning of Makeb. The poor kid is tired, he just wants to go to sleep. He’s never had a real family and so when he meets these seven other fucked up weirdos he is SO happy- and then Mar’keo offers to help heal him, and so breaks down crying and just HUGS the man. (Agent)

It is at that point we reach the collective look of “We’ve only had Tony a day and a half but if anything happened to him we’d kill everyone in the galaxy and then ourselves”

suffer reading all that Darth Mags

lets. fucking. go.

Ke'ade

loving that Tragic Backstory™ and whenever someone says the words Bounty Hunter I always go 👀👀👀👀👀

HES TINY!!??!?!? HE IS SMOL???!!!!?!?!???! he is mine now I am stealing him. AND HES FORCE SENSITIVE??!!?!?!?!

in curious abt this perfect-je si-embodiment-of-peace-and-serenity and now the two would act around each other 👀👀👀👀

Mar'keo

Mar'keo and the Seven Dumbasses sjfsjfsjfsfhzhfsh p l e a s e its like this weird off brand snow white movie I watched at the beach with Hero 😂😂😂

okay so im assuming this is the Perfect Jedi Character you were talking abt?? ok good.

cant wait for chaos slut to make an appearance

aww, poor alcoholic bby, its ok I support him no matter what. also all this talk of mek-sha is scaring me.

NICKY I think I remember nicky jahshshha

I'm assuminf the gremlin is Ke'ade??? correct me if I'm wrong please :))

"that dad that says he doesn't want any more kids but then adopts the next child he sees" ahem do you mean Qui-Gon???? I think you mean Qui-Gon.

THE RHYME I'm in love

Nicky

NICKY !!!!! sweet feral nicky :') I love him already.

Hes just tired, he took down the big bad, let him rest.

done with everything??? batshit 25/8????? sounds like my kind of dude tbh

the alderaan accident 👀👀👀 im intrigued

we stan jedi besties-since-birth

FUCK YEAH JEDI KNIGHT BABEYYY

Trii'va

ma'am pls step on me

I live for chaotic dumbass ladies

honestly she just sounds so cool, 10/10 I love her

MARRIED TO MAULS RIGHT HAND LADY AYYYYY

did someone say badass wives who kick as a while looking hot as fuck? no??

He'katia

I have no words to express how much I love her

LIBRARY LESBIAN

I just zhshhagaggagsga

showing off her wide??? tea parties with maul?????? gimme.

Kel'katis

*bangs fist on table* CHAOS SLUT

I love the him. I want more. please tell me more abt the chaos slut.

lmaooo soft hair battle 😂😂😂 I love it

Karavia

AUNTIE KAVVY P L E A S E THATS SO CUTE

this woman. I just- jdhdhshjshshsh

I love her.

pissing off the entitled and then the gang copies her 😂😂😂 I love it

Ahtoan

TONY

TOPHAT MCGEE

I LOVE HIM

babie

never had a real family 😭😭😭 please let me hug him, that's so soft abt the healing hshsbzbahbzb

in conclusion, I love them all.

its OC day! ~ celebration info post

[asiryn]

tagged by @primrose-path-of-dalliance (!!!!!! thanks!!! (lmao, it’s been so long since i’ve been tagged in anything XDD))

Rules: Name your top 10 favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people!

i’m putting this behind a cut, bc i rambled on for quite a while XDD these won’t be in any particular order, and the fandoms will be chosen based off of what i’m currently most into/whichever ones i think of first XD

1. Maleficent [Disney]

okay, i lied a little.....she is clearly my #1 favorite character of all time, so of course she’s first (the rest of the list won’t be in any particular order :P). but....yeah, i love her forever and for all time and eternity, i love her class and elegance, my hunt for all merchandise of her that i can get my hands on is legendary and knows no bounds, she’s my forever girl, etc, etc. if you know only one fact about me, it’s probably that i love maleficent. there’s nothing i can say here that i haven’t probably already said a million times over, so i’ll move on XD

(moana has risen to be a pretty close second, tho)

2. Anthony J. Crowley [Good Omens]

i read the book from a library over a decade ago, and i liked it well enough, but it like....wasn’t an instant new fave that i had to immediately buy for myself (tho it is on a list of books that i wouldn’t mind owning...but maybe it’s finally time, who knows). i’m halfway through the show, and i’ve finally fallen in love with it (i think it finally being a #confirmed love story between our favorite ineffable idiots finally gave it the push it needed XD). it’s still a bit early for me to have a solid, definite fave, but lbr, if i know myself at all, it’s gonna be crowley XD i love this dumb demon (who’s rivaled in his idiocy only by his equally dumb angel husband), i love how he’s so soft even as he tries desperately to convince himself and everyone else that he isn’t, that he loves so many things and humanity and an angel even as he tries to say that he isn’t capable of it, that he never stopped questioning even after it had made him Fall. also, i am so thankful that the fandom has really embraced the potential for the shenanigans of crowley’s snake form.👍

