#adds a whole other dimension to her line

[len-the-neverending]

Final W359 thought for the night: when Minkowski walked in on Eiffel and Hilbert naked in "The Paranoia Game", her first thought was definitely "oh no, they're hate-fucking."

[themothwhisperer]

Like of course Shauna crashing into Melissa’s life like this isn’t fair. Of course it’s not. But here’s the thing:

Shauna is filled with rage and anger because nothing about this is fair to begin with. The fact that some of the survivors are good at normalcy (and then again, is what Melissa doing normal?) doesn’t feel right. How dare they kill off the guilt and the pain and the trauma? Shauna had to do things the others didn’t even have to think about. They all had the opportunity to hide into total denial about the cannibalism if they wished to (so far, at least). In a way, they had the luxury of wiring their brains into thinking this was just meat and rationalizing the whole thing to a simple mean to survive. But not Shauna. She made the little pieces and it could look like any dead animal on a plate. But she knew and she had to face it every single time. This was a human being. She was the one doing all the dirty work.

We could almost even add that they all took advantage of her in a way. She was grieving a best friend. Jackie’s death is the trigger for all that ensues. Shauna was introduced to the idea of cannibalism through Jackie’s dead body, someone she had very complicated feelings for. And just here, no wonder this girl went absolutely insane. Nobody really stopped her. Nobody really tried to help her. She was falling into pure madness. And then, she lost a baby to make it worse, still grieving that first death. Being the instigator of cannibalism, the others took a step back. Which was probably a relief for them. The task was falling on Shauna from that moment on. Someone had to do it, right? But they let a girl deep into her grief cut human beings (she personally knew and cared about) open to feed the group. It is indeed very unfair.

Now it’s so easy for all of them to say she’s such a bad person. To be honest, it’s true. She did horrifying things and is still doing some insane stuff, but the situation still remains what it is. Everyone watched while she was absorbing the madness. Shauna drank it all up while they could hold on and protect some clean parts of themselves. She was drowning this entire time.

As for her wanting to stay, could we really expect something else? Shauna was responsible for a massive dimension of their survival. She was important and valued for it. Her. This task was hers. She wasn’t someone else’s shadow for once. They were becoming so efficient at surviving. Shauna was contributing to this. They had time to find some sort of balance into those woods. We cannot forget that going back to civilization also means taking all of this away from them. Shauna, alongside Lottie and Tai, have crossed a line that makes going back very complicated. Their loss would be significant. And I think Shauna is done with losing and grieving.

[ellstronaut]

Going back to this debate

I know Ellle is a multifaceted individual that much is obvious she’s not one dimensional she has many elements to her personality. Additionally, it’s important to remember that even on the spectrum of masculine and feminine, Ellie isn’t completely one or the other. She exists in some sort of grey area between them, embodying both masculine and feminine traits. She’s not defined by one end of the spectrum, but rather by the interplay of these two extremes.

Yet at times the characterisation of Ellie is laced with internalised misogyny. And highlights the way “masc presenting” lesbians are treated in real life tied down to the “man” in the relationship why is Ellie mostly written as the dominant one especially when coupled with fem reader why do we head canon her as a top when it’s literally canon that she’s a switch? Why is there an infinite amount of “ellie taking care of the reader on her period” scenarios outnumber “Reader taking care of Ellie on her period” Ellie written as tall towering over fem reader and not like she’s literally 5’5

The fact is that there’s a heteronormative slant to the way people write her. Like I said almost never written as a switch, but a top. To some extent been portrayed as tall and dominating, never small or vulnerable. And Santa Barbara Ellie is often sexualized even though she is deeply traumatized and emotionally tormented. The problem is that people are viewing her through male-centric lenses, reducing her to an object of desire rather than a fully fleshed out woman with a complex, nuanced personality which includes many dimensions, some of which may be considered feminine.

There is no specific way to be a “masc lesbian” a woman nor feminine and express your femininity. Nor should that separate her from her womanhood/femininity. in a way it’s her way of showing how feminine she is. maybe not stereotypically through outward appearances, but her general identity. she’s a woman who experiences the same struggles that women do, Obviously she doesn’t waver just on the lines of black and white, she’s all rounded. In between. Grey area. The point I’m trying to make is that she’s all and above, you can be both masc and fem. I would add that Ellie's femininity is often overlooked or even belittled by people who only focus on traits that appeal to them. Not her emotional intelligence, her caring nature, her resilience, her dedication to her loved ones. Fuck she’s also a soft heart and a tender soul. These aspects of her are just as important to her character, she is a whole person ffs, exceptionally fleshed out

So fuck

“the hot wife and her hot boyfriend”

Why not

“The hot wife and her hot wife”

“She’s so boyfriend

Uh

“She’s so girlfriend”

Santa Barbara/Seattle is literally at her most vulnerable, disheveled state that girl is literally plagued with trauma, stuck in a limbo of “do I seek vengeance in the name of losing my family and absolutely everything or stay and suffer in silence (at who’s expense?? Hers) Yet we sexualise tf out of her, the most vulnerable pinnacle of existence—glorified and romanticised bc it’s “hot”

this is not a dig at anyone you’re free to write whatever tf you want bro it’s your platform but pls let’s not bs and pretend as of this doesn’t occur

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Piper's new look is complete! Took a few more days than the other girls' dresses because this crocodile/mermaid/scale stitch is a bit more labor intensive than the more basic crochet style I usually default to for this sort of freehand project, but I got very inspired by her flower crown and wanted to make her into a little peachy petal princess 🧡 I am SO pleased with how it turned out. I ended up doing this outfit as a separate skirt and top rather than one piece, which just made more sense construction-wise, but I think aesthetically it worked out for the best, as the hem of the top adds a little extra dimension to the overall look. My aim with the skirt was VOLUME and I think I succeeded XD

This whole process has been so much fun, and my execution has improved so markedly over the course of it, that I think I might take another pass at the dresses I made for Rory & Greta, to see if I can do better. I'm much happier with what I achieved for Piper and Skyler, and I think the other girls deserve something just as good. Plus I still have a ton of that Ice Cream yarn left ;p

A bit of a departure for this one--NOT LB Ice Cream! This is an unnamed rainbow pastel colorway of an Ice Yarns line--Baby Magic, I think?--that has been languishing in my stash for ages. It's the leftovers from a blanket I made when my brother's first child was born...said child is now a tween XD I knew I'd find a use for the rest eventually!

[pinkbrries]

𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐘: 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃. 𝐁𝐘 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄

all the songs june has taken a part of and is credited: songwriting, producing or both (enha’s discography and others)

nini says💬: hi !!! life has been soooooo busy (as you can notice by this… dead blog lol) but i wanted to out something out for june^^ will try to make posts as frequent as i possible can<3 hope you enjoy this one !!

june’s masterlist.

june is usually known for writing and being NO in between: either goes from fluffy, romantic songs (the cute song enha has are probably written/produced by her HELPPP) or from heart-wrenching, yearning, passionate or impossible love (like… she’s going through her third divorce and her kids are getting taken away😭😭)

she has tried different styles tho… different feelings here and there, BUT she usually uses love and similar feelings for her compositions.

she uses the pseudonym ‘LMJ’ (LeeMinJun) and every song that she’s accredited to, appears like that

june has KOMCA credits on 36 songs so far (legend. an icon. hardworking. girlboss. girl writes. girl produces) (she needs to sleep tho…)

got nominated by the korea brand awards on 2024 under the category "proud korean gran prize (composer)" and won.

there hasn’t been an enha comeback in which she hasn’t participated; she has either produced or composed at least one song.

*jake and june during a live* jake: there’s no way … / june: ??? what are you talking about / jake with literal heart eyes: there’s no way you’re this pretty and this TALENTED !! || *cue the minjake shippers going crazy on twt*: MY PARENTS. MY CRUMBS.

𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

BORDER: DAY ONE

10 months

➞ she literally said on an interview that she wrote this one inspired on her situation because 😵‍💫😵‍💫 girly was crushing HARD on a boy during mixnine era …. and he rejected her because she was younger than him HELPPPP

➞ *cue the hyung line like: 🤨🤨🤨😐😐😐*

➞ #ripjune he didnt deserve you queen !!

BORDER: CARNIVAL

mixed up

MANIFESTO: DAY 1

tfw (that feeling when)

結 -YOU-

blossom

MEMORABILIA

fatal trouble

ROMANCE: UNTOLD –DAYDREAM–

your eyes only

hundred broken hearts

DESIRE : UNLEASH

too close

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆

BORDER: DAY ONE

given-taken

➞ helping producing her own debut song … #legend

DIMENSION: DILEMMA

go big or go home

MANIFESTO: DAY 1

paradoxx invasion

foreshadow

➞ she decided to drop the craziest outro to ever exist and then, never speak about it ever again

➞ smh june …

DARK BLOOD

fate

➞ everyone, in unison: thanks june for heeseung’s siren vocals

ORANGE BLOOD

mortal

MEMORABILIA

criminal love

teeth by jungwon, heeseung, sunoo, niki

lucifer by jay, jake, sunghoon

➞ she went crazy with these…

➞ she really said ‘there won’t be any weird sounding songs for my members on my watch🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️’

➞ explains why the ‘02 liners and heeseung were giggling like high-schoolers with a crush on the behind the scenes where june is supervising the recording 🫨 …… anyways

uncover by june

➞ she didnt get the chance to songwrite her own solo:// … but AT LEAST, she produced it 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

ROMANCE: UNTOLD

xo (only if you say so)

brought the heat back

ROMANCE: UNTOLD –DAYDREAM–

daydream

DESIRE : UNLEASH

loose

𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐇 (𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆/𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆)

DIMENSION: ANSWER

polaroid love

➞ oh man…. this one started everything with her combining both producing and composing: you see– girly was bored, was being silly and feeling fluffy, and wrote down some lyrics here and there. she was like “heh” and also decided to play here and there with her computer… she went with some of the producers and showed it to them, and they were like ??? ok wait. this is actually good?? let’s add it to the repackage– and june was like 😦 “IS IT NOW???” 😭😭

➞ surprise …….. she didn’t know polaroid love would make it big)

DARK BLOOD

sacrifice (eat me up)

➞ she ACTUALLY wrote the most love-yearning lyrics and decided to actually produce this whole song…

➞ the original demo is recorded by her – the very first time she has recorded a demo (my girl was so NERVOUS when the producers showed the original demo to the rest of the boys😭😭)

➞ but omg ?? everyone LOVED it. they were like NOONA??? THIS IS GOOD WTH

➞ cue june being like :’))) thank you in tiny

➞ jay mentioned this demo once during a live and he was like *fool lovesick smile* “minjunnie noona’s demo is really cool and beautiful. i wish one day you guys can listen to it”

➞ engenes were like: ok first. #MinJay my Parents – second thing: HYBE WHERE IS THE DEMO???

ORANGE BLOOD

orange flower (you complete me)

➞ as expected from the romanticist herself ….

➞ nothing more to add except for the fact that she had this song archived … she wrote it when she was #InLove

➞ but one day she found it again in her laptop folders and was like oh??? – same thing as polaroid love: shows it to the producers, and they’re like ?? why didn’t you bring this one up before. it’s so nice???

ROMANCE: UNTOLD

moonstruck

➞ OH MAN she also !!! ALSO !!! did the demo recording for this one

➞ it started as a random tune she had stuck in her head for days. she wasn’t at the studio when the inspiration hit her so she recorded the humming and some lyrics on her voice notes and wrote down random lyrics on her notes app (an icon, truly …)

➞ and when she had the chance, she didn’t step out of the studio until she had the song down, same day the demo got recorded

➞ jungwon said the original demo is sooo good, like . june wasn’t playing around that day. “june noona’s voice sounds really beautiful in the original demo. it never fails to surprise me how talented she is”

➞ engenes (again): HYBE WHERE IS THE DEMO ?????

𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒

“never got to say i love you” for the drama “a time called you” (2023) – songwriting and interpreted by june.

provided the female background vocals in the song "child" by mark by nct.

provided the female vocals in the song "0x1=lovesong (i know i love you)" by tomorrow x together.

co-writer of “miracle” by tomorrow x together.

co-producer of “blue fame” by le sserafim.

co-writer of “sour grapes” by le sserafim.

producer and co-writer of “cherish (my love)” by illit

producer and co-writer of “sos” by fifty fifty (demo record by her)

featured in “until i found you” by stephen sanchez and wrote her own part

co-producer of “impossible” by riize

co-writer and co-producer of “r.u.n” (r u next? theme song) by suzy

co-writer of “night poem” by nct dream

[3hks]

Avoid... When Writing Female Characters

One of the most common asks I receive revolves around female characters. Oftentimes, it's a writer who wants to know what I think of their character because they've gotten backlash from said character. And while initially, I wanted to make this post about how to CORRECTLY write female characters in recognition of these struggles, I just can't because there's no exact "right" way to write a gender.

But with that being said, there are many wrong ways to write them. Remember that these are all my opinions; if you disagree with anything, that's completely fine!

So, let's begin!

1. Filler For Diversity

Sometimes, you just have to include characters of different genders with the idea of adding diversity in mind. And while that's not the sincerest reason for including them, it's not a terrible one either.

However, if you're dealing out these characters as fillers with little personality, screen time, and/or importance just to claim that you're inclusive, the truth is, you're really not. As much as I appreciate the thought, it doesn't really make a story diverse.

2. Soft and Cute

I watch anime, so I can most definitely assure you that the "soft, cute, and innocent girl" trope is quite popular among this media. And to be frank, it annoys me to death.

If you're creating a cute female character to attract guy readers or to make other female readers swoon at how adorable she is; please don't. Not only are these characters inaccurate, but they often have VERY little dimension and/or personality. It's hard to read knowing their lacking purpose in the story.

3. Overly, Unnecessarily Tough

Let's talk about the direct opposite, now! As much as I love a good, tough, female character, sometimes I see the same issues with this trope as the one I mentioned above.

And that problem is a lack of depth.

Being tough is not a whole personality set. And honestly? It can get boring and annoying fast. Your character doesn't need to be tough to be strong.

4. Toxicity DOES NOT Mean Power

Out of all of my asks regarding female characters, most of them are probably asking about the toxic ones.

I see a lot of readers having this misconception that toxicity (for females), equals power and/or dominance when it couldn't be further from the truth. Toxicity is not something that should be empowered, and definitely not something that should be encouraged, no matter the gender.

5. Forgetting Personality

Sometimes, there seems to be nothing really wrong with the character, but they're just boring. And this brings me to point 5: women have personality too.

I think that some writers forget that females can be funny, they can be sarcastic, and they can be relaxed. Strength doesn't always have to be defined physically; it can also be seen through personality.

6. STOP OVERSEXUALIZING

This speaks for itself, guys. Stop sexualizing girls for no reason. When a female character is introduced, the first line I see should NOT be something about her "voluptuous chest".

7. Forgetting Development

This one isn't the biggest deal for me, but it adds on to number 5. Once in a while, I'll see a really intriguing character, only for the author to completely abandon developing her. And if it's an important character, that's just such a huge loss.

8. Introducing Them Purely as a Love Interest

When I see female characters, I naturally expect them to be a love interest because that's, y'know, their most common role. And I understand, sometimes it's necessary. But with that being said, I do think that we should stop restricting girls to the roles of love interests.

