#and two Arc Containment Zones just for me to use

[usoppsasscheek]

EAVESDROPPER

OPLA!Usopp x Artist!Reader

summary: while you vent to Nami about your feelings of Usopp, the devil himself intrudes in overhearing everything you’ve just talked about.

takes place in alabasta arc ig

contains: angst to fluff, sfw, not proofread, also ik Kaya ain’t like this I love her just gotta do it for the story babes

masterlist

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“I just don’t know what else to do Nami.” You sighed to her, you were both sitting in the kitchen drinking whatever new cocktail Sanji had made up for the both of you. “I don’t think he likes me that way, I mean I’m pretty sure he’s hooked on Kaya the way they kissed before he joined us.” You said, mentally cringing at the memory.

“Come on y/n! That was like what, a year ago? I’m pretty sure they don’t even talk.” Nami exclaimed as she rubbed your arm as a way of letting you know she was there for you. You know they still talk though, you’ve seen him hunched over his desk (if he has one in his room..?), writing letters to her. Your heart broke even more seeing the excited look on his face when he got a letter back from her.

You and Usopp were fairly close, spending the day together from sunrise to sunset daily. You’d give feedback on his newest creations and he’d give advice on your fighting skills, or your drawings you’d draw of the new islands you visited or just your crew. You’d never admit it but your sketchbook was mostly full of him, some he knew about and happily posed for while other ones you’d do in your free time as everyone was chilling together on the Going Merry. Shortly after he joined the crew you noticed your development in feelings for him and tried to ignore them, but ultimately gave in.

“Y/N!” Nami exclaimed, realizing you had zoned out while you two were talking. “God, you’re actually day-dreaming of him?” She shivered dramatically while you rolled your eyes at her. Nami looked at you and sighed as you laid your head against her shoulder, finishing your drink. “I just- I like him so much Nami and I don’t want to ruin our friendship by telling him while he’s got his eyes on another woman.. I’ve been somewhat distancing myself from him to try to loose those feelings but it’s just making me abt him more.” You sniffled, feeling your emotions getting the best of you.

“Oh y/n..” Nami gasped slightly, taking you into her arms as you felt tears invading your lashline. “Look, if he doesn’t realize how stupid he is to have you it’s his loss! I’m sure he-“ Nami ranted before getting cut off by a familiar someone falling face first through the kitchen door. You gasped as you saw Usopp groan as he got up. “Uh.. hi?” He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Did you.. hear everything?” You asked, standing up now from your seat. “I- maybe? But it’s okay! I actually, wait y/n!” Usopp yelled after you as you speed walked out of the kitchen, running towards you and Nami’s shared room past everybody else as quickly as you could. Your heart was beating fast as you locked the door behind you, sliding down it as you finally let everything out.

“You idiot!” Nami yelled at Usopp, hitting behind his head as he groaned rubbing it.

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It was now hours later, you were curled up in your bed refusing to come out of your room no matter who knocked or begged for you to come out. It was now a bit past dinner time, you sighed and sat up on your bed. You then got up and decided you could go up to the deck for some fresh air as everyone would be retreating to their rooms for the night. You quickly walked up the stairs and leaned against the railing, letting out a big sigh.

“y/n?” You heard a familiar voice ask, growing the ache in your heart bigger. It was Usopp, you didn’t say anything or move but he did. He stood beside you leaning on the rail aswell, glancing at you awkwardly.

“I- god I don’t know how to do this stuff.. y/n I-“ Usopp stuttered out before you cut him off. “It’s okay, Usopp. I know you and Kaya love each other. Please don’t let what you heard in the kitchen ruin our friendship. I just-“ you sighed out before it was Usopp turn to cut you off with a kiss, your eyes wide with shock before closing them and melting into the kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you closer before pulling away for a breather.

“y/n, I love you. Kaya and me aren’t a thing, it was just one kiss honestly. We tried to make it work with writing letter back and forth but one day she told me she fell in love with another kid from our village, and I was okay with that honestly. Because I want you. You make me feel so nervous and happy and- just everything. I like you so much y/n, I want you as my girlfriend, not her. I’m not very good at this yet but I promise I’ll try for you and protect you, as the great captain Usopp!” He told you, smiling.

You looked back at him in shock, processing everything before giving him another quick peck on the lips.

“Of course, God Usopp.”

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Thank you so much for reading! Also sorry it’s kinda short.. please give me any advice and I’m looking for mutuals, so please ask if you’d like to be! I’ll also take any requests.

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

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Bonus pic of the sillies (≧∀≦)

[dollypopup]

So, I wasn't gonna post anything about this, honestly, but because I was directly asked, here's my 2 cents!

First, I want to thank you for saying you trust me with this! I'm also on the ace-spectrum, and I'm a queer, bisexual woman, so I do have a lot of empathy with you and everyone else who was down for queer rep.

(Also, I do not have Anon turned on for my asks. I absolutely respect your privacy, but I've been harassed before, and if people want to come at me, they can do it with their whole chest. Similarly, if people want to come TO me, I'd love to be friends!) I want to start off with the fact that whilst I understand that you believe the article, I don't. Call it the skeptic in me, or my media literacy classes during my grad program or denial or what have you, but we live in a huge era of misinformation. A tabloid is not likely to be any kind of reliable source, and a random reddit user even less so. It's like making a balloon full of pudding and having a clown say it's helium. We're not going to know until the needle pops it. Surely, no one would ever lie on the internet.

That being said, as much as I yearned and wanted for Demi Colin to be confirmed, it's not set in stone, and so it couldn't have been taken away from us. Honestly, even being ace-spec, a lot of the HC of Demi!Colin started putting a bad taste in my mouth when I realized that a lot of this predominately cishet fandomw as doing it as a means of keeping Colin 'pure' for Penelope, and that struck me as incredibly acephobic. Sure, they were HCing him as one of us. . .but not because it fit with his character or provided a rich and interesting arc for him to explore, but more so that his identity was an extension of their hopes and wants for Penelope. It wasn't for him as a character, but for him as a prize. And that made me so very sad, so my dream of Demi!Colin died when I saw that happening so frequently. Us Demi and Ace folks deserved better than that, and we continue to.

Either way, I think you are absolutely allowed to feel your disappointment! This is a frustration safe zone! There was a lot of potential this season, especially for Colin, that I feel has been dropped. But even IF that article contains some truth (big, heavy IF). . .idk, I see it through the lens that lot of us Demi folks have had sex. Even no strings attached sex. I know I have. Was I disassociated from it for a lot of the time? Yeah. Was it satisfying? No. But did it happen? It did. I chose to take part in it, and they were experiences that helped me grow. And I am no less Demi for it! IF this article is true, instead of us freaking. . .I feel like it could tell us a lot about Colin's character.

He is a man who has had, largely, no good role models in his life. Not in this regard. Who does he have to guide him? Anthony? Literally said he should have taken Colin to brothels. Benedict? Hell, he had a threesome himself. Why wouldn't Colin be out here thinking 'This is what Men do, this is what my brothers do, why not?' Colin is young. He's 23 still trying to find himself. And the entire idea of 'oh, he's a nerd! no way he's had threesomes' lol, like nerds aren't kinky? Come on, I'm a nerd and I've done way more than people would assume I have. He was traveling for months, and I think this really isn't as huge a deal as we're making it out to be. I ship Polin exclusively, and I love the idea of them having their firsts together, but I'm also not angry otherwise. In my mind, he's still demi. Just like he'll always be ND, even if it isn't confirmed.

Sidenote, o want to touch on something that is somewhat unrelated to your post, but something I'm seeing a lot is the whole 'it's dehumanizing for him to watch two women!' or 'it's lesbian fetishization!'

from the very bottom of my heart, as a gay woman, people saying that can eat me. These are the same people who didn't care about any of our representation, before. They didn't care about having lesbian characters, didn't bring them up. Now that it affects their (largely) het pairing, and specifically Colin as a perfect prize in a pairing he has largely been denied a narrative within, we're talking pieces and pawns for their discontent? No, I refuse. There are legitimate criticisms that can and should take place about Bridgerton's lack of care toward wlw, and especially that our only representation may actually just be a lesbian performance for the sake of a threesome, but this is not a criticism on COLIN. It is a criticism on the PRODUCTION. Because if we had queer women in the series before, it wouldn't be an issue. However, I refuse to have my sexuality used as a 'ewwww gross! look what they're doing! isn't that soooo wrong?' gotcha moment by people who just don't like his character. If we're gonna have a conversation about it, we should have a conversation about it based purely on our actual desire to protect and care for queer women. Not using us as stepping stone soap boxes to prop up an argument.

Queer people are really done dirty in the Polin fandom, and this is proof of it. Demi!Colin is important to me, and he continues living on in my heart and my fics, and even if it turns out that he's fucked up and down the Amalfi coastline and watched live porn, that won't make him less demi to me, personally. Ace spec people's experience with sex is all unique, and honestly, watching seems very in line with Colin's character. I don't agree with peeps who call it weird or gross that he watches porn.

This is an incredibly puritanical fandom, and I find it more and more evident as I spend time in it. The entire 'suffering' 'penance' 'deserve her' 'grovel' train was already very clear in that regard, and then people only wanting Colin to be a virgin so he remained 'pure' and 'untarnished' (legit takes I had to read with my own eyeballs) for Penelope was so Catholic on main that it made me feel insane.

Us ace-spec peeps deserve to be and should have the space to be upset at any developments taking place! We also deserve to be free from people doing pseudo pearl clutching and hiding behind feminist and queer-friendly language to disguise that they're just upset that Colin is getting anything at all in his storyline that centers around him and his own discovery outside of Penelope. Even if he isn't a virgin, he can absolutely still be Demi, Anon! And I hope that brings you some comfort.

