#and how in an IDEAL world id have loved this for me but lmao it didnt happen

[robotnuts]

heres my bitching post sorry

the main thing i didnt like was how they treated grif's character. he was so angry and i feel like some of his character got leeched out to simmons. for a season that tried to call back so much to the original, that even tried to even out the great destroyer plotline from BGC that didn't make any sense, i wish they handled grif's character with more care. like a red team member manipulating sarge to do what they want is GRIF'S mo, not simmons, and i wish grif had been the one to rally and convince sarge to come help caboose instead of simmons. i feel like the grimmons breakup was the emotional scene that hit the least for me i didnt cry about it i only started crying when the credits rolled, and thats because grif felt pretty ooc for me. which sucks as a grifhead but what can you do

similarly theres kind of a weird abuse apologia thing going on where its like. im fine with how sarge treats grif because it's so clearly like water off a duck's back and grif just manipulates sarge to get his way and rolls his eyes at him and doesnt give a fuck throguhout seasons 1-10, i can take it just as a fictionalized comedy duo that isn't taking itself seriously and grif isn't actually 1:1 like a soldier being abused by his superior irl. and then shisno had the problem of making grif go "actually this really hurts my self esteem and makes me feel bad" and makes you retroactively view their dynamic in a different light. this isnt as bad as shisno, but having sarge say "i was only hard on you because i wanted to push you to be better" made me like :/ because. yknow. if we're taking it seriously, the fact that sarge was "psuhing" grif doesnt make his treatment okay. what makes his treatment okay is that theyre wacky halo man characters and obviosuly there has to be a crazy sargeant character and its not really bothering grif that much. but :/ very minor but i thoguht id mention it

um um um. tex coming back was incredible and made me scream i knew she was gonna come back i was spoiled but i didnt expect how theyd do it. really good. they got me again with the fucking chex at the end of course they did!!!!!!!!

oh right biching. um. what the fuck was going on with wash honestly LMAO like him having his fuckign DID and talkign about his memory issues was completely made for me but his role in this season was so funny and strange WHY DOES HE HAVE A DOC TULPA OH MY GODDDD. like in my ideal world of a final season it absoltuely would have had a more filled out cast and wash and carolina woul dhave been part of the reds and blues the whole time because i want this to be my sitcom where everyone is friends forever but like. I do understand why burnie wanted to take down the cast to sarge/grif/simmons/caboose as the original four founders (rip joel LMAO).

also the stuff with tucker was so scary !!! ahhhHhh why did they send him to time prison for 10 years AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!

idk ill also update this post with stuff that i loved it was really funny and i did like it overall, i need to watch it again i was tipsy/drunk for most of it and also talking about it irl so i missed some bits that my friends went crazy for and i need to watch the commentary. its not all bitching thats just waht sticks in my mind easier. god that campfire scene with the barenaked ladies song i was CRYINGGGG. it obviously felt short/rushed or whatever but like. ugh. its just a potential possible future anyways you guys KNOW in my head all the reds and blues are together on chorus forever and ever always doing their bits. i really am just glad we got more of it to watch together and got to get on burnie's wild ride one last time. thank you

[violentdevotion]

wait ok if you did your dissertation on nlmg then you’re the EXPERT. would love your opinion on the angle i’m taking if you don’t mind!!!

basically i’m looking at how the text showcases how soft power/ideological structures like schools/church/media/art (specifically schools and art in this case) reinforce the status quo and cause people to internalise their societal roles etc.

i also think the way it plays with utopian/dystopian genres is sOoo interesting like. the pastoral idealised Boarding School Vibes feels very utopian but a lot of utopian ideals require some level of authoritarianism and. hmmm. like a homogenisation of ideals that pretty much always dismisses the wants/needs of more marginalised people. and i feel like nlmg Gets It because the way the world is described for non-clones is kind of utopian with the whole No Sickness thing. and even amongst the clones hailsham is considered a sort of utopia compared to other schools or whatever.

idk honestly i could talk about SO much but my essay is examining it through marxist literary analysis so i’m basically focusing on althusser’s concepts and how they apply to the text but there’s SOOOOOO much to examine from so many different angles i would love to know what your dissertation was about !!! feel free to dm me because idk what counts as spoilers anymore skdhsjd

that sounds super interesting and absolutely a valid angle to take it on. i am absoultely not an expert on it though lmao. my disso was how grief is portrayed in nlmg and one other book so I didn't touch on authoritarian power structures except in relation to who is considered grievable (which if you want to explore id recommend judith butlers frames of war)

I think there's a lot to say on the topic. At the top of my head there's how Tommy was ostracised because he was bad and art and later chose to not take part in the gallery. There's when he was mocked for his little animals. There's when they meet with madame and in the time prior he obsessively draws little animals in order to show her. When they touch madame as kids and she looks at them as if they're spiders. Their limited access to the outside world. Even as adults they have limited time to themselves either being too busy as carers or needing permission to travel. How there's never even rumours of people who escaped. Cathy never really mentions surveillance or something like they're chipped, they're just so indoctrinated that they don't even bother trying to escape the system.

I think boarding schools as well is interesting because it draws on school stories in historical british fiction. Some stories (jane eyre) present these schools as a place of suffering and a child's first insight to injustices in the world, but still preferable to her home life. whereas I think most often they were serialised stories that portray the growing character of a child/children. So I think looking at halisham is interesting as well in this dual place boarding schools hold in the canon and how it fulfills both in nlmg (kathy looks back at this time fondly but most of the stories she tells aren't very happy) I think isolation plays into this as well. I'm thinking of the abandoned bus stop they hang out ??? But I coukd be misremembering. Ya know they live in a pastoral heaven but they also live in the middle of nowhere.

I think it could be interesting to look at how there's the no sickness thing but when kathy and Tommy meet madame and their other teacher again (forgot her name) I think one of them is physically disabled? Or at least she is in the film. Like all ailments aren't eradicated and they can't feasibly be. I think a comparison to the child of omelas could be made, a utopia of sorts built off of the subjugation of a class of people, except instead of walking away the class is so dehumanised the idea of it they even have souls is put to question.

I think your topic is really interesting and like you said there's So Much you could say about it all of the time. I recommend the book to everyone I can and when they finish it I like to ask them what they think it'd About (the same question proposed to my seminar group when I studied it at uni) and everyone's answers differed somewhat but a Marxist reading of 'it's about how our bodies are reduced to our labour" was the most popular one i think. I'm not familiar with althusser and I have work in 10 minutes so i dont think id be able to find + read his work in time but overall I think your idea is incredibly thought out, unique and you could dor sure get an amazing grade in it

[coquettedragoon]

do you have any favourite design work, just in general? your mecha work has always struck me (as someone obsessed with that kind of thing), but the dreamlike feeling of the semi-abstracted backgrounds is incredible

im gonna make this a bit long and also gonna introduce the 'good asks' tag for asks i spend a long time writing an answer for so its not lost to time

a huge inspo for my sense of design, wildly enough, was space patrol lulucos backgrounds. i cant find a better shot in google images of the way it renders space, but the screentone clouds really stuck with me and influenced how i use it heavily. i was really obsessed w the collage like bgs in particular and v singular color grading

gunbuster and diebuster are hugely influential, in different ways. im obsessed with the palettes in diebuster.. everything about the lilac stems from the exelion in gunbuster, the zephyrantes took its root entirely from the idea of a warship so large it has a train network and painted skies inside of it etc... the oppressive mech cockpits are heavily drawn from gunbusters. the nerv stuff in eva is also a big source of inspo.

a huge impact on how i approached backgrounds for coquette was tsukihimes, the singular blue color is why i only use a v limited palette for coquettes backgrounds... where i got started with planning coquettes bgs was the thought of using the same filtered approach but to simple 3d instead of photos. i ended up good at 3d so it never was simple though

hidamari sketch is maybe my fav work on the planet, and its a huge part of why im obsessed with screentone... my attention to detail with the living spaces of characters comes from it and the detail it gives to every characters room in the apartments, and how they each use the same floorplan differently. its visually stunning top to bottom in a way that only comes through when you watch it imo.. the use of photos etc has stuck with me forever, it rly is a show using 20000 art styles at once and rly gave me a lot of thought on treating direction as collage of styles you like

heartcatch precure is one of my favs ever, especially visually... i love how far it leans into like being very digital looking and uses color so strongly to convey a mood.. i remember being immediately struck by how it uses this sickly green color for the world/sky during the fights etc to build unease. i love how high contrast it is, i definitely drew a lot from its stark orange and black backgrounds for doing the duchy stuff

a lot of movies definitely stick with me visually, but its easier for me to think in terms of 2d/3d... the mishima movie (lmao) has directly influenced my bg art heavily, especially when i use these kind of overhead diorama esque shots

in terms of how i do 3d and shade it etc... a lot of is heavily inspired by the use of 3d in the code geass ovas (lmao), noone watched this ever so none of its documented but this AMV has quite a lot of it. the harsh shading in the scene around 00:20 is what influenced me using that style in the ch3 opening animation... the snappy fast violent animation is kind of my ideal for how i wanna animate mechs

i think a lot of how i design things is through trial and error, but theres a lot consciously floating thru my head around what kind of look id like to achieve... i dont actually plan much, ever. i animate with no storyboards, write without an outline, only do one sketch before settling on any designs, and mess around w colors for a scene until its done

