#as for the concepts they're both things i at base don't super care about

[humanmorph]

i have a reblog of a post about Just This in my queue somewhere, so i won't repeat all those points here, but man it's a shame a lot of pact side characters are just not that explored/well drawn (since that andy & eva post just got released from my queue. there was that one intermission with andy's diary+correspondence, but still... i would've loved to see more of the intense violent siblings & what's up with them. i thought their dynamic kind of ruled). i feel it's the biggest reason for why worm in my mind is the stronger work.

i'll still say i had a better time (like just more fun) time reading pact. been having trouble pinpointing why. i think maybe taylor is a more tragic character to me than blake. also more exhausting to be in the head of. and pact is just genuinely funny at times, intentionally comedic written which helps even during tense scenes. there's one bit i wish i had taken a screencap of bc it was so funny to me at the time... some blake(mirror) shenanigans during a fight. i really loved how creative he had to get there, it's some of the best action in pact imo.

other things i liked in pact: it didn't have an entire arc that just kind of bored me. some parts near the end were it was mostly fights got a bit iffy, but it was nowhere near the whole slaughterhouse 9000 shit in worm... also the break in the story (? i guess? idk how else to put this or if these are comparable to anyone but me), the abyss, and the resulting changes were much more fun than the timeskip & taylor becoming weaver...

[musicfranchisetournament]

propaganda under the cut !!

paradox live :

ive seen my friends talk about it and also theres this really pretty girl i thibk her name is anne? i wanna kiss her mwah

The world is set in the future where the hip hop artists have these cool Phantom Metals that produce cool illusions as they perform with the downside of the performers reliving their worst trauma after using it. Every group has their own theme, aesthetic, and music style Every character has canon trauma which perfect for angst Found family It's still going on They do April Fools on the fandom every year (2024 being an ad for a cat game)

charisma house :

genuinely what the fuck. i don't think i've seen a song franchise as bonkers as charisma house and i doubt i ever will. it's so entertaining and the characters are all unhinged in the best way possible. none of them are 100% good people at the end of the day and i think this just makes the whole ordeal even funnier. are you kidding me you have some random 19 yo who invites people to go live in a random house one day and they just go. the songs are so so good (most of the time. stares at my two exceptions) and whenever it's a full group song? they're always parodies of another common popular song which is so funny to me every time i hear them. i love charisma house and will defend it to the days end

It's so silly and entertaining:) the songs are sick and super catchy . The visuals are super unique .. and the concept of these eccentric crazy guys all living in a house together with the power of charisma has some super hilarious interactions.  Also charisma is the power that can save the world.. and if these guys get too overpowered with their charisma they go through yugioh style transformations and break out into song... so there is that little detail<3

they're just ordinary guys. music part aside the story is funny until it gets serious and then it's funny AND heartwrenching. music part?? group songs are based on nursery rhymes and they fucking suck but also go so hard. their solo songs all have their own genres and they're so. Aodhajhfhdhfbd Stream viva la liberation. 

Funny gay people living in a house together and all their songs parody children's songs, and all their music videos are like Cocomelon on crack. They're funny and they have a lovely found family dynamic. Very silly guys, I'm so normal about them.

Never in my life have i seen a piece of media change me this much as a person while doing the bare minimum. Perhaps the fact that it is the bare minimum and i still fell for it regardless says more about its power than any words could ever begin to describe. So utterly ridiculous in the most perfect way possible and so weirdly deep in also the best way possible but without forgetting its still fucking ridiculous. The appeal of Charisma House is that its Charisma House, and that same thing manages to be both its strength and its weakness, but its weakness is so grand it ends up becoming a strength, and perhaps its biggest strength by far. Talking about Charisma House makes me feel insane emotions because you cant describe it as good but you still know fully well its not bad either despite that being the easiest way to describe it. Sooner than later after so many episodes you'll end up realizing you have fell in its trap. Once you start caring. Once you start analyzing the miniscule tid bits of plot. Once all of that starts occurring you will soon come to realize you have been another victim of the mystical power Charisma House has on every single person that watches it. Or perhaps you just dont fucking care after 5 episodes and you leave it at that. This is perhaps the best option for everyone in the world. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but the fact that i still do from time to time is because i want everyone else in the world to experience the unknown horrors of this media project until each and every one of them realize they have fallen down a hole they will never be able to escape. also Awwwww ohsebso cute i like ohse aaawwwww so cute 😍

[felonytaxevasion]

Can I hear more about the worm vs the boys please if you want to expand on it on tumblr? I love worm and I don’t really like the boys and I can't quite explain to myself why

Yea absolutely! Im sure there's some other Wormblr posts out there that go into this in more depth but I can paraphrase what I was saying to my friends.

