#and it's just. genuinely an entire mess. at some point i'm just gonna write a fic about it i think

[clowndensation]

trying to explain charoum cries during sex like okay so it's not that charoum has never felt an honest emotion, it's that he's just inherently disinterested in contextualizing his emotions in an authentic way, and so the single time he genuinely feels something and is unable to sublimate it into a performance to further an agenda, he immediately gets so overwhelmed by the experience he collapses in on himself and it all ends up leaking out of him.

and it just so happens that this happens while astarion is attempting to seduce him.

so by the time charoum settles back into himself again, and is better able to channel his emotions into something productive, he now has one single core memory of feeling something, genuinely, as himself, with absolutely no ulterior motive behind it. and he links that experience with astarion. which does (un)fortunately link them together tighter than charoum has ever been bound to anyone else in his life. which should be fine for them.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for pretending my original fictional characters are my "friends" for the purpose of asking questions online?

Alright, so hear me out: I'm a writing hobbyist, I run a long-term D&D campaign, I like writing characters a lot and sometimes do it even outside of any stories, you could even say that it's my passion. Whenever I create a character that would have experience with something that I don't, I try to experience that thing myself, or if I can't, I ask others online about their experiences to make sure I can write my character accurately.

Here's the problem: back when I used to ask questions online from a writing/creative perspective, I felt like a lot of them concerning more controversial topics were getting dismissed and I got a lot of unsolicited writing advice unrelated to the original question. The most infuriating were always "You shouldn't write a character like that." or "You should change this integral part of the character to remove the issue that you're having."

Now, you can have whatever opinions you want about writing certain aspects of characters, but I would kindly ask you to shove them up your ass. I firmly believe that you can't judge a character accurately merely by their character traits written down in a vacuum, the execution is what really matters. One trait that could be seen as problematic when written badly can really enhance the character, story and it's themes if incorporated correctly. I'm not going to remove integral story-relevant characteristics of my OCs, and I sure as hell am not gonna delete them entirely just because an internet rando didn't believe that I could do them justice. Literally the entire reason why I'm asking these questions in the first place is because I'm trying to be as respectful/accurate to your culture/ethnicity/sexuality/gender/religion/disability/anything else. I GENUINELY want to learn and understand, so why don't you at least try to give me the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming it'll be done terribly?

Anyway, to give some examples of the questions that I've asked that were met with this kind of response:

"How would you write an autistic character who uses ASL but doesn't like to emote with their face?" (Was told to simply "make" the character like using their face even though it would go against how their other symptoms interact with each other, plus it would change how other characters view them and thus the story itself)

"What kind of slang would a black character raised in Brooklyn use?" (Was told to not write a black character using slang as a white person.)

"How would a Muslim character go about leaving their religion after losing their faith?" (Was told that the mere idea of an ex-muslim person was offensive)

I don't know if other writers also struggle with this, or if I'm just the unluckiest and always attract those kinds of people somehow, but after having to deal with it way too much I simply started lying and pretending that my characters are real so people would stop questioning my writing choices and just focus on answering my actual questions. For example, instead of the three questions above nowadays I would ask:

"Me and my Autistic friend are learning ASL together, but she doesn't like making expressions for sensory reasons. Is there anything else she can do?"

"What are some examples of actual slang used by black people in Brooklyn? My friend is from there but he likes to mess with me by coming up with fake words and pretending like they're slang, at this point idk what to believe."

"My friend lost their faith and is planning on leaving Islam. They don't have access to internet due to their parents so they wanted me to ask about what could be the possible consequences and how go about the process, or even where to start."

Also, obviously, I do way more research than just these questions, but I also really want to know the opinion of people in these communities about these topics and the discussion that develops from it. That's not something that simply reading a book or an article on a topic can give you and I believe that interacting with the community itself is an important part of properly portraying characters that belong to them as well. Still, a few of my friends told me that it's kinda shitty of me to lie in this way, especially when the end goal is to be respectful about certain traits yet me lying to these people is a sign of disrespect in their opinion. Personally I don't see it that way, I simply want people answering my questions to treat them seriously and if presenting them as real scenarios is what gets them to do it I feel like I have no choice, it has nothing to do with the respect I have for the communities in question.

Also, if this matters at all: 90% of my writing is entirely personal and will never be published in any way at all, the other 10% being the writing that I do for my D&D campaign which only my players get to witness.

So, with all of that out of the way, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[f1nalboys]

hey bestie! may i pls request something that is tod from final destination x reader? maybe some fluff headcannons, what it’s like having a sleepover with him? thx u sm! <33

hi bae!!!! i had sm fun writing this >:)) i do think tod would be one of the better characters to have a sleepover with he serves so much genuinely!!! hope you enjoy <3 first request to start out >:)))

Tod Waggner x GN!Reader

WORD COUNT: 651

WARNINGS: none

TOD LOVES SLEEPOVERSSSS

listen this guy wants to spend 24/7 with you, he is clingy as all fuck

like one of those shelter dogs, you know the vibe

anyways so regardless of whether or not him coming to spend the night is common or not, he’s ECSTATIC!!!! 

bro is jumping for joy up and down like yippee!!!!! YIPPEEEE!!!

he prefers going over to your place because then it feels like a vacation almost

but if you want to come over to his place you have to give him a day’s notice so he can clean up (he is MESSY i'm sorry to say)

he packs a bag and has a smile on his face literally until he has to leave

in my opinion, tod loves a good movie marathon and he is going to want to do classic sleepover shit with you to the point of almost annoying you LMFAO

he's like haha we should order a pizza… we should watch scary movies… pillow fight babe?? wanna gossip and do a face mask? let's talk about boys!!!!

and if you point out that he is the boy in question youd talk about, not only is he getting smug as fuck, hes going to go ‘ill pretend to be someone else!!!! go on and be so honest about how you feel about me babe ;)’

he's a great sleepover guest though, at least the first few times

he's awkward the very first one bc he's sitting on the edge of the bed bag on his shoulders hand in his lap like o-0 so…

its endearing 

and overall he's very chill and will stay by your side or in your bed the entire time

once he's comfortable though… loudest stupidest dumbest mfer!!! he is doing reckless shit and messing with you and trying to prank you and stuff

once he's settled down though, good luck getting him out of your bed for ANYTHING, a fire could break out and tod is staying put

he has to cuddle. it's a rule.

and he has no preference for being big or little spoon honestly, he has pros and cons for both, he just needs you literally right next to him

he does not care what movies you guys watch but he DOES want to watch some shitty stoner comedy like (ignoring the fact devon plays in this movie) he wants to watch idle hands and harold and kumar go to white castle LMFAO 

he's wearing your pajamas…. even if he cant fit he’ll find something to put on his body from slipper to an eye mask to your pjs to a robe to a bonnet, etc etc, you leave that room for longer than 2 minutes and he's playing dress up

you go to shower (and yes he's gonna try and join you he's handsy though so choose carefully) and come back into your room and he's wearing half your wardrobe and going through your jewelry and shit

and when you're like uhm… hello?? he stands there like oh… you're back sooner than i thought…. LIKE UR IN MY ROOM???

he's a popcorn snack guy, plus sour candy. sleepovers are for pigging out and he takes that SERIOUS he’ll sneak his own candy in if he has to

if he falls asleep at like 10pm-12am, then you will have a peaceful night where he sleeps until 8:30am and is well rested and so sweet

and he might even make you breakfast

but if he sleeps before then or later…. good luck

he's going to be LOUD and OBNOXIOUS (positive) and he's going to keep your ass up as long as he can

you're laying in bed in the dark with your eyes closed and he's steady talking trying to remember some obscure tv show from his childhood 

great guy though, love him

and you would have a ball, just don't plan on sleeping much

[dorylinae-supremacy]

Taking a break from writing striped hat so I can ramble about fae AU's again they're one of my fav things ever.

Tags: DSBI, dark Techno, dark Phil, dark Kristin, mentioned Kristin, kidnapping, impersonation, usual fae stuff tbh, its like 600 words of me rambling about fic ideas below the cut, read more if thats your jam.

Idk if I've mentioned it before but I've been toying with the concept that fae take the face of the first human they've tricked and then it slowly morphs into something thats more their own.

This isn't rooted in any actual folklore as far as I'm aware but I like the vibe it adds. It adds another layer of terror to every interaction with them. Each time you come across a fae, you're looking into the eyes of their first victim.

Maybe they tweak it a bit here and there so they can lure other humans better but I like to think it stays mostly the same. It also adds another layer to things from the fae's perspective as well.

A fae close to their family might deliberately pick out and push a human into a deal if they think it'll make them look similar to their other families faces.

It can also add a layer where fae bloodlines might literally just prey upon entire human families purely for aesthetics. The worst part is a human might not even know that thats the case, they might just chalk it up to a generational curse or bad luck.

