#XANDER THE ORIGINAL VISUAL

[jrwi-eldritchstrings-event]

Eldritchstrings Event Sign-Ups Open!!

Hi! Are you looking for some Apothy fun in these trying times of no new Apothesosis episodes? Wanna get together with other toxic yuri fans to make something swag? This post is to let you know that sign-ups are now open for the Eldritchstrings Event - an event centered on Exandroth and Rumi!!

This event is solely being run by @burning-sol (me) and @exandr0th-0f-viscera (my headmate). It probably won't be that large-scale, and we'll be kind of loose with management as we get an idea of what the members involved want from the event in terms of development and a final product. Our biggest rules are to HAVE FUN and TRY YOUR BEST!! If you don't feel like you're having fun, then this event is officially so joever.

If you're interested, please read through everything after the cut, the Sign-Up Form's link is at the end!! Sign-ups close November 16th.

Who can join?

If I've blocked you that's probably a bad sign... Obviously. But other than that, no limitations we can think of! Just know that Xander and I are pro-endo and pro-mspec lesbians; so if that gives you the impression you wouldn't gel well with the group, it's best to steer clear. All we ask of our participants is that they'll...!

Communicate clearly, and consciously try to take others in good faith.

At the least tolerate their cohorts if they can't outright get along with them.

AND, most importantly, they'll reach out to us if there are any issues!! It is no bother and it's actively better for the collective if you're open about anything that may have come up :3

What's the estimated time frame?

Sign-Ups close November 16th! ..however, the time frame for development and publishing will be up to participants to decide - with that process of consultation concluding before 2025.

At the LATEST the deadline for the works themselves will be July 31st, which will leave time for the editors to finesse the final product and publish it August 27th... (the anniversary of the first Eldritchstrings post!) So if you think you could make something by July 31st, even if you're initially busy, join the sign-ups!

If you miss it you will NOT be let into the event late, unfortunately. But no worries, because if the event goes well then there's a high probability another will be held in the future! :D

What contributions are we looking for?

Firstly, anyone who can help with visual design, editing, accessibility and publishing otherwise would be appreciated! There's also room for people who have general experience overseeing events and/or those who would like to help with promotion.

There will also (potentially) be groups, so if all you wanna do is hang around in case a pinch-hitter is needed, you can do that!

In terms of those submitting work to the event, ANY form of art goes! You may want to submit something like...

Fan-fiction, poetry, essays..

Illustrations, comics…

Banners, blinkies, icons…

Moodboards, stimboards, webweaves..

Textiles, cosplay, photography…

Edits, animations, PMVs, AMVs…

Original music, playlists…

Coding, games, 3D works…

Or whatever other weird and unique things you can think of…!

Romantic, platonic, situationship... Angst, comedy, abstract works, complete bullshit… Canon, non-canon, post-canon, somewhere in between… All is welcome so long at it centers on Exandroth and Rumi!!

Our ONLY limitations are that we will NOT be allowing any erotica, and no portrayal of genitalia in terms of artistic nudity! If you are otherwise unsure your work would be allowed, feel free to ask about it!

Also! Works that are exclusive to the event would be super cool, but you can submit older art or continue to work on something from your already existing WIPs if you'd like! The only catch is that you wouldn't be able to resubmit those to any future events... So if you're okay with that, go on ahead!

..and that's about it!

Make sure you've read over this and any relevant posts on this blog thoroughly. Participants will gather in a Discord server, the invites of which will be distributed via Tumblr PMs from this blog. If you're chill with everything stated above, here's the sign-up form!!

-> SIGN UP HERE <-

Note: We will not be personally promoting this event to other social medias, but you have our permission to share this sign-up with Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, etc!!

[2802sen]

other talent swaps form this au and explanation for each one... idk if im going to do anything serious with it, so consider it just a "what if"

stars of the show:

David Chiem, Ultimate Student;

Min Jeung, Ultimate Motivational Speaker.

David was a curious child, but he lost his spark very fast. He always knew that if he wants to be loved he needs to be the best. In order to be an ideal for everyone and to escape his emotions and feelings, David only studied. In middle school his impressive grades caught attention of XF-ture Tech. They offered him to make a contract and take part in the Ultimate Student exam.

Min was originally one of the Ultimate Student exam participants, but a person form XF-ture Tech who was watching over her noticed that she wants to "save" and help people. They offered her to be a motivational speaker, with them as her manager of course. On the first year of high school Min received the title of the Ultimate Motivational Speaker.

they probably knew each other before the killing game, because they both work with XF-ture.

Teruko Tawaki, Ultimate Zither Player;

Alexander "Xander" Matthews, Ultimate Lucky Student.

After Teruko's brother were adopted, she decided that she will be a musician because music is the only thing left that reminded her of him, along with his handmade zither. She doesn't trust people much because they had always left her. Teruko says it's just her luck.

Xander's family died when he was a child, but he couldn't accept this and ran away from his town, so he never had a proper home since then. He wholeheartedly believes that he should've died instead, but he can't because things will never go as he wants. Xander's wounds are always open, no matter how long ago he got them.

Ace Markey, Ultimate Bowler;

Arei Nageishi, Ultimate Jockey.

All of Ace's siblings already took other sports, and he believes that he will never be as good as them. But bowling was Taylor's favorite sport, which inspired him a lot. After his friend's death, Ace started to take out all of his anger when playing. Who could've knew that it will make him the best?

All in Arei's family were jockeys, so she had to be one too to fit in. This made her life even worse, but she wanted to destroy her sisters lives by becoming the best and ruining their careers. And she did exactly that. But was it really worth it?

Charles Cuevas, Ultimate Plastic Surgeon;

Rose Lacroix, Ultimate Personal Stylist.

Charles saw how his brother died, and even though he doesn't remember anything about him, he still has the same feeling he had when he saw Elliot's face- he couldn't even tell if it was him anymore. Charles neglected everything that he didn't need for being a plastic surgeon just so others would never had that feeling.

Because Rose's family owns a hair salon, she had always been in the fashion world. She remembers all looks that she ever saw. Her ability to read people by the clothes that they wear helps her a lot, since she can't remember anything besides the visual part.

Hu Jing, Ultimate Art Forger;

Eden Tobisa, Ultimate Matchmaker.

Hu has problems with proving herself to others. She was interested in art, but she think of herself as "the worst in the world in a thing that I can do the best". Because of that she decided that people would see her as worthy enough if she copies others. Hu is ashamed of her talent, but it's still the only thing she's good at.

Eden believes that Love is the most important feeling in the world, so she wants to help other people find it. However, she can never find her Love herself. Eden doesn't like to think about it, so she only thinks about others.

Levi Fontana, Ultimate Pet Therapist;

Arturo Giles, Ultimate Rebel.

Levi decided to work with animals because they don't have weird secret social rules that people do. His family hated animals, though. It's good they're not here to spread hate anymore, right?

Arturo's parents were physically (towards him) and emotionally (towards Felicity) abusive. He ran away and never came back, leaving his sister alone with shitty parents and bullies at school, which completely destroyed her. Felicity wrote a letter to her brother and after committed suicide. Blaming himself for this, Arturo decided that he won't let something like this happen again. But in the end of the day he is still just a coward running away from his problems, isn't he?

Veronika Grebenshchikova, Ultimate Chemist;

J Moreno, Ultimate Clockmaker.

Chemistry is fascinating for Veronika. It's not boring- there's so many different reactions, so many things to explore. Her speciality is poisons, because everything about them is just amazing. Veronika seems to have a lot of burns. Wonder why.

J doesn't want to be associated with show business at all. Making and restoring clocks is calming, it has mechanisms that she loves, she can forget about everything when she works and no one sees her.

Whit Young, Ultimate Horror Fanatic;

Nico Hakobyan, Ultimate Effect Artist.

After Whit's mother died, he couldn't accept the reality, so he tried many things to escape it, but the only thing that helped him is Horror, because scenes in them overlay Whit's memories about his mother. But they are still deep inside, aren't they?

Nico doesn't like to be in public, so they work behind the scenes. It's better when no one sees them. And even though they still have to talk with performers, Nico knows that they probably won't see each other in person ever again. How long can they hide?

I just realized I made Xanvid Terumin omg it was not intentional I swear 😭😭 anyway I hope you liked it. should I post more about this au? I lied when I said I won't to anything serious with this btw. or not.

that's it yeah byeee

[shininglynxie]

Alright, the 5yl motion comic's new chapter just came out, and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE! I want to share my thoughts and observations with you because I have a lot of them. I know this isn't exactly a topic I covered here and that most people who follow me would be familiar with, but I absolutely love 5yl, and I really wanna talk about this incredible series!