We were mainly discussing the concept of "edginess" and excessive anger, violence, and shock value in media and I brought up Worm and The Boys as examples so that I could sort of warn my friend about the tone of Pact without directly spoiling anything. My main thesis is that Worm is incredibly super duper edgy, however it doesn't come across as nihilistic and misanthropic like The Boys does.

I feel as though too often The Boys is usually taking the stance of "well humans suck so if you gave humans superpowers they would find unique ways to suck and the only thing separating normal people from monsters is power. So no one should have power" which I don't inherently disagree with to an extent. It's an exaggerated critique of capitalism and celebrity. But it's also such a gross way to look at humans/the nature of humanity.

Contrast with Worm that says "bad people with superpowers will use their powers to do uniquely horrible things. But good people with superpowers will also be out there doing uniquely and incredibly good things for the benefit of humanity. Every human as the potential for abhorrent cruelty. But it is just as true that those same humans all have the potential to do good."

I think it's really important that the two final and most major antagonists in Worm are motivated by nihilism and hatred of humans. Jack Slash and Scion both have the philosophy of "Humans are cruel. The parts of humanity that are good are losing out to cruelty. Why try and fight it. It's easier to just kill everyone". Contrast Taylor who, I'm 99% sure, never for a second questions if humanity is worth saving. Everyone around her in Gold Morning says "there's nothing we can do so we should at least die happy" and Taylor says "I cannot die happy unless I spend every second of my last day fighting for the miniscule chance to save humanity from extinction". Taylor and the fucking insane lengths she will go to save humans when she doesn't even like them all that much is the heart of Worm. (And like don't get me wrong worm is also about Taylor fucking failing to not partake in human cruelty at basically every opportunity. Quite possibly the worst anyone's ever done it. But that doesn't change the fact that she is trying and in the doing is pushing the audience to try as well)

And on the other hand I think the attitude of The Boys kind of just IS Jack Slashs. I honestly cannot even fathom what the take away is meant to be beyond "people are fuuucked up dude". If I wanted to be especially cruel I would say that I think a large majority of fan base for The Boys was generated on the basis of shock value and the incredibly strong performances from the cast. It's easy to get in to season 1 because it presents a horrible world with no redeeming qualities but you can assume in later seasons "they're gonna figure it out! Good will win out! Or at least good will lose for reasons that connect with the audience and make it a tragedy" but three seasons later theyre floundering to find a message and a reason people should care about the world and it's characters.

At the end of the day TLDR I think worm works because it has something to say and uses edge to support the thesis. The Boys exists more as a framework to explore cruelty in fiction and I just don't think it has a lot to say outside of that.

[madam-o]

Re the weird divide in the Beetlejuice fandom, which I really don't get

Fandom is so strange. Just liking Beetlejuice himself as a character has invited all manner of unusual kinks and personal interests into the fandom, and hey, the more the merrier. Beetlefans and netherlings are an assembly of interesting weirdos, so like, you do you. And obviously, this means that you should try not to judge or make assumptions about others based on your own feelings about their interests. Riiiight?

So, Beetlebabes as a ship has been around since the beginning of the fandom, and it certainly seems likely not to be going anywhere with the sequel. Now, my own personal stance on the pairing lies straight in the middle. I think Lydia and Beej have a beautiful friendship in the animated series and musical. They're such a great comedic duo and there's something very pure and sweet about this girl and her bug-man. Their relationship in the musical IS colored by the fact that they're both using and tricking each other a lot of the time, but they seem to have a mutual respect on this point and don't let it ruin their friendship, well until the topic of moms comes up, anyway.