Sometimes, they can just be friends with each other and remain at that.

But what do you guys think? I'd love to know!

Happy writing~

3hks ^^

[wonderstarmedia]

Been thinking about potential Absolute Fab Five ideas all afternoon after reading Absolute Flash #1 and like it's probably not gonna be anything like I imagine but ig

TENTATIVE ABSOLUTE FAB FIVE IDEAS

Dick Grayson

Same basic beats of his origin except Bruce doesn't adopt him but he does inspire Dick to become a teen vigilante who moves from town to town, and city to city saving people. He doesn't really have all the same technical genius that Bruce does so his gear would be a lot more makeshift. Like basically "We are Robin" type vibes. Extra kudos if he's also darker skinned and being Romani has a bit more focus than it usually does in his stories. Also please let him be canonically bi for the love of god. I think he'd either be second or last to join the gang depending on what the timeline with absolute batman would be. I'd love for Wally to meet the other four asap but if we have to wait like 3 years then I still think he should meet Dick after Donna.

Roy

Honestly I feel like this'd be a good opportunity to make him actually Indigenous? Even if atp we have Ultimate Hawkeye so DC won't be able to ever escape the "copying" allegations imo since him being a recognised Navajo tribe member is such a non-existent aspect of his character rn I think this would be a good opportunity to pull from that history and make it actual meaningful representation. I'm Ugandan so idk what exactly that'd look like but as someone also directly affected by past and present day colonialism I think it'd add a whole new dimension to his anger and his complicated feelings about being in the care of this billionare white man (if Ollie is still rich in the ultimate universe.) And maybe having Ollie in his life could be another way to handle the topic of addiction from jump with more grace than Roy himself has been afforded in the past? Ollie could be in recovery and Roy could be trying his best to help him out of it even though Ollie's trying not to make him feel like it should be his responsibility?

Kaldur'ahm/Jackson Hyde

Garth is my sweet baby fish boy but Jackson is my prefered Aqualad so I'd love for him to be on whatever first Absolute Titans there'd be 😭 and I think a Jackson raised by Black Manta could add a very cool dynamic to the team. It's not a Titans story without the exploration of what family even is and how it defines you and the conflict of his upbringing and who he wants to be would be familiar territory without it being the same 2 or 3 characters we always tell this story with. I'd love if he was specifically called Kaldur'ahm since he'd be raised in Atlantis in this but also cause 1) it's a cool name and 2) him in YJ was like the only good thing to come out of that show and I'd like his absolute characterisation to be much closer to that Aqualad at first. Maybe he and Dick have a lil flirtationship that probably doesn't actually go anywhere because it'd be funny if all the openly queer members on the team don't date each other.

Donna Troy

Unsurprisingly the character I started thinking about in the first place because in Return of Donna Troy she's literally stated to be an anomaly in the multiverse so there's a very real possibility that she'll have the least changes made to her despite the fact the Amazons are currently imprisoned for eternity and that in of itself could be a whole fun timeline thing in of itself that gives us a greater understanding of the Absolute Universe. Which I'd love actually, but I do think like with Diana you could give her a few changes here and there and she'd still be the most Donna Troy to ever Donna Troy. The PJO fan in me thinks it'd be cool if she was either a Titan (child of/embodiment of/some sort of connection to Atlas would be my pick cause the through-line from his association to the sky and her association with stars is so fucking cool imo) who was raised by humans or a human who was raised by Titans (again preferably related to Atlas in some way). This'd put her in direct opposition to the gods just by existing which makes her Diana's ally (kind of because being affiliated with Titans would still come with so many issues of if she could be trustworthy) but still give her all the conflicting identity issues that are so integral to her character. Plus it could lead to a dope af "I'm a Titan" line drop with a double meaning whenever the whole gang is together that'd also maybe give them being called Titans some context beyond the name sounding cool lmao.

I'd love if she met Wally first cause ofc she's my fave and I think their friendship could be sweet but also cause she'd be a great bridge for a crossover between absolute WW and absolute flash that we wouldn't have to wait for 3 to 5 for years because Wonder Woman wouldn't have to be all that established for her to show up? Like she could literally show up in the coming chapters wherever Diana is rn (how cool would it be if she did omg).

And lastly Wally West

I trust that I'm gonna love everything about him in this book but to add: how cool would it be if they made him trans 😭😭😭😭😭 it's DC so it's not gonna happen but his vibes are so transgender I need that shit so bad if you're not gonna give Jess anything then at least let absolute Wally be trans 😭🙏🏾 also I know it's an actual pipe dream to wish for canonical BirdFlash but man it'd be great if they also had some sort of yaoi going on😭

[fishiestickie]

ENOUGH DRAWING PEOPLE'S OCS. /SILLY WHERE ARE *YOUR* OCS I AM WILLING TO DRAW THEM >:D

OH! OH OH OH OKAY OKAY HERES SOME OF MY OCS

FLATLAND OCS YAYYY!:

so the first one is Marley, or M. Cube if you wanna call her that. The second one is Lyn, or L. Line.

I have yet to talk about these guys all that much, but the whole gist of their story is that Marley talks to Lyn about the third dimension.

To go more in depth: Their story takes place way in the past, long before the events of canon Flatland. Lyn is just your average line, though people don't really seem to look at her as "average" because she doesn't know how to talk to people, and also she's an absolute bitch. Yeahhh Lyn kind of just... doesn't like anyone in general... She's also a girlkisser btw lol, so's Marley.

But anyway, while Lyn is just living her life minding her business, Marley pretty much shows up out of nowhere to teach Lyn about the the wonderful fantastic world of Spaceland, yayyy. Naturally, Lyn is kind of skeptical and is her usual bitchy-self, but since she's always kind of questioned if everything she was ever told was right, Marley is able to get her to believe that there is in fact a third dimension relatively easily. She never directly shows Lyn the third dimension, though, mostly because she doesn't have the technology to do so (because if she tried to lift Lyn out of Flatland with her bare hands, she would die lol.) But with enough explaining and convincing, Lyn is taught about the third dimension, which is great for her.

So anyway, after that, Marley just leaves immediately which, naturally, Lyn is pretty devastated about (imagine if you were visited by a higher being and told about some awesome other world and then it just leaves.) She tries to keep this knowledge to herself for a few days, because she's already bad enough at conveying any info at all, but after a while she can't take it anymore and finally tries to tell someone. Which eventually leads to her being hunted down and executed, pretty much.

Oh, but thats not the end of the story!

This is 16-cell, A.K.A E. Hexadecachoron or Edgar. A being from the fourth dimension, or as I like to sometimes call it, Angleland.

So anyway, after a while, Marley goes to check on Lyn only to find that she's, y'know, fucking dead. So this is genuinely heartbreaking for Marley, because she had gotten attached to Lyn, then found out she's dead? Yeah. Sad. But before Marley can be all depressed about it, she's visited by 16-cell, the 4D guy. 16-cell tells Marley that he's here to teach her about the fourth dimension, much like Marley had come to teach Lyn about the third. Only this time, he actually shows her the fourth dimension. So after a while, while Marley is in Angleland, 16-cell tells her that he knows about Lyn, and says that Marley could see her again (because the fourth dimension is kind of time, kind of a spacial dimension, its sorta complicated...) to which, obviously, Marley agrees to do. So they travel through time, back to when Lyn was still alive, and 16-cell actually shows her the third—and fourth!—dimension. But anyway, Lyn and Marley reunite, yuri, the end. (For now, until I add more details to their story... thats just what I have right now...)

Sorry, just wanted to rant about them! I love my silly shape gals... Also maybe if you know their story you'll be able to make more silly drawings, so. That's sorta what I was going for.

