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my-jokes-are-my-armour · 1 month ago

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So here I am again with my gray review/analysis of The Sirens of the Deep. As always, I don't give netflix adaptations of the witcher all the praises, but I can't go without explanations either. I won't put empty critics to light up the fires of already convinced people that this is just crap. Maybe I am a hopeless soul but this is how it works for me 🤷🏽‍♀️.

So here is my short review first and the whole detailed thing under the cut as always.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because I rapidly switched my mindset, leaving the straight adaptation behind and embrassing more of the Geralt and Jaskier on an adventure vibe.

So yeah this movie doesn't have the emotional impact of the short story, especially because of the way it ends in A little Sacrifice and because the movie focused on other things than the romance, but for me, it fills some places that needed substance in S1 and gives another layer to Geralt's feelings that was lacking in the main. It also gives me some things to think about Jaskier in a way I didn't anticipate from the series perspective.

So if I take it simply as a rendition of A Little Sacrifice, it is not satisfying as such. But inside S1, it works well and it really pleased me.

Now for some quick sharp critics : Jaskier's songs are far too short. I need Joey Batey's voice in IV 😩. The animation is ok, but I don't like some aspects of low frame rate animations. The movie has inconsistencies in some aspects, and, weirdly, has some noticeable visual continuity issues. It changes a lot of characters and some dynamics which can feel weird, with the book story in head.

But. It explores a part that was only suggested in the og, giving the merpeople a visibility and a place in the story. So the POV about the conflict is not one sided. Merpeople and humans share their part of responsibility, keeping the tradition of grey stories.

Yennefer is barely here but her presence gives a part of what was missing in the series to really feel and understand Geralt's love for her in S1.

The story has changed quite a lot for Essi and Jaskier but it gives some interesting things to think about, if you place it in relation to the main series and not the book. Then - and this is more like in the book here - things reflects on Geralt with a mirroring effect, which I found well done overall.

And the most satisfying thing for me was basically Geralt and Jaskier together, giving something in between to book and the series. The geraskier being actual bros is present in a lot of little things, but didn't play it as intimate as in the book - maybe they were too afraid to slide on a weird angle 😅 - but man at the end 😳, I took a geraskier shower by proxy and I was not ready for that 🤣.

That said. I will give Sirens of the Deep a 7.5/10. It is a good filler to the series and I had a good time. For a pure adaptation of the book point of view, I will give more of a 6/10 as it deviates a lot and misses the emotional part.

Now, I will detail everything and spoil a lot, under the cut. You've been warned.

First thing first.

Everyone is entitled to appreciate a product or not, to have some knowledge of the source material or not, to prefer the games to the books to the series etc. I have read mild to bad receptions to the movie with valid rejections. I have no problem with that.

As always, that's the blind and simply hateful comments I am against. I read things like they dumbed down every female characters so Yennefer would be superior or the opposite classical like Geralt isn't even in the center of this feminist horrible product. I read things like this is stupid that the story was mixed with A Little Mermaid. Or they didn't read the story. They didn't respect the source material and then say the fights were the best part.

To be fair, for Sirens of the Deep, that last statement can be very true considering the angle with which they approached the story ! (You didn't anticipate me saying that right lool). But if you think they didn't respect the source material I wonder how the fights were the best to you 😅.

Anyway, yes they did read and there is still a lot from the story in it. The problem is that this story is attached to strong emotional elements to which most of us have responded reading it. And memory is selective. We kept mostly that and not the rest.

So when the adaptation picks a lot more of the other things, changes what was not very nice, and build something over the little pieces we don't remember that instead of giving us what we hoped, there is deception at the end of the road.

What I want to do here is to be a little bit more objective. Because I did enjoy the movie, but I realise that this is just because my mind switched perspective very early on while I was watching.

Let's begin with the obvious.

Adaptation of an adaptation :

In my opinion : Is this movie the perfect adaptation of A Little Sacrifice ? Hell no. That story broke my heart so bad and I can't forget that. We are not near that with this adaptation. But if you consider it taking place in S1 and having for setup that story, it has its qualities. So of course liberties have been taken. Of course it doesn't reflect all that made A little Sacrifice so good. But at the same time it goes in interesting places and adds some layers that were lacking on Geralt from the series. And that is what I enjoyed a lot.

I have some issues with the critic about the injection of A Little Mermaid in the story, because : A Little Sacrifice IS already an adaptation of The Little Mermaid tale.

It also has elements of the Ys legend attached to it.

This is a melting pot made into a total new story to satisfy the growth of Geralt's character concerning his feelings.

So can we really be mad that the adaptation of the adaptation takes the same references and reinjected them in their own way ? We can but I am not.

As a reminder, The Little Mermaid is a Danish fairy tale and Ys is a french one based on celtic myths. Those two stories have many adaptations through the centuries. And every one of them takes what they want from it and uses the myths like they want. This is for the 100% slavik ref argument...

I am pretty sure everyone that read the short story can make the link with The Little Mermaid. I mean. There is a mermaid. There is a love story. She ends up with legs. But did you remember things about Ys ?

Here is one ref to Ys from the book : “Because they are steps,” Dandelion whispered in awe. “Ooo, they’re steps leading to an underwater city. To the legendary Ys, which was swallowed up by the sea. Have you heard the legend of the city of the chasm, about Ys-Beneath-The-Waves? I shall write such a ballad the competition won’t know what’s hit them. I have to see it up close… Look, there’s some kind of mosaic, something is engraved or carved there… Some kind of writing? Move away, Geralt.”

And here is a direct ref from the movie : The sirens Queen's name is Dahut, who is the main character around this legend. And the place of the royal mermaids in the movie is like a sunken city.

For me, the movie created the merpeople civilisation based on several references like the first one I gave. The short story doesn't show much of the merpeople, except Sh’eenaz and some fishmen. But they clearly took things from the dialogues mostly. Geralt and Jaskier exploring and talking about those creatures and their possible civilisation. They took also from The Little Mermaid, the Disney version, but a slightly more darker tone but not enough. I understand that THIS can feel bad.

But then, I invite you to revisit the Andersen tale. Sure Disney is all sugar and ice caking compare to the og 😅, but, look at the A Little Sacrifice's version and see that it is also not as dark as the original for the part it takes of : the mermaid and the Duke actually love each other and there is a "happy" ending to that part of the story. But you will see also how drastically different this adaptation is from the two others. Because well... Adaptations, especially from old tales, are rarely the replica of the original. Because it depends a lot on the narrator.

Then ask yourself what one wants to tell when they adapt a story ? What are the thematics explored ? Where and when does it fit ? What is the focus and the purpose ?

For me, here, the focus was to make it blend into the series universe, while adapting the mermaid part in a nicer way. Because let's be honest. Buying the fact that Sh’eenaz is actually loving Agloval so she accepts the sacrifice is quite a stretch of imagination lol. To me, the Duke feels more like a zoophile in the end ^^'.

Smoothing Agloval :

This is one of the change that I liked the most in the movie. Because they didn't make him perfect. He is genuine about his feeling but he is selfish too. The og duke is more deported on his father in an actually good way.

Just for a reminder. This is Agloval. “An intelligent race,” Agloval repeated pensively, resting an elbow on the armrest, and his fist on his chin. “An underwater civilisation. Fishlike people living on the seabed. Steps leading to the depths. Geralt, you take me for a bloody gullible duke.” Zelest proposal to kill all the creatures [...]"From what the Witcher says, they are some kind of sea drowners or other sea monsters. There are ways of dealing with drowners. I heard tell that one sorcerer gave some drowners short shrift in Lake Mokva. He poured a small barrel of magical philtre into the water and did for the fuckers. Didn’t leave a trace.’’[...] And Agloval's response to that "Thank you for that excellent suggestion, Zelest. Do you have any more?" And later... "You are mistaken, Miss Daven,” Agloval said calmly. ‘We shall learn whither lead those steps. Further, we shall descend those steps. We shall find out what is on that side of the ocean, if there is anything there at all. And we shall draw from the ocean everything we can. And if not we, then our grandsons will do it, or our grandsons’ grandsons. It is just a matter of time.[...]”

And just after that, when Agloval promises to exploit the sea till nothing is left, Sh’eenaz appears and she has made the sacrifice to bring peace and consume her relation with the Duke.

To him, the "love of his life" isn't even from an intelligent race, and he promised to go where he should not, destroy their habitat for profit because he is upset. (All similarity with anything is unintentional of course 🙄)

In the movie, they moved the centre of the dark part on something else. There is some racist undertone but less present. The merpeople and the humans know each others well and have a status quo situation going on. The start of the conflict for the merpeople is that the humans takes too much from the sea, just for the pearls economy. So the status quo is in balance because they are beginning to starve. So there is the greedy aspect of course from the humans, but the catalyser of the conflict is because the King don't accept the romance between his son and Sh'eenaz. He wants the succession of his lineage assured and this romance goes against it.

He goes great length to break that union, even making an alliance with Melusina who has her own motives to break to merpeople royal family.

The obstacles that Agloval and Sh'eenaz have to overcome makes their relationship truer.

One major change is that the movie reversed the sacrifice. Agloval proves his love and counters his father's actions against the merpeople, becoming the link between the land and sea, changing into a mermaid. The peace is very fragile but the love part is somehow more coherent.

The real problem maybe is that all of that takes almost all the light from the love story that was in the centre of A Little Sacrifice : Geralt and Essi. But I feel that a part of what was only about that in conversations, inner dialogs etc has been used in mirroring narrations.

"Just because you and your accursed lover only have two modes doesn't mean everyone else does"

Essi isn't the only mirror for Geralt's feelings toward Yennefer in this movie. I don't feel this is a bad thing on a strict narration point of view, but from an adaptation eye with this being one of the focal point of people love for the short story, this is a bad faux pas, because it made this part feel more generic.

So here are my analysis of the mirroring things.

They chose to illustrate several iteration of love stories. Each one reflecting on others and mostly Geralt's situation with Yennefer in the end. This is highlight several little things from the main series, like blood family vs chosen/found family and heritage. It also gives something back in between episode 5 and 6 of the main series : how Geralt feels about love in regard of his own situation.

The king and his two "loves"

Agloval is the legitimate heir of the King who tells him that he loved his mother from true love. Zelest is the illegitimate son but he has strangely a strong position in the court. Usually "bastard" are hidden if not killed. We can suppose that he lied, because he lies on a lot of things just to get what he wants.

He tries to convince his son that true love is not enough. And in the end even tell Zelest that he is an error he always wanted to erase.

The King put the interest before the sentiments, and even before the life of his own people. He doesn't care if people dies if he can stop the union of his son with the mermaid.

Melusina and the injustice

The relation of the King of Bremervoord with love is reflected on Melusina with whom he plots. And the sea witch is similar to Yennefer in several aspect. Even Jaskier is jokingly comparing them.

She is powerful, quite angry. She is sterile. Her colour is violet. 😏

She lost her true love against the need of the royal family to have an heir. Things are not really sure about the real love of the mer-king. He seems quite embarrassed. But Melusina wants her true love back even if she has to kill every one for that.

S1 Yennefer is in this kind of destructive path to get what she wants. She doesn't care much if she hurts people in her quest. Even Geralt. They share the passion and the she goes.

Agloval and Sh’eenaz

They have a major issue on communication (well that's no well played with the issues with the use of the merspeak). They are ok when there is only sex between them. But the manipulation of the people they trust renforce the problem to a breakup. In the end this is the action that proves the sincerity of the feelings.

