#and this was def a big character development arc

[kobrakidfromyesterday]

opened this acc after 5 whole years and as a completely different person and god this brings back so many memories i'm overwhelmed tbh but also thank you to everyone i interacted with/ met here because i didn't have much going on back then but this blog was sumn that brought me a lot of happiness

[mechaseraph]

This set looks so ass in funny way (so I'll give it a pass) but the scene is rather emotional/cute I guess. What if you were of humanoid snake adjusted species that sealed off their emotions, but you oh so wanted them, and I were an robotic life form full of em. And we were both guys (I guess)

[leavemebetosleep]

do you have any good fluttercord fic recs?

OH BOY DO I. In no particular order (except of when I thought of them):

1: Non-Entity by Captain Wuzz: An AU in which, instead of being turned to stone, Discord was shot in the head with a magic arrow that takes away his sentience and magic for a 1,000 years. Fluttershy mistakes him for a wounded animal and brings him home. I loved it so much.

2: Chaotic Neutral by C-Puff: The magic is starting to fade from Equestria, and the Main 6 and Discord go on an adventure to find out why, and reverse it. A bit of AU, in the sense it was written before the show was done, so it diverts in some places because of that. Super sweet, and I love the character development here.

3: Time is Taller than Space is Wide by Dott. Can also be read on Ao3 if you prefer. Soulmate AU (?) fic with a Groundhog Day style twist. I rarely see fics play with the idea of what if Fluttershy and Discord's friendship had started when they first met, so this is fun.

4 & 5: Blank and it's sequel Reconnection by @geekcat. Can also be read on fanfic.net. AU in which, before Discord can choose friendship over ruling Equestria, Twilight remembers a "reformation" spell. He is stripped of his free will, and Fluttershy does her best to bring him back. If you don't like the idea of Twilight being a villain, you might not like this one, but I think her villain arc in this is done in a perfect way for her character. It's super heart wrenching in many places, but in a good way.

6: Our Fair Lady of the Chaos Lord, also by GeekCat Can also be read on fanfic.net. Fairy tale inspired AU in which Fluttershy is a princess who's father is pressuring her to marry noble knight Sir Big Mac. Wanting to be sure he's a good person, she makes a deal with the Chaos Lord, letting herself be "kidnapped" so she can test his character. You can guess who she falls for instead. Honestly I've enjoyed all of GeekCat's fics, so they're getting an extra mention. Check out the rest of their fluttercord fics if you like any of these.

7: The Draconequus with the Dragon Tattoo by A M Shark This is a major case of, strange premise, kick ass results. Basically an AU based off Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, with Discord as Lisbeth, and Fluttershy as an amalgamation of Mikael and several other characters, but focusing more on the murder mystery aspect of that book, and less on the...everything else. If you're familiar with GwtDT, don't worry, there's no rape scenes. Again, it's more about the murder mystery part. If you're not familiar with GwtDT, then don't worry again, because you don't need to know the original to enjoy it. It's just Discord and Fluttershy playing detective and solving a murder together. It has two sequels, but I haven't read them yet, and it didn't feel right to rec something I haven't read.

8: The Corpse Bride by Bad Horse. Dark fic. No relation to the Burton movie. Fluttershy dies in a tragic accident, and Discord brings her back from the dead as his zombie wife. Her friends (sans Pinkie) are horrified. Has a fantastic twist ending. If you like some of the darker stuff, def worth a read.

Bonus: Comic rec: The Last Adventure by Eveeka. Taking place after the final defeat of Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis, Discord gets into a depressive funk after shouldering the hatred from Ponyville citizens for his latest actions, but also because his friends seem to never be available anymore. He starts to think maybe Equestria would be better off without him, as he can't seem to exist with out making everyone miserable, and decides to hide away in the Everfree forest. Fluttershy, worried when he doesn't show up for tea, asks her friends for help, only to discover there's a monster running lose there he and the rest of Equestria might be in danger from. This fic has two endings, so keep reading even when it seems like it's over. You've got one more ending left. This one nearly made me cry.

[comicaurora]

i think pacing is THE literary tool that most directly proves that you write good when you've been writting a lot. pacing is a feel, you can and def should read stuff about pacing, but you simply can't develop the muscles for it without hitting the gym.

so uhh, when did you start feeling good about how you've handled pacing in previous works and current one? was there a moment? i feel stuck, and discipline tells me to keep on trucking but its demotivating. sorry for long question aaa

Conveniently it was during the process of making the comic, because I absolutely did not have it down before I started. I had a moment of clarity sometime around chapter 3 that all my artistic practice for the comic had done nothing to prepare me for the invisible substrate of visual storytelling: pacing. Splash panels and big dramatic establishing shots are much more common in those early chapters because I hadn't processed how to fully utilize the space on the page. I had to do some backend reworking of the general timeline as I realized that any amount of narrative backtracking would grind the story to a halt AND take me way too much time to make. I realized I had a lot of unconnected filler in my initial plan that kind of just kicked the plot into little zero-consequence cul-de-sacs that didn't move anything forward, so I began to prioritize story beats that advanced at least one of either the plot or a character arc - I didn't want to fall into the trap of making absolutely everything tie into one singular grand evil plan or not have any room for broader worldbuilding, so I allowed for some outside-context antagonists and threats as long as they let me reveal new things about the main characters. It gave me a feel for what constituted forward motion or broad expansion of the story.

Somewhere along the way - I think maybe around chapter 9? - I gave myself a rule of thumb that every page needed at least one new thing on it. That "thing" could be a piece of new information, a turn of events in the story, a reveal of something previously unseen, a character making a decision - it's not a hard definition by any means, but it helped me stay on track. It also helped balance the two completely disparate pacings I need to account for, namely how the story is paced when you read the archive through vs how the story is paced when you read it as it updates three times a week. "One thing per page" means the people reading it as it updates always get something new to chew on.