Something like this wouldn't apply to four seasons since they werent born fae and thus already had their faces but that wouldn't apply to Phil. The dude they see could genuinely just be the face of some unlucky traveller centuries ago.

These faces could also be used as lures for other humans who might've known the tricked person before. All the fae has to do is look a little scuffed up and beg for help in a hidden circle and they've got a steady supply of victims.

It also means that if any of the humans they steal do get out somehow, the people they knew might turn away from them and assume a fae is tricking them.

I know I'm rambling but its such a tasty plot device.

But anyway I wanna try it eventually. I have one fleshed out fic in my head where fae!Wil tries to trick human!Techno but kinda messes up the order that you're meant to do things.

Fae take the face after as a trophy of sorts, he took it before making any deals to try and be more relatable to him since they're both kids.

Human!Techno is, of course, a very well adjusted prince and naturally decides that this fae is his twin and that he has to have him. So with the help of years of training against fae, he's able to trick Wilbur and steal him.

The rest of the fic is Wil being terrified because the yoink has been reversed but even after he reveals the fact that he's a fae Kristin and Phil have already decided to keep him. No running for him :)

But I have another in mind where twinsduo end up taking the faces of two princes in a kingdom but then get mistaken for actually being them.

Maybe the princes were playing in the forest before getting yoinked but either way a royal guard comes and just drags them back to the castle.

They can't really do much about it since they're super young fae and there's a lot of iron around but things only get worse when the antarctic empire invades and takes them hostage, still thinking that they're the actual princes.

Originally they were just gonna bide their time until they can go back into the woods again but now they're being kept as hostage and Phils getting more and more interested in how odd they keep acting.

Obviously it ends in them getting surprise adopted but I'm not sure how to get from point A to B yet so more brainrot will be scheduled for when I work it out.

[maul-of-shame]

Acolyte spoilers ep 5:

Okay so salty take about the Acolyte, episode 5 now that it has simmered for a bit. I'm still a salty grieving bish X'D

With the recent episode being this cruel, brutal, sadistic and completely unecessary (give fanfics writers 5 minutes and you'll get 15 alternatives avoiding this plot mess), only backed up by two arguments from Leslye being "But Anakin did it too" and "I told it to everyone and no one stopped me", I genuinely hope this ep was like a pollen induced hallucination, dream, nightmare, or something like that.

I have one last thread of hope this isn't like a "fixed" plot point.

I love the Acolyte, I've been loving it since the start, the costumes, the cast, the plots and subplots, the fights, the characters... This feels like a betrayal.

I know Star Wars knows how to make us care for characters (hell I'm a Clone Wars girlie I just KNOW) to take them away from us but those two, Yord and Jecki, there was no actual REASON or plot point "good enough" for this to happen.

This was made to be sadistic. To be cruel. To "show us the cruelty of the Sith" but this coud have been done so many other ways.

And the fact she only backed it up with "But Anakin did it" and "No one stopped me" when she explained it... Ma'am.

Put on the brakes.

First of, this was NOTHING like Anakin's situation. Period. I don't care if you hate Anakin, Anakin never ENJOYED killing the younglings. Qimir was being sadistic, Skyguy WASN'T.

Secondly, if no one stops you, does it mean you're allowed to do whatever the Force you want? If no one stopped you from jumping into the ocean, if no one stopped you from running after a bear, if no one stopped you from ANYTHING... Would you still do it, knowing it's dangerous ?

What kind of answer, genuinely, is this???

"Oh no one stopped me from setting fire to that bus stop so ahah the others are guilty" like no??? Take some accountability for this. You made choices, then stand by them.

Admit those were yours.

I'm gonna watch next ep, episode 6 HOPING AND PRAYING this is just an hallucination/dream/nightmare from one of the character and if it isn't and keep going, I'll just stop watching.

I'm already writing fix-it fics, I'm sure some you peeps are too.

Leslye doesn't deserve bullying. Neither does the cast. And this isn't bullying.

This is constructive criticism about a series with so much potential and a plot point that can (and probably has) let down fans. This could have been followed up with so MANY alternatives, way less brutal, way less sadistic but she chose that.

I am genuinely heartbroken for the actors. They poured their entire beings into it, showed their talents, their personalities and for fuck's sake, we do LOVE THEM. From Yord to Jecki, to Osha and Sol, Bazil, Mae, the Witches... I feel so bad for them.

This plot point was just made for shock value, to be cruel. This doesn't bring anything to the plot. This is why it's making me angry.

And do not get me started about the fact they showed very little emotions when it came to the deaths (Osha felt Jecki's briefly, Sol reacted as expected, but Osha showing no emotions for Yord's when they've been friends and padawans training together for YEARS??), their bodies being left in that damn forest to rot,...

This episode was heartbreaking. It really was. I really hope she makes me bite back my tongue and this is like a nightmare/hallucination thingy... I really do...

[positivelybeastly]

X-Men #1

So. The big day!

Let's go.

Absolutely adore that it takes Hank the space of one panel to get Chief Robbins to go from shouting in surprise to smiling at him. Hank is honestly just effortlessly charming, and it really shows here.

This entire first issue is very Morrison in terms of continuity, with what I'm pretty sure is even a direct callback to New X-Men #115.

Feral bash brother and sister Magik and Juggernaut will never not make me smile. I'm genuinely so here for them to be a chaotic gremlin BrOTP in this series.

So jazzed for Idie to get some spotlight again. Outside of WatXM and her role in the Krakoan Exiles, she really hasn't gotten a lot of love, and I very much enjoyed her turn as the Storm of the team, deploying ice cover for the combat landing.

Glob Herman, you will always be iconic. Also, Hank, you're enjoying yourself entirely too much.

"B-But my husband lost his job at the Lockheed Martin factory where they make the bombs that cut children into a billion pieces! Won't you please think of our jerbs?!"

No.

Jesus Christ. Literally taking it out of him in chunks. Last time I saw Logan fucked up this badly by someone with a knife, it was in X-Force, and it was - oh. Oh yeah. Oops.

Well, anyway!

Always here for telepathic relay bullshit. There's something really just delightful about the sentence 'Dumping them into the common knowledge pool.' It's just very Morrison.

John Sublime and the U-Men . . .

I love supportive, nurturing Scott. Legitimately one of the best hats that Scott gets to wear. Also, rebound shots are always fucking cool.

That refraction is cool shit. There's just a lot of really neat visual flair going on in the combat, and it shows rather than tells us that Scott really is just as good as Hank hypes him up to be.

Cute.

One: who the hell put that needlework up on the wall? Because that's brilliant. I desperately want to see a "Bless this Mess," or a "Live, Laugh, Love," at some point.

Two: Hank bakes! He bakes Jewish shortbread! I wonder if MacKay knows that Hank speaks fluent Yiddish and decided to expand that to a wider interest in Jewish culture and food? Fucking cool shit.

OIHEPOAIGHSDAP[OUIHGOUHG

ADE[OIGHJEADPOUIGHSGOIUH

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.

This is so good.

That one-two punch of Hank's burning, bristling fury at his previous self for denying himself the pleasure of Krakoa as well as denying him his memories of it, and the meaningful nod in the direction of X-Force, is so fucking good.

This is exactly how I figured Hank would react, and, like, I'm not gonna go ahead and say Jed MacKay is an amazing writer just because he writes Hank like I do, but fuck, it sure as hell makes me happy!

I also really like Stegman's art here because it evokes a simple fact of Hank's appearance - he's meant to be slightly uncanny and scary and able to switch from cuddly teddy bear to beast on a dime. The Morrison is strong here, the pleasant, bubbling layer of frothy cultured genius hiding a whirlpool of complicated emotions and self-hatred, and I couldn't be more enthralled.

I can't believe I'm actually getting acknowledgement of the fact that the rest of X-Force was just as complicit in what Beast did as he was, and that they do not, in fact, get a free fucking pass for being shitheads who did morally bankrupt things on a whim.

Giggling. Squealing. Kicking my feet.

Hims.

Hank is so deeply tired of Max's shit, I love it. "This is the fourth time this week you've pulled the intimidating hover chair flex on a passing human, Max, are you going to get tired of it eventually?"

Hank is rolling his eyes at this. God, what a good voice for Magneto here, honestly, and a decent continuation of the whole Ewing retcon about how 60s Magneto's characterisation fits into the wider whole.

Hank is the open hand. Scott is the fist. Max is the sleeping dragon. God, what a fucking good trinity, I adore it.

"Henry has a soft touch. He always has."

I've run out of image space, but Magneto's, "Tell me he will die on a mission soon," in response to Quentin is hilarious.

Genuinely adore the quiet moment on the roof between Hank and Scott. It's so nice to see these two as friends again, like it all never changed. I'm deeply curious to see if the knowledge of X-Force and everything that happened will change how the rest of the team views Hank, or if Hank's the only one who holds that against himself, but regardless, it's nice to see these two just kicking it with some beers.