Spoilers for 5 years later, its 11th chapter specifically, below. Go watch it here first, or read my whole post. Maybe I'll convince you to watch the whole thing.

Sorry for the weird crunchy collage images. I needed more than ten images to illustrate my points, so I had to compromise.

As usual, the motion comic manages to enhance the original comic version with the voice acting and other visual additions. Rob's direction and animation work, his and Crystal's visual effects, Noximation's score and everyone's voice acting under the direction of Xander and Kellen are all amazing and on point, as always!

I like the little changes they did to the intro with this and the last episode, too! It makes me feel like I'm watching a TV series with an evolving plot. Really reminds me of watching Omniverse as a kid with all its altering intros. I absolutely love this detail!

I don't know if that happens in the og chapter, but I like that the fact that Portaler was able to warp from Divinity's hold is emphasized here. Hell, Ben even acknowledges this feat himself in the very next scene. This, along with his ability to create unstable wormholes, as showcased in the previous episode, really showcases why Ben put Portaler in the powerhouse playlist. Which is a really important detail to set up, as this is an alien we've never seen before and don't know what he's truly capable of.

Seeing The Void animated was really cool! I'm not sure how this was done in the original comic, but I love the sheer sense of scale they showcase in the top scene here! It really emphasizes how absolutely massive thus alien is! I also love the twisting effect they gave to his dark matter when it's absorbing Big Ben's arm! It's just like I imagined it!

After watching this episode, I realized that I didn't really remember this scene at all from the time I read this comic. I'm glad I was able to properly appreciate it now, as it's quite a nice scene.

What Future Fenton says here is interesting. Obviously, their goal is to help Ben and Danny take down Divinity to rewrite the awful future they come from. With this outcome resulting in Future Fenton's erasure from existence. According to this plan, their fate is predetermined. Or is it? It just makes me wonder what will happen next. Btw, Rob has been absolutely killing it as Future Fenton! He isn't really a voice actor, and he's pulling off some very clean line deliveries! It must be some solid voice direction on Xander's and Kellen's parts!

I really like the exchange that Lula, GoTro, and Crawnch have here. It's a nice scene for them. I like that they discuss their reasons for being plumbers, have a bit of an argument, and in the end decide to help Ben. I like how this scene showcases their characters.

This scene also gave us some incredible surprises!

Just like with the revamped Albedo's ultimates sequence in episode 8, they decided to give us an unnecessary but very welcome Ben 10-themed surprise with all these omni-chimeras. I'd love to break these designs down, but I fear it would be adding way too much text to an already long post. I might do a breakdown of their designs a separate post later. Omni-chimeras are one of the funnest concepts to come out of 5yl, in my opinion, and this scene is definitely making me want to draw some.

I also wasn't expecting to get such a glimpse into the time Future Fenton came from. It seemed to me that Rob wanted to keep their future ambiguous and shrouded in mystery. I love Vlad's tastefully extra ruler outfit with that elegant black and red color scheme and the flaming ctown. (Also, I like how Divinity's outfit references future events)

Getting all these other crossover cameos in such a substantial way is pretty crazy! Especially crazy is the fact that we got proper non-silhouetted cameos of Rex and his brother Caesar, too! The fans have been asking for this for so long, so it's a little hard to believe that their pleas have finally been answered.

Not pictured here, but I love that we get a look at the complete Orion Knight. From what I remember, either the original description of the incomplete Orion Knight concept art on The Ink Tank's website said something about us, maybe, seeing the complete one someday or it was Rob who said it on a stream once. So, this kinda leaves wondering if it was a tease for the motion comic or something else that's still coming later.

A small yet neat detail I noticed here is that Big Ben shoots a strong sonic blast from his Stick n' Slide leg, which matches that alien's abilities. I'm pretty that wasn't in the original chapter, so it's really cool to see!

Now, Full Stop. It was awesome to finally see this fan-favourite alien in motion comic format. I like Aj Beckles' performance for Full Stop! t gives him a very appropriate cool guy vibe. I like how well his powers were showcased here. Everything he holds truly comes to a complete halt. It's great!

Danny's "nightmare sequence" is what i was excited for the most, and I had every right to be. It was AMAZING! The motion comic brought it to a whole new level!

The transition into it was perfect! The drowning that fades into a jarring awakening. It's so good! But it keeps getting better! The beginning of the sequence was also very well done! That part in the og comic wasn't that great, and I always thought it would be better with proper voice acting, and I was totally right about that! Now, I'm not a Danny Phantom fan, but I assume that there were now heart-to-heart reconciliation scenes between Danny and his dad like here in the actual show. I think the fans might appreciate a scene like that, and it's a very nice and tender one in general. I absolutely loved seeing Ash's nightmare Jack creature animated! The zombie Sam scene was so nicely done, too! It was gross eerie in the best way possible! Paxton's delivery during the Ben part was stellar, too! Also, fun fact, but all the aliens Ben erupts into here are ones that Danny had actually seen Ben had used so far. On the topic of voice acting, it was absolutely on point for this entire scene! It truly elevated it to a whole new level! Can you tell that this is my favourite part? Anyways, moving on.

I don't think this scene was in the original comic. I really like it, though! This is some real funny banter between Vlad and Ben!

I absolutely love how Fury Danny's emergence was handled here. I don't remember if those Orion Squad lines on top were there in the og, but regardless, they really helped establish the insane speed at which Danny was flying here. His sheer new might is conveyed perfectly here! That ending scene was perfect, too! The line delivery was very on point once again! This solidifies it as a perfect spot to end this chapter on for me!

Whew. That was probably the longest I've rambled about anything here so far. I just can't help but gush about this project sometimes. I just love it so much, and The Ink Tank always does such a great job with it and their other projects, too! All in all, after all this, I'm extremely excited for episode 12 and the two final chapters! I know, It's going to be something spectacular!

[drdtdreams]

ok! hi. so i had this really weird dream where i like? knew i was going to be assassinated? it was weird. but i spent a really long time messaging people i knew saying like. lol ur cool bye forever. and then one of the two people planning to assassinate me (who i can’t visualize at all, but i think she was an art teacher) was like. hey. you have choir practice (which is weird because i’ve never even like, seen a choir practice in my life) and i was just like. yep ok.

we go to the weird chapel looking thing and im just like. can’t believe im going to die at a random time in the next while and then i get to my seat. and it’s just. ace. and im looking at him because, like, he’s so out of place for so many reasons so i just sit on the floor. these two random instructors are just talking, and i look over and since im on the ground under one of the like, pews that were in the back, there was like, the fake underbrush you see in museums. so i’m like. what. and i see some tupperware in there and i take it out and inside is a nest and in that nest a book with like, a thousand notes on it. i open the book, very confused, and it’s like the files from thh and i think it opened to min’s page?

this instructor is like hard panicking and says like. go outside rn. so i bolt it out of the door, but like, it doesn’t go to outside anymore? it’s a stairway that looks kiiinda icky. because reasons i run down it and at the bottom there’s this giant ass wood castle door and im like. die. and it opens and inside is this weird mix of like, an abandoned hospital that’s incredibly musty with 16 cots and like, a courtroom. there’s a bathroom at the very end. and understandably i’m like wwhat. and i look behind me and the door is gone and it’s like. shit.

so i end up in whits place, which like, yipee, but we’re going through trail one in this dinky ass beds room. the weird part? XANDER IS THERE. if you’ve seen the fanart of the original games where it’s the characters who died but like, revived? and they have white hair and memory loss? that was xander. it was really pitiful tbh

i don’t remember much because. like. we didn’t have any evidence because we were stuck in the dinky room and teruko was comatose but no one was accusing her because each time people brought up that she could’ve done it xander would be like “no!1!1!1!!1!1!!!11 shes. too. babygirl!1!1!1!1!1!1!1!!1!11”

.

[becomingbuffypodcast]

Hush, Identity, & the subversion of the female scream

We have talked before about how music and the absence of music are critical to the Buffyverse, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the episode, “Hush.” Season 4 is all about identity, shown through the Scoobies discovering who they are in this new season of life, and their conflicts and the monsters they face often highlight this through the theme of identity theft.

