#a big problem - which is frankly a lovely problem to have - is that i'm so *excited* to work on all these stories truly

[roi-des-aulnes]

OK, a little disorganised rant below but I had to get it out of my system :

I hated season 4. We had to suffer a whole year of messy plot lines, the characters pulled in too many directions and still doing fuck all because they keep having the same sentimental (and sometimes, frankly corny) conversation over and over again. And the side characters were disappointing. I saw the positive reactions to the Butcher, Noel and Oscar, and I understand. It was refreshing to have other human beings that were going to be more fleshed out than #Dead Body n°3 or # Mad Old Woman n°273849. But that didn't really happen in the end. The butcher felt like a caricature of a villain in a CW tv show, and don't get me started on his "redemption". The finale episodes were just. Bad. I was audibly sighing with annoyance during the big fight between John and Yellow which was way too cliché. The big Larson machine thing went nowhere, and I feel like the Kayne scene was just a lazy solution for getting rid of all the loose ends all at once because HG felt stuck at that point and didn't know how to end the arc.

Anyway. All of this just to say, I felt like season 5 was a good opportunity to shake things up by changing the setting, giving Jarthur completely new challenges, maybe it would let them explore that new aspect of their relationship they talked about in the first episode, idk. Instead we got a John recap episode, whatever the fuck Malam was, the useless Horig disease, the Agatha Christie medieval plot ... when Everard introduced Alia, Antoine and Vale, i remember thinking "why are we losing time on this, they'll most likely be dead and discarded soon".

What's worse is that it's getting more and more difficult to remember that John is more than a disembodied voice narrating whatever is happening. Occasionally he says "yes Arthur !" or "careful Arthur" but that's about it. OK then. I thought he wanted to stop feeling like a voice trapped in another man's body. Didn't they discuss it at length before ?

Oh and I don't care about Lillith. I've tried, but maybe it would have been easier to make her more interesting if her and Scratch were different characters? Idk. They beat Scratch once they can do it again + Arthur Just Doesn't Die so why should we care ? As far as I can see she's not a threat, just a nuisance.

And I'm not even gonna talk about the Faroe thing but that's yet another one of my main problems with this podcast lately. Basically, throughout the show I went from "aww no poor him he has a dead daughter :(" to "oh of course he's still grieving" and eventually to "OK can he maybe let her die for real actually ? Instead of waving her dead body around every time Arthur is inconvenienced so he can cry about it?"

What's maddening to me is that there is still potential. The sound design is great, I loved the eerie music in the forest episode. And I can see that HG has ideas, or pieces of ideas at least. There are characters that you want to get invested into. But I feel that the main character is getting less and less compatible with them, and so most of those ideas end up botched and lesser versions of what could have been.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

Your previous post regarding burnout really resonates with me as I'm currently struggling through a mountain's worth of uni assignments.

I hopeyou're being compassionate to yourself where you can. I know you rely on your writing for income but ould cutting down to working on only 2 or 3 fics instead be a viable solution?

Because longterm I don't think that even your insanely impressive skills can hold up to that kind of pressure.

Maybe if you cut back a little you'll be able to enjoy your hobbies again and rest a little more.

I know that I'm not the only reader that wants you to take care of yourself x

Hi anon,

Firstly, good luck with all those assignments! I do not miss the grind of uni when all the assignments suddenly seem due at the same time and it's like 'oh fuck' and it just...is truly exhausting. Remember to take a break after if you can!

I am trying to be compassionate where I can. Working on expanding my capacity / juice left in the tank is actually a big priority with both therapists this year, and it's something I'm actively chipping away at.

Unfortunately cutting down fics is not really something I can do because it would personally stress me out more to put a lot of things on hiatus like that. Underline the Red is already on hiatus, and The Nascent Diplomat on my end is finished, and I'll take a few months off after that before starting the next installment.

Ideally I will be finishing out some fics that will clear my calendar a bit more over time. For example, A Stain that Won't Dissolve won't last forever, and isn't going to be replaced by anything new (Palmarosa will likely slot into that space and I'll be able to work on it more). Underline the Black will be replaced by Underline the Red, and Blue and Gold will be replaced by Underline the Silver.

Eventually, ideally, I'll be working on a smaller and smaller load until I'm at about 2-4 projects (which is how I used to work). Also quite a few of my projects only update once a month or every few months, and that helps a lot. It's just that I have too many fics where I'm on a more regular schedule (Stain, Palm, Black) and normally I only have one or two fics that are on a more regular schedule, so yeah, I am looking forward to that slowing down!

But putting something on hiatus just makes me feel more burdened and overwhelmed than knowing I'm getting closer and closer to wrapping something up. It's just how my brain works! I am a finisher, and while that's really good for not abandoning projects (which is extremely rare for me and tends to only be very short projects or PWPs which I will turn away from), it's less good when I have too many projects lmao. I've gotten better at holding back (there's three fics I'm dying to write right now, which is an Efnisien/Kadek fic that I've already started but not posted anything of, Silver, and Red).

So yeah, I will be cutting back. I've already started. The Nascent Diplomat is no longer on my schedule, which means for the next 3 months while it's still posting, I don't have to write anything for it. That's lovely because I can still share in that world with no extra labour (it's edited and everything). Likewise, Stain and Black are both in their last act/s now. That's still a lot of chapters for both, but it feels good for me to know that both will likely be finished out this year.

But we are getting there! So yeah the view is to cut down on projects, but organically (by finishing out stories and not replacing every single one with new titles, only some of them) rather than forcefully via hiatuses. I mean obviously if I get too sick I will have to go on hiatus and I've done that before, but so far it's looking like I've written enough chapters ahead (most of May is written) that I can take about 2 weeks off from writing in April, and that will help a great deal as well. :)

Anyway, take care with your assignments too! I do not miss that part of uni at all

[alllgator-blood]

I find the idea that your Narinder spent time in the void giving himself a complex, because I can imagine his siblings expecting Narinder to be his self deprecating salty self who is going to cause so much problems due to his anger and resentment towards them, but instead they got a tweaked out egomaniacal pretzel.

On a different note, I love your comics, it feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the other fandom works, it mixes the right blend of silly/cartoonish shitposts with some heartwrenching angst. Genuinely loved the 'IT'S JUST A BURNING MEMORY' and 'THE UNPAYABLE DEBT THAT I OWE YOU' comics. Also you are based for giving buff Shamura rights.

Somehow I've never thought in-depth about what it'd be like for the siblings (besides shamura) to see narinder deviously pretzelmaxxing in purgatory after he was just the quiet emo kid their whole lives...I have two comic ideas I never started that could possibly explore that now that you've brought it to my attention >:)

Either way thank you, I appreciate that!! I hope to keep up the balance of making silly content and then randomly suckerpunching you all with depression comics, truly it is my passion in life atm. I figure it's because I'm not looking hard enough, but it feels like bishop family content can be hard to come by. So I just make what I wish I could see more of, and I'm glad you can enjoy it too! I have a two-panel angst comic that'll be up soon, but I ALSO have the bishops-as-followers comic in progress which will hopefully be finished tomorrow!

In the meantime, I humbly offer buffmura and shriveled raisinmura cause it's been TEN DAYS since they showed up on this blog and frankly that's heresy:

(editing to add, the angst comics I did are right after their injury so they hadn't atrophied much by that point. But during the events of the game, 1000 years after the schism, THAT'S when they lost most of their strength)

I also have this cause whenever I draw their Big Fluff visible beneath their robe it just looks like chest hair and it cracks me up:

[nobodyfamousposts]

Scarlet Lady Essay: Frightningale

Yet another essay for @zoe-oneesama. Because you deserve it.

I’m not going to bother with a compare/contrast of canon vs Scarlet Lady Frightningale because Frightningale in canon was a pretty forgettable episode. Akuma was lame. Setup was wasted. And it’s removal from the series would lose nothing of value.

So instead, I'm going to focus primarily on the Scarlet Lady version of Frightningale and what it does that makes it memorable.

I guess to start with, I should make it clear that I’m not a fan of shows being lazy, especially when they display a lack of planning or consideration of their story and characters. And perhaps one of the greater indicators of this issue is when a series suddenly realizes they they neglected multiple plot points until it’s too late to give them all the focus they warrant so they end up shoving all of those points into one episode and try to present it like it’s supposed to be an adequate resolution of all that buildup or in any way intentional.

Penalteam was that episode for Miraculous. They had the “temporary heroes” setup going for them but then wasted so much time on filler like Frightningale that it seems like they honestly forgot about it until they were reaching a designated end point and they realized they still had four more heroes they were supposed to introduce. Whoops? Ah well, just introduce them all at once. Not like anyone will care!

And when you treat most of the cast like they’re all as shallow as a puddle, I guess that’s true.

The thing is, when you have a setup where there is a running theme of every person in a specific group getting their own episode/chapter to detail their issues and how they get a power up, it’s going to stand out whenever one of them doesn’t. Especially when that one or more are forced to share their limelight episode. 

That’s not to say you can’t do it, but it’s bound to get attention if you do. It reflects poorly on the writing. It shows whom the “favored” and “unfavored” characters are. And it displays the issue with pacing—namely that it’s next to nonexistent until it hits you with the force of a freight train.