When I bit the bullet and started this story, I was as prepared as I could've been for someone who'd never made a longform comic before, but that meant I was completely lacking in experience with the unique and invisible elements of comic storytelling, of which pacing is the most foundational. It's ok if you don't think you're good at it yet; it's impossible to get good at it before you begin. Starting the story is the hardest part.

[nijigasakilove]

Oh my god this art style is gorgeous dude mahou shoujo stans eating so good this season.(I know I know technically not mahou shoujo, but it’s still cute girls using magic so whatever) Also the Kingdom Hearts composer is working on this. Might be the most magical show I’ve ever seen! AOTS contender for sure.

The art and aesthetic Truly feels like an otherworldly adventure really draw you in and make you feel like you’re in another world. JC staff have proven they can handle fantastical shows like this with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale so I’m very excited to see where this goes. Kurumi is already very endearing and I find myself wanting to see her succeed and achieve her magical goals. This concept isn’t that novel, but we don’t see it with girls a lot and I naturally prefer female MCs and casts so I’m excited!

Yuzu is the other big thing for me. Her face card is valid, reminds me so much of Nyammy/Yuki from wanpre. I can see a little rivalry arc developing with she and Kurumi before becoming friends and I’m here for it.

The action looked really cool, that battle was great! this is such a creative anime man I love stuff like this and there’s so many cool directions it can go in. The teacher, Minami is def gonna be one of my fave characters I can tell. Roxy, if she was a good character 😂

[tangents-within-tangents]

Aspec ✨Icons✨ part 2: Dana Scully (X-files)

(Missed ace week bc I overcomplicated things and it took me a hot sec to finish the sticker but whatever lol)

Listen, Special Agent Dana Catherine Scully is an icon as she is! She's badass, our Women in Stem queen, canonically immortal, and she is totally demi!

Mulder and Scully, the ultimate will-they-won't-they, right? Is it just coworkers respecting boundaries? Friends to lovers? The slowest of slow burns? Idk man listen to this speech:

Scully: Well it seems to me, that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with.

Come on, tell me that isn't the most demi thing you've ever heard!

I've seen fans read this as her just realizing or admitting that she has always loved Mulder but that's literally not what she says! And this is in 6.08, so after 6 years of working with Agent Foxy SMulder over here! And then they still don't even kiss until 7.04 and the first time it is implied they had sex is in 7.17 (which can I just say? is also followed directly by a scene of Mulder being heartbroken that Scully isn't interested in his crop circle slideshow, not exactly the peak of their relationship).

(As a demiromantic myself, also relate to this sentiment of "the best relationships." Like yeah we all have our preferences but I've always had this feeling of like a 'I actually understand real love better bc it's not sexual for me' type of a thing, which might be self-aggrandizing, but it's also the complete opposite of the allonormative 'sex is the ultimate goal of a relationship and the deepest act of love' bs)

A few episodes before (6.04) we also have this iconic moment:

Mulder: Hey Scully? Scully: Yes? Mulder: …I love you Scully: Oh brother *sigh*

Another main thing I think of is in season one when we have this whole 'you have to have a life outside of work and obviously that means dating' thing

But then the arc of the episode is that actually that ideal is clearly not her thing

She goes on the date (pretty sure the only one we ever see in the series?) and is bored and uncomfortable and happily leaves to go hunt the Jersey Devil with her loser coworker instead

Also fun fact I learned when researching all this, there was originally a boyfriend character for Scully in the pilot (added by the executives) who was completely cut. And when you look at how the creator talks about it, I think it's clear this ^ episode was a direct response to that

Chris Carter: There was some pressure early on in the development of the show to establish that the characters had personal lives outside of the FBI, and we wanted to see who they were dating, and I felt that was all wrong. I felt the stories needed to drive the characters, and their work needed to drive them. That their work was all-consuming and that they had no personal lives, that this was a quest. A romantic quest, in the literary sense.

And that's def reflected in the writing throughout the whole show lol

Mulder: So Scully, what are you doing tonight, any big plans? Scully: Well seeing as how it’s Friday I was thinking I could get some work in on that monograph I’m writing for the penology review.

Just some beautiful career-driven nerds who find fulfillment in life in other ways!

Which as demonstrated in the above clip, clearly applies to Mulder as well

Mulder: whAT'S a GIRL?

(aka one of my favorite lines lol and for the record he was going to meet his informant for alieum info)

Same episode as Scully's epic demi speech also gives us these gems:

Scully: Dating advice? From whom? Mulder: Yours truly. Scully: … Mulder: Hello? Scully you there? Scully: I heard you… Mulder, when was the last time you went on a date? Mulder: I will talk to you later *hangs up* Scully: The blind leading the blind.

Holman: I’ve been envious of men like you my whole life. Based on your physical bearing I assumed you were more experienced. I mean, you spend everyday with Agent Scully! A beautiful, enchanting woman! You mean you two have never uh…?

(yeah you and every allo fan, buddy)

Mulder: I’m perfectly happy with my friendship with Agent Scully.

So yeah, I'd def say Mulder is somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum too, even if on paper it's in the "obsessed with his work" kinda way. He's a bit more complicated, and I haven't seen the show recently enough to confidently be more specific, but friendly reminder that making dirty jokes and watching porn and such are not mutually exclusive with aspec identities (I'd even argue that it's further evidence for rather than against, since the show does specifically include references to porn activity, and not actual dating subplots or shots of one-night-stands like others shows would, so he's satisfying those things without someone else (we DON'T talk about that one vampire episode! fr so much of that was OOC I almost dropped the show lol)). And he also falls victim to the, ah... 'SA a man but play it for laughs and like it's his own personal failing somehow' trope ("trust me the man knows how to kiss" ma'am he was literally pushing you away -_-), the one in 'Syzygy' is far worse (link if you wanna subject yourself to it) but also so very ace:

Detective White: So what are you doing at my house? Mulder: I was hoping you could help me solve the mystery of the horny beast. *cuts to Mulder talking to an astrologer about satanic symbols*

Mulder: *panics trying to get her to leave* White: *literally shoves him onto the bed and pins him* maybe we can solve the mystery of the horny beast! Mulder: Maybe we should just watch some television (:

(poor guy just wanted to netflix and chill lit.)