Am I a fan of the threesomes foursomes moresomes and live porn speculation? No, not particularly. Am I livid furious throwing up about it? Also no. This series has betrayed me and disappointed me in so many ways, but so has the fandom. I guess I'm accustomed to it, now. But I want to reiterate that we should not believe everything that is posted. Some rando on a reddit forum confirming a tabloid article does not investigative journalism and peer review and confirmed sources make.

But in the event that the season does disappoint and gives us some baffling storylines: this is where fanfic can be such a comfort. It's how a story lives on in perpetuity. I've written trans!Colin and queer!Colin and demi!Colin and virgin!Colin and bdsm!Colin and all sorts! We can give we everything we want. It's our playground and it's meant to be fun.

But over my dead body will I believe a Sun UK article lol

[coffeeghoulie]

Kinktober Day #22: Sexting

The Ghostober prompts were put together by @kroas-adtam, and divider made by @gothdaddyissues, thank you both so much!

Pairing: Swiss/Dew

Summary: Dew and Swiss's teams play on opposite sides of the country, but that won't stop them from getting up to their usual antics.

Takes place in a scene mentioned in chapter four of Five Minutes for Fighting, but if you don't want to read a 15k fic right now, Swiss and Dew are on opposing hockey teams and speedrunning an enemies to lovers arc. They're about 75% of the way there in this fic. I wasn't comfortable enough writing smut to write this scene out when I posted that chapter, but I am now. Tada!

Contains mutual masturbation, phone sex, and two idiots pining for each other.

Tagging @forlorn-crows, @nocturnalghoul, @askingforthesun, and @highdefinitions for hockey ghoul reasons <3 and a special thank you to @highdefinitions for helping me with Swiss's team's name.

Read under the cut or on AO3!

Dew flops down on the hotel mattress, a bit too firm for his taste, and grabs his phone off of the nightstand. In the time it took for him to wash the sweat from his hair and change into comfortable clothing, he's gotten a new message.

S: Saw the highlights from the Ghouls game tonight. A lot of those clips were you.

Dew preens, even though he knows the other man's just trying to butter him up. He did play well. When he really applies himself, when he gets in the zone, when he's not picking fights with Swiss for fun, he's one of the top scorers on the roster.

He runs through the game schedules in his mind, trying to remember the next time the Popestars, Swiss's team, and the Ghouls play. It's not for a couple of weeks, but Dew does remember that the Popestars were scheduled to play the Holy Hitters a few hours prior. Dew opens his phone, starts texting back.

D: Didn't you skate tonight? When the fuck did you have time to watch Ghouls highlights?

S: At the hotel now. You took some big hits tonight, spitfire

Dew groans at the reminder, sore ribs and shoulder lighting up. He had been checked pretty good, slammed into the plexiglass by defensemen almost twice his size trying to steal the puck away from him.

S: Got me all worked up, watching you get tossed around like a ragdoll.

D:Real subtle. You don't want to praise me for my good game, you just want to burn off that adrenaline.

S: So? What's the difference between me texting you and me railing your ass in your locker room shower?

Dew groans, even as his cock twitches in interest at the memories. He palms at himself through his sweatpants.

D: The difference is that you're on the other side of the fucking country and can't actually fuck me.

Dew can almost hear Swiss's chuckle as the text bubble pops up.

S: Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I texted you what I'd want us to be doing if we were in the same timezone?

Dew takes a deep breath through his nose, hair fanned out under his head. He presses the heel of his hand harder into his dick, groaning.

D: Fine. Yes. What would you want?

Dew turns his head to groan into the pillows as he palms himself, reading Swiss's reply.

S: I keep thinking about the night you snuck into my hotel room, the night your captain really fucked me up? The first night I got to have you in an actual bed. I want to do that again. Really take my time with you.

Dew fumbles one handed with the drawstrings on his sweatpants, texting back with his dominant hand. He pushes his hand down his sweats and boxers, palming himself with a groan.

D: You wanna take me apart again? You gonna be real sweet about it, like you were then, or do you want to push me around like in the showers?

S: I was thinking about how easy it would be to manhandle you, take you how I want. I know it's a bit of a sore point, but you're so much smaller than me. My hands nearly wrap all the way around your waist, spitfire. It makes you quick and hard to hit on the ice, but fuck, if it doesn't get me going. Wanna hold you down and make you take it.

Dew groans loudly. wrapping his hand around himself properly, his length beginning to spit precum. He shoves his sweats and underwear down, freeing himself, giving himself more room to work.

D: Yeah? you gonna make me take it rough, split me open on you? You want me to fight back or take it nice?

S: I don't think it was gonna be rough. Sure that's how we started, but I liked being sweet on you, making you feel good.

Even though there's no one there to see him blush, Dew turns his face into the pillows and whines, high and feminine. He steels himself and scowls, typing frantically.

D: Fucking sap.

S: You liked it. You were the one who asked to take our time to begin with.

D: Fine. You caught me.

S: I'm calling you. Pick up.

Dew freezes as his phone rings, blaring the Popestars' goal song. It had been a funny joke, assigning that song to Swiss's contact, but he's pavloved himself on the ice when they play against each other. He wants to hear it more than he wants Mountain to make the save.

He picks up, and the warm sound of Swiss's voice filters through, a little tinny from the speakers. "Hey, spitfire," he groans, and Dew's stomach flips as he hears the wet noise of Swiss touching himself.

"You get started without me?" Dew says, trying and failing to mock him.

Swiss laughs, the sound fading into a low groan. "You can't tell me you haven't started. I know how flustered you get when I talk dirty, spitfire."

Dew rolls his eyes, grateful Swiss can't actually see it. He presses the heel of his hand into his dick, biting back the resulting groan. "Yeah, and what about it?"

"You blush so pretty," Swiss says, and Dew can picture him, sprawled out on his hotel bed over the covers, his dirty clothes strewn in a pile on the bathroom floor, one hand wrapped around his cock, the other pressing his phone to his ear. "You turn cherry red from the tips of your ears all the way down to your nipples, makes your piercings really stand out. You know your dick turns the same color when you start to drip?"

Dew can't bite back his whimper, and he curses himself as he hears Swiss's hand falter on himself. "Shut up," he whines.

Swiss chuckles, and Dew privately, secretly, wishes he could record the sound, replay it whenever he wants. "You don't want me to shut up, spitfire. You want me to keep talking so you can get off to it."

Dew sets the phone down next to him on speaker, biting the heel of his hand hard as he starts jerking himself off again. "What- what about it?" He pants, trying to keep his cool as Swiss's voice makes his dick twitch.

"It's okay, spitfire, I know what gets you off, want to make you feel good even though I can't do it myself," Swiss coos, voice slightly tinny. "Jerk yourself off for me, want to hear how good you feel."

Dew can't help but obey, rubbing his thumb against the tip of his dick, watching fascinated as it drips precum down his shaft, easing the way for his hand. He knows there's a travel size bottle of lube in his go bag, but he can't be damned to get up and get it. He doesn't want to leave his phone behind, even though it's on speaker and he'll still be able to hear.

"Swiss," he whispers, scared one of his teammates will be able to hear on the other side of the wall, even though he's safe behind soundproof hotel walls. "Swiss, fuck, please."

"Yeah, spitfire?" Swiss replies, sounding entirely too collected as he strokes himself vigorously on the other line. "Tell me what you want."

"Wanna be with you, want it to be your hand on me, want to get my hands on you," Dew whispers, face hot and eyes squeezed shut as Swiss makes him describe his desires. He strokes himself faster, reaching down with his free hand to pull at his piercings. He keens, and he can hear Swiss's responding groan, the wet noises from the other end speeding up.

"Want to get my mouth on you again, spitfire," Swiss groans, and Dew speeds his own strokes up to match Swiss's pace. Swiss only lets the pleasure affect him when he's close, and Dew doesn't want to be too far behind when he cums. "You tasted so good, such a sweet mouthful for me."

Dew sobs, cock kicking in his hand as he pinches his nipple hard, pebbling the pink flesh. "Close," he whines, jerking himself off furiously, his cock weeping precum.

"Yeah, spitfire, baby?" Swiss moans. "You gonna cum for me? So far away from you but I'm still gonna make you cum, spitfire."

"Yeah, you are. Fuck," Dew whines, muffling the sound into his hand.

"Hand off of your mouth, baby. Need to hear it, Dew, need it so bad. Need you so bad," Swiss whines, and Dew can hear his breath hitch as his hand speeds up. "Gonna cum for you, princess, gonna make a mess just for you."

"Do it," Dew pants, "I'm gonna cum, Swiss, please cum with me."

Swiss shouts wordlessly, and the slightly-warped noise is all it takes to send Dew flying over the edge himself. He shoots ropes of hot, pearly cum over his knuckles, pooling in his happy trail, wailing the whole time he works himself through it.

"Good boy," Swiss groans, and Dew's seen him in the aftermath enough times to picture his face in perfect clarity, brows furrowed, eyes shut tight, chest heaving as he breathes heavily through his nose. The mental image is enough to make his dick kick valiantly between his legs, but he ignores it, still floating on the high.

"Fuck me, Swiss," Dew laughs, trying to catch his breath. "I just got out of the shower. Wouldn't have washed up if I knew you were just gonna make me make a mess again."

Swiss chuckles on the other end. He hears the rustle of him running a hand over his curls. "You wanna send me a picture, spitfire? I'd like to save that for later."