Hope that all made sense btw.

I HAVE OTHER OCS TOO! but uh... I don't really have their stories fleshed out, nor have i named them, so right now I kind of just have a bunch of spare shape guys lying around. So yeah.

ILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR ART OF MY SILLIES

[bestworstcase]

any thoughts on the branwens (as in, the group, not the twins) like world building tidbits? also, because i’ve seen people bring it up, raven has killed a lot of people (assumably??), so how do you think the show will handle that going forward?

i kind of metronome back and forth with the branwens on how i read them, because – with the disclaimer that it is Not That Deep because the whole bandit tribe exists to service raven's character and to a lesser extent qrow's, i just brought a shovel – i think there's two interesting ways to take them:

the branwens are an ethnic group, probably historically pastoralist nomads. in this case the composition of the camp we see – 100% able-bodied fighters, no children or elderly – would indicate that this is just a war party and the rest of this society is out in the hinterlands with the livestock. mistrali expansion in the pre-war era would have driven them further and further onto marginal land, with the result of them becoming increasingly reliant on raiding to survive.

the branwens represent a grab-bag of disaffected people who Left Mistral because of its various problems (steep class stratification, widespread poverty, rampant organized crime, political corruption, imperial history meaning many people living in mistral now are descended from conquered peoples…) and discovered that like, subsistence farming is hard and turned to banditry instead, in which case the branwens are unlikely to be very cohesive in the absence of a strong leader because there's less of a cultural bond.

#2 strikes me as more in line with the probable intention based on how they're portrayed, but assuming "branwen" is the tribe name (as opposed to them being "the branwen tribe" now because a woman named raven branwen leads them), then i think #1 is more interesting with regard to ozpin admitting qrow and raven to beacon.

if the branwens are an ethnic minority in mistral, ozpin is a lot more likely to have heard of them vs an ad hoc group of bandits. now consider how "the branwens are an ethnic minority (and the encampment we see is a war party, supplementing a pastoral subsistence base by raiding)" alters the context of "aside from grimm, huntsmen were the only ones capable of ruining our raids and hunting us down. our tribe needed a counterforce." and think about the mistrali huntsmen openly extorting passengers for protection money.

right. like, again it's Not That Deep, we're in headcanon territory here, but pulling away from the text in this way adds an interesting dimension to the twins' enrollment – on the one hand it would be discriminatory for ozpin to reject them on the basis of being branwens and on the other, we know that mistral broadly has a serious problem with corrupt and outright criminal huntsmen and the fear of huntsmen "hunting us down" means something very different if the bandits are just the military force of a nomadic society – it's a fear not for the warriors but for the most vulnerable members.

and then you have the twins on this divergent path because their purpose (to protect those of their people who cannot defend themselves) is exactly ozpin's purpose, he just defines the whole world as his people. it's not so much that the twins reject the branwen way of thinking as it is that ozpin challenges them to expand upon it, to think bigger and wider than before.

qrow embraces this and it shifts his perspective on the raiding – he comes to see it as part of the problem, the warriors as killers and thieves; raven likewise embraces it but in her mind, ozpin's ideals are the justification for the raiding. the warriors exist to defend the people, here as at home. what difference does it make if the danger is from grimm or huntsmen or deprivation?

(on its face this may seem contradicted by "the strong live, the weak die," except that raven is also someone preoccupied with "our people," "our family," "we must do what's right for the tribe" and so forth; a strong society is one that can protect its people, even the weak, and the rhetorical idea of heroic guardians sheltering the defenseless populace boils down to "the strong live, and the weak will die without protection by the strong.")

#2 interests me more in terms of how it contributes to the picture the narrative has painted of mistral as this decaying empire that is sort of hemorrhaging population because people. don't want to live there, don't want to have its way of life imposed on them, and we see over and over that the people who feel this way often feel so strongly that they'd genuinely rather leave and take their chances with the grimm.

like, we don't see that in vale – mountain glenn was built under vale's auspices and populated by valean citizens – and we don't see it in atlas – the free towns in arrowfell are clearly older than atlas/mantle. and we don't see it in vacuo, where despite marked cultural differences between desert vacuans and city vacuans both groups firmly consider themselves One People.

i think it's less interesting in regard to the twins than the first option, though. because if the branwens are legitimately just bandits then the absence of children/elderly in the camp would imply that the twins were kept solely to be trained into weapons and the break between them is more straightforward, with their different perspectives reflecting a childhood dynamic where qrow was the whipping boy and raven favored.

whereas if the branwens constitute a whole, functional society – a) any children born into this group must learn some basic self defense as a matter of course, they live in grimm territory, and b) the nature of qrow's semblance, the tribe's fear of him, and his grimm reaper fanboying opens the question of whether it was less "the twins were kept to be molded into living weapons" and more "qrow didn't want to become a warrior, but misfortune kept getting blamed for things like sheep dying or a birth going wrong or grimm hitting the main camp and he wanted so badly to be good for something, and going on raids kept him at a safe distance from home and in a place where he could at least try to inflict misfortune on the enemy instead."

you still have the dynamic of qrow suffering ostracism and maybe even the threat of exile while raven is a natural fit for what she wants to be, and the first stroke of the lifelong pattern qrow has of isolating himself from people he cares for in this specific way. "why couldn't you travel with us?" / "did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck?" – hits different if the defining experience of qrow's childhood was running with war parties because he was too dangerous to be a shepherd. if the thing that really appealed to him most about the legend of the grimm reaper was that she was good enough to protect and defend her people alone.

and then from raven's side you have the maybe not entirely getting why qrow would want to be anything else, and the being glad her brother is with her most of the time, and the being afraid he might leave her behind. i just think it allows for more complexity.

as for raven killing people: i honestly don't think it's going to matter that much beyond maybe raven and yang having a conversation about it – bc i think yang will probably want to know more about why raven picked banditry over being her mom. like.

it happened. raven feeling remorseful isn't going to make it not have happened. she can't bring those people back to life or rebuild those towns or undo what she did. in vacuo, on the other side of the world, there's not really anything she can do meaningfully within the scope of the story to make amends to the people she hurt, either. what matters in the moment is that she's here now, doing what she can to help. the narrative has always cared more about the present and the future than the past, and the stakes are too high for the characters to let "but you did all this awful stuff in the past" become a distraction.

gestures at letting neo go.

gestures at giving emerald a second chance.

and while the context is different and in no way morally equivalent, i'll point out that like. team rwby have killed people too – the white fang militants in v2 for example, and of course adam – they are trained combatants fighting a war. none of them have ever blinked at using lethal force when it is appropriate to do so. and if they can find it in themselves to show grace to emerald, whose reason for participating in the terroristic sack of beacon was more or less just devotion to cinder, then i don't think subsistence raiding is somehow a bridge too far.

not to say that what the branwens do isn't bad but it is of a different scale from terrorism, and raiding for provisions you need to survive is a lot closer to killing enemy combatants in a battle, or to robyn's or sienna's vigilantism, than it is to terrorism. so yeah i think it's ancillary to the personal reconciliation between raven and yang moreso than it is some sort of moral quandary necessitating special handling by the narrative.

[moralesmilesanhour]

flowerbyte headcanons

Cuz the tag empty as hell and I am their self-appointed PR manager

It's one thing to think the other is cute. It's another thing to actually get to *know* them.

At first they bond over shared hobbies. Normal kiddie stuff like molecular physics, nothing too crazy

That is, until Miles asks a question that's juuust crossing the line between "okay" and "too personal"

That's when he realizes that Margo likes to keep people at an arm's length.

Which he only partially gets, because they've all got a secret identity to hide, and mental health issues to hide from their parents until they hit 18

But shouldn't it be different with him?