Love the power move of leaving the Sentinel looming, midway through powering up its laser, over the town for a bit. "Don't forget, you owe us, we don't owe you."

That teaser is nice and ominous, even if it doesn't mean a ton just yet.

Overall, really good #1! I'm intensely excited to see where the rest of the run takes us, even if we do have to wait until August to see the next part.

Now, to go make caps . . .

[direwolfrules]

EAH Glee AU

I do not have time right now to work on my actual writing- midterms are done so now we're just jumping right into final papers- but have an AU outline post.

Professor Pied Piper, taking inspiration from some of his best high school memories, gets Headmaster Grimm to reinstate the school glee club.

Meanwhile, Madame Baba Yaga fears the new activity will steal away talent from her prize cheer-hexing team, the Ever After High Cheerios (I can’t think of a good fairytale-ification for this, I will accept suggestions). To rectify this situation, she sends in three of her girls undercover with the goal of sabotaging the glee club.

Basically, Pied Piper is Will Schuester, Baba Yaga is Sue Sylvester, and chaos ensues.

Glee Club Members:

Apple White: She joined because 1) she's good at singing 2) she genuinely enjoys singing 3) her mom was in the Glee Club and led them to winning Nationals. I'd say she's the Rachel Berry or the Quinn Fabray, but I'm not gonna do that thing where I entirely change a character's personality to make them fit into the role of another character...for the students anyway. Look, Apple's got enough drama in her life, she doesn't need me making her crazy enough to send someone to a crack house out of jealousy.

Raven: Uh, in the books Headmaster Grimm won't let her take Muse-ic because it's not an evil class. Luckily, because of a bizarre loophole in the school guidelines for competitive teams, Headmaster Grimm can't ban her from Glee Club. Everyone say thank you Giles.

Daring: He joined because he was told it would give him extra credit for the serenading skills portion of Advanced Wooing. Also, Apple asked him to join because they didn't have enough boys in the club and Daring's been trained to never ignore a request from a damsel.

Dexter: He’s there cause Raven’s there? And also cause he is a genuinely great singer and unlike Daring needs the Advanced Wooing extra credit? Also, I just kinda want him there.

Darling: Her mom made her join. Queen Charming really said “I’m gonna take a page from Snow White’s book and live vicariously through you, offspring of mine”.

Briar: She really likes the idea of a team competition where she won’t put her teammates in danger if she falls asleep. Also, she checked the competition rulebook, as long as they don’t all leave the stage when she has a narcoleptic episode they won’t be disqualified.

Humphrey: Every Glee AU needs a white-boy-who raps and Ever After High has one already built-in in the form of Humphrey Dumpty.

Maddie: She’s there cause Raven’s there. It’s utterly hattastic!

Kitty: She’s there because she remembered her mom talking about how some of her fondest memories of high school revolves around messing with the glee club, and Kitty wants dearly to be like her mother.

Lizzie: We’re completing the Wonderland ensemble. Lizzie joins because she needs an extra curricular and the Invisible Tree Situation has gotten so out of hand they had to disband the croquet team. Great voice, ngl.

Justine: Not the strongest singer in the room, but she’s capable of choreographing numbers like nobody’s business.

Meeshell: Listen, canon’s pretending her singing in that webisode was something amazing. So like, we’re pretending now too.

Duchess: I picture her as a Sugar Motta-type character. Cannot sing, massive diva, but they gotta put up with her cause her family’s donating to the club budget.

Melody: Listen, it’s her dad’s club. She can’t just not join. She’s banking those supportive daughter points for a rainy day.

Lawrence Bonecrusher III: Listen, I just it'd be funny if Professor Piper says the ever-insane "You're all minorities, you're in the glee club" line and there's the one orc student in the school just sitting there with his eyebrow raised. He's also the Matt of this AU. For some reason never speaks when in a scene.

Faybelle: Captain of the Cheerios, totally not here as part of a scheme by Madame Yaga to DESTROY THE GLEE CLUB!!!!

Nah, but seriously, this whole AU was born of me going "What EAH character would say the iconic 'I'm a closeted lesbian and a judgemental bitch' line?" and her face popped into my mind.

[roboyomo]

I've always loved Ayin as a Character since Lobotomy corporation. And this just grows as more City Lore comes out. Because damn, he's insane. In every way possible.

First, it seems like he didn't even really believe in Carmen Ideal. Nor did he even really understand it? He's just doing it because he was asked by Carmen. He seemed like the type that finished every task given to him. Which is most likely never been a problem because he's a genius. Then Carmen gave him a task. A last dying task. Well he did some seriously messed up things. But he finished the Task. An impossible one and he did it. I think I began to love his character with this quote. "Yet I, who held no such ambition, have to continue her legacy". He knows he did lots of atrocities. He's crushing under the weight of guilt but still doing it, because this is the path that WILL fulfil their goal. A goal he himself didn't even really have.

Then, as ruina and Limbus came out, I just realized the sheer scale and power he amass as the Head of Wing. Because damn. That's one hell of a power position. And it seems like he's a major power even amongst the Wings. And he did it by making a large scale multi wings war. Which we are STILL feeling in the following games. And he probably sees this position, the highest position one could possibly reach in the city, as a means to an end. Just a stepping stone. That's insane.

He's also an utter genius on a whole new level. I think I'm Lobotomy, it's implied that he also got followers? Like Benjamin who's also a genius but thinks Ayin was on a whole other level above him. He can do robotic, Ai, surgery, management and who knows what else. Just look at Angela to see what his skill can do. And it's implied that he took up robotic to make Angela specifically. It's not even his field.

That's not even mentioning all the middle finger he gave the head with everything he did.

I'm gonna be real with the fact that I actuallt hated Ayin at the start of watching the lore of the projmoonverse, but damn after being invested more and more, Ayin really grew on me. I despise his awful actions, but imo he is a great character in terms of writing. Not the best person but like we have seen what happens in the city and other wings in LoR, so I feel like it's not all that shocking at this point (heavily on what happens inside W. Corp. trains,,,)

But also YES the amount of this unknown and sheer power that Ayin has is absolutely crazy. He caused SO MUCH SHIT in the City, like a literal war between the wings, all to finally achieve the goal of completing the Seed of Light project, its genuinely insane. And if you consider how Abel in Lobcorp implied that the entirety of the LC facility is extracted from Ayin's mind, thus making it his E.G.O and the ordeals could be what happens if his E.G.O gets a little unstable and like???? Have you realized just what absolute POWER this man would have if his E.G.O was something like what The Red Mist's E.G.O is. One of the Ordeals is literally The Claw - and you're telling me that they are spawned in the facility BY the facility?? Not only is he highly intelligent, but he is actually so fucking insane in some way to the point that what is extracted out of his mind - is an entire WING in the city that caused so much outside and inside, despite acting so nonchalantly as if he's like,,, just an another dude that has no ambitions whatsoever. Like BRO he has some crazy The Head-level power in his hands and he uses it to continue pursuing the goal Carmen asked him to finish.

It's genuinely scary to think about Ayin's learning capabilities and his capabilities in full amount if he is just THIS SMART and what is extracted out of his mind is THIS INSANE. If he was somehow an arbiter of the Head, he would be crazy good at his job I feel like, and I think that's saying something about what he is capable of!!!

[the-kr8tor]

OOOO IM EXCITED TO READ COWBOY HOBIE Daily Hobie HC! Imagine going in a mirror maze with him as a date- He'll practically blend in and stand out with the neon lights due to his texture-changing-ness from his dimension, and it'll be pure chaos Because on one hand, his spidey senses are switching on and off due to how close either you or him have been deadly close to bumping into a mirror, so Hobie just decides to ignore the entire thing as a whole.. Bad idea on his part.. The amount of times he's bonked his head against the mirrors has you cackling, unable to even try and conceal your real laugh. Although he playfully scolds you for laughing, he loves hearing you laugh, vowing to himself to always try to do so, even in the worst moments. And when you bump into some mirrors, he will often retaliate teasingly with a 'yeah that sucks doesnt it? imagine how I feel'. However, he's unable to even finish his sentence before chuckling at your dazed expression. At one point, you guys will lose each other in the mess of mirrors, people and neon lights flashing everywhere. Hobie attempts to retrace his steps, but he doesn't even know where he last stepped because of the confusion of mirrors. Funnily enough, you both find each other by bumping into one another, laughing at the fact you both thought you were each other's reflections. From that point, Hobie holds onto your hand, not wanting to let you be lost in the maze of high. Little does he know, you're praying to not panic at the way he held your hand. Or maybe he does..you can't exactly see his face half of the time among the neon lights. Once you guys are out of the maze, eyes adjusting to the sudden weird haze of reality, you joke towards Hobie about having 'learnt a new texture', to which he immediately turns into something close enough of the mirror maze neon lights with a smirk on his face. A smirk that makes you want to snog it off immediately. When he drops you off, no doubt you both have stickers all over your faces, from when you were rewarded with for completing the maze, attacking Hobie immediately with one as he was drinking some fancy glowing fruit juice in a lightbulb cup. Once you return to your room, your eyes light up upon seeing a few little gifts from the place where the mirror maze was. With a closer look, you notice one of them has Hobie's signature on it, with the date and, in his writing 'Can't wait to see you again. Already planning where I'm gonna take you for my turn' You genuinely wonder when or even how he has the time to quickly make you these gifts from him dropping you off to you entering your bedroom. However, it doesn't seem to concern you much. Maybe murderer or not, he knew how to make your heart swell. I wanna go on a mirror maze date with someone:( Idc if its with a friend or partner at this point- I want to crash into mirrors and laugh -🐦‍⬛

Thank you! Chap 1 will be out in a few hours!