[rush-the-stars]

idk what kinds horror in a/b/o you mean, but i immediately thought about the subtle horror in this reylo fic called "Until You" by ever-so-reylo on ao3 (sorry if you dont like reylo. i dont. but i recognize reylo authors can be BEASTS and i just use cognitive dissonance if i need it) where it's like.. horror in the sense of how society limits and treats omegas and it's all very normalized. like the fic describes a marriage pathway, alarms on doors, omegas cant be present to hear the results of their own doctor appointment, how not getting pregnant is reason for annulment, and so on, and it's just so wildly subtle in how horrific itd be to live like this and i think the scariest part is, in parts of this world rn, there are places where women are treated very similarly to this. it's a one-shot and not super long, and Kylo/Ben/whoever isnt a dickbag or anything, he treats Rey well, and the author is good about making a distinction between "this is how it is here" and "that doesnt mean its good or ideal or warranted" which i think just adds to the horror kinda sorta, i dunno, i could see you having fun writing about a similar kinda world

regardless, id love to hear more about how youd wanna add further horror to a/b/o, bc what i was talking about was Handmaid's Tale-adjacent (not that i like Handmaid's Tale bc the author's a fucking terf and also, m'am, that IS how the world is like for many woc in various parts of the world, it isnt "even more horrifying" having it happen to white women too jfc idk if it counts as "apocalyptic" if its happening here and now and no one seems to care tho; but you get what i mean when i name-drop it however. anyway. i digress) and im curious if you mean in a monster-fucker way or sex pollen way or what, i find the concept of a/b/o + horror fascinating so, again, id LOVE to hear more pls ♡

firstly anon thank you for coming into my inbox and taking the time to share all this with me!! it is greatly appreciated!!

now to get into this!! i’m gonna put this under a cut w some warnings just in case!!

cw: sexism, mentions of violence against women/feminist horror, reylo (LMAO SORRY), a/b/o, uh romantic cannibalism, blood

i am so sorry anon i detest reylo lol. and sorry if anyone follows me and likes them </3

also i think this is very fascinating that i mentioned horror and your mind jumped to what is essentially feminist horror! not a bad thing—just something observed!!

i personally read a lot of horror outside of fanfiction and i read a lot of feminist horror specifically. or i see or have been apart of plays/theater works/etc. that feature feminist/gender horror in various ways. i write short stories that are not fanfic about this topic as well, so with fanfic, i tend to avoid this a great deal! it’s an incredibly heavy topic and for a whole year last year, i had surrounded myself in it (and acted in shows where stage violence was enacted on me by men, acted in roles where i was often in distress because of male characters, acted in emotionally straining and difficult scenes) and realized i was actually…very drained. and learned what i liked to see in these stories and what i thought was needless violence against women reiterated again and again as torture porn of some kind. but long story short, fanfic was a reprieve of that for me!!

(i know you’re thinking—but cielo! you seem to love yandere content! and you are right! but i think all my yan content i enjoy is seeped in a warped love rather than a gendered violence. not that both can’t exist. it’s sticky.)

more than that, i am also interested in a/b/o that breaks gender constructs and dynamics in ways and is not just an afab omega enduring societal and personal violence!

the horror i was mentioning more i think had to do with body horror, possession (as in, almost…demonic. spiritual.), etc.! romance as a horror. (“but the horror? the horror was for love”)

blood lust being tied to heats/ruts. an omega, feverish and in heat, slick with blood and wild eyed. some romantic cannibalism with the way a bite is for claiming. it’s vampiric. it’s a devouring.

it’s a conjoining. a possession. two souls being forcibly twisted together. the horror of having only one true mate that you cannot choose. that is, for better or for worse, only yours. the horror of not just being yourself anymore, but someone else and vice versa. your uncontrollable “other half”.

sublime heats/ruts where you cannot tell what is real or not, shaky snapshots of mind melting ache and pain, only relieved by one person. hallucinations or ailments that come from deeply lonely and isolated omegas and alphas. nightmares when it reaches a fever pitch.

omegas with needle sharp teeth and so much hunger that need to feed and take relentlessly from alphas. omegas and alphas with eyes that glow in the dark and watch too keenly.

rituals where heats/ruts are watched, the horror of bareness and vulnerability. the horror of being an animal in a human skin. of your own desire or pleasure.

also just the horror of being dependent on someone. of needing someone so greatly you’ll be sick with it. the horror of being powerless to their love. the horror of their power over you. or yours over them.

the twisted care. i am interested in strange/more uncommon dynamics; alphas who are nurturing and motherly in awful ways. who hand feed and coddle and smother. omegas who are possessive and violent towards other alphas or omegas.

i just think there is A LOT that could be played with. thought of. messed around with.

i also think we don’t see enough historical au with a/b/o….i’m thinking also gothic-style. western man vs. nature. cowboy a/b/o…victorian…ancient civilization….etc.

anyways, i hope you don’t take this as me like scolding you or hating on what you’ve said in any way—defs not that!! i just had a different sort of horror in mind!! like i said, fanfic for me is all about romance at its core! it’s a reprieve and escape from the work and art that often is very serious and heavy (whether feminist/gender horror, capitalist horror, etc. etc.) that i usually spend my time creating or apart of in my day to day life! it’s deeply important work to me, just not something i wanna do here really!!

[juniperhillpatient]

Sokka's Master Re-Watch

I enjoy that the water siblings get back-to-back episodes about how awesome they are. It's what they deserve. And much like 'The Painted Lady' is about Katara's defining traits, I think 'Sokka's Master' tells us a lot about Sokka. I kind of feel like just copying Piandao's quote because it's so good.

"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No, it certainly wasn't your skills. You showed something beyond that.

Creativity, versatility, intelligence... these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you. You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."

[ID: an image of Sokka with a sword, looking serious. end id]

Also - I have to laugh real quick. "But I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained." Uh, didn't PIandao also train Zuko? Dragged through the mud lmao

The Sokka Vs. Piandao fight, & the reveal that Piandao is - 1. aware of the Gaang's real identities & 2. a member of the mysterious White Lotus - is pretty well done, even if I still haven't decided how I feel about that club.

Also, I realized I've been doing Sokka a little dirty in my fanfics by never letting him have his meteor sword as a weapon in universes where it could've been relevant (Vampire Diaries & Buffy alternate universes come to mind) as a signature weapon. Sorry, Sokka, I think it's because it comes up so late in the show. Still. Next time. It's such a neat weapon.

An aspect of this episode that I really enjoy is that when Sokka confesses his insecurities, no one teases him. The Gaang so sincerely respect & love Sokka. I especially enjoyed the water-siblings moment.

[id: Sokka sitting apart from Katara, Aang, & Toph, looking sad. end id]

Katara is quick to let Sokka know that no one else sees him the negative way he sees himself. But, she doesn't discount his feelings as ridiculous either. It's such a sweet moment. And I always crack up at how quickly shopping cheers Sokka up!

It's been commented on before that the A plot of this episode is Sokka learning to be a master swordsman & the B plot is Sokka's friends sitting around talking about how great he is & how much they miss him & the C plot is Iroh getting swole as fuck in prison & that's basically an ideal episode & I have to agree. I loved this episode even if I missed the Fire Teens. I can't be too mad about that though, because 'The Beach' is coming up next.

Oh, & I just have to put it out there - obviously, Sokka is the family comedian, but I liked Katara's jokes! She's funny, Aang & Toph are just mean lol

Oh yeah, Iroh getting swole as fuck in prison. Well, I don't have a lot of commentary on that. I just think it's fun & tracks well with Iroh's characterization. This is yet another example of proof that the face Iroh shows the world is not the real him. The feeble old man schtick really is - well - a schtick. It always has been. Not that he's not a kind old man with good advice & tea. He is. But there's a whole other person beneath the surface, & that's certainly interesting.

My closing thoughts on this episode are on the parallels between the water siblings & the fire siblings. Sokka & Zuko both train under Piandao & become master swordsmen. They both experience crushing insecurity, in part due to the talents of their prodigious younger sisters. The difference is - Katara & Sokka were raised in a kind environment & taught to value each other. Katara's instinct when Sokka confesses to feeling down on himself is to be there for him. I think 'The Beach' demonstrates that Azula is willing to be there for her brother in a similar manner, but because of years of being pitted against each other & the toxic dynamics at play in the royal family, it's not that easy. I'm not saying anything new here, I just fucking love narrative foils.

Sokka of course gets a lot of iconic behavior points for this entire episode...I'm gonna say +1000 for that fight against Piandao, & +500 for the meteor sword idea.

This is a great episode that allows us to take a deeper look at Sokka's character, both his insecurities & his strengths. That's all I have for now. More rambling soon to come!