In the movie, it's more complicated. BJ is motivated primarily by his desire to be free and couldn't care less about Lydia's problems. He also gets just a tad creepy with Lydia, though he's not over the top about it. He claims that he thinks that she "really understands me", which is a frickin weird thing to say about a kid who you talked to for like five minutes. But the pervy implications are kept to a minimum so as not to drive the movie into darker territory. His motivations are still kept as primarily a green card thing, although the viewer is still pretty grossed out by the forced, child-bride marriage.

Re BJ, I don't see him as a human or someone who really follows human rules. He's a supernatural creature who has a vague, outsider's understanding of what being human means. Even interpreting him as a ghost and not a demon, he's too different from a human to remember what being one is like. In the musical and cartoon, he relates to Lydia from a child's pov, but tries to behave like an adult with the Maitlands. He's neither, though. He's an unliving, essentially immortal Thing. And while Lydia clearly has a lot of affection for "her monster", she's not exactly into this gross, stinky, creepy old guy. As for BJ, he's very attached to Lydia, perhaps unhealthily so, but he's not being a sexual predator with her.

However, as a Beetlefan, I've seen that it's pretty natural to pair the two up romantically. I certainly shipped them as a kid. And yeah, it's kind of a weird ship, but Beetlejuice as a concept is just weird, period. Weirdness and age gaps are hardly anything new or unique in any part of the internet. Teen fans ship characters their own age with much older characters all the time, and it's not usually frowned upon. But in the Beetlejuice fandom, there appears to be a lot of ship-shaming and accusations of p3d0ph1lia when it comes to this teen/ancient monster pairing, which I'm guessing is a lot more of an internet drama thing than about the actual pairing itself.

Now to be clear, I don't ship teen Lydia with anyone, but I also acknowledge that she's not gonna stay a kid and that things could change between them.

Personally I like the idea of Lydia and BJ being reunited after spending several years apart and things being super weird and tense based on their history. I've become primarily a fan of the relationship dynamic they have in the musical, so I see them as being distrustful of each other and competitive about getting one over the other. But they still gel in a unique way, and they can't help but enjoy their messed-up frenemy thing. And I think the awkwardness of the teen bride thing should be leaned into rather than forgotten or brushed away.

Lydia (to BJ): You really fucked me up, you know. I was just a sad kid who you manipulated. You fuckin creep.

BJ (to Lydia): Yeah but at least I didn't literally STAB YOU THROUGH THE HEART, so...point to me, there.

This type of prickly, antagonistic relationship is like catnip to me, honestly. So it's pretty disappointing and sad that all this fandom drama crap can and probably will affect my ability to share and enjoy beetlebabes content because "beetlebabes dni" appears on so many profiles and posts. It's the kinda thing that makes fandom culture such a double-edged freaking sword. Why can't people ever just let people enjoy the thing they like and try to be respectful of each other, ya know?

[siennaditbot]

Kim Possible x Ron Stoppable ship analysis!

I'll go through the episodes I know have something shipping related and analyse the moments and try to think what the characters are thinking!

Edited the final movie stuff btw! It's better now! Also now with pictures and GIFs!

S1 EP1: Crush

Ron doesn't really like Mankey (says his name mockingly) or the idea that Kim likes him. He later mentions this in So the Drama ("I was never in favor of that but I was there for Kim.")

I like how they're comfortable enough to talk about their crushes. In the past, sure, but now as well!

"We always go together." (To dances? What other "school functions" are there?) I kinda really wish we could've seen one of those. Like it was obvious to Ron that they would still go together! Idk how American schools work and how many dances they'd have been to at this point, but they really must be comfortable with each other to go to dances together like that. Just two pals having fun!

Neither is jealous of the other planning to take a date to the dance. A bit awkward and taken aback, sure, but both seem to be fine with it. I'd say neither is crushing at this point, but as mentioned earlier, Ron isn't fully on board with the Mankey thing even if he helps Kim with it.

Ron might ask all the other girls to the dance cuz he feels a bit left out? Not jealous left out, but a bit lost cuz it's a new situation?

