#and the basis for those relationships is always how the characters communicate

[kastalani123]

Not my usual content, but I just. I wanna ramble, ig.

Do you understand how baffled I was about how the vampire book, written by a man in 1897, is essentially a PSA about how important proper communication is?? Even after I scrolled through Tumblr, saw the memes, read people geeking out about the relationships (platonic and romantic) in Dracula, I was still caught off guard, because. Like. Everything in this book is about communication.

Sure, it's kind of a given, considering it's an epistolary novel partially made up of letters between the characters, but. I dunno. From Dracula controlling Johnathan's lettres, van Hellsing refusing to tell anyone shit, the men keeping Mina out of the loop, to Mina using her telepathic link with Dracula, it's. It's literally all about how important actually talking to each other and sharing information is. Fuck, throw in the fact that "Harker", Mina and Jonathan's, arguably the main characters, last name means "to listen"/"eavesdropper", and that the book is Mina's in-universe creation to help compile, organize, and share what they know about Dracula, and the book's very essence becomes centered around information-sharing!

And I just. The narrative punishes just about every secret hidden, every time the characters don't communicate. There's the obvious, Dracula keeping Johnathan from sending out letters for help and Mina getting bitten because the men leave her home alone, but also. Van Hellsing not telling Lucy's mom that the garlic flowers and closed windows and so on are the treatment and she is not to touch them is what kills Lucy and her mom! They maybe could have survived if he just told them what's happening/what he's doing! And even the godsdamned telegram he sends to Seward! If he had just addressed it properly (communicated to the telegram boy properly!) then Seward wouldn't have been late and maybe could have prevented the massacre!

There's also Jonathan's diary right after he finally reunites with Mina, and obviously Mina's whole ✨ thing ✨ with the diary during their wedding is like. Peak romance, but Johnathan doesn't fully get better until Mina reads and shares it with van Hellsing and van Hellsing assures Johnathan that he's not insane. Sure, it's an oversimplification of PTSD and healing and such, but it makes sense, especially if you consider communication and information sharing as a major theme! Only sharing his experiences, reading through them himself after blocking off the memories, is what heals him! He cannot get better without knowing what happened, and without others knowing what happened, because knowing and sharing is important.

Renfield's also an interesting case. I don't have the book with me right now to check, but as far as I remember, he tries to talk about Dracula, tries to get Seward to release him from the asylum so Dracula can't use him against Mina, but is dismissed entirely; as a consequence, Dracula gets in the building, kills Renfield, and bites Mina.

Even the language barriers! The villagers Johnathan meets on his way to Dracula's castle try so hard to warn him of the danger but they can't. They can't, because they don't speak enough of the same language, but they try so hard. But whatever does get through to Johnathan, such as that woman begging him to take the crucifix she gives him — that might've saved him. It keeps him unsettled and wary and he does keep the crucifix, which wards Dracula off. They can't communicate the full extent of the danger, but what they managed is probably responsible for him surviving.

And the whole idea is even mentioned in-text! Sure, Lucy saying that a wife ought to share everything she knows with her husband is definitely sexism-flavoured, but Johnathan says it too! He says that his idea of an ideal marriage is one without secrets! And Johnathan is effeminate, yes, he spends a good chunk of the book as the "damsel in distress", but he is still the hero! He is still the one who kills Dracula (with Quincey), and can therefore be assumed to be an intended role model. The (male) main character and hero of an 1897 novel says that a good relationship relies on communication. Sure, he doesn't always stick to it, mostly by agreeing to keep Mina out of the loop when van Hellsing pushes for it, but that doesn't discount that that is what Stoker set as the ideal.

I just. I love this book so much. It subverted just about all expectations I might've had about it and I'm so glad for it. It's undeniably a product of its time, with plenty of racism and sexism and ableism, but it's also so. Not, at the same time? It's so good.

[gatheredfates]

How To Win Friends and Influence People: Dawntrail Edition ☀️

I swear the title is a joke.

Listen, we all know I'm one to furiously and viscously encourage people to venture outside their box and meet people, and today is no different! With the launch of Dawntrail, we're likely to see a lot of cool new people in the community, so these are a couple of affirmations I employ to myself when reaching out. Feel free to use them to your benefit!

That little voice telling you the person will think you're annoying is probably a liar. In all the time I have reached out to people in this community, I have never once heard a complaint about being annoying, overbearing or too much. As long as you're not inappropriate, respect boundaries and go in with pure intentions, it is likely to be reciprocated.

If people don't want to interact with you, that is their loss. Rejection sucks, but you cannot let the fear of it rule your intentions. Don't hyper-fixate on the loss; simply block (if needed) and move on. Not only will you foster healthy relationships with people who reciprocate your efforts, you will avoid drama by respecting and enacting your own boundaries. Trust me when I say this will improve your whole experience.

You don't need to message people right away! Start by leaving nice tags on their gposes, writing, etc.; make conversation and comment on their posts. Work up to a message first if you're shy.

I don't know what kind of comment to leave, you say? Easy! Find one thing about what they've done that you like. For example, I'm often like 'wow the x colouring in this is amazing! i love how it makes the character pop'! It shows engagement with their work beyond the superficial. Trust me, when i get these kinds of tags, it makes my day.

Remember you get out of a community what you put into it. If you have a cool idea for a space/event/roleplay concept, promote it! If you think your character's story would bolster another persons', offer to write with them! Reach out to other places with similar or adjacent concepts and see if you can work together. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so they say.

If it's within your blog's scope, reblogging other people's outreach posts/commissions/gposes/etc is a great way to engage with the community in a low-stakes way. If you need to make a sideblog for promotional stuff, do it! I prefer tags, personally, but you do you. The more approachable you look, the more people are going to contact you first.

Befriend people because you earnestly want to get to know them. "Popularity" is a farce. There are amazingly talented people who have a small group of friends because they're shy.

Eat food, drink water and take your medication before you do any of the aforementioned. Actually, just cover all those basis before you do anything. If you start dooming and glooming your efforts, have a nap (trust me, it worked for me last night!).

A couple of things to keep in mind on the other side:

You are not obligated to reciprocate someone's efforts.

"No." Is a full sentence. It's always preferable to be kind, but know your worth.

If that shit don't stick, hit da bricks!! You can leave!!

Always try to assume the best intentions of people.

Tools of moderation are not drama-mongering or nasty; they simply tailor your experience to what you want to see/experience. You don't need to justify your reasonings, you don't need to explain yourself to anyone; block and move on!! You don't need to make a big deal about it.

If anyone has anything else they want to add, please do! But this how I operate and it's never done me a disservice. ✨

[thecoolerliauditore]

I need your thoughts on Martyn.

Jesus Christ in heaven where to start.

I was planning to write massive essay posts about each of the winners sooner or later, I guess Martyn can skip the queue. As a treat.

BAD traffic series martyn analysis post don't read. LONG POST

note: rules I'm operating by are to keep the analysis primarily traffic-based (although this one's kind of an exception because. mr watcher lore) and I'm not rewatching entire POVs so stuff might be wrong so on so forth

Why is he... Like that?

So before I even start talking about 3L I feel the need to address Martyn's background first because, not unlike alot of the other members of the cast, Martyn's previously established relationships from series like Evo have a significant impact on how he behaves.

This is kind of difficult for me to talk about because it breaks my "no material outside of the traffic series" rule for these essays specifically, but I think it's honestly just more fun incorporating Martyn's off-series lore drops and such into his character instead of leaving them out.

So here's the basis I work from -- Martyn is the most unreliable narrator in a full cast of them. His lore is his character's version of events, not an unbiased retelling.

Whether the Watchers exist and whether they're the same entities present in Evo doesn't matter all that much, since all we know is that they are very real to Martyn, at least. Taking the lore as Martyn's POV also helps iron out some of the more awkward creases it creates when viewing the series as a whole (e.g. Grian's involvement with the Watchers surely means he would reference them himself, yet he doesn't) and lays the groundwork for some really interesting things about Martyn himself when you try to put the dots together on how he arrived at these conclusions. I'll be referencing these as they come up chronologically.

So, without over complicating things, here are the rules I'm playing by when it comes to pre-3L Martyn:

Evo did really happen with the same people, however the exact details are muddy.

Martyn knew Jimmy prior to the games and the two already had some sort of personal connection going in.

We're not trusting a word out of his mouth. Especially if he says them on stream. But we are going to acknowledge what those words are.

With those parameters set, let's move on:

Third Life, and the guy who gets a little too into it

Like Grian, Martyn immediately acclimates to the game's survival-based mechanics. Martyn spends a good chunk of the first session of 3L seemingly aimless, but he makes observations and choices throughout that show he has survival at the back of his mind (e.g. him quickly establishing an alliance with Grian and Bigb while sneakily putting them in his debt through the diamonds he finds early -- even if this doesn't end up paying off to anything).

Unlike Grian however, Martyn less desperately clings onto a need for an edge to survive and seems almost comfortable in playing the game. A running theme for him throughout all the seasons will be that he seems to feel most comfortable when he has some amount of unspoken power over others, whether that be something as silly as testing the waters with his creeper soundboard or later when he starts playing 4D chess with himself in regard to his loyalties.

"Power" might be not exactly the right word for what Martyn yearns for, but it's the best word I can find to really describe it. He's always the one with a card up his sleeve or a plan B or, arguably most importantly, the one with control over the situation and responsibility over his own and others' wellbeing.

In my mind, at least, I think it might be a consequence of Martyn actually being quite sensitive in terms of relationships and having this very deep-seeded need to protect his loved ones from harm but lacking the emotional intelligence necessary to allow himself to be vulnerable about those feelings and communicate properly. So instead he finds some way to protect himself emotionally (usually overdramatic and makes him way worse) and treats everyone including himself with a level of un-seriousness that alleviates the tension for him.

If I were to dig deeper into this specific point I must say Martyn seems to have chosen to perform a very specific breed of masculinity, with his constant agonizing need to protect and lead while not having to confront his own perceived weaknesses, and alot of his insecurities and frustrations come from being denied that husband-y role to play.

His interactions with Jimmy early on in 3L portray this side of him quite plainly. After seeing Scott hit him around at Renchanting, Martyn gets Jimmy alone and asks him if he's okay but after Jimmy dodges the question, Martyn quickly becomes frustrated and starts acting very overdramatic (e.g. threatening to cut Jimmy off, "I can't look at you", so on) even as Jimmy keeps insisting they keep talking.

In my humble opinion, it's clear to me from how he speaks to Jimmy in this scene and further on, and from his referencing of their Evo relationship, that this is these two's established dynamic - the way Martyn dramatizes everything feels almost as if he were making a joke of it, teasing Jimmy, almost akin to how an older sibling or very old friend would act. It's possible that Martyn didn't expect Jimmy to take any of his threats seriously (although he definitely was laying on the pressure to try and get him to agree in the moment) and that's why he's so taken aback when Jimmy does act almost afraid of him from this point forward.