Okay now that all the people who were looking for fluff have left

Margo doesn't like to discuss feelings. They're messy and u can't program them to do what u want 💔 she likes to hide behind mild sarcasm and large sanrio plushies

If Miles hadn't asked her out first then she would've been content with an eternity of soft glances and awkward flirting

Miles is marginally better at feelings. In fact, there is no point at which she's unaware of how he feels about something

It's comforting. And terrifying

All of this is to say that their whole early relationship dynamic is trying to open up to each other while trying to keep the space-time continuum from falling apart like a Nature Valley bar

You know what's even more difficult than that? Inviting your bf that you've been interacting with via virtual avatar for like a year to your dimension

But it's fine. Miles makes a lot of bad jokes about the transition to color television in the 50s, tells her she's pretty, and it's fine.

He asks Margo about her favorite movies and shows so that he can psychoanalyze her and fine-tune his recommendations

She offers to fix all of his "vintage" electronics because they're a "historical marvel" or something

They're both annoying as hell together. God forbid you say something and they both take turns infodumping to you about The Thing like a neurodivergent tag team

Autism vs ADHD

Unstoppable force vs Immovable object. Miles is incredibly stubborn and needs things to happen in a Very Specific Way and Margo does shit in a completely different order every time and somehow they make it work

Those are all my brainrot thoughts for now feel free 2 add on if u want [disappears in a cloud of smoke]

[sloppy-rants]

Rottmnt Rant #2

(Leonardo centered)

One thing I adore about rise is that if you pay attention there are no character traits that ever come out of the blue. They have always been present within the show, they just don’t have any spotlights on them.

One example of this is Leo’s martyr complex, as well as his habit of making jokes out of serious situations. These traits are very present in the movie, and are even main plot points that push the narrative forward. These traits have always been present in the show, however one episode that I think contains multiple examples of these is the episode “Flushed but Never Forgotten.”

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE EPISODE AND THE MOVIE⚠️

In the episode Flushed but Never Forgotten, the boys accidentally flush their dad’s pet fish, Piebald. They decide to cover it up, lying to their dad and replacing piebald with a ‘perfect’ replica (a rock with googly eyes glued on). After about a year, Mikey starts to feel guilt over the loss of piebald, and tells the rest of his brothers about writing on the walls and voices he’s heard that he thinks are coming from her.

We find out that Piebald has returned, and is now a mutant capable of talking and possessing abilities such as turning invisible/camouflaging with her surroundings. Upon initial discovery, the boys are terrified. All of them except Leo.

Leo responds to seeing piebald with “Okay so she’s a mutant.” While the others are obviously scared shitless. This only lasts for a moment, but it demonstrates his true nature, as in this moment he hasn’t had enough time to lie and come up with some sort of fake or funny reaction. He uses one of his coping mechanisms, humor, to deal with the situation. Now of course, after this he goes right back to being scared with all of his brothers, as one would do, but I find it interesting that his initial reaction was to tone down the situation and after that he showed fear, rather than the other way round. Moments like this are sprinkled through the whole show, but I decided to focus on this one simply because of how small and fast it is. It would have been so easy to have Leo just scream along with all the others, but the writers decided to add this bit in. You might think of this as just a joke the writers added in for shits and giggles, but he does this multiple times in the series. A rather popular example of this being his line “Soo.. you guys from Jersey?” in the very first episode.

Now his Martyr complex, I know is a very popular topic for Leo. It provides juicy angst, and it’s a wonderful topic to use for drawings, fan fictions, and rants such as I’m doing now. But usually, those are all centered around the movie. The movie’s climax features Leo locking himself in the prison dimension with Krang prime, sacrificing himself for those he cares about. What I don’t think people talk about enough is that this isn’t the only time Leo does this. This is another reason why I decided to focus on this episode specifically.

Later in the episode, Piebald ends up taking Leo’s entire family. His brothers, his dad, even the paper foot ninja they took in. Initially, he has a plan to gain the upper hand against Piebald. He uses her own trick against her, camouflaging with his surroundings to use the element of surprise against her. Once this fails, however, he finds himself backed into a corner. His family is tied together, hanging behind him as they dangle over a large whirlpool of sewer water, about to be flushed as they had done to Piebald so long ago. In one last desperate attempt to save his family, he pleads with Piebald to let his family go, and take him instead.

He says, “flush me and let my family go.” Clearly stating the he wishes to sacrifice himself for those he cares about. He’s been running this whole episode. Running from the monster, running from the responsibility of Piebald’s “death”, and running from telling the truth to his dad. Now, as the only one left, he knows it’s him who has to save his family, and when given no other choice, he chooses himself as the sacrifice. It’s not even suggested to him that he sacrifice himself, he came up with that on his own. He doesn’t know what will happen to him, he just wants his family to be safe.

Sadly, this moment is short lived as immediately after he says this Piebald cuts the rope to drop the others into the whirlpool, which is where the whole thing is revealed to be a ruse made up by Splinter and Piebald to teach the boys a lesson. But I still think this moment should be talked about more. It’s so interesting to me.

It’s one thing that I think people get wrong a lot. A popular trope I see with Leo is that in any danger whatsoever he will deliberately go out of his way to sacrifice himself first. It’s his first and only plan, and he truly believes it will 100% work out. Watching the show though, this just isn’t true. Leo is a good leader, and he knows what his brothers are capable of. He’s able to use their skills to come up with a clever plan that almost always works when he really puts thought into it. It’s when he’s backed into a corner, stuck between a rock and a hard place that he resorts to his final plan. His last chance to keep everyone he loves safe and more importantly alive. If it comes down to it, he will use himself as the scapegoat willingly, even if the others don’t want it. I love Leo angst so much, and I love it even better when it’s done right. Leo is a smart guy, he knows when he can find an easy way out of things. That’s what makes it even more devastating when he resorts to his martyr complex, because it’s always either a last resort, or a split second decision. I think what people try to do is make it his first instinct, which I can agree with if written to be believable.

Moments that represent these traits come and go quickly, but I think that’s part of why Rise is so well written. The creators trust their viewers, and are aware that things don’t need to be spelled out in order for us to understand them. This show is honest to god just so amazing, and a wonderful example of when artists put out a work that they really care about for others to enjoy.

[tianasficrecs168]

Random Naruto Fic recs

Most of these are going to be general fic recs, ones without a ship, just focused on family/friendship and whatnot.

Also I'm obsessed with time travel, so like. There's a lot of that here.

A whole bunch of abandoned works, as well, sadly. This doesn't mean they aren't worth reading just bc they're unfinished!!! Please give 'em a chance.

Edit: some fics from here have been moved to a different list (yes I figured out how to categorize stuff just now, shut up), you can find them on my Warring States Era Naruto Fics

Here's the sitch:

A black dot • means it’s a one-shot

Brackets (…) means it's still being updated/not done/WIP – and I'm paying close attention to it

(000) -> disappeared off the internet (don't worry I have a copy shh)

(general+) -> Time travel or dimension hopping – something along those lines

100demons: "Ten Years Gone" (general+) a series, one of three Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self. (It gets a lot more complicated.)

Chica Blanca: - "One Chance" (...) (general+) last update: 2020 Revenge never tasted so bitter. It never was supposed to be this useless waste of life. Now Sasuke has a chance to go back and change everything.

Frozen Shattered Roses: - “Loop” (...) (general+)                       last update: 2009 My name is Naruto and I'm cursed. I'm trapped in a loop of time, reliving the final fourteen years of my life for the third time. Only this time things will be different, because this time I have a plan to escape.

Phoenyxx: - “Unofficial adoption” (general) • A bed-ridden, sickly Kakashi receives a tiny unexpected visitor late at night, which causes a few interesting discoveries. Another moment to add to an alternate universe.