Daily Hobie HC!!! 🎉

Oh I'm so normal about this 🥰🥰🥰 I love love carnival dates!! Like it's in my top 5 dream dates of all time!

All the thrill carnival rides that Hobie now has an excuse to hold on to you bc "you might fall, love." Citing that the rides look rickety and all the scummy carnival games that he always wins for a reason and now you have a ton of plushies that you and Hobie have to start giving out to kids bc it definitely won't fit on the motorcycle! Ofc you'll keep a few for the memories 😍

Me too!!! Let's go together! (Watch me hit a mirror so hard that I break it 😂)

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #100

This will be my 100th generic letter to you. Imagine that! Assuming you can hear me somehow, we've been on a very unorthodox journey for a while now, no? How marvelous!

I spent some of today checking on my epoxy spheres. It needed a few small adjustments. I made another mess. But I'm feeling pretty good about how these are gonna turn out, and I'm looking forward to showing the finished spheres to you very soon!

I spent the bulk of today writing up descriptions for various items, though. I'm pretty excited about it, actually! But I can't tell you what it's for; sorry about that. With any luck though, my intentions will become clear in maybe a decade or so, assuming I can maintain my focus and my faith in my own efficacy. I suppose we'll see.

Along the way, I made myself a couple mugs of jasmine green tea! I was surprised, though, to find that we were out of milk. I improvised with whipped cream for the first cup, and ice cream for the second cup!! And I gotta say, these were THE BEST improvisations!! 11/10 stars, absolutely would recommend! I'll show you a couple pictures!!

At 4pm today I went for my orthodontics consult. I went to go see an orthodontist because I've got some weird jaw issues on my right side because of the way I gotta move my face when I try to chew things. And also, my dentists have been bugging me about getting orthodontics done for the last couple years, because there are certain teeth in my face that can't be cleaned properly because they got confused and wandered off, presumably to chase butterflies.

I was hoping that I'd be able to get away with using Invisalign to avoid needing to get teeth removed, but… well… the fact of the matter is that I simply do not have enough jaw to work with, and I am WELL beyond the age when things like palate expanders would work. So 4 of my teeth need to come out in order for the inside of my face to be aligned properly.

…And this really fucking sucks, because if my parents had given even a fraction of a genuine shit about me, this ALL could have been prevented. My jaw could have developed properly with upper and lower expanders. I could have avoided the crowding and the overbite and the crossbite and the resulting damage to my jaw joint if this had been taken care of like it should have been when I was a little girl. But, no. Instead, my parents were too busy being in denial about the fact that they wish I was not born. So here we are.

The reality that is, "because of my parents' negligence, I now have to get body parts removed and pay lots and lots of money because insurance doesn't cover it past a certain age" is just… fucken… it's WILD, man. Admittedly, I'm struggling with it. And I'm struggling with the resulting VERY angry thoughts. But that's okay. I can feel angry. It's allowed. And thoughts are just thoughts - passing noise that is not reflective of who I am or who I wanna be:

…I can make use of my coping skills. The technique outlined in the video above is one of them, and I make ample use of it on a near-constant basis.

Admittedly, I don't really understand why we can't just use the Invisaligns to scooch my molars back to where my wisdom teeth used to be (I thought being able to move teeth backwards was the ENTIRE FUCKING POINT, but I could be mistaken, so whatever). But I forgot to ask. I'll call them up tomorrow and find out.

Anyway. Wanna see my skull? And my weird-ass teeth? Of course you do. Why not. But I'll put it all the way at the end, after the part where I put my name, just in case you don't. Hahaha…

…Ya know… Sephiroth… admittedly… some days I get real tired of this meat-mech I'm piloting. I've got a host of rather unpleasant genetic issues. The defective collagen thing sucks; it impacts literally my whole body. The misshapen skull thing sucks. The misshapen eyeballs and misshapen lenses thing sucks. There are other things - lots of them; it'd be a long list if I wrote 'em all out. I'm really not gonna be sad when the one I've got can't clunk around derpily anymore. But I'm not gonna rush the process, either; I've got shit to do - I've gotta make sure someone I love is safe, even if it might take me a long time to get it done.

But ya know. Maybe when it's time to go get a new meat-mech, maybe by some small miracle, I'll get to visit you for a bit until it's time for me to cycle into something new! Tell you what - if that happens, I'll bring you some matcha ice cream or something, okay?

For now… I'm gonna get back to writing up lists and descriptions of items; if you're not gonna make sure you're safe, then someone's gotta, and if someone's gotta, then I might as well, right? I mean… what else am I gonna do while running around confusedly in a capitalistic hellscape on a dying planet? Aside from eat cheese directly from the refrigerator like a weird little goblin, anyway…

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

P.S. Weird pics of my skull and teeth below, if you wanna see!

[applestorms]

GOOD OMENS.

CLENCH UP BITCHES WE'RE DOING THIS. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS READ WITH CAUTION my hands are still shaking from finishing season 2 approximately 13.420 minutes ago so everybody clam the fuigk up/down. we're getting IN to this one. 10 sections.

okay, before i get into anything specific, i just wanna say: this series has had some of the best writing i've seen in a tv show & it's really fucking gratifying to watch. this season in particular had some really clear, distinct themes that were evolved upon and executed pretty much perfectly imo, to the point that i almost feel like i can guess what a good deal of season 3 is probably gonna look like (see section 12). this is great!! it means the writers are really paying attention to what the story is doing & what the characters are feeling/going through at any given moment in the story, & it just makes the series that much stronger on a rewatch. this season in particular really hits that sweet spot for me of being overt & clear w/ its themes w/o treating its audiences like idiots, it just. works.

i'm not going to touch on season 1 as much here since it's not as fresh as s2 for me rn, but hopefully this post can help bring some additional analysis/reflection to the new season. not sure how much of this will be totally crazy wild & new, but perhaps some interesting points will come outta the process. hope you enjoy the read!! there's 13 sections so feel free to skip around.

1. aziraphale as the beautiful execution of a flawed protagonist (ft. crowley's pining)

one of the best parts of this season by far comes from the character writing, particularly for the main two & especially for aziraphale. aziraphale was my personal favorite to watch for this entire season actually, he & crowley are both such a fucking mess but aziraphale in particular hides it in such a fascinating way to me. it's not just like watching a car crash, it's like sitting on a park bench watching a man drive a bus into a stoplight, like full on crunch the vehicle in half squish, and then just get out & carry on walking like nothing is wrong & he isn't dripping blood & scraping broken bones across the concrete.

on a broader scale, there is something incredibly appealing about how aziraphale & crowley are presented, even at a very base level. even w/o the fantastic acting of michael sheen & david tennant specifically, it's a pretty common thing that fandom will default to shipping Narrative Foils, & these two are the epitome of that. a demon who can't stop being a nice guy & an angel who keeps cutely being an asshole- this is a great base to work off of, & again the execution thus far has been excellent.

what i like about aziraphale in particular is how complex his character ends up being while still fitting into a very particular role. while crowley to some degree fits into an already pretty popular & well-loved character model (that of the grumpy nice guy), aziraphale has to hit a couple of very important & precise traits, being both outwardly very likeable & endearing while simultaneously constantly fucking up & doing increasingly egregious shit. i really can't commend michael sheen enough for his acting in helping to get the balance right- it would be STUPIDLY easy to make aziraphale the most obnoxious character to ever grace the screen if performed or written incorrectly, the kind of outwardly-kind asshole that does horrific shit w/o reflecting since the show runners seem incapable of seeing the character for what they are & it all just ends up driving viewers up the wall (e.g. emily in paris).

what i think makes aziraphale work is the fact that he is just genuine enough in his actions that when he does something legitimately horrible, it's both so subtle you almost don't even pick up on it, too distracted by the emotions you feel in following his perspective, & just motivated enough that it's easy to write him off w/o thinking any deeper. as much as crowley calls aziraphale out for being a bad magician, i think it's spot on that the one thing he is quite skilled at is misdirection. you spend a lot of time in this show following very closely with either aziraphale or crowley's POV, but in s2 especially the contrast between those two views is quite overt. while crowley's perspective is often a lot quieter, more reflective & also overtly anxious as he throws himself into stressful situations purely for the sake of supporting az, aziraphale's POV is always very loud & chaotic as he runs around, finding pubs & fighting demons & doing whatever the fuck else he wants to at any given moment.

the main flaw of aziraphale in this season is, imo, selfishness, a direct contrast to crowley's continual self-sacrifice when it comes to aziraphale. in both cases though, this is (pushed to become) a flaw that i think ultimately leads to their inability to connect at the end of the season. but in order to understand that more, we're going to have to take a closer look into the circumstances that have thus far shaped both aziraphale & crowley's characters.