But can it be done and be done well? Is it possible to pull off such a thing and have it make sense and fit in lines with the characters?

Well, yes. Off the top of my head, I can think of two different ways to do it to make it work.

And Zoe did both of them.

If you look at Scarlet Lady as a whole, you’ll see a conglomeration of characters—each with stories and arcs attached. They have personalities. They have goals and problems and their own highs and lows. One sign of good writing is that some focus is given to highlight these other characters as people. Individuals in their own right with lives outside of the main characters or situation.

Miraculous doesn't really do this.

Scarlet Lady, however, does. Because contrary to the title, Scarlet Lady isn’t just about Chloe.

It isn’t even just about the heroes.

It isn’t just about Chloe being horrible. Or Marinette being in love. Or Adrien being in desperate need of a hug and a nap. Because while the story is centered around them, it isn’t solely about them. Other characters get focus and growth and their own arcs throughout the comics.

But the big two—the BIGGEST two with arguably the most depth and most growth and quite frankly the best storylines out of everyone in the entire series?

It’s Sabrina and Lila. And their individual stories have led up to this.

As such, this episode—which was mostly filler and all around forgettable in canon, matters here.

It’s where Sabrina and Lila reach the culmination of their respective character arcs. 

Yes, it’s when they both get to become Miraculous Heroes and meet their own kwamis, but it’s more than just that! They both hang out with the girls group as full members of the crew, getting to take part in a music video together. It’s also where they both get to stand up for themselves and the city at large while calling out Chloe and Scarlet Lady. This is what their storylines have been building up to and where their growth really shows.

Sabrina started out as Chloe’s minion same as canon—albeit with more attention to her feelings and her responses, no matter how seemingly small, allowing her to feel more like her own person. And through this focus, we got to see her open up more, pull and eventually break away from Chloe and her influence, and over time stand up for herself and try to establish herself both with the class and as an individual.

Lila started off as a liar and manipulator, selfish and self centered, much like canon. Unlike canon, her lies are tied to her issues, noted to be poorly thought through, and give her more introspection as a person. After the lies are revealed, she’s not “redeemed” so much as she is “accountable”, and it doesn’t change who she is. She remains selfish and certainly far from being considered “good”, but she’s letting people in past her walls and masks in a way she hadn’t been able to before.

Both of these things? Figuring out who you are and letting people know you for who you are? They’re incredibly hard. And a lot of time was devoted to both of their journeys along the course of the comic.

Sabrina’s arc was about her figuring out who she is on her own. Outside of Chloe and her previous role of being a follower and lackey. And sometimes it feels less scary to stay with someone toxic than to be alone and facing the unknown. We see it in the way she tries to put herself out there afterwards, reaching out and risking rejection and just figuring herself out. Even or perhaps especially with those she already knows and has a less than positive history with.

And we still see the struggle of her view of herself in this episode. It was in the way she was upset that she legitimately tried to help and it still resulted in bad things happening. And it was also clear when she calls herself a “sidekick” to Marigold after the day was saved, as if it’s a role she still sees herself as and one she struggles not to fall in to. Over time, we’re seeing Sabrina learning that she doesn’t have to be attached or subservient to someone else to have an identity or be accepted. 

Lila’s arc involved her figuring out who she is with people. Outside of the lies and manipulations she creates, the masks she wears, and the identities she crafts to make people like her. The “real Lila” is far from the best person and arguably not even a good person, but she also doesn’t have to be for the others to accept her as the still somewhat bad influence she is. She’s still very much selfish and flawed, but she’s less inclined to hide it or treat it like something that needs to be hidden. And isn’t that a common lesson? That it’s better to be liked for who you are than to force yourself to be someone else to be liked?

And at the same time, even with being less than a fully good person, she’s showing that she can still find better ways of acting that allow her to help others rather than hurt them or serve herself. She still hates Scar, but rather than working with Hawk Moth to kill her and risk dooming Paris and the world, she’s instead working with Alya through more legitimate (and legal) means…and hitting Scar where it hurts most. She and Adrien may not be friends, but rather than try to punish him for not going along with her, she’s instead rescued him, putting herself on the line—something that the former Lila wouldn’t have considered doing and one that canon Lila wouldn’t be capable of. Even if she’s motivated by pettiness or self-interest, what would have been straight up revenge on someone who upset her has grown to be something that is working in everyone’s better interests.

Both Lila and Sabrina hid themselves in different ways and for different reasons. So having them both assert themselves and call out both Chloe and Scarlet Lady is a show of their growth and overall a huge deal. It’s not something either of them would have done at the start of the series. Sabrina, because she was a “yes man” who wouldn’t dare to argue with Chloe and Lila because she wouldn’t risk openly doing something to make herself a target. 

And now boom! Look at them both! Lila stepped up to openly and publicly denounce Scarlet Lady as not being a hero for real reasons that aren’t just about herself or her feelings—complete with receipts! The girl did her research, noting incidents from before she even came into the picture. Then follow up with Sabrina standing up against Chloe’s machinations and dismantling Chloe’s main source of power: her father. Even better, she’s using logic and knowledge she would have as a former ally of Chloe’s who would know her tricks, taking her former friendship with Chloe and using it against her.

And on top of that, each of them are given the Miraculous by the person they wronged in the past. Marinette to Sabrina and Adrien to Lila. Especially in Lila’s case, it says a lot that they’re trusted. That shows narratively that even with their mistakes and bad choices and continued struggles, they still can move forward—not necessarily to find redemption, but to find themselves and be their best selves.

This is why it makes sense for them to share this episode. It’s also why both of them speaking up matters. They are both publicly confronting their greatest foe, and the fact that their foes are really two faces of the same person further highlights this. 

So they both have issues with the same person, are dealing with forming their identities without catering to others, are working out how to have/be friends, were formerly not the best of people, and have a fear of rejection. As such, this isn’t just their obligatory hero episode, this is what their individual stories have been leading up to. Almost like they’re two sides of the same coin. And the comparison between the two helps them both shine.

And speaking of shining, does anyone remember how the all girls team up didn’t get a chance to shine in canon? Zoe sure did.

I have a whole list of problems I have regarding Party Crasher, but perhaps number seven on that list is that the boys got to have an all male temp hero team up episode while the girls didn’t.

In fact, by this episode in canon, only Alya, Chloe, and Kagami actually got to be temp heroes.

To be fair, only four of the guys out of seven in canon got to be part of their particular event in Party Crasher, leaving out Ivan (who often tends to get overlooked) and Nathaniel (who has had a precedent of just literally disappearing from the episode). But originally, part of the appeal of Party Crasher was that the focus was supposed to be on the male classmates and getting to see at least some of them being part of a team against the akuma.

Why then didn’t we get an episode like this with the girls? Or at least something LIKE this?

Frightningale became that episode. And if any of the episodes were to do it, it makes the most sense for Frightningale to be the one.

All of the girls were together to take part in this event. So Zag would have had the perfect excuse to include them all in the fight or just have the girls do something to help even as civilians. I mean, we’ve had episodes do this before. Max in Robustus. Nathaniel and Alix in Reverser. Luka in Captain Hardrock. Let the civilians show their heroic traits even before they become heroes. It’s not a Miraculous, but it’s still giving them focus and expanding on them as individuals.

Instead, canon Frightningale was a filler episode. And not even a good one. For an akuma who forces people to sing or dance, it’s a waste that they just had the heroes spend the whole time rhyming. A waste of writing and talent. I mean, have you heard Christina Vee sing? If there needed to be a musical episode, I would think that the akuma who forces people to sing would certainly warrant it! At least more than it’s Christmas and they sing just cuz.

So this is yet another thing that Zoe improves with the Scarlet Lady version of this episode. Giving us the all girl team up episode so many of us have long wanted and getting to see all the female heroes together at last. 

And with this, we get the full roster of friends-turned heroes.

Except for Alix. Poor, poor Alix.  ;_;

Your day will come.

In this way, the end where Clara goes a different direction with her music video feels less like a half-assed fix to a half-forgotten plot point and more like something that was built by everyone involved. I don’t know about the rest of you, but given Clara’s excitement over the all girl band playing and Pigella’s gift showing Clara an idea for her video, it highlights the focus on EVERYONE being part of this—both the video and the episode itself. It kind of comes off as a lesson of its own about teamwork and giving everyone a shot rather than focusing specifically only on one or two specific individuals.

And isn’t that what separates the heroes from Scarlet Lady?

But there’s a third important aspect of this episode.

This is the episode where Chloe is smacked in the face with Scarlet Lady’s falling popularity. 

Let’s remember that at the start of the comic, Scarlet Lady was fully and widely considered THE Hero of Paris. She was beloved for doing nothing and it was a point of frustration for Chat, who actually was having to pick up her slack. Initially, there was nothing he could do because him being the only real hero among the duo meant he often couldn't stick around after akuma fights to prevent Scar from telling "our story". In addition, he didn’t know who she was or who chose her and why. Then even when it was clear her getting the Earrings was a mistake, for a lot of the first couple seasons, she was so popular that they couldn’t just take the Earrings away from her lest they risk backlash from the rest of the city. It’s a backlash that seems increasingly unlikely as more and more people get to see her behavior and callousness firsthand.