Jedi Honor Bound Ninja: - “To Be Cared For” (general) • Naruto doesn't often get sick, but when he does he knows his routine: hunker down and be miserable. But this time around maybe he can finally have a taste of what others normally have.

Laurelsblue: - “Summer Grass” (general) • There are many misconceptions about her. 20 Truths about Fuu, the Nanabi Jinchuuriki.

Blackkat: “Sweet baby, I need fresh blood” (general+) • Shukaku fixes the timeline. Grumpily. And with a lot of bloodshed.

Blackkat: “With friends like these” (general) • If she isn’t utterly mistaken, there's a flush rising in Orochimaru’s pale cheeks, one she only ever used to see when Jiraiya was being especially handsy during their genin days. It’s been a long time since Orochimaru got over that particular crush, and Tsunade stares at him now, at the averted eyes and rising color and aggrieved slant to his mouth, and feels glee bubbling up inside of her. “Really?” she says, delighted. “Who?”

Blackkat: “This is the passing of all shining things” (general) • There's a monster whispering in Minato's head, curled around his soul. It’s vast and hungry and full of fury, radiates it and basks in it and lets it spill over through the bars that cage it. If Minato had one ounce more energy, he would rage too, but— Anger is a luxury right now, an indulgence. He can't afford it.

Blackkat: “Switch It Up” (general) • Yamato is assigned to Team 7 as their jounin sensei. He may or may not be an evil mastermind, but it all works out for the better.

QuoteMyFoot: - “In The Name Of” (general) • Slowly, Sasuke forgets what 'living' is. (Post-massacre)

Searching.For.Enadi: “If the shoe fits“ (...) (general+)                     last update: 2020 Time travel. Technically, she could consider this the greatest mission she has ever undertaken, or a brilliant opportunity to finally hit the hot springs. (Or, the one where Haruno Sakura really, really needs a vacation).

Whispering Darkness: - “The life and times of Hatake Kakashi: nukenin” (...) (general+) In the sealed scroll he finds a Bingo Book – his own page marking him as an S-class nukenin with flee-on-sight orders. “Ok. That is definitely different.” In his head he blames Naruto – even if his number one unpredictable student had been nowhere near him on this mission. When things go this stupidly impossibly wrong it must somehow be the future Hokage’s fault. *it's marked as completed but the story's not done in my heart. so i live in delusional hope that it'll be updated one day

Narf—for-the-Garthoc: “Beautiful Day” (general) • Naruto focuses on his last day as Hokage and the people who mean so much to him.

Agent Malkere: - „What You Knead“ (...) (general) last update: 2022 It started, as most things did in Kakashi's life, with a mission gone wrong. (In which Kakashi accidentally acquires an emotionally healthy coping technique.)

Katlou303: - „Time Flies Like An Arrow“ (...) (general+) last update: 2021 Sakura traveled back in time with the intent of changing everything, but something went wrong, and now she's a four-year-old civilian having nightmares about impossible monsters and losing friends she has yet to meet.

Deletrear: - „Kick The Habit“ (...) (general+)                              last update: 2020 Yes, Itachi's emotional and physical well-being is his first and only priority. No, Sasuke does not have anything remotely resembling a plan to ensure this. It's fine, honestly.

Wroth_and_ruin: - „About Face“ (...) (general)                                      last update: 2017 A little yellow-haired boy saves Sakura from the bullies. And everything changes.

Elumish: - „Adoption by Defenestration; or, A Family Can Be A Fox Demon, Its Jinchuriki, and Three Dozen Highly-Trained Assassins” (general) • He will not be the ANBU who let the jinchuuriki plummet to his death out a fourth story window. Let that be another ANBU’s legacy.

Elesrea: - “Anachronistic Drift” (...) (general+) last updated: 2021                                    Her plan was flawless. Save Shisui. Save the world.

Cyan96: - “Kurama” (...) (general)                                        last update: 2018 Namikaze Minato makes a mistake. Uzumaki Kushina makes a choice. Naruto ends up growing up with a red haired, foul tempered older brother who wants Konoha to be atomized, preferably yesterday.

Dragonpyre: - “Time Travel? What the Fuck?” (...) (general+)                                                       last update: 2020 Basically, Team 7 vs. Kaguya, final smack down. Then suddenly POOF they’re twelve again and waiting to meet their sensei on team assignment day. With no way to get back they decide to stop the war before it begins, and maybe save some people along the way. But they’re twelve, how are they supposed to do that? Starring: Naruto Everyone's-My-Friend Uzumaki, Sasuke Maybe-I-Won't-Destroy-Konoha Uchiha, and Sakura Better-Than-This Haruno; with a guest appearance from Kakashi's guilt complex. We'll be in for a ride folks.

Tozette: - “Strike A Match” (general+) • Sasuke could have reversed time to save the world. He could have done it for his mother and his father, he could have done it for his clan or his village. That's... Those are sweet ideas. They're sort of like what might happen if you let Naruto imagine a motive for Sasuke to return to his hellish childhood. Save the village. Save the world. Be a hero. Sasuke makes a terrible hero.

YumeMadarame: - “I’ll fix it for you” (general+) Kurama wakes up in the dark, trapped inside a human body. The memory loss doesn't help. The Uchiha body either. When he finally understands he’s been sent years in the past, – decades, even – before Kaguya’s revival, before the devastation that had come with it, and before Naruto’s birth… he realizes he’s been given a chance to start anew. An opportunity to make things right, this time around.

Microgeek: - “Fox and Son” (...) (general) last update: 2021 Kurama has little love for humans and even less for his jailors, those Uzumaki with wind and tide in their blood, audacious enough to trap a god beneath their skins. But there is enough love left in him for his newest host, who had as little say in this life as Kurama did, and asked Kurama for friendship anyway. (In which Kurama raises a child out of love, hope, and spite, Naruto grows up to be terrifying, and Konoha collectively regrets that an ancient chakra-beast is better at parenting than they are.)

AvocadoLove: “Teach Your Children Well” (...) (general+)                    last update: 2010 What difference can one man make? After Madara and Sasuke's final attack on the village, Rokudaime Kakashi finds a time-travel scroll. Now he's Team Seven's sensei again. And this time, he's going to do things differently. 

Lolistar92: “Kit and kin” (general+) a series, one of 8 (no this isn't a typo. 8) The Sandaime is resolute when he shakes his head. “No, Kakashi. Naruto is safe where he is. Return to your post, as ordered.” Kakashi doesn’t move. “I’ll give you time to reconsider,” he says, jovial tone chilling with how juxtaposed it is from his previous killing intent. ~~~~ Or, former Rokudaime Kakashi wakes up in the body of his 14 year old self, fresh from the Kyuubi attack. He may not have been allowed to save his first pack, but he sure as hell is going to save Naruto.

[b3achysurfur]

If we notice in the webtoon, Taylor and Ben are the only ones who have not been seriously injured...

Aiden was crushed

Tyler was impaled

Ashlyn had a concussion

Logan ended up with a big cut on his side

Do you think something worse could happen to Taylor and Ben?