Dew groans, tilting his head back into the pillows. "Fuck, Swiss, you can't just say that."

"Well, I did," Swiss laughs, but Dew can still hear his heavy breathing. "How about this, you send me a picture of your mess, I'll send you one of mine. Deal?"

Dew moans at the thought, his cum still dripping from his fingers. "Yeah, I'll do it, give me a minute."

"No rush," Swiss says, voice evening out. "Just wanna see what I do to you. Bet you look real pretty, spitfire. It's a shame they're not my bruises on that pretty body."

"Possessive," Dew laughs, chest still heaving. "Give it a couple weeks, you can bruise me up all you want. Make me bleed, even."

There's a long silence, and Dew's suddenly unsure of the words he's just said.

"I don't think I want to make you bleed anymore, Dew," Swiss says, something strange in his tone. "Bruises, marks, sure. I don't think I want you to bleed."

"Huh," Dew says eloquently. "Okay. No bleeding, then. We can work with that."

Swiss sighs, and Dew can imagine him nodding. "Alright. I do mean it, Dew. You played well tonight."

"Thank you," Dew whispers. "I'll look for your highlights after I shower. After the picture, I mean."

Swiss chuckles. "Tonight wasn't my best game," he admits. "I didn't play nearly as well as you did, spitfire."

Dew cackles, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his clean hand. "I'll be the judge of that, Swiss. We play again in what, three weeks?"

"Yeah, think so," Swiss says.

"Think I'm gonna let you go in a bit," Dew says, hesitantly, trying not to show how clingy he wants to be. "I'll get you that picture, and then I'm going to run up this hotel's hot water bill. Got a bus ride in the morning and I hate sleeping on the bus. I'll see you at the next game?"

"Yeah, spitfire," Swiss says fondly, and his voice almost feels almost like a caress against his hot cheek. "I'll see you at the next game."

There will be no next game. Swiss gets traded to the Ghouls a week from this moment, but neither of them know that yet. How could they? For now, they bask in the afterglow, listening to each other breathe thousands of miles apart.

[chairteeth]

"The Many Masks of Touka Satomi"

So I actually wanted to refine this certified word vomit of mine before I put it anywhere buuuut I figured this would be a good time to let it out of its containment zone. This is essentially me overthinking the crap out of everything ever and coming out of it with this interpretation of Touka in particular. Informal essay under the cut! It will have extra tangents! And I blend a bit of what we were shown in the anime into my interpretation, but this is game canon.

Whenever Touka is discussed, the words "child", "immature", "selfish", and "arrogant" are the ones most often thrown around. There is usually not much more discussion after that. Well, I'm not here to say it's wrong, it's correct for the most part, I'm just here to draw attention to the fact that there's so much more to her than meets the eye. So, hear me out, if you would.

Touka's levels of vulnerability in the Magius era. That's already interesting by virtue of it being the Magius era. That's a really interesting era. Ui was what brought Touka and Nemu together and Ui was the cornerstone of their relationship for a while, so losing that RETROACTIVELY kinda makes you wonder exactly what their memories of the hospital era became. How exactly the two of them met, became friends, came to share a room, etc. Because the quotes are from their Magius selves and so we know they very much remember being roommates for a long time and still consider each other reliable and trustworthy (also the entirety of Nemu's swimsuit costume story which spawns many questions when you stop to think about it but I will touch on that some other time). We know that in reality, the hospital trio began to share a room after Touka, in her infinite princess behavior, asked her dad to put all three of them in the same room because it was annoying to walk between the rooms so often (source: TouNemu Christmas alt quotes). Interesting choice on her part back then considering she seemingly wanted Nemu out of the way, but I will touch on that another time because the hospital era has its own analysis.

Okay then, let's talk about Touka's role as a Magius. A leader. One who shoulders the burdens of the many. She willingly exposed herself to the weight of a whole people's sorrow, pain, grief, anger. And then she chose to lead them. To avenge them. It may not have started that way but it sure as heck got there at some point (thank you anime for helping out with this point). Now, I want to stop here for a moment and remind everyone that during Arc 1, Touka was 11 to 12 years old (as per the JP script, she is 12 by the end of it). Not only that, but if you pay attention, you'll notice the stress of Nemu's declining health is killing her. Nemu is quite literally the only person Magius Touka shows genuine concern for. This one person she cares about more than anyone else, slowly dying for the plan. For the cause. And as the sort of "main leader", Touka can't back down. She just can't. It would be not only a betrayal to "her people", but also to the one closest to her, the one who has arguably sacrificed the most for their salvation. So then, with someone as full of herself as Touka, someone seemingly so arrogant... What about her own health and wellbeing? What about her own sense of self? Because I have a feeling she doesn't really have one.

The way she always emphasizes the genius aspect of herself and even uses it as an excuse and brings it up so often feels like that's all she sees herself as. Nemu gives, yes. Nemu has similar issues. But hers are much, much more obvious. Less concealed. Touka gives without measure, without the slightest care for herself. She's selfish and at the same time one of the most selfless characters. There's also the interpretation that, at their very core, Touka and Nemu both just wanted to live. But I feel like that was only at the beginning. If that was all there was to it, the plan would not have continued with Nemu's life at risk, Touka would not put herself in the line of fire. Essentially, Touka has taken on way, way too much responsibility, as well as crafting several masks. Don't forget, just like every other magical girl, she led a double life the entire time, and she financed a lot of the cult's operations. Though I don't have any doubt many of the richer members contributed to the budget with their ridiculous allowances that they do not use.

Touka had to hide from everyone. She couldn't show her true self to anyone. Not her father who loves her so deeply, not anyone else in her civilian life, not her subordinates, Alina is not the most warm and welcoming to be around... so her only option is Nemu. That's comfortable. That's familiar. But. Then there are the many, many feelings she has about Nemu. It's, complicated you see. Touka feels many ways about Nemu. For starters, if their memory of Ui is gone, it means all of the warmth and kindness Ui had must've taken another form, which explains the difference in their bond, how they seem so much... closer, as Magius. Either way, even back then, Nemu is the only one who would understand. Touka Satomi is an actress. Everywhere else is her stage, and Nemu is backstage. So, Touka can only ever be truly 100% vulnerable with Nemu. Yet she still didn't do it. I don't think Magius Touka ever really fully 100% relied on Nemu. She may have wanted to, and she does call her reliable in her quotes. But well, with Nemu's health getting worse and worse, she may have come to the conclusion that it would be for the best (health-wise) if Nemu didn't have to share her burden.

However, Nemu's declining health also brought something else. Touka took on another role: the protector. Nemu is practically helpless during the mid to late Magius era. Not completely helpless, she's still a strong magical girl, mind you, but could drop or have an attack at any time. We see this multiple times such as in Mifuyu's MGS, her own MGS, and she even has what is basically a stroke during Arc 1 Chapter 8, 4:02:36 - 4:03:43 in the video if you want to take a listen (I have a Magius Nemu essay in the works, don't you fret). Therefore, Touka has to be alert and ready to respond immediately. Which I think is why we see more of Alina outside than Touka. Touka lingers around where Nemu is and only hesitantly hands her over to Alina or Mifuyu when she absolutely must. Other than the sheer pain of watching Nemu bleed herself dry and being unable to do anything about it, not because she physically can't, but because she can't in a different sense... she also can't revert things back to the way they were, for all of her genius and medical knowledge she can't help Nemu, she can't help her best friend feel even a little better. This leads us to the undeniable fact that Touka is very, very unstable and volatile as a Magius. That's not the impression she first gives at all, of course.

Arc 1 Chapter 6 is where we first meet Magius Touka. She's calm, with a cold cheerfulness to her, calculated. Most importantly, I feel like the reason she was the one doing the lecture instead of literally just sending Mifuyu was because she recognized Team Mikazuki as a possible threat and specifically did not like Iroha, which was also why she lied. The one and only thing Touka lied about in her lecture: Iroha asked where Nemu was, Touka said they parted ways after being discharged. Blatant gigantic lie. And seriously, the only reason she'd have to lie about that and in that specific way would be to protect Nemu. At that point, Iroha and her team have wiped out a handful of uwasa, so she must have known. But yes, this is not at all how she really feels or what she really thinks. This is just another mask (I will talk about Touka's plastic smile and Nemu's poker face ANOTHER TIME). Because she needs to nip any aspirations Iroha may have in the bud, hopefully recruit more Feathers, and neutralize the threat that is Team Mikazuki.

What happens just as she's starting to go off the deep end? How convenient, it seems Yachiyo and Iroha have spent a good amount of their time destroying uwasa, thus wasting Nemu's repeated sacrifices, and forcing her to make more in order to meet their energy quota. Honestly, who wouldn't be losing it, at that point? So close to salvation, so close to freedom, so close to being done. And they're ruining not only the plan but also everything it means for her and the person she loves most. When you really think about it, Touka's mental health was, forgive the crude language, IN DEEP SHIT throughout Arc 1. Not that it was great before or that it improved too much after, but yeah, I do believe people do not give this enough thought.

Finally, with all of this in mind, as for the topic of this rant being Touka's levels of vulnerability as a Magius... There were none. She had no choice. At first it was fine. At first, before the gears turned too fast to stop, she could deal with it. She could confide in Nemu, even a little bit in Alina or Mifuyu (though not much), but it got worse and worse. Mifuyu was clearly blind to all of this the entire time (she, much like everyone other than Touka, didn't seem to care that Nemu had to give up her life force for each uwasa, and if you disagree I will point out the scene at the end of Mifuyu's MGS as one of my more than five pieces of evidence). Alina likely didn't care enough, and Nemu was probably too exhausted, although the concern must've been there. In summary, Magius Touka stands alone in her mind, and with her mind. Arc 1 was practically a descent into madness for her. When you start thinking about things from Touka's perspective, you start to see how abysmal her mental health was.