We’ve seen hints of it in other episodes, but none of them were so blatant to Chloe that she couldn’t ignore it or shrug it off or otherwise make excuses to protect her ego.

Prime Queen wanted to focus on Marigold and Chat Noir for their “romance” to try and boost ratings. Alya and Lila made some snarky comments, but Chloe could easily dismiss them both. Nadja also made a comment that nobody cared about Scarlet’s love life, but a lack of interest in her love life isn’t a lack of interest in herself and Chloe despises both of her “sidekicks” and wouldn’t want anyone trying to pair her with them anyway. And Nadja reassures her that they’ll focus on her after they’re done with Chat and Marigold. So yes, she can dismiss that as well.

Reverser has Chloe faced with both of her identities are made as villains in art and a story. However, she clearly looks down on Nathaniel and Marc barely registers to her. So she can dismiss them.

Look at Despair Bear, the Intermission, the interactions with the various other heroes, and the fact that only Chat Noir and Marigold are privy to the Guardian’s secret existence and allowed to pass out other Miraculous. Much has been shown of the other characters being less than impressed with her, snarky towards her, or showing the process of how they discover the truth about her and how she actually handles akuma attacks…namely in that she doesn’t. And Chloe can dismiss all of that because to her, none of them really matter to her.

But Chloe can’t dismiss the fact that a renown celebrity dedicating a music video to the “Heroes of Paris” isn’t including her. Bad enough her sidekicks are taking center stage but she’s not even in the music video at all?

And when someone she despises calls out the reasons why she’s not a hero in an openly public setting surrounded by a multitude of people who all agree with her? You could say it’s insult to injury. But some would say it was a long time coming.

Some Rando: Scarlet Lady sucks! Alya: Marigold and Chat Noir do all the work, not her! Kagami: She’s barely even necessary at this point. Clara: This video and song are to celebrate hope and love. And Scarlet Lady lacks both when push comes to shove. Chloe: ARGHHH! WHATEVER!

It further shows the turning tide of public opinion against Scar. What was once a trickle has grown into a wave, and now Chloe is forced to acknowledge her image and status aren’t as ironclad as she thought. Sure, she could denounce Lila as a liar like she’s done before, but Lila is bringing up instances that Chloe can’t deny: being late (as she’s just plain been a no show to several fights), endangering civilians, and being caught live on camera being willing to let someone die in a particularly horrible way because it’s easier.

This is the episode where it’s not just people seeing Scar is horrible, but acting on it and letting Chloe know they know she’s horrible. It’s reached the point where Chloe can’t just disregard the claims or discount and ignore her critics. And we’re seeing Chloe starting to lose control as a result. To the point she has to force her dad to ruin a previously sanctioned event in what has to be one of his most flagrant displays of abuse of power to date just to shut down her detractors.

And even that would come with more consequences for Chloe if it had been allowed to continue. Sabrina herself points it out that Clara is very popular with a lot of fans—people who would be aware she’s making a music video and whom would be very disappointed if word got out that it was cancelled due to an issue with the Mayor. And given all the very unhappy people we see in the comic in question where she points that out, it stands to reason that the word would get out. Heck, I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t recording it.

Then there’s the love square/hero shenanigans.

Remember how in canon, the whole “playing themselves/risking identities” bit kinda just dropped out halfway in? The kwamis were the only authority figures involved to call out on the risk and of the two, Plagg didn’t care and Tikki gave one knowing stare at Marinette before turning around to gush about the suit. Even though Marinette offers the alternative idea to the music video by the end, there’s no further comment or notice of how she and Adrien nearly blew their identities….or alternatively a comedic take where nobody recognizes them regardless and they worried for nothing. Honestly, I would have taken either setup.

Having Fu present to call them both out shows there is a responsible authority figure watching, makes it clear there are rules they are expected to follow, and reinforces that this was, in fact, a horrible idea. Sure, Marinette and Adrien worried enough to hide their masks, but it should have been obvious that wouldn’t work long term. They are risking their identities, not just to Paris but to each other. And he calls them out for doing it on purpose.

Then there’s the beautiful crescendo of the love square dance in that the two both pretty much have figured out the other’s identity and just want an identity reveal to make it official—which Fu won’t allow. We see it in their playful banter that gets mistaken for “getting into character” and in Adrien in particular pushing Marinette to take part.

This is a point where we are seeing them be teenagers. Foolish of them? Yes. Should they have known better and not done it? Yes. But is it in character and the sort of teenage shenanigans we would expect of teenage superheroes? Definitely. And that’s part of the point. Because they are teenagers. Teenagers in love, no less. Teenagers in love with secret identities to dance around. Which is half the fun of secret identities!

It’s just another aspect to this episode that makes it enjoyable.

So overall, the episode matters in ways that the canon version didn’t and was fun in ways that the canon version wasn’t, making it stand out not just as an episode or a remake of the canon episode, but as its own standalone episode AND a noteworthy point in the overall story.

[theabigailthorn]

Do you think you’ll ever write a book, either philosophy related or maybe memoirs? I really love your content and your ideas and would love to know more about how you organize your worldview.

FUNNILY ENOUGH

I've been seriously considering writing a book about the way the NHS treats trans people, and more broadly about institutional pathologisation in the current global moment we're having. I've had meetings with some big publishers, even drafted an introduction and proposal, and gotten offers back!

BUT

I don't think I'm going to do it, for a few reasons. In no particular order:

Writing a book about that subject might raise the consciousness of a few folks, but does it help build material power for trans people against my country's healthcare system, and the other systems that subjectify trans people globally? Not really, no. In fact it would legitimise the elite media consensus that engaging with elite media is the path to achieving change. Books aren't just books, they're "media events," and accordingly they increase the power and prestige of the media they happen in. If I wrote this book, newspapers would review it, chart it, I'd be invited onto Radio 4 and shit to "debate" and "discuss" it... Does doing that actually help get medicine into trans people's hands? Not really! Writing books and "getting ideas out there" is pretty busted as a theory of change unless it builds power. The fantasy of writing a really good speech or article or book and suddenly the scales fall from cis people's eyes is just that - a fantasy. No minority group has ever gotten change or justice that way. All that would happen is I'd "enhance my brand" - which means that I, with my private education and privilege and opportunities, would make money and get clout whilst contributing to the elite capture of trans rights as a political struggle. I'd become "a leader in the community" and get invited to some dinners and media events and blah blah blah - meanwhile the violence continues. That media event would also enhance the brands of those cis-dominated media outlets and the "having conversations" industrial complex, who are part of the fucking problem! The struggle should be led by the poorest and most vulnerable among us and link up with other material struggles like resisting immigration raids, prison abolition, decriminalisation of drugs and sex work, etc. So I could likely do more good for my community by donating my time and money to good causes and also by some uhhhh... other stuff - let's call it 'direct assistance' - which I already do and find fulfilling.

The offers aren't that big! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Writing that book might do harm if it's co-opted into ongoing right wing attempts to dismantle the NHS and all trans care. It'd be intellectually satisfying but not creatively satisfying or fun. I'd have to immerse myself in a very bleak world for a long time: I would enjoy having done it but not the doing.

It'd ruin my career. Right now I actually fly pretty under the radar of a lot of my country's nastiest transphobes. That would end if I wrote a book about the NHS. Newspapers, editors, publishers, journalists, and probably some MPs and Lords would become very invested in tearing me down. I've seen it happen to queer writers and journalists before. Remember, Britain is a small country and our media is run out of one city by a very small group of people who all know each other and who also know all our politicians, in some cases because they're literally the same people! That book would be like kicking a hornets' nest. Maybe they'd come after me publicly, or maybe it would be more British: somebody would make a quiet phone call and I'd suddenly be radioactive. Bye-bye acting career, bye-bye any public career.

For related reasons, writing that book and doing the necessary media campaign would expose me to a WORLD of harassment and shit from some of the worst people in the universe, which I frankly don't want. That might include lawsuits.

My dream job is to play [REDACTED] in [REDACTED]. Writing a book wouldn't take me closer to that. It would cement my brand as 'trans educational writer' instead of 'actress and writer,' which is what I am.

So yeah, all in all, I don't think I'm going to do it. Not right now anyway. I reserve the right to change my mind. Think I'll write a screenplay instead!