[rosethreeart]

I LOVE UR ABIGAIL ANALYSES the subtle differences in dynamics between characters always gets me heeheeing with a horribly evil grin on my face…

I feel like a lot of people tend to overlook how America being a woman would affect the way other countries–especially ones with shared history–interact with her in favor of talking solely about how it would change the way they View her. Which, don’t get me wrong, is a valid analysis; I looove “power hungry America who kind of scares the shit out of everyone”, I just think there’s a lot of hidden potential in the question of “how would people TREAT her as a woman?”

I know some people hc nations to be sort of “above” things like misogyny and racism because they’ve lived for so long that it’s almost below them at this point to even care anymore, but imo it’s the complete opposite. They’ve lived with/under those ideals for so long that it’s extremely difficult for older nations to really shake them off for good, so while they don’t go off spewing misogynistic bs all day, every day, they do still hold some of those fundamental ideals that (cough negatively cough) influence the way they interact with female characters. (Abigail, in this context)

I think a lot of older countries, especially ones with a heavy history of chivalry/“fair maiden 🥺” ideologies, would be MUCH more “protective” of her, so to speak, because of an ingrained perception of women as needing to be protected. So they’re not protective in a genuinely affectionate way, just in a “You can’t be mean to girls, dude!” way. Which opens up a whole other can of worms in regards to patronization + the way Abigail responds to that but I will Not get into in ur inbox for the sake of your sanity bc this ask is already way too long LOL

ANYWAYS ALL THIS TO SAY, I love your analyses and I especially love how you focus on the physical/ interactive dynamics between characters and not just other characters’ internal perception(s) of a character.

OH MY GOD THABJ YOU HOLY CRAP 😭💖💖💖

YES YOURE SO RIGHT!!! There are so many things that people don’t really talk about when it comes to the “if X was a girl instead”!!! ESPECIALLY when it comes to woc (which I won’t speak too heavily on as I’m extremely white(/white passing)

And while I do think that a lot of nations WOULD be more open minded I still think they have a lot of those negative beliefs ingrained in them still, just because they’re aware that the way society treats them is wrong doesn’t mean they’ve done all the work to unpack all those beliefs and how they’ve been affect by them as well as their role in the participation of it.

Like these are people with really dark pasts just purely based on the nature of their life spans and what they are (I’m not even gonna get into the whole cans piled onto cans of worms that the really bad and morally wrong stuff here). They’ve done bad shit and have been through a lot of bad shit. It would 100% affect the way that they interact with others and even view themselves. These are prideful creatures (for the most part I have options on how Abigail would view herself as a personification, person, and US citizen that beg to differ)! They’re all stubborn as hell and while extremely adaptive towards change (as it can quite literally be a matter of life and death if they don’t) but that doesn’t mean that they completely understand why the change is occurring or what that means for them as a person, let alone to the other nations around them.

also PLEASE do go into it id love to hear what you’d have to say!!!

The internal perceptions when it comes to characters is only half the fun!! What’s the point in analysis and delving deep into it if you’re not gonna SHOW how it affects their interactions! Honestly this probably comes from a place of autism and the need to mask heavily and trying to understand others perception of the world lmao.

[chrome-head]

for the questions!

5, 8, 11, 12, 20, 25, 32, 43 48

:3 go wild

someone is nosyyyyy :3c

5. How many people have you kissed?

zero :( unless its like. a friendly top of the head kiss. in which case. i think one

8. What’s your favorite show to binge?

sometimes ill get the urge to go rewatch all of trigun on youtube and you should do the same. or hellsing. the old one with the really good music and low budget. also watch gungrave also watch c

11. If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

a mutuals house. i dont know which bc theres a few i need to visit for various reasons but One Of You would be getting a visit from me

12. What’s one of your fantasies?

hmmmm i think i wanna become a smith! like for a renn faire, i wanna make weapons and/or armor. ive done some chain mail stuff before but very basic and at the very least i do wanna make some actual armor for myself one of these days (probably not like. useable armor, my soft delicate hands would have a rough time making a chain shirt with the smaller thicker gauges

20. What is something you’re obsessed with?

i mean. ff14 and baldurs gate have had me by the throat for a while now honestly, those are probably my most accurate answer rn since im not actively hyperfixating on something else atm

25. Describe your perfect Friday night.

not closing at my work for once lmao that place is a nightmare on fridays. but the real answer would probably be like. playing some dnd with friends, ordering some food and watching a movie together after

32. If you could live in a fictional world, what world would you pick?

honestly i think id wanna live in faerun or. whatever youd call that setting. dnd land. like yeah theres biannual world shattering events that wipe out scores and scores of people even in major seemingly protected cities and gods and devils are just real and out to get you. but im a horny lesbian and i like elves and tieflings and aasimar. and in waterdeep if you live in a tavern room and youre not in the building when the tax collector shows up you just dont have to pay taxes that week

43. What’s your guilty pleasure?

if anon is who i think they are then they know the answer to that and i am NOT saying it on this blog hghfgfgh

48. Describe your ideal partner.

someone i can share nerd hobby stuff with, but also not like toooo much of an overlapping venn diagram of interests or experiences i guess bc i love things with other people who dont know them and them sharing new things with me. eager to talk with me a lot i like talking with people and. get a little over excited and clingy and needy :c

[ohklah0ma]

NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR ASKING ABOUT MY OCS I AM SHAKING AND FROTHING AR THE MOUTH. GRIPS YOU GENTLY BY THE SHOULDERS

also im so sorry it took me a hot minute to get this reply 2 u im at work finishing this on my break rn HAHAHA

nat went thru The Horrors and once it was kinda “over” and they were on their own they were like ok. u know how i can deal with this. by literally becoming an entirely different person and pretending none of this ever happened to me!!!!!!!! i really need to write their toyhouse page because they have so much lore and i dont have it compiled anywhere LMAO nat is my oldest oc and theyre a terrible person (SLASH SILLY THEY ARE 13 YEARS OLD) i HATE them!!!!! because they lack their own identity their entire existence kind of revolves around their loved ones and since their loved ones are constantly in danger from various plot related threats (nat oberon and avery are all multiverse/“versetraveler” ocs so theyre involved with some friends ocs and theoretically various fictional characters because im a NERD) nat now has a horrible savior/hero complex. so they feel like even though their loved ones dont expect them to protect them theyre tired of putting in so much effort and energy into keeping people happy and safe and not receiving anything back (even though theyve given 0 indication tbat theyre struggling at any point because they refuse to tell anybody the truth about anything involving their own life) i have a whole more specific infodump i can send screenshots of later

HEHEHEEEE WE HAVE 3 PUBLIC VIDEOS SO FAR poet had his lore arc in june so we also have recordings of that and ive been working to get the video done asap but its gonna take a while because in total we have 6 hours of footage i have to edit down and animate HAHAHAHAHAA. but we have toothfae eva and eleazers arcs public! we also had an arc for another character named kam that was hosted after the actual minecraft server shut down but we dont have any recordings of that one 💔 the playlist is here if u want it (including various animations from smp members) and heres poet’s toyhouse profile but if you dont want any spoilers for his lore arc id recommend not looking at his post-arc tab or the gallery for his pre-arc tab!!!!!!!!! and if u (god save your soul) want the summary of part 1 and 4 hours of footage of me and my friends fucking around in a discord vc with the occasional Picture for part 2 (we dont have the recording for p1 anymore to save wyrd’s google storage CRIESS) let me know and ill send u the link

averys current story is part of a universe thats a still being written in collaboration with my sibling kay (@/theplxnetsystem but theyre not in front on weekends LOL) but their toyhouse is here and thats where u can find like their backstory and stuff. their general info needs to be written to be a little more coherent and red-flag-y but its still Correct. theyre one of my older ocs and i love them dearly and made them into a less than ideal person recently :3c

OBERON!!!!! oberon is one of my older ocs as well (most of my favs tend to be) and he was exiled from the realm of the gods after being convicted guilty of murdering his sister, leaving his brother and his other sister to take on both their own roles as well as the roles of the missing siblings!!!! oberon and his siblings (olivia, ophelia, and orsino) were gods relating to the seasons because the god of life has such a broad range of jobs he created lesser gods to handle things like animals and earthly change and such. oberon was the god of autumn but not anymore :’D now hes just some batshit old dude who walks around talking to feral animals and giggling with nobody. his toyhouse is here and has more fleshed out info :3 minus the backstory stuff sorry LOL im sure ill figure out how i wanna share that sometime but ill be happy to share in dms if u want later his story is actually in the same world/universe as nat!!!!! and their universe is connected to averys just bc both of them are versetravelers and so theres like this big multiverse thing going on so theyre technically connected?? but they dont interact much since theyre still different universes //shrug

last but not least my greasy boy axel. his friend got MAD and was hospitalized when he was like i wanna say 12-13ish?? and so his gradual decline began here. he started dedicating himself to finding all the information he possibly could on alternates and how people handled them and stuff hoping to gain some insight on how to save his friend (which eventually devolved into this but also needing to prove people wrong about him) he stopped going to school at some point and when he was probably around 14 (hes currently 15) he started suspecting his sister, melodie (13 y/o), was replaced by an alternate so then he stopped leaving his room and hes not doing so hot. someone take away this kids monster energy and make him shower he is FILTHY his parents want to help him but they have 0 clue what to do about this. so theyve been kinda indirectly enabling this behavior and theyre just trying to support him and his issues but someone needs to lock him outside to touch grass i swear

heres their playlists (out of the ones who have them anyway. some dont have toyhouses bc j havent done their profiles yet LOL) and pleaseeee if u have more questions ask im so so normal and im so excited that youre interested in my Weird Guys

nat’s playlist - poet’s playlist - avery’s playlist - oberon’s playlist that i definitely didnt forget exists - axel’s playlist

how much money do i have to bribe u with to hear abt your ocs. im willing to pay the fine please whatever it is

brother i will pay YOU to listen to me talk about my ocs. allow me to provide you with a sample of my wares aka some of my favorite children (opens one side of my jacket with several dolls strapped inside)

natalie macalistair - an angsty teenage ghost “””girl””” who is desperately running from their past and themself no matter the cost or who it hurts

aziel lockstone/“poet” - a traveling writer who settles down in the lepid grove on the coopSMP (collaborative story with friends we have videos and everything) after being chased out of town after town. eventually the horrors ensue as his family is torn apart. how far is he willing to go to find something (or someone) that will last?