As part of my conclusion I'd like to say that honestly, it makes sense why she gave off the feeling of being lost for a decent chunk of... everything after Arc 1. What is she supposed to do without a purpose? What is she supposed to do without anything or anyone to tell her what she is and who she is? Not to mention the fucking ton of bricks to her face that must've been getting her memories back. I do not know how she didn't break. I legitimately do not know how she survived. During that little "lost" stage she had, I got the feeling she'd relapse back to her suicidal tendencies. It was... less "a feeling" and more "exactly what canon did", it's just slightly (badly) disguised.

ANYWAY. What I mean is that the children are complex and I ask everyone to have more respect and more compassion for them. I will be back with more about the performer and her backstage, hopefully in a more organized format.

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 26: Zurich Part 1

At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to do this one, because I usually listen to Zurich 1 and 2 sequentially, usually when I have a long train/car ride back from something shitty and need to smile. But then I realized that this could be my first time listening to them separately since that first time almost exactly nine years ago, and I knew I needed to do it.

That time was pretty crazy- I was traveling abroad and my time zone was ahead of the UK, and where I was staying there was only one room that had internet access, so I had to sneak down there past security in the middle of the night to listen to the first new Cabin Pressure episode in almost two years... two nights in a row! But it was worth it to open up BBC Sounds and just bask in it, while making as little noise as possible so nobody would know I was there. Ah, memories.

And of course, it was so worth it! Incidentally, I don't know if other people remember this but they actually released an advance clip beforehand, which was when Arthur shows up in the new "ice cream van." I don't remember if it was the FULL clip, but it definitely had him showing up and definitely had the ice cream chimes. I remember laughing myself sick at that, while also wondering what they were thinking releasing the funniest part of the episode beforehand, because wouldn't it take away from the obviously less-funny rest of the episode? Obviously, though, I had nothing to worry about.

You might be wondering why I'm just sitting here rambling about what I remember from 2014, and the answer is, to a certain degree, that John Finnemore kind of already did the definitive writeup of Zurich in his Farewell Bear Fact here. I've cited it here before, because it's just that critical. At a certain point, going too much into character arcs and motivations would just be me rehashing what he said, but worse.

That said, I definitely have some of my own comments, like how without listening to Yverdon and Zurich 1 in a row (which I basically never do), I'd forgotten that the pre-credits scene in Zurich is basically just a lesser version of the ending scene in Yverdon... I get that unless they wanted to commit to Arthur having an allergic reaction throughout the scene they couldn't just repeat it, but I'm still a bit sad we lost Arthur's thing about being a hotel guy. That said, transferring the scene over and reinterpreting it was done beautifully, and I love how Theresa showed up right at the key moment, not only for plot reasons (so that Martin needed to admit for real that he had the job) but because having her there as well really differentiated this scene from the prior one.

(I also want to say, my single favorite joke on this whole fucking show is in this episode, and it is "like in Casablanca, where the woman gets to go on the plane.")

The wait from Yverdon had, of course, been agonizing by the time we all (and by "we" I mean all of us but the lucky bastards who saw the recording) listened to it, and I remembered wondering how they were going to handle it- and was both surprised and delighted that Martin's attempted subterfuge was revealed immediately. It had felt like a cliffhanger for the sake of a cliffhanger- and of course, to a degree, it was (if JF hadn't wanted one he wouldn't have written one) and keeping didn't feel sustainable, which indeed it wasn't. And in general, the kind of farce that comes from keeping secrets isn't usually my favorite kind of comedy, which is a bit funny considering how much I love Frasier but I digress. So when everything was out in the open and they all just had to move on and deal with it, that was like a breath of fresh air.

And I LOVE how JF made this episode remarkably self contained! We'll see tomorrow in Part 2 that there are lots of dangling threads just begging to be tied up, but the episode is still utterly enjoyable on its own terms. I've seen/heard/read Part 1s that feel like they're just set up, but here everything is funny, sweet, heartwarming in its own right, even without Part 2 to provide the finishing touches. If the last we'd gotten of the Carolyn/Herc relationship had been her allowing him to say that he loves her because it's a special occasion, it would have been a basically fitting send off, even if what we'll end up getting in Part 2 is better. And of course the auction scene is perfectly self contained and hilarious, just amazing. (Though I have to say, a British radio comedy writer having GERTI as "lot 42" is possibly a trifle on the nose, but hey, everyone does it, why shouldn't he be able to...)

I'll admit that the first time I listened to this episode I thought that Douglas was serious about trying to get Gordon to sell the plane to Carolyn (for decent motives), right up until he explained his plan. Now relistening I'm not sure why I ever thought that, it makes zero sense in the context of the broader story and the characters. It was, of course, so much more exciting to me to realize that they were about to embark on a mission to go steal GERTI back.

[lucienballard]

Bob George in the ARC NYC stacks. Photograph: unknown/ARC NYC ...

‘No one else is saving it’: the fight to protect a historic music collection ...

It all started in a loft in Tribeca, New York, long before it was a trendy neighbourhood. “I had 47,000 records and nobody wanted them,” recalls Bob George, who had just published a discography of punk and new wave music. “That led a lot of people coming to me and saying you have to save this stuff; no one else is saving it. That got the ball rolling in my loft in what is now fashionable Tribeca, which was an incredibly unfashionable war zone in 1974 when I was first there.”

George turned his record collection into the ARChive of Contemporary Music (Arc) in 1985 with co-founder David Wheeler. The non-profit music library and research centre now contains more than 3m sound recordings or over 90m songs, making it one of the biggest popular music collections in the world. Donors and board members have included David Bowie, Jonathan Demme, Lou Reed, Martin Scorsese and Paul Simon.

The Arc is not open to the public but has been a vital resource for film-makers, writers and researchers ranging from Ken Burns looking for a song for his series Baseball to the new Grammy Hall of Fame and Museum in Los Angeles needing cover art for its inducted recordings. Now, however, this unique treasure trove is under existential threat.

The Arc cannot remain at its current Hudson Valley premises indefinitely and is in need of a new and bigger home. “We have to move and we don’t know when we’ll have to move and the collection is really at risk because it’s all on pallets,” says George, who dreams of a patron like James Smithson, the British scientist who left his estate to the US to found the Smithsonian Institution. “We’re looking for someone to help us buy a very wonderful property or for us to build a new building on vacant land in upstate New York.”

After growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, George moved to New York in 1974 as a visual arts student and started collecting records as a DJ. In 1981 he released Laurie Anderson’s first single, O Superman, which sold nearly a million copies worldwide and made it to number on the UK singles chart. He was a guest on John Peel’s beloved BBC radio show, sneaking in little-known records from New York, and took music to European broadcasters too. People kept giving him records that other collections turned down.

Some of the 18,000 recordings in the Keith Richards Blues Collection. Photograph: Arc NYC

“I was doing the book and then doing Peel shows and it accidentally became this large collection that nobody wanted. They kept saying, oh, we collect classical, we collect Broadway, we collect ethnic music. I said, well, I have funk, reggae, African and hip-hop and they said, oh, no, we don’t collect any of that. Forty years later, I say, you put all those together and that’s what music has become.”

The simple goal of the archive, which has always had a peripatetic existence, is preservation. “We have no interest in quality,” George cheerfully admits. “It started that way from the very beginning because there’s no way to tell what’s valuable in the future. Everybody brings their own criteria and tastes to things in their own time. But the future is quite different, as we hope.”

The archive has never received aid from any city, state or federal organisation but its scale gives the Library of Congress a run for its money. It has absorbed major collections from musicians and fans and is home to most of Rolling Stone Keith Richards’ extensive blues inventory.

George dispatched two semi-trailers to a condemned house in Boston sinking under the weight of Jeep Holland’s set of more than 125,000 recordings and over 2,500 signed albums from the likes of the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols. “Going towards the bathroom, he has a gas stove, the pilot light is on, there are records in the oven. It was just a storage space ... His car had become so full of records that he abandoned it and rented a car.”

George has made repeat trips to countries such as Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Japan, Jordan, Laos and Thailand. The Arc contains Demme’s personal collection of Haitian albums. More than 150,000 pieces of world music have been catalogued; there are plenty more to do. “We’ve tried to get as much of that material as possible so that collection is just fabulous.”

The Arc preserves copies of every recording in all known formats. It has electronically catalogued more than 400,000 sound recordings and digitised 200,000 with the Internet Archive – more than any other public university or private library in America. It also contains more than 3m pieces of material including photos, videos, DVDs, books, magazines, press kits, sheet music, ephemera and memorabilia.

The late Andy Rourke of the Smiths at Arc looking at Smiths records he had never seen. Photograph: Arc NYC

George says: “We catalogued 105,000 singles just recently; we have another 200,000 or 300,000 to go. This is the first way a band at one time got their feet in the water. They put out one or two or three singles. If they did hits, they got the chance to do an album and so much of this material does not exist on LP or CD. Little by little more of it might be streaming because of YouTube, as people can get away with murder on YouTube, which is great, but YouTube will disappear. Everything commercial will disappear.”

Among those who have turned to the archive is the Oscar-winning director Ang Lee, who wanted records by the singer Bert Sommer for his film Taking Woodstock. “The archive is amazing because we don’t know what we have until somebody needs it. We’ve been into the stacks and we found five LPs by Bert Sommer. For me, it’s like I have no idea who this guy is and what he did; he’s sort of a folkie. For Quincy Jones, we just sent him a list of the 8,000 things that he’s either produced or on.