And this reflects on Geralt love relations. He has a hard time communicate with those he loves in general. He doesn't understand why Yennefer keeps abandoning him. There is sex and passion but the rest is silent. And we have Jaskier that hates the sorceress and tries to force him out of this relation because he thinks she is not made for him. I think I have never seen Jaskier slaging off Yennefer as much than in this movie lool

And then when the spark appears between Geralt and Essi, he tries to push for that relation to blossom. The communication in the end is what resolve everything for them.

Which leads to.

Geralt's feelings and Essi

in the books, Geralt's struggles with his place in the world and his feelings are the biggest underlying subject in the short stories.

Geralt has a complexe toward his capacity to feel emotions and be entitled to love or being loved. He thinks of himself as a monster and not deserving those things. And we have a Jaskier in counter telling him he should not depreciate himself and go for it.

Here the approach to those things feels less miserable but he always tries to justify that he is different and not worth it. He acknowledge he has feelings though. His main excuse is : I am a witcher. Aka a killing machine making money hunting monsters and I never knew love in my life.

He has an intense relation with Yennefer but full of turmoils. He doesn't feel enough for her (a shard of ice) and in the series there the accent is more on understanding her and her needs.

When he meets Essi and have this love at first sight experience, he is troubled. Geralt is not feeling good enough to match the complexity of her feelings. And the whole discovery of her personality, the differences in the feelings he experiences for her and Yennefer, leads to touching moments, even emotional ones. We have some good conversations with Jaskier also.

But there is a little something that might have slide off you mind... 🚩

Description of Essi The woman could not have been older than eighteen, and was very slim. Her long, luxuriant hair was the colour of dark gold. They entered as the girl finished the song and thanked the audience for the thunderous applause with a nod of her head, which shook her hair gently.

Yes. Even if this looks like less than 18 but maybe isn't, Essi is way younger than Geralt and there is the possibility that she is not even an full adult. So yeah, there is a innocence and a freshness in her that makes the romance special. But in reality this is kind of creepy. Especially when we have Jaskier being pissed of by their mannerisms and the way they turn around each other without going anywhere who suggests that they fuck to settle it for good.

So...

They decided to age Essi. She is now a mature woman, around the age of Jaskier (as they know each other since childhood in the new headcanon). So she is something like 35/40, placing the story just before The Moutain.

And I say yes ! Thank you ! This is a nice change ! Geralt isn't fucking a teenager. Jaskier isn't pushing for his friend to have sex with a teenager either !

And Essi still got a softness to her, some strong temper too. She is still romantic. She is still infatuated with Geralt.

And those who claim that she is like the women Marie Sues all power that need no men ever, this is not true. Essi is stronger than Jaskier as a child, she is self assured, but Geralt is still her hero here. He saves her life twice. Same thing with Sh’eenaz. She needs others help. This is not because a woman can be brave that she is a Marie Sue or that she eclipses men's valor.

Like in the short story, this love story doesn't work. The reasons are not exactly the same though. Here, Geralt's life and heart are too hard for her and she wants a more normal life : have a family, peace and security.

Note that in S2, this is basically the dream of Yennefer too. Parallels. Parallels...

And note again that Essi tells to Geralt that Jaskier will do what she cannot ! The subtext sent me howling in geraskier there loool.

I was satisfied with their relationship even if we didn't have all the subtleties of Geralt's struggles. But we had more than we had in S1.

What we don't have is the strong emotional connection and the punch in the guts that is the real ending. I don't feel like this was necessary in this movie, it would probably have fallen flat in the circumstances. But I wish that somehow this tragedy is adressed in a way or another. Whump the bard lool.

Geralt and Jaskier

This was the most rewarding thing of the whole show for me. Just having Geralt actually caring for Jaskier and showing it was everything. Just the two of them being buddies, I could have that forever.

Jaskier is a little bit too buffoon because he is used 90% as the comic relief, but he lands right in the middle in his charactisation between the books and the series.

The geraskier subtext is running wild in my mind. Geralt is like "you annoying little shit" but then his reaction to Zelest is so "you touch him I kill you". Jaskier seems less infatuated but then you have some parallels with Essi's feelings that are just too straight : "your bard loves you and he is the one you need".

I won't say much more here or I will just enumerate very frame they share on screen because I loved them together being friends !!

The big character changes and other additions

i have already mentioned a lot of changes so i won't repeat too much here. This is more so comments I aant to make on the changes from the short story.

Agloval, Jaskier and Essi are those who have changed the most from the og and new connections have been made to change the dynamics with other secondary characters that have been changed also or added. I understand this could feel odd with the short story in head.

I spoke already a lot about Agloval and the vhanges around him, but i want to point another change that is linked to him and Jaskier now.

Zelest.

He was the supervisor of the pearl fishing. Here he is the king's illegitimate son, military counsellor and Jaskier's bully from the past. He's got a bit of a Faramir in some aspects here, searching for the approval of his father. He is also trying to be a better son than the legitimate one. He has a need to belong. He was channeling his of antipathic and violent persona for a while and I like the nuances it added to some characters.

Zelest leads to Jaskier and his new headcanon - which is strangely plausible, in the series verse and for some part compatible with the book character. Not for everything but still. So I was : ok I am listening here.

He leads also to a little bit of bi Jaskier. I mean you can't convince me that if he wasn't killed by the Kraken they wouldn't have made up in the end loool.

But his change of heart doesn't feel right. It just had drama to the situation of the kingdom in the end as the kind lost his two sons. But there are not much of an emotional impact.

Melusina and Sh’eenaz

Melusina is clearly a disney character here. She is half Ursula and Scar and she even has a muscial number like in the Disney adaptation (which is both weird and nice). Weird because this isn't the kind of things you can think of in a witcher rendition. The music isn't used as a number, it has a reality in the world. But honestly I like the song lol. So I put that in my little category of, I keep that to the side.

Her character as the grand villain why not. But the use of the kraken is both wrong to the short story and feels to much like Disney. Basically it is mentioned in the story but this isn't what caused the deaths of the fisher in their conclusion.

“And the monster that killed the pearl divers? You have no idea what it was?” “A kraken, perhaps?” “No. A kraken would have wrecked the boat, but it was intact. And, as they said, totally full of blood,” Little Eye swallowed and visibly paled. “Don’t think I’m being a know-all. I grew up by the sea, and I’ve seen a few things.”

Sh’eenaz has a lot more characteristics that in the book. She is can use magic apparently and her mother too. Well considering auty Melusina is a witch, why not. This this for me participates more to the massive fight at the end than to a real improvement of the character. I appreciated that we learn a bit about the merpeople through her though.

The political and economical situation :

They developed that part beyond the witcher story, giving the merpeople an existence. What differs the most here is that the humans are well aware of the existence of a sea civilization and that there are already some links between them with a status quo that is falling apart.

In the original story we just understand that the pearl divers are going too far and perturbs the merpeople. And Agloval is willing to destroy the environment out of anger and greed. Sh’eenaz makes the sacrifice that stabilises the situation but we don't have much of what is happening under the sea. So with all the addition in the movie, we have a grayer plot. Sure we have the real monsters are the humans. But here we also have a monster monster. And both monsters plotted together. Which is an interesting twist.

Merspeak :

One thing that was not well handled in the relation between the merpeople and land people was the merspeak. This is one of the least coherent things of the whole story.

In the book, Agloval needs Geralt and Geralt is helped by Essi at some to communicate with Sh’eenaz. And Sh’eenaz doesn't seem to understand common human language too. Everything is handled in English (or whatever language you read the story in). But here they actually created the language. The ideas are not bad but this is delivered very badly.

It falls apart in several moments.

First, as the sea and the land have a status quo, it is implied that both species communicate. We have a Vodnik speaking common language with Geralt and we have Agloval and Sh’eenaz arguing in their own language but apparently understanding each other. So yeah, nothing is coherent there and it is a big miss.

The war :

This is the part of the story that isn't featured at all in the book. This is a menace. But here they went full on it. This is one of the aspects that I wasn't really on board with. It has some cool elements but here if you want weird deviations on the source material, there are plenty.

First and this is not the worst to me because they didn't go too far with it and it was fun : Jaskier with a sword. This makes no sense and even he says basically wtf am I supposed to do ? But he mostly blocks the attacks and lets someone else kill the monsters. So ok, why not. Let the bard have some moments of fun.

One canon thing though: Jaskier headbutt 😅.

Now my main problem with the fights concerns Geralt.

I have switched off my brain to enjoy it because this was too much 🤣. Geralt is a mutant with more strength than a human and high speed reflexes but he doesn't fly or do flips like an olympic gymnast - even game geralt isn't that flexible 😅 - or break metal chains by flexing lol. I had circus music in my head during all the fights hehehe.

But more importantly what the fuck was that with the magic signs and the potions. The potions were badly used and the signs were like full magic.

If you loved the fights, good on you, but don't come to tell me they were canon 😅.

But you know what ? They went full gear for the spectacular, so let's enjoy it for what it is. No more no less.

One last thing I want to talk about and that I found well done, because it links book Jaskier to the series one and it highlights one big things about the witcher books in general.

Jaskier lies - The unreliable narrator

This is one big thing of the books. The story is given to us through the lens of several unreliable narrator and we discover in the later books that Jaskier could be the main for the Continent history.

In the books it is stated that Jaskier lies a lot especially in his art. Series Jaskier is set up also like that but this is not really a big deal.

In this movie, they threw Jaskier right in the center of the unreliable narrator.

From Essi and Geralt conversation on the balcony at the party, we have a right in the middle book and series Jaskier vibe. He exaggerated Geralt achievements, changed the events, but we understand the truth beneath.

But we learn that our boy lied about his past and built himself a story to feat his persona. And we know Jaskier lies and embellishes things a lot. In this story, they emphasise on that : he lied about his past. He lies in his songs. And the next thing he does : He sings about erasing things he doesn't like. (My story).

We have a glimpse of him being bullied, but we also have Essi saying to Geralt that he went through a lot. Jaskier wanted to erase the pain is a strong feature. This could be a strong way to end in S5, for his character (and Ciri's too).

The ending of A Little Sacrifice is him muting forever the fact that Essi died and the story attached to her. Jaskier is very vocal and noisy, but he is silent when he is in real pain.

And there is actually one thing in A little Sacrifice that can concur with the fact that he could be not an Oxenfurt academy's elite member as he claims : the fact that he mocks Yennefer's explanation of the tides, while he is supposed to have mastered Astronomy too (one of the 7 liberal arts).

“I think you’re a fool. Yennefer once told me that the moon causes the tides.”

Dandelion cackled.

“What bloody rubbish! What does the moon have to do with the sea? Only dogs howl at the moon. She was having you on, Geralt, that little liar of yours, she put one over on you. Not for the first time either, I’d say.”

I am not fully on board on the new headcanon but I like the narrator aspect.

Conclusion

What was missing (or not) :

The pearl for Essi. The tragic ending. Because these were iconic. But in this version I am not sure this was really necessary to have that. I wish that at some point we have a mention of Essi's death and how it affects Jaskier…

The og geraskier moments. But… I mean… if we had them as they were written, the fandom would have explode in rainbows 😅. Let's take only Geralt and Jaskier sharing a bed, talking about love 🤭. But if you read between the lines, in the end, you have your full geraskier in the feels loool.