And kinda random but one of my favorite things about Mulder and Scully's relationship is that Mulder so clearly appreciates her intelligence and who she is. Like these moments when he jokingly and respectfully flirts with her come at such specific moments, best demonstrated by this crack edit lol:

(credit to the creator, I just needed the specific clip)

Ignoring Bambi and Sheriff Hartwell la la la la! Except also I mean it can easily be aesthetic attraction, it happens, and neither of those actually went anywhere (Mulder literally sleeps on his couch and uses his bed as a storage room, he wasn't bringing anyone home). They both also have weird exes that show up (tho rarely) but demi means they can totally have had connections with others in the past (and since Scully is still so attached to that guy in 'All Things' after all these years I say it checks out).

(also available in demiro and demiaroace:)

For the record, there are 11 seasons and 2 movies of The X-Files, and while I have watched all of them, that was like 5 years ago (wow I'm old), so I'm not taking responsibility for every single line or scene that ever took place. But the overall vibe is very clear, and random stuff like 'Never Again' or whatever the heck was going on with Fowley (ugggh) are clearly the outliers.

No matter how you frame it, Mulder and Scully's relationship is clearly one based in connection, not attraction. There are actually lines in S1 that indicate both of them see the aesthetic appeal in the other ("I think it's remotely plausible that someone might think you're hot") that prove that's not what it's about for them. It's about mutual respect and admiration. About trust and being there for each other through hardship.

Their relationship is one with years of emotional intimacy before anything physical. I'd even say they dip into QPR territory for a few seasons

And the thing is! It's kinda actually canon. It's literally intentional! It may not be direct representation by name, but honestly now I'm pretty convinced that Chris Carter would have loved to have been aware of these terms/concepts! It may be unwitting, but it is pretty deliberate, which is so evident if you listen to how the creators and actors talk about their relationship in the bts featurettes:

Chris: I was adamant from the beginning that Mulder and Scully should not be romantically involved. (s1)

(this poor man fighting the amatonormativity in media since day one!)

Gillian: Their relationship is platonic and there is so much respect and so much trust and they will risk their lives for each other. (s4)

Sheila Larken: It sounds cliché to say that they're best friends. But they're best friends beyond what lovers could ever be.

Chris: Scully loves Mulder, and Mulder loves Scully. It's a wonderful romance, it's just not a sexual romance, it's not a physical romance. It is a caring, tender, respectful relationship. It's an ideal, I would never want to do anything to threaten it, to change it. (s5)

(oh my gosh do you hear this! ^ I'm not making this up, even Scully would believe me!)

Gillian: Those moments where there is that intimacy, where even just the touch of a hand can be the same as, you know, making love in another series.

They were meant to be platonic and then they slowly and naturally developed into something more (hopefully not just bc of outside pressure but we'll get to that), and for that it's not just your everyday slow burn, but a relationship that is so much more.

Even early on they are allowed to be so openly sweet and affectionate with each other and it's just so chill. In general, the show is just written so different. Like in literally the first episode we have this scene where Scully comes to Mulder's hotel room in the middle of the night and takes off her bathrobe in just her underwear (so Mulder can check the marks on her back) and Mulder does not react at all. He (and the cinematography) is 100% respectful and normal about it, and then is just worried about her. Like how many other shows wouldn't dangle that as bait or make some unfunny comments of like 'man can't control himself' or whatever?

They are allowed to genuinely care about each other and be so tender, to be there for each other without any romantic or sexual implications (for a long long canonical time).

(will never shut up bc this is the sweetest most heart wrenching comfort hug in television history and it's in s2)

(So many more not pictured bc it's like the whole show and you get the idea) And this is a dynamic that continues into their relationship even when it has become romantic (this is the scene for the cuddle moment above and just ahh). And like check out this screen time ratio:

And 4 minutes of the kissing video is actually bts or deleted scenes stuff that wasn't in the show (another fun fact, Gillian and David did an unscripted kiss on the lips in 4.17 that the writers intentionally cut to save for the right moment) and the majority of the on screen kisses are just adorable cheek and forehead kisses (my HEART!)

All this plus the way the show gives these big ol poetic monologues about human nature and the meaning of life (that never have anything to do with sex) all the time. Like in the very least, if you're aspec there's a good chance you'll enjoy watching the show.

Perfect segue @im-a-goddamn-cat because you know what is so funny about all of this? All this amazing ace love? The allos HATE it! They cannot handle it! They cannot fathom that Mulder and Scully were platonic and nothing more for so long. They see all those amazing platonically intimate moments as proof there must be sex. The word "ship" was literally invented for Mulder and Scully. They were the original (and oh boy turns out shipping was implicitly aphobic from the beginning!). Like it's seemingly so universal, it is everywhere:

(spoiler alert, none of those are valid, it literally included their first meeting!)

(like I love you xfiles abridged but...)

Scully's canonical reaction to watching allos' sexualized interpretation of her (horrified):

(It's okay babe, just NEVER go on ao3!)

It's one thing to ship or want them to be together, but it is always about the sex specifically and it so often dips into this aphobia. I swear people treat it like it's a crime that they didn't have sex for so long (or more often/explicitly). Like why bro? Why is that so important to you? Why does love have to equal sex, huh? Why is this the only possible option?

People literally hate Chris Carter for that amazing quote about their romance not being physical! They say he is delusional or doesn't understand his own characters, or was gaslighting fans, just read this article or these ridiculous comments on this reddit post (like reddit is it's own warning but someone even said he "doesn't know how babies are made") Like I may not agree with all of the man's writing choices, but he deserves better than that! Esp since it is clearly intentional and well thought out. He knew what he was doing, it just didn't fit the allotypical standards.

The world just wants them to have sex so bad and us aces are so content.