Sunday & her gang feed off the insecurity of incoming freshmen while also stealing their things. Kathy steals Buffy’s soul in an effort to form a new life away from her family, Buffy tries on Parker in an attempt to have a normal life, Xander and Giles try new hobbies and jobs in an effort to figure out where they belong, and the entire premise of the Initiative is to change the demons and monsters—taking their basic instincts and making them something else.

In “Hush,” the writers cleverly continue this theme of identity, not only through Buffy and Riley revealing their secret identities to each other, but through the Gentlemen and their silencing of the most human expression of identity—the voice.

Because of this, the music plays a significant role in not only accentuating the silence of the characters, but also in revealing the insidious nature of the Gentlemen. Joss Whedon and “Hush” composer, Christophe Beck, drew inspiration from multiple sources, including Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman, as well as the orchestral accompaniment of silent films. But the biggest influence undoubtedly comes from “Danse Macabre,” the piece that accompanies Giles’ non-verbal presentation of the Gentlemen.

Written in 1874 by French composer Camille Saint-Saens, “Danse Macabre” is a tone poem, originally composed as an art song, to be played while someone recites an old French superstition. The story was an old legend about Death appearing at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the skeletons from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle until dawn. Beck cleverly calls back to the piece in his music for “Hush”—the solo violin reminding us of the devil’s fiddle, while the use of dissonant intervals, known as the devil’s tritone, reminds us of the devil himself. Beck will utilize a similar trick in writing the theme for Wanda in Wanda-Vision, where his use of devil’s tritones hints at her darker side.

Coupled with the many phallic symbols and Joss Whedon’s original intent for them to represent a certain class, the Gentlemen can be seen as a repressive patriarchal symbol, and a metaphor for classism, sexism, and even assault. They penetrate, violate, and silence their victims, tearing out their hearts and stealing their voices. Their nice clothing, smiles, and even their names convey an idea of white-washed social assimilation, yet their lethargic mannerisms and precise medical tools betray a calculated and intelligent malevolence. They are able to get away with their abuse due to their silencing of not only the victim, but the community as a whole.

The book, “Music, Sound, & Silence in BTVS” makes a comparison between the scene of the Gentlemen stealing away the town’s voices, and Kathy trying to steal Buffy’s soul, arguing that these correlating images show that “the voice represents something of the essence of a subject and its materiality brings to life an enigmatic element of the individual. This visualization of voice, disembodied from its source but still “live,” marks a clear appreciation for the voice as a material body in itself—a physical trace and a distinct object.”

So often in film and media, the cry of women is shown as that of the conquered, not the conqueror. French film theorist and composer, Michel Chion, in his essay “the Screaming Point,” asserts that “the female scream, the woman’s cry, represents a misfortune and a sexual vulnerability available for the pleasure of the male spectator.” Yet in true Buffy form, the show subverts the female scream and imbues it with strength. “Music, Sound, and Silence” writes, “Buffy’s scream is more in line with what Chion describes as the male “shout,” imbued as it is with power and mastery. Buffy wields this masculine shout as she does the phallic stake: both are her weapons for penetrating and obliterating the Other—the monster, the demon.”

In the end it is the cry of the victim, a woman, that exerts her dominance and destroys her oppressor.

[cursedsleep-blog]

Updated Feedback for Streets of New Capenna

I think my original feedback to SNC was godawful for a lot of reasons, not to mention that it was ruder than it really should have been, so I am writing this.

I think New Capenna has a lot of potential but the set and the setting didn't get enough time or polish.

Story

The main story felt kind of rough. I'm not sure if there were rewrites or something, but it felt underwhelming in the end. A lot of important/interesting questions (like about Halo's effects/purpose and Elspeth's past) were left unanswered. Also still disappointed we didn't get a Riveteers story.

The confrontation with Ob Nixilis felt like it was way faster than it really should have been. Felt like the only real impact was killing Xander and crashing the Font. Maybe should've been a 2nd set with the resulting takeover (and the Angelic Awakening too).

Also the angel situation should not have had to be explained on Tumblr.

The side stories were mostly just OK. I liked the pigeon one in particular.

Setting

Going to split this into smaller sections

Humanoid Cephalids: This feels like the human sliver situation to me. Having them for more diversity was a good idea, but I feel like more Dominarian designs may have helped there. I also noticed and did not like that basically all the guy cephalids were big blurple bald guys with tentacle staches and the girls were blurple women just with tentacle themed hair.

The City and the Citizens: Stacking 3 cities on top of each other was cool, but I don’t feel like the set gave enough of an idea of what it was like to live in the city. For all the talk of how this is the big mob set, I have a clearer idea of what life was like for Ravnicans under the guilds than I did for Capennans under the families. The same goes for plain old daily life in the planes.

The Family Concepts are Cool, but Feel Underdeveloped:

Despite the lack of interest in the city outside of the families, I didn't really get a good sense for how any of the families worked & the lack of any apparent pre-angel law/order does not help. Staying away from cops and stuff was 100% the right choice, but there needs to be some sort of law or something: even law/criminal investigation controlled by the Brokers/Obscura would be good, as long as there is a real reason the Family's operations and crimes/murders are kept on the down low.

On the note of the law, as I was double checking to see if their were RTR-esque outfit guidelines I missed, I finally noticed Rogue’s Gallery had a Broker’s symbol on the sides of where the photo was being taken. If Brokers and maybe Obscura were supposed to act as the law despite also breaking it for power, that should’ve been made more clear and been more prominent.

Again, like with the unclear Angel situation post-set and having a decent amount of Angels in the set, it feels like either communication broke down and/or like there was a decently-big rewrite and that it was too late to change some things

Brokers:

Didn't feel criminal enough for the most part. The strong-arming and contract forcing implied in the sidestories seemed to be MiA, and what crime there was just seemed to be generic murder (i.e. Lagrella the Magpie)

Did not feel very magical or interested in the elements of their colors (barring the one Vermin guy who contracts with animals). One or both go for most of the other families too.

Obscura:

More of the Obscura’s mystical side could have been nice (sphinxs, seers, spirits, etc.)

How they operated seemed unclear, especially how they controlled information. What they did have just seemed to be surveillance, smuggling for no discernible purpose, and more generic crime like robbing a vault. Felt more like Dimir then a faction with White.

The hologram things suck. I know I'm taking care to not be rude this time, but it feels uninspired and un-fantastical and I feel the need to be blunt on this point.

Hard to tell apart from the Brokers, visually and operationally.

Maestros

Still too similar looking to the other Blue factions, and they maybe could have been more interested in their colors non-mechanically.

The art theme was great, though the hotel/hospitality aspects while interesting could have been explained/pushed more.

Riveteers (Also My Original Comments Were Real Bad On Them in Particular):

First off, shouldn't have complained about the boxing ring aspect, I did not know my history there.

The worker outfits helped make them distinguishable from the other factions, but I lot of what they wore still felt pretty generic

That said, after looking closely at them again, I noticed a bunch of them have a gold, scale-shaped trim or pattern on the insides of their coats. That is neat, but again I literally never noticed until today (April 27 2023). It and whatever other fashion choices were made could’ve been made more clear either in the stories or on the cards.

It still sucks that they didn’t get a story, as it may have helped flesh them out more (and I was personally curious about how the faction worked/used its colors).

Tangent below:

Calling the lack of a story for the union faction sus may have been out of line or excessive, but then again (as I finally got around to  finishing/publishing this after the MAT leak) hiring the goddamn Pinkertons is too!

Like, not relying on trigger happy cops to retrieve stuff seems fine, but WotC/Hasbro REALLY HAD TO GO WITH THE GODDAMN PINKERTONS?!

Alright back to the point of the feedback, sorry for the tangent, but I had to get that out there.

Cabaretti:

The party-goer styling was generally enough to make them distinguishable.

More magical/elemental than some of the others, but still maybe could've been a bit more 'natural' with their parties, techniques, buildings, etc.

Halo being basically potions/energy drinks (even if they were Soylent Green) kind of hurt the flavor of being a party faction.

On that note, the Cabaret faction not having alcohol does feel off, especially in a plane based in the Prohibition era. Maybe its not reasonable due to rating boards, but if there is any faction where it should be pushed, this is probably it.

If nothing else, maybe grapevines and bottles/glasses/imitating customs around alcohol could have helped with the flavor.

Mechanics

All 5 family mechanics were good/fun, and so were the new Hideaway cards.  I really liked the Alliance cards that did different things on their 2nd trigger and Gala Greeters, and Shield Counters were successful as a fixed regenerate IMO. They all did play together quite nicely as well, though as I’m about to get into some stuff sort of overshadowed that.