2. denial as a defense mechanism: heaven & hell as life threatening danger

if there's one thing s2 has not forgotten when it comes to a&c, it's the circumstances of s1 that led them to their current emotional/mental states.

slight tangent to lead back into this point: in my work as a librarian, i end up dealing w/ a very particular set of clientele when it comes to the kinds of people that regularly use a public library. parents w/ young children, older gentlemen & ladies looking to escape the more extreme weather, and (for my city, at least) lots and lots of people who no longer have stable housing. since an often forgotten about goal of a public library (well, to the general population) is social services, as a part of my training i've recently been working through a book on what is essentially trauma-informed customer service, which has led to a lot of insight.

one point in particular that i want to highlight here is the idea that traumatic instances are both common & intensely significant in how they can change a person's behavior. defense mechanisms that may make sense in the context of a traumatic event will often stick w/ people even as the context they're in changes & the instincts are no longer useful, instead making the individuals' life even more difficult.

if there is one trauma that defines a lot of the current problems that a&c are going through, it's the fear that originates from the constant surveillance and, in turn, threat of complete eradication that comes from both heaven & hell.

significantly, crowley & aziraphale both respond to this threat in distinctly different ways: where crowley clings to the idea of escape, of creating a place where it's him and aziraphale against the world (alpha centauri), in part idealizing aziraphale as both his only friend ("friend") & the only person he could ever truly trust (crowley also likely has some trauma from the fall but we'll get to that), aziraphale viciously denies that they even have a relationship, all the while simultaneously relying on crowley heavily to do a lot of his dirty work for him. (see this post for the endgame twist on that idea.) it's significant to me that a good chunk of aziraphale's earliest morally dubious actions involve lying- since he's been doing it for so long, it's probably one of the easiest things for him to write off as not that bad, so it's natural that he would default to it as a defense mechanism here too.

to clarify, crowley does engage in denial too, though it's obvious from the emotional climaxes of both season 1 & 2 that he is much less committed to it, likely doing it for the sake of easing aziraphale's mind and/or giving himself something to fall back on so he doesn't attract too much attention from the people that can really hurt them. overall though, these are both basically just fight/flight responses- crowley ultimately wants to run away from or fight everyone that can hurt them (& betrayed him by letting him down in the past) and aziraphale ultimately just wants to deny that the problem even exists.

if we see aziraphale's later stated goal of, "Let's change heaven for the better," as an evolution off of his earlier mindset, this is also basically what their final argument in ep6 comes down to: crowley wanting to run away and aziraphale wanting to go & fight for change. what's so aggravating about this conversation is that they also want the exact same thing: EACH OTHER. (idiots.) (maggie & nina were spot on, of course. it's not just nightingales missing in that silence.) this is not even to mention the fact that they are utilizing these defense mechanisms not just in an attempt to protect themselves, but ultimately to protect one another. think about that one late at night if you wanna get up the motivation to key mr. gaiman's car.

it's also interesting to note that in s1 crowley basically wins this argument, getting the chance to settle down (albeit, still under pretty questionable circumstances) as he & aziraphale (supposedly) create their own little corner of the world away from everyone else. it still doesn't work though as neither of their solutions really get at the core of the problem, which is 1. the horrific bureaucratic systems of heaven & hell that Don't Give a Shit about People at all, and 2. their own unspoken fears & feelings (romantic & otherwise).

3. good, evil, & narrative foils: crowley edition

since i extrapolated on aziraphale's character in section 1 and a&c's relationship in 2, i think it's only right that i look into crowley more for 3.

for all the pain & agony & tears that it brings, i really do think that ep6 is the best ep of s2. specifically, i think that ep6 is the one that shows the primary issues of a&c that have been plaguing them throughout the season (& even previously in s1) the most overtly, and this is especially true of crowley.

there are two things that aziraphale gets wrong about heaven in their final argument: 1st, the idea that heaven is necessarily better than hell, & 2nd the idea that crowley would ever want anything to do w/ it again.

i've seen some people talking about crowley like he's the voice of reason this season, but i don't necessarily agree, or at least not entirely. he's completely right when he says that heaven & hell is toxic in their final argument, yes, but i don't think his motivation in saying that is purely from observation either. remember that point i mentioned earlier, about crowley also having trauma from his initial fall? where aziraphale naturally trusts people to a fault (see: gabriel, but also picking up shax, the graveyard, etc.), crowley is plagued by a complete inability to trust anyone around him, & it's my opinion that a lot of this comes from the trauma of his initial fall.

the one exception to this is, of course, aziraphale, who we can see attempting to be a friend to crowley both before & long after his fall, but aside from him crowley Does Not trust anyone else around him & honestly for good reason. while we can write off hell as just being Like That, even if crowley didn't initially want to fall (as is heavily implied in a few flashback scenes), he certainly doesn't want to be dragged back into a supposedly great position that he knows he could lose again at any wrong comment. this is also (in part) why i think crowley reacts so strongly to aziraphale's "Nothing lasts forever," comment- after going through the horror of losing his divinity & all the stress of the last few seasons, the one thing crowley probably wants is stability, & he's been relying on aziraphale as the source of that. you're both doing the dance for this one, boys.

to reiterate: don't forget the graveyard scene when it comes to crowley doing absolutely anything for aziraphale to the point that it hurts him, both in terms of the supposed punishment he got from hell (that az skips over real fast in his narration) & how aziraphale continues to deny both the reality of their relationship & how much his denial hurts crowley.

4. beelz & gabe the weirdest couple imaginable. good for them. good for them. also: heaven & hell as two equally controlling/toxic sides of a bureaucracy

the Big Bads of the last few seasons took more of a backseat for this one which makes sense considering the focus on a&c and all of the parallel couples, but i do think the one point that was emphasized for them is very important, and that's the ways in which both heaven & hell parallel each other as shitty bureaucratic pyramids of power.

if we consider this meme to be true, i think crowley really is right when it comes to his analysis of heaven & hell, though we're probably just gonna have to wait until s3 to see the exact route the show decides to take.

a big running thread w/in either of these two groups is the fight for promotions, both in terms of people clawing their way up to get more power & in terms of people being replaceable. crowley & gabriel getting kicked out of their positions is just a vacancy of power to the companies that are Good Omens Heaven & Hell, and there is a very clear parallel between shax & michael & their desire for control. what's notable is how that parallel might also now extend to aziraphale what w/ his new promotion. all very fitting concepts to cover in a post-covid, writers-strike context, which i have seen our resident mr. gaiman posting about.

5. yuri on ice, hannibal, & the beauty of acknowledged romantic tension

if there is ONE thing i am disgustingly grateful for in this show it's the fact that we finally have some concrete follow-through on the romantic tension between a&c that permeated through s1. there's only so many times a man can call his best bud "Angel" completely unironically before it gets fucking stupid (cough cough dean winchester cough). but also, to put it in the words of another text post around here: I love how the kiss was awful.

even if there wasn't a kiss, the fact that this fucking entire season fucking revolved around love & featured all kinds of parallel couples should be enough to clue you in on the romantic tension between a&c, if you somehow were blind enough to miss it before. that being said, i'm really glad that the kiss was executed the way that it was, essentially summarizing all of the tension & anguish that had been built up over the last few seasons in an explosion. the state of aziraphale & crowley's relationship hurts more because they kissed, because the tension finally overflowed & it still wasn't enough to stop him from getting in the stupid elevator & running away again.

sorry had to take a break to aggressively listen to the better call saul theme song again. anyways, while i know there are some other shows that have set precedent for this in acknowledging the romantic development between their leads, i can't stop thinking about two in particular in comparison to good omens: yuri on ice, for the literal cinematic parallels between the kiss, and nbc hannibal, for the creator acknowledgement & slow lead up to the climax.

what i am desperately hoping & praying for w/ good omens is season 3, since it feels like all too often when we finally get a good, Gay:tm: show it's always this big, flashy thing right at the end that everyone freaks out about & adores (around these parts, at least) but is never evolved upon. i think gomens has a good chance since we've got more precedent now, the creators/actors/etc are more open about it, & the season is clearly unfinished w/ a ravenous fanbase, but something something supernatural trauma i'll trust it when i see it. can't always believe these corporate fuckers. at the very least though they probably wouldn't write this kind of ending if they didn't think they had a good case for another season, so.

ok, a couple shorter sections cause i'm undoubtedly gonna run out of space if i keep at this pace:

6. the resurrectionists was a really good arc that i enjoyed a lot

exactly what it says tbh, the writing for this arc in particular really stood out to me.

i mentioned earlier that s2 has some really good character writing & i think that's in part because it's necessary as a kind of transition season, reflecting on the chaos that happened w/ the first go at armageddon & setting up for the next apocalyptic event that is likely planned for s3. it's for this reason that i think the resurrectionists arc is really strong, establishing in particular all the flaws of aziraphale's character that i went over previously in a very interesting way that still manages to weave into the previously established, albeit quite sparse flashback timeline established in s1. the morally dubious nature of grave robbing for the sake of science & medicine is the perfect context to put characters like a&c in, and the more overt look into class w/ a character like elspeth works really well in helping to ground the more abstract social commentary associated w/ heaven & hell.