(second place is probably aziraphale, but i also really love anathema too)

3. Namine [Kingdom Hearts]

another one that probably comes as no surprise, if you know me. i love this girl to the ends of the universe. i love the way she reclaimed her agency, her selflessness and determination, her empathy and kindness, how she went from a damsel in distress to pretty much saving everyone, over and over and over again. she deserves only happiness and the best things from now on. and please, for the love of god, give her some new clothes, nomura. >_>

(second fave is roxas, tho really, i love 98% of all the characters in this series ;;;)

4. Aerith Gainsborough [Final Fantasy VII]

my precious sunshine girl 💖 i prefer her in the original game, where she was sweet and optimistic, yes, but she was also sassy and fierce and took shit from no one. i love the girl that decided she wanted to wear a sexy red dress just for the hell of it, and threatened to rip off a mafia don’s balls. i love the girl that was confident and flirty with cloud, but never let any kind of bullshit ‘rivalry’ get in the way of being friends with tifa. i love that she always called cloud out on his bullshit, that she never let tragedy and oppressive shinra forces grind out her optimism, that she never stopped dreaming of a better future. i love that she was exposed to the worst of human nature, and yet still believed that they were worth saving. i love all versions of aerith, obvs, but they’ve definitely smoothed out her edges over the years, and i think that’s a shame. so here’s hoping that she’ll be more like her original self in the remake. 

also, can’t wait to see aerith die again :)))))))

(my second fave tends to flip between cloud and sephiroth)

5. Ling Yao / Greed [Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]

look. listen. i can’t choose between them, i just can’t. and hey....technically they sort of combine into one entity, so it’s totally fine to count them together, right?? XDD so yeah, it’s really fucking hard to pick a fave out of this cast, bc there’s only like....3 characters?? that i don’t love. but ultimately, it had to be these two. every single second they’re on screen, they totally steal the show, and they have a lot of the best scenes and moments in the series. i love ling, how he seems like a total goofball and comic relief at first, but fairly quickly you come to see just how fucking seriously he takes his duties and responsibilities, how selfless and devoted he is to his people, how he would walk through hellfire for the people he loves. he’s just....he just loves, so fiercely and intensely, that he moves even greed into loving him and the people he cares about without even trying. 

and then there’s greed, who even from the beginning, you can’t help but be charmed by, with his sarcastic slow claps and laidback attitude. but over time, you see that he’s just like ling, really, in that he can’t help but get attached to these humans, that he loves them just as fiercely and intensely, even as he desperately tries to play it off. i love the way his character serves as a means for the story to have a really thought-provoking rumination on the nature of sins and desires, and on humanity (as do all of the other homunculi). i could go on forever about these two, and about the show in general, bc it’s just so deep and incredibly layered and complex, so i’ll stop here. 

(next fave after them is winry)

6. Bucky Barnes [MCU]

it’s hard for me to talk about bucky without just dissolving into endless sobbing, but i’ll try my best. he’s just.....he’s someone who has ended up suffering so fucking much, who has every reason in the world to be angry and bitter and resentful and if this was the villain origin story, you’d probably find it hard to blame him. (also, i refuse to say that bucky was ever a villain, bc he never willingly chose to be with hydra, he’s a victim goddamn it--) and yet....he still chooses to be good. to be kind. he could have chosen to go on an endless revenge tour against hydra, but instead he focuses on his own recovery. and always, always, always, he puts other people first. he chooses to goddamn freeze himself, possibly forever, so that he doesn’t hurt people again. he’s truly an inspiration to me, because even after everything he’s been through, he still doesn’t give up. ......and if you’ll excuse me, i need to resume crying about bucky barnes for the rest of eternity 😭😭😭

(next faves are sam and steve. what can i say, i love my caps XP)

7. Keladry of Mindelan [Tortall]

speaking of inspirations, few (if any) characters inspire me more than kel does. unlike every other tortall protagonist, she has absolutely no magic at all, and she starts her story with more odds stacked against her than any of the others. the system and institution are against her, and most people actively, viciously hate her and want to see her fail, all for being a girl and daring to openly step outside of her gender roles. and yet, kel never gives up, and wins through pure will and determination. more than that, she never stops fighting any oppression that she sees, and is always looking out for the abused and marginalized of society. she is fair and just and righteous, and full of a quiet, immovable strength that i, frankly, envy. she’s a fucking mountain; you haven’t a hope of ever tearing her down. 