[tiredandoptimistic]

Crucial thing about Buffy Summers is that she would rather die than have a conversation. She doesn't want to get other people involved in her business if she can help it, and throughout the series we see her become increasingly self-reliant as she learns to trust in her own abilities as the Slayer. The downside to this is that it weakens her connection to her friends as she becomes convinced that they can't understand what she's going through. By the late seasons, Willow and Xander fit the same role relative to Buffy that Joyce did back in high school. To Buffy, it's not worth opening up to them if they'll never really get it. All she'd be doing is pushing her problems onto people who wouldn't be able to help. In addition, thanks to that self-reliance, she always thinks that she can solve everything on her own. She doesn't like to open up about her issues, meaning that her loved ones often don't find out that anything is wrong until it's too late for Buffy to handle it delicately. For instance, when Joyce finds out that Buffy is the Slayer in season two she has a lot of questions that Buffy doesn't have time to answer because the world is literally about to end. In a desperate attempt to keep Buffy from leaving Joyce threatens to kick her out of the house, which obviously wasn't something she should have said even though it wasn't sincere. By refusing to let her mother in on the details of her life until the last possible minute, Buffy put them both in a situation where she was forced to drop the information and run, leading her mother to hate the Slayer calling in season three. Joyce only gets a peak at Buffy's life when the supernatural gets so bad that it's completely out of Buffy's control, which leads to Joyce seeing Buffy's life as nothing but terrible. We see this especially with Angel. Buffy never tells Joyce anything about her relationship with Angel except for when he's evil and planning on killing her, which means that Joyce never trusts Angel even when he's a good guy genuinely trying to protect her.

Switching back to the late seasons; after Buffy comes back from the dead she feels unable to connect with anyone except Spike. She was obviously going through a whole depression in season six and I'm not going to say that she handled it wrong because frankly as long as she made it through alive she did everything right, but this lack of communication with her friends does cause some problems for her. We see in the musical episode Buffy is forced to finally tell the truth about what death was like and how depressed she's been feeling, and it absolutely crushes all of her friends. Not only does their friend find them responsible for her depression, but she also felt the need to lie to them about it because she thinks they'd rather see her as happy than honest. Buffy tries to protect her friends from her life rather than sharing it with them, so everyone ends up upset and isolated. For the next leg of the season she has the whole relationship with Spike going on that she doesn't tell anyone about, which once again means that no one finds out until it's so bad she can't control it. (This is paralleled with Willow's magic addiction in a way that's interesting but I'm not gonna talk about it right now). Xander gets angry at her for sleeping with Spike when we know he had a much more chill reaction back in season five when the Buffybot made everyone think Buffy was with Spike, showing that the circumstances of him finding out had a big impact on his reaction. If Buffy had been up front about the relationship rather than waiting for Spike to spill the beans mid-argument, her friends probably would have been more understanding. Instead, Xander only sees Spike as the guy who starts fights and tries to rape his friend. By season seven Xander and Dawn don't understand why Buffy wants to protect Spike, because she didn't want them to know about any of the relationship so they only got to see the worst of it. If she was willing to share the parts of Spike she found genuinely appealing, she wouldn't have been hiding the relationship in the first place. Instead, everyone else sees him as an irredeemable asshole and Buffy doesn't take their concerns seriously because she can take care of herself.

I think I'm running out of steam so this post is probably approaching its end, but yeah. I think it's super interesting how Buffy works on a "dude, just trust me" level, and you can see throughout the series that her bubble of trust shrinks dramatically. Her fundamental trait of not wanting to share her struggles stays consistent, but as she grows up and gains confidence and competence she ends up willing to let down her mask with fewer and fewer people. She's a uniquely powerful Slayer because of how she draws on the strength of her friends, but she hates that she has to do it and tries to lock them out of her life as soon as she reaches a point where she thinks she can handle it alone. Once things boil over she's always left with a situation that's far worse than if she'd just been upfront with everything, but despite that the people in her life still always support her unconditionally. Joyce welcomes her back into the house with open arms, Giles respects her renewed relationship with Angel, Xander agrees to let Spike live with him despite his concerns. Buffy has so much trouble accepting the love that constantly surrounds her, but it remains anyways.

[sturnzyolo]

MY opinion

So ik Mia Bloom is popular in the fandom but i have no idea why. Not just for the purpose that I don't like her 1 little bit, frankly I hate her. (she is very pretty though) PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE THING IF U END UP COMING FOR ME AND CALLING ME A SHIT PERSON FOR MY OPINION

She literally edits herself in ship edits with Chris, many people say it's weird how others make edits of her and Chris but it's 10x worse when she does it herself. I forgot the username but she had an undercover acct which she confirmed as hers, editing herself with Chris as a clear ship, using an intro where it starts off with Chris wanting or finding something (hot or something I forget the exact thing he said it was a bunch of mombojumbo basically) but she used that and also edited herself MARRYING Chris. Mind u she's 14 and he's 21.

Look i get it, kids have celeb crushes but this is far. To defend this is just as bad as her. Imagine Chris seeing that? If he wouldn't be uncomfortable with it then I'd be concerned, because if i got edited as a ship with a minor 7 years younger than me ID BE SO WEIRDED OUT.

2. She's overly dramatic. Yes shes a teen with a lot of emotions but SOBBING over a hoodie that will probably come back and a tour is crazy (imo) First off international fans i understand they'd be upset but the way she reacted was over the top, and I don't even mean when she found out it was for the U.S. and one place in Canada. She began overreacting even before that. The the dramatic posts about 'have fun U.S.' was excessive. I don't think she understood how hard it would be for 3 boys to go across a country they've never been to and for a show that isn't even that big, no offense it just seems rushed (but anyone going ofc have fun, I hope you enjoy it! I just didnt find it worth the money) Anyways, she got mad at the U.S. fans practically for the triplets staying in the country they literally live in.

3. She tries very hard to be alike to the triplets, first off the YouTube channel, she tries to be like Chris, doing disgusting things during a video and keeping it in. Example: she farted in a video with her and her friend in a car with fresh love hoodies on. She films car videos and did the deaf blind mute challenge which sure a lot of people did do that challenge so honestly idc much for that. It's just very obvious shes one of those grwm people that FORCE a humorous side to their videos, just look it up on tiktok and u can find videos: 'Mia Bloom trying to be funny'. What I'm saying with this take is just that she makes her personality based off the triplets when I wish she would be more separate, as being her own personality and not faking it or basing it off the triplets (as it seems)

Finally I just find the whole fangirling over fangirls stupid at times, depending on how they take their fangirling. I will say I do like Mia Bloom's friend's because they seem very separate from the triplets as they have less of the trying to be them personality, mainly just making content about them but not going too far with it like overreacting, and plus they don't make SHIP EDITS OF THEM WITH ADULTS? Which thats the only real problem I have with Mia Bloom being so looked up to.

I'd also like to say i do have her blocked on all of my tiktok accts so if anyone wanted to comment "just block her or swipe the video" there's your answer, but this post is solely to talk about my opinion and also to get others if someone does want to comment them. I didn't reread this so pardon if they're any mistakes. Again she is a teen so this could all be a phase and she could end up maturing with how she takes this 'basically an obsession' with the triplets.

Also send hate if u want idc this is my opinion, I'm a teen myself so it's not like you're gonna say im attacking a kid, shes not far off from my age and she should know better than to act how she does for an account that somehow has 1 mil followers (Which her content apart from the triplets isn't that bad some of her grwms have forced humor but other than that they're not bad)

[yeosatinyngz]

ME OR LUMIERE?

Xavier is jealous of your love for Lumiere (A lil twist to Xavier’s new myth story)

↳GN Reader | wc: 982 | Fluff/suggestive mention at the end

A/N: I'm trying to get my groove back for written pieces since I've only been making text fics so I hope this piece was alright, don't expect too much

With the arrival of the new film Apocalypse’s Dawn in theaters you excitedly dragged Xavier along with you since it was starring your all time favorite hero, Lumiere. Xavier on the other hand wasn’t nearly as excited as you were, matter of fact he was completely disinterested. 

After watching the film all you could do was talk about Lumiere and frankly it was getting on Xavier’s nerves. “Can we stop talking about him already and get some food instead? All your gushing over him has made me hungry” He grumpily murmured while storming away to find the nearest restaurant. What’s his problem? You thought to yourself while you tried to keep up with the irritated male. 

Xavier swore he didn’t mean to eavesdrop but he has somehow found himself pressed against the wall behind you and Tara, trying to hide his presence. He was just minding his business until he heard Tara ask you about your ideal type which stopped him in his tracks and led to him in his current position. 

You answered rather passionately, “My ideal type is someone like Lumiere. Brave, strong, selfless, not to mention handsome. He’s everything I can only dream about.” Tara couldn’t help but smile, “Ah that’s right I remember you mentioning being a big fan of Lumiere. It’s a shame that we don’t have more men like him” You nodded in agreement to Tara’s statement before you both had to part ways.

The bleach blonde who was eavesdropping displays a face of pure annoyance. Lumiere again?! 

Your eyes were fighting to beat unconsciousness from the amount of stress you put on yourself from fighting off a sudden wave of wanderers. As you were struggling to keep up your breathing a wanderer appeared before you about to strike you with an attack This is the end you helplessly voiced in your head. However, a flash of bright light appeared and the wanderer who was seconds away from finishing you was now defeated. The last image you had before you fully submerged into darkness was a figure resembling the same person who saved you 14 years ago. 

You woke up with a jolt to find yourself back in the comfort of your bed. Confused on how you ended back home, you were startled by a voice you know all too well. “Had a good sleep?” You looked up to see Xavier and nodded. That’s when all the memories were flashing back into your head and you looked Xavier straight in his eyes. “You- you saved me back there.” You said before softly adding on, “Lumiere saved me again.” 