Not once does Martyn ever verbalize his own feelings regarding the matter. He never says that he's scared or worried for Jimmy, or even makes any sort of subjective judgment on Scott's character for hitting Jimmy in the first place. He makes it all about Jimmy, never communicating *why* he is doing what he's doing which ends up giving off the impression he thinks he knows what's best for him, which of course never communicates to Jimmy that Martyn cares for or loves him and ends up pushing him away as a result.

Speaking of Scott, despite Martyn clearly not approving of the way he treats Jimmy (judging from the aforementioned conversation and his later lore streams where he essentially calls Scott and Jimmy's marriage a sham), he does not ever act antagonistically towards Scott. Which I think is indicative of another key trait of Martyn's - an almost uncanny ability to push aside his own feelings at least momentarily for the sake of the game.

Martyn does not speak badly to or about Scott. He even explores the nether with him very early on and the two literally joke about trapping the Flower Valley and killing Jimmy together.

I think there's an understanding and perhaps a level of respect, on Martyn's end, towards Scott. One of the first observations he makes about Scott's base, after all, is its defensive location and Scott, like Martyn, values his own competency and likes to pretend he's more emotionally unattached to his partner than he really is (the parallels between Martyn/Ren and Scott/Jimmy are even somewhat lampshaded by Martyn himself when he refers to them as "my red" (Ren) and "your red" (Jimmy) later).

It seems that Martyn doesn't dislike anything innate to Scott's nature, and even has love for his manipulative traits. If it were anyone other than Jimmy Scott was hitting, I'd argue, Martyn wouldn't have raised a fuss about it. Not to mention, there's also a sense of "keeping your enemies closer" when it comes to these two, as both seem acutely aware the other is useful on their side and a threat anywhere else.

I'd argue despite the fact he's able to push his dislike towards Scott aside, he definitely still feels spiteful towards him, as he ends up hunting him down pretty mercilessly come the end of the series (after Jimmy dies too - so perhaps there was also a level there of feeling the need to put up with Scott beforehand as he was Jimmy's only ally, but now that Jimmy's gone there isn't any need to be friendly with Scott anymore.)

Now onto the heavy-hitter Martyn 3L relationship - his dynamic with Ren.

I'll be honest I think most treebark shippers have summed up their relationship way better than I could. You could probably go into the tag and see thirty eight analysis posts more indepth and accurate than mine. However I will say that one thing I see rarely mentioned is this very obviously being Martyn's first time meeting Ren (I'm talking about characters here but here is your acknowledgement this is definitely a result of this literally being the case for the CCs).

He's not used to Ren's mannerisms -- during their first meeting, Ren says his usual "ex-squeeze me" (instead of "excuse me") and Martyn responds "no thankyou, I'm married". Not to get too into it as this is The Martyn Post but Ren's POV would imply the same since he sees Martyn's name in chat and he immediately starts theorizing about what kind of player he is.

I think Ren essentially being a stranger to Martyn at the start of the series makes it easier for him to act manipulatively and keep him at arm's length, as well as be in denial about the whole emotional attachment thing. For so much of their alliance during 3L Martyn is acting, performing to match Ren's vibes, except he's not.

^this quote and the concept of freudian slips informs like 88% of my worldview, if anyone's wondering why I'm. like that.

"The Hand" is very much not how Martyn naturally acts or behaves, down to the change in speaking patterns. It's a persona that I think both Ren and Martyn never take too seriously or mistake for Martyn's authentic self, but it's also something Martyn uses to express his innermost feelings he disallows himself from usually. Yes it's all silly even in-universe but I think there's something special about how he constantly expresses his devotion as The Hand, even if he's doing it with a layer of irony. Plus, I think it says something that, jumping later in the timeline, his flashbacks in LimLife are much more true to the character of The Hand than Martyn himself.

This section is already long enough but I do have to mention Bigb, Grian and Scar or I'll explode.

Earlier on, I touched on Martyn giving Grian and Bigb diamond swords early and it being an attempt to leverage an alliance between them. This I admit might be a slight reach however the reason I say that is Martyn continues to pursue Bigb and Grian as allies throughout the season.

Bigb is cut and dry enough, he ends up floating around the outside of Dogwarts as a not-quite-member after the siege in which pretty much half the sever were antagonized by Grian and Scar. I'm probably not the person to thoroughly dissect Martyn/Bigb but there's something interesting there about how alot of people tend to have this general fondness towards Bigb and Martyn is no exception.

As for Grian, Martyn acknowledges that Grian is responsible for the siege, possible moreso than Scar, but keeps questioning how "gone" he is, worded as if he believes Scar is manipulating him. I've seen people compare this to how he acts towards Jimmy and Scott which I can definitely see the throughline. However, I think while both are an example of Martyn's protector/saviour complex, they are innately different due to Martyn's relationships with both the perceived victim and captor in each case.

Despite Grian also being an ex-Evo member, Martyn does not act towards him with the same familiarity he does with Jimmy. He also brings up Grian's welfare with Bigb and not Grian himself, with Bigb being the other person involved in their earlier established sword alliance. To me, it feels as if Martyn is more testing the waters for if he can still get Grian on his side than out of any genuine concern for Grian, although it is possible he's projecting some of those leftover feelings regarding Jimmy's situations onto Grian and Scar.

The other reason is, I think, Martyn might genuinely be afraid of Scar himself and villainizing him as a result. Everytime Scar shows up in Martyn's POV he's paired with tense music and sporadic editing that makes him appear more unhinged. Martyn has also said on tumblr he found Scar intimidating at the time, which is of course a dubiously canon source but I find it applicable enough.

It makes sense, too. When you compare Martyn's treatment of Scar vs his treatment of Scott. These are both people he has recognized as real threats and he assumes both are manipulating their respective partners, but while he remains friendly (at least outwardly) towards Scott he's constantly wary of Scar, drawing weapons on him pretty much on sight even before the siege.

I think Martyn fears Scar because he doesn't understand Scar. Scott is someone like him who he knows the inner workings of, or at least that's what he believes, so while he doesn't care for him he doesn't feel a need to keep him away. Martyn always assumes a level of coordinated malice from Scar that is more than often either completely unfounded or a result of something originating from Grian (my favourite example of this is, right before the siege, Scar wanders over with his bee on a lead and Martyn starts yelling "he's got a bee! what does that mean?!" as if expecting the bee has some pvp reason behind it. when scar just wanted to have a bee).

That isn't to say that Scar isn't malicious - Martyn is right like 90% of the time that Scar's not-so-subtle friendly hellos have some sinister plan behind them, but he doesn't ever truly get that Scar isn't the evil mastermind he thinks he is.

I'd argue this fear is what also makes Martyn not pick up on the fact that Grian is the more manipulative one out of the two - something that even Scott seems aware of - because he never spends enough time with them on friendly terms to be aware of that dynamic.

Last Life AKA big brother syndrome in full blast

Okay that was a long ass section sorry lmao have to establish everything there. Everything from here on is gonna be a lot cleaner I swear.

The Southlanders could honestly have their own ultra-long post about how they're the perfect disaster team-up lord of the flies esque situation the series has to offer.

Impulse, Grian and Martyn are all similar in that they understand they have to play the game a certain way through keeping their loyalties dubious while Mumbo, as a newcomer, is extremely naive and goes along with whatever the more assertive members of the group say. And Jimmy is Jimmy.

Martyn takes on a leadership role within the group, being the one to constantly spearhead their humour and come up with new often disruptive plans (usually targetting Scott because he totally isn't spiteful still, albeit in a very playful way). After Joel traps their base with tnt minecarts, Martyn is the one to keep everyone else back and disarm them, a huge contrast to 3L's siege.

Their group embraces the rules of the game - if you turn red, as Grian does early on, you are kicked out from the group as a threat. There's this sinking feeling throughout all their spyglass shenanigans and life-trade trust exercises that this is still an alliance in a death game and if you prove yourself to be a detriment, you will be kicked out.

It's no wonder than why Jimmy, who gets his usual bottom of the barrel treatment, tries to run away with Martyn's life during one of their trust exercises. He's been shown at this point he can't fully trust the Southlanders to protect him forever -- how could he, when Martyn, again, never slips in any sign of affection between the teasing?

To Martyn, however, this is a betrayal of his trust. His plea to Jimmy to return sounds a lot like their conversation back in 3L on the snowy mountain regarding Jimmy and Scott, except this time Jimmy accepts Martyn's offer and Martyn tells him he was lying, calling him an idiot for believing him in the first place. This is probably the harshest Martyn acts towards Jimmy in the series, but it's worth mentioning that to Martyn the timeline of events goes he offers Jimmy his protection and alliance--> Jimmy refuses--> Jimmy dies (which Martyn probably sees at least partially due to said refusal) --> he gets Jimmy back and does everything in his power to keep him safe --> Jimmy does the equivalent of *killing him* and tries to get away with it.

Martyn still obviously cares about Jimmy despite being upset at him, as after his usual dramatics and declaring a trial for Jimmy in which each of the Southlanders vote on his fate, Martyn still votes to keep Jimmy in the group (again, something Jimmy is never made aware of).

Possibly partially because of the Jimmy incident and the overall dog-eat-dog culture of the Southlanders, Martyn does to them what he never managed with Dogwarts - betrayal. At least, on some level.

Ironically, it's Ren he betrays them for, forming the Shadow Alliance and even giving the life Jimmy had attempted to steal from him to Ren instead. My read of this has always been that it supported Martyn truly being happy enough for Jimmy or someone else to have his extra life, but Jimmy's act of betraying him itself being what hurt him.

I think now's a good time to start mentioning the Watcher Lore, as here is where it starts kicking into gear. Martyn's claims of emotional bonds not carrying over from previous seasons is not only a very natural progression from his emotional distancing in a coping mechanism sense, but also enables him to betray Ren too later on and not have to confront the guilt that comes with that when he tries to lead him into a tnt trap in the final 1v1v1v1. However, he still cheers for Ren as a ghost and even says that he would be happy to see Ren win, indicating he really does not hold any malice towards him.

I've seen people make jokes about the watcher lore being Martyn schizoposting and I'm sure I've made similar jokes in the past but. Speaking very genuinely here Martyn's questionable sanity is a big part of his character to me.

His Episode 8 of LL literally begins with him acting out the usual running joke of him stealing Mumbo's intro, except Mumbo and Jimmy are dead at this point and he is doing their voices and talking to himself. When the illusion is broken, he panics and the video immediately cuts to him running around obviously distressed with a disembodied voice demanding things from him.

I'm obviously not authorized to diagnose every single one of Martyn's many mental illnesses, but I think mentally breaking down in a timeloop death game is a fairly average thing to happen to someone, and Martyn might be especially susceptible due to his aforementioned need for power and responsibility in every relationship (i.e. I'd like to think he feels some helplessness/guilt over Jimmy and Mumbo's deaths, leading to this sequence).

Not to mention, someone who is emotionally vulnerable coming up with a nebulous Group of Evil People who are the source of all the bad things in a helpless situation of violence is. Something that happens historically quite alot. To try and find reason in the madness is just a human instinct, I think.