Limited

WU/WG were overtuned, with Inspiring Overseer being ridiculous. Raffine’s Informant and Jewel Thief was also too damn good, especially compared to cards like Brazen Upstart.

Removal was also bad, and Limited felt like it was too much about 2 color decks hitting 2 drops.  A bit more removal that didn’t care about Shield counters may have been a good idea, and some existing removal needed better efficiency.

GR Treasure also had no good payoffs beyond splashing, Jinnie Fay, and Stimulus Package. UB 5-MV Graves also seemed weak. On that note, putting the Hearse in a set testing 5-MV graveyards seemed excessive.

Having said that, I don’t think any archetype (except maybe GR Treasure?) was unplayable, but the depth of WU/WG seriously warped the experience for the worse.

Misc

Some things probably could have been more fantastical than just ‘Human with weird looking holograms’ or ‘Fantasy race doing completely normal thing/normal crime thing with no interesting changes’

Titan of Industry and All-Seeing Arbiter were cool concepts/designs and great uses of the “modern magic city” setting.  The former does feel more like a Riveteers card conceptually tho, and I do wish the latter had some Ward. Bootlegger’s Stash and Halo Fountain also work well in the same vein.

Giada, Font of Hope is so pushed (and boring) that I don’t think I ever want to play an Angels deck with it. Hope to see her again though, unless she is meant to be gone for good. (I wrote that bit before MOM)

Finger guns were neat, but didn't feel right for the setting without being fleshed out/having reasons and magic techniques tied to them.

Speaking of guns, the violin cases with actual violins in Perrie's story were cool, but stuff like the Arc Spitter felt too Izzet or Kaladesh IMO. (And I was a bit sad too see them return to semi-prominence in MOM)

No matter what anyone says, bug vehicles are cool!

The alt art was outstanding!!! :D All of the artists did a great job!

Wrapping Up

I do worry that blazing through settings like this is going to make finding/creating fan favorites harder. Kaldheim became a favorite due to its concept despite being crunched into 1 set, and Kamigawa was just fantastic and made sense as 1 set, but I worry other planes/settings may not end up getting so lucky.

Overall, the concept and faction ideas are great, but I think a bad story, being poorly fleshed out, OP commons, and being stuck in a single set (rather than 2; 3 would have been way too much) hindered things. I do hope to come back, but with a more fleshed out world.

[radwolf76]

My Hero Forge Color 3D Prints — Half-Elf Swashbuckler with Bonus Hood Raven Edition

I got another Color 3D Print of one of my Hero Forge creations. I'm very happy with how this one turned out. The color gradient on the blade is especially nice.

Inspired by Ember, a half-elf character I played back in D&D 3.5E in the early naughties. I don't remember the full details of her character build, but her main weapon was an Elven Thinblade from when it was first introduced in Dragon Magazine #275 in September of 2000.

Here's a closeup of her face, along with her raven, Xander, chilling in her hood. Even though it took some shenanigans to get Hero Forge to do this, it translated pretty well to print, even if my phone camera struggled to get a decent shot of that small of a detail. May need to touch up the eyes with yellow paint to make them stand out. No touch up is needed for that unruly mop of anime hair, which is partly due to me having no shame and partly due to the source material that was the original visual inspiration for the character.

Both of these pieces by Todd Lockwood were, I believe, candidates for D&D 3E's Sorcerer Iconic Character, losing out to I-have-so-many-belts-even-Final-Fantasy-told-me-it-was-excessive Hennet.

Both designs have "hip windows" where pockets should be, a feature I was able to implement in Hero Forge through a combination of Double Mini Stacking and leg decals.

The Double Mini Stacking also let me be more elaborate with the clothing layering and allowed for twice as many side items hanging from her belt.

The second Lockwood piece also ended up becoming concept art for WotC's D&D Mini #40090 Half Elf Sorceress. I had previously used this mini as a conversion base for the character. Lost that mini in a move, so it's nice to have an update version that's even better than that early attempt.

[nathaniel-b-123]

CAS Thesis Proposal

(WORKING)TITLE: Shadows 

Purpose: The purpose of my project is to create a story about a person finding something from his past and conquering it. The idea of reflecting and moving forward will be portrayed within the film.The film will go back and forth through the time demonstrating the flashbacks.

Materials: Lightsabers(provided by xander and yasu), maybe costumes that are not related to star wars.

I am hoping to produce a short film that has a story arc about the development of a character and overcoming rivals.

My initial thoughts on the gallery project is that I will need a tv screen to showcase my video.

Since I can remember I’ve loved visual effects in movies. The star wars lightsaber was my favorite ones. As I grew older visual effects grew as well, along with that my understanding of the world has grown as well. I understood the mental struggles that can occur and how that affect someone. For my CAS project I want to mix those two into one. I want to make a story with primarily two characters, brother kind of figure, where the brothers train together and they hate eachother and have trauma. He becomes powerful and seeks out revenge. The ending is a secret ;). I look forward to my project.

Milanote

I understand that there may be simlarities to star wars but here is how I will differ, The differences are that the lightsabers a different texture and colors differing from the original ones. Secondly the story will be different, where there is a metaphor that is not instilled in the movies. There is a brother story linbe that dies not exist in star wars.

[cadetphobos]

The Spadina House from Taso Alexander on Vimeo.

Written & Directed by Taso Alexander

Cinematography: Sasha Moric Original Composition: Lukas Guyader

Production Manager: Suzannah Moore 1st Assistant Director: Ian Carl Script Supervisor: Sydney Kondruss 1st Assistant Camera: Julia Seidman 2nd Assistant Camera: Sebastian Russell Wardrobe: Kristin Lapensee Hair & Makeup: Carla McKeever Makeup Assistant: Sydney Rae Gaffer: Xander Smith Key Grip: Justin Yaroski Key PA: Chris Hedrick PA: Liz Fulton Editor: Mitch Finn Casting: Jigsaw Casting

Production Company: Skin+Bones Film Visual Effects: The Vanity Post Audio: Grayson Matthews

CAST Adam Gaudreau Joanna Swan Max Friedman-Cole Harper Gunn Alex Paxton-Beesley

SPECIAL THANKS: 2D House, Mojo Props, Prop Room, Dazmo Camera, Sim Digital, Berman & Co, Liberty Wardrobe, Stephen Lebed, Judy Shiner, Steven Holmberg, Marka Rankovic, William F. White Int.

And The Spadina Museum.

[themovieblogonline]

Dead Sea Review: An Underwhelming Crime Horror Film

Phil Volken's Dead Sea attempts to blend the crime and horror genres but unfortunately ends up stranded in a murky narrative with underwhelming execution. Despite a promising premise, the film flounders with predictable plot twists, one-dimensional characters, and a lackluster atmosphere that fails to elicit the intended dread. While it features a competent cast led by Dean Cameron and Isabel Gravitt, their efforts are not enough to save this film from its shortcomings. The Story: A Rescue Gone Wrong Dead Sea begins with Kaya (Isabel Gravitt) and her friends, Xander (Koa Tom) and Julian (Garrett Wareing), enjoying a carefree jet ski trip. However, their fun turns into a nightmare when an accident leaves them stranded at sea. Their situation seems to improve when they are rescued by Curtis Hunt (Dean Cameron), the captain of a fishing trawler. But this rescue is not the salvation it appears to be, as the friends soon discover that the ship hides a dark and deadly secret. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roF3aHD-xTU The Good: Concept and Cast The film's premise, while not entirely original, has potential. The setting, a combination of the open sea's isolation and the trawler's claustrophobia could have created a tense and chilling atmosphere. However, Dead Sea misses the mark in building and maintaining tension. The narrative unfolds predictably, with few surprises or genuine scares. From the moment the friends board the trawler, the story's trajectory is clear, and the film does little to deviate from this familiar path. Dean Cameron's portrayal of Curtis Hunt is perhaps the most compelling aspect of the film. He brings a menacing presence to the role, though his character ultimately becomes a stereotypical villain. Isabel Gravitt as Kaya delivers a solid performance, showing resourcefulness and determination. However, her character—and those of her friends—lacks depth, making it hard for viewers to fully invest in their plight. The Bad: Pacing and Character Development A significant issue with Dead Sea is its character development, or lack thereof. Kaya, the protagonist, is portrayed with some resilience but lacks a deeper backstory that would make her more relatable and engaging. Her friends, Xander and Julian, serve primarily as sidekicks without much individual significance. Similarly, the supporting character Rey (Alexander Wraith) offers brief moments of tension but does not significantly impact the overall narrative. The film’s pacing further hampers its effectiveness. After the initial setup, the middle section drags, featuring repetitive scenes and minimal plot progression. Attempts to build suspense often fall flat due to the predictable storyline, relying on clichéd horror tropes and uninspired dialogue. This lack of innovation makes the narrative feel stagnant and unengaging. Visuals and Sound: Missed Potential The visual and auditory elements of Dead Sea also leave much to be desired. While the cinematography is competent, it lacks creativity, failing to fully utilize the eerie potential of the open sea and the trawler's confines. The sound design is similarly uninspired, with a generic score that does little to enhance the film's atmosphere. Overall: A Missed Opportunity Dead Sea had the ingredients for a gripping crime horror film, but they are not effectively utilized. The film's predictable storyline, shallow character development, and lackluster atmosphere result in a forgettable viewing experience. While the performances, particularly by Gravitt and Cameron, are commendable, they are not enough to elevate the film beyond its script's limitations. In terms of thematic exploration, Dead Sea attempts to delve into survival and the human capacity for cruelty. However, these themes are not fully developed, leaving the film's message unclear. Any potential commentary on human nature or moral ambiguity is lost amid the predictable plot and underwhelming execution. Final Thoughts: Dead Sea is ultimately a missed opportunity. The elements for a compelling crime horror film are present but are not effectively utilized. The predictable storyline, shallow character development, and lackluster atmosphere result in a film that fails to make a lasting impression.