You searched in Xavier’s eyes to try to find some sort of answer only to find a look of indifference. “That’s not what’s important right now, what matters right now is you getting a proper rest.” You awkwardly pressed your lips into a thin line and stayed quiet. The silence was quickly broken by Xavier, “So you’re a big fan of Lumiere huh?” 

That’s when you realized that while you were sleeping Xavier had seen the Lumiere shrine section of your room, decorated with a giant poster of him on the wall and a shelf with his merchandise including figures, plushies and pins. You shyly looked away from his piercing gaze while letting out an embarrassed laugh, “Yeah.”

He grabs ahold of your chin and turns it back so your eyes meet him once again. “Who do you like more, me or Lumiere?” The sudden question shocked you beyond disbelief. “So what’s your answer?” He demanded, snapping you out of your shock. “Uh I’m confused, Aren’t you and Lumiere the same person?”

He looks away with a slight frown, “But you don’t see them as such.” He looks back at you with that piercing gaze again while sitting next to you, slamming both his hands down besides your body, caging you in between his arms, “While Lumiere is handsome and courageous I’m nothing but your coworker aren’t I?” 

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Bringing your hands up to cup his face he looks away again with a pout on his face, you shook his face in your hands. “Oh my, are you perhaps jealous of Lumiere?” His pout deepens while he lets out a, “No, I’m not.” You couldn’t help but laugh again, “You’re too cute when you’re jealous.” You proceeded to plant a kiss on his forehead, “My answer is you, Xavier. It’s always been you.”

His eyes widened as he intensely searched your eyes to find truth behind your words. What he found was a pair of sincere eyes full of endearment. The same pair of eyes that he's been yearning to see for all these years. This was the moment he felt himself slipping, he couldn’t hold himself back anymore. 

He softly smiles at you while tucking the hair in front of your face behind your ear, “Please stop me if you don’t want me to continue but I can’t control myself any longer when it comes to you.” Before you could process his words fully, his arm snakes around your waist pulling you closer to him, connecting both of your lips.

What started off as a sweet and tender kiss turned into something much more passionate, you can feel the desperation from Xavier’s kiss. He was kissing you as if it was his last, every attempt you made to free yourself from his lips would fail as he continued latching on to your lips.

When he finally freed himself of your lips you were a panting mess. Your heart was beating so fast you felt like it was gonna fly straight out of your body. How was this the same Xavier who was pouting cutely not too long ago? That was the night you found out that there was another identity Xavier was hiding from you, his freak in the sheets identity.

[mewnewew]

Sir Crocodile x Reader

I'll do a double posting this week cause I'm gonna be working on Christmas (don't ask) Here's something to make y'all a bit better since the last one.

On a professional and generally personal note, he would make a disgusted face if one talked to him about love. Hell, if someone even implied that he maybe loved you he would throw them his hardest glare and if already in a bad mood, probably threaten them.

But now? He wasn't sure what he was feeling. You weren't really.....at your best, he would say. Right now, you were pacing up and down looking frazzled and slightly crazy while he sat on the edge of the bed, watching you. The worst part? You weren't making any damn sense.

"Would you just tell me what's the problem here?" He snapped, losing it slightly.

"Nothing! Just go back to work or whatever! It's fine! There no issue at all!" You yelled back. Your face was deliberately not looking at his, as you just continued to pace back and forth maddeningly.

That's it. He needs to know what the hell is your problem. You weren't looking at him, you weren't making any damn sense, this was eating his brain. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

He grabbed your arm and yanked you to a standstill, making you stand in front of him.

"What is it."

"It's nothing! Just-"

"Just tell me. Now." He bit out.

"Like I said! Its-"

"Dammit woman! Just fucking tell me!" He yelled, finally losing it.

"It's you!" You cried out. Wait. What?

He blinked. His arm didn't lose its grip.

"Explain."

"It's just- you! You have this big thing of y'know your damn ego, cause of your ambition which is like, okay I get it. But at the same time you're dating me. That means that with all of your fancy stuff and your ruthlessness and your big huge dream of wanting to attack and destroy the Navy--which I fully support by the way-"

He watched you ramble, absolutely baffled by what he was hearing. His cigar almost fell out from this, his frustration was also climbing. This blasted woman-

"Cause honestly, fuck the Navy, but, not the point. Look, you have that, and that's a huge part of who you are and what you stand for and your big secretive past that you don't want to tell me and that's fine! Perfectly fine! However the issue comes when-"

"Would you get to the damn point already?!" He burst. His arm tightened around your wrist, face close to yours.

"I love you!" You yelped, staring with wide eyes straight into his purple ones.

He froze. Face dropping into one of quiet shock, with a very cold realization.

"I love you, Crocodile" you said, looking guilty. Guilty? Your free hand went to your hair, pulling, getting tangled, running through it, your eyes full of anxiety.

"I love you and frankly keeping in mind your ego, your ah, ambition and you-which I all love and respect by the way--I just, I just can't help but feel this could go very uh....pear shaped for me"

His hand eased slightly, brows furrowing.

".....Pear shaped?"

"Oh, uh....bad. Things might end up bad for me"

"How?"

"You, well, you could be I dunno, using me or something. Cause you don't love me really. You said it yourself. This is a business transaction." Your voice went quieter as you mumbled, gaze falling lower.

"Look at me"

"-And I know that you don't, so I'm not going to push it since this is fine and I respect your wishes but really! I just really don't like the idea of possibly be led on but dont worry I wont push it okay? You-" Your eyes grew wide as suddenly you were pulled into him, closing the distance. Your face was tucked into his neck, letting you get a whiff of cigar smoke, and expensive cologne.

"You silly little thing" He whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

"You aren't.....completely wrong. But things have changed." He murmured into your hair, limbs holding you tight to him.

You stayed perfectly quiet. Holding your breath, you were stunned. This....this was new. This was new.

"I love you too."

[gurggggleburgle]

Every time I think about the return to childhood extra I'm reminded that the reason it's no fun for Luo Binghe is that it forces this budding and progressive communication and understanding going on between the two to a standstill and in some ways reverses it.

And it's simply because Binghe has already been the doting child of Shizun before. He already knows what it's like to be seen as the fluffy kid hanging around his Master. He already knows what it's like to feel powerless and on an uneven ground with his Shizun. Binghe wants to turn back ASAP because he is finally getting to have an adult relationship and be seen as equal. He doesn't like being helpless (he may cry for attention but hes not helpless) but he also doesn't like being back where he was when he was a disciple.

And yeah it would suck. He can't be romantic with his own husband. He can't express himself and be taken seriously. Everyone is quick to pinch his cheeks and try to steal his husband. Your body isn't tall enough to reach the shelf you placed the pots and pans on. The knife is awkward in your child sized palms. Brooms are too tall. You can't scare off any of the people you dislike and you don't have a network of friends you can explain this too because you're a super scary demon lord and your closest possible friends are your coworkers and you happen to be their boss (and right now they might try to kill you) so you can't be vulnerable with them.

And yes. You can be open with your husband but he doesn't see the big deal the same way. He doesn't get it because functionally this is a good enough time for him because you're a cute dumpling and it's temporary. And yeah it is but also it's that you feel your husband is being nostalgic for a version of yourself that exists in the past that you don't necessarily want to repeat. Not to mention Binghe had a frankly shitty childhood. Yes his life improved once he moved in with Shizun for 3 years but that's 3 out 17. Most of that was spent in poverty and being stepped on by everyone else around him. He doesn't have a nostalgia for childhood. He doesn't miss being a kid. What he wants from that time is the lack of animosity and misunderstanding, the simplicity, that came from the abyss which by this point is mostly a mute desire. So it has to hurt being stuck in a situation like this. An emotional limbo of expression where you can't really say what's on your mind and people basically express the same opinions you're certain they already would say to your face as you stand smoll in the room. That has to hurt. That has to make you doubt things in your relationship. To hear every bias you have built in your head that others have confirmed constantly but now directly to your face while they think you're your own son.

It's a baad time.

If Shen Qingqiu had turned into a kid honestly I think Luo Binghe would have had a marginally better time. He'd love to see and dote on a tiny Shizun and pinch their cheeks and tease. But he'd be over it by the end of the week for almost the exact same reasons. Like yeah he can attic wife his husband so easy right now but he doesn't care about Shen Qingqiu being a kid. He has no reason to be invested in that experience. He doesn't get anything out if it. He still doesn't get to do what he wants which is an adult relationship with the person he loves that he can show people and present this to the world. Binghe doesn't get anything out of a child Shizun. It becomes a stall in exploring and learning each other which is the point of the extras. Yes, it probably be a wholesome good time but the same problems would happen but Shen Yuan isn't likely to nearly the same reaction because he's already a trophy husband. It's not like he's cooking or cleaning. He's already used to everyone wistfully staring at Binghe with interest. This doesn't effect how Shen Yuan processes their relationship.

It makes the fact that Luo Binghe still thinks that Shen Yuan will say no to marriage even after everything just hit harder. Because even after everything he's still thinking of that probably. There are more extras assuring him but that doubt remains and it's so juicy.