One thing I feel like I should mention is his "marriage" with Mumbo which. I honestly don't see as anything more than a gag. Not that Martyn isn't a massive hypocrite but "marrying" Mumbo would be very much contradict what he has to say about Scott/Jimmy's situation. I do think he cares for Mumbo and potentially Mumbo's naivete served as incentive for Martyn to put on the usual assertive/provider role but I don't think there's much more than that (no hate to the shippers, tho, if they knew eachother for like a week longer they would've kissed)

Double Life. Oh no

Double Life Martyn is one of my favourite POVs in the series because it is. Hilarious. Unfortunately.

To start off, he is one of the players who almost immediately accepts the soulbound system as romantic and his views on Cleo/Scott's relationship are heavily based on that (I love that one clip where he mocks them in front of Jimmy).

Him acting flabbergasted at Cleo rejecting him despite pretty much having no relationship with her prior to this season is a really funny contrast to Scott and Pearl, especially when he continues pursuing her like they're recently divorced and Cleo's just like. rolling her eyes. It's all very performative on Martyn's end and why I mentioned his sense of masculinity at the start, because in theme with DL being The Feminism Season TM this is when it comes full throttle in display with the way he treats Cleo.

Martyn keeps referring to himself as a "provider" and refers to Cleo's relationship with Scott as "childish" -- Martyn trying to win over Scott's partner to his side, assuming he knows best for the partner and calling their relationship a sham? Does any of this sound familiar?

Cleo is not like Jimmy, however, and is very clear to Martyn in terms of what she wants from him - which is an apology, no diamond swords or heart-shaped houses, but Martyn in all his emotional denseness can't understand this and keeps assuming there must be some hidden strings attached.

I couldn't find the original meme I had in mind but these are within the same genre. The one I remember had captioned something like "dads don't say "i love you" but they will buy ten boxes worth of the fruit they overheard you say you liked once", which pretty much sums up Martyn's emotional intelligence to me. He would much rather give you way too much of something he thinks you need (e.g. with Jimmy the playful teasing, with Cleo the acts of service) than just say "I love you".

Cleo's blunt honesty serves as a stark contrast to Jimmy and brings something out of Martyn that we rarely ever see -- a genuine, vulnerable interaction in which he has to admit he's hurt. Cleo immediately denies him the role of rescuer he wants to play by telling him directly that she, not Scott, was the one who came up with the idea of teaming up and even gets Martyn to verbalize he's hurt by their actions and cares for her.

Once that illusion is shattered for Martyn and Cleo even admits she's acting manipulatively towards Scott, Martyn realises he and Cleo are more alike than he initially assumed and that he doesn't need to take care of her like he always tries to with his relationships. Ironically, the one relationship he has that is born almost entirely out of government mandated performative romance, is the one that gets him to examine how he views people especially his romantic interests the most.

This is, of course, all said with the fact that following this very heartfelt moment, the next time he speaks to Cleo he pushes her off a fucking cliff and kills her in mind. And the fact that he was very much beating the shit out of her and even called their relationship "toxic" himself early on in the season.

It's kind of hard to gauge Cleo and Martyn's relationship from this point forward but Martyn definitely chills on the namecalling and cooperates with Scott and Cleo for the main part going forward.

I think it's also worth mentioning that, despite Scott once again being the object of his spite, Martyn is once again friendly with Scott all season. When he catches Cleo and Scott mid-axe crit, it's Cleo he starts hitting and not Scott, despite them both being responsible. Behind his back, Martyn will claim Scott is "ruining" Cleo but to his face Martyn is always respectful. He actually even calls Scott "pretty"/"hot" in the last episode, which has some implications I'll talk about more in the Limlife section.

Martyn, like everyone else, is weird about Pearl. Uniquely in his case, Pearl isn't a witch nor demoness, but rather a non-factor he seems to have had written off and her triumph in the end comes as a shock to his system.

He dismisses her concerns over and over in the first episode as they are exploring together and, instead of seeing her as a natural source of allyship, doesn't value her enough to keep her around as an alliance even after Scott and Cleo dump them. In his heart to heart with Cleo, he even very randomly speaks badly of her, although he immediately seems to feel a bit of guilt over it.

He never seems to view Pearl through a sympathetic lens despite the two being in the same circumstance and, again in the same conversation with Cleo, they both agree that she could act as essentially a pawn (an "extra healthbar") for them like Cleo uses Scott.

I feel the need to clarify that while, yes I do believe Martyn is Weird About Women, I also do think he's honestly above average and sees them more as people than some other men in the series (note: my standards are not very high)

He sees most people as nothings that can be manipulated or competition that also can be manipulated, it just so happens that all the women in the series so far land squarely in the former and it took Cleo saying to his face "I'm taking advantage of Scott" for him to realise she wasn't a victim. However, even afterwards, he never treats her with the same competitiveness he has for people like Scott and Scar (albeit it makes enough sense in this season since she's attached to his healthbar, but this remains the same for future seasons). And as a reminder, he holds respect for those he deems as threats, which might have something to do with why he feels comfortable hitting Cleo but not Scott.

As for Ren and the Broken Hearts Club, they didn't get a lot of time together this season since both were preoccupied with their own soulmate dramas and being awful to Pearl but what we do see of them ranges from heartwarmingly nostalgic to a little bit hollow. Martyn saying to Pearl that they're the same at this point doesn't really read to me as him being truly sympathetic since this is post the "you should go use pearl as your second hp bar" conversation and Ren is way too busy to deal with the emotional turmoil of what's going on between himself and Bigb to really pay attention to Martyn.

Ren is still very kind to Martyn, especially considering the last time he saw him in LL Martyn was trying to kill him, but there's an emotional gap between the two that's very noticeable at least to me when compared to 3L and LL.

I think Martyn, at this point, convinced of his own "emotional bonds don't carry over seasons" logic, might be a bit too comfortable on relying on Ren. In both DL and LL he runs to Ren when his current alliance gets shaky and Ren is a source of definite comfort for him (as he said so himself on stream). Ren, as a source of comfort, is not a threat to Martyn aka not someone he needs to keep tabs so when said source of comfort falls through the gaps, you get:

Limited Life. The one where he compares himself to Joffrey from GOT

I don't think I have much to say about LimLife Martyn that hasn't already been said.

I will say I don't necessarily think Majorwood is purely his rebound relationship from Ren, the Mean Gills forming is very much not OOC for either Scott or Martyn (this is pretty much how they acted with eachother at the start of 3L) and their resulting give and take coworker-esque dynamic is a very natural place for them to end up from their previous interactions. Scott, like Martyn, tries to shed his emotional attachments with each new season so they are, in a very literal sense, making eachother worse by reinforcing that habit by normalizing it to eachother.

However, the parallels to their respective 3L partnerships I can't blame people for pointing out, right down to Martyn killing both Ren and Scott in the seaons he was teamed with them and the latter being happy about it.

I think it's time to say what I've been implying with Scott and Martyn throughout this whole thing and that is that they are eachother's ideal ally. They are both aware of the game, play the game, emotionally distant, manipulative and make themselves suffer more for that mindset. I don't think there was ever a moment in their allyship where either assumed the other wasn't going to stab them in the back later, despite the mutual respect they have being very real.

Martyn spends a lot of time this season just wandering around talking to various people, alot like how he acted in 3L before he and Ren became an official thing. It's almost as if, without Ren there, he loses his default go-to guy and is once again sizing up the competition around him.

The one exception I would say would be his interactions with Cleo, who he seems genuinely friendly with, even offering himself up as a "godfather" for the Clockers before the whole server became some form of extended family. You'd think this alliance would also have some basis in the ever present Scott/Cleo alliance but Scott's constant sacrifices for the Clockers are never discussed between him and Martyn, in fact the two of them rarely talk about anything ever past base-building and dolphin-wrangling, and the Clockers seem to treat them as two seperate entities rather than an alliance (e.g. Bdubs seems almost entitled to Scott's life after a certain point, but none of them ever even consider asking Martyn for time).

That, and of course the fact that Martyn kills Scott very unsympathetically towards the end, really point me in the "Martyn is still spiteful towards Scott" direction -- after all, alliance or no alliance, I don't think Martyn would want to be in the conversation with Scott where he tells him about his "love you back" exchange with Jimmy. Martyn certainly respects Scott, loves Scott I'd even say, but I don't know if he actually likes Scott.

I think it's also interesting that it's this season where Martyn's Watcher Lore interludes make a return, just in time for his source of comfort (Ren) to be missing.

Re: the watcher lore the comment Martyn makes about swapping out souls of players who are too "damaged" is very in line with his DL seeing women (and "weaker" men like Jimmy, Mumbo and, of course, Ren) as default victims as, knowingly or not, he implies through this that all the women in the series have souls too weak to withstand the horrors. This also in turn implies that he himself is not broken, which I think he'd like to believe.

Secret Life. It's happy again :D oh wait no

Secret Life starts with Martyn kissing Jimmy. I feel like we moved on from this way too fast in general I mean on the cheek or not he did kiss him he did literally kiss him.

I'll be honest I think the Big Dogs POV is the one I'm least familiar with out of all of these but from what I do remember it's very nice to see Martyn and Jimmy settling back into what seems like their Evo dynamic or even their pre-horrors LL dynamic.

Unfortunately Jimmy is not Cleo and thus cannot get Martyn to be the slightest bit vulnerable, so their dynamic remains stagnant and neither acknowledge the awkwardness that still resides between them.

Jimmy is at least very clearly holding onto some discomforts, judging by his behaviour late in the series when he acts aggressively towards Pearl and celebrates Lizzie dying. He even chases Scott down with a sword on horseback earlier on and, very early in one of Pearl's episodes, he quickly switches between sounding sad and angry.

It's clear to me at least SL Jimmy has reached some sort of breaking point, and this never gets acknowledged by Martyn (I like to think he just lacks the EQ to deal with it). This all cascades into Jimmy attempting to kill Martyn and running away before dying.

SL Martyn feels almost like, to me, the 3L Martyn who successfully convinced Jimmy to team with him and the disaster that comes with that. Martyn certainly has continued to be his survivalist self, not trusting outsiders to the point where when the Wither/Warden combo is unleashed, he immediately assumes they're picking off reds and goes to hide.

Weirdly enough, his protective tendencies towards Jimmy are pretty much gone. It's almost as if when he doesn't see an active threat (e.g. Scott) he assumes things must be good enough and leaves it at that, which also implies he can't comprehend that He might be detrimental to Jimmy himself.

Obligatory. Yes he still misses Ren. Him literally basing his alliance concept off of dogs is. hilarious. I'm so sorry babygirl.

Real Life is, again, non-canon to me but turns up the "dad who buys you 45 mandarins" energy to 11 with him being Ren and Skizz's pseudo-dad. I love Ren having a crisis about his own RP btw it's the funniest thing and he does it like. Everytime.