[wobblinpenguins]

A few notes about Ch. 6

The fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49875277

The chapter I’m referencing isn’t currently done, but I’ve just finished the first part and I want to give a quick rundown on how I feel about it and why I’ve made Corrin a bit more emotional. I’ll try to keep this more focused on the work rather than bashing Fates’ writing. 

But I do have to bash the game’s character writing first. A lot of the characterization is botched thanks to the absolute hell that was the game’s development, but I think it really had potential (which is one of the reasons why I’m even able to write this fic in the first place). Not to mention, it also had a different purpose: as a part of a whole (a script for a game) instead of an entire work on its own. Obviously, it could’ve been better, but for the most part, it allows the chapters to flow (kinda, if you don’t take time to think about the plot). 

The tone of this work is entirely different, evidenced by the tag “Psychological Drama,” which I do plan to stick to. Perhaps it might not be a psychological drama at the level of Crime and Punishment, but I do want to craft characters with more realistic depictions — even in fantasy. Since the visual realism is mostly left up to the imagination (with vivid descriptions), most of the realism from the characters comes from emotional & psychological depictions that check out. But, of course, that takes a lot of time to think through and double check, which is totally NOT a copout of why these are taking so long. 

Honestly, when playing through the original game my first time (when I was like 14 or something), it didn’t strike me as odd when Corrin only barely reacted to the beginning of the story, but when playing again later, it struck me as incredibly weird. Their birth mother dies in their arms (shocking enough to make them transform into a fucking dragon) and then, with no time to grieve, they march to a field in the middle of Hoshido and proceed to alienate themselves from one of their families — both, in Revelation. 

In a sense, I also made Corrin more emotionally fragile, based on her context. She grew up tethered solely to her family: her only childhood friend was almost executed because she went on a picnic with him outside the grounds and the only people she had left to interact with were her adoptive siblings and her servants (loyal to Nohr). The person she thought of as a father then tells her to kill people before sending her on a death mission when she refuses. Then, her entire world shatters as she is told that she’s actually a princess of Hoshido instead! So the only deep connections she’s had in her life have been entirely based on family, and it’s all ripped away from her.

If someone like that suddenly loses all familial relationships, I’d be surprised if they didn’t melt into a pile of emotionally destroyed goo. And, in the games, it’s supposed to happen much sooner than the timeframe I gave in the story! I suppose you could make the case that they were deluding themselves that the rejection from Xander and Ryoma could easily be fixed and using that as a coping mechanism to prevent from entirely breaking, or maybe they were just sigma-pilled stoics or something. But even that makes no sense: they obviously feel grief and remorse at other points in the plotlines (see any sibling death, Mikoto), and they are emotionally expressive too, so how were they unaffected by that shit?

It’s a case of “I’m looking too much into this,” probably.

This incarnation of Corrin is not so fortunate, I’m afraid. When she gets hit with this, especially since she’s just beginning to grow emotionally, it’s a rather hard and long lasting sucker punch. She will eventually crawl out of this hole (real crazy spoilers). Her influences growing up (Xander & the Nohrian siblings) show in how she tries to bottle her emotions up but the total weight is too much after she has those around her to connect to. I’m trying not to have Corrin cry too much (having her come across as OoC), but the first few chapters of the game would be rather brutal to a girl who is seeing the world for the first time. I promise she won’t sob at a hat’s drop when she recovers from this.

I also wanted to talk about Elise, because she’s in a similar state of emotional distress. From my experience with Fates, Elise also seems to derive a lot of her emotional wellbeing from her family, so she would probably be sensitive to conflict between the siblings. Being at the beginning of teenagehood (no way she’s older than fifteen at most) brings its fair share of emotional instability just from growing up, and then when she’s hit with Corrin disappearing, reappearing, and then Xander shutting down any chance of reconnection! Rough. Honestly, until I was writing it, I felt a depressive episode was a little extreme for Elise, but after, I think it fits and gives her a bit more depth. 

Also, it feels like I’ve struck gold with a lot of the dynamics that’re building in the story (even if I might be trying to refine that gold with a janky set up in my backyard). Elise and Lissa being best friends was a shoe-in, but I’m surprised other crossover stories haven’t really touched on how perfect a friendship they would have. Unfortunately, since I don’t want the story to be 8 million words long and as focused as someone’s 20/200 vision, I wasn’t able to show much of Lissa’s stay in Nohr and interactions with the Nohrian royals. If it strikes my inspiration, I might write a few side-stories detailing that time — same for Robin’s month-long stay in Hoshido. 

Speaking of word-length, I feel like this story will easily break a million words and I’d rather not bore you guys with a rewrite of a plot you’ve no doubt played or read or seen a dozen times over, so I’ll be leaning more into plot divergence from this point forward. Also, I may disappear for a while before coming back and posting some chapters, like I just did for this chapter…. lol…… 

Well, I’ve spent too long with this story idea stuck in my head, so I’m putting it in words and doing it till the end, so don’t worry if I go no-communication for a while. I will still be working on it. And I’ll definitely try to get it to more than one burst of updates a year too. This thousand word brain dump likely rambles too much to get a consistent point across, but if you read it, thank you for reading. Chapter 7 is fully planned (ch. 8 is ~85-90% planned), but I’ve barely started writing it, so it’ll probably be a little bit until then. Who knows, though — I could have another burst of creativity before I go back to college in the fall. 

…

Okay, I’ve finished the chapter now, and I only have a few more thoughts to add: chapter seven is like 1% written and chapter eight is fully planned, so I’ll start working on those soon. It was super satisfying to click post on chapter six, so that’ll fuel me for the next few days or few thousand words. Also, Fates is over eight years old (internationally) at this point, which is kind of messed up, so I feel like I’m just constantly aging and then decaying into dirt at this point. Oh well… 

Wish they would announce a new Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War remake before I die… hmm, looks like I’ll just keep this clown makeup on, then…

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter - Monday, April 10

BUFFY: I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you.