[shapelytimber]

Wdym it's been 5 months ? Anyway, here is the end of my little comic serie about this niche Skyrim mod

*Insert me 100%ing the 4th arc of the hit mod 'vigilant' for the elder scrolls V Skyrim with little difficulty having a grand ol' time*

I messed up my files so Teldryn divorced me while I was away ckgkckkc And you know what good for him, he got a cottage and a kid out of it

[PART 1] - [PART 2] - [PART 3]

[COMMISSIONS]

If you're interested in my thoughts about this mod, you can read that below (it's fucking long so I'm sparing you all just here for the art to have to scroll through all that) vvv

A fantastic mod for sure ! I had so much fun, the voice acting was (for the most part) quite impressive, the music !!!!!!!!! Excuse me who gave this mod permission to have this fucking banger of an ost ???? Loved the new environnements, and there was so much of them !! Especially in act 4, I felt that all the locations had a unique and gorgeous aesthetic (frankly it was the most fun I had doing dungeons in skyrim... the bar is on the floor tho- if I ever see another nordic tomb or draugr I'll not be responsible for my actions), and fucking impressive mise en scene.

And the fights were so fun ??? In skyrim ?? Incredible.

But I still have some problems with it- first let's get the elephant out of the room : act 1 and 2... Boy oh boy were they not so great- I get that the begining is a slow burn to 1) get to know the vigilants of stendar, and 2) drive home the fact that the vigilants are quite incompetent and stendar hates them. Ok this is cool ! And they definetly were some highlights, like with the story of the three kajiits (I'm not good with remembering names (forshadowing for later-)), the ending of act 1, and uuuuuuuhhhh underground windhelm looked sick in act 2 !

But the quests in general were not very fun, at least not fun enough to distract me from the parts of the scenario I understood- which were kind of sexist and not that interesting (the sexism doesn't get better with act 3 and 4 but at least I'm having fun)- like I don't expect great women characters, this is still a tes mod, and it definitly doesn't get to "the man writting this is a fucking creep and I'm not playing this any longer" territory... But all the women we interact with are either : prostitutes, mothers/wives, or abuse(it's nearly always rape) victims- like I don't really mind that the first quest is to track down a vampire prostitute who propose to show me her sweetrolls, but it gets pretty tiresome after a while (and kinda ridiculous, like do all the big musley men I'm fighting in act 4 have to angst about their wives ? Can't a big musley woman angst about her partner too...). The worst one is Lamae Bal. From the charadesign, to the dialogues with her, to her story- hated that.

And also we don't have much dialogue choices and ways to influence the story in these 2 (3) first acts. Which I understand like this is a lot of work for fan content, but it's such a stark contrast to act 4 it's a bit jaring.

But speaking of the story... I get this is a very thoughtful and well researched story. A lot of work reading the tes wiki as been done by the author... But I, on the other hand, did not read the entire extended lore wiki- and I admit I was not understanding any of it during Act 4. Like I got a general idea, and the epic, dramatic and emotional moments were still impactful ! But I really don't think the author did a great job getting the story accross, and the more the mod progress, the more this problem becomes relevant. The recuring problem of tes games is that they have really deep interesting lore that we rarely get to see in the games ; the problem of this mod is that we get presented with this lore as if we already knew it.

And after watching an explaination of the story, it's such a shame because it's really good !! And well written ! But I don't think I should need a youtube video to understand it...

Also omfg I am not good with names mod please- everything has like 2-3 different weird fantasy names (but it's never explained it's the same thing, and what the thing is is never explained-), there is a billion men characters with weird ass long names, and the mod expects me to remember them all 5-6 hours after they got killed ??? I don't remember them 5 seconds after I'm done talking to them-

But I had fun playing it, and that's what matters <3 and I'll never get other twink molag bal <3

Also, my mage dragonborn is even more op now omg I can summon an army of 8ft musle men + molag bal + Jyggalag ??? The only fight I had a bit of trouble with was Pelinal's, the rest got obliterated easily (by Pelinal) kgkgkfjfifb

I'll probably need to nerf Elaris at some point in the future-

[tubbytarchia]

pause. zoom. enhance. good universe smallidarity being the one where joel isnt homophobic. i need to know more about your bad universe smallidarity joel <3

LMAO well "bad universe smallidarity" is how I interpret smallidarity personally. I know my following has been curated a lot by this point but I still get anxious to comment on it out in the open, so I'm just gonna: This is about characters. It's about characters. Hello I'm talking about characters and this says absolutely nothing about any relationships present in the real world and I wouldn't have it any other way than it is now. This is about characters and I am a big fucking fan of Jizzie, don't even doubt me (said in general, not to you lol)

Anyway. I made a long post about this before but it's a little bit cringe so I'm gonna try to sum my thoughts up again: I love analysing Joel's freak behavior and to me his character reads as homophobic but in a deeply closeted way. His relationship with Lizzie is extremely cute but I get more aroace vibes from it than anything honestly. Their characters would have gotten together because, it made sense to. "Hey we like each other, might as well get married" and good for them, but although they are cute and every now and then proclaim their love, it feels more like an obligatory sentiment to make to me, their characters within the Life series and other SMPs I've watched with them just don't strike me as a couple if you take away the specific terms they use that confirm it. Like honest to god someone can try and make a compilation of that and I'm willing to bet that the compilation of him and Jimmy being weird would be at least comparable in length. And frankly I don't think Lizzie gives much of a fuck anyway

Joel's treated Jimmy very undesirably in the past, main culprit being ESMP2, until out of nowhere he chooses to end their rivalry and proclaim them two best friends instead, which Jimmy very easily goes along with. This very sudden change in their relationship being enforced by Joel makes me think he came to some revelation and had a good think about it. That's a lie, he's bad at that, he probably had a meltdown instead and didn't know how to fix things other than to go tell Jimmy "hey lets be friends now and um impose new law". This is where he contributed to the Jimmy ecosystem (AKA the harmful environment and people that enforce the idea that Jimmy is inherently lesser than them) the most and then abruptly stopped. Instances of him belittling Jimmy one way or another still happen afterward but it really has changed and become both more lenient and less frequent. What has been a constant however is the weirdass homoerotic behavior

This since and before ESMP2, but it really gives vibes of someone in love but neglecting to acknowledge it and/or combating those feelings with vocal disapproval of any intimacy that could be inferred. He has a wife after all, in fact, he'll remind you every chance he gets. Joel has no problem indulging in and joking about more sexual approaches vs more affectionate ones. Eg, the neck kisses, calling Jimmy babe, having pillow talk with Tango and literally making a baby with both Jimmy and Sausage in ESMP. But anything affectionate makes him feel vulnerable and so that's a no-no. I have no good explicit examples for this other than the fact that he just doesn't engage in affectionate engages/jokes much (not even with Lizzie) and him refusing to hold Jimmy's hand in SL. It's all jokes, and if it does get too sus, no worries, he can always just proclaim "I have a wife!!" as a no-homo safety net. But methinks he's just in denial. Unfortunately when he starts to grapple with his feelings I think he becomes homophobic and has probably called himself every slur out there. It'd make sense to me given how he often acts around Jimmy. It's not that he has anything against the concept of gay, he just doesn't know how to handle himself being gay

But, along with him trying to step out of the ecosystem and instead wanting to support Jimmy, he's also become more open to intimacy? For lack of a better word. He's been much less outward about his interactions with Jimmy being jokes, eg the RL and WL kisses where they're both just fucking soft about it man and just carry on, or him declaring himself to just be flirting with Jimmy to Gem and Scar in WL with no caveat. Still, Joel absolutely can't express genuine love or care in any conventional manner to Jimmy which hmm. Why might that be... WL puts Joel's worry for Jimmy to the forefront where he is VERY vocally upset about almost each of Jimmy's deaths but can't express this to him any other way than to call him a loser. Other people might hear of his worry (eg Gem) or he'll defend Jimmy to them (disapproving of the premature grave people built for him in SL. This in general is really important in signifying his departure from the ecosystem by disapproving of others within it). He is very nice to Jimmy, like in WL (especially considering Jimmy's several attempts at killing him for no real reason) but only outside of vocal confirmation

This is why in the smallidarity compilation I included clips like him in Phasmo just saying he was worried about Jimmy TO Jimmy because this fucker never says that so this is substantial material for me. It's character development, maybe he's slowly exiting the closet and coming to terms with his feelings and that he can be "vulnerable". Anyway that's why I label him homophobic but the point is that he really does care Jimmy a lot and he's been much better to him and by virtue less homophobic towards himself

[brw]

From The Ashes, a ranking;

I'm bored and sick so thought I'd do my own little ranking of the From The Ashes books, because I've read basically all of them? I think I'm missing a few so I'll put those at the bottom without rankings because it would be unfair to judge them based on nothing.

Storm → great writing, great art, commentary on Krakoa and framing of it that I find very interesting, a series that absolutely deserves to go for as long as it needs to for Ayodele to tell his story.