avery laurier, the ace of hearts - an oc i stole my name from when i transitioned LAWL. the owner of serpent’s eye casino and the god of luck, who takes punishing the unfortunate malefactors who wander into their domain into their own hands when the other gods fail to do so.

oberon - a fallen god stripped of his power and his memory. he conceals his face from the world and himself with a bird mask and wanders through dimensions without a care in the world. at least, he doesn’t have any that he remembers long enough to worry about

axel finch - my mandela catalogue oc if you know what that is :-) axel is a shut-in who refuses to leave his room for weeks at a time because he’s convinced his sister was replaced by a demonic eldritch creature taking her appearance and identity in her absence. his parents don’t believe him and neither do his friends, but he doesn’t need anyone else to believe him when he’s sure he’ll eventually prove them all wrong with enough research and dedication

let me know if ur interested in any of these silly guys in particular i will explode about them in detail if u want

also thabj u for being interested even a little i might cry /gen

[usertoxicyaoi]

l m a o catch my single lonely ass going through it at 2am over this friends to lovers series finale clip 🥺

[daredevilexchange]

Want to be featured here? Head to this page and fill in the form!

See what this is about here, or if you’re using the app here.

What’s your fannish ID? I go by TheSwordWizard on twitter and tumblr, and WizardKicks_ on instagram, as well as when I do conventions and tabling events. I picked the sword wizard based off a variation from the swamp wizard, a background character that shows up for like one page in an old and short never-completed webcomic. I've also always really liked old-timey wizards and I also think swords are sick. End of.

What types of fanworks do you create? I do fanart! I struggle with mediums that require long term commitment over being able to power through with the motivation of starting a new project, so while I've started some writing projects and do non-fan related zines and independent publishing projects (I dream about getting an MFA but I'm to addicted to that full-time paycheck). In my fanart I tend to focus on composition and intense mood, which is usually what I'm inspired from.

What are your favourite types of fanworks, when you’re not creating? I LOVE FANFIC. I love fanart of course but I LOVE reading people's interpretations of my favorite characters. I'm a dirty multi-shipper and while I'm addicted to the insanity of Fratt and Mattelektra (And Frattelektra - YOWZA lmao), I've read probably every Mattfoggy, Mattkaren, Mattclaire, Mattetc, Daredevil-themed-femslash fic on AO3. I want to see what grinds people's gears about different character interactions! How different people and different interactions, to being in just a different place at a different time completely changes contexts and brings out something totally different between characters! It's a nice juxtaposition to why I'm addicted to making fanart - never being able to translate into stable form the sort of platonic, collective ideal of a character - so I want to tease out a specific, tiny vignette of a single aspect of a character… I majored in basically Thinking About Art Concepts so I could go on literally all day I just love transformative work so much… If you've written a couple Fratt fics you might already be recognizing my writing style from the comments I leave even with a different username… I GET REALLY EXCITED!!!!!!

What do you like in particular about this fandom? AUGH there are so many reasons! My first instinct is because Matt's mental illness is legendary. He's such a funny character you know instantly why everyone who knows him is obsessed with him but also wants to murder him, just a little bit. I'm a pretentious artist so I'm enamored with his perception of the world, and how unique and intense it is and how much TRUTH he has to hear so much and yet how subjective and susceptible to his own messed up headspace his reality is. I was obsessed with NBC's Hannibal (Fratt is MCU's Hannigram you can't tell me I'm wrong) for so long there are so many places where a lot of what I appreciated about that show can tie into Daredevil (both the show and some of the comic runs). I can never get into a lot of comics because the power creep gets nuts, but it's perfectly likely for Matt to basically deal with the same shit every week in new flavors, especially when you can count all the ways through the LAW things can get hairy. Which brings me to another factor, how there's a little bit of a higher bar in terms of research that's required (imo) with having to deal with the law and having plots grounded in reality. I just really love the DD comics where Things Have Consequences. Also I'm older so I want to read fics with more… mature characters. Undergrad fic? Hell yeah let's go! LAW SCHOOL FIC?????? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty much all Mattfoggy starts in undergrad at the soonest so I always win. And then Fratt is like tom and jerry to me I love them. Hit each other with hammers. Make those rituals even more intricate. Can you find love even as two crabs in a bucket? Also Elektra is a Vr1ska to me so I'm obsessed with her, she slays. Sorry I think it's funny when Matt dates people who kind of want to make him worse.

Do you like participating in fan events? Right now I've mostly been doing conventions! I haven't done too many big ones yet (I'm nervous about COVID) but I've been ramping up from local ones. I've also got a lot of side projects from these so I haven't done as many exchanges as I would have liked recently - I used to do them a bit more. I made myself a promise that I was going to at least do the next Fratt bang 👀

What about your creating process? I tend to have two different methods of making fanart - one that starts with me wanting to make something, but I'm not sure yet, so it takes a bit of back and forth and trying to nail something down that I'm happy with. The other one is when I'm struck by a very specific mental picture and that inspiration keeps bugging me until I'm able to carve it out how I want it to look. These tend to be my cooler/better concept pieces imo. I'm pretty much always listening to music, and sometimes if something I'm working on is directly inspired by a song or specific vibe I'll loop a single song until I'm done LOL. I have so many little worlds in my head and different versions of characters that I often get too overwhelmed to put down on paper so I tend to stick to my vignettes.

Do you interact a lot with other fans? Noooo I want to though :(. I'm shy on tumblr - I've been here for so long but never talk to people here, it always feels awkward! I also use twitter a lot (shame shame shame) and I find that form way more natural for starting casual conversation so I talk to people a lot there. IF ANYONE HAS ANY GOOD DAREDEVIL DISCORD GROUPS PLEASE LET ME JOIN. DOUBLY SO IF IT HAS MORE ADULTS (no hate to teenagers I love y'all but the last younger discord I was in betrayed me for stranger things).

Is there any particular piece you'd like to showcase for this post?

This is one of my more recent pieces… I worked up the focus to do some painting styled stuff again (I used to do traditional watercolor/oil painting before it became too cumbersome… digital art I love you) and in a similar style as to a Blade piece I did and was really happy with. I think it turned out well and was proud I got through it :). I do really like the minimalist color palette/compositional pieces I do, it gives me a lot more mental space to experiment and try new things, but I do try to keep up my portraiture!

Do you have other fandoms you'd like to talk about? I talked about Hannibal before (I actually recently started making more fun DD pieces because I remembered that I could make Marvel fanart in the same way I used to make Hannibal art and NO ONE COULD STOP ME!!!!!) but I also spent a long, long time in HS (the webcomic that I know a lot of people have muted so I shan't say), and I think I took a lot of that in my philosophy toward experiencing different versions of characters and taking liberty with character designs, making really thematic work, etc. I promise I was a really good fan. It honestly prepared me a lot for reading comics!

Is there anything else you want to tell us about yourself? As you can tell, if given an opportunity, I love talking about Concepts (I was in a worldbuilding server for a comic fan AU once and it was so fun). And Matt :D. I want to lock my powerful jaws around his calf and death roll him like a crocodile. And like crowdfund him therapy or something.

Where can your fanworks be found? https://theswordwizard.tumblr.com/tagged/my%20art https://twitter.com/theswordwizard (I have some art moments and you can always search my mentions of "matt" and "daredevil" but Read My Posts Boy)

Thank you, @theswordwizard !

banner by @context-is-for-kingpins !

[equusgirl-writes]

WIP Ramblings

I’ve been mulling over the WIP with the mother-daughter dynamic and instead of it being a space opera, I’m kinda feeling like it might be a better fantasy story.

Idk why, it’s just about ~vibes, I guess.

I think I also want to make a pretty intensive magic system. Not that that automatically rules out space opera. Best I can describe is it’s just instinct. Idk. ANYWAY.

Also kinda wanna do elves. Or vampires. I don’t know. I’d like to make the protagonists’ family powerful magical users. I was trying to work through the logic of why the warlord would want the daughter in the first place. (Other then I can take what I want) And then it occurred to me, if they had some kind of powerful magic, he could be like I want it in the bloodline.