“Research was how we basically stayed alive along with the largesse of the rock stars or celebrities that we had hooked up with. The idea was never to open to the public but that’s what we want to do now. I don’t think it’s untrue that we’re one of the largest in the world and that we want to make that available. We’ve tried to save two copies so there will always be a listening copy and then that would then become a listening library.”

George hopes the new archive will be open to students, educators, historians, musicians, authors, journalists and the general public. An anonymous donor has come forward with a million dollars to help realise that dream but more money is urgently needed. One possible new home is an abandoned IBM campus spanning 34 acres, although that would cost $8-10m. George is considering partnering with an upstate university and has plans to offer residencies for scholars.

“People could come in and produce a work, and that would go out into the world. It could be a blog, essay, tape, compilation, new recording, whatever. We’re really quite un-academic. I’m against it somewhat and I’d like people to have ideas and bring those ideas and put them back into the world as opposed to making it an interactive experience for everybody. I don’t want to be Disney World. It’s nice to have seminars. It’s nice to have listening parties. It’s nice to have dances.”

source

[ramrodd]

The Historical Jesus: 17 Minutes of Straight FACTS

COMMENTARY:

OK, by the ciritical literary method, there are two versions of euangelion in the origins of written Chriistian literature: Pilates euangelion to Tiberius which was composed of the harmonization of Mark 15:1 - 16:8 and the Gospel of Peter and contains the Tidings of Joy of the Talking Cross. and the euangelion of Mark 1:1 which is composed of the harmonization of Mark 15:1 - 16:8, the Gospel of Peter and Peter's confession in Acts 10:34 - 43, which becomes the narrative arc of the Gospel of Mark around which Cornelius, the executive editor of the literary project of the canon of the New Covenant especially the Synoptic Gospels, John, Acts and the 13 expistles of Paul's academic deconstruction of the ethical moment of Jesus as the wave of the futue. The euangelion of Mark 1:1 is a post Acts 10 construct and is the denominator bench mark for the conveyance of the experience of Jesus in Palestine to the executive/equisrian strata of the Italian Regiment of the Roman Republic. This is a stoic military guild exactly like the Swiss Guards at the Vatican and Robert E. Lee aand U.S. Grant at Antietam. Cornelius has exactly the republican function for Pilate that CSM Tim Walz had with this battalion CO. The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is Clausewitz. The cirtical historic method could never make this connection between the Post Modern Historic Deconstrucion rejects Hegel and, if you reject Hegel, you reject Clausewitz and the inerrant epistemology of the scriptures and Jesus. Clausewitz represents the True warfare of the separation of Chruch and State, The Real/Primitive warfare of Uriah, Joshua and Sun T'Su's Art of Warfare is the Old Testament. The difference between Real warfare and True warfare is the difference between the Samurai, who is submitted to the aesthetic of martial arts, and the Centurion, who is a creature of the rule of law and submitted to the authoiry of Manlian Disciple. The Samurai is the essence of zen and the art of warfare. The Centurion is an isntrument of the secular rule of law and a mechanism for the delivery of the arts and sciences of the terrible swift sword. There may not be much zen with the centurions, but there are no athiests in foxholes. Paul refers to the Mark 1:1 euangelion 19 times and Peter imploys the Mark 1:1 euangelion to vet Paul's version of the Mark 1:1 euangelion and sends him on his way.  Cornelius is the currator of the Mark 1:1 euangelion and Quelle, the intelligence archives of the 10th Legion/ Here's the thing: the Mark 1:1 euangelion went every Paul went until he washed up in front Theophilus to defend Romans and his innocnce of the heresy the Jerusalem lynch mob accused him of. Phillipians is an End Zone celebration for the success of his presentation to the Equine strata of the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard Could not apeak for Nero, but they cleared the way for Paul to get in front of Nero's Judgement Seat. His timing was unfortunate woud be my guess, Tertullian apparently picks up contemporary gossip regarding the fates of Peter and Paul, but even he can't find official death warrants. This thing is that, by the time the Mark 1:1 euangelion emerged from the intersection of the Jerusalem Jesus Followers with Cornelius, all the centurions in the Roman legions were Christians,  beginning with the 10th Legion, but the Italian Regiment the secret Roman Church and Theophilus was the Bishop of the Communion of the Talking Cross. And that''s the Pro-Choice Liberation Gospel of Post Modern Literary Deconstruciton of Hegel, Clausewitz, George Washington's Anglican deism of his staff at Valley Forge and the American Christian Just War Doctrine of George Marshal and the US Army War College Let me put it this way: you cannot get from the shit in the latrines of Qumran to Handel's Messiah by way of Bart Ehrman, Jimmy Tabor, John Dominic Crossan and the Jesus Project. without Hegel and the epistemology of Cornelius and the Mark 1:1 euangelion of the Gospel of Mark. Gary Habemas is exactly correct.

[ghosttrolls]

Danny phantom has so much angst baked in there's multiple canon versions of an "evil Danny" that have appeared throughout the show and comic since season one. Trollhunters did not feel truly 'angsty' to me in the way fandom uses the word until season three, when Jim is turned into a troll. They hint at something darker every now and then before that point, but always make sure to show Jim has a support structure and people who are there for him in a way Danny clearly does not. Fundamentally the way both shows are structured are different, and if anything, Danny Phantom contains more consistent angst stemming from how isolated he is as a character in comparison to Jim. As a few examples, he never befriends Dash or the red huntress the way Jim befriends his bullies (so he consistently has fights against his own peers), he is constantly threatened to his face of physical harm from his own parents, and he is highly aware that if he cheats on his tests it could result in the death all of his friends and family, as well as his favorite teacher (I know it's just described as the SATs, but would he really cheat on any other test after that?? Probably not). There is humor present in every episode of both shows - while Danny Phantom's joke to regular line ratio may be higher, this does not negate the simple facts of the contents within. You're commenting this on a post where I specifically highlight angsty parallels that are in both shows as well, which feels like you're missing the point.

You may feel like Trollhunters is written better - I do, too - but that doesn't mean the angst in DP doesn't count. If I had to compare the tones between the two shows, personally I would say Trollhunters is a more positive story overall because he has love and friends and family to support him through pretty much all the struggles he faces. He's so rarely alone in dealing with things that when he does become a troll and needs to cool off on his own, that's unusual and worrying. Versus with Danny, he goes into the ghost zone solo, and makes so many more decisions on his own. He doesn't have a close-by wise mentor the way Jim can literally call Blinky or Strickler on the phone, he's scared his parents will kill him if they find out his secret, he gets captured numerous times and taken to places his friends cannot get to or help him out of. Claire can teleport anywhere to support Jim in an escape if he needs it, but Danny doesn't have that luxury. It's clear (to me, anyway) that Danny, while harder to hurt because he can go intangible, is so much more vulnerable in his fights because he regularly lacks a strong and reliable support network. Jim's friends are getting the same professional training he is, and he's given explicit training on upgrades to his armor as time goes on, to make him stronger. He has experts teaching him troll history and who his enemies are, how to fight them. Danny does not know what he's doing and has nobody to train him how to fight properly, and has to completely guess at what new powers are for and how to wield them until season three, when that ice core arc happens, and for the first time the entire show somebody shows him how to use a power. But that's just a single episode.

Idk how to end this, other than just saying, I don't really agree that Danny Phantom has "less angst". It's definitely been expanded upon in greater detail within fanworks than the show dared to explore, but the seeds for that were planted by actual things that happened in the show.

Watching Danny phantom is like. You have a boy in high school who suddenly has the power to protect his town from the otherworldly evils that are slowly creeping into the normal world, and though the town he lives in does not initially believe these evils exist at first, they slowly come to admit that it's true: the town has been under attack, but this one kid has been defending the entire place this whole time for them. He keeps this responsibility a secret from his parents, and the town does not know who he really is, because he fears how they would react, and he fears for their safety. So he chooses two people to tell, and they work together as a team to bring down bad guy after bad guy.

And then watching Trollhunters is like. There's a high school boy who suddenly gains powers to protect his small hometown from the otherworldly evils that slowly encroach into the public eye, and though at first the population doesn't believe these evils are real, they slowly realize that the town has been in danger for a while, and this one teenage boy has been protecting them this whole time. He keeps this responsibility secret from his mom and everyone else in his life for as long as he can, out of fear of what they'll say, and of putting them in danger. He chooses two friends to tell his secret to, though, and together they are able to save their town over and over.

Watching Danny Phantom is like, hey there's this old guy that is trying to insert himself into Danny's life as a guidance figure. This dude has a crush on Danny's mom hardcore, which is a bit awkward - WAIT A SECOND? He's also EVIL?? This older man who sometimes appears as a mentor and sometimes as a rival is the only adult person who knows Danny's secret, who he truly is. And they fight over that fact constantly.

Watching Trollhunters is like, there's an older man in Jim's life who's trying to offer him guidance, which is cool. He asks Jim if his mom is single, and that's awkward - WAIT HES AN EVIL BAD GUY??? Suddenly this guy appears in Jim's life not only as a mentor but often as a rival instead, and is the only adult who knows Jim's secret. They fight about that secret constantly.

Watching Danny Phantom is like, hey this episode results in his parents finding out his secret about his powers. At first they're shocked and scared for his safety, but they warm up to the idea pretty fast. We love you anyway, they say. We're here for you, we're so sorry you were so scared to tell us. But there's a larger problem, one that will end up wiping their memories. Promise us, they say, promise us you'll tell us again after the memory wipe. We will support you forever and always. Their memories get wiped. Danny does not tell them his secret again. They have to find it out for themselves in the last episode of the show.