(other faves....george, raoul, and dom. it’s really fucking hard to choose between them, i can’t even)

8. Oree Shoth [Inheritance trilogy, by N. K. Jemison]

oree is pretty much single-handedly responsible for me loving this trilogy, and is the reason why The Broken Kingdoms (the second book, of which she is the protagonist) is in my top 3 favorite books of all time. she is....just so fucking radiant. she’s a blind artist, and is flung so far out of her depth in the story, and yet she holds her own. in this world of gods, she brings this incredibly human element, and is celebrated because of her humanity. she’s angry and flawed, but also full of love, compassion, kindness, and mercy. she teaches gods the meaning of forgiveness. she takes shit from no one. just....do yourself a favor, and read this series, even if it’s only so that you can read this book. 

(second fave....it’s probably shiny, lbr XD)

9. Sirius Black [Harry Potter]

ahhh, a classic fave. but yeah, i still love him, even after all these years. yes, he’s incredibly flawed, but at his core, he’s just so loyal, and he loves so fiercely, and he tries his absolute best to be there for harry, that i can’t help but love him. also, i have a Thing, for characters who suffer so tremendously, but who don’t give up, and still try their best to be good people anyway. also, wolfstar was the foundation of a very formative part of my life, and put me onto the road of accepting my queer identity, so i’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the characters who were a part of that. 🤷‍♀️

(other faves are luna and harry, always)

10. Gladion [Pokemon]

mostly his anime incarnation, tho i do like him in the games as well. i love this soft goth boy with all of my heart. he’s so gentle and kind and loving, and i can’t even with him. 

(other faves are lillie, n, zoey, and kukui)

if you guys want to do it, i’ll tag... @dabiden, @green-piggy, @seasbelow, @theroyalweekend, @toomanyfeelings5, @ashetrashe, @neddea.....i can’t think of anyone else, and i’m running out of steam, so if you want to do it, then consider yourself tagged! :)

[tanoraqui]

Some thoughts on The Raven Strategem, while I sit here tragically bereft of both The Stone Sky (next Hugo book I really fucking want to read) and Revenant Gun (last MoE book, which I SHOULD put off until I read all the other Hugo noms but lbr if my hold comes in that’s like...50/50 chance at best):

The Raven Strategem is the Mwennin story of building a path to your enemy on the backs of your dead soldiers. Cheris actually does relatively well at NOT doing this - as opposed to some people, coughHellspincough coughKelCommandcough - but also, this is how all war works. Children in caskets for power, suicide formations, letting sending your favorite brother to pull a suicide mission to assassinate 2/3 of the heads of state...there’s a cost, and it is lives.

This was also addressed in Ninefox Gambit - it’s a trilogy about fighting, about war. Ninefox Gambit was more about WHY people fight, though, I think. There heretics fighting for ideals like democracy vs the Kel fighting just because orders said to. Both camps, in fact, had a hidden fox in their midst - Vahenz among the heretics, revealed to have been fighting for...it’s a little unclear. She’s an “agent at large”, but employed by whom is never said. She seems to be a fairly free agent, encouraging chaos wherever she is before moving on. The other fox, of course, is Jedao, who fights, as is revealed, because some things simply cannot be borne.

Though they’re the sole survivor, neither Cheris nor Jedao is the main character of The Raven Strategem, which is neat. Oh, an inordinate amount of time is spent by reader and characters alike trying to figure out what the hell is going on in her head, but the reason the POV is elsewhere is that Cheris isn’t really having much development - she’s getting a job done. She’s the natural disaster that the rest of the characters contend with, pushing them forwards. The book suffers a little, imo, in how clear it is who the winner is going to be - we all know, or at least I sure did, in part admittedly bc I’d read the back of the 3rd book, that the real fight is with Nirai Kujen in Revenant Gun. But that IS the point. Kujen is the danger because calendrical warfare is about hearts not guns, and he’s the only person who has a goddamn clue what is going in Jedao(/Cheris)’s. The Hexarchate is fucked because they lack key information:

This isn’t Shuos Jedao

To the extent that it IS Shuos Jedao, such that it matters, Hellspin Fortress...well, he did snap, but he was never mad. He’d been coming for their throats since he was a teenager, and even if he hadn’t been, they’ve done more than Cheris can bear, too. For the exact same reasons.