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not dating Kim Possible." Proof that at this point they are aware of the idea of them being together, even if they aren't for or into it. Not a new concept, but not one they'd consider. Ron also tries to help Kim with Josh with this, clearly caring more about their friendship than whatever he thinks of Mankey.

Ron really encourages her to ask Mankey to the dance. "You can handle this!" Sweet guy.

S1 EP8: Mind Games

Small thing but Ron says that Kim is pretty <3 ("smart, athletic, pretty and popular")

Ron (as Kim) has a soff face when they practice cheerleading and are back to back <3 Looks at her, smiles and closes his eyes and leans against her <33 No idea why though. Kim has a similar expression but she just enjoys doing the routine, she smiles the whole time. Could be platonic "I like to be close to her", could be him subconsciously appreciating the closeness in a different way? No major "crushage" though.

S2 EP2: Grudge Match

Kim's had a crush on someone and now Ron has a crush. I don't think they have feelings for each other at this point since both are pursuing other people.

More open talking about feelings. Both are so supportive.

Ron's very aware that people might think they're a couple doing couple things (doesn't want Zita to see them coming out of the movie theater)

Kim's all "yeah, so?" and "you.. and me.. on a.. date?" which imo means that she doesn't think of them dating as a thing that's likely to happen.

Ron, on the other hand, goes "it could happen!" which tells me that he's more open to the idea and has maybe considered it before. Not enough to act on it but is aware and not as much against it as Kim. Still very much thinks of Kim as a friend more than anything else since he's into Zita rn.

Kim goes "I'm gonna say something that I've never said to you before", and Ron seems unnecessarily shocked or interested? To me it seems like he might have expected her to confess or smth like that based on the convo topic, idk.

S2 EP11: Exchange

Ron is clearly interested in Yori. Stares and swoons and stuff. Wiggles his eyebrows like an idiot lol. Super happy about her kissing his cheek. ("Yeah I love this place!!") Pointing this out since he seems different when they meet later in S3.

S2 EP13: A Very Possible Christmas

First of all I love how much time Ron spends with the Possible family! He joins their Christmas party <3 Seems like it's not his first time joining, either.

Also Kim, really, a cyber scrapbook of their memories together?? That's adorable. I'd cry too. Platonic but super cute.

Two hugs in this ep. Platonic but super cute.

They're really sweet to each other. Ron wanting to give the best gift to Kim and Kim looking all over the world for Ron.

Lol, does Drakken ship it? He puts them under the mistletoe. Ron found it though... Who put it up? Drakken does put the ribbon thingy on it so maybe he did.

They aren't that awkward about it, but Ron does laugh it off and Kim does give him a quick peck on the cheek. He says a positively surprised "oh" and touches his cheek with an awkward smile. He's a bit taken aback but doesn't seem to think about it too much, and neither does Kim. It's platonic to her it seems?

Ron's more confused than when Yori kissed him, since the girls are different to him? He doesn't celebrate like he did with Yori. Intriguing... "Yeah!!" vs "Oh!"... I think his reaction to Kim's peck is more genuine? Less "mr popular ladies man"?

"Season's greetings from the Possibles"? I see you there Ron lol. He's part of the fam.

S2 EP19: Blush

Again, Ron's not super into the Mankey business. ("Mankey-monkey conspiracy")

Ron says he "Finds the whole 'dating thing' overrated. Who would subject themselves to that?" Is that jealous talk or has he not had great experiences with it before? The Zita thing did crash and burn pretty fast at least. Maybe he also thinks of how Kim turns into a mess around guys? Degrading? Embarrassing?

"So he takes you to dinner, you two see a movie, big tap-dancing whoop! We do that stuff together all the time!" I see you there Ron. He compares their time together to dating...... More to mock the concept of dating than saying that they're like a couple? Does sound a bit jealous though..

He's much more negative towards him than in S1 EP1. Intriguing... The romantic-platonic levels might be changing there..

Kim's call log is mostly Ron. That's sweet. Probably platonic but sweet.