Uh yeah I hope that's long enough

[keepmovinjunior]

i just wanted to talk about something (under a read more bc it is out of character)

everyone is here for their own reasons, and that's cool. i totally get that. i'm not about to tell anyone how to spend their time or operate on their own blog.

i, personally, am here for fun and that's it. i'm here to write. i'm here to ramble about fictional characters and have silly little interactions on the dash / expand on my character's relationship with your character's. my real life has its own stressors (i have a great life but obviously not everything is peachy keen and being someone who is politically informed and inclined, i want to have a safe space in which i am not interacting with that type of content that i can retreat to for my own relaxation). at the end of the day this is, as i said, playing tumblr barbies for me (and most likely for most people). it's a game and it's not that serious. in fact, it's like. not serious at all.

some people are here for community and friendships and that's totally fine. i'm not against making friends, either, and i do really like and appreciate a lot of the people i interact with often and on a daily basis, even if i don't know most of you well at all. we engage in the same hobby and we're all aliases behind a screen but i really do enjoy talking to many of you. however, at the end of the day, if i don't make friends here, that's fine, too. i'm just chilling!

having said that, i've been around for a long time and have, of course, made friendships, had relationships, gone in and out of certain blogs, etc. and this is not a hobby i think i will ever outgrow (probably will just have less time for during certain periods of my life - and most people probably will experience that). i've had falling outs, i've had moments of being uncomfortable with certain people, i have had headcanons and sometimes even some of my own graphics lifted from my blog by others of the same muse, i've even had whole ass relationships with other writers in which i was very hurt. but here's the damn thing, ok: i never, ever, not even once, had a public DNI that other people had to adhere to to write with me, tried to call someone out or incite community wide drama by dragging other unrelated people into what happened over my own personal experiences, or tried to control anyone else over it. i always understood that not everyone is going to feel the same way, or have the same experience, with another person. i understood that dealing with my feelings about the situation was on me, and it was in my own best interest to learn how to move past or live with what happened. if i felt uncomfortable with seeing that other person around, it was my own responsibility to handle my own feelings as i saw fit, and no one else needed to do that for me. this is just good philosophy toward life in general, but, as it applies to tumblr: if i couldn't handle seeing someone on this platform and co-existing in this space, i would leave, sign out, or just. literally do anything else. i knew that my own friends and my own fun is what i should focus on.

there is a feature on tumblr called filtering. you can blacklist tags and users. you can filter things that make you uncomfortable if you want to stay but don't want to see those things. you can unfollow. you can block. you can literally do anything else, and you don't owe explanations for that. or, if you can't handle it even with those things done, you can sign out and leave and invest your time in something healthier and more relaxing. this is a hobby.

by all means, have your DNIs, make your call outs (leave me out of those, though, because i guarantee you that unless this person is a sexual predator, groomer, or scam artist, i am not going to care, especially if i have no relationship with anyone else involved in said drama) and will think you're ridiculous for it. just know that the moment you start to try to control how other people operate, you will lose out on a lot of really good experiences and just make this a more miserable place for you to be.

the best healing is exposure and love and support. it's not focusing on what other people do or seeking out spaces in which you will be triggered because you enjoy being a victim.

take it from me, a 30 year old queer woman who has gone through my fair share of loss in life: it's not that serious. it's really not.

[holographic-mars]

This is kind of a silly question but can you explain what you think Cosmos and Soundwave's dynamic is? For those of us who struggle with understanding characters,, cough cough me

Not a silly question at all! Not a silly question at all!!

I want to do a quick disclaimer I’m not the ceo of coswave (or am I 🤨) so everything I say is how I interpret coswave. I pull a lot from canon as well as my own hcs and stuff so it’s up to you whether you like how I interpret them!!

Soundwave and Cosmos’s dynamic from the beginning has always been about constantly learning and growing. These are two mechs who have very little experience with normal and healthy relationships (soundwave having significantly less experience than cosmos) so they end up building off of what they learn together.

They’re both very firm with their beliefs. Cosmos will never be a decepticon just like how Soundwave will never be an autobot. They compliment eachother very nicely with how they act and react to things, so where one mech struggles the other can be a pillar to lean on (for example soundwave struggles greatly with interpersonal relationships, so cosmos helps him with proper and polite interaction as well as trust building. Cosmos struggles with standing up for himself and putting his own comfort and safety first, so Soundwave helps him figure out how to say no when someone wants him to do something out of his comfort zone).

Soundwave’s idea of love stems from his understanding of loyalty which is incredibly unbalanced and unhealthy (ie complete devotion and submission). Cosmos’ idea of love is much more balanced but he tends to see love as something that is conditional (ie love that will only be given if you do something for them first). A massive part of their relationship is getting past these preestablished ideas of what love is meant to be and understanding how to treat their partner as an equal and treat love as unconditional.

Cosmos is not intimidated by soundwave one bit. He’s respectful of the fact that it’s Soundwave’s station that he’s on, but if he needs to challenge something soundwave says or does, he absolutely will. Cosmos may be nervous and has trouble standing up for himself, he is not shy about standing up for his morals or for other people. Soundwave is still a decepticon—he has selfish tendencies and nasty habits , but he won’t ever get too far in his malicious scheming if Cosmos has anything to say about that. Cosmos is always challenging Soundwave’s views and behaviors, and Soundwave honestly finds it exciting. Not many people can do that with the confidence and spunk that Cosmos can (and get away with it the way Cosmos can).

Soundwave has a whole decepticon space station to run and is notorious for Not Taking Care of Himself so fueling tends to be in the hands of Cosmos and TRUST Cosmos takes it very seriously. Due to energon shortages that effected the decepticons so bad during the war, Soundwave didn’t really fuel as much as he needed to (oftentimes giving his rations to his cassettes) so Cosmos was quick to rectify that and get him up to a healthy size. Cosmos keeps soundwave (and the cassettes) fueled and healthy.

Soundwave tends to express his love for his partner physically. He likes to have a hand on Cosmos’ plating whenever he is within reach, even if just for a second. He’s not good with his words (the irony of the communications officer who sucks at communicating) so he likes to show that he loves and trusts cosmos by touching him and letting him touch in return (this one is very important. Soundwave likes when Cosmos returns his physical affections the same way you say “I love you” back when a loved one says it to you). Cosmos, on the other hand, likes to express his love verbally. He doesn’t mind physical affection (he loves it) but he likes hearing it out loud. He praises soundwave and expresses how much he loves him on a regular basis, and though Soundwave struggles to return the affection verbally, he makes sure he holds cosmos extra tight or presses his mask against Cosmos’ own a little longer when Cosmos says I love you.

OUHH THATS ALL I GOT FOR NOW!!! GOD I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE AND ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION BC I GOT A LITTLE LOST AFTER A WHILE. THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!!!!!!! IM AO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER!!!!!❤️❤️❤️🛸🛸

[ziezii]

30 fushikugi headcanons bcs, why not 🤷🏻‍♀️

contrast to popular belief, I'd personally see their only form of pda whenever they're in public is holding hands (plus hand & forehead kisses)

when they're in the safety of their home or alone? nobara would always want to be near him, whether he's working or cooking, she'll always be by his side

clingy gumi will mostly occur around his birthday month (although he can be clingy throughout any other month)

whenever the other's on a solo mission, they'll make sure to call eo before they go about exorcising the curse and after (usually keeps both at ease when they're not with the other)

during the days of yuji's "death" nobara would constantly ask megumi to accompany her while also showing her around tokyo since she's never been here before

i can see the two putting their relationship as a secret (it's probably bara's idea) and the students will sometimes question the closeness between their two sensei's 👀

while nobara likes to shop for clothes, makeup, and accessories, she'll sometimes pass by something she thinks megumi will like and buy it for him (he has a whole drawer filled with her gifts)

they give off big "couples who judge together, stay together" vibes (say the new higher-ups are starting to act cocky or down-right selfish, those two will stare hard)

whenever nobara buys a bunch of lipsticks, she'll ask megumi to sit beside her as she tries each one and leaves a kiss mark on his face (fanart reference anyone?)

his skin is practically flawless and she's annoyed as hell about it (she still has him wear a face-mask on a weekly basis)

while he seems like the kind of guy who would give solutions to his girlfriend's problems, he has learned the hard way that doing it was a big mistake (she ignored his ass for a full month when he tried giving her advice)

after finding out more about his (biological) dad and seeing nobara coming back after meeting her mom, they end that night with mutiple snacks and a talk about the both of them (and realize that they infact did have shitty parents)

one time when she feels a bit chilly from the wind, megumi draped his uniform jacket around her frame and she has been smiling like a complete idiot ever time she thinks about it

when she wears it again while she waiting for him to come back from the cafeteria, he gets a heart attack (figuratively, obviously)

while she does smoke as they grew older, she slowly stops it whenever megumi's near her (and a few years later stops entirely) (idk why but i see gumi having asthma)

one of the reasons whenever they argue would be bcs of megumi's lack of communication and bottling his feelings (even if it eats him alive) bcs of this, when they do argue they'll sometimes say things that they didn't mean and would've been on the verge of a breakup

after an (earful) eye-opening talk to yuji about this + maki telling nobara that she sometimes finds herself acting the same way megumi does, the two finally met and had a long conversation about their communication and how they'll navigate their relationship from now on

the longer they were together, the better megumi got at talking more openly about his feelings + nobara giving him and herself necessary space if they needed

they're both not rlly gamers per-say, but nobara once asked him to play this horror game with her and while he seems mostly unfazed she's there arguing with the different characters and ended the game pissed as hell (he thinks her reactions are hilarious)

when yuji suggested this romcom he'd watched, megumi had insisted to nobara that he'll just read his book as the movie plays, but later catches himself getting more & more invested (she thinks him contradicting his own words is hilarious)

he picks up photography as a hobby and one of his favorite things to take pictures is, u guessed it miss kugisaki

while he does like taking pictures of other people, nobara would drag him to face her phone for a selfie (while he used to do it begrudgingly, the longer they do it the softer his smile is facing her)

her contact name for him on her phone is simply, "sea-urchin idiot"

his contact name for her would be "bara"

todo would teasingly ask if he can become the officiant if they ever got married

jealous fushikugi? megumi would quietly stare daggers at the other person, while nobara would uncharacteristically cling herself to his arm

reverse yapper x listener is when nobara would randomly ask him about the book he's reading and megumi ends up talking about the plot, the twist, his favorite and hated characters, and what he thinks about the book in general

(fushikugi as teachers again) she tries to be slick with it but megumi knows her true intentions of bringing her students to the outdoor field at the same time as his

she steals all of his shirts & hoodies (he doesn't mind, bcs he loves seeing her in his clothes)

he steals her lip-balm when he runs out of his (she does infact mind, but a simple cheek kiss gives him the a-okay from her (begrudgingly))

[filmmakersvision]

Best of 2024: Favorite Malayalam Films

January 5, 2025

by Inakshi Chandra-Mohanty

1. Bramayugam

A low-caste singer escaping persecution stumbles upon a desolate mansion containing mysterious secrets in this vintage horror drama. Shot entirely in black and white, to reflect the centuries old period and amplify the light/dark disparities, Bramayugam is a masterpiece in cinematic expression. Visual storytelling is at the heart of this film. The meticulous frames, brooding background score, and a menacing performance by Mammootty, build an ominous atmosphere. Like writer-director Rahul Sadasivan's previous supernatural thriller, Bhoothakalam, this film doesn’t rely on cliched horror elements and instead operates in a slow burn fashion, the dread, the terror gradually growing until we find ourselves trapped in the home’s existence.