What I liked :

For me that was the strong point from all the characterisations especially Geralt. This version of Geralt felt more Geralt to me that before in the series. From his self loathing that is finally highlighted, even if it is by proxy, to his fragility towards his feelings. I needed that part of Geralt. We also have the illustration of his moral code, sense of justice and need to protect. All in one go. And it feels right.

His relationship with Jaskier feels more normal also. I was dying to have a buddies on the road feeling from them. I mean we finally had that in S3 but in this movie it feels like a salve healing S1 relationship between them.

Having Geralt being awkward at flirting is also efreshing. I like that he expresses his feelings a bit more, says how different he thinks he is and his views on humans. Love was surviving. In his experience he found it hard to trust humans. He doesn't want to fall in love with short span living humans. He feels he needs somebody more like him. Hence Yennefer.

Note for some of the angry reviews :

Geralt and Jaskier's deal for money. Geralt and Essi knowing the merspeak. Jaskier pushing for Geralt to be with Essi and drop Yennefer. Essi and Geralt having sex. If that was too predictable for some or easy trick, well I am sorry for you, this was in the short story 😅.

So yeah this Geralt is just at the junction of series Geralt and book Geralt, and that is something I greatly appreciated to most I think.

Then the absence of oversexualisation of the mermaid and overall the less pervert eye, if I can say that like that. Maybe this is not something that translate to men as much, but as much as I love A Little Sacrifice - this is my favorite short story - this is quite uncomfortable to read as a woman sometimes. Well Geralt's gaze on women is often incomfortable to be fair lool. So yeah, having less of that and more connection was a plus for me.

The changes on Agloval character and the mermaid. Their love story feels right.

Essi and Jaskier singing together, even though the set up is not the same. But it was too short 🥲. But I guess this is because I miss Joey a lot.

What I didn't like :

The fights. I won't repeat what I already said. The physicality was way over the top. But at least it was fun to watch.

Less fights and maybe we could have more of emotional build up for Essi and Geralt. A part of me believes this is the response to “the witcher is about the path and killing monster discours that runs a lot” that pushed the story in that direction. Who knows ? But if that's so, just 😩.

The chaos with the use of the merspeak. This was really confusing and narratively weird.

So :

If you take this as an pure adaptation of the short story, there are some miss points that are hard to get over. It didn't have most of the iconic moments and vibe. Nor the emotional impact.

If you take this like a filler in S1. This is really enjoyable. It connects a lot of things and gives more layers to both Geralt and Jaskier.

#sirens of the deep #the witcher spoilers #spoilers #my reviews #and analysis #long post #(sorry there are a lot of typo errors and i am too tired to correct them)

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edgy-ella · 7 months ago

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Overall I liked the Sonic 3 trailer, but there’s a couple things about it that have left me pondering over the nature of video game adaptations as a whole.

As I said in my initial post, the one thing that really stuck out to me about the trailer was Sonic being seemingly commissioned by GUN to find and detain Shadow rather than the plotline we all know from SA2 where Sonic is wrongfully accused for Shadow’s crimes (some fans interpret this as a deliberate coverup on GUN’s end while others see it as a genuine mistake). That makes up a huge part of SA2’s plot and a majority of its most iconic levels. City Escape, Metal Harbor, and Green Forest simply don’t happen without Sonic being persecuted and arrested by GUN first. Given the way Eggman and Gerald appear in the trailer, I think it’s safe to say that the similarly iconic scenes of Eggman blowing up the moon with the Eclipse Cannon and Gerald’s video diary where he vows to wipe out humanity with a colony drop won’t show up, either.

It’s got me thinking: why aren’t most video game film adaptations treated the same way that book adaptations are?

Most of the time when people adapt a famous book into a movie, the book’s core narrative is left intact for the film. They may cut some scenes for time, but overall, it’s the same story with the same major plot beats.

This is not always the case for many video game movies, especially the Sonic movies. The first movie had basically nothing to do with the series—you could copy paste any furry into Sonic’s shoes and the only thing that would change are a few action setpieces. Sonic 2 is way, way better, but it still mostly pulls random bits and pieces of Sonic iconography then stitches them together to form a narrative. Big parts of the original Sonic 3 & Knuckles story are cut out, most notably Angel Island. And like, for those movies, I think that’s fine. There’s not exactly a lot to pull from in the Genesis games they took inspiration from, so I don’t mind them mixing things up a bit.

But why continue to take that approach for Sonic 3 when Sonic Adventure 2, the one game they’re undoubtedly taking the most inspiration from, already has a perfectly fine story to adapt?

I still think that SA2 has the best story of any Sonic game, partially because the lack of a hub world gives the whole thing very cinematic pacing. Honestly, you could cut or abridge some of the emerald hunting stuff and turn in SA2’s story as is for a movie and it’d work. All it would really need would be some minor adjustments to make it a little less janky. I’m definitely not the only one who thinks that, too. SA2 is a golden cow among Sonic fans, as well as one of the rare 3D Sonic games that a lot of non-Sonic fans will praise. People like this game and they like the story. Why isn’t it being adapted properly?

In a weird way, I’m reminded of Netflix Death Note or those Resident Evil movies from the 2000s that just did whatever they wanted for years on end. Adaptations that pulled from its source material every once in a while, but mostly do their own thing. And that bugs me! SA2 has such a strong story, it sucks to see them tamper with it.

I can already see some of you saying “It’s an adaptation! They’re allowed to make changes!” It’s the style of adaptation that bothers me. It’s the difference between Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 and Brotherhood. I wanted the SA2 movie to be treated more like Brotherhood, not the rewritten 2003 adaptation.

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonic movie #sonic 3 #adaptations #writing

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greenerteacups · 7 days ago

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I know everyone says this before asking a question, but I really feel compelled to tell you what an incredible writer you are. I had most of the harry potter movies readily available to me when I was young so I never read the books, although I always planned to, but now I fear Lionheart has spoiled it for me. Your characterization, the interwoven 90’s culture, literally everything. So good that it is cannon for me now. Anyway, as someone who occasionally writes, I’m really curious how you went about finding your “voice”. Sometimes I feel like I can’t write well at all unless I’m trying to emulate a certain style or a specific author, and even then I only make it an hour or so before I burn out trying to achieve “perfection”. Once again I think you’re incredible and even if you never answer this I hope you read it because you deserve all the praise!

You're such a sweetheart, thank you so much. It's such a huge compliment (I do recommend the books, for what it's worth — I know I bitch about them all the time, but if you like Lionheart, the source material is also probably a good time!)

To your question: I did exactly the thing you're doing now. I had no idea what I wanted to sound like, but I knew who I wanted to sound like, so I just tried to sound like them. To this day, when I need inspiration or I can't figure out how to whack a scene, I'll take out one of my favorite books and just read from a random chapter to see how the author solves problems with their technique & craft. My voice became my own because I naturally diverged from my favorite authors as I found different preferences from theirs and developed a greater command of style and prose, but that development just a matter of practice.

If you want to get nitty-gritty, "voice" is ultimately a description of how an author uses prose technique. It's about what kinds of words you deploy and how often and where in the sentence you put them. And you can have a strong voice without doing anything fancy. Hemingway is often put up as the poster boy for voice, but his prose is extremely (even unnaturally) clipped. That's what makes it recognizable.

To the extent that it's about technique, voice is also a function of tone: how grandiose is your word choice? How often are you joking with your reader? How many sensory details do you use? You don't have to think about those things all at the same time; it'll probably shake out as you write the POV. In literary criticism, "voice" is a huge and arguably inchoate catch-all term for "do I think there is a real person telling me this story?" Which, of course, is a function of characterization more than it is of language — it's the idea of choosing words deliberately, from the point of view of someone with reasons for making deliberate decisions.

#greenteacup asks

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queer-crusader · 2 years ago

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I think people forget a lot of these things we do in fandom spaces such as writing, painting and discussing and analysing works are hobbies that spark joy. The world we live in should not revolve with every breath we take around consumerism. Yet we describe what we create as content, and have discussions about whether one is allowed to give criticism on these works, with the argument that people want only positive comments because it's all made to be consumed and we live on praise (referring to this tweet and of course several discussions floating around Tumblr).

AO3 is a platform used by many different people in many different ways, who all may have differing approaches (hence this discussion coming up so often - there probably isn't a definitive answer that defines everyone!). But I think what's most important is that at the end of the day, it is free content (HATE the word content btw) that many people create as a HOBBY. The same goes for works here on tumblr. There is no obligation for it to hold quality, and people aren't necessarily looking to improve or be star writers, artists or video/gif editors! Of course we want praise, but that's not necessarily because we have made content for consumption - it's because we're having fun with a hobby. If it wasn't an enjoyable pastime, we wouldn't do it, and we'd certainly not pour hours, days, months or even years into works. (You do put that much time into something to create quality sometimes (sometimes just because life gets in the way or you work slowly in general), but you cannot keep that up if you don't enjoy what you're doing.) You don't shit on someone's hobby. You also don't go "here's how to improve" unprompted. You just go "that's lovely, thank you for sharing, I'm sharing your joy for what you created or the source material it's based on! And here's potentially a detailed account of things I enjoyed or noted!" (At least, I think you should)

Now on the other hand, there ARE also people on AO3 who may want to be professional authors (hi, me!). But a commenter CANNOT distinguish without asking or without seeing an author's note that this is the case. So I think because of this that the default approach to AO3, from a commenter's pov, should be to assume something was published by a hobbyist who wants to share joy and get positive feedback rather than someone looking for criticism UNLESS EXPLICITLY NOTED OTHERWISE. Like I said, I would love to be a published author someday! But I personally actually don't really want criticism on my AO3 fics. I write those for fun/as a hobby. The act of writing them IS hugely beneficial for me as a way of exploring and developing my writing skill, don't get me wrong! But that's because the act of practice itself already does a lot for that, and because I re-read what I write a TON. So I catch mistakes. Sometimes I correct them even after having published something, if I think it's important. If I want critical feedback, for someone to look at my writing and tell me about good and bad and opportunities for growth, I will ask. Until then, leave me alone with that and just tell me you enjoyed the work. And if you didn't, there's literally no need to tell me. You can just find something else you do enjoy, like I will start a different work if I no longer enjoy what I'm working on. I made that bc I wanted to. And another author may approach this differently again; they may want to use betas or refuse to re-read their stuff, they may want to use AO3 as a platform to gain feedback with which to grow their skill. Like I said, my approach doesn't equal someone else's. But I think it makes it that person's responsibility to then declare that on their work, simply because so many people will be doing it as a hobby rather than a pure skill boost. As I said - if we didn't enjoy it, we wouldn't do it. We always create with a love for the material and a love for the craft. Everything else is extra.

So no. I personally do not create things as a transactional item for which I demand payment in praise (if not money). I create because it makes me happy. Getting feedback makes me happier, and makes it more likely for me to keep going with that project. But otherwise I'll move onto another. You may consider that a transactional thing, but I don't think it should be considered so at ALL. Because it isn't, not to me. And I suspect it isn't for many more people. So let's ask ourselves instead: why do we define happiness as a transaction? Why can we no longer exchange joy without sticking a label of consumption and price on it? And why must everything created be of quality or strive for improvement?

Let's shift the narrative back. Let's consider hobbies and creative endeavours for what they TRULY give both us creators and audiences alike: joy.