It’d be a political move to strengthen his family’s position. I was also trying to figure out if the warlord is the one marrying the daughter (in which case I’d make him younger) or if it would be him arranging it for his son. Which sort of makes more sense the more I think about it. Still want an age difference there though because that’s just pure id.

I’m also envisioning a scene where once the guy (I need to name these dudes) decides the daughter is of age (her name is tentatively Aerdassa), he and his…idk. Whatever the hell they are. Brothers in arms. Ride in and carry her off ala Hades and Persephone. But this definitely isn’t going to be uwu H&P.

Of course, the mother (her name is Merassa) was expecting this. Prepared Aerdassa for this. Aerdassa is not some helpless damsel.

I’m torn between how I want to characterize her. Part of me wants her to play the damsel but another part of me really wants her to be a straight up bitch. Like you wanted me, fucker, well now you’ve got me and I’m going to make that everyone’s problem. Okay typing it out I definitely want to make her a bitch. Sorta like. “You brought the snake into the garden now you have to deal with the consequences.”

And I’d really love the dude to kind of love her for it. Kinda the opposite of Robert Baratheon. You got a power hungry wife? You cherish her.

But even though he might love her and she might even love him, i just want this to be…extremely fucked up. I want tumblr to burn me at the stake for this relationship lmao.

I also need to work out the societal structures.

I know I want the mother daughters society to be matrilineal. I know I don’t want warrior women. But I also don’t know how I feel about having a society where the ideal is “traditional” femininity. But I guess maybe my own hangup with that is my own patriarchal views of femininity. Also something something I personally don’t identify with traditional femininity so that’s probably playing a part. Idk I’d really love to talk this bit over with someone. Because something something I really loved how powerful Sansa and Cersei were while being allowed to be “traditionally” feminine.

Also something something poison magic because “poison is a woman’s weapon” and I’ve been obsessed with the poisoner magic concept from Three Dark Crowns.

ALSO. I was listening to “I Will Never Die” by Delta Rae and I’d loooooooove for there to be a resurrection plot somewhere. Just ugh. Maybe for the mother. Because I don’t really know what I want to do with her yet. Aerdassa and the warlord is the most interesting story I have for this world. I was thinking of maybe making a sort…saga for it. A trilogy for Aerdassa. A trilogy for Merassa. And because I’m already in love with this world a trilogy for Aerdassa’s child. Or maybe Merassa’s mother. Though since I already plan on making Aerdassa pregnant I feel like it’d make more sense for it be her daughter. Plus. Merassa as a grandmother?? Yes please.

[erotic-writhings]

1) what's your ideal relationship or dynamic?

Uhhh so probably one where I get to sub a lot, I also think I'd like polyamory but I'm currently unable to explore any area of that

2) what's something you love fantasizing about but would absolutely hate in real life?

Oddly enough probably being blind folded. I hate closing my eyes around people, but I think if I trusted a dom enough maybe id try it (it sounds SOOO hot)

3) back arms or belly kind of person?

BELLY!!! stomachs are so hot, I love fat bodies let me squish my face in them.

4) what would someone have to do in order to get you to engage in a kink you're on the fence about?

Well explaining why they're interested in it and why they like it a lot, then after I have a good understanding of it we could slowly start integrating it with discussions going on throughout about how we're both feeling.

5) what kind of monster would you want to steal you away to start a brand new life with?

This one isn't really about the sex but probably a drider, I feel like they'd be very caring and kind (plus id get to be wrapped up in their webs)

If we're talking exclusively for sex either a minotaur, a vampire, or a dryad

6) favorite kind of pet? (either to play as or to play with)

My favorite kind of pet to play as is a puppy but I also really like playing bunnies or kitties, recently though I've just loved the idea of being leashed and told to perform tricks. For me as a puppy it's all about the tricks lol.

My favorite kind of pet to play with? I don't really have a preference but probably either kitty or bunny (only reason I exclude puppy is because I really have trouble coming up with commands, so while it's still super fun it's a bit more of a challenge)

7) what kind of porn does the world need more of

t4t amature bondage and/or pet play porn, I love reading what people write but also seeing that shit? Oh my god it's awesome though it's kind of hard for me to find (I don't watch much porn in general though)

8) if you're strictly dom or sub is there anything that could get you to take on the opposite role?

I'm not strictly either, but for a while now I've only really dommed, all it would take is the snap of fingers to get me to sub but now I think I may need some coaxing and reassurance before I really went subby (I'm too self conscious and scared lmao)

9) any guilty pleasures, fantasies, or activities

None I'm going to disclose because it's a secret I'm saving for later

10) what's one thing you see in animated/not real life porn that you wish could be done in real life

Body transformation. I want to be transformed and used so fucking bad

11) favorite type of monster cock?

Ridged or some kind of ovipositor (STUFF ME WITH EGGS)

12) what kind of kink or sexual niche do you think is highly under appreciated?

Oh hmm this is a hard one, probably medical kink, I love the idea of being tied down to a cold metal table while being sexually experimented on

13) do I have any popular NSFW opinions?

Yes I do! I think that it's perfectly okay to want to be forcefemmed and forcemasced at the same time. I have a really weird relationship to my agab and I like exploring both sides of my very fluid way of gender expression.

I also think that any kink is valid so long as all involved members are over the age of 18 and are consenting and this includes things like detrans and ageplay (these personally are not my thing but it's not my job to police people on what they like!)

All the questions

FROM WHICH ONE I JUST REBLOGGED LIKE 3 HORNY ASK GAMES?!

[baalzebufo]

🔫😃 give us them monster au Majima deets I dare you /hj

I'm invested, I wanna know stuff, like; What was the interaction between Kiryu and Majima like after the reveal? How did Haruka find out? Was it because she lives with Kiryu or did Majima tey to keep her oblivious to it as long as he can because no.?

I WANT THE DEETS AND I WANT EM NOW

(ya don't need ta do nothin if ya don't wanna, take yer time, I just wanna show excitement with this :>)

THANK YOU for the interest I am constantly excited to talk about things and will 100% share what deets I have

(Update: this got... WAY longer than I anticipated. So im putting it behind a readmore. sorry for the wall of text I got very passionate suddenly!!)

disclaimer: I have very little solid 'canon' established and 99% of this will be stuff I make up on the spot cause thats just how I do these things

So, in my head this all takes place after the events of the first game- Kiryu's been to jail, gets out, 10 billion yen drama ect. I think it would be peak drama if Majima accidentally let slip during the fight at Shangri-la that he isn't human, he got so hyped up on the idea of a 'fight to the death' with Kiryu (which, lets be honest, was probably a bit of suicidal ideation on his part because he wanted Kiryu to utterly destroy him) that he couldn't control himself and Kiryu gets an eyeful of claws and teeth and horns. But because things are so fucking manic during that point in the game, Kiryu deadass writes it off as a weird hallucination/'this might as well be happening' because he has WAY too much going on.

it's only after the games finished and Kiryu settles down, decides hes going to adopt Haruka and is trying to get his affairs in order when he's like. Holy Shit What Was Up With That.

Majima hasn't shown his face around him since because he becomes convinced Kiryu seeing that means hes going to despise him and/or try to kill him so he crawls into his hole to mope about it and Kiryu has to genuinely jump through hoops trying to find where he is. He was concerned! Eventually he gets in touch with Nishida who is equally worried about his boss (he knows Majima's secret but is sworn not to tell anyone) so he just. quietly tells Kiryu where Majima is living right now and prays it wont come back to bite him in the ass

He goes, Majima initially attempts to be like 'haha you hit your head pretty hard down there-' and write it off like that but Kiryu is nothing if not persistent and eventually he has a little meltdown about it and finally just shows him. Majimas been in a super weird mental state since Shimano died and hes just like, at his breaking point, so he figures 'fuck it, if Kiryu hates me, whatever' at that point

OBVIOUSLY Kiryu doesnt, hes just like. dude are you okay

they have a long ass talk about it and what happened and it all sort of culminates in an awkward love confession because turns out wow you two REALLY care about each other, huh!

Majima also shares that hes only really still in the yakuza because he feels like its the only place he belongs, that a monster like him doesn't deserve anything resembling a normal life. its that conversation that starts him on the path to realizing he's not happy there tbh

Im SEVERELY rambling at this point but. after a lot of emotional catharsis between these two they promise to try to make something work. majima considers leaving the yakuza, and kiryus going to make a home with haruka. and while hes not ready to join them properly, just yet, he's... thinking about it. in the meantime, he's heard some cool stuff about construction as a business, and he's lookin' into it.

they kept it from Haruka for a while, mostly because Majima is super not comfortable showing people. He didnt spend a lot of time around her because he still felt guilty about the kidnapping thing, but eventually Kiryu pushes him to try to apologize properly and make amends. Haruka is obviously suspicious of him but, I think shes got a good judge of character when it comes to if someones being earnest, and its clear Majima wasn't acting of his own volition. (She blackmails him for lots of ice cream as an apology.)