But the horror in the film isn’t just the fear of the mystical elements that haunt this ancient home. It’s the horror of human evils, such as greed for power and caste/class discrimination. A mythical beast and frequent jump scares cannot combat the fear of an aristocratic lord with disdain for those below him. And it is in this blend of imaginary horror with real atrocities that Bramayugam scores.

2. Aattam

12 angry men…and a woman. This is an apt tagline for the acclaimed Malayalam psychological drama, Aattam, winner of best feature film at the 70th National Film Awards. In an amateur jury deliberation setup, a nod to the acclaimed Hollywood courtroom drama, the members of a theatre group convene in a debate after their sole actress is molested by one of the twelve men. The congregation comprises of a variety of different personalities from the un-believers to those seemingly concerned to the image prioritizing individuals. But one thing is common. All downplay the serious nature of the act and none of them are as they seem.

The film is both a whodunnit and a thought-provoking commentary. It builds suspense through slow reveals about each character as the day progresses, but also subtly portrays society’s ingrained patriarchy. It’s a perfect counter to those parading the tag of ‘Not All Men’. Most of these men aren’t openly misogynistic or dismissive, but their support is conditional. We see how perspectives shift and accusations amount in this stark representation of the hypocrisy of men that ultimately leaves women ally-less.

3. Ullozhukku

The saas-bahu relationship is one of the most negatively stereotyped in Indian media. Hence, it is always refreshing to see content that delves deeper into the fractured foundation of this bond, showing how deep-rooted patriarchal notions create complexities between women living in the same household. In Ullozhukku, Leelamma and Anju, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, are forced to confront secrets that question the basis of their relationship as they attempt to bury a loved one amidst raging floods in Kerela. The title translating to ‘undercurrent’, represents both the watery atmosphere and the underlying feelings they are unable to express openly.

Relying heavily on powerhouse performances by Urvashi and Parvathy, writer-director Christo Tomy presents a poignant character study of two women stuck in a limbo between convention and rebellion. Through meticulous frames and nuanced conversation, he makes us privy to the pent up frustration and sadness within each woman that leisurely surfaces due to the external pressure of unfortunate circumstances. The release of these emotions translates into a journey towards freedom. Freedom from the roles they inhabit, freedom from society’s expectations, and freedom from the forced ties between them. As the facades lower, and communication increases, they develop a newfound bond of empathy, love, trust, and respect. Female characters are so rarely portrayed in such a layered fashion on screen. That combined with the unconventional take on a constantly cliched relationship, makes Ullozhukku one of the most impactful films to release this year.

4. Kishkindha Kaandam

A missing gun, a missing child, a newlywed couple, and a befuddled father-in-law, interlink in Kishkindha Kaandam, a mysterious psychological drama. Written by Bahul Ramesh and directed by Dinjith Ayyathan, this thoughtful, haunting exploration of guilt follows shifting family dynamics and uncomfortable revelations when an outsider enters an isolated household situated in the middle of a monkey-inhabited forest reserve area. Appu Pillai, Ajayan, and Aparna, the three central characters of this tale, represent the three wise monkeys, seeing and unseeing, hearing and unhearing, speaking and unspeaking, as troubling secrets pour out.

The film’s greatest strength is its genre bending capabilities. Within a thrilling atmosphere, it offers a heartwarming family drama. While the suspense and plot twists are exciting, it is the emotional depth of each character that creates an indelible mark. Our ability to empathize with these flawed human beings on many different levels is vital to the impact of the story’s reveals and leaves us with a wistful feeling long after. That’s why, the lesser you know going in the better. The characters are built so well that even a hint of their past or future actions will ruin the experience. I went into Kishkindha Kaandam blind and so should you.

5. Aavesham

When I saw ‘re-introducing Fahadh Faasil’ in the opening credits of Aavesham alongside all the new actor intros, I wondered how a seasoned, critically acclaimed actor like him could do anything remarkably different. But, by the end of the film, it became clear why the tag was there. And that tag is the sole reason that this film is amongst the best of the year. In this quirky action comedy, three students befriend a gangster to get revenge on their violent college seniors. The gangster, Ranga, brought to life by Fahadh Faasil, is an eccentric, invigorating character, that carries the entire film on his shoulders.

In this positive, entertaining ride, personality rules over story. The thin narrative has little depth to offer, but the exuberant characters and their gripping interactions overshadow the flaws. The trio of Aju, Bibi, and Shanthan are delightful to watch as they pursue their mission with a mixture of laughter, fear, and false bravado. But it is Ranga, with his silly antics, energetic aura, and memorable catchphrase ‘eda mone’, that becomes the life of the film. With an intricately woven backstory that seems more fiction than reality when his aids recount it, and his constant mood switches between friendly human and menacing gangster, Ranga is an intriguing individual. Aavesham shows that a strong plot is not always necessary to make a good movie. Sometimes it’s just the fun of watching unusual characters and their wacky histrionics. And in this case, it is Fahadh Faasil’s show from start to finish.

6. Paradise

One of the most important films to come out of the Malayalam industry this year is the politically charged, Paradise. With the 2022 Sri Lankan socio-economic crisis serving as a backdrop, the story follows a tourist couple, Kesav and Amritha, whose romantic getaway is cut short after an unexpected event escalates tensions between locals and the police. Written and directed by acclaimed Sri Lankan filmmaker/activist, Prasanna Vithanage, known for his issue-based cinema, the film authentically recreates the troubled environment and emotions engulfing the Sri Lankan citizens at that time, the local spirit adeptly represented through the trio of Mr. Andrew, Shree, and Iqbal, the couple’s hosts.

The screenplay cleverly draws parallels with the Ramayana as it explores themes of human nature under crisis, amidst cultural insensitivity and class divides. Kesav and Amritha enter the country in an idyllic bubble, witnessing the turmoil in their periphery, but mentally and physically far removed from the action. However, the external pressure swiftly takes a toll on their marriage forcing them to make choices that reveal their inner morality. Paradise skillfully shows how politics can subtly breakdown a relationship, building up the tension between the two lead characters as the unrest around them grows, ultimately leading to an explosive climax that forces us to ponder upon the inexplicable actions we take in adversity.

[tomatoland]

The TopMew scene that was cut was redundant. We already know top is remorseful and Mew is angry. So I’m not surprised it was cut. He should have kept in the other Top scene though where he turned down the hook up. That would have been more impactful for the character.

Oops, I totally did not see this until now. I doubt you are still around, anon, but I’m going to answer this because I finally organized my thoughts.

I wasn't referring to just the break room scene in that post. It's a cascading effect. There is Mew's softened dialogue in EP 6 confrontation, the two previous cut TopMew scenes, and the break room scene. The fact that Jojo said he wish he kept those earlier two TopMew scenes should not be the case. He should not be regretting anything. Everything he wants to show us, should all be on the table. It is HIS art vision. And if they were not editing the episode the same week as it aired, he would have been able to realize that he wanted to put those scenes back in and done so.

That's what I meant by pacing and confirming the storyline is progressing the way he wants. But what is happening is one cut in one episode is leading to another cut in a future episode because there is no basis for the action anymore. As a result, we are losing overall continuity. And who knows what else they'll have to cut because of the editing choices they've already made. Which is why I am worried, they won't have the scenes left to make this a satisfying TopMew reunion at the rate they are going.

I wish we didn't have the interview where Jojo said that because it's making me not trust him with TopMew anymore. If he realized earlier that those scenes didn't fit, they should have done re-shoots but instead we just have cascading cuts.

Removing all these scenes is removing depth from TopMew. It is making them into surface characters. And none of this deleted footage is canon so there is that too.

Yes, definitely, the scene were Top is trying to move on is incredibly important to learning about Top and how he feels about Mew. And they should have kept that regardless of what random people in the fandom think.

But even the deleted scene of Mew's revenge fantasy of wanting to physically hurt Top from episode 7 is important because it provides a basis for his violent thoughts and words in the break room scene. I wish they had shown it at least the TopMew portion as a flash like an intrusive thought while he was in the tub. Everyone has intrusive thoughts, right? No one could fault Mew for that.

So by not showing us that Mew has had violent thoughts, now Mew's anger in the break room scene seems to come out of nowhere so it no longer fit.

I don't agree about the break room scene being redundant. The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

So instead of knowing that Mew is still incredibly angry and therefore his actions are irrational, what we got was Mew saying "okay" to trying it again with Top here by the pool and then at the end of the episode, inviting Boeing to go wakeboarding with them and saying shit like this to him.

Oops. I meant to cut the collage below in half, but I’ve already hit 10 images, so read left column and right column separately.

Now, Mew just seems wishy-washy. I would rather have seen the depth of Mew's pain and rage then absolutely nothing at all, his indeterminable poker face however sweet it looks.

Mew being wishy-washy/indifferent or just deciding to get back at Top on any given random day means their relationship doesn't have a viable path forward right now. Because if they cannot communicate honestly and vulnerably about what happened with Boston, their relationship cannot ever heal and get healthy. They'll just always be stepping around the cracks. This is the albatross I was referring to in this post.

Mew has never broken down and cried. We've gotten the lone tear, here or there. And we know from this BTS that they have footage of Book crying his heart out. As the viewer, we haven't seen it because Jojo is not painting us a picture.

But removing the break room scene also removed depth from Top too and TopMew's relationship in general.

It shows us that Top is really sorry and willing to show with actions not just with his words that he wants Mew to move forward, so THEY can move forward. Him being unsure of how to handle a wrathful Mew, but still wanting to try. Him saying he already talked to Boeing, since Mew is deeply insecure about him. Him holding Mew's hand and trying to break down this fortress Mew has built around his heart piece by piece.

The song I posted of what I thought the scene could be saying if it had stayed in. Top's POV: "Love, I don't know how this shit works, but I know we could work things out if we just work together." And that's the key phrase "work together."

And this appeasement photo and answering a fan's tweet that we're going to see happy Mew soon. Jojo thinks we're so dumb.

All I want to do is scream back, "But are they ever going to TALK?!" TopMew cannot just solve this with sex. We need soul vulnerability. And I'm bloody annoyed because prior to episode 10 that is literally all they needed, but instead TopMew went backwards.

[thatnerddave]

I’m a man who grew up surrounded by strong women. Even as a child, I gravitated toward stories about women like those who helped mold me. This included stuff like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Tomb Raider”, and eventually, “Sailor Moon”.

I first encountered “Sailor Moon” as a young boy. I watched the 1990s anime religiously after school with my cousin. Beneath the silly slapstick humor of the anime, I detected characters with depth and pathos. It was love at first sight.

I eventually read the manga and adored it even more, particularly for how it approached the central romance between Usagi and Mamoru. I returned to the manga frequently and yearned for an adaptation that took these characters just a bit more seriously.

Little did I know, that adaptation existed. “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon”, a live-action tokusatsu series, never made it to the west officially. A chance encounter with a fan sub finally, quite recently, introduced me to what has become my favorite adaptation of “Sailor Moon”.