~~Prophey Girl~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Buffy story ideas (Gen, E) by richierich39

Making Home (Spike/Angel, T) by SomeKindOfADeviant

Don't Touch (Gen, G) by a2zmom

[Chaptered Fiction]

ever waiting airports (full of the love that you deserve) Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by womanaction

Bring Him Home Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Acb6293

The Time We Had Chapter 37 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Dusty

Origins Chapter 37 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Niamh

The Butcher Chapter 11 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

This Old Coffee Shop Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by TheSunnySlayer

Waiting On My Spaceship Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Chelle

Rise Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

You're the One Chapter 16 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by BloodyThorn

Back Through The Woods Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Desicat

Salvage Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Holly

Trying Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Pet35

Rewrite Chapter 32 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by hopelesswanderer

Mostly Harmless Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lady Emma

I've Got Soul (But I'm Not A Soldier) Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by almondcat

42 Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Dynamite

The Key Saves Spuffy Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Dynamite

Dusk Rising Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by HappyWhenItRains

Cinder-Buffy Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by holetoledo

Give Me Back My Girlhood, It Was Mine First Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Wonder and Ashes

And Then, Spike Was a Girl Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Harlow Turner

A Slayer's Fortune Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VoronaFiernan

Written in the Dust Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Indi_Shaw

The Rocky Road to Dublin Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by fortes775

Snippets Chapter 1-5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by MaggieLaFey

Absent Lovers Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only) by MaggieLaFey

Wonderful Unknown Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Willow25

What Buffy Wants Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by BewitchedXx

Back Through The Woods Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Desicat

[Image, Audio & Video]

PODCAST : Once More With Feeling S6 E7 by lisalilly

[Reviews]

Review of Juliet Landau mockumentary by Btvs fan

[Fandom Discussions]

Characters done dirty by vampmogs

Should Jesse had been in the 1st season more instead of killed off in the first two episodes? by Joshua

What is your favourite era of Buffy? by GoldenAgeGeek

The opposite of Buffy by Killjoy

Episodes you skip on rewatches? by School Hard

Ever had a Buffy related dream? by garuffy

Rank the seasons of both shows by burrunjor

Just finished my Buffy and Angel rewatch, and have to ask… by Seer77887

Thoughts on Angel immediately getting his soul the first time by Jadem11111

Warren is 100% an incel by Jadem11111

Let’s talk about Xan Xan (positively) by Suitable-Garlic5217

When it comes to being provocative, who do you think the writers overdid it with? by Opening_Knowledge868

This "easter egg" someone from in the btvs fb group found by BuffyBoltonVampFlayr

Why is Harmony the same as a vampire as she was human? by jdpm1991

Plot hole in season 3 by Eagles56

What do you think of "Lies My Parents My Parents Told Me"? by aeryn1227

The Curse Question (AGAIN) by MzHydra-Nix

If you were Buffy, would you have told everyone that Angel was back? by loveofGod12345

let’s hear them! by btvsfangirl96

Best visual effects? by tarbalien

Despite his circumstances, Xander sure does keep a lighthearted and positive attitude by Eagles56

How does ghost Spike sit down? by PatrickB64

How was Angel able to afford this? by Simple-Ceasar

Least favorite line from any Buffy episode… by YogurtclosetOk3886

What is the biggest misconception people have about your favorite character/s? by Captainoats88

Owen by Captainoats88

Xander is actually pretty awful by jimjam_66

The definition of endless love by sushibananawater

What is Robin thinking at this moment? Or Faith? by ThickPeanut136

Holtz is the best Buffyverse "villain" by TrueSonOfChaos

Season 1 and 2 appreciation by Squizzardo

Theory on Spike being able to hurt Buffy by tunaforthursday

2nd rewatch ever by devilterr2

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[kookygobbledygook]

I agree with a lot of what you both said but I just wanted to add that, to me, there is a major difference between "A flawed character makes a bad decision that's in character for them" and "a flawed character is framed as morally in the right when they do or say something shitty."

It's the fact that Xander says these judgemental things a lot (getting angry at Buffy for running away after killing Angel, telling Buffy it's her fault that Riley was leaving when Riley let his own toxic hang-ups ruin that relationship), but the show's writers use Xander as a voice box for their own opinions on Buffy's failings without reflecting on the wider circumstances, or whether Xander is the correct characterto use. The reason I brought up the Anya/Spike parallel was because the comparison was so obvious.

But to address some other points you both brought up.

Yeah, Anya does have mostly remose for her current killings, and that's not the same as having regret for the ones she committed pre Xander. But I think we can agree that my original point stands

The Buffy/Angel situation is a little trickier for me. I'm not a Angel/Buffy fan and I do think the power dynamics is gross and skewed, particularly with Angel watching her since she was 15 (why even include that?)

However, where it gets murkier for me is the conventions of the genre. Angel is a vampire, and therefore he's always going to have a massive age gap with anyone he dates, if they're mortal. Buffy is a highschooler and that is significant for the original theme of the show; the literalising of the phrase "highschool is hell". She is a vampire slayer so, for the writers, it makes sense in terms of tension that she'd fall in love with a vampire. This is a relationship that could never exist in real life because Vampires and Slayers don't exist and so for many it pushes it out beyond the dynamics found in the real world, so they can just enjoy the fantasy. Yeah, it would be illegal in real life but so much of their characters are outside the range of real experience it becomes a bit pointless in some respects to hold them to those same standards.

Then you have Angel turning evil, which was meant to be an exploration of how men can flip personality once women put out. The age gap plays a part in the metaphor they were invoking, and indicates that the writers know the dangers of that type of age gap and want to warn against it.

However again, while the writers were invoking this concept, I don't think they thought through all the possible interpretations of this concept. If you do the "men change after sex" metaphor, then you can't bring the guy back next season and try to rekindle that relationship. It muddies the metaphor and sends mixed signals to your audience.

Not only that, while the genre trappings do make the plot lines they follow understandable they did nothing to try and minimise the gross factor. David, dressed in blacks, looks bigger, older and more mature than tiny, petite Sarah, who at that point they were still dressing in cute girly outfits. They did that deliberately: Angel's meant to be imposing and mysterious, while Buffy is meant to look innocent and fragile to contrast with the fact she can kick ass. But you put those visuals together and it has a predatory creep factor. It's stuff like that that the show could have tried to avoid but didn't.

What doesn't have the genre conventions was Wesley and Cordelia, whose age gap is played for laughs. That b-plot knows the dynamic is wrong, Wesley as a character knows it's wrong but it's played as an awkward comedy? It's a unnecessary tone deaf choice, and you don't have the supernatural excuse of "everyone in my dating pool is dead or evil" that Angel has. It sets up Wesley and Cordelia as no-big when, yes actually, it is.

Also, as to my original point, Buffy/Angel has so many supernatural elements that it that the real world parallel can be a bit laboured, which is why more people can willingly suspend their disbelief and enjoy the ship even if they would be skeeved out by it in real life. But the Xander/Anya Spike/Buffy parallel have almost the exact same supernatural elements they are just begging to be compared and it makes the double standard even more glaring.

Moralising in fiction is not an inherently bad idea. One of my favourite writers on the planet is Terry Pratchett and one of the reasons I love him is that he was an angry man with an axe to grind. He saw a lot of the injustices in the world and worked through them in his fiction. Speculative fiction can be such an effective tool to explore real world morals and dilemmas. And I see Buffy as a series achieve that successfully on many occasions.

However, it makes the times that the show fails so much more obvious. If you're going to give your work a didactic slant you have to stay consistent and deliberate with your decisions. As I said above, I wouldn't have a problem with Xander being a hypocrit if the show a) framed his words as hypocrisy b) had someone call him out on his double standards c) he learned from his mistakes and grew. None of this happens over seven seasons and it becomes increasingly frustrating. It puts this character in arrested development, and it makes it harder for us to appreciate the moments where Xander is a good friend or supportive or insightful.

I do think the writers care about mortality. I think they created characters who care about morality. They've talked about morality from the early days of the series. It's a major theme in the show. I just think morality is unequally applied over the series and some characters are given far more grace than others. For instance Willow's deliberate murder is far more easily forgiven than Faith's accidental one. Audiences notice these discrepancies and it rankles them. That's why I made this post. This one instance rankled me!

Ultimately, I don't think it's possible for a writer to avoid every pitfall when creating a long term series like Buffy. They're not going to remember every plot point from every episode, they may have had concept they wanted to do but couldn't, etc. Things will inevitably get messy and I personally wish audiences had more grace for that. But I still feel we have the right to feel frustrated when they clearly have different moral standards for each character and expect us to see them through a particular lense when we have very obvious examples of instances where we are just meant to shrung and go, "oh well."

And that's my rant for the day. As I said before I ultimately agree with a lot of what you both said, but I had a slightly different slant to my view so I wanted to unravel my own thoughts on the matter

Here's a little shit-show in Seeing Red that seems to be missed because of... every other shit-show in that dog-awful episode.

Below Buffy and Xander having their first conversation after he finds out Spike and Buffy have been having sex:

BUFFY: It just happened, okay?

XANDER: (chuckles bitterly) Oh, like, uh, "Say, you're evil. Get on me"?

BUFFY: You fought side by side with him when I was gone. You let him take care of Dawn.

XANDER: But I never forgot what he really is. (Buffy looking hurt) God, what were you thinking?

BUFFY: (laughs) You're asking me that? Oh, 'cause your decision making skills have really sparkled lately.