Servitors are people too

(Kujen seems mostly unaware of this, too, though it’s possible he’s wised up by Revenant Gun. That may be a problem.)

So, while Cheris provides the dramatic background action, The Raven Strategem does like any really good book turns into an essay disguised as a novel. In this case, the subject is loyalty. You have Khiruev, standing in for most of the Kel as she’s yanked around by the blatantly false, induced, wrong loyalty of formation instinct - until she gets a chance to choose, first to die for a belief and then to live because, frankly, why die if you don’t have to. (Suicidehawk no longer, hm?) You have Brezan, who is loyal to Kel Command because he chooses to be - but it was never really Kel Command. It was to the people. “the hexarchate was a terrible place to live, but it would be an even worse one if no one with a conscience consented to serve it....serve, and hope that serving honorably made some small difference.” (I love him a lot.) we get that line while he’s waiting in a cell thinking that basically Kel Command can stuff it, but he needs to get back to save Khiruev - whose first impression as his general was to tell him to “help me never to forget that it’s people [raven soldiers] that we send out to die.”  Real personal loyalty is earned by looking out for those who give it, service for service. This is what convinces Brezan to give Cheris a chance, that the swarm has been looked after in his absence. This is the start of Khiruev giving her alliegiance to Jedao/Cheris, that Cheris firmly refuses Khiruev’s offer of her death. (Not one more raven soldier than necessary.)

Earning loyalty, says this book, is also a matter of vulnerability. Khiruev’s request of Brezen “wasn’t the sort of confidence you’d expect as a newcomer.” This is emphasized in the third plotline/character, Mikodez - hexarch of the faction famed for backstabbing, yes, I see and appreciate your use of irony there, Lee. Mikodez’s paramount goal the protection and betterment of his people - over and over he says, “I do my job”, and that job is the Shuos. Which is why he has a secretary who keeps trying to convince him to accept immortality and a brother who drops to his knees to call him “Hexarch” and ask to go on a suicide mission. That was the only time we’ve heard “I’m your gun” earnestly - no Kel would count, with formation instinct, and Jedao is either heavily ironic or outright lying whenever he does it. And then Istradez asks if any of it is real, or is everything a game now...and Mikodez gets right down on his knees, too. He wins an argument with Zehun by sending them all the plans he’s ever come up with to kill them. If you want to be a leader, if you want people to trust themselves to you, you have to return the favor.

Maybe that’s why Cheris gets people signing up for her ideals more than her own self. She’s too goal-oriented, too Jedao, to be vulnerable these days. Hurricanes don’t flinch. 

It’s interesting that Istradez’s fate runs up against Cheris’s insistent refusal of Khiruev’s death. But then, I already said - Khiruev’s wasn’t true, not the first one. That was formation instinct. The Vrae Tala was real. 

...all that said, I really don’t like how we still don’t, like, have a basic explanation of how calendars work? My guess is, if you manipulate time and how humans perceive reality, it can allow you further warp reality to produce the “exotic” effects. But, like Cheris caused a “calendrical spike” - HOW? Just by sitting in her room doing math? Was it all the servitors around the Hexarchate changing their clocks, or something? Did she need to be traveling, or was that purely a distraction, and she could have done this all from a hotel? I want just a couple sentences explaining that, damnit, and after that I think I could comfortably roll with it. 

Also, ngl, for Hugo’s voting...the “Not one more child” scene from Obelisk Gate is sticking with me harder than anything in Raven Strategem, so if The Stone Sky can live up to that...And we have all the other books to read :D Maybe I’ll end up writing an off-the-cuff essay on all of them; that could be fun.

[grayisles]

When you rewrite a chapter

First chapter--couple of chapters if I’m honest with myself--of something I left alone so I can get a fresh take. The prologue started off so fucking dramatic and the original first chapter it’s like a car crash.

Excerpt beginning of prologue:

I have one definite memory that haunts me to this day. The day my mother died. No matter what happens I will never forget it because I was the one who killed her.

Then it goes into the backstory of how my character inadvertently killed her mom because her mother’s curse is that she cannot say she loves/likes anyone. She, a needy child, wanted to know if her mom loved her and her family. Then, with the death of her mother, she got the curse since she is her only child. 

It goes as good as you think with my MC growing up. Except the first chapter immediately goes to her sophomore year. First three paragraphs where just pure exposition and I shake my head at it.

Excerpt after the exposition chapter 1:

“Hello? Earth to Kel. Rox to Kel, are you with me?” A hand waves in front of my eyes and I blink rapidly.

“Loud and clear, over.” I said as the hand moves away from my face.

“Good because this Physics paper isn’t going to do itself you know.” Roxie said pointing to the paper on my desk.