#anne speaks #ao3 #fandom

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randomnameless · 10 months ago

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It's crazy how SoV preluded 3H by making one of the protags have a tremendously contradictory mindset of humanity being better off without gods, while also relying on those same gods to fulfill their goals, the hypocrisy of which goes completely unadressed throughout the game; truly masterful foreshadowing

Who directed FE15?

lol

I've recently tried to think about this "gods BaD" shift in more doylist terms - especially since I've finally played a Squenix game recently and...

FE13 was the FE series last ditch effort, it will either work or end up as the F-Zero series, FE13 worked and FE14 followed suit.

Lolcalisation aside, FE14 had a nice plot and I engaging characters - to some people but not me, different tastes and all - but FE14 and FE13 were still FE games, as in part of the old FE series, aka a niche series. Adding dating sim/interpersonal relationship through avatars might have helped a bit, and yet, imo, it was still the "niche" FE series.

Comes FE15 where we basically have a remake, and can't add the interpersonal thing because Alm isn't an avatar (even if the game spends a lot of time praising his oranges) - how to make the game work? Sure, some weirdo fans of the FE series will buy it, and it was never supposed to sell as much as FE13/14, but if it was a 1:1 remake or just with minor adjustments? It might bomb like the Archanea remakes, and good luck coming after that - will they need another "FE13" to reignite the sales or??

And here I thought about it : FE15 was retconned with the "GoDs BaD" spiel, to make this game more in-tune with what I'd call "traditional" JRPGs where the protagonists often defy a corrupt church and "divine" being.

("Traditional" imo being the Squenix way, because while I didn't play all entries of this series, the Tales series never striked me as being particularly as, uh, vindicative against organised religion, maybe save for Symphonia 1 - Abyss' Church really wishes to help the people even if it is corrupted from within by some dude who doesn't want to let the world die and played by the big bad, Xillia has no church, ditto for Zestiria and Phantasia had Mint and... that's it? - compare this to Squenix's Triangle Strategy and Hyzante being comically EvIl and without any redeeming traits/points when all of the other major parties of the conflict have "token good NPCs" as forced as they are in the game, to make it very clear that they might have done questionnable things like invading and slaughtering civilians from a foreign nation who welcomed them at their wedding, but at least they have "MoRaLs" unlike those bozos in their desert...)

And this "let's make FE mainstream by kicking gods" mentality completely runs at odds with the rest of the FE franchise, and while I know RD basically ends like this bcs "uwu Ike defeated a GoD with the help of another who used the lead of that game as a soul jar and granted him exclusive powers to put her sister to sleep" the morale of RD's story - as seen in the perfect ending but in Ike's speech to Yune itself - is that everyone can and should try to live together, asking Gods not the fuck out to let Humanity alone, but to believe in them just like humans believe in gods.

So FE15 ends as this big, uh, mismatched clash of narrative directions - being a remake it cannot stray too far from the source material and Archanea verse : Dragons and Humans can live together (even if it means dragons must sacrifice part of themselves to do so because fuck them I guess) and dragons can help humans just like humans can, uh, not be asses and not target them because their ears are pointy or when they are weakened...

And we had the new Squenix direction where GoDs BaD and HuMaNiTy fuck yeah, which leads to FE15's hypocrisy : please trust and rely on us Gods/dragons and kindly help us when we're in deep shit, and at the same time "HuMaNiTy FuCk YeAh".

Interestingly, the Squenix direction loses in the post game campaign (the one where we discover Thabes) but is reintroduced in the official (tm) timeline, depicting basically how BaD Duma is and how much of a chad Rudy was, before his very tragic (bring the onions!) death.

But yeah, I agree anon, FE15 was crazy foreshadowing and I guess is part of the reason why Tru Piss has this message "Humanity doesn't need Gods" targeted at... Rhea, aka a Nabatean (while Supreme Leader got there thanks to Sothis' powers!!) because the "Humanity Fuck Yeah" narrative is a staple of Squenix JRPGS, and if FE has to become mainstream, I guess to some devs, it has to copy what sells.

That would also explain why FE16 went so off the rails and forgot the tradition FE series message about coexistence, because what the fuck do you mean by "Humanity doesn't need Nabateans", after parroting for the entire game "Nabateans are to blame for the irrational world we live in" and blame "Nabatean blood" for everything wrong in Fodlan, without ever acknowledging the "evilness that lurks in the heart of men" (who aren't called Dimitri) ?

In a series that, albeit hazaphardly at times (FE8's manaketes feel forced in the lore! and the less is said about Nowi/Panne in FE13 the better we are), tried to push the "coexistence between all inhabitants of the land is the key to peace!" card - this Squenix direction feels all kind of wrong, especially when friendship with the divine beings (dragons) have been a staple of the franchise (Y!Tiki's number of alts, imo, is telling : for better or worse, Y!Tiki is, along with Marth, the figure of the franchise. She is a dragon, and she's a kid who wants to make friends. Sure it brings the loli crowd, but all those dragon children in the different games? They are a direct throwback to Y!Tiki!).

In a nutshell, I'd say the first crack was FE10's writing that made things seem like the Hero defeated a goddess and its subsequent wanking.

But I agree with you anon, FE15's change in direction and retcons were absolutely gunning for that Squenix "GoDs BaD" while keeping the "traditional" FE message which resulted in hypocrisy that showed in the writing but I guess no one really paid attention because FE15 has other issues too (I didn't before happening on FE16... even if I remember wondering why the fuck the game kept on hammering how BaD Duma was when we had people being asses right and left on their own).

FE Fodlan completely ignored the "we can coexist" message - save for subtext you can have where the optional lords who win the war and aren't Supreme Leader can have half/quarter-nabatean heirs through Flayn but her heritage is never ever mentionned in the ending cards - by completely shitting/ignoring the local dragons, they're blamed for everything wrong and don't get their voice to the chapter.

Masterful writing lol

I can't wait for the next game, let it be a remake (pls not Jugdral!!) or a new entry (Engage was developped alongside Fodlan, not after!) to see if IS will continue with the Squenix developments or return to their roots, even if they seem milquetoast, of "humans and lizards can hold hands".

---

NGL anon, during 2020/2021 and the daily "Supreme Leader was right though" threads in SF, I kind of realised that what I took for granted, aka "coexistence between humans and dragons!" being the message of FE in general, wasn't, even in what used to be the most serious board/thing.

FE as a series came to the West through FE7 where Dragons and Humans were at war, but ultimately the cast learns that dragons aren't evil incarnate and the best ending reveals that the big bad went mad because his dragon wife was killed and he tried to reunite with their dragon-human children he hid away for their safety.

So it was kind of surprising to see long-time, or at least not "Fodlan introduced" members of SF parroting the "well they can't live together" by buying the most ludicrous headcanon/fanon arguments you'd find in other series like "different lifespans" - this argument is pretty much non existent in the FE series, and I've never seen it opposed to Miccy's rule in Daien when, as a Heron Branded, she will outlive her citizens, or what, are we supposed to believe that Myrrh shouldn't interact with humans and remain in her forest because she will outlive humans, or is too "different" from them thus wouldn't have the same considerations?

FE13/14 brought the fandom wars of "new fans" vs "old fans", but FE Fodlan? Brought "casual JRPG gamer" vs "FE gamer" which usually boils down to "Supreme Leader fans" vs "everyone else".

Sure, we had the religion hate boner because the dragons in Fodlan verse made a "Church" with catholic imagery which is a deadly sin to some - but the "dragon blood is indeed the reason why everything sucks in the world" being parroted? "Dragons cannot have power over humans because of the sheer inbalance"? What, are you implying Nergal was forced by Aenir to mate with her twice or what? Ninian was oppressing Pherae in the endings where she marries Eliwood, and humans were finally liberated when she died?

Kana is, by nature, someone who will oppress humans because they're part dragon and their blood will bring strife to the world?

So unless IS doesn't fully commit to one narrative - because yes, for all of its flak, FE Fodlan still takes time, when it remembers, to portray Nabateans in a relative positive light when it comes to them as characters and in the general background, it's just that, they're never given a voice when it comes to discussing about the plot - we're bound to have this hypocrisy :

Dragons BaD bcs Humanity Fuck Yeah

and

Dragons and Humanity can coexist and make babies for scalies/monsterfuckers out there because acceptance/diversity is a way for peace.

#anon #replies #sorry i ranted #FE series #FE15 stuff #rant #watch as the whitewings never bring up Tiki the kid they met 3 years ago #when Alm goes humanity fuck yeah #when the devs could have pulled out something like Ike for Alm or rather return to their roots #they pulled this squenix shit #that imo doesn't have its place in the FE series #sure the series is evolving and maybe that's the direction it will take #if it really does I'll to reconsider my engagement with FE in general #and be stuck ranting about old games lol

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literaryspinster · 11 months ago

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I’m on ch 3 of your limoreau fic and I’m struggling a bit with the decision to make Powerlad racist, why does every story about Black people have to involve racism as a plot device?

I don’t believe it does. I just made that specific choice because one of the big themes of that story (and The Boys itself) is toxic celebrity culture, and I wanted to convey that theme in a way that felt somewhat high stakes without getting into big conspiracy territory or putting Marie through what Starlight went through (or any other sort of physical violence).

A privileged celebrity having their problematic nature exposed, only for their fans and those in power to go out of their way to protect them, often at the expense of the less protected people in their orbit, is something I’ve witnessed online multiple times, and as a Black woman it’s exhausting to see. I can only imagine what that’s like for those more directly affected. That’s kind of what I wanted to explore with that plotline.

I also don’t think racism is a thing that just exists in media to make Black people feel like they can never escape it. It’s an actual part of our lives. I’ve been disrespected and hurt on account of my race, and while the fact that that’s happened doesn’t define me, or even figure into my day to day life as much as it once did, it is something I’ve felt the need to grapple with in various ways, including through writing. I also address queerphobia and sexism but racism is what I feel the most equipped to unpack because it’s what I’ve dealt with the most in my interactions with people (I’m a part of the queer community but quite straight-presenting, and am not a part of a profession or lifestyle that’s heavily associated with men or manliness, so sexism isn’t something I tend to feel on a visceral level).

Furthermore, I believe racism is one of the ‘isms that speculative fiction actually tends to be the shyest about. I’ve watched plenty of mainstream content where sexism is addressed repeatedly, meanwhile race is never commented on in any way in spite of the cast of characters being racially diverse (The Beauty and the Beast remake is the example that stands out the most to me). Or I’ve seen white women dealing with sexism and only Black men dealing with racism while the Black women in the story are just kind of there (i.e. Outlander, a show I could not finish in spite of all of the praise it received). Or some entirely fictional creature or concept is meant as the stand in for racism. I understand wanting to read about different things, but I do believe that there’s a middle ground between making our stories entirely about race and just pretending that it doesn’t exist.

All that being said. Fanfic is meant for escapism, I get that. I wasn’t trying to make anyone feel annoyed or let down or anything like that, I was just doing what I always do when I’m writing a fanfic that’s not a complete AU, playing in someone else’s sandbox with someone else’s toys. The Boys is all about satirizing topics like public bigotry (and yeah, it’s a Gen V fic but the point of it was to imagine them in The Seven so therefore on The Boys). I’m not always a fan of how they go about it, but I do appreciate its point of view a fair amount more than something like South Park, or even the show’s own source material. I doubt I would have stuck with it for three seasons if that wasn’t the case. So when writing for a show that frequently lampoons racists and other types of ridiculous people, the decisions made with Powerlad came pretty naturally. If I’d known I’d be disappointing people to this degree (you aren’t the first to comment on this) then I would have maybe gone in a different direction. To be honest the criticism has taken the wind out of my sails a bit.