He gives her an awkward thumbs up when he saves her and lets her enjoy the rest of her date. That is an uncomfortable face though, Ron... I'm definitely moving him into the romantic category at this point. He likes her, but doesn't know it?

Kim's still platonic and very into Josh. Maybe.

Sitch In Time:

Could be (and really should I think) read as best friends being separated, but since I already put Ron in the romantic category, it hurts just a little bit more. Still tough to lose a best friend though, so no major "crushage" yet imo.

Ron wants younger teen him to grow to be a "babe magnet" but that's just his typical "mr wanna be popular" speaking. He does dumb stuff like that later as well. Also none of that happened? Time travel stuff?

Oh yeah now we're getting to the good stuff

S3 EP1: Steal Wheels

"Official Ron night". Cute.

Platonic but Kim's jealous of Ron spending more time with Felix.

I understand the whole "he's my best friend!" stuff but also shows how possessive she is of him?

S3 EP2: Emotion Sickness

Ron wants to protect Kim from seeing Mankey with Tara. Sweet dude.

Kim's over Mankey. "Grew apart. Time to move on."

Ron's bummed out about not realizing that Tara used to like him. Doesn't wallow in it though, which seems to me like he never had that much interest in her.

Ron's super awkward when Kim goes all flirty, and I'd say it's because she's not acting like herself. Been odd all day. Says that she's freaking him out. Weird enough for him to run away from her.

Monique asks if Kim liking him is not good and Ron goes "I don't know, it's not that I haven't thought about this.. I mean who hasn't..." Which really tells us that he has considered it before. It's not a new thought to him.

The 'who hasn't' part though? Who hasn't shipped them or who hasn't thought of Kim liking them? I'd say it's the first. People do often think they're a couple so it's once again understandable that he's considered it as well.

Ok, the kiss. He's surprised, but definitely into it. Fully kissing back and embracing her, even though she's "just a friend" to him and obviously acting weird. It's not gross since he doesn't pull back. He's not against it, even if it's a "in the heat of the moment" kinda thing.

If it was Yori or Zita? Would probably somewhat kiss back too. I think he'd have a different expression though. Less content, more confused and awkward idiot playboy? Would let them do "most of the work" and not fully embrace like that? He just wasn't as comfortable with them.

If he didn't already like the kisser? If it was a pretty girl he might have just stood there all confused but let himself be kissed (see Bonnie in S4).

Idiotic grin afterwards? "Whatever you say"? Would probably have a similar reaction to Zita or Yori kissing him, but I still say there would be more awkwardness and celebrating aka babe magnet stuff. Also important to note, he liked those two. Kim is getting a similar - if not better - reaction.

He seriously considers dating Kim.

"What's not to like about Kim? I mean she's smart, cute... Dating could be good, you know, the date thing."

Still, he's super worried about what it could do to their friendship. I read this as him not being ready for it or feeling like it isn't natural - which, of course, it isn't. Being friends is more important than this unnatural thing that's going on, even if he does get kisses out of it.

"We're a great team, but dating could complicate things." Understandable to be afraid of change (he is bad with that), but I think it's mostly how unnatural and sudden it is.

Would probably swoon over any pretty girl talking to him like that, but there is a hint of "I knew Kim was pretty but wow." in there imo. Definitely not a platonic reaction there my guy. Uncomfortable but into it.

"So I guess the crush and everything was all moodulator, huh?" he says while looking sad and disappointed. Guess he did want it to be real after all?

Kim's "Not everything. There's still fireworks." though? Confusing. Is that her straight out admitting that she thinks there's something there? She does say a few eps later when Ron's bummed out about not getting that Yori liked her that "you got me", so maybe she just likes to stay stuff like this?

Also Ron is so happy about her words with his "You think so?" and is a bit disappointed/confused? again when Kim points at the sky.

My headcanon is that Kim's really starting to get feelings and realize there might be something there after this episode.

S3 EP4: Bad Boy

First things first, cozy movie night. Friends do that too, but I've been there. More special if there's feelings there. Which both have at this point.

Ron hasn't managed to get a date with him before (to a wedding) and goes "Unless.." and looks at Kim. Immediately awkward, tugs at shirt, looks away. He considered her a date-date for a bit there.