7. ramblings about sequels & whatnot

it can be really difficult to write a sequel, especially when the first go at the story cleaned up its plot so well by the end, but where s2 is strongest imo is in establishing the ways that crowley & aziraphale still need to grow.

i almost think that this season had to end horrifically tragic, in a similar way that i think book 2 of the simon snow series wayward son had to end on a pretty dour note. in order for 1 & 3 to have decently high notes, 2 just often has to be pretty miserable to balance it all out.

this is also why i think the maggie/nina storyline is so important overall. not only do those two establish the most overt romantic parallel to a&c, helping to transition the story from s1 & set up for ep6, but they also end on a distinctly hopeful note that's in direct contrast to the scene that comes immediately after they leave. the parallel plants at least the tiniest seed of hope that a&c can sort their shit out if given some time & communication, similar to maggie & nina. it also makes a lot more sense in establishing why crowley chooses that moment of all times to bother w/ a love confession- i genuinely don't think the kiss would work if m&n didn't have a little sit-down intervention w/ him beforehand.

8. SPECULATION: aziraphale vs. crowley apocalyptic fight, dissolving of the current organization of heaven & hell, affirmation of the beauty of humanity & morality?

a list of my speculation about what may or may not happen in s3:

apocalypse part 2 only this time aziraphale & crowley are actually gonna be fighting each other & it's going to be fucking agonizing to watch especially in direct contrast to s1

there's probably going to be some sort of attempt to get crowley into an equal/parallel position to aziraphale in hell. whether or not he actually decides to take this position is kinda up in the air, but either way he's going to fight it at first out of a hatred of both sides. if he does eventually agree it'll be under some sort of condition to save aziraphale, and/or a fake out trick that also is to save aziraphale.

i just don't think i can see a happy ending where heaven & hell stay in their same structure. w/ such big characters as gabriel & beelzebub just fucking gone into the middle of nowhere there's gotta be some kind of re-establishment of the two sides & their relations. the only way it might not change is if the Religion Lore gets in the way, but w/ the established politics of this show & mr. gaiman i can't see an ending that just allows the status quo to continue on exactly as horrible as it's been.

crowley back in his apartment? (plsplspls.) also something really heart-wrenching & emotional related to the car & the bookstore after a&c have been separated from them because of course. personally requesting additional exploration of the car as a symbol of crowley himself/able to be influenced by aziraphale e.g. scooting towards az, yellow is so pretty, etc. etc.

more flashbacks, maybe more from crowley's pov this time? like something to do w/ that period where he was supposedly being punished for helping aziraphale, more about his experiences w/ hell & the fall, etc.

something something affirmation of the beauty of humanity & the world, ft. a&c bonding over their mutual love of it again. they were each others only real friend for how many thousands of years, if they're gonna be fighting OR attempting a romantic bond that's going to be significant.

when the actual romantic reconciliation happens is kinda up in the air, but it depends on what the Big Bad ends up being, an external force of heaven & hell or a&c themselves. personally, i think that heaven & hell are just gonna keep getting weaker but w/ aziraphale in charge maybe that'll change (or maybe it'll be the catalyst lolol). if it's external they'll probably get together earlier in the season, if it's more internal probably not til the end, though there might be a momentary reconciliation for the sake of fighting something else.

i'm a bit more up in the air about this one, but maybe something more w/ satan & god as the top of the pyramid when it comes to heaven & hell? good omens is all about that kind of contrast so it might make sense. this also assumes that s3 is the presumed end of the series, which may or may not be the case.

if this does end up being the end of the series: i really, really, really, would not be surprised if crowley & aziraphale end up fully human. it's quite the obvious answer but it just makes so much sense for their characters, w/ their love of the world & whatnot. then again a lot of their relationship has also been related to immortality, but also then again there's a lot of stories out there about immortals hating their long lives & wanting to just settle down like normal people so. ehh. oh speaking of settling down,

9. they're NOT married, that's the PROBLEM: thirteen seconds.

thirteen. full. seconds. of the Most Awful Kiss. known to contemporary tv.

they're not married that's th eentire fuckigngggng proble m.,,..,,..,.

10. "I forgive you."

this is such a nonsensical line it makes me so absurdly angry. what the fuck are you doing aziraphale. well, presumably the exact same thing crowley was trying to do by kissing you, but i digress.

bonus edit, i thought of this literal seconds before falling asleep & now i can’t get it out of my mind: crowley needs aziraphale for stability, aziraphale needs stability to have crowley. mic drop

[carcharsaur]

I like doing my little rant posts 2 people read so I'm doin it again this year :] this time I finished something way sooner too

fatamoru... took me half a year to get myself to actually read it but well it's a classic and it's good as hell what can I say (spoilers under cut)

gonna link my longass livetweet thread here for posterity so it's not completely lost in the mire

this felt so targeted though it's legit dumbfounding. I went into it only recalling 1 and a halfish spoilers of 1) michel is the MC and 2) he had trans stuff going on and honestly if anything my jumping at shadows and going HUH WAIT ? the whole time knowing that kinda heightened the experience for me early on. I was about to say at first it was hard to know what parts of the story I should really sink my teeth into but I think that was the intended experience... these stories aren't yours etc... the atmosphere and ost especially is also like soooo crazy good I was worried it'd be hard for me to stay focused on this game without voice acting but I was surprised how well it stuck even if some of the sfx are very obviously old and scuffed none of them took me out of it much (this has been a legit issue for me with some games.. the otomate sound library is really scuffed sometimes LOL) and even when the game was going over the same events, in different contexts etc it never started grating on me so that is a huge W. too many fucking games act like you just weren't paying attention when you were reading and it not only pisses me off but it's just so boring. so this avoiding that entirely was really good. GRIPPING. some of it was so edge of my seat I think I played for like 10 or more hours straight I thought I was gonna die but in a good way LMAO I don't think I have anything interesting or poignant to say about the actual story itself other than despite everything I want jacopo dead, I totally get the point about letting go and moving on and a cycle needing to be broken and it was visceral and moving and so real to me. but also. jacopo deserved all that shit. everything else though I'm just sitting there yelling TRUE AS HELL!!!!!! really loud. I love you michel I love you giselle I'm gonna get u outta there morgana. wait I lied. morgana as the white haired girl. it's not fucking fair.... I wanted to save her... I do think 'she' truly did become part of morgana again though, based just on how scared morgana was of didier at the end, at the cries of being called an unholy witch... a fear that only she held, morgana sort of reveled in being a witch in the course of carrying out the cruelty. but the saintly part of her feared that fall, that complete inversion of her self and the hatred it pointed towards her as well... man : ( ........... : (

I could write an essay specifically on the ways I relate to michel to a like genuinely scary degree the overlap made me sick to my stomach in the best way. but honestly I would be a weepy mess at the end of it so I don't wanna do all that. as an aside though apparently the author(s) have said he's "only intersex, not trans" but man I think that's a stupid as hell delineation to make. he's both. he was assigned 'female' at birth and was raised as a woman and chafed against the social role of 'woman'. IF ANYTHING I relate to him more about not necessarily feeling dysphoric/lacking in regard to his genitals on his own but more about the fact that that somehow invalidates his status as a 'man' being something that torments him. it's a topic that overlaps imo. but the fact the game handles it with as much tact as it does while being as old as it is surprised me. though I could see it being still too upsetting for some because the depiction of the trauma is kind of like. viscerally too real almost. when giselle described her abuse... it wasn't even descriptive in the disgusting voyeuristic way it so often is in other places, but the representation of how it just feels to be subject to that was so real that it really really fucked me up... I'M DOING THE THING I JUST SAID I SHOULDN'T AAHHH but well. it's really good. it's like eating a heavy but hearty meal where it's so good but I can feel it sitting in my stomach and the weight of it just makes me groan. does this even make sense anymore. man.

ok a selection of my fav screengrabs to play me off before I continue in such a manner.