Exceptional X-Men → honestly I could swap this with Storm and be just as happy. Absolutely great takes on Kitty and Emma that are definitely needed after how weird Krakoa was for both of them, and I LOVE the new kids she's introduced. Bronze especially is a little ray of sunshine, I love her.

X-Men → Pretty good! I've been enjoying reading it and it's clear MacKay has done his homework. Definitely a Cyclops book, which isn't my thing but his Scott is good enough that I don't complain about it, either. A strong flagship title for the current X-Men era, and I really like how he's set up the characters, albeit maybe has a bit of a bloated supporting cast.

Psylocke → I've been really enjoying this so far! Very nice art, I love all the work Wong does to flesh out her backstory and give her an unique antagonist, give her more of a supporting cast, I hope this run gets a full run because I think it's very deserving of it!

Mystique → I fucked with this. Don't want to spoil too much for anyone who hasn't read it but it's a great murder mystery vibe, I loved following the story and trying to guess what would happen in the next issue, and the twists were generally very well executed! Another very fun mini to look into, I had a good time reading it!

Sentinels → I wasn't expecting to like this so much but I really do! I enjoyed the narratives of disability in it, and I think it's an interesting mini that I hope will be built upon more later down the line.

Magik → Getting into the Meh category for me here, but if I was a big Magik fan I imagine it would be higher. As it is, it's alright; hasn't really grabbed me or inspired me to get into Magik more, which I think a solo should generally strive to do? But I like the way the magic plot and use differentiates it from Psylocke and Laura Kinney Wolverine, and the Darkchylde as almost an altar or something is very interesting to me.

Laura Kinney: Wolverine → Made completely redundant to be honest by the existence of Psylocke, a more interesting and frankly more necessary project than this book is. Other than being too similar, it's just solidly mid, but I wouldn't say it's bad, just kneecapped by being too similar to a better project coming out at the same time.

X-Factor → It's not particularly offensive, albeit I'm not a massive fan of any of the characters so if I was more invested I'd probably be more upset. The commentary isn't really well thought out, but it isn't offensive in the way NYX is. Solidly in the Meh category. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it hasn't harmed me personally.

Dazzler → Just kind of embarrassing and woefully mediocre, don't really have anything substantial to say because it wasn't a substantial comic. Mid!

Uncanny X-Men → Not Good. Granted, I'm aware if I was a Rogue and Gambit fan, I'd probably like it more; as it is, it feels like a book made for X-Men '97 fans scared of comics, and not comic fans. Which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, if those 4 kids weren't so annoying, and more specifically, if Simone didn't clearly like the weird racist horse girl who stopped being racist immediately after Gambit told her to stop it the most. The nicknames I find incredibly grating and annoying, and the pacing is just bizarre. Rogue looks anywhere between incompetent and insane, and having a female villain's tragic origin be that she didn't have Charles' baby or whatever is such a choice. I don't like this book, BUT I concede a lot of my gripes are personal related to my dislike of the kids, and I see why RogueGambit fans like it.

X-Force → I actually stopped reading this after the first arc and first issue of the second arc, because it was one of the worst, most uncomfortably ableist things I've ever had to read. Genuinely upset me on a very deep, fundamental level, and I do not understand how on earth having a bunch of heroes beat up an autistic person made it past however many editors it takes to put these things on page. Awful book, needs to be canned and forgotten forever, but at least Forge looks hot I guess.

NYX → There's a lot that you can say about this book, but I think more than anything else, giving Kamala Khan, a very genuine contender for the most beloved Muslim character in pop culture, an evil racist terrorist cousin who tries to blow up a community center is one of the single most egregious things to ever be written, and it's cancellation is a net gain. Horrible book.

DID NOT READ HALL OF SHAME

Phoenix, Wolverine, Rogue: The Savage Land, Cable: Love and Chrome

Maybe these books are good, but none of them inspired me to go pick them up, so I won't include them.

So, yeah. I wanted to share my thoughts now that I think we're 10 months or so in to From the Ashes. While I do think there are a lot of complaints that can be made regarding bloat, redundant titles, unnecessary books, etc, there's also some really good and interesting titles as part of this launch, which I hope continue to grow as this era continues!

[rebo-chan]

This was a HELLA LONG POST SO IM PUTTING IT UNDER A CUT. THIS WAS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A XANXUS ANALYSIS, SO I HOPE YOU VARIA FANS ENJOY??

OKAY so I did my last poll (Favorite arc) because I wanted to figure out which arc/aspect of an arc I should look at next. And Varia won. Also, as well my friend has been slowly scheming to get me into the Varia as a whole. Safe to say, it's starting to work. ANYWAY, since I've never done him before, the thing I wanted to look at here is Xanxus, his relationship with his wrath, and with his "pride". To start, Xanxus comes into the Ninth's care as a child being fooled into believing that he was the Ninth's son. Overtime, under the Ninth's care, he is led to believe that it is his birthright to be Vongola X. Pride as defined by my beloved Simon arc is something you can't give up on. This is no doubt Xanxus's pride. The only problem is that it was a fake one, so easily ripped away from him by the mere fact that he and the Ninth had no blood connections. This is where his Wrath "begins", furious at having been 'betrayed' that there was never any intention to make him the heir. The very thing he made his Pride. It's here, his wrath introduces him to Squalo who walks into the lion's den (or at least someone he had believed to be a Vongola Lion) wanting to see where that anger led him. Squalo, the series embodiment of the word 'Pride'. Eager to prove that Xanxus, who he believed to be the Ninth's son, he would be a valuable ally to.

Squalo and us the audience then get to see personally where Xanxus's Wrath had led him. Despite Xanxus's pride being fake, it was still not something he could give up on. He was going to take his pride back, no matter who bled for it. Hence the coup. His Wrath made him chase after his Pride, and what it ended up being was one.. big temper tantrum from the hands of someone with far too much power. It's not lost on me as well that the result of the coup is referred to as the Cradle Incident. A cradle, what you would do to calm down a screaming child. It's also here that Squalo finds out the truth about Xanxus not truly being Vongola X. In the midst of this family debacle, Xanxus's pride is confirmed to not just himself but to Squalo as well as false. Lucky for Xanxus, Squalo was never following his pride but rather his rage. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure that Xanxus sees it that way.

As Xanxus wakes up from the ice with years having passed, it does nothing to sooth the burn of his anger of his ripped away pride. He hatches up another plan, the ring conflict, in order to crush the one that his 'birthright' was given to. To spit on his father's choice and destroy what the Ninth had wanted for the boy, just like his wants were destroyed. "Show me what that old man saw in you." Is no doubt the wrath slipping through. It's a "What made you a better choice than me?" I don't doubt that the relationship between Xanxus and the Ninth is.. almost irreparable at this point, but he is still someone who thought highly of the Ninth's opinion just based on that and the fact he felt betrayed by the ninth's action. He again WAS proud to be his son, either that's from the benefits that being the heir for Vongola X brought or out of some genuine familial love. It's hard to say frankly and up to interpretation. (In the very least, we can at least say Timoteo did genuinely care for Xanxus but this post isn't about him<3) Either way, the ring conflict begins and it is Xanxus's chance at retaking his pride and getting his proper and true revenge for what was done for him.

But this time though, there are slight differences between now and the coup. Time either in the cradle or otherwise has morphed how Xanxus sees things. There's.. an added humiliation to Xanxus now, one that hates what happened back in the coup. Not in the way that he regrets what he did, persay but rather the way the Ninth's eyes looked upon him in pity, the way he sees that same look in Tsuna. The fact that Squalo was there, whether or not he had heard what happened. It burns Xanxus. He wants his pride back, but he wants it renewed. Freshly removed from his past. He wants the Ninth gone, and for the way Tsuna shares that same look in his eyes, he's going to take both of them down in one go if he can help it. (The cloud battle, putting Tsuna in the situation where he could be charged with possibly ending the Ninth's life. It would've been poetic, wouldn't it? The two gentle souls of the Vongola destroying one another.) Then, there's Squalo.. Squalo, who "dies" in the rain battle and Xanxus can only laugh. Because, finally, things are going his way. Now, everything is in place. He can now take the position of Vongola X without the threads of his past holding onto him tightly, reminding him of his failure, of who he really is, of his falsified pride. What's poetic is that it's the embodiment of Pride who appears, with an absolute refusal to die, for real pride isn't something you can give up, that reveals Xanxus's truth to everyone. Tells everyone what was essentially that no matter how hard Xanxus struggles and plots and rips and tears, his 'pride' will never be his again. Xanxus doesn't accept this, it wasn't Squalo's intention to make him to either, but the option isn't in his hands. It never was. The ninth, at the end of the cloud battle, blames himself for all of his happening. For not being strong enough to do what had to be done. This can be interpreted as him referring to not killing Xanxus during the cradle incident, but it can also be interpreted as him not being able to tell Xanxus the truth from the start. Not being able to deny Xanxus the chance of life away from the slums. His 'kind' action only served to put Xanxus's life down a path of the inability to choose. Almost paralleled to Tsuna in a way, who brought into the role of Vongola X against his will, Xanxus is kept away from Vongola X against his will.

