#Themes: Rebellion Corruption Religion

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔅𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 - 𝔙𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔇𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫

[machinesonix]

Somehow I have made it this long without realizing that none of the screen adoptions of Dune so much as mention the Butlerian Jihad. Like I guess it's burned into my brain so hard I sort of assumed it was part and parcel of the universe. Don't get me wrong, I think that's probably the first thing you learn if you want to dive deeper into the setting, but it still hits me like if the LotR movies showed us the big flaming eyeball tower and was like ‘Oh, that's why there are bad things, but don't worry, that's just background stuff.’ Yeah, you can understand the movie, but if the story is just like Frodo vs. The Witch King you are losing out on any of the conversation about the corruptive allure of power or theological undertones. So without further ado let's pretend this is for the benefit of interested new fans roped in by the movies and not part of my desperate attempt to silence the howling specters of literary analysis that live in my blood.

The Butlerian Jihad is an event set ~10k years prior to the events of Dune in which humanity won their freedom from the machines that they had enslaved themselves to. As a result, it is a religious taboo to create a machine that thinks like a human. That's frankly the bulk of the information presented by Frank Herbert in the text without dipping into books 7+, but whether or not those are canon is frankly an enormous can of worms, which really makes sense when you consider the size of the worms. But boy howdy, Frank loved his subtext and parallelism. Everyone has a foil character, every theme is hit from multiple angles, and Villinueve has been doing an excellent job of capturing a lot of that in repeated imagery and dialogue. The Butlerian Jihad happens off camera, but it's themes are absolutely critical to the big picture.

The Butlerian Jihad was a holy war. It was not merely a rebellion against the machines, it was a crusade against them. The prohibition against thinking machines isn't just a law, it's in the pan-universal Bible. Absolute psychopath Pieter DeVries himself claps back at the Baron for insinuating he might have a use for a computer, and this is a guy who has been hired specifically for his preternatural absence of morals. Let's hold onto that idea for a minute. 

Probably my favorite scene in the first book is the one where planetologist Liet-Kynes is dying out in the desert. As the last of his strength fades to dehydration he hallucinates conversations he had with his father concerning terraforming Arakkis for human habitability. He's told that the means are not complicated. There is already enough water on the planet, the Little Makers just have it all trapped deep underground as part of the sandworm reproductive cycle. You just need to isolate enough water to start irrigating plant life, and once it's established that'll keep the water on the surface on its own. The hard part is making sure everyone on the planet is environmentally conscious enough to foster a developing ecosystem. Nobody can drink any of that water while it's being collected, because they'll just introduce it back into the water cycle where the Little Makers are. It's going to take generations, so that sort of water discipline is going to have to go above and beyond a social convention. People need to be willing to die before they'll take a sip and compromise the plan. Ghost Dad Kynes concludes that the only mechanism in the human experience to enforce this consensus is religion. 

In the context of this whole parallelism thing, you have probably noticed that the Butlerian Jihad is not the only holy war in the narrative. Paul sees a new jihad as the only way of creating a future where humans can flourish. Now you might be saying ‘Wait now, Machines. I thought the point of Paul’s holy war was to avenge Leto and disempower established power structures by taking away the control of the spice!’ And you’d be right. The thing is, without getting into spoiler territory, Dune Messiah is not going to be about how everything just gets so much better now that Paul has destroyed the economy, government, and untold billions of human lives. This isn’t the endgame. Dude can see the future and the way he does it involves looking into the past. Paul lives in a society defined by a holy war and his goal is to redefine society. 

Putting it all together you can see what I mean about the Butlerian Jihad being essential to the themes even though the story never shows us a thinking machine or a narrative beat where the absence of computers changes the outcome. It helps us see the big picture. I’ve seen a lot of dialogue lately on whether Paul is a tragic hero or a consummate villain and I’m not here to answer that, but I am here to underline the critical detail. Paul intends to be seen as a tyrant. Just like Kynes’ hallucination says, religion is the lever to make a value stick around forever. He wants to traumatize humanity to hate chosen ones and emperors the same way the machines traumatized humanity to change them forever. The Water of Life ritual doesn’t invert his values, it lets him realize these visions of war are the means, not the ends. He is absolutely not happy about it, but this is Paul’s terrible purpose. 

[smashy-headcanons]

Canon Info: Persona

(If I got something wrong, feel free to correct, but don’t be rude to the person running this blog, they didn’t submit this.)

“I am thou, thou art I…”

What is a Persona?