I wonder when that got there before I started working on the equations in front of me. It is the light unit, pretty basic stuff. Mr. Jenkins just gives us our work, calculator, and then does something for his more advanced classes. I start working on my paper before I quietly talk to Roxie.

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten into detention with your new look,” I state, pointing at the new bright pink streaks in my friends black hair.

It was awful. I had my MC think about her situation by providing a lot of background--which I will not post because it’s cringe worthy--and just this random character who is not supposed to mean anything to her snaps her out of it. The first chapter got the job done, it a rebellious acquaintance (best friend) was introduced, who gives the Physics teacher a nickname Mr. Jerkins later on. 

My problem with this is that there was no conflict. Just Kellina monologuing and the conflict isn’t introduce until chapter 3. In between those three chapters there is a shit ton of exposition. It was in dire need of conflict.

Thus I decided to do this:

‘Magic is irritating and it should be destroyed,’ Kellina thinks as she scratches her arms once again.

She’s been doing everything that she can to lessen the way that magic feels on her skin. She doesn’t know what massive spell that someone placed--she’s felt it since she woke up that morning--and it continued until toward her seventh period Physics class.

“Kel stop scratching yourself,” her acquaintance, Roxie, comments as she leans over her desk.

It’s quite different from the beginning where there was exposition of her hating magic with her just plainly stating it and the reason why she hates it (magic sensitivity due to the curse). You also see that she is denying that Rox is her best friend with her conscious effort of labeling her as someone she occasionally talks to but isn’t close to (if you call each other in the middle of the night about worries that you have or dreams then you aren’t acquaintance girl. I love my emotionally stunted child). The scene takes place in the same place--Physics class--but there is a lot more going on. 

Kellina hates magic => magic senistivity => spell around the whole town => Kellina itching and wants the spell to go away => has to find the castor => stalking/investigating people

The whole entire set up for the conflict right there, it’s clear cut. It’s not taking three chapters for Kellina to find out that there is magic going on. The original started off the day before the magic was cast, the new one starts the day of, so Kellina is raring to go.

Point of the story, if your unhappy with a scene or chapter rewrite it. If you are rewriting because you finally understand your character, do it. Character growth is great and you aren’t really searching in muddy water to find out what to do with them. Here’s a tip, don’t write over the first draft. Make a new doc and rewrite it. You can rewrite it without looking at it, straight from memory so you don’t have to be strict with it. That’s how I do things. You are free to have it side by side and you can take the minute details and right it before rewriting a few paragraphs. 

[sparatus]

how bout some ocs. do hte thign for thie, nehairi, myagrun, and tollak ;)

gently whispers my kids…………

thie

How I feel about this character: he is my son and i love him and i will feed him and pet him and give him soft blankets and cocoa

All the people I ship romantically with this character: axilus ofc, and i don’t remember quite how he and freiya worked out but i feel like they sorta straddle the line between romantic and qp?? like neither is entirely sure which it is so they just run with it

My non-romantic OTP for this character: thie & happiness, thie & good health, also thie & kel and thie & siri and basically thie and all the eijalsen crew cause they’re all good friends yes

My unpopular opinion about this character: too soft, needs more turian snuggles 2 toughen up that skin, trust me i am a doctorman

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: he sits down and fucking rests for like a month of his own volition you are doing yourself no favors thie’haasn take a breather!!!!!

nehairi

How I feel about this character: a daughter!!! a wonderful daughter!!! not exactly pure but very good!!!!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: iirc it was myagrun and josie

My non-romantic OTP for this character: i feel like she’d get on well with blackwall?? cause he likes woodworking and stuff, and she’s a smith

My unpopular opinion about this character: put some shoes on ya hippie

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: i want nehairi to bring myagrun and the rest to clan lavellan and be like “so anyway these are my weirdo friends lol”

myagrun

How I feel about this character: MY GOOD DWARF DORTER

All the people I ship romantically with this character: josie and nehairi ;)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: all her friends is ponies but also i think she’d get along well with sera too

My unpopular opinion about this character: MORE PONIES

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: the bog unicorn just following her around like a puppy and freaking everyone out

tollak

How I feel about this character: MY BOY!!!!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: his wife who honestly i’m gonna change her fucking name cause i can’t keep it straight from his grandma’s. avilea her name is avilea now

My non-romantic OTP for this character: tollak & a peaceful uneventful life

My unpopular opinion about this character: can i even have unpopular onions abt my own character….. here’s one needs more hugs from mom

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: when do we get to the part where he grows up and stops being a little bitch lol