Xanxus's wrath is a weakness, let me make that clear. It blinds him from the truth, from his unfortunate circumstances, from accepting that it just couldn't be. I'm not sure if he'll ever accept it, so long as he has that wrath. But, the good news is that we see ten years later into the future, his wrath is no longer an open enough of a wound for others to poke at and prod to get him to react the way they want. His response to Raisel was nothing less than a "Do you think I'm that easy?" He IS better there about it. The Vongola is STILL his family, no matter what inner conflict there is and no outsider is going to be able to rip into him half as easily as the people from inside did. As for what he's done with his pride ten years down? It's hard to say, he desires Vongola at its strongest and at that time it was the strongest under Tsuna's control. I won't pretend he doesn't still want the title, but the wound isn't fresh anymore at least by then.

OOGH. WELL, THATS IT. I'm curious to see if you guys have any interpretations about his "pride", if you agree, disagree, or if you have any interpretations of what his pride has become ten years down the line. Thank you for reading this far!!!

[roxannepolice]

I have a hot thoschei take: I don’t think most of doctor who tumblr is ready to confront the idea that Missy allowing the Doctor to “fix” her was almost more a form of self-harm for her than anything else. Which makes the confrontation between her and the Master even more upsetting to me than if it was a simple ‘Missy good, old Master bad and sabotages her goodness.’

It’s more like looking on your future self and seeing her restrain herself further and further in ways you’d rather die than do, in ways that are slowly erasing what makes you/her yourself/herself. and when you realize that she will happily push you into this fate, too, (and has the audacity to preach about it), how else can you react but cut her loose.

And it also makes Missy and Twelve more interesting to me, because you can’t really argue the Doctor doesn’t know that he’s contributing to this. He locked her in a box. He knows her far too well to really believe she’d want to live so long in confinement, but he does it anyway. I don’t even think it’s that divorced from love or a need for them to come to an understanding; the Doctor just wants it to be completely on his terms and for the first time ever, that control is entirely possible and he doesn’t even have to feel guilty about it because she’s letting him.

Anon, I'm kissing your brain. And wish I could transplant it into Moffat's head.

I suppose my own brain is a bit too of a "they are characters in a text, serving a purpose to the point made by the author, not self-aware people making choices" bitch to really view it this way. But I absolutely agree this whole situation was much more effed up than fandom gives it credit for. I mean, the basic message of the vault arc is "here's the fool-proof way to develop empathy: a human lifetime of solitary confinment! Let's just ditch all those resocialisation programs in prisons and put all violent criminals in solitary boxes with only psychologists visting them! :DDDD".

Yeah, ok, that last point was a bit over the top in social engineering area even as far as fan bashing is concerned. And, tbh, I think a positive side of the vault arc is the not-sure-if-intended idea that it in fact wasn't decades of solitary confinment with Twelve coming to banter through a locked door only actual interaction with Bill that had Missy introspect, but wtv, it all just needed to go tragic in the end. I think the really unawarely messed up part here is this underlying insistence on. well, basically writing the Master as Darth Vader. There's still good in you, I can feel it!, as in just go back to being a child that I will be idealising in the penultimate episode, which frankly sounds to me the extact same as GO2 Aziraphale asking Crowley to just go back to being angels only even nicer :) (sth sth angelhood as a metaphor of pre-selfaware childhood when you can't even tell yourself apart from other people and especially God-the-Parent). Basically, the big idea being the Master's villainy isn't a result of conscious choices of a hundreds year old eldritch horror only not hearing the music whatever that means.

Of course, it was backwards engineered, in a "ah, but what if there really, really, reeeaaaallly wasn't any other way for the Master to survive than as the Doctor's prisoner?" way, which could work considering how survival focussed the character is (like, surely that wouldn't be worse than becoming a cat? or a 90s effects goo snake? or a man eating emo electroskeleton? or a tooth?)... but then we have a "yeah, but there's like an evil past that does value their independence (and evilhood) over survival, ain't that tragic?" ending.

Basically, I think the problem is not so much Missy accepting being the Doctor's prisoner, as not trying to escape even freaking once? Like, if we started off with her being dishonest about the whole teach me to be good :((( and then easing into living like this, this might have been an interesting idea? But yeah, as we are, you're right, it just. Comes off as trying to amputate a limb that got caught in a mousetrap rather than snares...

[no-name-blu]

Hello blu! Can you tell us a more about your other AU? Theater

I'm surprised you even heard of the AU. I keep trying to draw and make content for it just for the AU to get overshadowed by a different interest so many times

Anyways

BROKEN THEATRE AU

This is the only refs I made for the characters:

Inspired by The Show That Goes Wrong this AU is about a theatre company with big dreams but terrible outputs. Just for AU reasons, they are all terrible people. Like genuinely, they are all egotistical and even fight each other a lot (it's normal) but in the end, they all love each other and have a close bond to this group they have formed found family core

Unfortunately, I wasn't a theatre kid so my knowledge for this AU isn't going to be accurate.

But I had @rae-ven13 to help me out with it and I made her co-writer for this forgotten AU

More explanation of the AU down here

the theatre group, the characters, and more doodles I made! :D

Welcome Home Organisation of Real Entertainment

This is the name of their little theatre group, only consists of 8 members, with Home (Wally's rich father) to support the organization.

It started out with Sally and Barnaby having a double act show together in college, with the help of Frank and Poppy backstage too.

Then when they graduated Sally found Wally and manipulated befriended him to convince his dad for a show. Which he agreed, only as long as he gets to join the group too.

And that's how they got the organization to this day

Bonus: Barnaby came up with the name for their theatre group, and Sally learned not to give him that trust ever again.

MEET THE CREW

Sally Starlet

Role: The Director, The Writer, Actress

She started the whole group and made herself the leader.

Sally believes she is surrounded by amateurs, her actors are immature and full of problems. But no reason, she is a great director despite the anger and outburst caused by these people. Of course, she believes he is the best out of all of them and would've have a great show if she had gotten a little more respect. But in the end, without her, this group would be lost and confused.

Barnaby B. Beagle

Role: Actor, Writer

He is a self proclaimed co-leader to Sally despite the arguments they always have. Barnaby is actually the most egotistical in the group. One of the reasons he considers Wally as his best friend is because they can both be shitty people together. He's a little mean to the others and has a hierarchy built in his head. But the gang still loves him, no one slanders him for his actions and it made Barnaby have a soft spot for them too. He doesn't mean to be such a jerk, he genuinely cares.

Poppy Partridge

Role: Actress, Tech

She started out helping tech work with Frank since she's too scared to act. But there was an accident that got Sally knocked out temporarily and she had to replace her. She was scared, but as the show goes on she actually enjoyed acting, even though she had to wrestle with Sally for the role throughout the show. But after that chaos, Sally has never been more excited to finally give Poppy acting roles on stage.

Frank Frankly:

Role: Head Tech, Stage Manager

Sally tricked him to join by saying their shows will give extra credit. He still sticks around anyway and became Sally's most reliable and sane member of the group. Although he is overworked and stressed out mostly due to the whole stage keep crumbling over. His temper was just as bad as Sally's and they can be seen arguing a lot (If it's not Sally and Barnaby, then it's Sally and Frank) But, he's proud to be the most reliable member of the group and also the voice of reason.

Wally Darling

Role: Actor, Prop Design

He knew from the beginning that Sally was manipulating him and he still lets her have her show, only if she lets him join. Wally just wants to be a lil shit and play pranks, sometimes with Barnaby too. He's not good at acting and people would see him as a spoiled brat because his adoptive dad owns the theatre 💅✨✨✨ But he grew to love this group he's in and would always ask Home to keep supporting it.

Eddie Dear

Role: Actor, Tech, and Prop Design

He is supposed to be only tech, but Sally needed more actors and forced him into it. The problem is that Eddie keeps forgetting his lines and cues. It would lead to the entire plot being derailed. He even spoiled the plot twist by doing his cue way too early. It's frustrating that it happens, but to his surprise no one yelled at him for forgetting, he didn't get fired for it too.

Howdy Pillar

Role: Actor, Tech

He is the best out of everyone here. It's not an opinion, Howdy is an amazing actor and singer, he's very helpful in backstage works, but he's always overshadowed by others that people barely notices his talents. The only person that actually noticed him is Wally but Howdy doesn't have a nice impression towards him for being spoiled. Other than that he stayed humble and everyone still considers him an important member of the group.

Julie Joyful

Role: Actress

The newest member of the group! She used to be famous with her sisters until Julie lost her status and got cancelled online (idk what she did yet). Sally took this as her chance to invite Julie to the group so that they can probably gain some fame for it. She started out as a high status mean girl, she's cold and cruel, takes acting in this terrible show way too seriously. Sally considers her to be her best actress. But then also, Julie slowly takes the mask off the longer she stays with them and she's just as zany as the others, the most unhinged out of all of them to be honest.

So idk if I'm going to do any more content with this AU, if people are interested I might draw more. Glad these see the light of day, they've been sitting in my google docs for months.

ANYWAYS Here's a few more doodles

Text: The set is created upside down & Sally's character is on her death bed

(It's also a redraw of a scene in the show that goes wrong)

old art ew