A Persona is an ethereal entity born from the mind of its user. The very manifestation of their being.

Personas (the generally-accepted plural, though, if you want to be pedantic, the plural of the Jungian concept they’re named for, and the Latin word it, in turn, is named for, is “personae”) can also be considered tamed versions of Shadows, the parts of the mind that are denied and suppressed.

Personas generally have names and forms based on figures known to the collective unconscious, such as gods of myth and religion, or folk heroes, even [NUMBER 1 RATDE SALESMAN1997] is on the table.

How does a Persona user awaken their Persona?

The way Persona users awaken their powers vary from game to game, with the heroes in 1 and the 2 duology awakening after trying out an urban legend.

In Persona 3, people with the potential to be Persona users aren’t trapped unconscious in coffins during the Dark Hour, the secret 25th hour of the day when Shadows roam.

In Persona 4, your party members awaken their Personas by accepting their Shadows, which then become said Personas. (Your character is honest enough about himself to not need that, outside of the last episode of the anime.)

In Persona 5, you and most of your party members awaken their Personas as something of a fight response within the Metaverse during confrontations with corrupt authorities.

How is a Persona summoned?

Like awakening, the method of summoning Personas changes from game to game, with 1, the 2 duology, and 4 having them summoned with ethereal cards, though they have to be shattered in 4.

In Persona 3, Personas are summoned with devices called Evokers, which probably need a content warning for deliberately evoking the most tragic and permanent form of self-harm. I don’t know how to word it delicately, but it’s thematically fitting.

In Persona 5, Personas take the forms of masks. Literal personae. To summon them, the user has to tear off the mask, which takes the skin underneath with it the first time.

In 3, 4, and 5, either the awakening method, summoning method, or both are meant to be thematically fitting, with 3’s themes of death, 4’s themes of truth, and 5’s themes of rebellion.

Speculation on some level:

These are things that I believe as a way of filling in blanks, though not all of them are accepted in all parts of the fandom. Some of them may have been confirmed true or false by canon sources without me knowing. Please, if these are wrong, do not be rude when you issue corrections.

The figure a Persona is based on is, with a few exceptions, someone whose story the user can relate to on some level.

Shadows that aren’t obviously a specific person’s Shadow are likely born from the collective unconscious.

(submitted by specternabbermaiori)

[maddeningsixkness]

My opinions on the Devil may cry anime

Vague? Spoilers below. I don't mention specific plot points or go in depth but I do mention some end of season stuff so if you don't wanna know then DONT KEEP READING!!

I will mostly be talking about characterizations and the whole metaphor about demons they included, not specifically the story itself.

Starting off with the metaphor... it falls apart so quickly. The idea that the demons represent immigrants or civilians of middle eastern countries America loves to poke a stick at is... odd? Number one, we're comparing civilians and immigrants to demons that need to drink human blood to survive. That's probably not flattering. Number two, the majority of the character arcs in the main games (Dante, Nero, Trish, and Vergil sorta his is a little different) all revolve around the idea of 'overcoming the darkness that is being a demon'. They have to acknowledge that yes they're a demon, and yes they can still be a good person. THATS WHY SPARDA IS A LEGEND, IT WAS SUCH A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA FOR A DEMON TO BE GOOD.

So when you look at the metaphor and how they're trying to say "all demons are innocent! Humans are the bad ones!" It completely goes against any kind of themes the main games had going on. It is called Devil May Cry because it's the idea that every demon has a choice to be good or bad. And the majority choose bad.

Im all for making fun of America and authoritarian governments, I mean you could argue that's what Dante and Vergil are a metaphor for in the main games. Dantes sword is literally named rebellion. And I mean dmc4 is all about corrupt church and how religion is used to control people's ideas and actions.

This metaphor also feels weird coming from a Trump supporter but what do I know, right?

Now the characters... I'll talk about Dante first cause I feel that will segueway into talking about the other two easily. Only talking about existing dmc characters here, I have no opinion on the new ones

What was the power inconsistencies for Dante?? He is shown saving MULTIPLE people, moving faster than like people can see from a truck in episode 1? Maybe early episode 2 I cannot remember off the top of my head so forgive me. But as soon as lady steals his necklace, he is as slow as a human? Maybe it's cause he's in shock, fine, but then we watch him lift a motorcycle and swing it like a baseball bat. Yet he can't break out of handcuffs. Compared to original dmc3 Dante? Or even the manga it's based off of... it just feels like they had to nerf him to keep the story moving.