In spite of everything, the rest of the story is planned out and partially written. Even though the fandom is understandably in a bad place right now, I hope the way everything plays out feels rewarding to people who choose to finish.

#limoreau #gen v #the boys #marie moreau #i didn’t mean to write a whole novel 😅#fanfic

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nereidprinc3ss · 9 months ago

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did a brief ghostread (i WILL be going back to interact and read in-depth cus omfg it’s so good) of your series to see if i’d enjoy it and can i just say i admire you so much and want to praise u and am asking for your hand in marriage.

a major pet peeve of mine in fanfictions is how so many writers portray the character they’re writing so inaccurately to the point that it feels like a fic for someone else entirely. i mean obviously each to their own i am in no place be judgemental or a hater but i am so so protective over my hyperfixations it just makes me rip my hair out!!!

from what i’ve seen so far you’ve nailed the whole “spencer-being-sexy-whilst-also-still-including-his-goofy-aah-internal-monologue-about-statistical-analysis-and-shit”. like okay maybe ur huddled in his brain and picking at his psyche like me…

i’ve found it so difficult to find fics (ESPECIALLY in the smut category) that actually feel in character for him or include his quirky qualities without infantilizing him, so thank u very much and now i shall go back and properly read ur fic

- ali :)

hiiii!! thank you so much for this, i’m glad you enjoyed it and YES his characterization in fic can be hard to nail down and i think everyone is allowed to interpret his character however they’d like and extrapolate on whatever aspects of it interest them, but i agree that sometimes i read a spencer fic and it’s simply not giving spencer reid in the way that i want him to be in my head HAHA

so i try to remain at least semi loyal to the source material, sometimes i diverge more than other times but overall i love him for him!! he doesn’t need to be a completely new guy!!

#asks

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unsoundedcomic · 2 years ago

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Dear Ashley, someone already mentioned it for the last page, but I'd like to reiterate how great your facial expressions are! The particular ones that made me comment this are Elka's on this page (specifically the two when she's talking about how the Khert's overtaxed). Once again, amazing job! Truly phenomenal! Other words of praise that I can't think of at the moment! Moving on, what exactly is Duane talking about? As far as I can tell, the local Mogul's number is reaching 100 (I think that's how to talk about Mogul's number, but if not please do correct me), making a core leech on such a big target almost certain to backfire. Duane says to core leech (or otherwise remove the danger by pymaring) bits of the vliegeng so there won't be any backfiring or too much raising of Mogul's number. To do so, it needs to be divided into pieces. Somehow, switching aspects between Knock's boots and the saddle will help. Since they're made of the same material, the only aspects I can think of that would be different are shape and size. Size I don't think is an aspect by itself which leaves shape (I think it might be called contour). Is Duane going to turn the vliegeng into nine (I think) pieces plus a bunch of meat paste/juice by tightening the saddle a bunch? If so, does that mean the boots are going to basically explode? Also, does the fact that they're the same material make it easier on the Khert? If so, why? Something to do with the fact the same word would be used and all or most of the other aspects are the same? Does that somehow make it easier to transfer the information via Khert lines or figure out what aspects/objects are being targeted? Apologies for the length of the ask (and the repetition) and thank you!

Thank you for the kind words, puppy!

Without detailing what happens on the next few pages, 'cause that's no fun, I'll just stick to the last part of your question. Duane is a big believer in Core Technique, which basically means Simple Pymary Done Masterfully - no errors, no orphaned Aspects left behind, tidy and clean spellwork. Core Technique is very easy on the khert. Barely raises Mogul's number (you talked about that perfectly, well done). It's all about fundamental Aspect manipulation, and when dealing with materials, it's even more fundamental when they're the SAME material. I will explain why that is with an example.

Remember the Juicer bomb? Works by liquefying everything it comes into contact with? After this happens to a material the khert has to evaluate it and change the material's conditions to match the Liquid Aspect. So if you suddenly have liquid granite, the khert needs to make that granite super hot!

This alteration causes a lot of agitation; it raises Mogul's number. Juicers typically cause massive khert fires (and regular fires) because of this.

Now, if you could change the Aspect of a material without making the khert have to evaluate it for secondary effects, you wouldn't have any of that agitation. Well, how do you do that? Fortunately the khert allows you to skip the evaluation if you source the Aspect from an identical material!

Duane wants to cast on the vliegeng's harness and he wants to use an Aspect from the same type of leather, which Knock-Me-Down is fortuitously wearing on her feet. If successful, this will allow him to do the simplest, cleanest swapping of Aspects. The resultant agitation will be almost non-existent, and avoid the wrath of the currently prickly khert. Beautiful buttery-smooth pymary.

Even more importantly, it frees up just enough agitation for Elka to come in with a second, less difficult maneuver, which he'll suggest on the next page.

Not to Special Snowflake Duane too much, but most people couldn't do the trick he's about to do on a moving target. If you think about it, he only has enough leather at hand to affect the tiniest sliver of the vliegeng's massive harnesses. That makes the targets he has to hit a lot tinier than they appear. And he wants to get multiple harnesses, so it's quite a trick shot.

Anyway, it sounds like you more or less grokked the important stuff from the comic, so I am satisfied :)

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soreiya · 2 years ago

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Why can't people just ship and let others ship without calling each other pedophile or slurs?

They are the fandom equivalent of Chris Sonnenburg... Stalking, harassing, and telling other fans that they are wrong for not catering to someone else's personal preferences… It all reeks of entitlement and egoism.

I can't be the only one to see the parallels.

Many of these people are not even aware of how hypocritical they sound when they make these kinds of baseless accusations. It gives off the impression of “Do as I say, not as I do.”…

I’m open about liking Varipunzel. Canonically they have roughly a 4 year age gap. By the end of TtS Varian is 16 or 17. (Some people think season 3 was longer than a year.) So according to a few bossy people in the fandom, I should feel ashamed if I age him up a year or two for a post series plot? I’m also a terrible person if I enjoy the ship in AU’s where canon ages don’t apply to anyone. There is no winning here… People will look at me badly regardless of if my intent is pure or not... So why should I care? Why should I let them taint something that I enjoy?

So if we as a fandom can’t age Varian up to ship him in AU’s then... Hmm...

Boy do I have some bad news for Varigo shippers in this case. Hugo and Varian canonically have a 10 year age gap between their respective source materials. So the Vat7K AU would be deemed immoral based on the fandom’s self imposed shipping guidelines. I doubt they would take this well at all. Haha

All I gotta say is that people need to stop with these double standards. Feign obliviousness, make excuses all day, but don’t act righteous like some kind of saint. Since everyone is bound to like something that other people would deem weird or questionable in some way. You just might not be aware of it yet.

Even widely praised canon pairings like New Dream have glaring red flags. Things that wouldn’t fly very well IRL, but they work in fiction because you have transparency. Yes, I’m being serious… Think about how Rapunzel was fresh out of the tower and had no baseline on what healthy relationships with other people should be like. It would have been easy for her to get manipulated or taken advantage of. So when people say New Dream’s age gap is okay because Rapunzel is legal, they are ignoring the fact that she has less world experience than the average 18 year old. This is a common oversight in the community. I like New Dream and even I can admit that this is a bit sketchy.

The point I’m trying to make is that every single ship has faults. No pairing is going to be loved by everyone. We should cherish our individuality and learn to be more open minded and supportive. Even to those who think differently. I'm certain that with some patience we can come to some kind of understanding of one another.

So yeah, it’s perfectly reasonable to dislike something that doesn’t appeal to you for any reason. Go forth and write full on essays or analysis posts. Do some research to try to see if you are actually right, or simple vent your personal frustrations out into the void. Just don’t be mean or make ignorant assumptions about other fans who do not share your opinions. Since there is a fine line between being a critic and being a hater.

#ask answered #ignore me #I ramble on and on sometimes

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thehumanflintfun · 1 year ago

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My experience with Scott Pilgrim

This post contains spoilers for the Netflix show Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and for the Scott Pilgrim comics

The comic

I read the Scott Pilgrim comics only once, about 4 months ago, and I remember thinking "c'mon, it's only six volumes, I can binge them easily". Before I know it, it's 2 AM and I am at the last volume, half asleep; I didn't really enjoy anything about the comic, but I know myself, and I know that if I simply stopped without knowing how it ended I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Ramona randomly vanished and I can't understand what's happening, probably because I was half asleep. Apparently she was kidnapped by Gideon, but she let it happen because she needed a break or something... I don't really remember, I need to reread them.

Overall (this opinion may not represent what I actually think since I did read them once AND I was half asleep at the last volume) I didn't hate the comics, but I also didn't really enjoy them. The only thing I actively disliked is how Wallace is written: the gay character who has to show how gay he is every time he appears, which is not really a problem; my problem is that he has (iirc) barely any relevance to the plot, barely any personality, barely any character development and he's not even funny.

As for the rest, I realized this story was not for me when, after three volumes, I still didn't care about Scott, Ramona, their relationship or the band subplot. I also didn't understand the tone at all, and I wasn't sure which things to take seriously

Then came Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

(I didn't watch the movie)

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Despite not enjoying the comics, I really wanted to watch this. My thought process was: "this will be a chance to experience Scott Pilgrim again and see if it's better than I remember. Maybe the jokes will be funnier in animated form if the dub is good. And even if it's not better, the animation and art style will be good, at least". I did not imagine it would be different from the comics.

Comes Friday. Me, Brian and a friend watch the first episode: the italian dub is eccellent, with a lot of good voices, which made the experience very enjoyable and many jokes land. There are some awkward moments, but the comic was full of them so I ignore them. Then Gideon appears and I laugh my ass off (idk, probably the fact that he's so confident behind his dozens of monitors, and he thinks he's so cool). I remember he only showed up at the end, but I simply think it's something the show added. Then the episode ends with Scott's death (at this point I'm slightly confused, but I rationalize with "maybe I don't remember the story that well".

Then I randomly read a comment saying "remember when we all thought this was a simple adaptation?"

Now my interest is piqued. I usually don't like when the adaptation changes the source material, but I didn't enjoy the comics so maybe it's a good thing?

Knowing that my friend was not available for another week, I binged the entire thing.

When it became meta with Neil's sleep paralysis demon writin Canon Scott Pilgrim, I was IN.

Final thoughts

I loved it, so many characters had more depth and/or were more enjoyable. All the exes were much more interesting, Wallace is not a cardboard cutout anymore, there's less focus on the things I didn't enjoy in the comics, I found the tone to be much clearer... (although I still don't know which things to take seriously, but it didn't bother me this time)

If I have to compare two of my experiences, I would compare Scott Pilgrim to Spiderverse: both are things that I didn't really like (except for Spiderverse's animation) but are praised a lot. Then a sequel comes out that is much more meta and I love it.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim anime #scott pilgrim spoilers

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askinkiskarma · 2 years ago

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omg i just want to give you my thanks on illicit affairs and the archer 🥹 like those two really mean so much to me and i loved the emotion and dedication that you put into the two series!!! every chapter was a work of love and it shows. i can’t speak for the rest of your followers, but reading your work has been the highlight of my week for since you first dropped the first chapter in illicit!!! i have been on the avatar twow hype of a few months now and i promise you only a handful of writings have made me feel the way you make me feel! you have created such a beautiful story that goes beyond the source material and you have given such a human touch, a nuanced touch. seriously i don’t even know what else to say except KUDOS!!! you deserve all the praise 🫶 while i am sad for this series to end, the emotions you brought out of me will carry on. also can i mention you literally brought out my love for LOVER like it wasn’t exactly my favorite taylor album but after reading your work everything just brought on a new meaning now i can’t listen to the album without thinking how it’s so nete y/n coded,,, lover went from an okay album to meaning so much to me. anyway i hope you enjoyed my message bc i mean it from the bottom of my heart!!! i am looking forward to supporting whatever you post in the future (but pls give us some post series happiness family slice of life with y/n and nete) happy sunday lovely!!