Here were the characters I loved, given room to breathe, their journeys fully explored. There was just one problem: those journeys ended after only the first arc of the manga.

So here we are. I have written stories for most of my life. I’ve even had the pleasure of having some of my comic book work published. Despite the fact that I always wrote for the love of the process, I’d never written fan fiction. Something about “PGSM”, however, urged me to put pen to paper and continue the story.

I'm sure in a fan community as vast as that of "Sailor Moon", I'm far from the first person to continue the story of "PGSM". I do believe I have a pretty unique approach that is ultimately additive to the fandom. Whether I am successful at crafting something worthy of the franchise is ultimately left up to the judgement of my fellow fans.

I did set some rules before I started writing.

1. Like “PGSM”, I will be adapting an arc from the manga, the “Black Moon” arc. Just like “PGSM”, I will follow the basic spirit of the arc while diverging, making changes, and taking BIG SWINGS.

2. “PGSM” was not blessed with a massive budget. To keep the spirit of the show alive, my second season will similarly stay quite grounded. Events here should at least be plausible in the context of the show.

3. Everything from the show is canon, including the “Special Act”. I knew this would create a challenge, since that final story jumped forward in time 4 years and saw Usagi and Mamoru get married. I jump forward another year after the wedding. We’re dealing with older Sailor Guardians, around 19 years old.

4. My biggest goal was to approximate the feel of a TV show. That is why the story is organized not into chapters, but episodes, called acts. That is why each act features opening and closing credits, as well as eyecatch (アイキャッチ) images common in Japanese television, particularly anime.

5. Finally, I wanted to not “impose my will” on these characters, but attempt to extend their journeys. Character conflicts, both internal and external, and relationships should feel like a natural evolution of what came before.

If you’ve never seen “PGSM”, but are a fan of Sailor Moon, consider my story an “alternative universe” and try to enjoy it on those merits.

I do recommend all fans seek out a fan sub of the show and watch it; it’s fantastic. Search the web for “Miss Dream” or “Sea of Serenity” and you’re sure to find it. The cast and crew really knocked it out of the park.

I will be posting new episodes on a roughly monthly basis and currently plan to write anywhere between 15 and 20 episodes. The whole season is already outlined, but I like to leave myself some room to improvise.

You can find my take on a second season of PGSM currently on three websites:

Archive of Our Own

Wattpad

FanFiction.net

I hope you’ll try and enjoy this little “what if” return to the world of “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon”. I know I am.

[torchship-rpg]

Dev Diary 7 - Framework Systems

In Dev Diary 5, we talked about the core dice mechanic of the game; how tools create dice pools which are resolved with your character’s skills. In this Dev Diary, we’ll be talking about some of the universal mechanics which frame play around those dice checks.

Unity

Most of the resources tracked in Torchship are material ones; reaction mass, budgets, supplies, radiation exposure and stress levels. Unity is the one central exception which binds the game together.

Unity is a resource which abstracts the benefits of the trust, goodwill, and sense of community the crew of the rocket have with one another. It’s the personal capacities made available by harmonious operation, how the work put in by everyone is reflected and amplified in its representatives. In short, it’s the Power of Friendship, which as we all know is the most powerful of the five fundamental forces.

Unity is gained through the Impulses and Relationships of the player characters on an individual basis, but is placed into a group pool that anyone can use when they need it. Unity can be used for two things; the first is that you can buy rerolls on any of your Checks with it, giving you another chance to get the successes you need. The second thing you can use Unity for is to remove Stress, one of the four types of Harm that players can take and a common penalty stemming from Checks and Traits.

Having a good pool of Unity is how you offset the penalties that’ll stack up as the situation gets more out of control.

Unity is also created by introducing new members of the Crew. Your rocket leaves spacedock with a half-dozen crew characters defined; if you have six PCs, all your NPCs are just a number. That number is essentially a reserve of guest stars. If you need some Unity for a challenge up ahead, or you need an expert for a task none of the players have Certs in, you can bring in an NPC guest star to generate some Unity, defining who they are, what they’re good at, and playing a few scenes with them. After that point, they go into your roster to be brought back for situation rolls when needed.

In this way, the number of people who are not yet defined on your rocket becomes a quantum foam of potential skills, expertise, and relevant hobbies you can tap as needed. This also means that rotating members of your crew off the rocket when you resupply can be incentivised; if your PCs have picked up the skills you once needed them for, they can leave the rocket and maybe come back later as the captain of a vehicle in distress or something!

Investigation Checklists

As you go through your adventure, the GM can hand you Investigation cards as you come across things that are worth looking into. Investigation cards provide a Thing To Do when you aren’t sure what to do next; finding answers to the questions on the cards is always a good idea. 

There’s six types of Investigation Checklists: Anomaly, Site, Technology, Society, Individual, and Incident, each with four predefined questions and one blank spot that either the GM or the players (depending) can fill in with a very specific question. Finding the answers to these questions is how you do Science.

This ties rather directly into one of the framework rules regulating the conversation between players and GMs; whenever the players ask an in-universe question, the GM must always either give the answer, or tell the players what they need to do to find the answer. The Checklist basically acts as a set of pre-defined questions to ask the GM with additional mechanical incentives.

As you fill out the Checklist, it starts to give you bonuses related to the subject of the investigation. 3 Answers give you ongoing Advantage to all Checks involving it, while 5 Answers additionally gives a +1 to all your Checks involving it. When you approach a problem you’ve fully mapped out, you have a much easier time; you essentially get home turf advantage anywhere you’ve done enough science at.

Finally, knowledge is power, and that means that there’s bureaucrats who really like to learn about stuff. Each and every tick you make on a checklist is rolled as a d6 in a big pool at the end of the episode for a chance to generate Credits, a metacurrency we’ll talk about at the end of this update. You’re never quite sure what information will be useful, or for what, but science isn’t something Star Patrol is doing just for its own sake; anything you learn might end up being the key part for a technology, a treaty, or a military strategy.

It also means that investigation is never, entirely, innocuous. You might be studying the inside of a black hole for the pursuit of pure truth and scientific curiosity, but somebody back home might look at it and figure out a really funny trick to pull involving an artificial singularity and somebody else’s war rockets.

Relationships

This one is pretty simple. Every PC has a relationship to another PC, and we represent that with four attitudes you can have toward another person. Are they just a comrade, are they your best friend, are they a rival, or do you have a crush on them?

Every one of these affects the way you work alongside them. When you help your Bestie, you get an extra reroll, like there was a mini pool of Unity between you. You can generate Unity by one-upping your rival, so it actually benefits the whole team to have healthy competition, provided it doesn��t get out of hand.

And, this being a game by me, having a Crush is very funny. When your Crush helps you with something, an extra Unity is generated for the team… and you promptly have to reroll one of your successes as you start saying the dumbest things you could possibly say and your hands start shaking. You know, as you do.

Relationships are not inherently linked; you might have a Crush on somebody who considers you their Rival, for instance. However, it’s generally best for the team if relationships are symmetrical, because the bonuses stack with one another; two rivals competing will always result in 2 Unity for the team and Besties working together means 2 rerolls.

Mutual Crushes are the best though, because you get a proper will-they-or-won’t-they system. Every episode that goes by where the two are crushing on one another but having acted on it, you mark a track. When they finally get over themselves and smooch, you get a massive amount of Unity for each mark on the track, which also incentivises them doing this dramatic thing at moments when you absolutely need like thirty bazillion Unity for the task ahead. 

At that point characters become Sweethearts, which removes the rerolled Success as you stop being such a mess.

Scarcity

I’ve saved the best for last. Or worst. Biggest, for certain.

Torchship does not have replicators. They do not exist. There is no technology that magically turns nothing into something. Instead, your spaceship has huge stores of fuel, food, spare parts, print-stock, ammunition, reaction mass, and everything else it might need for the journey. Every spare inch of space not dedicated to somebody sleeping or a machine working is packed with shelves, boxes, crates, and storage tanks. Over the course of your adventures, you’ll use all that stuff up.

There are three broad categories of scarce resources your spacecraft carries with it. Your Reaction Mass is the stuff you shoot out the back of the engines to go places. The back of your spacecraft is basically one or more olympic swimming pools worth of water, hydrogen, decane, or other fluid for your rocket to use up, which can also be used as emergency coolant and, in some cases, as fuel for a fusion reactor. Even though you have an FTL drive, you’ll still use it up circularising orbits, manoeuvring in combat, and fuelling shuttles, probes, and missiles.

Your Supplies are a generic amalgamation of all the random stuff you have to carry to keep the rocket running. Just about everything worth doing costs supplies; you need it to build tools and shuttles, you spend it on repairs and medicine, you shoot it out of your guns and missile tubes, you breathe it and eat it every single episode. 

Rather than representing Supply as a big number that goes down until you’re out, you simply mark a tally down every time you use Supply. When the tally reaches your vehicle’s Supply Threshold, you take a Shortage; the GM tells you something is running low, or something that was running low is now out. There’s dozens of potential shortages listed in the rules, allowing the GM to pick one that is most relevant to how you’ve been spending supplies. You can run out of ammunition, food, spare parts, filters for life support, and weird matter for the FTL drive or gravity coils, among others. As time goes on, you’ll run out more and more.

Finally, most Star Patrol craft carry Antimatter, as fuel for the reactor and engines. You use this up sparingly when you overcharge either, or if you pack it into a missile to make a powerful antimatter warhead. You always have to be careful doing so, because antimatter is expensive, and running out means the next episode is going to be about you not having any antimatter and not being able to do very much about it. 

You can, to a limited degree, replenish these resources in the field through salvage and barter with others, but most of the time you’ll need to do it through official channels, either calling for resupply or trading with people using, you know, money. This is where Credits come in.

Credits are an abstraction of the surplus wealth of the Star Union, as well as representing the universal, antimatter-backed trade currencies of Local Space. You can buy any of the scarce resources above using Credits, and you can also use it to unlock new capabilities and technologies for the Union or improve your vehicle. It is to your entire civilisation what XP is to characters.

Credits are not passively generated; like XP, you have to earn them. As mentioned above, filling out Investigation Checklists can earn you some credits, but it might not be enough; you need to at least generate a minimum number per episode to cover your Union Dues, otherwise shortfalls back home start to be an issue. The rest of the Credits are earned by finding strategic resources that the Union can use; reserves of metals, lithium, and exotic materials, for instance, but also useful allies or destroyed vessels from hostile nations in wartime. Prospecting is very often the most lucrative, as you usually find plenty of resources as a side effect from snooping around.

Here’s the catch, tough; it’s not enough just to find resources in many cases, you need to secure them. That means making sure that your pesky rivals don’t have a claim on it, yes, but it also means ensuring that the resources can be extracted. A big load of titanium on a planet isn’t actually very valuable, but a big load of titanium on a planet with a local workforce friendly to the Union and sufficient spacelife capabilities will earn you a fair number of credits. 