And also, it felt like he was just there. I do appreciate when writers can make a world feel like it doesn't revolve around the character, that takes a lot of skill. But the whole plot of the show revolved around Dantes necklace and Sparda. So shouldn't he be more of the focus than lady. I know you lesbians want your lady screen time but from the way she was written... she didn't deserve as much screen time IMO, I'm willing to take criticism on that.

Also, Dantes design? Have we just decided to make him dress boring now? Look at dmc3 Dante, there's details on his coat, the whole tiddy strap (okay maybe I just want more shirtless dante who cares), even just the loss of leather pants. It feels very plain. Looking at lady, who got a whole new outfit, it feels lame just seeing him in his dmc5 outfit. Also his hair. He just has dmc4 neros hair cut. Not really a complaint, just an observation. I wish they had done something more creative for his outfit though, it definitely felt very boring. I do appreciate them drawing him in Chun lis outfit though

Onto lady!! I'm so glad they got vivziepop to write her!!! (Vivziepop fans dni please I hate her and her shit ass shows.) Her writing was, meh, to say the least. Her cursing was very unnecessary and added to the feeling of wannabe edginess the show carried. She's 19, so I'll give her a little bit of a pass, but I still have other problems with her. Like making her a cop/soldier. Why? They got rid of her scar and signature weapon, and now she's a cop. Very lame. She felt very wattered down compared to her original version in dmc3, and maybe that's because of the situation. But even by then end of dmc3, she over comes her hatred of demons and befriends Dante. I understand that they're setting her up to be better next season, but I felt like the only shift in her character was that she was a little sorry for injecting him with the.. sedative? Whatever it was.

Her brand new design seemed very.. okay? I guess, I'm glad she's got a new outfit, but i feel like they could've at least incorporated more concepts from her designs in the games. Less blue and more white, or just emulating the silhouette of the outfits. Whatever. 5/10.

Onto Vergil. He has very little screen time, like I think 2 minutes so this will be quick. Why is he working for mundus? Now I could misinterpret this line, so feel free to say something, but the line 'it was mundus who freed me from my own bondage' and his devil trigger being nelo Angelo feels as if he is willingly working for mundus? This has to be one of the most flawed and maybe worst characterizations. He has hardly any screen time yet is the complete opposite of who he was. 2/10, i want to call him a block head. I hate this interpretation so much.

Anime gets a 4/10 overall, did not like it as an existing dmc fan and most of the community is torn over it. Share your opinions with me PLEASE I love getting asks ❤️

[mad-bird-writes]

Introduction and Current WIPs

Hiya! My name is Echo (@tousled-birdmad-girl is my main for those who care about such things) and I'm a writer. I've been writing in some form or another since I was about ten years old, but only recently plucked up the gumption and drive to attempt anything original, much less put it out for the world to see. Time will tell how this goes...

I love horror, tho I wouldn't consider myself a "genre" author, as I think horror, surrealism, fantasy and magic can be found everywhere if you know where to look, and the presence of fantasy elements does not necessarily mean you're writing a "fantasy" book. So, we'll call what I do "fiction" and leave it at that for now :D

Inspiration-wise, I draw from the works of Stephen King, everything Mike Flanagan ever put to Netflix and beyond, Paul Shapera and his ever-growing Shaperaverse, Guillermo Del Toro, Chuck Palahniuk, and the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole (with a particular liking for taking the worlds, entities and themes first created by Lovecraft and using them to create something that'd make him spin in his grave.)

Below the cut: a list of my current WIPs and some general housekeeping information. If you see something that sparks your interest, please come sit by my hearth and pour yourself a drink <3

Original Works:

The Lost Souls' Revival: After a series of personal crises, struggling creative Amari Walker stumbles across a flyer advertising a strange carnival, offering "a total restoration of spirit" for the cryptic asking price of "3Y". With nothing left to lose, she attends, quickly becoming enthralled by the Revival and its colourful cast of performers, in particular its eccentric, nameless ringmaster. When her night of fun and escapism is over, she finds herself wanting more, and embarks on a one-woman quest to follow the ever-moving carnival wherever it goes, a quest that will drive her to the edge of sanity, and possibly beyond the reach of reality itself. (vibes: steampunk, dark carnival, mythology/folklore mishmash, fantasy horror, the Fair Folk, whatever the goblins were selling in Rosetti's Goblin Market)