Stop right not this is illegal!!!

You have made me cry real tears - sappy, overjoyed, overwhelmed tears, straight into my morning coffee at 8am and I thought only my raging seasonal depression could do that.

Honestly, trying to get this out without crying more, but it’s me who needs to thank you! And thank anyone who’s engaged with the story at all. I came back on tumblr cause i felt alone, and judged for my love of Avatar, and you guys gave me a community. I felt inspired to write, something I haven’t done since I was in highschool and barely then. I posted the first chapter of Illicit Affairs as a “oh, well, what’s the worst that can happen?” And you guys really supported me and the work and I would have never done this, never seen it through if it wasn’t for you. You gave me back something I love, something I thought I lost and I am so so so grateful.

I love you and I can’t wait for you to read the last chapter, and I promise i’m not even close to done!! 💕💕

(Also when someone tells me they hear my story in Taylor’s songs I literally squeal and kick my feet, you don’t know what you guys are doing to me honestly)

#i didn’t get through it without crying more #i’m in pain #i love you so much #my asks #💕💕💕#illicit affairs #the archer

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shingansoul · 2 years ago

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Unto Thee, Exaltations (Trigun fic)

Summary:

Vashwood week day 4: Faith

A man of god can not be without a deity in which to offer his praise to, so when the world offers him one up right at hand, it is only right he offer up all he has in a place of worship. The divine have no choice in their existence, only in what they choose to do with it. And Vash was certainly a most benevolent of beings.

@vashwoodweek

To read on AO3, follow the link below. To read here, continue past the read more!

To call Wolfwood a priest is a stretch, it’s reaching for a label the same way calling him a religious man would be. Yes, he was taught the doctrines of both the old faith of an earthly God who gave his son for humanity’s sins. Just as he was taught the new faith that called synthetic living energy sources angels on high and a man who wanted to cull all of mankind it’s God. Yes, the Eye of Micheal had done their best to try and indoctrinate him plenty in his time with them, his body warped and so tried they with his heart and beliefs. Well that could suit them just fine, but Wolfwood didn't put much stock in the beliefs of people that made his life a resource for their own needs. They had him in a position, not because he sided with them of his own free will, for what little he had left.

He was ordained in ministry by a church and faith he didn't believe in, a priest to spread their gospel through his ministry. And if that was all just a load of fancy terms to call an assassin for hire, it didn't make much difference to Wolfwood. The title served as a fine cover to make it easier for him to travel amongst other people in the towns, made people trust him more. Wolfwood was an ordained priest for a cult he spat at and he spoke the words of an almost forgotten religion he didn't believe in. The rites and rituals of earth’s god were a comfort in their own way, noble sentiments he didn't quite believe in and structured actions he could repeat without thought. It suited him just fine.

So when he saw Vash’s wings unfurl for the first time in the rubble of the dirty slums of an already decaying town, he was not prepared for the tremble to his legs and the stuttering of his heart. He could hardly comprehend what he was truly looking at, knowing it was supposed to be Vash and yet his brain unwilling to consider the mere man he had traveled with for years to be this radiant being that snapped and snarled like a fierce beast despite its body and cries only calling forth to mind the thoughts of an angelic choir. With every inhuman scream and wail from the being, Wolfwood felt his bones humming in his flesh as he fought the urge to sink to his knees despite the situation he was caught in. Emotions rolled off in waves that seemed to lap at Wolfwoods feet, not quite forced upon him in full, but the whispers of what surely would have been something so clear if he had gotten any closer. And were it not for the situation at hand, he still wouldn't be sure if fear would send him to the ground where he stood or if yearning would draw him on hands and knees to crawl closer regardless to such a radiant one the world had no business harboring.

It hurts. I’m scared. It’s my fault, don't make me look. That moment, my anguish, my regret, do not make me look upon it. I have to keep them safe, they’re all dead, I have to protect them. Stand up, stop it, it hurts. Dont hurt them, dont hurt me.

It was a litany of fear, of pain, of anguish. This otherworldly being was weeping, and all Wolfwood could think to call it was holy. He was in much a deadlock with the guns aimed his way as with the divine beast baying to his right. And then the literal shot cracking through the air snapped him out of his stupor, throwing him into motion as the insurance goal seemed to materialize from underneath the long feathers attached to the gnarled bones of a too long wing, limb forced beyond its true shape and size presumably to serve a better shield at the cost of hurting it’s owner. He no longer had time to focus on what should have left everyone breathless as he was shooting off and dodging bullets best he could from what felt like all directions.

The next minutes were a rush and a blur, everything all at once seeming to happen at once to where Wolfwood could only do his best to keep up with each as it came not long enough to process anything really. As Legato’s prattle and spittle alike dripped past his lips like venom, all Wolfwood could think was ‘You speak so fervently of a being as almighty when there’s true benevolence right before our eyes?’ He couldn’t dwell further because now even the sky was dropping bullets and spikes his way with Elendira’s arrival and again he was scrambling across a battlefield.

He only dared stop and stare as the energy that had snapped and crackled ever since Vash’s large wing struck out of the rubble was finally starting to dampen, drawing his attention to the other once more. He was left almost slack jawed, eyes wide as he once more was unable to truly process what he was looking at; Vash had seemed to start coming back to himself, the man he had traveled with now once more compared to the ethereal creature crouched down amongst the filth of the slums. However, where beautiful twisted feathers and a wing once protruded, now was an utterly phantasmagorical sight. An almost endless string of twisted and torn flesh connected to a wide variety of disconnected yet all equally functioning on their own body parts. Eyes blinked and looked around wildly, tears and blood falling from them to drip onto the ground below. Mouths both with teeth and fangs screamed and wailed and gnashed as Vash himself had done earlier. Underdeveloped limbs twitched and clenched from the mass of flesh, all white like the feathers had been before but the blood spilling out from every new additional orifice of it dyed it pink and red quickly.

It took a good few beats for Wolfwood to process that Vash was both of his own will changing the very composition of his body as well as using still somewhat clawed hands and even his still over-sharp teeth to rip away at the offending growths. Blood sloughed off alongside flesh just to evaporate into froth and unidentifiable viscera at Vash’s feet and spilling out to the dirt and stones around him. He was screaming, but it wasn't without direction now, he seemed to be having some kind of argument with someone that simply wasn't present in any physical sense. At this point, from everything of his fight against Midvalley to the shootout and to the his mere human self trying to comprehend the scope of what he was now apart of, his legs finally started to give out and he did his best to scooch back and lean against a partially collapsed wall not too far from Vash and the insurance girl they had initially come here to save.

He couldn't help but call out to the Crimson Nail, unsure what he hoped to gain yet unable to sit there when he had no idea of her motives in all this. And with a flippant answer as undefined as anything else about her, she took Legato with her and left as quick as she had come. He took the next moments to try and get the world to stop spinning while he tried to remember how to stand, none alone walk. He overheard what The Gauntlet said to Vash in his last moments as if through a haze, a migraine pounding through him like a jackhammer. When all grew still, Wolfwood waited now for his cue; when Vash was back to himself in full and done with his fresh grieving of yet another bastard who tried to kill him, Wolfwood would inevitably have to help him as well as recollect the punisher and they’d have to go return the girls to some semblance of safety and a hospital in town proper.

And so he did, and they did, and after some ridiculous promise he had been roped into with the idiot about “fixing what he broke”, they were allowed some respite from the locals to simply sit and heal. Wolfwood was honestly itching to get out of town as fast as he could, knowing that there were Gung-Ho Guns around still and with those two girls still hanging around they could get pulled once more into something as quickly as this time had stopped. But Vash was content for once in his life to just sit here and exist and so they did for the next few days as he got his gun fixed and they busied themselves with odd jobs around town or the bar at the edge of town, whatever caught notice first one day to the next.

Everything was fine except it wasn't but it was fine enough that they could keep moving forward. Until that squirmish broke out in the town square, Vash being duckmarched out of the church and Wolfwood drawn to him by the sound of gunshots down the streets from where he had stopped for food. This was to go like all the other times he’d been roped into Vash’s nonsense, except it wasn't like that, this time it was different. Vash was different now, he couldn't go back anymore. When everyone in that square saw white feathers twist into something solid and catch the bullet before Vash could even try to dodge it or just take it like always, it was the true turning point. Yes, Wolfwood thought as he saw the feathers curl to hide beneath a red collar but not quite dissipate, things were much different now.

And so they ran, chased out of town once more, finally separating from the insurance girls which was inevitably for their benefit on both ends. The girls couldn't keep up with them, that was a fact. And as much as their companionship was easy and nice, especially for Vash, they were in the way if everything with Zazie was any proof. Besides, with how the short one was acting when they left and with Vash as he was now, he didn't think it would prove for the best for the blonde’s sake at this point even if she did come back around.

Speaking of as he was now, Wolfwood took stock of Vash properly once they were clear of the city limits and out a ways into the desert heat before them. Vash’s gaze was tired, he didn't seem entirely focused on where they were actually going so much as just letting momentum carry him. An almost dazed expression was on his face, his arms at his side as he fidgeted with the material of his coat between the fingers of his flesh hand. Wolfwood shifted to walk a bit closer to the blonde, their shoulders lightly brushing every so often as the punisher’s weight shifted his balance with every other step. Vash didn’t quite startle, but he shook his head abruptly and cocked it to look at Wolfwood. Wolfwood offered a warm smirk, trying to make himself come off as open as he could. He didn't want Vash to scare off, not now, not at this point in their journey. Not at this point in whatever they had, trust was too measly a word for it but to call it anything further proved too presumptuous and hopeful for the lives they were leading.

After a few moments, blue eyes seeming to search for something in his expression, Vash seemed to relax a bit, his shoulder not held quite so tight and he let his hand wander from wearing his jacket’s edges to instead reach out to lazily hold onto one of Wolfwood’s belt loops for his hands at his hip. He offered in return a tired, but more genuine smile than the flimsy hollow thing he had offered the big girl back on their way out of town. It wasn't one he was obligated to, but wanted to offer. Wolfwood felt a bit of tension roll off his own shoulders at that, letting his own smirk give way to a grin.

They traveled in companionable silence like this, the only shift being in the every so often lit cigarette, Wolfwood more looking for something to gnaw on and roll between his teeth than actually looking for a hit of nicotine this time. Judging by the positions of the suns above, Wolfwood guessed they had walked a good few iles before Vash suddenly perked up, raising his free hand to cup over his eyes as he squinted ahead of them. Wolfwood followed his line of sight before he found himself squinting as well, grabbing for his sunglasses to make it easier. He blinked in surprise, finally getting an idea for the shape and kind of building ahead of them. It was maybe another ile or so before them, but Vash seemed more energized than he had been in days and when Wolfwood felt a tug at where he was still being grabbed at his hip, he sighed and indulged.