Eventually she picks up on the fact they're hiding *something* because of how like, furtive Majima becomes when he stays with Kiryu and how he's almost never actually around, especially since he loves being the center of attention otherwise. So they brace themselves for it all to come crashing down when they tell her.

It honestly... goes fine. Maybe its just cause she's a kid and was way more willing to believe monsters exist, but it's not quite the 100% world-shaking revelation. It does set them back a bit and there's a lot of convincing that 'not all monsters are evil', but eventually she settles on. 'he's not scary. he's just kind of weird.' and you know what? majima will 100% take that.

(also she thinks its funny how he purrs when you touch his ears a certain way. he's like a big weird puppy.)

okay goddamn this post got long enough as is but. thank you again for the interest I have... so many words in my brain about this. Ideally id love to write a proper fic but im really not great at structured writing like that- it takes a helluva lot of a work compared to just infodumping into a big nightmare post like this. One Day.

I mad appreciate any and all interest though! Like, at its heart this is a hurt/comfort kinda au, and my end-goal is for Majima to realize being a monster doesn't mean he doesn't get to be happy or that he doesn't deserve to be treated like a human. it is vitally important to me that these two old sad men be happy together and build a better life lmao

[readingaccountability]

snow crash - neal stephenson

my playlist (because of The Way That I Am)

final thoughts:

okay, im going to be honest right out of the gate- i cant decide whether this is a book id recommend or not. it was really fun for the most part, but personally there was a lot more exposition than id like. the early portions of the novel have exposition which feels completely fair, mostly things relating to worldbuilding. stephenson creates his own vision of future america, and some places online referred to it as cyberpunk, and some as post-cyberpunk. id be more in the latter camp, mostly due to the way he plays with tropes, leaving the reader unsure of which will be subverted and which wont.

the use of language was really fun, and i enjoyed the worldbuilding a lot. his vision of a futuristic capitalistic earth feels surreal in its immediacy and recognizability. the back jacket blurb ends with "a future america so bizarre, so outrageous, you'll recognize it immediately." which, yeah. a texan info-tech magnate? two competing corporations owning the highway system? suburban city-states? this was another enjoyable thing- everything was colorfully named, and names treated totally normally, which kind of poked fun at how we have everyday things named very ludicrously and for the most part we are totally blind to it.

one aspect i really enjoyed was that the author often doesn't make certain things clear to the audience, until he does, and then it becomes necessary to reassess the entire story and setting. this goes to underscore the theme of the importance of information and the ways we take it in and perceive the world based upon it. for example, we don't learn that y.t. is fifteen until maybe 75 pages in, at which point a lot makes sense in retrospect. the same thing occurs in the worldbuilding, as suddenly a detail is given in passing and the reader must incorporate it into the setting, which by default we assume to be similar in many ways to our idea of america. it keeps the reader on their toes as well as furthering the worldbuilding. for the most part, the tech stuff didnt feel outdated to me, despite being a future projected out from '92.

however, aspects of the book are definitely very 1992. id put these into two camps: the first, being that the book does at different times use slurs. the main character is black and asian, the n word is used a few times by racist side-character/antagonist types, as are a few other racial slurs. there was also the occasional usage of the r slur, within the narrative prose itself, rather than usage as an insult within dialogue.

the protagonist, who is named, unfortunately, hiro protagonist, is a great character and felt very fleshed out to me, though at times he reminded me more of dirk strider than normally would be ideal. (its obvious that stephenson and andrew hussie are of a similar type of writer, and play with similar tropes, lmao.) hiro is a man of many worlds. he seems to shift between them easily, though never fully existing in any of them. this is reflected in his background, both in his biracial identity and in having been raised on a myriad of army bases. this is layered further in his fluidity in interacting with both reality and the metaverse, yet remaining slightly, consistently aloof. fascinatingly the first moment i sensed this drop was when we meet juanita- aka where his real and meta realities coincide. the description of them as the adam and eve of the metaverse is both insanely romantic and thematically key (good god i wish we had more than like, two conversations between them). juanita designed the facial component to metaverse avatars, doing the majority of this work when the two were together, and hiro can see echoes of both their facial tics in the face of every avatar in the metaverse. in a way, by having done this work juanita is positioned by the narrative as one of the gods of this digital realm. she is also hiro's call to action, being aware of the coming trouble and alerting him to it, as well as connecting him to the informational database he needs to prepare.

y.t., the secondary protagonist, fucking ruled. i loved that she was just a fifteen year old punkass kid whose mom doesnt know how crazy this part time job is. y.t. being worried about her mom was a great thread throughout, and a really good balance to how obviously independent y.t. is. i do wish there had been a chance to explain more about her background (she has a dad who left who is mentioned in a throwaway sentence, and a boyfriend who is mentioned near the beginning but never again.) i really enjoyed how obviously hyperaware y.t. was at all times about her own place within the insanities of the setting, while also consistently writing her as a teen maybe in way too deep who thinks about things in typically teenage ways. but like, that wasn't ever held against her? the narrative meets her where she is. it was honestly awesome. HOWEVER,

i absolutely hated the raven and y.t. scenes. how creepy!!! he basically statutory rapes her!!! we know hes at least late 20s early 30s, because hes the same age as hiro. if this sort of content is upsetting to read for you, i definitely do NOT recommend this book. (if you want to avoid reading these bits: ch 47 y.t. meets raven, ch 50 they are in a bar eating, ch 52 things happen that result in y.t.'s anti-assault device activating- she did not activate it on purpose, but forgot it was there- and raven is knocked out.)

please PLEASE dont take any of the following analysis as like, trying to be apologetic towards this scenes. because again they were awful and hard to get through and really gross. but im also cognizant that the author was obviously trying to convey something by making the choice, like the way it was written is obviously not condoning this sort of thing.

i think maybe what stephenson was trying to get at with that, was that we see hiro internally negate any potential for anything untoward with y.t. basically immediately, since he kind of senses that she might have a small crush on him (though this doesnt last more than a fleeting moment, especially from her perspective). vs raven, whose 'poor impulse control' warning tattoo eventually elicits a sarcastic remark from hiro after he finds out raven and y.t. were "a thing". i really dont think hiro knew how far it went? like it was just suuuper weird, but i figured it was meant narratively to 1. execute the chekovs gun of y.t.'s anti-assault device, 2. contrast hiro and raven (especially considering the bike-racing argument where theyre telling the story together, which is supposed to parallel them, while contrasting the differences in how they ended up?), and 3. just to get raven unconscious, i guess. but good god it was weird and i hated every second of it, why couldnt the device have like, activated way earlier?? gah. fucking upsetting. moving past that!

honestly i was really frustrated by how little screentime juanita got, because the way she was introduced was so fucking interesting and then shes mostly off doing her own thing. the bits of explanation she gives at the end about what she was up to on the raft are so sparse and im like damn, can we get a little bit of her pov in here? please? that would have ruled. additionally, shes supposed to be hiros love interest, but we see so little of them interacting outside her intro scenes. a huge portion of why hiro is getting into the sumerian mythology is literally framed as something that will help him understand juanita, but we dont get to see him talk to her about it barely at all.

the supporting characters were quite fun, i particularly liked the librarian. big surprise, i liked the overly literal ai information-dispensor, lmfao. watching him and hiro interact reminded me SO hard of geordi laforge having honest to god conversations with the computer where he tries to coax information out of it, aka one of my favorite little aspects of tng.

and lastly, the major plot themes themselves. i adore the way stephenson approached action, it was very entertaining. usually i cant really visualize action scenes written out, but his use of language was really really effective and engaging. the plot itself was absolutely fascinating, though i found the premise pretty contrived. which isnt bad in itself, i was fully suspending my disbelief until the last hundred pages or so. which for a 550+ page book, isnt too bad.

i did like the approach of linking the ancient to the modern, that is always really neat. and i think ultimately stephenson did it in an interesting way, not how i would have done it, but definitely interesting! creating these ideas about information infrastructures, and there being words that can access those and be used to control people, was wild. not sure if i agree about the equating of religion to a virus, though he did specifically establish that it was more the approach to religion, than religion itself. (maybe if juanita had been more goddamn present in the narrative that could have been elaborated on a little more. literally her perspective would have been perfect in balancing that out!!)

ultimately what did me in was the very very very long winded MONOLOGUE where hiro re-explained the whole premise, in ways that didnt really neatly organize into a cohesive argument. a lot of the scenes where hiro talks to the librarian, which are interspersed throughout the book, are really exposition heavy, because stephenson is rooting his ideas in historical concepts that need to be explained to both hiro and the audience. and i thought all that was fine, because it was a conversation where hiro was grappling with the information, and he was figuring it out along with the reader, and most importantly it was a conversation between him and the librarian computer program.

howeverrr later on we get a full rehash of all that, where hiro makes clear some stuff that was just implied for the reader, and hes literally just telling these important men whats up in this big long monologue. utterly worthless. i kept reading it and going YEAH, we KNOW, we know this we know this. and the important men barely interjected. it added basically nothing to our understanding of the situation, other than reframing it. but everything added was already an implicit thing, and didnt really need to be said again.

the resolution to the book was stellar, the last 30-40 pages, once hiro is onto the raft, were great. ultimately after reading and giving some time to digest it, i think it was a solidly great book with a few big drawbacks near the end, but which dont carry through and sully the ending.