GISELLE PUFFED CHEEKS VERY CUTE

[bozawarriorsposting]

I had an absolute blast reading the introductory chapter! It's great to see how this whole mess started and I can't wait to see more!^^

It's probably obvious, but are some of Clear Sky's many titles self-imposed? And what does he mean by Overseer of the Great Above? Is where the ghosts are brought in the chapter the Great Above or is it just the sky in general? Or is it something else?

Also going back to the Rootpaw situation a little (I'm sorry I just get very excited at any crumb of content with him). I imagine Needletail is not happy with one of Violetshine's kits going missing because of her ghostly companion, is she?

And lastly, I'm just very curious about what you have planned for the ghosts' future missions. I recall you saying Shadowsight will be involved in one? Do you have any other mission ideas? Or is it too soon to ask that?

1. To his credit, Clear Sky's titles are all genuine... In the way that at some point someone called him that and he added it to the mental list of titles he has. The 'Overseer of The Great Above' specifically is from when the founders really got abstract in the mythos of Starclan, and became less ancestors than embodiments of natural phenomena and the spiritual symbol of a Clan. Cats nowadays refer to Starclan as a whole more than any individual of the 5 but Clear Sky is a sort of Minor God more than anything in the religion.

2. "Silver Pelt" or the Starclan that most cats walk around is something very malleable, it can twist and change depending on who is around and what are the emotions running high. Clear Sky is able to mold a small section of it according to what cats believe and attribute to him. Essentially, he is powerful enough to etch out a small domain to suck in the cats so he can screw with them in private.

3. Oh, she would be pissed upon finding out, she would probably check on Violetshine to make sure the person she actually cares about isn't hurt, and finds her desperately looking for Rootpaw. From there she might ask the group and then find out what happened after a back and fourth. Massive argument happens, the conflict resolution of the Four kicks in, ie. everyone does what they want as long as it doesn't get Clear Sky involved. And she maybe goes to find Rootpaw. I might actually make a story out of that, so thanks for contributing another piece of writing.

4. For the future.... I am gonna be real. This au was always more about the setup and the characters with the resulting possibilities more than any good ideas of where the story goes.

In terms of missions, all sorts of things are possible. I am mostly fishing for ideas as is. For Shadowpaw, I am honestly thinking that a mission focusing on him is essentially the Four using their powers to try and gaslight him into interpreting a prophecy a certain way. But like in a dark comedy way, where it's essentially all of them playing director and influencing shit to get him to think a certain thing, and failing. Because for all their powers, getting a cat to think a certain way of their own volition without raising the suspicion of the Clan or Starclan is still very hard.

But yeah, honestly I am just developing the base concept, from here I am currently working on some refs for the Four, and otherwise either think of a fun concept or have more of the four interacting with each other in that pocket dimension directly following the events of the introduction. Probably something from Needletail's point of view.

I always take suggestions of any kind, this entire AU is essentially just going "Hey wouldn't it be funny if." And thinking about the results of that.

[aeliussaionji]

Scattered thoughts on my relationship to media

I often muse "since criticism is subjective, how do we confidently asses a thing? Who decided what makes something 'good'?". hbomberguy's "RWBY is Disappointing" video is making me do just that.

Going in I expected him to reveal things I overlooked, as I can be pretty bad at noticing inconsistencies in media. But to the contrary, in the first half of the video, he focuses on talking about aspects of the show I don't care about, or even find endearing. The latter half(ish) focuses more on how the writers drop the ball in trying to tackle the subject of racism. In the rest of these scattered thoughts I am not referring to that- largely because I didn't watch it all at once, and much of my thoughts happened following my first intermission.

But first- something else entirely:

Some years ago, friends and I discussed our thoughts on the new star wars trilogy. The movie where Kylo and Rey team up for the fight in the throne room is easily my favorite of the three. The first entry was boring and the third one is a crime. But the second- it explores new ideas about the Force not being binary, has amazing visual scenes (some of which everyone hates for the lore implications), it has that friggin' amazing throne room fight where Light and Dark team up, after which there's a very compelling "we should join forces" moment. Given how much the movie had broken off traditional star wars thus far, I was genuinely uncertain what Rey would do, and in that moment I was more engaged than I had ever been with any star wars content before.

People who dislike that movie counter with "but why would the commander do X in scene Y? Makes no sense!" or "the whole sequence with the casino was bad". And to me that's… I literally don't remember those things exist until people complain about them. I am laser focused on what I enjoyed and tune out what didn't work for me. In the discussion I was having among friends, the primary complaint they had is how the second movie breaks continuity of the trilogy. As I see it, the first movie is unobjectionable and technically good, I never hear passionate criticism for that. It's also just a nothing burger. I've near forgotten the entire thing. Nothing happens in it to pique my interest. It seems that's true for others as well, given that any discussion of the trilogy I've heard very quickly becomes about what the second movie did wrong. Would the second movie be "better" if it were as unobjectionable as the first? Would the trilogy? Many seem to prefer simpler works with competent execution, which, I can get into as well! But when shards of creativity capture my attention, I find myself either forgiving flaws, forgetting them, or filling in blanks where no details were provided. So: I don't give a damn that the trilogy is now incoherent as a whole! I really, really, like certain scenes of the second movie and give zero thoughts to the rest.

To which my friend responds, "do that in a different story!" But does that mean they'd prefer something competently constructed and less creative, like the first movie was? After all, I see plenty of energy spent dressing down sloppy execution of the second movie, but hardly any energy is given to criticizing how creatively bankrupt the first movie is. In this dichotomy I've constructed, I feel I'm in the minority for preferring a creative mess.

(Also the reality of capitalism in Hollywood is that writers don't often have the freedom to just make new IPs; existing IPs are what's on the table and writers make due. That's how it's gonna be, might as well consider such stories to be standalone. Blame capitalism, not the writers.)

Back to RWBY: hbomberguy keeps complaining that RWBY's animation, writing, voice acting, songs, etc are all amateur. And, yeah man, it's literally a first work by amateurs. Halfway through his video, the point he keeps returning to is that the show has good ideas but the amateur efforts holds it back. And… yeah man, amateurs have good ideas sometimes? Ep1 pretty firmly establishes the level of quality the creators are bringing to the table, and I calibrated my expectations accordingly.

More than just calibrating my expectations, I can find the amateur aspect endearing, and I enjoy seeing the voice actors and animators and writers improve as the series goes along. It's like its own meta narrative- we the viewers get to witness the voice actors grow more confident over time. They come a long way from their early shy and clunky performances.

Now, I don't necessarily think that criticism should be "calibrated" to expectations, or that media should be graded on a curve. It's completely fair to judge what's on the table no matter who made it. I agree with basically all of hbomberguy's criticisms, I'm enjoying the detective work he has done to outline how and why the quality may have suffered, I'm laughing along with his jokes, and certainly his criticisms could help the team grow as creators. It's just that his delivery leaves me wondering if he's playing up his reactions for comedic effect, or if he genuinely can't engage with amateur efforts. This leads me to an introspective thought spiral- there are many examples of media I quite like where the execution is fumbled in some way. There are many examples of media with stellar execution, but I'm simply bored by the content. If I were to ever try and formally criticize something, what form should my criticism take in this framework? Should my criticism value execution over creativity? Excellent execution can be an art in of itself and I often do enjoy a job well done, but in general I don't derive much enjoyment from how technically well executed the art is. Should I, though? Are my media recommendations to friends worse off for my tendency to forget that which doesn't interest me? Should my critique spend time grading creators on form, even when the mistakes don't bother me personally, or is it enough to simply expand only on what I personally experience? Does loving content with poor execution mean I have mid taste in media?

There is another more personal layer to my thought spiral reaction. hbomberguy spends some time demonstrating that certain concepts in RWBY are not explained well and would be confusing to first time viewers. This leads me to think that I'm so accustomed to being out of the loop that I don't blink when something doesn't make sense, and in fact I might not even notice ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

There are many works which avoid directly stating authorial intent, instead (hopefully) leaving enough information for the audience to arrive at the conclusion themselves. This is often stated as "respecting the intelligence of the audience". Problem is, I may not have enough context to work it out, and I'm not always on my A-game while consuming media. Probably most of the time I am very much not! I think I've come to assume that when I encounter a point of confusion, the failing is mine.

Me, enjoying a show as much of the subtler meaning flies over my head:

[morballs]

Write a 10 page APA format essay on the TWDG character that you hate the most.