Watching Trollhunters is like, in this episode Jim's mom finds out about his powers. At first she's shocked and scared, because she witnesses first-hand the danger he's been putting himself in, but eventually she relaxes that fear as she realizes he's good at his job. You'll always be my hero, she says. But there's a bigger problem, and to fix it her memory will get wiped. Promise me, she says, promise me that after my memory is gone, you'll remind me. The burden is too big to carry on your own. I don't want you to lie anymore. Her memory is wiped, and Jim does not tell her. She has to recover her lost memories on her own.

Watching Danny phantom is like. Something made him this way. The burden feels heavy. He tries to undo it, he tries to live a life without it. He takes his powers away and walks around town like a normal kid. But everywhere he goes, he sees people who need help, and feels this tug. He realizes he couldn't just stop helping people, so he goes and gets his powers back. He made himself into a hero this time.

Watching Trollhunters is like. Someone made him this way. He starts regretting all the danger he's put his friends and family in, and all the mistakes he's made, so he wishes he never had powers. That wish is granted. But after living his life as a normal teenager for a while, he realizes the town can't win against the evil without him. He needs to step up and be the hero. And so he picks his sword back up again.

Watching Danny Phantom is like, why do they have an episode where they have to take care of flour sacks as if they're babies?? I don't remember that being required in high school.

Watching Trollhunters is like, oh great, TWO episodes where they have to take care of flour sack babies. Where does this situation in high school cartoons come from anyway??

[callmearcturus]

(u can answer on priv if you want to) god, arc, do you have like a general writing server that you're in or, better, that you started, bc i do desperately want to start on this longfic ive been meaning to get to for a horrendously long time but it's daunting as fuck and i could use a sounding board of other writers who are struggling to write longfic. also if u have any tips u can point me towards not giving up on the fic after typing out 50 words of utter crap and closing the document that'd be swell bc no one i know rn is writing like you

Unfortunately, no, I only have my Whomstve server that I write in, not a general one. I started a general one at this point YEARS ago but it just never took off. It's sadly just easier to shoot the shit regarding fannish stuff than original work.

I could tell you how I do it, at least? In every server I run, I tend to create a "jam channel" which is for writing jams. They're the writer's equivalent to an artist livestream. I start working on a chapter and when I finish a good chunk, I put it in the channel, and people will hit me with encouraging emojis or scream a bit. It's a good way to get that instant dopamine hit of Reaction, and also to figure out what parts of the story are working and what ones are not. This lets me redirect and tweak things before the final posting.

For me, the way I manage to, uh, do this, is that... for one, my brain is fucking broken so I can just sit down and make words happen to such a degree I have literally injured myself in the past doing so. (Not fun!)

But also I approach my writing less like A Book and more like a serialized story. I share things very episodically and encourage the Water Cooler Talk, both by engaging with readers when they poke me and also just in the actual way the story is told. I try to ensure every chapter/part/segment has at least two or three things that are worth discussion, and I lean heavily on structuring my writing around the audience slowly uncovering a mystery of some kind.

This is probably why I write a lot of fantasy and weird alien stuff, it lets me gatekeep the knowledge the reader has and organically teach them bit by bit about the story's rules and world. And I have gotten a lot of feedback regarding that as an appealing part of my style.

So I guess my advice is to make a story something that is uncovered piece by piece by the reader and the reader's best proxy character. It's good when the character fucks up due to a piece of knowledge they lacked, it's good when they get questions answered and re-answered with evolving context. And make everything just soap opera-y enough that folks look forward to new updates like a new episode of a show they like. 8)

That all sounds vaguely calculating but to be clear: this is literally what I enjoy about writing. Crafting this kind of story and creating a dialogue between my story and the audience is fun to me. 8)

If you are not a "feedback will speed up my writing output" then, uh, idk! But this is what works for me!

[theworldbrewery]

ever done a mini-campaign?

When most of us think of a ttrpg campaign, it’s fair to say that long-form campaigns are the prototype. Playing with the same group of players in the same world, following multiple plotlines for a very. long. time. The iconic examples of The Adventure Zone Balance, Critical Role, and Rusty Quill Gaming span out-of-game years in the making. And plenty of folks hold those up as the ideal way to play the game.

Have you ever considered...not doing that?

A short-form ttrpg game might be for you and your friends if your schedules are tight; playing a one-off, single-session game may work better when you never know when you’ll have the chance to play again. Some ttrpgs are also simply designed for shorter gameplay, with natural breaks built in where you can end a campaign.

But at times, you still want the character arc, the delight of building character relationships, and the sense of growing tension across multiple “episodes.” Or maybe you prefer the D&D or Pathfinder system and don’t want to learn to play games that have shorter timelines built in.

Enter: the mini-campaign. Spanning anywhere from five to twenty sessions, it can last as long as you and your GM want. Examples include Dimension 20′s games, as well as the Exandria Unlimited series by Critical Role.

To run a mini-campaign, all the GM needs is a few simple elements.

A contained setting.

A problem endemic to the setting.

An antagonist involved in making the problem worse or better.

A defined end-point that will occur in the near-ish future.

For the first, just come up with a specific setting as normal, then have a pretext to keep the party from leaving for too long.

A simple setting could be a single town, sizable enough that the PCs don’t know literally everyone, and the pretext could be the PCs lack the resources to pay for travel. Or they have homes and family ties in town that they don’t want to leave behind.

More complicated settings could be a snowy mountain range where the PCs are stranded after a zeppelin crash, a tropical island resort where they are on vacation, or a polar research station. The world is truly your oyster here, and the more wildly specific your setting, the more wild the storyline can become.

For the second element, a problem endemic to the setting simply means that this place has a problem that is unique in some way. If I leave the tropical resort, the problem likely will not follow me. For example, the tropical island could have issues with their power grid that lead to frequent blackouts, ruining countless vacations. It’s important to understand that the problem doesn’t have to be this major, systemic issue like speciesism or climate change.

The third element, an antagonist involved somehow, means that either the antagonist wants to deliberately make the problem worse for their own gain, or who thinks they’re solving the problem but it has extremely bad consequences in another way.

In a polar research station setting where the problem is that they’ve lost contact with the outside world, one researcher might be trying to kill their coworkers, having accidentally made contact with a chthonic being from the Fantasy Arctic. The researcher thinks they’re saving the world by preventing the group from drilling any deeper and freeing the being--but it’s only chthonic madness encouraging the violence. In reality, the survivors are the world’s best chance at keeping the entity from rising.

In our tropical resort setting, perhaps a scheming tourist is trying to take advantage of the outages to revenge himself upon his annoying in-laws, frame the PCs for the murders, and sue the resort for emotional damages.

The fourth element makes this into a mini-campaign. The story has a win condition and a lose condition, and the campaign ends with one of those two options. In the tropical resort, catching the murderous tourist and clearing the PCs’ names is the end of the story--or failing to do so, and being arrested or murdered themselves. In the polar research station, either the PCs stop the rise of a chthonic entity or they don’t. Win and Lose.

Essentially, the whole campaign has a ticking clock attached to it. Waiting too long to act means the bomb goes off. Failing means the bomb goes off. And you can’t drag the story out for too long, because one way or another, that bomb has to be dealt with.

Final Notes:

A mini-campaign is best run at lower levels--anywhere from 3rd to 9th, in my opinion. Any higher and the PCs have too much power. Any lower and they’re functional disasters. I encourage a loose level-up structure based on milestone leveling rather than XP, since mini-campaigns don’t have the structure for several high-XP boss battles.

You can add additional plot threads and antagonists as much as you like, but keep in mind they will make your campaign longer accordingly.

Let the campaign be silly, or break out of the usual genre of swords-and-sorcery. Having a secondary genre, like a murder mystery or cosmic horror, can really make a mini-campaign stand out to your players.

You must run a session zero. This is nonnegotiable. The reason? You will need to establish the relationships between PCs before starting, or they will spend too long in the ��getting to know you” phase. It’s also just more fun for your players to have established grudges, inside jokes, and so on. Additionally, since you will not be running a sandbox campaign here, you will need to be sure your PCs are buying in to the setting’s premise.

What I mean by that is, if the party is at a tropical resort, they most likely are there because they like tropical vacations (or got dragged along by someone who does). A PC who isn’t built for a world where they take tropical vacations, or who has no vested interest in enjoying their vacation, is unlikely to care about someone else ruining their vacation. Some things need to be established pre-game to make sure everyone is on the same page. I recommend you also discuss the genre: if it’s going to be a murder mystery, the players shouldn’t act like it’s a slash-and-burn total war environment, or what’s the entire point? Good players will respect the genre they’re told they’re playing in, and avoid being too genre-savvy or too genre-stupid.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

I’m completely sure you disagree with me. But I hated all the Lex don’t want Lena and Kara to work together in s5b and then…he just didn’t care they were working together.

Any scene containing Lex AFTER the moment Lena shot him in the chest is absolutely unnecessary and shouldn't have happened.

I don't care about the potential of him going over to Superman & Lois. I don't care how good Jon Cryer was in the role. I don't care that he's the most famous Super villain of all time.

In that initial Lex arc in Supergirl, he was Lena's villain, and he should have remained Lena's villain until the end. He deserved to die in that dark hole he tried to hide in, and he deserved to rot there, left to the rats and obscurity.

The fact that they revived him for another TWO SEASONS is absolutely abhorrent to me and I will forever be bitter about the fact that he hijacked the remainder of Supergirl's run and that the writers used his purported brilliance as a crutch to hand wave whatever break in continuity/tech jumps they needed to jam their derivative stories into shape.