I think eventually all of them will face some sort of serious injury, so I highly doubt Ben and Taylor will be safe. I think ashlyn and Logan will also get more deadly wounds soon (hope Logan is first in line 🙏)

But I do find it interesting that they are the only two unharmed. Especially since they had a mini romance going on in S1. awwww I miss them 😢

Whats also interesting is how impulsive, destructive, and agressive Taylor has been lately as well as her increased screentime 😈

We’ve also unfortunately seen Logan get a lot of panels lately as well. And idk if u guys remember S1 but Tyler, ashlyn, and Aiden were the ones who got a lot of attention. But now that Tyler and Aiden are out , the attention has shifted to Taylor and Logan. But not Ben!!!!! (I want more Ben screentime, fuck Logan no body gaf what’s going on with him 😒 tell me ab Benny boy NOOOWWWW!!!!!!)

my point is Taylor or Logan may be the next to experience a major event. They’ve also been the ones exhibiting the most “phantom traits” , MOSTLY Taylor tho. also there’s a few other things that point to Taylor being in harms way very soon.

but basically the signs are telling me Taylor is gonna go through smth much worse than what’s happening rn. Back to Taylor and Ben’s relationship tho. Ben always tries to give back to things that treat him well, idrk how to word it. In S1 Taylor is very considerate of the whole group, but there are a few instances where she focuses on him.

in S2, ben mirrors this act by physically protecting her and attempting to comfort her to the best of his abilities

taylor leans into this comfort and support, even if it’s only by a little. taylor needs people, and ben can easily become her person. they both value their family and friends a lot and are willing to put their lives on the line/distance themselves if it means protecting them. they both have lost someone who has guided them out of a dark time in their life to the phantom dimension. they both are kind hearted people who are gentle. they are both a pea to someone’s pod (Aiden and Ben, Taylor and Tyler). they understand each other better than anyone else.

Ben cares about Taylor a lot. we don’t get scenes of them like we do with aidlyn anymore, but we do get little snippets. he is willing to protect her , even if it puts himself at risk. HE COVERED HER COMPLETELY WITH HIMSELF!!! HE DIDNT EVEN COVER HIS HEAD OR ANYTHINGG IGHWHEHA!!??? He had been holding her in place ever since the phantom had started chasing them. HE CARES SM IT HURTS ME.

ben has been such a neglected character, but I don’t think this was for no reason. I believe Ben’s time will come. I was honestly expecting a reaction out of him when Aiden ‘died’ but we got aidlyn so idrc 😈🙏. anyways a lot of people want to see Ben tweak AND I DO TOO!!! but you also have to remember, him not getting mad and bearing with the situation shows how much he has grown from his past. Ben has intense anger issues that he’s HEAVILY ashamed of. keeping himself in check is already hard enough with day to day triggers, but add his new phantom situation onto that? mans is STRUGGLING, but since it’s in silence no one ever talks ab it 🙁 we’ve seen Tyler crack under this pressure, Logan getting madder, and taylor has gotten angrier too! ashlyn is more stressed and tired than angry, and Aiden is having fun most of the time. but Ben? he’s been trying his absolute hardest to not flip out.

so that combined with his affection for tay, if something bad really does happen to her, I do believe it will be his final straw. There’s only so much self control a 14 year old has (even though most adults would’ve went insane by now). Whether Taylor turns into a phantom or she gets injuries/dies, it will hit Ben HARD. Tyler will also be affected, but I really hope it doesn’t overshadow Ben. Losing Taylor would mean Ben wasn’t able to protect her like he wanted to and after Aiden also got hurt, I don’t think he would be able to take it. I think it’ll also extremely upset him when he finds out his family got caught in the crossfire of the kidnapping.

I was thinking about it, and we might actually see ben use his voice out of desperation. I really hope we don’t, bc I think ben not being verbal is nice representation, it’s so important to his character, and I love seeing how ben expresses himself without words. but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he used it to call out to someone. The way this scene (⬇️⬇️) is worded is like, “he CAN (might even) talk, he just doesn’t WANT (have a reason) too”. i really hope he doesn’t, but it’s definitely a possibility 😢 especially if we get a ben centered arc that’s caused by his anger and the loss he’s experienced.

All in all, I don’t think Ben be the next one to be injuried really, but I do think Taylor will. And Taylor getting hurt will finally open up a arc centered around/that includes ben 🙏

hope red gives us the craziest angst we've ever seen for them two and then kills Logan 😛

(sorry for rambling sm 😓 I tried to shorten it but now i feel like some parts don’t make sense. UGH WTV!!! I’m very passionate about Ben and the affects Taylor has had on him 😒)

[evelhak]

I’m curious about a few: Propinquity, Anem and Bitchberg (a great name, lol)

Well, you've already read about Bitchberg by now from the previous ask. :D

Lol, I actually winced a little when I saw you asked about "Propinquity" since it's the current working title of my Akashi centric fic, and I know you don't find him that interesting. It's still just a bunch of "notes" (=bits of monologue and dialogue that come to me and I have to write down so I won't forget). I haven't actively started this fic yet, since I can't really write multiple projects at the same time. I will probably have to finish another shorter fic after The Luminous Things, before I get to this one.

I know the opening lines, though:

Winning is like breathing. Sometimes I wake up, gasping for air, but my lungs seem to have fallen into a partial state of paralysis.

Or something fairly close to that. The idea has been in my head for a long time, because I really enjoy digging up ignored dimensions that kind of naturally follow from whatever is going on in canon.

There is of course one thing in this fic that could interest you: The main love interest is an OC. :) You know some things about Azumi already. Here's a snippet that will probably serve as her introduction in the fic:

I absolutely pretended to be the empress of this micro-utopia, growing up. Not because it was mine to conquer, or control. Because it was mine to know. To pick apart. Explore, taste, and merge with. A little pocket of wonder in this huge city, a bubble with its own rules. That's what I came to realise pretty soon, anyway. About the world. How different, how illogical and ultimately unsatisfying it was, compared to my shrine, my home, my own ecosystem, my island of undisturbed ground. It frustrates me that the rest of the world doesn't know how to do it. Live and let live. Give and take. Circle of life. A system that works. Because I was born into it. An heir to it. Happiness.

Micro-utopias are a huge element in my whole fic series as it progresses, and there are several kinds of them, Azumi's home life being its own example. Utopia is generally something I'm really interested to write about, especially because a lot of people claim you can't write interesting utopia without making it dystopia in the end, and I very much disagree with that, as people are always imperfect, so you don't need to add any intentionally awful circumstances for a story to have conflict, if you're writing believable people. For me, the key to what makes the most out of utopia is to centre it around whose utopia it is and why. This got slightly off topic, these are just themes I really like exploring and since my fics are my playground, I definitely use them for exploration of things I might want to write later in a more polished form in my original fiction.

The working title "Propinquity" came while I was writing a chapter in The Luminous Things where Kagami ends up lost in Kyoto (it's complicated) and spends the night in Azumi's place, where he has many enlightening conversations with Akashi. (Azumi and Akashi are already together in my main fic timeline, their own fic will cover how they got together, among other things.)

Here's a snippet from the chapter also titled "Propinquity", which I haven't yet posted anywhere, so things might still change a little, but for now, Akashi muses something like this in it:

"[Propinquity] is the central theme of this shrine. Things develop, and change, and prosper in propinquity. It rings true, doesn’t it? Right things, wrong things… so it really matters what you surround yourself with. It’s not enough to know and think. You have to see, and taste, and touch… A plant wouldn’t grow from the understanding that it needs water, if it never got it. It would still die from poison, no matter how informed it was. Azumi knew all of this, so bone deep. That’s why she was disappointed with the world. That’s why she retreated back to her paradise. I think that’s what caught my attention at first. How she had a physical place to go to when she needed to get away."

I probably would not have developed any need to write a story about Akashi's love life on my own. (Well, it's not all there is to it, but it is a how-they-get-together type of story). It was the influence of my ex, who's a big Akashi fan, and as I have probably said before, Azumi was originally her OC that we worked on together a lot. Eventually I grew attached to Akashi and Azumi together, and now I have my own version of the story.