[justsomefluff]

Could I request an Ateez reaction in which the members find out that one of the other members has a crush on their s/o (the other member possibly doesn't know their dating) please and thank you!

Ask and you shall receive!

I made this one so that you have been friends with the guys for a while anyway, so that’s why no one is suspicious of you dating.

Hongjoong:

One day you’re just chillin in the dorms right

It’s about to be movie night!!!

The best night when you have literally the funniest people with you

Once everyone figures out what snacks they need and actually sits down

you plop next to Joongie for some secretive snuggles

But as soon as you sit down, Wooyoung starts yelling about how he wanted to cuddle with you during the movie

Everyone teases him because even you know he has a crush on you (he’s not shy and he has a big mouth so you found out pretty quick)

Since nobody knows that you and Hongjoong are together, you force yourself to go over to Wooyoung instead

It’s almost impossible to ignore your boyfriend’s pout though

He’s staring at you from across the room with the saddest look on his face for like 20 minutes of the movie

you can’t even concentrate, you just wanna go back over there so bad

but you don’t want to expose your relationship just yet

Hongjoong will just have to suck it up for tonight

He does not suck it up, however

after another 15 minutes, he stand up really abruptly and marches over to you and Wooyoung

everybody is watching because no one knows what he’s doing all of a sudden

grabs your hand and pulls you back to his seat

cue more complaining from Wooyoung

“Well we’re together, I'm allowed”

everyone just kind of goes into stunned silence

eventually.... “YOU’RE WHAT”

bunch of yelling from everyone while Joong just yanks a blanket up over the both of your heads

you peck him on the lips and eventually the yelling stops and you can come out to finish the movie

Seonghwa:

possessive mf

but he was the one who didn’t want to tell anyone in the first place

So when Yeosang starts flirting with you, all he can really do is be bitter about it

He watches as you laugh along, obviously not getting that one of your boyfriend’s best friends is coming onto you

You and Yeosang had been talking together for about an hour, just catching up on life and stuff

Seonghwa is getting fed up, no lie

He knew Yeosang had a crush, but he always thought he would be too shy to ever make a move

But all of a sudden Seonghwa feels threatened

he manages to catch your eye across the room and you smile and wave

he just frowns, making you pout and excuse yourself from Yeosang

you head over to him and ask him what’s wrong

He just pulls you into a kiss, catching you completely by surprise

as your eyes flutter shut, his stay open and on Yeosang who is watching with his mouth hanging open

He mouths “sorry, hyung”

Seonghwa pulls away, nods at the younger, and smiles at you

“what was that all about?? What if people saw??”

“don't care anymore”

you don't really question his sudden change of heart

all you can think about is finally being able to cuddle with him even when the boys are around lmao

Yunho: 

(who gave him the right to look so professional here like what)

squishyyyyyyyyyyy

is hanging around the studio one day when he overhears what sounds like your laugh

he’s like “they aren’t even here today wth”

so he goes to find the source and comes across Hongjoong FaceTiming you

he is about to rush over to join and say hi to his love but stops when he hears Hongjoong speak again

sounds like a confession... Yunho’s cheeks get all red and his eyes get a little glossy just because he’s overwhelmed

he sticks around to hear what you say

he knows that you love him but, at the same time, there's a part of him that's really insecure and scared

“Aw, Joongie...that’s sweet and all but...” you’re stalling because you can’t decide if you should tell him the truth

Yunho is literally dying as he waits for your answer

“Joong, I’m with Yunho... we didn’t want people to know but I think this is a pretty good reason to tell you. I’m so sorry”

Yunho lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding

lets a tear fall because he was so so nervous poor thing

he backs out of the room so that he doesn’t hear more

he low-key feels bad about even overhearing that much but at the same time he feels more confident in your relationship 

he shoots you a text later telling you how much you mean to him and everything, but he doesn’t bring up Hongjoong

he knows that you will end up telling him anyway but he doesn’t want you to think negatively of him for eavesdropping

just so happy that you chose him

Yeosang: 

so Yeosang is really confident about your relationship and loves you a lot 

but he's shy about letting other people know

but when he notices that Jongho has been making extra efforts to be near you lately, he doesn’t take it lightly

he wouldn’t be nervous if Jongho knew you were in a relationship

but since he doesn’t, Yeosang is worried that he might try and make a move on you

Jongho had talked to a couple of the other guys about his infatuation with you

but he had suspected that Yeosang also had a crush on you so he had held off

but the other guys told Jongho to go for it, since they didn't know the truth either

So as Yeosang is watching Jongho talking to you one day, he notices that Jongho’s fingers keep “accidentally” grazing yours

He’s getting angrier as he watches

but he isn’t angry at you or Jongho, just angry with himself for being to scared to say anything

eventually, he musters up some courage and saunters over to you and Jongho and takes your hand

right in front of Jongho’s salad

And Jongho is immediately like “crap” and walks away

and you’re super confused because what in the world am I missing what just happened

But Yeosang just kinda giggles and asks you if you wanna go get lunch

San:

now San I think is one to actually get pretty jealous

like if he sees someone trying anything with you, he’s gonna be big mad right away

But it is much more difficult to get mad when it’s Seonghwa who is after you

San is definitely afraid of coming off as disrespectful to his elder if he tries to step in and stop anything

highkey hopes that you’ll say something so that he won't have to

One day Seonghwa actually comes to San

to talk about you

he’s just rambling on and on about how cute he thinks you are, totally oblivious to San’s irritated expression

San is fuming

eventually he’s gonna snap and be like “LOOK BRO WE’RE DATING”

and Seonghwa is like O.O

then San is apologizing like a mad man because he really didn’t mean for it to come out like that

he just legit couldn’t listen to someone else talk about his girlfriend anymore it was infuriating

Seonghwa’s like “...it’s cool, I get why you’d be mad”

then he assures him that he won’t try anything now that he knows about you two

But he also scolds San for not telling him sooner lmao

Gives an apology too just to make his lil bro feel a little better

Mingi:

(MY MF BABYYYYYY)

So, Mingi gets insecure, I bet

When other tall boy, Yunho, also proclaims that you are his ideal type during a revealing round of truth or dare

there is a lot of yelling from the guys, as you are literally playing with them and he just SAID THAT?

But Mingi does not think it’s funny

Suddenly Wooyoung leans over and whispers in his ear

“we are gonna try to get y/n to say she wants dare so she will have to kiss Yunho”

Like it’s sweet that they’re planning to be wingmen for their buddy Yunho but Mingi is so SAD

scoots an inch closer to you and shakes his head at Wooyoung

“why are you pouting, just help us lmao”

he shakes his head again, but Wooyoung has already turned his attention back to the game

finally, your turn comes around and all the guys start making up excuses as to why you should take a dare

“Cmon y/n we just had two truths in a row, pleaseee”

“y/n you gotta pick dare or its not fun”

and you’re laughing and about to give in and ask for a dare when you look to Mingi and he’s making big eyes at you

you cock an eyebrow at him and he leans over to tell you what the guys were planning

your eyes go wide and the other guys are like “MINGI YOU TATTLED DIDNT YOU”

so you turn your head and peck Mingi on the lips in front of everyone

chorus of “oh my god” “woah” and other things

“Sorry, Yunho” but he just shrugs like “it’s cool, Id rather you be with one of us than someone random. even if its not me”

Mingi is smiling again and thats all that matters really and he snuggles you for the rest of the game

Wooyoung:

Wooyoung is pretty well-attuned to things that happen around you

always watching you out of the corner of his eye like a stalker

it’s just cuz he loves you tho

so he notices Mingi hitting on you pretty much immediately

honestly finds it kind of amusing for a little bit

but then little things come up in his memory

fans saying that he was too short for you and that you’d be better with someone else

gets down on himself really fast thinking about that kind of stuff

still watching you and Mingi talking

wants to walk over there and hang all over you until Mingi gets the point

so that is exactly what he does

waddles over and slings his arms around your waist

head on your shoulder

kisses your neck and you squeal because MINGI IS RIGHT THERE I MEAN SERIOUSLY WOOYOUNG

and Mingi kind of laughs it off but��he’s a little sad bc he liked you ya know

after Mingi goes away you hit Wooyoung softly on the shoulder and tell him to go talk to Mingi and apologize or something

He agrees but he’s like “you have to give me cuddles afterwards”

who could say no to that? couldn't be me

Jongho:

Okay so you and Jongho are coming back from a group dinner and he sat in the front while you crammed in the backseat with WooSan

halfway through the car ride home, you fall asleep and your head flops onto San’s shoulder

he’s immediately giddy about his crush sleeping on him like his dreams are coming true

Jongho’s like “imma break your dreams like my apples bro”

Woo is giggling because San is being so soft for you and stroking your hair and everything 

Jongho just kinda watches in the rearview as San takes pictures and stuff

But Jongho just purses his lips and tries his best not to say anything

the last straw that finally breaks Jongho’s resolve is when he catches San pressing a kiss to the top of your head