🖤💜 Mulder and Scully: baffling and frustrating allos since 1993 💜🖤

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

i did the whole 'oh i;ll only watch a couple episodes of this sh- oh oops i've seen the whole thing' with we are lady parts series 2 and i wanna give my thoughtssss

will be spoilers below btw

ok so overall i did love it!!!

as i said in my other post, this series was definitely less funny than the first but that made sense since this one felt a lot more serious, and the emotional moments were by far the strongest imo!!!

the music was great OBVIOUSLY! 'villain era' is an instant classic, and i WILL be listening to the whole soundtrack on repeat lol!

i also really adored so many of the character moments in this series! bisma trying to find her identity as a black muslim woman (and the whole 'don't let me be misunderstood' scene made me bawl! genuinely one of the best bits of tv i've seen in ages!), ayesha's struggle with her relationship to the idea of coming out (which i'm SO happy they went the direction they did! it also really did make me cry too lol... also laura was hot as fuck) and saira's whole censorship thing was SO fucking powerful! (the other characters had great moments too btw, but those definitely stood out to me!)

also ALSO i loveddd how so many scenes had this unique surreal feel to them! like we definitely saw this in the first series, but i love how they really played around with it in this one (the whole pausing people thing, saira being physically censored, etc)

also ALSO ALSO loved that we got some more momtaz scenes! it genuinely broke my heart when they decided to ditch her for the contract tbh and i was so SO happy where they went with her arc!

but ok so despite all that, i did have some Problems...

overall the first half of the series was definitely weaker than the latter half, and like i get that a part of that is cos they ofc needed to set up plots for the latter part to make sense, but it also meant that the first few eps kinda dragged a lil :///

connected to this, i really didn't get why the whole 'second wife' bit was there lol other than to create some 'lady parts are millennial and don't understand gen z' but it all just came across kinda cringey to me soz... (also the fanfiction plot could have been interesting but they handled it in a kinda weird way ??? idk lol...)

my biggest complaint, though, was with what they did with amina.

look, i ADORE her as a character and anjana is an absolute QUEEN. buuuuuuut.... they really couldn't have had something more interesting for her character other than a (kinda boring) romantic storyline?! idk... just with everything else happening with the other characters, it was the part that felt least developed imo...

and it's not like i have anything against ahsan and her being together, i really like their chemistry and def rooted for them in the first series, but the whole white guy thing (i cant be bothered to go look up that guy's name lol) & ahsan's jealousy was just a lil tedious to me idk...

even her scenes with noor and her mum, which i did like, just felt kinda disjointed from everything else... i guess they wanted to include it so the series still felt lighthearted with all the slightly more heavy subject matters this series went into, but it just didn't work for me...

and especially with her saying she's in her 'villain era' i was really hoping for some interesting and dynamic moments with her character but we got like... literally nothing that wasn't already in the first series lol??? also, and this is a small complaint, but i feel like her relationship with saira was a large part of the first series and yet we hardly saw them interact in the second series??? (and i'm not even saying this from a shipping context, even though i do like the idea of them being together lol... it was just odd that their dynamic was so important for the first series but completely ignored for the 2nd ??? idk idk)

and like, look, i know that a part of my minuscule disappointment with this series is that the first series had SUCH a big impact on me and so my expectations after literally 3 years of waiting were very high, so there was no way that it would ever be able to live up to all that anyway so ... idk

[kpchrs]

Since Life is Strange referenced Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Victoria is a reference) and I'm a big fan of BTVS, I think if LiS characters watch it, their favourite characters would be:

(The characters are Max, Chloe, Kate, Warren, Vic, and Nathan.)

Max: I think Max wouldn't really like the vampires and dark theme. Maybe it's too fantastical horror for her cuppa. But I think she'd relate to Willow the most. (A nerd who has no self-esteem then gets a magic power and gets too powerful she's drunk in it? Hell yeah.) And she'd love Tara a lot, the kindest character of all. I think Max would be very interested in Giles too. No, it's not because he's a teacher, she swore. He was very intellectual, it was very attractive! She watched when Chloe watched. It's more fun for her that way.

Chloe: Chloe would be that girl who is like "Yum, sista" when she met Faith and "I can't believe Faith is not gay. SHE'S DEF FRUITY AT LEAST." She would really empathise with Faith too (esp. her parental issues) and she would love her darkness. (Buffy had daddy issues too, but I think Faith resonated in Chloe more.) She'd think Spike was so fricking cool, at least in S2 when he was still a hardcore evil punk rock vampire, but not really after he got chipped. She'd be a little bit disappointed, but she'd still think he was hilarious. I think Chloe would be kinda annoyed at Angel's character, at least in BTVS. I don't think she'd continue watching after S5...? Maybe she didn't really care about the main romance plot lol (Hey, my mom's name is Joyce too! They are very different tho.) When Chloe stopped watching, Max stopped too.

Kate: I appreciate the soul and demons explanation, Warren. But, um, it's too dark for me. I don't really like vampires anyway...

Warren: Warren would LOVE this TV show. He'd be the type of person who SOBBED at Bangel. Bangel is so tragic, Max, I can't believe the universe doesn't want them together, WHY. He'd think Buffy was so hot, Spike was so cool, Giles was rad, etc. He loved almost every cool character. He'd be offended because a guy with his name was a pathetic, gross villain in S6. He'd really enjoy Spuffy too, he'd think it was so spicy ohohohohoho. Delicious, delicious. Then was kinda shocked at SR (iykyk) (but more like, "Oh, shit, they went there!"), cheered at the end of the S6, and then SOBBED again in the end of S7. I think he'd just enjoy whatever it was on the show and he'd think it's one of the best shows of all time. But my favourite is always Doctor Who, Max, always. He then would be off yapping about his analysis of each season and episode, or what he read on Reddit that he claimed as his own, and go blah blah blah bla--

Victoria: Same as Warren, Vic would be the biggest fan of the show. I think Vic would have Buffy as her favourite character. She'd be a Bangel shipper and a diehard Angel and DB fan. She'd be on Tumblr fighting the Spuffy fans. She agreed that Spike was hot, but the ship rivalry was just...yeah. But she'd secretly see herself in Cordelia. Victoria would ask, "I'm not as bitchy as Cordelia, right, Nate? Right??" and Nathan would just laugh his ass off, annoying her. Later in ATS, she came for Angel but had Cangel as a guilty pleasure. Cordelia's character development would kinda trouble her. Not because it wasn't good but because...well, she saw herself in her and could I be like that? Then she watched S4 and was so mad at them fucking up Cordy's arc.