I don't think I actually read any Akashi x OC fics myself, but my ex read them and complained about them, usually, and I picked up on two pretty common patterns, which I didn't want to do: I didn't want the OC to be 1) poor, or 2) have a similar family dynamic and childhood trauma as Akashi. This is because I wasn't interested in dealing with the power imbalance that tends to come with very different socioeconomic standing, and I also didn't want to write a relationship where people get stuck in validating each other's trauma, and it takes them a long time to grow beyond that phase because their relationship is centred around how similar their experiences are. I wanted to hit that sweet spot which I like the most, a relationship that centres around growth, having enough common ground, and being inspired by things about the other that you've never experienced before, or even believed really exists in the world. The kind of relationship that makes you feel that you want to fill your own gaps, and a key factor in that is the proximity, or, propinquity to a person you can rely on, because they don't have the same weaknesses as you. I just really love writing about people who are good influences to each other.

A lot of this fic will also be about dissociation and trauma. Yay.

Anem, then, is another original novel I've started multiple times without being completely satisfied. The premise is pretty classic religious cult + good girl/bad girl dynamic, or at least would seem like that in the beginning.

Here's how I seem to have described it on my website at some point:

Dina is a good girl. She picks up flowers every morning, to put on the altar of her family’s home. She’s chaste, she’s beautiful. She fears God. Semira is a “Wild One”, she rarely goes to church, she speaks out of turn. She could be beautiful, if her hair wasn’t so short. Dina doesn’t think it’s her job to save Semira. After all, if the Fathers don’t know how to help the girl, how could she? But Dina keeps ending up spending time with Semira anyway, and the more she does, the stronger the big black swirling something grows in her stomach. There’s clearly something very wrong about Semira. And there’s something wrong about the woods surrounding their isolated village. Dina knows she’s supposed to stay away, but Semira keeps going into the woods.

It has a lot bigger world and anything but clear-cut themes and dynamics, even though it may seem like that in the beginning... and it's one of those early projects that are sort of everything, because you're not good at narrowing it down yet. It's like a dystopian supernatural medieval fantasy horror philosophical cult story I wrote just to barf out everything I was thinking in my early years of studying theology. It's certainly a cult story, but is the cult the big bad or the world around it? It's certainly a queer story, but is it a love story or a hate story? It's certainly trying to say something, but what? No one knows, not even me. It's a big mess.

I'm also starting to feel like I'm dealing with every element and theme I have in this story, in some other story too, and coincidentally someone from my writing group actually just got a book published this year that has a strikingly similar setting and themes, (we both wrote them without knowing about each other) and even though it shouldn't, it does kind of add to my confusion to what to do with this story. I do still want to write it at some point, but it's a big question mark that sort of just pops up from below the surface every time I'm not actively thinking or writing about another project.

Some angsty pictures of Dina, also drawn in my early university years (Oh Lord how obvious my Arina Tanemura influences still were in the way I draw):

Yeah... at least they are accurately dramatic to the story.

Thanks for the ask. I hope there was something entertaining. <3

For anyone curious, here's the WIP list.

[monkey-network]

Pizza Tower: The Series Episodes

26 Episodes; Season 2 Coming 20XX

A New Universe: Taking place after the events of the game, a singularity has caused everything from the destroyed Pizza Tower to manifest into reality. It's up to Peppino once more to now try to find normalcy in his new world.

Nice Noise: The Noise realizes being friendlier has its perks, so he changes his ways much to Peppino's disbelief.

Pizza Pickiness: Peppino must deal with a customer that's constantly unsatisfied and that is affecting business.

Gun Safety: The Vigilante, with help from The Noise and Gustavo, educates the dos and don'ts of using firearms.

Lunch Rush Slumber Party: Peppino studies all night on how to handle a lunch rush better and becomes extremely tired on the worst possible day.

Brick and Mortal: Peppino is forced to look after Brick the rat while the Noise plans to steal from the pizzeria.

Hot Art Block: Pepperman gets inspired by Peppino for his new line of art works, who doesn't approve when he feels it ruins his image.

Noisette the Bachelorette: Noisette starts dating Gustavo after The Noise flakes on a date. The Noise plots revenge when the two hit it off better than expected.

Peppino's One Good Day: It's a day in the life of Peppino Spaghetti and it goes better than he thought. There's a catch to this, right?

Faker's Fazool: Fake Peppino invades the restaurant but only wants a real job. Peppino tries to give him a good one in fear of what could happen.

The Noise in Loopyland: The Noise finds himself stuck in a bizarre dimension and there can be such a thing as too zany.

Talk Through the Night: Before closing, Peppino has one more customer that constantly tries to chat with him. It gets annoying, but Peppino slowly grows to like his company.

The Piefather (1/2 Hour Special): Pizzahead returns with a new gang looking to run Peppino out for good. Peppino takes matters into his own hands to even the fight, but the power gets to his head.

Super Magical Bubblepop Paisanos with Extra Sauce: Noisette finds a collection of magical keychains that transform her and the others into glittery superheroes.

The Best Bite; The Topping Song: Peppino goes to a new restaurant and has the greatest meal in his whole life, which puts his career into question; Gustavo sings about every topping you can put on a pizza.

Menu-pilation: Peppino relunctantly adds more items on the menu and realizes this was the challenge he needed in life.

Brick the Rat in "Cheese Chasers": Brick hunts down an elusive piece of cheese.

We're Taking War to Gnome: An accident from Peppino has caused the Gnome Forest to plot a siege on his restaurant, which leads to everyone to join forces to protect the restaurant.

Ska-pportunity: The Noise gets into ska music and it's infectious for everybody except Peppino.

Giallo Pepato: Peppino must face the traumas of his past when forced to complete Pepperman's puzzle room.

Down in the Gutter: Peppino and John Gutter make a deal to protect the Pizzeria from The Noise, but the price starts to add up.

Five Noisy Nights at Lenny's: The Noise is locked in a fun center that's haunted. It's all good at first until he realizes he's stuck there night AND day.

We Wrecked A Zoo: Peppino decides to go to the zoo on his day off; Noisette wants to capture the perfect moment with Noise; Brick starts a rebellion.

Spaghetti Western: Peppino begrudgingly reenacts one of the Vigilante's favorite movies with the others for a birthday party.

Peppino Quits (Part 1): After the pizzeria gets destroyed, Peppino decides to throw in the towel as a chef. His new job finds him inner peace, but everything's become too quiet with him now gone.

Peppino Dies (Part 2): A moment of stress has put Peppino in a coma and everyone tries to reconcile with the idea of losing their friend. Emphasis on "tries" because they mostly suck.

[cosmicmote]

I've been thinking lately how part of

spirituality is concerned with connecting across

dimensions, not dissimilar from how we're connecting now.

Nullus Locus Sine Genio.

or in english - there is no place without spirit.

somewhere on another end of the line she replied

that's a beautiful sentiment.

it reminds her of something Carl Jung once said:

""One who looks outside, dreams; one who looks inside, awakes."

perhaps there's a connection between inner growth and interdimensional understanding."

here I add that the whole of religion is about pleasing the divine

which is obviously interdimensional too.

i find that this is important

and it often gets ignored, or rather we're kept oblivious to it.

darker lights get shone on religion, with intent,

and it all gets twisted and mangled, in displays,

and people get hooked and trapped

in these darker lights. there are better lights

in which religion is shown, blake illuminated perhaps,

but in times this all goes awry, for individuals and

entire worlds, alike, sometimes one in the same.

secularism is a weapon, if not a curse,

and it serves no other purpose, than this,

I could say here not to mention others, but I will mention

I also find it hard not to see how

judaism and what it pleases is the opposite

of the divine, there are rare times when they integrate

and not just incorporate for their own self interests.

I've read enough of the old covenant, also including the torah.

genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. moses.

jesus had his flaws as does any king, even if not a sinner

and Alice Walker said enough of the talmud a few years back.

I won't go on.

words ©spacetree 2024