Better To Reign In Hell: It's 1897. The world is changing too fast. Pastor Nathaniel Lawrence is dying, for all that he's trying to hide it. His daughter, Susannah, too old for rebellion and too young for spinsterhood, is content to follow in her mother's footsteps as the town's herbalist, but a bombshell marriage proposal seems set to destroy those plans. A chance encounter with a badly wounded man may offer her the escape she seeks, but at a price: Merritt Caine is not all he appears to be, and his dark past has an unbreakable grip. (vibes: southern gothic HEAVY on the gothic, small town horror, witchcraft (fictitious and real), Satanism (fictitious and real), corruption but in a good way, religious horror, the cycle of abuse, eventual murder (of the good kind) )

The Order of The Pallid Mask: In the corpse of a city at the centre of a dying world, a benevolent cult is working to restore their world to its fabled former glory by appealing to its retreated god, The King in Yellow. Sariann, the cult's High Priestess, is willing to sacrifice whatever she must to ensure a brighter future for the city's refugees; her body, her soul, her mind. Virgil, a lower-ranking member of the Order, her confidant, attendant and trusted friend, is willing to defy the Order and his faith to keep her alive. And the Yellow King has plans and desires of his own... (vibes: Cosmic horror, Lovecraftian but make it romantic, the beauty of the unknown, rituals, creating a religion from the ashes of an old world, post-apocalypse, ancient civilization (not of Earth), Eldritch love triangle) ***

Fan Works/Other:

As far as fanfics go, I don't have any long-form WIPs on the stove, more like a series of short (well, short-ish) form drabbles, headcanons and other assorted bits, which I might as well post here when I have them as proof that I do have a creative output that extends beyond Spotify playlists and Pinterest boards.

Fandoms include:

Fallout (mainly New Vegas and the Prime series so far, but encompassing this universe as a whole)

Red Dead Redemption (particularly the second game as I haven't played the first one yet, £35 for a port of a PS2 game my *ass*)

the Flanaverse (Hill House, Bly Manor, TFOTHOU, Midnight Mass... basically everything bar The Midnight Club, which I have not watched)

the Cthulhu Mythos (if you can call that a fandom :D I was working on a queer retelling of Dreams in the Witch-House at one point, if I can *find* the notes I wrote I might bring that one out of retirement...)

plus one or two fandoms the content crucibles of which I would not subject myself to if you held me at gunpoint (iykyk)

I've also amassed a small collection of OCs from various TTRPGs I've been part of, a couple of whom still haunt my mind and may or may not be written about from time to time... (no DnD tho, I think it's safe to say we've reached saturation point with DnD-centric/derivative works) ;)

***

General housekeeping + other info: I am an adult and this is an adult writing blog by default. I will be writing smut/other sexual content and dealing with mature and dark themes throughout these listed works (and anything else I may write to post here.) I will tag for "main" triggers and give general content warnings where applicable, but I cannot guarantee to cover every single trigger a person may have, therefore, you read and interact here at your own risk. If requested, I will add more trigger warnings, but again, I can't fully guarantee to get everything.

I kindly ask that you refrain from reposting anything from this blog: excerpts, character profiles, moodboards (if I make them) etc. I also ask that you do not take anything for your personal use under any circumstances.

My inbox is open, so send me an ask if you have any questions or simply want to chat! But for now, I've rambled for quite long enough, so I'm gonna wrap this post here. See you! <3

(tagging @coffeexafterxmidnight and @dominaarts )

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

WIP themes tag!

Thanks @mysticstarlightduck and @buffythevampirelover (buffy I'm so sorry it's been a while since you've tagged me)

Rules: bold themes from one of your WIPs and italicize lighter themes

This is for The Secret Portal

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality |faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

Thought colors would help

Tagging @gracehosborn @theeccentricraven @theelfauthor @thepeculiarbird @unrepentantcheeseaddict @blind-the-winds @andyswritings @little-mouse-gardens @little-peril-stories @dyrewrites or anyone who sees this!

[finchmomentwrites]

[wip themes tag game]

thanks for the tag @armentas!

---the rules: bold themes covered in your WIP, and italicize ones you loosely cover

HERE ATLAS FELL

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

im gonna leave this tag open for whoever else would like to join the game! :)

[absolxguardian]

If you love THE ACOLYTE you should read RONIN A VISIONS NOVEL by Emma Mieko Candon

The Jedi are the most loyal servants of the Empire.