Nathan: Nathan watched this show on and off because Victoria was watching it near him but he didn't like it. He wasn't too interested in a female main character and would be one of the people who was like: "She's hot but there's no way a girl that small can beat up people. (Stupid name, btw.)"

"She's the vampire slayer!" Vic protested.

"So fucking what?!"

He'd remember Riley and ask, "Where is that soldier guy?"

"He fucked off to Brazil a season ago, Nathan! Shut up about Riley already, he sucked!"

"Brazil again." (Iykyk.)

[swearyshera]

Advance apology for the long ask in a likely sea of 'em. A lot of people talk about wishing they could experience something they love again for the first time, this series was genuinely as close to that as I've ever felt. Just given the span of time my attention flucuated on and off but once the latter half of s4/s5 began my attention was absolutely nailed to your feed. Its up with Dragon Ball Z Abridged as parody series that become so dramatically effective they become a valid or definitive way to experience the series. Goddamned sensational.

Your portrayals of the characters soar. They provide a hilarious, cruder take on each that still cuts right to the soul of who these people are and lays it bare, which I think is the mission of any good-natured parody. Adora, Catra, Glimmer, Scorpia, Bow, Prime etc. There is not one that does not shine. It tackled a ton of issues and misgivings I had about canon, and even elevated or clarified many scenes and arcs through addressing them a more direct fashion. You took full advantage of not having to dress up and dance around the dark subjects canon was sort of doomed to handle inadequately given its age bracket and thematic priorities. Many scenes were jawdropping. Ive raved about it before, but your scene with Glimmer actually talking about her mom with Catra still leaves me gobsmacked every time I reread it. Your big moments towards the finale btwn Adora and Catra are obviously sublime and tie their wonderful arc off fantastically, but in my heart of hearts that cell talk will be the crown jewel of this project. Loved seeing the LGBT message take center stage in way canon had to hold back. To paraphrase Tolkien, I'm can't count myself among those gifted people, and youve def got a target audience in mind, but if youve ever worried if your stories resonate on a quote unquote "more universal" level, I promise you can put those worries to bed. Since becoming an adult ive intentionally sought out more and more queer-inclusive/created stories and I havent regretted it a bit, and the rising tide of fascist sexist/homo/transphobic bile in politics gets more and more frightening. But I've also seen how strong and resilient LGBT people are in the face of it, empowering themselves in no small part thru stories like yours. Please don't ever give up on your art. The world needs artists like you. Sorry if I come off pretentious or condescending, I feel like that when I try to get everything I think out at once. I'll be among the first to come running if you ever start another project like this or make something on an even grander scale. Thank you a thousand times for this. Also writing a wholeass sitcom pilot based on an offhand quasi-joke I made is the most weirdly touching thing I think anyones ever done "for me" (at least nominally cuz of me), especially a stranger. So thank you for that too.

Aw, you'll make me cry, you know! I think you've understood everything I wanted to do with this strip (or at least, when I started thinking beyond just 'characters saying fuck'), and... yeah, it's been an incredible journey, both for the blog and for me personally.

I've always tried to keep the parody good-natured. You can often tell, particularly in parody, when the creator dislikes one particular character (I mean, Horde Prime was probably the exception here), but I love all of them, so it really comes from a place of love. It's quite odd because I never set out to "fix" the show, and I wouldn't want to, but some things I've done seem to have had such an impact that a lot of people think I have done just that.

The Glimmer/Catra conversation is absolutely one of my favourite things I've written from this. It's such a pivotal moment in both their stories and character development, and I am truly humbled that multiple people have called it 'better than canon'. Like... I'm just some person trying to be funny and occasionally serious, and people are saying something I wrote is better than what a team of experienced professional writers did? Give over, no... But it's still a moment I can be proud of.

I won't be stopping writing things. This whole blog has given me a new lease of life and something to aim towards. I've got an excellent pilot script pretty much finished, and I do want to bring Hellspawn up to that standard too (thank you for suggesting someone make a Sweary Frosta sitcom - I'm someone!). That may well involve a complete re-write, but I'll be sure to share it.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your kind words along the way. It really keeps me going :)

[cloudsofbespin]

I’m excited for what they are going to do with Devil’s Minion as well. As long as they don’t make it boring I’m sure it will be good. Boring for me would be if they don’t do anything with San Francisco/their messed-up first meeting and instead ignore it by having Daniel just be over it, and/or have Armand and Daniel simply have a hate-love thing. I like (love!) enemies-to-lovers, but there’s a lot of bad versions of it which don’t work cause it’s not actually written as love it’s written as lust and simple attraction. There needs to be some actual romance and depth to it, then I’ll be fully into it!

They have such a good opportunity as well, with Daniel and Armand being screwed up in different but somewhat similar ways. Nothing compares to the horrors of Armand’s past, but they do have in common an unwillingness (and inability) to be fully emotionally open and honest - and given that they are now literally bonded together and exposed to each other (Madeleine being able to read Louis’ emotions comes to mind) I do really want them to do something with that. There’s something great with them both being unable to hide from each other! And them both being uniquely able to call out each other's bs could be something really compelling and funny to see!

I do love Daniel’s words about truly seeing Armand as the monstrous vampire (insect analogy) he is and fully loving and accepting the whole of him in the book. So I hope we’ll see that - or a good and compelling version of it! However, I do need there to be something about Daniel too. Otherwise he will just feel like a tool to aid in Armand’s character development, rather than his own person and the romance of it all would just be one-sidedly about Armand. There obviously needs to be more to it than Daniel loving monstrous complex enigmas like Armand and Armand finding him fascinating because of it. You know what I mean?