“Yeah, yeah, we can make a stop. You better not put me on the spot though, I ain't ever given a real sermon to a congregation before. You’ll get what you get, it might not even be for-”

Vash didn't seem to care as he tugged again before suddenly moving from belt loop to snake out and grab Wolfwood by the wrist and before Wolfwood could even scold or protest, he was being dragged at a dead sprint just a few steps behind the humanoid typhoon. Not even in the Eye had Wolfwood ever seen anyone this excited to be in a church, but if it was the little things Vash wanted then he would give it easily.

The place was empty and long since abandoned, that was a quick realization they had upon entering the little church all on its lonesome out in the sand. It wasn't even part of a town, not that they could tell anyway, just a small but sturdy thing weathering the elements and sand. The outside was a painted brick, the inside proving simple enough and a bit bare bones. It was no swathing cathedral, but it was certainly a place of worship for a religion Wolfwood never expected to be in a true place of worship for of his own volition. The pews were hard wood but care was put into a white lacquer painted on them, the little books of hymns still present in the cubbies nailed to the backs of each pew and a couple bibles could be seen, one or two per row.

While Vash seemed taken with the place, still standing at the entrance but taking in what it had to offer with wide eyes, Wolfwood made his way up to the front, stepping up to and behind the altar and seeing that the tabernacle remained at the back wall gave pause. He shook his head, miffed at his own hesitance before he opened the little box, gilded in flaking gold paint with intricate but shapeless designs carved into the wood of it. It was meager, but earnest in its attempt to build a place for God’s presence and the flesh of his son. If the God of earth could see it, Wolfwood thought that he might be touched. Maybe. Looking inside, there was an empty container of what he assumed would have held the eucharist and then a small but not beyond use candle affixed a gold saucer. Wolfwood glanced over his shoulder, dark eyes landing on the red garbed man slowly wandering further up the church aisle towards him. Turning back, he nodded to himself and after fishing out his lighter, he lit the candle and gingerly coaxed the tabernacle door closed once more.

“What did you do that for?”

Wolfwood craned his head back and to the side to look at inquisitive blue eyes. He offered a lazy smile, taking off his sunglasses and returning them to his jacket's inner pocket as he spoke.

“ I’so you know the lord’s spirit is with us here, you light the candle to indicate he’s in the church with his followers, and when the service comes to a close, it’s put out as the lord leaves the place of worship since his teachings have been given and praise received. Yer also supposed to keep the eucharist, the little wafer yeah? You keep those in there too, it’s like God’s little bedroom in his house when he visits from heaven…Sorta.”

Vash giggled despite himself, his heavy boots loudly thudding against the creaking wood floor as he walked up to the altar to lean over it and get a better look at the tabernacle. He hummed to himself in thought as he inspected it, leaning up unnecessarily onto his toes to get a better look despite the distance being small and his height more than enough to compensate, and as Vash stared at in wonder, Wolfwood stared at him just as much.

The feathers and ethereal glow and crackling raw energy not of this world were all safely tucked away under scarred and tattered skin, it’s natural porcelain hue disrupted with dark scar tissue and metal twisted in to give support and guard to injuries even this heavenly body could not recover from truly. Even so, Wolfwood knew what lay within and knowing only made his feelings all the stronger as he stopped fighting impulse. In an old abandoned church alone with a deity playing pretend at man, and who had decided that Wolfwood of all people was the one he trusted and clung to most and would smile for in earnest when no other man could dredge up the same. Wolfwood gave in to his impulses, and he reached out to Vash’s shoulder. Vash hummed in attention but didn't make to move, so Wolfwood gripped his shoulder and spun him around to face him. Startled but not unhappy, he tilted his head in wordless question.

Wolfwood reached out and placed Vash’s arms around his own shoulders and neck, and when he felt Vash grab on after a moment, he reached down and hoisted Vash up by his thighs onto the altar. Wolfwood let himself chuckle at the indignant squeak the blonde made at the sudden handling, but he didn't try and wriggle out either which only encouraged Wolfwood’s sudden brazen streak. Vash didn't let go of the other, and so Wolfwood pressed on with creating the vision that had come to mind watching the other explore the church. No, maybe even earlier it had just not taken such a certain shape until now.

“Don’t panic, I'm gonna take off your coat. Can I do that?”

Vash grimaced briefly, more a reflex than thought out reaction. He searched Wolfwood's face, trying to gauge his intentions and after a moment's hesitation he nodded slowly. Wolfwood smiled gratefully and got to work, doing his best with steady hands but worn fingers to unbuckle and unbutton the length of the red garment. It took a solid couple minutes, but once complete and the jacket was dropped to the floor nearby in a small heap, he turned to the art piece of a being before him in satisfaction. Aside from the leather straps and utter excuse for a shirt, Wolfwood could see and trace with his hands many of the scars across Vash’s body like this, marring almost any free space of the other’s skin with little room for any more to possibly ever fit; The canvas was full as it was. Wolfwood traced a few of the older scars across Vash’s stomach and sides, making the blonde shiver from featherlight touch dancing across his skin. This wasn’t Wolfwood's real goal here though.

“Wolfwood…”

“Humor this man, for his actions hold no malice.” Wolfwood kept his tone as neutral as he could, even under Vash’s sharpening gaze.

“Wolfwood, I-”

“Indulge this sinner, for he wishes to give praise.”

He knew he was pushing, especially now, but there really was no other chance the world could provide him to possibly recreate this image as vividly as right now. So he pressed on. Vash looked almost stricken, but he had never heard Wolfwood speak like this, want like this. Who was he to deny him, after everything, even if he could never understand what Wolfwood would possibly see in him to want such. He swallowed hard, nodding in more of a jerk than anything else but it was enough for the raven haired man to let a small smile grace his lips. Gone was the usual snark or even the gentle offering he gave to others on occasion, this was utter self satisfaction at its purest.

Wolfwood carefully and slowly edged his way back from the altar and once a few feet away, he let himself drop to his knees right there onto the floor, the wood beneath serving no gentleness as his legs took the brunt of the drop. Vash made to move to help, worried, but the look he shot Vash was intense and brought him to still up on his seat. This was part of whatever Wolfwood was asking of him, so he pursed his lips hard and remained where he had been placed. Wolfwood then reached beneath his shirt, and pulled up a cross necklace with numerous carved beads making up the loop of it: a rosary, Vash’s mind supplied a bit late. He held the cross in his hands tightly clasping his hands before him as he then bowed his head.

“Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.”

With every line past his lips, his tone soft and reverent, he felt his heart beating against his ribs as if fighting to burst out. He was terrified of what sort of face he would look up to when he finished, whether he would be loved or rebuked, whether he would bring comfort or repulsion. Regardless, Wolfwood felt compelled to press onwards, to offer this exaltation to such a being made of love and mercy for humanity and all its lowly existence. For him, with hands stained like rust with years of caked dried blood that could no longer be washed clean. For him who spoke himself as a guide when his destination was the execution platform. For him who had already been forgiven such transgression before he had even completed it or ever admitted it with his own tongue. For he who had become so monstrous he should not even be spared a glance, and yet held the loving and devoted gaze of the divine despite himself. He who greedily clawed for purchase to cling tightly to the very one he would cast away, and for every too-tight grip upon an already frail form he was gifted in kind with gentle hands along his face and through his hair to keep him close.

“Wolfwood….please…”

Wolfwood began once more to speak in psalms, but he dared raise his head to look through his bangs with dark unworthy eyes at the being of otherworldly beauty seated above him just so. He felt his breath catch but he only stopped for a moment before he picked back up, refusing to stop half way. He was tired of doing things in halves, at least this he wanted to be sure of himself with, this utter indulgence. When he had looked up, Vash had looked at him with a quivering lip bitten between teeth and eyes beyond compare to any color in this world glazed with fresh tears. If he was hated for this, that was fine. If he was loved for this, that was fine. If it was too much, he cared not. He was greedy, and whatever this would yield, he would eat it as his daily bread and drink in the view as his wine.

When he finished the second round of verses, he stopped truly, his attention utterly wrapt on the golden one before him. Vash’s tears had since come in earnest, soft hiccups passing his lips and shaking his frame and in his distress, whether he was aware or not, soft white feathers began to bloom against his neck and highlighting his cheek bones. He reached out a hand towards the man kneeled down before him, grabbing at the air between them.

“Nicholas.”

As his voice cracked over the name, Wolfwood almost instantly scrambled up to his feet and shot forward the short distance between them to lace their fingers. He closed the distance fully standing right in front of Vash as close as he could, leather clad legs pulling apart to let him get just that bit closer against the altar’s edge so they could press their foreheads together. Vash squeezed his thighs against Wolfwood’s sides, as if to keep him in place, and just like earlier he childishly grabbed at the belt loop of the priest’s pants with his unoccupied hand. Wolfwood’s free hand found itself in gold locks that melted into dull black, and remained firm and solid as he felt the being before him shake in his grip and desperately rub their faces together. From foreheads to brushing cheeks and nose bridges ever so lightly brushing against each other, Vash in his wordless upset seemed to be trying to caress every part of the other he could reach without using his hands. Eventually, Wolfwood simply pulled the other's face into his chest, pressing his face down into spiked hair.

This being so kind, so strong, so weak, so scared. This man so scarred by the world, offering only a smile to face it all. Who wept for sinners and apologized for surviving, who spoke affections to his own executioner by day and offered himself up entirely by night. How utterly indulgent this all was, truly Wolfwood was no better than anyone else on this forgotten hellscape of a planet. Gods existed to offer structure and hope and comfort for the lowly humans who were full of sin and selfishness and the muck of the world, and Wolfwood had certainly chosen the most benevolent and beautiful of all those descended down from the heavens and stars beyond hadn't he? He smiled against the other’s scalp, tightening his grip on threaded fingers and against gloved palm.

“Hallelujah, Needle-Noggin.”

Vash made a strangled sob around a soft mewl against Wolfwood's chest. “Nicholas…”

“Shhh, shhh, I’m not going anywhere. I'm right here, Spikey. I’m here, just like always.”

Vash only seemed to cry harder, pushing himself into Wolfwood even further, like he could crawl behind his ribcage and make his home between the beats of his heart and breaths of his lungs. If that were possible, Wolfwood would gladly do so. His body could much more take the cruelty of this world, if it could prove his castle he would gladly provide. But he couldn't, so he simply held him close as he had been and would continue to until his once human form gave out finally some day. He had no illusions about surviving whatever encounter the twins would have when they eventually found the end of this journey, whether fighting alongside as he had been or simply taken out with the rest of humanity, he was foolish but he was no fool. And so in this church he praised a god who wanted to be mortal, and he smiled, content, as the god lamented being loved.

#vashwoodweek #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #vashwood #fanfiction #trigun maximum #trigun

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azulas-daddy-kink · 23 days ago

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what is it that draws you towards incest ships? ive always simply blocked shippers and moved on, its not my taste, but ive always been curious and thought i would reach out and ask as i stumbled onto your blog in the atla tag. i understand if you arent interested in answering a stranger about this, though 😂

Hmm... well, I really could write a whole essay about this but for now I'll just outline my top 3 reasons.

It's taboo

In our modern and (mostly) sex-positive society, there are very little things that are truly taboo anymore. For the most part, two consenting adults are free to do whatever they want in the bedroom, and the worst that happens is people might go "ew, that's weird" or silently judge them... UNLESS those two individuals happen to be related. Then it's forbidden, it's disgusting, depraved. Hell, it's illegal in most cases!