"Lex is manipulating Lena-- AGAIN!"

"Lex is in league with the final boss of the series-- because he went to the future offscreen and got MARRIED!"

Like... I don't fucking give a shit about Lex. You gave him two and half fucking seasons to let him gloat and run nonsensical circles around the protags, meanwhile you cram a single episode establishing Lena being a WITCH down our throats and BARELY discuss the trauma of Kara's return to the Phantom Zone??

Have some goddamn respect for the viewers who have been watching your show for 6 fucking years.

[azdoine]

@catgirl-smash "almost feels too serious" is exactly how i felt tbh. endeavor's personal redemption arc would have been such a deeply impactful story. if not for the fact that it existed in the manga that never redeems its villains, many of whom have far more sympathetic motives. an adult man who by all accounts accepted and successful, abusing his family until they're all scarred or dead? he gets to earn a second chance. but the trans woman driven to a life of crime because she wasn't able to find acceptance and care? the man suffering from a severe psychological disability that only ever faught to protect his identity within his found family? the teenager that was rejected by her friends and family due to her blood related quirk? They all get to die, no matter how much of a change of heart they have or how far someone else goes to reach out to them and envision their path to redemption and living a peaceful happy life.. more than anything else about the series, the way it martyrs its sympathetic villains while redeeming its problematic heroes. thats what got me to hate the series.

I have serious reservations of my own based on what I know of what happens to the League of Villains, and especially for what happened to Magne and Toga, because that was just some absolute prime bullshit. but I feel like it's important to be really precise and deliberate in the way we talk about moral desert and 'redemption arcs' for these characters.

Magne, Twice, & Toga aren't just illegalist anarchists or counterculture punks. two of them have explicitly gotten people killed, and none of them had any qualms with joining a terrorist group best known for assaulting high schools and unleashing biological attack drones on civilian population zones. the noblest that can be said of their activities in the LOV and the PLF is that they've fallen in with a bad crowd and they believe in the propaganda of the deed - which may be noble indeed, but which, like any extenuating circumstance, can do nothing to make them inherently deserving or undeserving of rehabilitation, only make it easier or harder for a society to offer.

and all of this is a loaded choice on the author's part in and of itself, to write antagonists who are supervillains and not just ordinary criminals using quirks in the commission of their crimes - to focus on extremist terror cells instead of vandals, petty thieves, criminalized addicts, the mentally unwell, and the marginalized homeless. however, the use of terrorist supervillains is also a necessary weasel for a superhero comic, so I won't judge Hori too harshly for doing it.

(this ludicrous, impossible, exaggerated hyperreality in the hero-villain conflict is also why it's so devastating for the public to learn that Endeavor is an abuser in the first place - because heroes are not cops. like many abusers, Endeavor reserves his rage for those society places beneath him, but he's still a professional hero in every sense of the word: he has no strong institutional support to shield him from the consequences of his actions if he does a police brutality or gets formally charged with child abuse. as the back half of the manga makes clear, pro-heroes are internally policed by literal extrajudicial assassination if they ever threaten to break the trust placed in them as keepers of the peace, and Endeavor is above all else a man standing in the limelight.)

so long as hero society isn't physically capable of containing and regulating singularity-level quirks, Shigaraki was always going to have to die, tbqh. no prison could ever hold him, and the public would never trust him to comply with sentencing, for all the same reasons that Endeavor can't expect the public to ever place their faith in him again, and more. Toga was probably always going to have to die, or at least go deep into supermax for quite a while, because no-one could be sure that she didn't have a capsule of Shigaraki's blood cleverly implanted somewhere in her body, and she was an unrestricted power copier besides. Twice might have gotten away on parole in a better world, but he was both completely devoted to his terrorist friends and an exponentially self-replicating threat with the ability to summon Shigaraki clones.

those are the kinds of restrictions that hero society is operating under so long as it refuses to take the easy way out and weaponize Eri's quirk or do an Operation Paperclip on Garaki's quirk research. as much as I believe everyone deserves a chance to grow and change, as much as I think it blows that Endeavor got rehabilitated when so many other deserving people did not - I'm not sure that Hori putting his finger on the scales and killing the League of Villains off after some tearful heart-to-heart confrontations with the heroes who cared about them was the worst he could have done for them.

magne getting fridged was still bullshit tho

still circling back around to read BNHA now that the back half of the manga is finally out and holy shit. why did you guys have me convinced that Endeavor's character arc was bad

[completeoveranalysis]

[2]

OK OK OK THE ACID TOKYO PRE-SHOW IS STARTING EVERYONE SHH 

One thing that hits me right off the bat is just how DIFFERENT Acid Tokyo is from second zero. In most of the other worlds we don’t see the actual moment of arrival, though we do sometimes! But even in those moments it’s UNHEARD of for us to start an arc by talking in depth about the previous one. It’s a clear sign that we’re moving away from the self contained arc structure and that the big story beats are going to start bleeding heavily into the main plot to the point where you can’t actually separate them anymore. And it’s also an indication that we’re ankle deep in the actual heavy plot developments, and we’re right about to be dragged directly under water. NOW when big things happen, they’re not just surprising dramatic moments. They’re going to have big character implications that will irrevocably shape the entire narrative that follows. The story is DIFFERENT now, and it starts by showing us this immediately. 

And the contrast it begins with! 

Knowing where Acid Tokyo is about to take us it’s low key hilarious that it begins with Fai pretending Nothing Happened (™) and that Everything is Normal. He will be proven wrong in like 27 seconds but before we get there he’s almost used as a signpost of the old story structure. In the past you could sweep any worrying implications of what happened during an arc (coughOutocough) as soon as it ends and everything returns to the status quo, just as Fai ridiculously tries to do now. 

BUT 

KUROGANE

His immediate disapproval shows that not only are we getting proper discussion of Big Stuff that we normally wouldn’t, but it’s promising conflict between the two of them further in the arc. 

AND BOY DO THEY DELIVER HUH? 

Divorce was promised right at the beginning of arc before we even knew we were in Acid Tokyo and it’s beautiful. 

But even that aside, it’s so interesting that the arc begins with this tiny little zone where the characters just talk for a little while, and every thing that’s brought up is a central point in the arc that follows. Including: 

Fai lying (leading to Fai’s conflict with Kurogane)

Fai using magic (leading to Fai using magic to try save Syaoran, and then having his magic stolen)

Syaoran’s mysterious black out (leading to Autopilot Syaoran’s whole deal)

Sakura sleeping (leading to her sleeping in the reservoir with Kamui)

And Lava Lamp Guy (who finally appears in the plot)

[lokiondisneyplus]

[This interview contains spoilers for Loki episode five.]

If you thought Richard E. Grant and Tom Hiddleston had a passing resemblance during Loki‘s fifth episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” then you weren’t alone. In fact, the two actors have talked about their shared “physiognomy” for years, so much so that a running joke was created about them playing father and son, someday. And then, at the beginning of 2020, the gag was up as Grant received the official offer to play Classic Loki on the Hiddleston-led Loki. Since Grant missed Hiddleston’s renowned “Loki lecture” prior to production, he received his own private crash course later on in production.

“[Tom Hiddleston] was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia,” Grant tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.”

When Grant was first offered the job, he immediately began to envision his Classic Loki costume since he assumed it would include a muscle suit a la Jack Kirby’s rendition of the character. But once he arrived to the Loki set in Atlanta, he discovered that his own physicality would be utilized instead, much to his chagrin.

“What I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any,” Grant says with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.’ But when I got to Atlanta, they said, ‘No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.’ So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Grant also discusses Classic Loki’s ultimate sacrifice and what the character was thinking as he laughed en route to his death.

You’ve said that you and Tom Hiddleston have wanted to work together for years. When did this desire first come about?

More than anything, it came about because we recognized that we have a similar physiognomy, and somebody joked to us, “You could play father and son!” So I suppose it has always been in the back of mind. And then I saw Tom at the Toronto [International] Film Festival a couple years ago, and he said, “We really have to do something together! Father and son — or something!” But I thought it was highly unlikely because his career had gone so far up into the stratosphere. And then, at the beginning of last year, I got an offer to play Classic/Old Loki, and I thought, “Oh right, this is what we talked about and now it’s come to pass.” So that’s how it happened.

And in terms of the script, what was your first impression of Classic Loki’s full-fledged arc?

The backstory — where he describes himself as the God of Outcasts rather than the God of Mischief — was very compelling. So you understand where and why he’s been out of the loop for so long. He was so desperate to have some kind of contact that he was willing to reveal himself to the TVA, and later, by offering himself up to Asgard and Alioth, he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the possibility of somebody else finding love. Because the ending was so catastrophic and mayhem-filled, as he laughs in the face of his own immolation, I thought that was a great beginning, middle and end in just one episode. It’s as much as you could ever hope for from a guest role. So it was really exciting to do and very satisfying.

As he was laughing in the face of the beast, what was on his mind?

Even as you’re going down, you still have the power, grace and sheer chutzpah to go, “I will laugh in your face even though I know that you’re about to eat me alive.” That’s a great adage to life. (Laughs.) I love that.

Since Tom has played Loki for many years, he’s become the world’s foremost authority on the character, so much so that he delivers actual lectures on him.

He is! He’s Lokipedia.

Was there enough time for him to give you a crash course on the character?

He did one of those prior to the first episode; they’d already shot four episodes by the time I got there. So he came and saw me after I had just gotten my costume and makeup done. He said, “I’m going to give you a brief outline and some background information on what you’re dealing with.” So he was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia. So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.