You've probably seen a lot of stuff around the Acolyte about getting into the High Republic if you want more of the same. And while the High Republic is amazing and you should read it, beyond the in-universe worldbuilding connects and that they're both stories with a lot of Jedi, they're honestly not that similar when it comes to tone and theme. If what you like the most is the unique perspective The Acolyte is bringing to the franchise, you can find more of that in Ronin.

Ronin is an expansion of the season 1 Visions short The Duel. It proposes a much more interesting origin of the Sith than what is in Legends, where you have Jedi with the samurai influence turned up to max and they are the enforcers of a corrupt state and exploiters of the peasantry. There is no Light or Dark Side. And the Sith rise up against the exploitation of non-noble force sensitive Jedi, but in the end they're fighting for their own freedom including at the expense of others. Whether you identify as pro Jedi or not, seeing what the Jedi would be like if they were actually what their worst critics- both in and out of universe- claim is a great way to expand your perspective. It draws even more on jidaigeki and Japanese mythology in general. The writing style is very unique, invoking barely localized Japanese literature.

Two decades ago, Jedi clans clashed in service to feuding lords. Sickened by this endless cycle, a sect of Jedi rebelled, seeking to control their own destiny and claim power in service of no master. They called themselves Sith.    The Sith rebellion failed, succumbing to infighting and betrayal, and the once rival lords unified to create an Empire . . . but even an Empire at peace is not free from violence.    Far on the edge of the Outer Rim, one former Sith wanders, accompanied only by a faithful droid and the ghost of a less civilized age. He carries a lightsaber, but claims lineage to no Jedi clan, and pledges allegiance to no lord. Little is known about him, including his name, for he never speaks of his past, nor his regrets. His history is as guarded as the red blade of destruction he carries sheathed at his side.   As the galaxy’s perpetual cycle of violence continues to interrupt his self-imposed exile, and he is forced to duel an enigmatic bandit claiming the title of Sith, it becomes clear that no amount of wandering will ever let him outpace the specters of his former life.

As for the similarities to the Acolyte, you got a darker tone, mystery, learning the backstory of characters as you go, a new way of seeing the Force, and witch(es).

It's also extremely queer. The main character in pansexual. One member of the main cast, the mysterious Traveler, is non-binary. There's also a sapphic romantic subplot.

It follows the Ronin right after the events of the Duel, where he is forced to join the Traveler, Chie- a bounty hunter who hunts Jedi while believing in her own Force religion, and Ekiya- a member of a people who the Sith displaced and forced to fight for them, now trying to regain her people's homeland. You also get to learn what the Sith Bandit's deal is.

It is in its own continuity (although it has also had some one-shot comics also telling original stories), although in my personal version of Star Wars it is a mythohistory about the ancient history of the Jedi and Sith. This means I don't have to stress out about the specifies of technology and magic, but can use the general gist to create my own narrative in my head.

[mysticstarlightduck]

WIP'S THEMES TAG

Tagged by: @tabswrites

Rules: Bold the themes that appear in your WIP (and italicize those that are loosely covered) then tag 10 people.

I'll do this for my main WIP The Last Wrath

THEMES:

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

Gently Tagging: @the-arigen, @clairelsonao3, @writernopal, @exquisitecrow, @cabbojage, @rickie-the-storyteller, @your-absent-father, @liv-is, @doublegoblin, @anoelleart and OPEN TAG (anyone else who wants to do this)

[theeccentricraven]

WIP themes tag!

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks for the tag😊

Rules: bold themes from one of your WIPs and italicize lighter themes.

I see that self-esteem or self-confidence aren't on the list, but at least empowerment means just that.

From The Blood Cleaners

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment (main them) | facing darkness | facing reality |faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

Tagging @dandelion-jester @tryingtowritestuff24 @acmartin @toribookworm22 @sleepywriter00 and anyone else who wants to join! (sorry if I accidentally tagged someone already tagged)

[thepeculiarbird]

WIP themes tag

Thanks @kaylinalexanderbooks for tagging me!

To be completely honest, I did not understand at all what I was supposed to do when I got tagged. I got it only at the third blog playing the game.

Rules: Bold/color themes related to your wip and italicize lighter themes.