I’m carefully hopeful, feels like Daniel having been somewhat closeted and a failure at marriages is something they could use to give him an emotional arc, as well as being a new (abandoned?) vampire. Though he doesn't seem to struggle much with the latter. In Armand’s case I can see several ways of doing an interesting emotional arc for him.

What do you want to see? Big and small? What are some story and/or emotional beats you'd like to see? Also, thank you for being a fun blog to follow during these dark (hiatus) times :)

hi! i love your analysis and all the points you bring up ❤️

simply put i want them to fall in love and i want them to love each other for who and what they are. that's their deal in the books and should be their deal in the show too

obviously the vampire bond is going to play a massive role because well they are bonded forever now and as you said (and as the show established) they should be able to feel each other's emotions even though they can't read the other's mind. there's also my personal favourite detail of them having the same/similarly coloured eyes and the significance of armand looking into daniel's eyes and seeing his own reflection staring back. another aspect of the bond that makes me insane is that they're probably going to be hella possessive of each other now and i can't wait how that's going to manifest

but yeah i def do not want the vampire bond to be the only reason for their connection. because again armand should love daniel for daniel and daniel should love armand for armand. i want them to go on an intense emotional journey together and as you mentioned daniel shouldn't be just a vessel for armand's character development

book!armand describes daniel as "strangely defiant and beseeching in the same breath" and to me show!daniel fits that description as well. they can challenge each other. i feel like armand's been somehow intrigued by daniel ever since san francisco (but that does not necessarily mean they had a relationship back then)

i'm being a total sap right now but somewhere along the way i want daniel to say i love you to armand and mean it. armand should experience what it means to be fully loved in return

also i've gone through various stages of crazy since the s2 finale because as it stands now we truly have no idea what actually happened and what is going to happen with the two of them. all we know is that armand turned daniel and now daniel's been asking (looking?) for him. what the hell happened in dubai? did armand bolt as soon as he turned daniel? does daniel miss him? is he going to look for him? please rolin put me out of my misery

[itsjustelian]

Why Tanizaki is most definitely being chosen for the ADA and PM switcheroo.

1. It has been mentioned how suited for assassination Tanizaki's ability is.

2. He's also the only ADA member without an arc (idk if Kenji counts, but he's too lovely to be moved over, and he sees the Agency as a side job).

3. Man goes bat shit crazy for his sister. He would most def kill a guy if the Mafia held his sister hostage.

4. He tried to kill Mori during the Cannibalism arc.

On why it can't be anyone else:

1. Ranpo is the backbone of the Agency, him being taken would be detrimental to them. That and I don't think he'd willingly work with the Mafia at all. (Especially if Fukuzawa dies this Arc)

2. Yosano is off limits. The agency would defend her being off limits. Even if Fukuzawa never told her the limits of the deal, Ranpo would prob be able to deduce what he said. Even though she's Mori's first choice in things.

3. Kunikida is in line to be the next Agency boss and cares far too much for his ideals and morals for the Mafia to even want him.

4. Atsushi's the main character, this one's pretty self-explanatory. His place is with the ADA and taking him away from them will ruin all the development that's been put into his character.

5. Kyouka just escaped the Mafia. And Atsushi most definitely will not let her go back. Also, the Mafia still has Kouyou, whose ability is practically the same (and I like to think Kouyou won't want Kyouka to come back).

5. Okay, the big one, Dazai. (This one is absurdly long because I'm taking these points from a debate I had with a friend (@randomanimeartist)and they think Dazai's going back, so yeah). Many of the agency members wouldn't let Dazai be chosen. Yosano knows he's had to work under Mori before and doesn't want him to go through that again, and Kunikida still wants a partner. Alongside that, Atsushi is just now starting to see Dazai instead of the orphanage director when he's stressed. (Dont know if thats a positive or not buTtt) Also, Atsushi still needs a mentor and returning Dazai to the mafia would reverse a ton of work done for his character (and he is the main guy so his development matters the most). Yes, Dazai has the potential to do evil, but he is actively trying to become a better person (if only for Oda). Whereas the only other member who has been seen to be capable of evil (that isn't Kyouka because we know she isn't getting chosen. Atsushi isn't letting go of her, and they already have Kouyou) is Tanizaki. He would literally do ANYTHING for his sister (?) and it's been shown the lengths he is willing to go. Also, Asagiri keeps mentioning that he's a boring guy who kind of just does what he's told, making him perfect Mafia material. I don't think he'll willingly go back. Mori keeps asking him if he wants his position back, and it's probably because he knows that if Dazai is forced to return, he'll just run away again. He's finally making progress, and I feel like going back just isn't an option he'll willingly take.

---

Apologies for how long this is, lol. I just think Tanizaki deserves his time to shine.

[dykemcqueen]

Just wanted to say I love it when you talk about your turmoil watching Rick and Morty. Or just Rick and Morty in general. I've tried getting into the show one or two times and I really can't get past like half a season in. I've never been really big on the adult animation genre (tbh I just, really hate the humor) BUT Rick and Morty just sounds SO good and terrible and beyond fucked up. Don't know if I'll ever watch it but, I just wanted to say I rlly enjoy ur second-hand Rick and Morty misery. So thank you

LMAOOOO this means a lot to me that you notice and care <3 as you can tell, unfortunately, r&m takes up an enormous part of my life and brain; it makes me miserable and fucked up; it causes madness and hysteria and midsommar-type scream-sobbing etc etc. i love it so much. if you're ever interested in it, the humor in r&m gets a lot better past s1, but def there's some stuff to slog thru periodically.