Classic Loki was very frustrated by the fact that betrayal is synonymous with the Loki archetype. So he did something about it and sacrificed his life to help Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). While you touched on the ultimate sacrifice already, what did you make of his decision to go against type?

It was very smart of [Tom Kauffman], the writer, to have hit on that. I was the oldest person on the unit, as well as the oldest person on the crew and the cast. When you’re in the twilight zone as I am now at 64, there is a sense that you’re handing over the baton in the relay race of life. So it seemed like the most human, vulnerable and honorable thing to do, and I got that completely. It was fitting — even for an old Classic Loki. But unlike in my life, you can always come back in Loki-land. (Laughs.)

Between Allegiant General Pryde in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Classic Loki, were these two of your favorite costume fittings to date?

Yes, and it was pretty amazing to have that great, explosive ending to that Star Wars character. But what I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any. (Laughs.) I thought, “Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.” But when I got to Atlanta, they said, “No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.” So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure. (Laughs.)

On big-budget projects in particular, actors don’t always get the chance to work opposite another actor/character in any given scene. So now that you can talk about The Rise of Skywalker, did you and Ian McDiarmid actually get to be in the same room during Pryde’s hologram scene with Emperor Palpatine?

No, I never met Ian on it at all.

Between Jack Hock (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Withnail (Withnail and I), who would enjoy Loki’s company the most? Who’d make for a more ideal companion?

Wow. I think Jack Hock because he was so gregarious and wanted to be friends with everybody. Whereas Withnail was so staggeringly selfish that I think even he would have outdone Loki in the ego department.

[twh-news]

‘Loki’ Star Richard E. Grant on Tom Hiddleston’s Crash Course and Being Denied a Muscle Suit

[This interview contains spoilers for Loki episode five.]

If you thought Richard E. Grant and Tom Hiddleston had a passing resemblance during Loki‘s fifth episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” then you weren’t alone. In fact, the two actors have talked about their shared “physiognomy” for years, so much so that a running joke was created about them playing father and son, someday. And then, at the beginning of 2020, the gag was up as Grant received the official offer to play Classic Loki on the Hiddleston-led Loki. Since Grant missed Hiddleston’s renowned “Loki lecture” prior to production, he received his own private crash course later on in production.

“[Tom Hiddleston] was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia,” Grant tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.”

When Grant was first offered the job, he immediately began to envision his Classic Loki costume since he assumed it would include a muscle suit a la Jack Kirby’s rendition of the character. But once he arrived to the Loki set in Atlanta, he discovered that his own physicality would be utilized instead, much to his chagrin.

“What I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any,” Grant says with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.’ But when I got to Atlanta, they said, ‘No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.’ So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Grant also discusses Classic Loki’s ultimate sacrifice and what the character was thinking as he laughed en route to his death.

You’ve said that you and Tom Hiddleston have wanted to work together for years. When did this desire first come about?

More than anything, it came about because we recognized that we have a similar physiognomy, and somebody joked to us, “You could play father and son!” So I suppose it has always been in the back of mind. And then I saw Tom at the Toronto [International] Film Festival a couple years ago, and he said, “We really have to do something together! Father and son — or something!” But I thought it was highly unlikely because his career had gone so far up into the stratosphere. And then, at the beginning of last year, I got an offer to play Classic/Old Loki, and I thought, “Oh right, this is what we talked about and now it’s come to pass.” So that’s how it happened.

And in terms of the script, what was your first impression of Classic Loki’s full-fledged arc?

The backstory — where he describes himself as the God of Outcasts rather than the God of Mischief — was very compelling. So you understand where and why he’s been out of the loop for so long. He was so desperate to have some kind of contact that he was willing to reveal himself to the TVA, and later, by offering himself up to Asgard and Alioth, he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the possibility of somebody else finding love. Because the ending was so catastrophic and mayhem-filled, as he laughs in the face of his own immolation, I thought that was a great beginning, middle and end in just one episode. It’s as much as you could ever hope for from a guest role. So it was really exciting to do and very satisfying.

As he was laughing in the face of the beast, what was on his mind?

Even as you’re going down, you still have the power, grace and sheer chutzpah to go, “I will laugh in your face even though I know that you’re about to eat me alive.” That’s a great adage to life. (Laughs.) I love that.

Since Tom has played Loki for many years, he’s become the world’s foremost authority on the character, so much so that he delivers actual lectures on him.

He is! He’s Lokipedia.

Was there enough time for him to give you a crash course on the character?

He did one of those prior to the first episode; they’d already shot four episodes by the time I got there. So he came and saw me after I had just gotten my costume and makeup done. He said, “I’m going to give you a brief outline and some background information on what you’re dealing with.” So he was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia. So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.

Classic Loki was very frustrated by the fact that betrayal is synonymous with the Loki archetype. So he did something about it and sacrificed his life to help Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). While you touched on the ultimate sacrifice already, what did you make of his decision to go against type?

It was very smart of [Tom Kauffman], the writer, to have hit on that. I was the oldest person on the unit, as well as the oldest person on the crew and the cast. When you’re in the twilight zone as I am now at 64, there is a sense that you’re handing over the baton in the relay race of life. So it seemed like the most human, vulnerable and honorable thing to do, and I got that completely. It was fitting — even for an old Classic Loki. But unlike in my life, you can always come back in Loki-land. (Laughs.)

Between Allegiant General Pryde in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Classic Loki, were these two of your favorite costume fittings to date?

Yes, and it was pretty amazing to have that great, explosive ending to that Star Wars character. But what I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any. (Laughs.) I thought, “Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.” But when I got to Atlanta, they said, “No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.” So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure. (Laughs.)

On big-budget projects in particular, actors don’t always get the chance to work opposite another actor/character in any given scene. So now that you can talk about The Rise of Skywalker, did you and Ian McDiarmid actually get to be in the same room during Pryde’s hologram scene with Emperor Palpatine?

No, I never met Ian on it at all.

Between Jack Hock (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Withnail (Withnail and I), who would enjoy Loki’s company the most? Who’d make for a more ideal companion?

Wow. I think Jack Hock because he was so gregarious and wanted to be friends with everybody. Whereas Withnail was so staggeringly selfish that I think even he would have outdone Loki in the ego department.

[blacksunscorpio]

Natal Chart Patterns In Astrology

In a nutshell, a chart pattern represents a convergence of energy.

The accumulation of planets in a certain shape that defines a personality type or a dominant characteristic for the native. Chart aspect shapes are a powerful guide to our most profound psychological motivations. They identify which parts of our personalities work harmoniously, and which parts are so different that they are hard to reconcile with one another. In layman’s terms, chart patterns define our “egoic psychology”. There are seven arrangements or patterns the planets form within the circle/Natal wheel.

1. Seesaw

This is when the planets occupy two opposing areas of the chart.

Keywords: Objectivity, awareness,  balance, vacillating, fluctuating, reciprocal, networking.

2. Bowl

Highly focused, here planets are all within 180 degrees. Here, the individual uses puts their focus on achieving in the themes of the houses in the unoccupied portion of the chart. And yet, the houses of the occupied portion reflects their comfort zones - which offer support like a container, hence ‘bowl’.

Keywords: Self-contained and strong core values, dependability

3. Bucket

Like a bowl pattern with one planet in the opposite arc–the ‘handle to the bucket. A strong focus with much energy pivoting around a single planet.

Keywords: Empassioned, wishful, endeavoring, high-reaching, enterprising.

4. Splash

Shows planets evenly distributed around the chart. Variety of the interests of the individual scatter their focus but also have the potential of making them skillful in a broad range of areas.

Keywords: scattered interests, diversity, flexibility, jack of all trades, versatility.

5. Bundle

This pattern has planets all within 120 degrees. Focused interest in the houses occupied. The Bundle personality is self-contained, concentrating the ‘I’ or themselves. They’ll also be focused on the themes represented by the houses and planets on the occupied part of the chart. With this placement, one can be highly subjective, with a strong personal point of view. Keywords:  Intense, determined, relentless.

6. Locomotive

Here planets occupy 240 degrees of the chart, the remaining 120 is empty. Emphasis is on the first and last planet rising. The individual is very driven, motivated toward the themes of the midpoint of the open 120° area. The first planet (moving clockwise) is seen as the front of the engine, and its sign and house indicate the energy which fuels and drives the person.

Keywords: Drive, energy, persistence, and enthusiasm

7. Splay

The planets create three points of emphasis

Key words: Individualistic, grounded, and confident. Focus on occupied houses.

Honorable Mentions

8. T-square

This aspect pattern is formed when points in opposition also form a square with another point (or points). The pattern resembles the letter T when viewed within a natives chart.  A T-square stimulates drive and courage, but also tension and conflict. The native can be very active and achievement-oriented, especially if this aspect pattern falls in cardinal or fixed signs, but much energy can be wasted in needless conflicts and frustrations. You get me?

9. A Yod aspect pattern:

is a configuration between at least three planets or points in the horoscope to create a long triangle that looks like a witch's hat. It’s an Isosceles triangle. The Yod is a challenging aspect pattern but holds great potential for spiritual evolution and increased awareness. They’re formed by two quincunxes, which means an inconjunctions [150 degrees apart] and a sextile. The two planets shooting quincunxes towards the third are linked by the sextile. in layman’s terms: Do you feel driven by some mystical force that seems beyond your control? Do you feel as if you have a deep well of talent that is just out of reach? Are you chronically distressed due to the feeling that you have a “important” or “special” calling in life and are incapable of figuring out exactly what that is? That’s the energy of the Yod in your natal chart.