XANDER: I'm not saying I didn't make any mistakes. But last time I checked, slaughtering half of Europe wasn't one of them.

Yeah the judgement is gross, the entitlement to dictate Buffy's love life is gross, and Xander ingoring that Buffy's trauma is fueling her less-than-great decision-making is gross. It's all just another example of Xander not aging great, as a character.

But you know what really pisses me off?

Xander was, until very recently, ENGAGED TO A FORMER VENGEANCE DEMON!

Anya had explicitly said, multiple times she's "maimed and mangled" unloyal men for over a thousand years. And she never really shows any sort of real remorse until season seven, which hadn't happened yet when this conversation happens.

I want to be clear, I love Anya more than Xander and I don't want anyone to think I am dumping on her. But c'mon Xander. You really are the pot calling the kettle a slut for the forces of evil.

Honestly, knowing what happens later in the episode, it just feels like an opportunity to foreshadowe and victim-blame at the same time.

[rask]

cle @ bos - jul 26, 2022

[thesimperiuscurse]

08.04

It’s The Kingston Legacy’s sixth anniversary, so here’s a throwback post to celebrate! Last month I forced myself to reread the entire legacy, and while I stopped, clicked off the tab, and emitted a soundless scream of pure cringe numerous times (I wish I was kidding)—the past generations are actually not as terrible as I remember. I think enough time has passed for me to detach myself from the childish storytelling and look back in nostalgia. 

Thank you to my fellow Wordpress writers who have come along the journey, some for many years now, through every high and low. It’s astounding how much has changed in the legacy from when I was 15, and 21. Follow me down the (very) long memory lane, as I reminiscence about each story and my perspective on them now ❤

Generation 1 — Fern (2015)

To my shock, I found myself genuinely enjoying Fern’s story. I think this was because the first generation was purely me commentating on gameplay, and not trying to write a story (that’s when the cringe began). I was inspired by one of the original stories, Alice and Kev, to make a homeless sim and document her struggle for a better life: Fern, a snobby aspiring writer. Reading this, a huge wave of nostalgia hit me, and it reminded me of how wonderful Sims 3 gameplay is. Although I’m long past it now, there’s real heart and life in the design. I think it speaks about the rich personalities and quirks that I could write a whole life story off it. It was super fun making Fern camp out at Old Pier Beach, stealing from townie picnics and roasting apples on the fire, finding little ways to scrounge money, giving her a makeover in the salon, watching the townie dramas unfold around her. Although she faced homelessness two times and a shitty first husband (yeah, fuck off, Xander), Fern grew into a strong and independent yet sweet and gentle character, in love with the ocean like her great-granddaughter comes to be.  

I never actually addressed this, but she (and her love Christopher) passed away in the story between the end of Gen 3 and start of Gen 4. It just felt weird to make it a big deal because they never died in game—still ‘alive’ and well, scattered across different backup saves and the bin.  

Generation 2 — Briar (2015)

Briar’s story was strange, because it was half gameplay and half story, which meant that there were things that just did not... make... sense. She was quite an ‘unreliable’ character to follow because of her Insane trait. The plot revolved around her as a fresh detective, investigating supernatural phenomena in Sunset Valley. Her character arc was almost the opposite to her mother’s: a naive, optimistic, silly girl hardening through trauma into a cold and ruthless police chief. Ash’s death was the one moment I felt true sadness in this legacy, because he did really die. Imagine me actually getting emotional over my characters, lmao. Wild. 

Also, Max is OP. To this day he is one of the best male characters in my legacy, a healthy and supportive best friend (to husband) in stark contrast to the following generation. 

Fallen Angels — Cherry (2016-2019)

Yes. It’s this generation. Square the fuck up, Cherry. I will fight her any day. Old readers will know of my pure hatred for this story. It’s been about two years since it thankfully ended. My verdict now?

It’s not quite as horrifically shitty, Gabriel and Lilith being a lot nicer than I remembered (Gabriel’s only a bit of a dick at the start), but it still has glaring problems, such as the pacing and clumsy handling of sensitive topics. The story would have been far nicer if it focused less on Cherry and Luc’s relationship and their respective issues, more on the found family and her relationship with Gabriel (which was rushed due to me despising the story by that point). During the first chapters, I was cringing spectacularly at the combination of Luc’s initial jackass behaviour and Cherry’s whining. Toxic as FUCK. I had to skip 3.8 and 3.9 entirely. These two (because of my own shameful mistake) tainted the generation in my eyes, and even though all of the characters grew from their toxicity, I can’t really see past that guilt to the better parts of the story. 

Jade has been telling me for years that this story isn’t all bad, and upon forcing myself to reread, I can see what you mean. I’m sorry LOL. Something that pleasantly surprised me was the writing quality (just the prose, not the actual story mechanics... lmfao), and Raphael, who made me smile every time he appeared. Every single careless, sarcastic line of his was a banger. The pictures are something else I like, too. Many of them stand up to the best ones in En Pointe—the fiery, gritty, industrial tones of Bridgeport just hits different. The world was rich and immersive, which is missing at the moment in En Pointe because of me being too lazy to build a proper Los Angeles world, but Act III is set in Boroughsburg so I’m excited to get back into the city scenes. 17 year old me wasn’t mature enough to tackle dark themes, but at least the visuals for them were nice, I guess. The atmosphere of the story I really enjoy. It’s just the toxic characters and way-too-angsty moments that ruin the whole thing for me. 

En Pointe — Evangeline (2019-)

And here we are now! The early chapters are kinda painful to read because 1) Mako looked so ugly and 2) the dialogue was so clumsy and generic. I sighed in relief when Chapter 5 came around, because it was then both of those aspects really began to improve. Eva’s voice was simple, with her punchy remarks, much less romantic and descriptive than Cherry, so it was interesting to see her voice becoming more complex and layered as I more understood her character. Also, me visibly struggling with the natural lighting and only getting a handle on it 7 chapters later has me shaking my head. 

I’m already beginning to identify issues with the story, mostly with character arcs and pacing. It’s a strange combination of fast pacing (spanning half a year in 8 chapters) and Eva becoming surprisingly comfortable with Mako’s touch due to their unusual pas de deux circumstances. It’s curious how real life time actually played into the pacing of the story—because of the slow publishing schedule, less time has passed in the story as real life, so it’s almost as if the time jumps were made up by real life time, making the jumps feel not too strange. Reading consecutively, however, Evako’s relationship growth doesn’t feel slow burn... a little underdeveloped, in a way, despite their lengthy conversations. I think that’s because of Mako being such a reserved and mysterious character, and that I’ve unconsciously come to rely on Tumblr to give more depth to the characters/relationships. Luckily, pretty much everyone who comments on the story also follows me here, so this dual-platform storytelling is okay, I suppose. I want to post more of #Mishako since there just isn’t enough time to explore their bromance in the story!

At the moment I’m not happy with the story, but it’s fine. I’m learning. There’s more than half the story to go, which means plenty of time to reflect upon the issues and improve. I’m really looking forward to Eva and Mako’s character arcs in Act III. At the moment their relationship is based on their natural chemistry and respect for each other, and since they are yet to face trials their bond isn’t super deep, but Evako are still my favourite couple in the legacy thus far, and feel much more real than any character I’ve written before. It’s been very interesting for my aro ass (and being way more logical than emotional) to figure out a dynamic that is actually compelling to me, because most of the time when I look at romance I’m just like 😐🤨 I’m liking it so far but we shall see how everything unfolds, because I have barely any idea what’s going to happen beyond Act II, lmfao. 

That’s it for my incredibly long throwback! I hope it was at least nice for the OG readers, and interesting for anyone else who managed to battle through this essay, haha. This family has been an integral part of me growing up, as a person and writer and artist (what I’ve developed in visuals I apply to architecture), learning a great deal of awareness about real life through story research, which is pretty cool now that I think about it. I’m aiming to finish En Pointe by the end of 2022. I’m excited for what unexpected changes are to come!

[khoicesbyk]

A/N: I'm officially obsessed with Wolf Bride and what does one do when she's obsessed with a certain book? She writes an AU about it! 😁 So, Talley Ho! *in my Sherlock Holmes voice*

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Roman (LI) and Naia Evans (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and certain original characters, created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 1,790 words. (May be a little more and may be a little less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Song And Story Inspiration: Funny How Time Flies (When You’re Having Fun)-Janet Jackson | All This Time (Vocal Version)-Lalah Hathaway | Can’t Let Go/Vision Of Love-Mariah Carey | If I Ever Fall In Love/Comforter-Shai

This series is rated Mature. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

This series may contain spoilers. If you wish not to see spoilers, please do not read any further.