Many resources, like exotic materials, simply don’t exist at all without being artificially created, so securing them is more about diplomacy than prospecting. Other times, there may be things that need solving to make the resources available; maybe it's in the territory of a state on the planet hostile to the Union, or the impoverished locals might not have the ability to build the infrastructure needed to exploit the resource. You can, in some cases, actually end up spending some Credits as developmental aid to ‘solve’ those issues and earn more in the long run.

You may notice this might, in some circumstances, create some perverse incentives. To which we respond…

Yeah. That’s the game.

[asura22zoro]

on the but they broke up argument

I made it obvious multiple times how i feel korrasami in the end was just a last minute retcon ( as in they admitted that when the finale was being made to throw in korrasami because they didnt include lgbt rep before and I partly think it was due to the fact lok was running out of publciity stuntand k/a provided that

I am sorry to say but korrasami being the one queer ship thats canon in lok is irrelevant bad writing is bad writing good writing is more important then the genders involved even if it means that as a result there wouldnt be a same sex ship in lok ( its not like they couldnt include same sex ships lgbt stuff in the future of the series. The notion that if you care about/support the lgbt community you should automatically support korrasami just on the basis of korrasami being a same sex ship is idiotic. being against korrasami doesnt equal being against gay people anti korrasami isnt homophobic. shipping isnt activism

we see tons of ship wars between het ships so why shouldnt there be ships wars between a het ship and same sex ship how is opposing the same sex ship automatically homophobic ( they seem to use it as a shield from criticism

why

would everyone automatically support the same sex ship when that doesnt happen when a het ship becomes canon

so they made it happen at the cost of breaking the narrative and making korra ooc.

certain korra and asami are not compatible personality wise for a romantic relationship given their different needs and handling of conflict

and the narrative pointed to makorra eventually getting backtogether

korrasami shippers will try to claim they broke up due to incompatibility or insult mako to raise up their ship when the truth is they broke up due to mutual flaws neither of them were ready for a relationship with anyone.

they both showed that they will always love each other and the way the b2finale happened pointed to them getting back together.

the issue wasnt that they argued ( arguing isnt inherently unhealthy arguing can be healthy have you heard the term arguing like an old married couple ( I even reblogged post by fantastic-nonsense that went into that

by b4 mako and korra overcame those flaws

I always roll my eyes at the but they broke up as if we haven't seen tons of shows where a couple at first breaks up but gets back together later after some development

or times where while two characters love each other its after some development for if they were in relationship at the start it would have been unhealthy

"

seriously hasnt this person heard of the like old married couple trope “Two characters who seem very comfortable with each other to the point that it seems like they have been married for a long time, though obviously it doesn't apply to couples who actually have been together for a long time. Usually it is done through constant arguments with each other, as only people who are so closely bonded can have such open communication between them”

arguing in a relationship doesnt equal unhealthy

the b2 finale was shot in away that makorra shippers believed they would eventually getting backtogether (after they matured and solved their mutual flaws ( korra wouldnt have worked with anyone in b2 )

it had romantic tension

kirbyspits . tumblr . com/post/639871356603908096/

We have hand holding…

Trouble parting ways…

Forehead touches…

Kissing…

Declarations of eternal love…

there are alot of shows where a couple which broke up got back together later on

"

fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/111785796250/on-book-2makorra-korras-mentality-about

fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/111620875135/could-you-take-each-of-makorra-book-2-arguments

2. fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/108192845975/what-made-makorra-fail-in-book-2-and-what-might

asura22zoro . tumblr . com/658908110062223360/fantastic-nonsense-that-video-is-quite-literally?source=share

[quickdeaths]

(I saw a lot of people talking about ships and such recently, and while this isn't, like, a PSA or anything, I wanted to clarify some things about my own position on shippy stuff. I do really like writing romantic ships, but I also have some personal tastes on how I like to do stuff just in case anyone is curious or interested or whatever. Maybe I'll add this as a link on my pinned? who knows)

Firstly, I've said this before, but my primary shipping interest is f/f. I don't have any preference on like, CanonxCanon, CanonxOC, OCxOC, I love them all, but I do specifically prefer wlw ships. This absolutely does not mean I will not do other things, I am happy to do any gender pairing (if it works for the characters). F/F stuff is just more likely to catch my eye immediately. As a general rule, even outside of romantic shipping, I am here to give female and nb muses attention.

Secondly, I am slow-burn biased to the extreme. I like taking my time with ships and building a lot of scaffolding for a relationship. There are characters who require more "work" before they can get into a relationship at all (Shinobu, Izumi, Percy), and characters who could feasibly jump into a relationship very easily (Anzu, Tsubasa), but in all cases, I'm very long-term in how I prefer things to go, and even with those characters who are quicker to romance, there's still a lot of emotional things that will take time. CanonxCanon where there is in-canon basis for the ship is the only real exception, but even then, I still like to establish a lot of individual dynamic/portrayal things before jumping headfirst in. I like to see the chemistry play out in threads and really feel "who are these characters together?"

Thirdly, I am ship-exclusive. Most of my characters are OCs, so typically it's sort of a one-way street with other people's canons, where I am ship-exclusive with someone else's character without asking for anything in return. This is not the case with my canons, which is sometimes why I'm slightly more apprehensive about shipping them, because whether with an OC or a different canon, I will be practicing ship-exclusivity on my end, and I want it in return as well. I don't want to force someone into that if they don't want to do that, but it is a rule I won't budge on. Even for ships I really like, like Kaede/Maki, I would not be comfortable shipping my Maki with a Kaede who had like, three other Makis that they also shipped with.

Fourthly, if you ship with me I will terrorize you with OOC conversation, headcanons, random images or posts that remind me of Them, and probably commissioned ship art at some point because i've lost control of my life. You will never again know peace. I promise you excitement and engagement on my part for sure, I acquire ship brainrot very strongly and I'm very enthusiastic! Especially stuff that feels very personally-built and unique, whether that's stuff with OCs, or canons that just have a lot of personal flair, I will basically become this image about the ship.

Anyway, I love shipping and I love plotting and ooc communication, and my IMs are always open to chat.

[lightwise]

I would love to hear some of your Tech thoughts for the Character Ask thingie.

Hello my friend! Thanks for asking about our precious baby boy Tech. Season 2 made me fall in love with Tech so much and I don’t need to elaborate on how hard the finale hit me. Tech has helped me understand some aspects of myself better, appreciate/hold better space for the differences in other people that I know, and is just a beautiful representation of neurodivergence onscreen that I am so glad we have.

Tech

one aspect about them i love - Yeah so I can’t narrow it down to just one, but I’m going to go with: his love for his family, his snarky sarcasm (aka telling it like it is), and his humility. Humility might sound like a strange word choice for a man who knows how brilliant he is and how unique his abilities are, but one of his key strengths is not only being able to calculate the odds of almost any situation around him, but also knowing when he can’t, or doesn’t have enough information/data to calculate a probable outcome. Many people with way less brilliance than him would make even an educated guess or try to sound like they know what they’re talking about all the time, but Tech is so confident in his abilities that he has no problem acknowledging when he is hitting up on the limits of his understanding. 

one aspect i wish more people understood about them - I think we all understand this in this corner of tumblr, but I continue to see people in other spaces think that he is rude or awkward or just “smart and nerdy.” There’s a huge difference between being rude or smart, and processing everything about the world in a different manner than the average person, which we know as being neurodivergent. For a sci-fi/fantasy show, all of the Batchers’ “enhancements” could have been presented only as positives, as extra capabilities that regular people don’t have, that make them all “special” and incredible soldiers. But thankfully, they chose to make them complex and very human, by showing the difficult and sometimes unpleasant ramifications of those very enhancements. For Tech, his way of processing things leads to very blunt, direct communication, difficulty in knowing how to handle raw emotions in real time (both his own and others), and a tendency to forget that other people haven’t figured out the same things about a situation that he has. The resulting disconnect, hurt feelings, and difficult conversations in his relationships isn’t intentional but is something he has to navigate on a daily basis. That said, similar to Crosshair, his actions speak loudest, and his intense love for his family is always evident in the ways he is willing to do anything for them without hesitation.    

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character - he is so an iPad kid. I wonder when he built his first datapad, if he tried to hack any of the Kaminoans’ systems, if he has always had his corner of their room strewn with wires and abandoned projects and research materials. How many times did Hunter have to tear it out of his hand to get him to finish a meal in the cafeteria, or hide it so that he would get some sleep. I also wonder if he’s ever been awake at night while Echo was having a nightmare (building off the headcanons I’ve seen that Echo sometimes mutters binary code as he has nightmares from Skako Minor) and translated the code even without meaning to. He would never share what it means though out of respect for Echo. 

one character i love seeing them interact with - Omega. It may have taken more time for him to warm up to her, but even early in season 1, Tech is always ready to catch her as she jumps down from any height, holds his hands out to her if she needs to steady herself, and often puts his hand on her shoulder unbidden. For a man who seems to be uncomfortable with physical touch and doesn’t typically initiate it, this melts my heart every time I see it. And of course their growing bond in season 2 and their conversation in The Crossing where they finally begin to understand each other’s needs and how to communicate better is one of the best moments in Star Wars, period, for me. “I may process moments and thoughts differently than you, but I do not feel any less” makes me tear up every time I hear it. And that the understanding goes both ways, and both of them make an effort to interact with the “language” that the other person is most comfortable with. Huge character growth. I also love how Tech loves imparting his wisdom and knowledge to her and Omega loves learning it. They’re just such a great duo. 

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more - I so desperately want to see him and Crosshair together again. “Just because I understand you does not mean I agree with you.” What would their conversations look like after Crosshair is rescued? How would Tech’s difficulty with emotional complexity, and Crosshair’s layers of hurt after trauma, brush up against each other as they tried to rebuild their relationship? Would Tech’s joy at having him back give Crosshair space to open up? Would Tech let him know that he’s forgiven him and despite his confusion and hurt, he is ready to move forward together? Could Tech’s ability to busy himself with a task at hand and requesting Crosshair’s help give them some time and space together where words aren’t needed to heal? I also honestly want to see Tech and Phee together again. I would love to know where their relationship could have gone, and what kind of conversation/apology/mutual understanding they might come to after the way they parted. 

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character - I bet that Tech was teased and bullied a lot by the regs (and probably experimented on by the Kaminoans along with his brothers) as a cadet. I think that all of the boys would defend him but that especially Hunter would take note of his particular needs, hand him back his goggles if he had been roughed up by someone, and in general look out for him/take care of him and protect him. (I think Crosshair did this too). I can just see Hunter ruffling his hair and helping him calm down after a panic attack or becoming frustrated over something.  