“Hyung, please don't kiss them in front of their boyfriend”

San and Wooyoung look at each other like “are you the boyfriend”

they look at the driver “is he the boyfriend?”

and then their two collective brain cells join together and are like “JONGHO IS THE BOYFRIEND”

San is a little sad but his happiness at the maknae finding love is more prevalent

They start squealing and demanding details about your relationship

“when did this start” “why didn't you tell us” “did you tell your parents”

Jongho just smiles to himself as they throw questions at him

then you wake up and slap San on the boob for waking you up and then flick Wooyoung for being noisy too lmao

Jongho smiles at you and when you get back to the dorms, he gives you a smooch right where everyone can see (because he can do that now)

[ermbabyel]

hi hi hi !! may i please request a personality ship with bts and ateez !! i apologize in advance bc it's super long </3

I’m a 5’9.5 (basically 5’10) girl with dark skin, jet black hair (currently in long twists rn!!), and i’m on the curvier side (esp hips and my thighs) !! some of my favorite features are my plump lips (and i have a beauty mark on my bottom lip!), my long legs (that look so so so so good in skirts and dresses), my kempt and pretty fingernails, and my eyelashes !!! i’m a virgo (and surprisingly i get along with all the signs, i cant think of a sole zodiac sign i DONT mix well with), and i am an i/enfj (i got 51% extravert 49% intra the first time, then 50% for both the second time!! ) and i honestly agree—i’m an ambivert all the way! i often come off as cold/shy when meeting new people (one of my closest friends avoided me for a month before meeting me because i looked so intimidating LMAO), but once you get close to me i turn into a bundle of warmth and love: i will never stop texting them the <3 emoji every morning or buying my friends/s/o their favorite starbucks order when they need a little cheer-me-up.

  i’m extremely passionate about the issues and people i care about and the goals and dreams i have. I’m creative, patient, an extremely good listener, caring, a social butterfly, and extremely hardworking. my friends always told me of my heart of gold and how perceptive i am of the people around me—noticing immediately when something is wrong and trying to make them feel better. I’m also very headstrong, detailed, and determined!! my friends also call me a nerd since i’ve had all a’s since kindergarten—i LOVE school and would describe myself as intelligent. i really like that i’m empathetic and motivational to those around me. it’s really easy for me to show my affection, adoration, and support for someone because i just want everyone to feel loved and safe :( i HATE seeing my loved ones sad, and when people usually have problems about anything (from family to just school), i’m the one they come to talk to because of my warm and openminded heart. I love sharing happiness with my friends in their goals and always hype them up no matter what, and it makes me so so so so happy seeing my loved ones content. im also really, really funny (my fave personality trait of mine tbh)!! I’m always cracking jokes and laughing (sometimes for no reason LMAOO). i would be in the library at like 7 am with my friends and struggle with stifling my laugh from jokes i told </3

  I also love to go out and explore—whether trying out a new restaurant in the city or a newly opened amusement park or trying something new, like skydiving (or some other crazy but fun idea), trying recipes from around the world, or trying sledding for the first time! at the same time, i like really chill, mellow spending-time-alone-or-with-one-other-person activities like baking (my favorite treat to bake is red velvet cupcakes and cheddar bay biscuits) and dancing !! (i’ve been a dancer for more than 12 years!!). i can also speak more than 5 languages (including korean!) and i’m always saying random phrases (like thank you, i love u so much!, gtfo my face, that sucks ass) in a random language too LMFAOOO. i often think being a coffee/cafe lover is a personality trait (i love love love love love coffee) i also love accessories (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings, etc) and would die of happiness when the day i can wear matching accessories with my s/o comes.

besides being my bestfriend who i can kiss and whatnot (hehe), my ideal type is a TALL (THEY DONT HAVE TO BE but 5’9+...i’m already tall but pls .5 of an inch taller would be enough) man who has eyes for me and only me !!! they may look cold/cool/mysterious/laid back at first glance (like “i dont like u lol” or “yeah haha 🙂" to any other girls but “hi baby what can i do for u today to please the loml” with me <3)  but turn into the sweetest, warmest, cutest honey bun once i get to know them! (kinda like me)!! ALSO a man who can pull off all black outfits like those are my FAVORITE omg. he needs to have a BIG sense of humor (like i want to laugh every second i’m with him and laugh so hard that our stomachs start hurting and we beg each other to stop making jokes type of humor), fashionable (so i can learn fashion pls and wear coordinated outfits with him). i just want a boy who i could talk to and listen to for HOURS. like i would follow him into the bathroom as he showers and sit on the toilet and just listen to him talk about his day or vent to him, but also a boy that loves comfortable silence!! like just cuddling with each other or im studying, and hes working on a personal project so that just being with him makes me feel warm <3 i want a s/o who’s willing to go out and travel with me so i could take off guard pics of him and make him my wallpaper until he begs me to change it. im also not good at conflict so if conflict arises, id love a boy who knows how to talk me down and open up the room for conversation and make me feel safe and not as if im confronted or wrong, someone where we can just talk, resolve our problem, and make it up with a hug or night out!! this kinda leads to me wanting a relationship where we both help improve each other and our flaws (for example some of my flaws are callousness, taking things to heart sometimes, and not opening up easily, etc), so i’d really appreciate a relationship where my partner and i can help each other grow as people. i also love love love to cook, so i’d love an s/o that loves cooking with me and teaching each other how to cook each other’s cultural foods (i would love to teach my bf how to cook jollof rice and have a cookoff one day). I like ALL 5 of the love languages but my top 3 tied for 1st are quality time (THIS i want to spend everyday with my bf at chinatown or a new city exploring), words of affirmation (someone who reaffirms me of their love continuously, supportively, and in sweet ways), and acts of service (cooking my favorite food when i’m down, doing chores that i cant do when tired). men who are really expressive through touch are also ideal <3 i'd shy away from pda, but inside the house i’d be so happy yet so shy and flustered when they express their love through touch (like laying in my lap so i can play with their hair, holding my hand while watching tv, cuddling while talking about whatever). OR like the SLIGHTEST compliment or act of love (LIKE BACKHUGS OR HOLDING HANDS OR KISSING MY BEAUTY MARKS OR FOREHEAD KISSESJSJSJSJ). i love a man who's goal oriented, know what he wants, and makes the move first (kinda like taking control of the relationship!!) in all, i’d just love to be really appreciated and loved and also show the same love, support, warmth, closeness, and happiness to my bf <3 tysm <333

Hi hi~! You sound like such a sweetheart and so cute 😍💕 I’ll be super happy to ship you~!

Bts

Yoongi 🥳

I thought of Yoongi right away while reading your submission. You sound like such a sweet and supportive person that I think Yoongi would benefit from being in a relationship with you. You also remind me a lot of hobi when I was reading your description so I think you two would be best friends too~! Yoongi would be intrigued by your appearance, your intimidating aura around you would make him want to know you more. Surely there’s more than meets the eye...and Yoongi was correct. After getting to know you more. He soon learned how such a happy and sweet person you are. He would love the duality of you. It’s keeps him on his toes and yearns to learn more o about you~! Yoongi is a very passionate person as well, especially with his career and his members. And I’m sure he’d be passionate with you too, but he’ll show you in his own little ways. For example, writing songs about you for bts’ new comeback, getting you your favorite foods and drinks when you both have had a long day...he just loves you so much. I can see you, and sope being the three musketeers of bts, you three would do SO much together. Yoongi can be a silly and goofy person as we’ve seen, but only certain people can drawl that aspect out of him, so you and hobi would do SOO well at making him feel comfortable to let loose and have fun~! I can see you and hobi goofing around at the studio with each other and Yoongi would shake his head and act unimpressed, but we all see right through him and he truly adores you in that state~! Yoongi would also think it’s super adorable how flustered and shy you get when he gets touchy with you 👀💜. Just a very cute and wholesome relationship~! 🥰

Ateez

Seonghwa 🥳

You love when your partner takes control? You don’t need to tell Seonghwa twice! The boy would LOVE to take care of you and take the lead in the relationship. I think he’s also naturally dominate, so it would be no problem for him~! I can see you two going on cute coffee dates to local cafè shops close by. Seonghwa would absolutely adore how excited you are about coffee~! He would also think it’s hella attractive that you’re a dancer 👀. He LOOOOVES to watch you dance for himself maybe he would create a dance for only you two to perform. Your legs and lips are how absolute favorite physical traits of yours. Seonghwa would always have a hand on your leg or knee whenever you guys are sitting down. And if you’d let him, Seonghwa would kiss you all day long~! He just loves the feeling of your soft lips against his 💜. Seonghwa also adores how happy and cheerful you are. Especially on hard long days full of practices and performances, your cheerful and loving nature always makes him feel better and soooo much more relaxed. I can see both of you mothering the other members too~! He appreciates you taking care of him at times, but he’s also take opportunities to take care of you too~! Overall a very sweet and loving relationship~! ❤️‍🔥

Again, I am very sorry for the long ass wait 🥺. I hope you enjoy your ships love~! Stay happy and healthy~! 🤗💜