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you. 😁😘

TW: character death. Death of a parent. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Tag List: @shewillreadyou @choiceslady @aussieez @secretaryunpaid @pixie88 @bebepac @hopefulmoonobject @sfb123 @lucy-268 @glaimtruelovealways @txemrn @texaskitten30 @choicesficwriterscreations

Chapter 2.) The Alpha.

Roman is Alpha of his Pack.

He was always taught to be strong, to lead, to guide, to hunt, to fight, to defend and especially to breed. It is his duty to carry on the next generation of Alphas like his father did and grandfather before him.

He is the oldest of his parents' children. His father Xander was his hero and he praised the ground his mother Delia walked on. Growing up in the pack wasn’t always easy for him. Growing up he would have dreams of a young girl. She was beautiful, especially when she smiled. Her eyes would light up when she smiled. Her laugh made his heart skip. He loved seeing her in his dreams.

He couldn’t wait to wake up and tell his mother about her.

“Did you see her again?” She asked him as they walked. His mother loved to walk amongst the trees.

“Yes! She was so pretty mother! I love to see her. Even if it’s in a dream.” He replies.

The joy in his voice made Delia smile.

“I’m happy to hear that my son.”

“I do hope that I get to see her again.”

Delia smiled at him then said, “I’m sure that you will see her again, my son.”

His father raised and trained him to be stronger, faster and better than his siblings or any of the other wolf pups. He was being groomed to be the next Alpha. He loved to hunt. Silently listening for his prey before making his move gave him an adrenaline rush. Conquering his prey gave him pride. He loved providing for the Pack.

He became the Alpha at 19 when his father died. Although it is a burden and some of the elders felt he was too young and not ready for it. Roman was more than ready, willing, capable and able to lead the Pack. Even though he missed his father, Roman is a great Alpha. The Pack respects him and follows his authority. He is stern but fair with those he protects. And when he defends the earth as well as his pack, his ferocity is on full display. And even when he is occasionally challenged by others from within the Pack, he always proves why he is Alpha.

He was the leader his mother knew he would be. She loved watching him flourish in his role as Alpha. Seeing his confidence grow brought her joy. Delia loved each of her children and was proud of all of them, but Roman being her oldest and firstborn child had her heart.

Which is why he took her death so hard. He loved his mother and always made sure that her needs were tended to. Even after her cancer diagnosis, if she wanted it then he made sure that she had it. Even if it meant just sitting with her holding her hand or worse singing to and with her, he was happy to do so.

Her final moments were spent in his arms. He knew she didn’t have much time left. He held her in his arms but he wasn’t ready to let her go.

“Roman, it’s time for you to choose a mate.” She said in a voice just above a whisper.

“No. Not now. My focus is on you mother.” He replied cradling her closer to him.

“You must my son. You are Alpha now. It is up to you now to have and raise pups.”

“Mother please…”

She smiled softly at him then said, “My sweet boy, you must. It is our way of life. You must carry on the next generation.”

“I can’t mother. Not right now. My role as Alpha doesn’t allow me time to search.”

“My son, you don’t have to search. You’ve already found her my son.”

“Who?” He asked.

“The young girl you used to dream about. She will be your mate.” Selia replied.

“Mother she isn’t real.”

“Yes she is my son. I’ve seen it. You two are meant to be together. Find her in your mind and your heart and you will see the bond you both share. Find her Roman. She is your mate.”

“Y-yes mother.” He said as his voice cracked.

“I love you my son.” She whispered.

“I love you too mother.”

Delia closed her eyes and took her final breath. Within seconds she was gone. And although he grieved her, Roman understood what his mother was telling him. He needed to find a mate. He tried finding a mate within the Pack and while many of the women had interest in him, he really had none in them. But he forced himself to choose anyway. He settled on his now ex Isobel. They tried to make their relationship work but for him, his heart just wasn’t in it.

His heart was calling on someone else. So he went to the Pack Elder Noemi for guidance.

“What can I do for you, my child?” She asked. Her voice soothing. She was like a grandmother to him.

“I’m having trouble finding a mate, Speaker.” He replied.

“Then let us find you a mate, my child. Come! Let’s go to the grounds.” She replies as she rises to her feet.

He walked behind her as they walked to a plateau known as the grounds. Old stones covered in moss that were placed in a circle. Noemi sat down on the edge while Roman entered the middle.

“Tell me what you want me to do Speaker.” He said to her.

“Close your eyes and open your mind and heart.” She instructed him.

Once his eyes were closed, he opened his mind and heart.

“Heart of the earth, hear me. Open yourself to my child. Guide him on his path to his mate.” She chanted.

Deep in his subconscious, Roman searched. Concentrating on what he remembered about her. He unlocked his mind to the earth. And that’s when he saw her. The girl from his childhood dreams. Only she was no longer a girl. She had grown up to be a beautiful woman. Her long black hair framed her face perfectly. Her brown eyes sparkled. And her beautiful brown skin was hypnotic to him.

He’d found her after all these years. As he looked at her, he noticed that she was singing. He’d heard her voice for the first time in decades. It’s just as beautiful as she is. She was on stage at a karaoke bar with her friends singing “Vision Of Love” by Mariah Carey.

“Treated me kind.

Sweet destiny.

Carried me through desperation.

To the one that was waiting for me.

It took so long.

Still I believed.

Somehow the one that I needed.

Would find me eventually.

I had a vision of love.

And it was all that you've given to me.

Prayed through the nights.

Felt so alone.

Suffered through alienation.

Carried the weight on my own.

Had to be strong.

So I believed.

And now I know I've succeeded.

In finding the place I conceived.

I had a vision of love.

And it was all that you've given to me.

I had a vision of love.

And it was all that you've given me.

I've realized a dream.

And I visualized.

The love that came to be.

Feel so alive.

I'm so thankful that I've received.

The answer that heaven has sent down to me.

You treated me kind (yeah).

Sweet destiny (yes, you did).

And I'll be eternally grateful (oh).

Holding you so close to me (prayed through the night).

Prayed through the nights (so faithfully).

So faithfully (faithfully).

Knowing the one that I needed.

Would find me eventually (he would find me).

I had a vision of love.

And it was all that you've given to me.

I had a vision of love.

And it was all that you turned out to be…”

As she sang, he felt close to her. He could feel her emotions as she sang. She was heartbroken. And it made him furious. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, to tell her that it will be okay and to tell her that he would protect her. As she sang she could feel a presence around her but couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Like someone had their arms around her and was holding her close. It was their hearts, minds and souls becoming connected and awakening their bond.

When Roman finally opened his eyes, Noemi was smiling at him.

“Have you found her my child?” She asked

“Yes I have. She’s beautiful.” He replies.

“What is her name, my child?” She asked.

“Naia.” He replies.

Noemi smiled warmly at him.

“She will be your mate, my child.”

“Of this I have no doubt, Speaker.”

A week later, Naia looked up Hunt’s Peak and soon found herself enthralled by it. She loved the pictures she’d seen online. She felt connected to it for some inexplicable reason. Soon, she was dreaming of Hunt’s Peak and started hearing a man’s voice. The voice belonged to Roman. And when he was able to dream about her, that’s when he would call out to her. He wanted to have her at his side. His heart longed for her. His body yearned for her. He could feel her even though he had never formally met her before.

Early one morning he was awakened by the pull of his heart. She was close, he could feel it in his bones. She was closer to him than she had ever been before. She was coming. He left the den in search of her. When he went into the woods, he shifted from human to wolf. Being a wolf gave him a better sense of smell and direction. He quickly picked up a scent and followed it.

His being called him to follow his bond with her. The closer he got to her, the stronger the bond became. Soon he arrived at the Days Inn outside of town. He shifted back to his human form and stood at the edge of the woods across from the parking lot. He was drawn to her. Especially when he heard her sing. It was through the bond that they shared that he heard her. He closed his eyes and listened.

“There you are holding her hand.

I am lost.

Dying to understand.

Didn't I cherish you right?

Don't you know you were my life?

Even though I try I can't let go.

Something in your eyes.

Captured my soul.

And every night I see you in my dreams.

You're all I know.

I can't let go.”

Listening to her sing confirmed to him that he’d finally found her. And that very soon, he and Naia would be together.