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

if we’ve covered some red flags, what are some of your green flag ships? like of those “fuck yesssssss” ones that you really enjoy

AYO SELF CARE HOURSSSSSS. i do genuinely like talking about the controversial ships but thank you for the positive vibes anon! love that

under the cut, just because the post is a little long:

actually im not super into shipping i think? i definitely value being able to imagine a dynamic for even the nichest pairings and have a lot of fun stretching or emphasizing certain parts of each characters' personalities to get them to work the best while opening up the potential for some development on each characters' side (thats exactly why im doing the ship bingo! its a ton of fun!), but theres very few things i actually like. Ship beyond surface level thoughts tbh. and recently the things i actually do ship have gotten increasingly niche. so enjoy this ramble that mostly pertains to specifically me and only me LMAO /lh

metadede ofc is the big one. not niche obviously. extremely beloved by me hiiiiiiiiii. they just have so much to work with in canon it makes so many varied interpretations which are a blast to see honestly. in general i love seeing how people portray their friendship too. an idiot whos smart to smart guy whos an idiot communication. enemies to friends to lovers..... their personalities bounce off of each other really well and the content the community makes is always a+. actually im going to take the opportunity to share my favorite mtdd fic ever. this is like pretty much peak metadede to me if anyone wants to know what i hope my personal interpretation will live up to [link!]

people might be able to tell ive been getting very into dametaberge. oh my god im so insane. no one look at me. dmk+jambacult found family Real. i have like three comics in my drafts for them. its mostly dametaberge thoughts rn but i like to think susie joins them later to make a poly ship. dmk and susie are a little tense at first but susie is, "like so over her knight phase," as she says, which dmk is extremely conflicted about whether to be offended or relieved at. and then they learn how to relax around each other and are always the two in the relationship to have awful destructive ideas, which flamberge vetos or approves of on a case by case basis. they get very happy and excited when flamberge approves of their awful plans

and of course my beloved gsa ships.............. theres falsgato which i am incredibly insane about thanks to my friend dragging me into it and now its a thing in my animeverse. enemies to friends to lovers I KEEP SAYING IM SO WEAK FOR THAT. dragato was a huge asshole to falspar for Various reasons regarding the nature of the gsa and perhaps dragatos own personal insecurity, but once they lost the war they got to bond since dragato like, realized how little the shit he antagonized falspar for actually mattered in the first place. and falspars a guy who really sees the best in people and ahahahghdjk its a whole thing its a whole thing i wont go into it rn LOL

theres also metarthur which is my very very beloved longtime rarepair. which i um. uh. ahahahah............. i get very slightly nervous talking about on main because a lot of people hc arthur as meta knights dad or parental figure but i shouldnt be nervous about hc differences really....... anyways theyre supposed to be like parallels of each other. people who are opposites thematically (arthur being leader of the gsa; mk being a former deeply infamous demon beast) who find themselves in similar positions in that they both kinda struggle with their sense of purpose vs their sense of self. meta knight sees his past struggles in arthur and so he finds himself drawn to him. he cant really Solve his situation, but (during their war-time relationship specifically) he hopes to offer some solace to him which functions as a form of catharsis to mk himself too. the two get to connect and understand each other in a unique way. i wont get too into this one right now either lol since the dynamic changes a lot depending on if its their during-war relationship or post-war relationship but theres the basics. i have a comic expanding on their general relationship in my drafts too but its at the bottom of my to-do list tbh. maybe someday though

im only into this one casually nowadays but morphogala... you really cant go wrong with "knight of death saves the greatest warrior in the galaxy from their torturous fate". something something the themes of wishing for the release of death being subverted into yes, death itself releasing you but in a way that actually Saves and rescues you instead. the hope and love in spite of all of the hopelessness AHHHHGH the themes of this one make me so weak. theres so much potential...... i really love this one on an aesthetic level too

you know i take my comment on "not super into shipping" back i think my multishipper ass has disillusioned myself into thinking being insane about like 4-5 ships isnt enough or isnt the norm. maybe i am insane about shipping......... oops

ships that make my thumbs up list in that i like them in concept but dont ship myself would be: marxolor; any of wave 3 x each other tbh. i have them as just besties in my hcs but paired up in any way is very fun; i kinda like shadow metadede but im really particular about the dynamic of that one; fransoos gets a very big thumbs up from me for themes and concept+enemies/rivals to lovers; metagala is. i dont super get it myself but the aesthetics alone are absolutely on-point enough to put this one in the thumbs up category. yayyyyyyy. im sure theres more that im missing but i think that covers any that arent too niche

[raayllum]

Wildly accusing anons of having some internal ableism doesn't really hit hard when said anon is personally familiar with non-verbal communication, not that you'd be aware so it's very fair

I wasn't trying to come across rude, I'm sorry if I was, I was just asking if you want to like, look at the creature you are discussing being pregnant and acknowledge it is written as a child, like it's very blatant, the crew weren't exactly subtle? fantasy creature or not it's still an uncomfortable concept to expand upon?

If you are personally grossed out by it, you can blacklist my "tw pregnancy" tag, which I've used for various posts regarding any character being pregnant for a few years now. If I am on the defensive, it's because of the (minimal, but still upsetting) albeism I've seen directed toward Amaya in the fandom over the years for her being deaf and mute.

Now, my opinion is informed by me being Autistic who also works with some Autistic children as a tutor, and I probably don't have to tell you this but am not going to assume, but there are many many behaviours neurodivergent adults do that get labelled as "childish" and then used as an excuse infantilize you. This is doubly so for someone like me who is also asexual (and concepts of sex and adulthood being weirdly interwoven in puritan North American bullshit).

You can see Sir Sparklepuff as a child if you want to, but given that he walks on all fours, secretes goo, eats uncooked bugs with his bare hands, and is a butterfly born from little bug pal and has innate knowledge to guide the group given to him by Aaravos, an ancient elf, I think it's a bit of a stretch. In a lot of ways he is far more comparable to being a mute, more benevolent version of Gollum, from Lord of the Rings. Y'know, down to the hobbling, loincloth, and acting like a guide?

In my eyes there are only two moments where Sir Sparklepuff acts remotely like a child (I suppose) and that's when Viren takes him by the arm to guide him, and when he does his happy clap (which adults can definitely do the last one).

One of the things I talk about a lot in regards to 10+ years in fantasy writing and writing groups is how sometimes fantasy has things where there is, legitimately, no real world equivalent unless you're bending your back to break it. For example if you want to ship Aaravos with anyone who isn't another (currently non-existent) Startouch elf, you are dealing with an age gap of literally thousands of years, even for an adult male in his 40s. So Viren is fully an adult, and yet his 'experience' of adulthood still pales in comparison. There are a lot of other reasons these two would be / are a clusterfuck of a relationship (which sometimes, is precisely the point), but on the basis of age - would it not always be too big of an age gap to breach?

Sure maybe, if you're not willing to engage with the Fantasy, indeterminable elements of a Fantasy story.

Your perception regarding a character who's status is ambiguous as best and what makes you personally uncomfortable regarding them does not have to make me uncomfortable. I can have a radically different perspective than you and it is not wrong for me to make content that aligns with my own perspective. It's also not wrong for you to be uncomfortable with it by accordance of your own perspective, plenty of things in fandom make me uncomfortable, I just blacklist tags or unfollow and don't go into people's inboxes about it.

I would also argue that most people, myself included, have internalized albeism to work through, because we live in ableist societies, and we never stop being allies to people who's experiences are different than ours. It's not necessarily a flaw or a moral judgement, it's a fault line and sometimes it can be good to consider those variances. The fact that you assumed, rather than me just having a different interpretation of the character (that he's more like a highly intelligent animals), that I must have the same as yours (that he's a child - which the best bit of evidence would probably be the fact he's recently hatched, and you didn't bring that up) and therefore reached a bonkers conclusion (I'm writing about a child being pregnant) says something noteworthy about perhaps your familiarity with ideas and literature in ways that are radically different than just your initial interpretation or viewpoint (which is not wrong, but everyone's is accordingly limited unless you expand)

It also assumes that I have to have black and white thinking rather than engaging in something ambiguously, i.e. the same way I can engage with and make content about Rayllum that is platonic/QPR or romantic, rather than just sticking definitively to one viewpoint or dynamic, I can also engage with things that have different views of Sir Sparklepuff in fandom because unlike canon, things that would normally cancel each other out as definitive interpretations do not exist in a more ambiguous fandom space

If you are interested in more thoughts regarding Sir Sparklepuff you may interested in an upcoming oneshot I'm working on titled "twice as many stars," in which I take us down the existential horror story that is his existence - a sentient life, created for a singular specific purpose and then abandoned by said creator who does not care for him at all, completely unaware he is living (presumably) on borrowed time and that the family he loves has varying degrees of affection for him in turn.

[ame-sea]

blorbo bingo! sweden and finland!

SWEDEN

let me tell u for a very long time i was like "yeah he's okay i like him" but this year i have been especially in love with him. thinking about him makes me feel so comfortable about my own socially awkward behaviors and also helps process masculinity as something more soft and gentle than most men in media. super awesome guy to look to as i grow up and get older and need to conceptualize what i want to be as an adult.

i appreciate more recent fanon iterations of him so much. i think now that we're all growing out of our 13 year old twink yaoi fujoshi phases, we're all exploring what it really means to look and act like a grown ass man LOL. i think he really truly fell victim to the "here's our gaybies" back in the day and, also because the nordics are so minor, he's been so void of personality in fanon works. like he's always just kinda There. always around do be The Guy Seen With Finland.

but he's got so much personality behind that stern-seeming face. like, man, he's just got autism guys he cant mask to save his life. im excited to share the version of him in my head with everyone because he's so interesting, and has so much going on in that little head of his, so much in that lil heart too. im so glad everyone else is coming around to it as well. i hope those of us around continue to do him justice and rectify the sins of our past.

FINLAND

it is not that i dont give a shit abt aph finland but i think nobody does him right, not now and not ever before, and ive not done much thinking about who i wish he was. i think he is Fine in canon, but just a little bit boring. i wish he was a bit more standoffish, had a bit more of an edge to him. he's been so yaoified so feminized and while neither being gay or feminine are bad, i think it has really come at the expense of who he Is as a character and as a Person, and also as a representative of a culture!

he also tends to be relegated to housewife and it drives me crazy genuinely. stay at home dads are awesome but not when it's bc kids feel the desperate need to make a gay relationship look like traditional straight relationships in media.

for both of these guys, i just wish they were more complex on their own, and not viewed solely as extensions of each other.

their relationship is super awesome though they are endgame fr. their banter, the quiet domestic love, soft glances and knowing so well how each other communicates.

i think i also hate the sufin + sealand household dynamic everyone has created. and i have to preface this by saying the basis of every fic i have ever built or planned or written or fantasized about has been about them. like okay. i just think. they would not be traditional parents. they are so uncle core. casual friendly hands off uncles. sea is like the neighbor's kid that comes over every night for dinner bc his parents work graveyard shifts and he always forgets his front door key at home, and while you're not ready to be a parent, you help him with his homework and make sure he eats his dinner and teach him how to swear in languages his parents dont understand. (also sufin + sealand has a chronic lack of ladonia which is so very upsetting! they would be so funny forced to be in the same house so often.) sufin (and the nordics as a whole) is so build a relationship from the ground up vibes, and their sense of family is absolutely about building a space with those around them. found families not by chance but by forging deep relationships and care for each other over time.

i think the need for sufin to be so 'traditional white cishet american parents' core stems a lot from general ignorance and homophobia that stained fandom culture for so very long (and honestly still does) and it pisses me off to no end. i demand so much justice for them.