i would rank the seasons but the thing about r&m is there's a mix of character eps, sci-fi concept eps, adventure eps, Big Arc eps, funny silly eps, etc., and they overlap in different ways. so it depends on what you're into. in general though: s3(e1-8) for best overall, end of s5 through end of s7 for most consistent character work, specific s1 + s2 eps for the classics. s4 has maybe 3 good episodes. btw s6 onward has selfcest lesbians. if youre into that

what i love about r&m most is that it's brutal bitter throat-grasping codependency at its finest. we all laugh at the silly scifi show heehee but at its very heart is this sweeping, violent, almost awe-inspiring enmeshment... this cycle of possessiveness and jealousy and need... they are a strange, strange duo to put together from the start; there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to keep them together; meanwhile morty is being shaped by rick in so many different ways even as rick grows and changes; as a result there are so many fascinating developments & power plays & shocking fucked up displays of codependency. they seriously haunt me. yes i am miserable. yes i am happy to share that with you all. in fact i couldn't help it if i tried

[odukora-lore]

I find it hard to assume stuff on your stories since there aren't many gaps to fill, so uhhh

* POE's climax is very different from TEF, not being as much of a Big Final Battle

* speaking of TEF's final fight, like. Atch has got to be a main player there, right? He is for sure the strongest character that's going to go against Cygnus so I feel like he's definitely going to play a major role lmao

* CS at one point involves social media scandals because someone took a picture of Angie holding Hydrangea's hand or something

* TSIAS has a Big Climactic Moment involving Skyble figuring out how stars work (aka finishing their theses) and another one when they actually present their hypothesis together

* one of the magical girls in TOI uses a gun (<- lowkey this is just due to G&G and Madoka lmao)

LMAOOO these are such good ones

Actually yeah POE finale reeks more of a peaceful closure instead of the final face down of the big bad ngl, at least that's the vibes in my head, esp considering Thorn is someone that actually gets redeemed (though he never ends up being forgiven by the cast understandably lmao mf has done enough atrocities, he basically ends up in the empyrean and is collectively "adopted/tamed" by the guardians in a way lol but that's a whole other thing for another day, even this plot point alone is very bare bones and not as thought out as the TEF finale that's been in my mind for at least two years now (the og vibes of TEF finale has been a thing since at least 2020 though a lot has been tweaked since then), cuz POE wasn't rlly my story before winning the custody war lmaoooo and I've only changed shit around last year so there rlly isn't much going, one thing that I do know is that the true finale takes place at the tree graves through, but that's more so the resolution instead of the true climax lol, but beforeeeee the climax there is the coolest scene ever™ in the empyrean that I can't wait to draw someday

YES ATCH IS A MAIN PLAYER SINCE THE 2020 VER LMAO that's the shit, I've talked abt this somewhatttt before but there's a reason that while he was banished for millenia everyone in Cloud Cliffs eventually has to go *oh the shitty guy that ruined everything saved the world somehow so we kinda have to respect him now that's lame but tolerable ig* lol, a lot of it has to do w him being a wielder of the soul crystal rlly, post Jingle drown is when he started rlly questioning his motifs seeing how far Cygnus is willing to go w this entire ordeal and around S5 he starts somewhat helping out the main gang by guiding them to the portal to Cloud Cliffs to stop Cygnus basically lol, it's sorta a set up for his supposed redemption arc, though ofc not everyone forgives him immediately lmao, Homecoming becomes a great excuse to explore the follow up aftermath in detail

Her name is Azalea lmaoooooo dw though I never talk abt them much, but yeah LMAOOO one of the fun points of CS is def the social media aspect, one of my main reasons for developing it is literally to have an excuse to explore allll the Naru social media equivalents that never rlly get utilized in the other adventure heavy stories, there's gonna be Quacker drama™, there's also a new char (or two??? Three???) that I haven't ever spilled for CS anywhere that's gonna add some spice to the existing blorbo dynamics, tldr lesbian gay solidarity you'll see

You see it's interesting cuz before I settled on constellations being a POE lore it was actually gonna be explored via TSIAS, so the climatic scene in TSIAS looks very similar in POE in my head though there's def some differences having tweaked it a bit, but yeah it's def the relevation of them figuring out how stars work lol and again it looks cool as fuck™ and is something I also rlly wanna draw someday, presenting their hypothesis together is literally something I've never thought of in my head even if it's the obvious conclusion lmaoo I'm stealing that

Ngl I haven't rlly planned all the glowlin weapons but Lune def reeks of a gun user so it's very likely that she actually does use a gun lmaooooo, she basically blasts all the horrors out of her way and calls it a day

[dateamonster]

longass monster high liveblog: season 2 edition lets gooooooo

rule school

very first thought of the new season: i want a doll of clawdeens wereruler armor so bad. also im excited for more worldbuilding lore stuff, and more varied werecreature designs! part of me gets a little irked sometimes that there seems to be disproportionate attention payed to werecreatures and the inner workings of their society over other monster species, but i cannot deny, i love a funny lil furry.

especially this side character bear dude who keeps showing up

rly feels like there should be a clause in were-society for what to do if ur wereruler is a fuckin kid. she should not have to be doing all this.

when she finally gets that armor off its gonna be like rock lee with the weights

i love these cunty old werewolf ladies ngl

damn speedreader clawdeen

that painting of foxford is soo cute clawdeen i loove u

toralei!! toralei HUG!!!!!!!! hug AND a pun!!! shes sososososo cute

oh and shes maaaad that she showed affection where other people can see lol the Dynamic.. it is unfolding before my very eyes..

oh damn the fox guy is a sneaky motherfucker? who could have foreseen this....... granted the whale plushie is unexpected

new witch in town

draculauras gay lil witch friend <333

lol is humans using monster slang a microaggression? much to think about.

im really interested in this developing plotline about draculaura being pressured to be like the model of Good Witchcraft. it works well with her established character and arc of like trying to live up to her fathers reputation and status in the monster world. poor girl never seems to be able to just fucking relax.