The forbidden nature of incest is precisely what draws me to it and honestly, I think it's human nature. When someone tells you you can't do something, it becomes that much more attractive.

2. Character study

....okay I realize that saying "I'm here for the characterization" feels a little like the fandom equivalent of "I read Playboy for the articles" but I swear it's true!

It's really interesting to me to analyze the characters, and ask myself what drives them to the point where they commit incest and how do they justify it to themselves.

I shit you not, some of the best portrayals of both Ozai AND Azula are courtesy of incest fics. The fact that they're villains surely has something to do with this, as they are a convenient source of conflict and you can just include one or both in a fic without giving them any real depth. Even the source material is kind of guilty of this, we don't really see much from Azula or Ozai's point of view, and neither one got their "day in the limelight" so to speak the way other characters did... which is a shame but hey, that means endless potential for shippers and fic writers.

Naturally, I have many, many takes regarding both Ozai and Azula's eagerness to hop into bed with a direct blood relative but again for the sake of brevity, I'll just say this: Ozai is a controlling, entitled narcissist looking to cement his hold over Azula, who is so desperate for his love and approval that she'll take anything she can get. Despite the front they put on, they are also two deeply insecure individuals with the emotional maturity of toilet paper, secretly convinced they are too repulsive for normal romantic relationships.

3. It's hot as fuck

I'm not going to beat around the bush here, this just straight up bigs my dick. Floats my boat. Scratches the itch. However you want to put it. I feel like more of us just need to be honest with ourselves here and just admit that our favorite ships are fap material.

Now obviously this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but Ozai/Azula is sexy to me for many reasons. There's the basic stuff like age gap, power imbalance.

But it's also just the idea of an experienced older man showing a young virgin girl how amazing sex is.

The size difference! How easily Ozai can just throw Azula around like a rag doll, pin her down, and do anything he wants with her.

Azula's praise kink in full force, being a total simp for her Daddy as he showers her with compliments. Telling her how beautiful she is, how well she takes his cock, calling her a good girl and patting her head as she deep throats him. Like she'd go crazy for that and no one can tell me otherwise.

Ozai getting off on the fact that he's got the one girl in the entire world that he isn't supposed to have. He'd be all over that. I'm sure he thinks he's god's gift to women so it's a huge ego boost to know he's irresistible despite the natural repulsion toward incest and social norms.

But yeah, that's what I have! Sorry it took me so long to answer this, I realized I had this partially saved as a draft for the longest time haha. Thank you for the ask though!

#ask response #anon ask #atla #ozula #azula #ozai #azula x ozai #ozai x azula #firecest #daddy/daughter

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sleepythetanukipastry · 2 years ago

Text

So, uh, warning in advance: This most definitely does contain violence. Mentions of broken bones, and killing someone (not in HUGE detail, but some), etc, do appear. This has been a passion project of mine for almost 3+ years now. I’ve been itching to get it out into the world and share it with others.

Context: Tiberius is our antagonist here, and Kai is our protagonist. Tiberius is a newly introduced character here, but this particular scene is about midway through a conflict between him and Kai. Kai and Tiberius are technically the same person, just from alternate universes. The Darkness that Kai mentions here was the previous BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy), and Kai killed it in order to save the rest of his alternate selves. Kai and Tiberius are not the original version of themselves, however. That would be Zachary Pines, of whom is dead by this point. Kai is samurai from a Japan who managed to keep the samurai tradition alive well into the modern era. He has knowledge of ancient fighting styles and techniques that allow him to incorporate certain elements into his blade work. Tiberius has the ability to mimic whatever material he is currently touching. I would go into more depth about these characters, but then there’d be no need for you to read my work, now would there? Instead I’ll save that if this goes successfully and people actually see this.

Hopefully @writeblrsupport sees this and I get to share this! Thank you so much!

Like I said, there is mention and description of violence and death, so if any of that is triggering or disturbing to you, I suggest you stop here.

I was battered and bruised, beaten to no end. Yet I persevered, with my astutachin katana in my left hand. Two of the fingers on my right hand had been broken, making it hard for my right hand to stably grip the tsuka. My attempts to mix different stances and breathing styles had been unsuccessful so far. Tiberius smiled thinly.

“Struggling there? It’s only understandable, I’ve surpassed even the original Zachary at this point. There’s nothing you can do, that I can’t do better. Not only that, your rudimentary control of the elements is actually kind of pathetic, I don’t see the point in using it. This situation is perfect to demonstrate how useless it is, you’re struggling to overcome me.” Tiberius ranted. His ego was so inflated, all he could do was praise himself and gloat about his own success. As arrogant as he was, nothing irked me as much as his derogatory statement about Zachary. He had died to buy us all time and safety from the Darkness, and clearly Tiberius had no idea how kind and precious it was for all of us. I gripped my tsuka angrily, using all my discipline to keep my mouth shut. He watched my expression with amusement.

“Oh you don’t approve? Well, I don’t think you’re in a position to judge me right now.” He said, as he gestured to my broken fingers. That’s when I snapped. I felt the chilling sensation along my spine, the prelude to the blazing heat that always followed, and I welcomed it with open arms. Just like the first time, heat flooded my arms and enveloped my katana. Tiberius gave me a wide, grim smile.

“Yes! YES! There it is! There’s the Kai I’m looking for, c’mon BRING IT!” He shouted, sounding like a lunatic. I rushed forward, keeping my blade raised and angled to the side. Gripping his steel bearing in his left hand, he raised his right hand to crush my katana as his arm became steel. But I had learned my lesson from the Darkness already. Given my rough knowledge of Sun stance, my fire was currently burning at around 1,500 degrees fahrenheit. The highest temperature of intense heat steel could handle before melting without question was 2,800 degrees fahrenheit. That was almost two times my current output, which was already incredibly intensive on my body. I only had to intensify my heat for as long as it took to run through his arm though, so I mentally probed inside myself, searching for the source of the heat. Clearly it was originating from somewhere near my spine, but where? Finally, I found it, my heart was pumping out heat like a fountain pumps water. I envisioned my heart like a furnace, and pictured shoveling trainloads of coal into it. My mental depiction somehow worked and I felt the overwhelming wave of heat trying to wash over me. Unsure what would happen if I left it unchecked, I quickly directed it outside of my body, wreathing my arms and katana in flames. My mental process sounds long, but in reality, Tiberius’ arm and my blade hadn’t even touched yet. Tiberius barely noticed the change in heat, and plowed onwards, clenching his fist victoriously. I could feel his fingers wrap around my blade, but I pushed forward, feeling my katana slice through his arm like a warm knife through butter. Now he noticed something was wrong, and his expression changed to one of horror as I cut the bottom half of his right arm off.

“FUUUU-” He didn’t get to finish his curse as the flames engulfed his body and he scrambled away from me. Tiberius tried to roll and put out the fire on his molten steel body, but the heat was too intense. Desperate, he plunged himself into a small puddle of water, and released his steel ball bearing. He momentarily melted into the puddle as water, then reformed as himself, covered in burns. He patted around in panic, he had dropped his bearing and now had no idea as to where it had ended up. Something hit my foot as I walked towards him slowly. The small bearing skittered away, making ripples in its wake. We locked eyes, knowing we were going to fight over that bearing. I wasted no time in switching up my breathing, pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth and breathing out through my clenched teeth. Instead of focusing on the muscles in my legs, I drew the static energy in the air and directed it into my blade. Tiberius lunged for the bearing just as I flipped my katana downwards and impaled his hand. I leapt backwards and released the energy in my katana just as my feet left the puddle. A spherical web of electricity burst outwards, electrocuting Tiberius. He screamed out in pain, pinned in place by my blade. As the electrical energy dissipated, I lunged forward, grasping the tsuka and yanking upwards. I kicked away the red-hot bearing, sizzling as it evaporated the water around it. I aimed my katana at his throat, no words were needed, my intention was clear. Stop struggling, or I cut your throat. His eyes focused on my blade, dilating as they struggled to focus. He stared at it for a long moment, as if it was something he hadn’t entirely noticed until now. He reached out and pulled it closer to his neck, daring me. Then he stared at his hand, and smiled. I understood too late, trying to pull back, but he had already wrapped his hand around my blade completely, using it for its metal. I lunged backwards, but the damage was already done. Every astutachin blade’s color was unique, transmuting into different colors depending on the owner of the blade. Tiberius’ visible skin had become astutachin, and I watched as a wave of pitch black pigmentation washed over him. As black as the abyss, just like his heart.

“I must thank you, this metal is fantastic! Do you know where I might be able to find some, mayhaps?” Tiberius asked in a mocking tone. In that moment, I didn’t let myself think, because I knew if I did, my own righteous fury would cloud my judgment, rather than act as a honed blade for my own use. I felt the fountain of heat within me swell up at my emotion, and I let it loose. My katana became wreathed in flames once more, but I was determined to end Tiberius right here, then and there. I imagined the truckloads of coal from before, but exponentially more this time. The sweltering heat made the air surrounding me hazy like a desert mirage. Tiberius simply assumed a brawler’s stance with a haughty grin. I drew my breath in slowly, bringing my blade close to my cheek, holding it horizontally. In a flash, I thrust my blade forward, aiming for a singular point, his heart. His eyes widened with surprise and he barely smacked my katana away with the flat of his palm. Unrelenting, I threw my katana upwards, giving it plenty of height and time before it reached me again. I changed my breathing again as I maneuvered behind and around Tiberius, locking him in a choke hold. Now was my chance. I focused on channeling every lick of fire pouring out from my heart to my hands as Tiberius struggled against my grip. My senses were at their peak right now, so I was more than aware of the whistling of my katana as it plummeted towards me. Simply the heat from just me wasn’t enough to melt through him, damaging though it was. I released Tiberius and planted a foot on his back to kick him away. I retracted my foot and kicked outwards just in time to nudge the tip of my blade outwards, rotating the tsuka in my direction. I quickly caught the tsuka and adjusted my grip just as Tiberius finally regained his balance and turned around with fury in his eyes. I held my katana low, pointed at the ground. With a moment’s rest, I lunged forward, bringing my katana up in a long stroke upwards. I pressed onwards, slicing downwards with my blade in the same stroke, then up again. I was like a waterfall, pounding away at his defenses. Shallow slices in his forearms and chest deepened as I continued to batter his defensive stance. Suddenly, he dropped his forearms and clapped his hands flat around my blade, stopping it in its tracks. I leaned forward, putting all my weight against his hands. In response, he leaned backwards, trying to distribute the force evenly. I clenched my right hand into a fist as much as I could and put it against the higher end of my katana, pressing downwards. The extra weight made him stagger a bit, but he grit his teeth and held his ground. Knowing my katana would be destroyed by the end of this, I let the fire flare up once more, consuming us both. Tiberius clenched his mouth shut, cutting a scream of pain short as he fought to push me backwards. Both my katana and his skin began to glow, first glowing a bright red, then a blazingly brilliant white. He tried to let go, but a look of horror dawned on him as he realized that his hands had fused to the blade, leaving him unable to let go of the metal and escape. I maneuvered the blade upwards, aiming for his heart once more. Tiberius struggled to divert my katana but his hands were helpless and only served to guide my blade. I plunged my katana downwards into his chest. He let loose a scream of agony as the blade sizzled and sunk deeper into his heart. His hands had melted into nothing, leaving his arms dripping molten metal. I gave the tsuka one final twist, and severed his aorta. With that, his body finally went limp, and the life left his eyes.

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