Project dgkotr/lmotr:

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality |faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

(it was really hard)

Tagging: @raiden-makoto @sarandipitywrites @jaelink @aalinaaaaaa @lyutenw @buffythevampirelover @nettleandthorne @finxi-writes @arwenschepers @corruptedbread @whimsical-blood-fairy @unrepentantcheeseaddict @kidukami @ryns-ramblings @rowenas-my-fave-child

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

BENEDICTION "Subconscious Terror" era

[wandringaesthetic]

Shooting from the hip review of Castlevania Nocturne:

(vague spoilers)

This is an even more loose adaptation of Rondo of Blood than the first series was of Castlevania III with the only significant consistency being Richter and Maria and their character designs and abilities.

This is, imo, fine. Castlevania games are 90% vibes and nothing significant is lost here.

I might be more interested in Olrox, mysterious ancient third camp vampire very unimpressed by the main villain, and warrior priest Mizrak than I am in Richter, but Richter's mid act breakdown is still pretty compelling and Juste's whole deal makes a potentially interesting can as to paint on.

The best sequences in this make good use of music.

Linking vampires, decadent French nobles and plantation owners makes sense and linking up vampire hunters, revolutionaries, and Caribbean slave rebellions..,. Works. I was afraid of this feeling forced, but the writers seemed to mostly know what they were doing. The writers also seem to understand religion better than Warren Ellis, so the corrupted priests this time around feel more realistically self deluded rather than straight up cartoon villains.

The tone of the first series is mostly maintained, with less of the weird, stretchy pacing. I kind of liked the weird pacing of the first series (at least.... most of the time) because it allowed for a lot of meaningless dialogue between my OT3 and things like Isaac having a bunch of long, spiritual conversations with characters who never appear again. This is somewhere between risky and just bad writing, so I quite understand that we're going at more of a brisk and steady pace this time around. It might have been nice to breathe a little more, though. Wasn't 100% convinced by the hints of Richter/Annette romance to the extent that I feel like I might have missed something. But so far it's just in the blushing stage so fine.

This is a weird vehicle for its themes, but the first series was also a weird vehicle for pretty much all of its themes so it feels right, feels natural.

I liked it. Would like to see some things explored more but can't think of any major criticisms. We'll see where it goes from here.

[oh-no-another-idea]

WIP themes tag

Thank you @cherrybombfangirlwrites for both the tag and your patience! Today, let's do Bent Nails or Something, as I don't think I've played with that WIP before!

how to: bold the themes that appear in your WIP (& italicize those that are loosely covered)

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfilment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

Gentle tags for @karkkidoeswriting @mysticstarlightduck @aziz-reads @ashen-crest @asher-writes and anyone else who sees this!

[laplumedemaureen]

Themes Tag Game

I was tagged by @buffythevampirelover a lifetime ago (so sorry lmao), thanks for the tag <3

Rules: bold and/or color strong themes and italicize and/or color loosely covered themes in one of your works.

These are general themes for my current wip:

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | (found) family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfilment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

Leaving an open tag for this one :) feel free to say i tagged you

[scifimagpie]

Theme tag

The bolded words represent major themes, and the italic ones, minor themes, that appear in Monsters and Fools, my current wip! It's a sequel to The Underlighters, and instead of being a horror-inflected post-apoc coming-of-age story, it's a neo-noire about civic politics and rights issues in the same post-apoc setting! Here goes.

addiction | beauty | betrayal | change vs. tradition | chaos vs. order | circle of life | coming of age | communication | convention vs. rebellion | corruption | courage | crime and law | dangers of ignorance | darkness and light | death | desire to escape | dreams | displacement | empowerment | facing darkness | facing reality | faith vs. doubt | fall from grace | fame and fortune | family | fate | fear | fear of failure | free will | friendship | fulfillment | good vs. bad | government | greed | guilt and forgiveness | hard work | heroism | hierarchy | honesty | hope | identity crisis | immortality | independence | individual vs. society | inner vs. outer strength | innocence | injustice | isolation | knowledge vs. ignorance | life | loneliness | lost love | love | man vs. nature | manipulation | materialism | motherhood | nature | nature vs. nurture | oppression | optimism | peer pressure | poverty | power | power of words | prejudice | pride | progress | quest | racism | rebirth | relationships | religion | responsibility | revenge | sacrifice | secrets | self-awareness | self-preservation | self-reliance | sexuality | social class structure | survival | technology | temptation and destruction | time | totalitarianism | weakness | vanity | war | wealth | wisdom of experience | youth

tagging in!

@acertainmoshke @mrbexwrites @tabswrites @writernopal @squarebracket-trick @sm-writes-chaos @isabellebissonrouthier @digitalsatyr23 @sleepyowlwrites