You have until Friday to submit this 🙌🏾

professor Everett i'm paralyzed on my deathbed i cannot do this!!! anyways, sorry to the three Jane fans that exist, but I DO NOT LIKE HER!! AT ALL!!!! Maybe this is biased given my very normal attitude regarding Kenny, but you can obviously see that her role as a character was extremely rushed in the last episode; I don't even think she was supposed to survive! Outside of budget problems or interpersonal bullshit happening in TTG, I just genuinely fucking hated her in the last episode. ANNNDDD IM GONNA RANT ABBOUT ITT GRAAAAAGHHH!!!!

When Jane's introduced to the story she's intriguing, and in general a character that I really wanted to see develop in my first playthrough; She KNEW what she was doing on a completely different level compared to every other character then introduced in the season 2 roster, because as opposed to let's say Kenny or Luke, she's been treading in the shoes of a walker for roughly two years at that point, she knows the enemy in a way that only Clementine (and Lee (LMAO)) knows, if that makes sense. You can see her as an ally in some strange form only based on shared experience. Her character is a bit intense, but she carries herself like she's more important and above the others, extremely self assured and all that bullshit, which is quite the comparison with Nick, Alvie and Luke where they prefer to keep themselves at ground level, and in a way that's more personal and opens their character and personality up for us to explore. It makes her somewhat like a big sister stand-in for Clementine, and its extremely obvious that she see's all her own flaws inside Clem and tries to snuff it out before she makes the same mistakes she did (Any scene revolving around Sarah, and how she was trying to convince Clem to leave her alone to get eaten alive and then SULKING when she doesn't). It's interesting, and I wont deny I deeply enjoyed the scenes where she's teaching Clementine some of her survival tricks! But it all really falls apart by the last leg of episode 4, with the whole Luke thing. It's strange, their entire dynamic and relationship is strange because frankly by the second time they interact they're already mapping eachothers insides dawg... completely fucking shocked me man... Her "leaving" the group didn't really create any swell of emotions inside me (neither did her returning), if anything I felt relieved and neutral as her character had mostly served its purpose in Clementines' story; but that's where the problem begins, she's exhausted her use as a character.

In episode 5 her character is dull and useless until she slowly tries to convince Clem that Kenny is a liability, in which yes, she's not WRONG but if she opened her two eyes and compared to his one functioning fucking eye she'd realize that "Hey the kid that he's beating the FUCK out of and the reason why my little fuck-buddy died was because I STOLE A BAG OF SUPPLIES THAT?? ULTIMATELY?? DIDN'T EVEN MATTER IN THE END??"

I have to accept the fact that actions in the ttg series often don't matter at all. Like NADA. NUH UH. And alot of shit doesn't get mentioned ever again despite the fact that it was a serious part of the story (Omid and Christa, Ben dying, Carlos/Sarah/Nick dying, ETC), But to have shit like that be ignored? completely? no one held her against herself for stealing the bag? ever? like ever ever? Clementine steals the pills, which would've been enough in the first fucking place. (bag is never seen again after that btw). But that part does also show us how deceptively selfish Jane is, in a way that is almost fucking messed up; because it isn't petty, it's straight up murder in some cases (Arvo's group, Luke/Bonnie, Kenny/herself, ALMOST AJ.)

But the part that drove me up the wall with her was the final scenes, where she manages to corrupt an 11 year old's brain into thinking, "WOW Kenny's going off the deep end and MIGHT theoretically KILL ME all because this FREAKY white woman told me so!" Fuck man, her hiding AJ while not even being SURE that she'd live to tell them where she hid him? Her witnessing Kenny getting beat up until a part of his skull got crushed for his adoptive kid and then being able to look Clem in the eye and go "he's a selfish monster"? when her selfish actions is what caused the ENTIRETY of the ep5 events? (sans Rebecca dying) She got into that fight not because she WANTED Clem to be safe but because she WANTED to be proven RIGHT!! ARRGHHH!!!!! (SHE COULD'VE CALLED IT OFF TOO BUT SHE JUST WANTED SO BADLY TO BE THE "SAVIOUR")

Don't get me started on her shitty "ending" either...

ANYWAYS, kenny dickrider alert... wow i got heated bruh ion fw this mf at all anyways thanks for the ask, russ!!! appreciate it :)

[pixelateddork]

Please ramble. I want to know more about Arsene Lupin! Especially compared to the first major appearance of him in the lupin iii anime

OKAY SO,,

Arsene Lupin my absolute beloved. He's such a lil bastard and he's so much more like Lupin III than I would've thought. He's so entertaining, and despite being a lil bastard he is genuinely so cute and silly and a brat, and just the most dramatic man ever. I'm only 2 and a half novels into the series but I am just so in love with him.

Comparing him to Lupin I's first major appearance in the anime(that being Lupin Zero) to even just Arsene Lupin's first ever short story...

W o w.

It's like comparing Mamo to Cagliostro TBH.

Now I will ramble about this lil thief man. Careful, this is gonna be long. It will also include a bunch of stuff from the first novel, so keep that in mind if you don't want an spoilers! Would they be called spoilers? These novels are like a 100 years old...

First off, Lupin's first ever short story is this.

"The Arrest of Arsène Lupin"

Yes he gets arrested immediately. Yes it was absolutely his own fault. Despite being very smart he's also very stupid. It runs in the family I guess. Here's a small summary of the first ever story, it'll give you a good idea of his character :D

"Arsène Lupin is on your vessel, first cabin, blonde hair, wound right forearm, traveling alone under name of R—"

This is pretty much where the plot starts. Lupin send a telegram to the boat he's on saying his on the boat, and the rest of the story being about the passengers of the boat trying to find out who was actually Arsene Lupin(during this he's stealing stuff and messing with the passengers). All the while it's being told from Lupin's perspective as he's under a fake name(Bernard D'Andrezy). Oh, there's also a woman, Miss Nelly. She's with him the whole time, and Lupin has fallen in love with her. She'll become more important later.

Anyways, as soon as Lupin steps off the boat he immediately gets caught by Inspector Ganimard(the man assigned to catch Lupin, and who Lupin refers to as "the personal enemy of Arsene Lupin" while in disguise. I could ramble about him and Arsene for hours but this isn't about him--). And the reason he's caught isn't just because Ganimard recognized him instantly(By gazing into his eyes. This surprisingly comes back later.)...it's also because of the stupid telegram he sent.

I hesitated a moment. Then he hit me a sharp blow on the right arm, which caused me to utter a cry of pain. He had struck the wound, yet unhealed, referred to in the telegram.

The chapter ends with it being revealed that this was actually a story being told by Arsene to his friend(Who is basically Leblanc's self-insert), who writes down all the stories Arsene tells him, and is referred to as Arsene's historiographer later on(Yes, this means that the books are canon in-universe). The story ends with this dialogue from Arsene.

"Why,” said he, “why should I retain a definite form and feature? Why not avoid the danger of a personality that is ever the same? My actions will serve to identify me." Then he added, with a touch of pride: "So much the better if no one can ever say with absolute certainty: There is Arsène Lupin! The essential point is that the public may be able to refer to my work and say, without fear of mistake: Arsène Lupin did that!"

--- This first chapter is a really good introduction to Arsene's character(And from what I know, there's really only one exception to this but...I'll get into that another time), and the rest of the novel only gets better. He's such a fun character though out the entire thing. This things he does are just so insane sometimes and I love it. Some insane things include sending a calling card requesting the treasure he wants to some rich guy, and even he specifies the things NOT to send because he doesn't want them, ALL WHILE HE'S STILL IN PRISON. Or the time Ganimard came to visit him in prison, and Arsene was just :DD!!! and the proceeded to tell Ganimard his entire plan while Ganimard just sits and listens.

The time they planned a date(Same scene mentioned before BTW)--

"Arsène Lupin, you are not a bad fellow, after all." “Thank you,” said Lupin. “Ganimard, this is Friday. On Wednesday next, at four o'clock in the afternoon, I will smoke my cigar at your house in the rue Pergolese." "Arsène Lupin, I will expect you."

God, and the scene of him getting caught stealing stuff by the woman he fell in love with, and he just stares at her like a deer in headlights, before immediately promising to her that he'll return everything he just stole, only for the girl to still reject him later on(obviously) after everything is returned and he gets all depressed(or the other novel where a DIFFERENT girl he liked said she hated thieves and he started crying). Even just the little things he does are still so charming, like his paragraph long(sometimes even longer) monologues and rambles(Omg same) or his constant use of "My dear"(especially to Ganimard). Keep in mind though that all of this is all just the FIRST novel.

Okay okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't wanna ramble toooo much more because this is already super long, and if I don't stop now I will go on forever. But as you can see, I'm absolutely obsessed with this lil thief man, he's such a lovable lil bastard and I adore him so so much. 💖🎩💎