skelita! i love that shes trying out witchcraft, and the art-based magic is a fun angle too! i can totally see where this is going tho. drac is super serious about magic because theres all this pressure on her while skelita is just trying it out in a casual way so theyre at odds. its an interesting dilemma because i can def see both sides.

im really happy the writing seems like empathetic to both positions here. skelita deserves to try magic her way on her own terms, but its also totally understandable draculaura would feel protective over witchcraft when any misuse of it is ultimately going to reflect on her since she was the one working to legitimize it. respectability is a double edged sword fr!

play it again clawd

aw clawd is such a sweetiepie mamas boy. i def feel a little bad for him. imagine if ur little sister became the queen of ur entire society and ur just like. hangin out there.

oh were doing a groundhog day? im not a big timeloop plot person but ill try not to be too biased

this is also how me and my roommate act when theres a fly in the house

aw im rly glad they acknowledge that selena had like a whole life in beheme that she had to leave behind when she came home.. idk if theyre planning to actually do anything more substantial with that but yea when you think about its kinda fucked up! they probably had friends and stuff! clawd was *born* there! i get why theyd choose to stay here with their family and all even if they could easily go back, but like, its gotta be sad at times!

ok not bad as a timeloop ep goes. still not my fav but like clawds so cute and its so nice seeing him do stuff with his family <3

thats all for tonight i think! see u next time!!

[matan4il]

You don't have to answer what the "text messages" were because I have no clue what it could be. But I panicked for a moment, thinking it was Buddie related. Your post made it seem like maybe you were moving away from them, and I hope not. It's a really depressing time right now, and especially knowing we will be lucky to get anything as early as March. I have brought my expectations down to 8 episodes if we are lucky. And that stresses me because I always felt like Buddie going Canon was a season long arc, so now I worry what is that gonna do to half a season. It's just a bummer by now we would be getting previews and pictures and close to the premier.

Anyways I just hope that when we have stuff to talk about, you're still here because your content is my favorite!!!

Awwwww, Nonnie! Your favorite? That is SO sweet of you! Thank you so much for the kind words! *HUGS*

Don't worry. I don't move on that easily, def not from Buddie. I love those two idiots too much for that. Also, I have written tens of thousands of meta words for them, I will be damned if I quit before I get to learn how their saga ends. At least canonically, I always reserve the right to decide what happens to them off screen after the show has ended. ;)

I saw one headline that said 911 might not be back before September 2024. IDK if it's true, but a part of me wouldn't mind. I support the actors and writers' strike, but I also remember what the 2008 writers' strike (which I also supported and still do) did to the quality of shows. And that one was shorter. So a part of me thinks it's better to wait for longer and (once the strike has ended with hopefully the victory of actors and writers who deserve to be treated properly) get a proper full season with the right kind of development and storytelling that we and the characters deserve. I know it's depressing to think about waiting that long. To me personally, it would be sadder if we got the next season sooner, but botched up.

Either way, I hope you're finding ways to hang in there! It's part of why I've been reblogging old posts, so that maybe people can find little Buddie treasures that they've missed the first time around.

Thank you again for the kindness, I am hugging you SO big, Nonnie! And I am very much still here with you, even when I'm babbling about my second hyperfixation... All the love to you! xoxox

(for all of my ask replies, click here, for all of my content, here)

[sungbeam]

hi beam :33 i am here to shower you with love!!

1. i feel like i have so much fave fics from you, particularly the love in unity series but i do think party people and off the record hold special places in my heart <3 i remember when i first read off the record </3 like i feel like i dont express it ENOUGH but it was around the time i was very disconnected from tbz... and somehow ur fic really just PUSHED ME to write and post... and after that, reading party people really just reassured me that yea deobiblr is back!! going back to tbz is what i need to do!!!

6. kind of transitioning to this, i remember vividly reading ur fic in a starbucks because i was waiting for grentperez's concert here and literally my friend was just watching me REACT TO THE FIRST PART. i was literally telling her "oh mygod i am BACK IN DEOBILAND" BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD?!??!?! I FEEL LIKE IT WAS JUST A REMINDER OF MY BIGGER DEOBI DAYS U KNOW and im back stronger than ever

8. i just love ur plots in general. im very much a big fan of just not romance-centered media in general and i really love all the details you put into ur fics esp with the reader and the boyz themselves!!! like for me, it means so much that they have their own arcs/stories!! esp as a big fan of slow burn and just character development I LOVE IT!!!

11. i am hoping for some more jacob fics.... HELP i am just so crazy in my jacob delusions and i know i dont need to ask for more jichang ones bc i rest easy knowing u and i are the biggest kyubodans

13. i talk abt u and ur works so much to my besties actually :') my besties are big caratdeobis so i always recommend ur works to them

i love you beam! you always inspire me tbh :') so glad i got to know you and i am always rooting for u!!! so excited for what else you have in store for us

moni, my lovely, thank u so much for your words, both here and in prose <3

raaaaah !!! it always means so much to me to hear that i was able to inspire u out of ur writing slump :')) i def know how that feels,,, getting into the boyz and p1h was what got /me/ out of my writing slump and i somehow whipped up party people 💀 im just really happy that i was able to find more of deobiblr or maybe even inspire deobis to come out from hibernation w that fic skfnkenfkf

LOL starbucks is like my writing place half the time istg 😭😭😭 omg you reading otr in a starbucks makes me so skcnkrnf im like jumping around in excitement cuz idek !! and pls (´Д⊂ヽ im crying im really really happy that my fics could haul you back to deobiblr cuz we wouldn't be the same without you 🫂 and thank u for always reccing my stuff to friends !! it means the absolute world to me, i get do tender-feeling :'))

and pls, ik u of all people would def appreciate the non-romantic arcs !! i really do enjoy creating and developing friendships and outside relationships—it just adds an extra layer to the fic besides just the romance itself 🤧 and omg i promise i'll get more cobie content out >< the other day i was thinking of posting drabbles of this one au i had written for him, so whenever i don't have a new fic to post, you'll def see it 😎

i love you moni, thank u again for all ur support and love 💖