"Not that I'm asking you." That wouldn't be as awkward if there were no feelings there. Friend date. Both are thinking of a date-date. Which is awkward to think about cuz they're still just friends.

First time Kim seems to actually react like Ron does. Awkward and in denial. Both label it as awk-weird. See above.

Ron is intrigued about Kim liking bad boys. Both that and girls liking bad boys in general cause more babe magnet shenanigans. Definitely tryna attract other girls though.

"Thanks for being my date- uh, friend", he says. They do go together, and everything's fine. A bit funny of Kim to make sure he doesn't think of it as a date-date though. Maybe she just hasn't accepted her feelings yet? Ron's happy to call it a date though.

S3 EP9: Overdue

Shego asks Ron where Kim is, and he goes "She's not my girlfriend!" very suspiciously. Leaves me a bit confused though. At least shows that he's been thinking about the possibility? Linking the gf term to her as well. Such denial can only mean he'd prefer the opposite.

"Ooooh... Awkward...." with a laugh too. That's very suspicious my guy.

S3 EP12: Gorilla Fist

Happy to see Yori ofc, but clearly lacks the "OH YEAH YORI HI" factor. A lot chiller. Over her, into Kim.

Kim's very jealous. If it wasn't obvious before, it is now. She's interested.

I feel like Ron's trying not to make Kim get the wrong idea about Yori when they first meet. "She's not my secret girlfriend!!" type of talk imo.

"I knew he crushed on someone when he was there!" Very platonic of you Kim. Makes one think.. Has she had some feelings for him all this time? There's the "It took 12 stinking years for you to kiss me!" in S4 so it's not impossible. Small, 'not wanting to accept them' kinda feelings she's tryna cover up with other guys? Who knows.

More great denial. Aka the opposite of what she's saying. Very jeal.

Ron's super smug about Kim "freaking over about his friend Yori". Happy about Kim being jealous huh? Dude's so in love already. Cute.

Ron's not super phased about being caught by Yori. Business like usual, nothing special there. No swooning.

Kim asks about their relationship, obviously curious and jealous. More ok with her now though. Shocked about the kiss though.

Ron has a calmer reaction to Yori's cheek kiss than before. Eyes widen and he smiles, laughs in a flattered way? Still different from S2. Immediately tries to explain to Kim what just happened lol.

He's only a bit disappointed when Kim tells him Yori actually liked him.

"Why can't girls be more obvious? - - How am I supposed to know what's going on?" "Well, you got me." Very sus of you Kim. Even says it a bit shyly I think? Indirect confession? Not that indirect though. Ron still misses it.

And finally, some notes from So the Drama:

Cute how Ron grabs onto Kim when they're falling. He know she protecc.

"Captain of the chess team. Or worse." She makes a scared face? An 'oh no' type expression? It's really emphasising how, at least in the context, Ron is anything but boyfriend material to her. I know Bonnie's talk is affecting her, but she really shows no trace about having feelings for him in S3, which she absolutely did have btw!

"Is there anything sadder than going to the prom with your 'just a friend'?" A bit confusing, Kim. Does she want someone else, or does she want to actually go with Ron? As more than friends? Or does she think she's unlovable and a failure n stuff if she doesn't bring a romantic partner? That's more likely, but one can dream.

"I mean, a "date" date would be nice, but a stinking 'bf'..." Another confusing Kim line. She was looking at Ron before speaking. I'm reading it as 'a real date with someone (else? Not actually sure if she's excluding him with that) would be nice, but I wish there was at least a guy', which is pretty much how the Finnish dub put it. It clears this up a little. The tone of the conversation is that she'd like a "proper" boyfriend who's not like Ron and fits better into the food chain etc so this makes sense I think. Kim's so difficult.

"I'm gonna end up with Ron!" "Mom, he's not a guy, he's Ron!" He's "obviously" not boyfriend material! I love denial and whatever but she really doesn't seem to want to accept the idea. Bonnie is affecting her yadda yadda but still! Stuff like this is why I think everything after the confession happens a bit too quickly. She acts like he's the worst case scenario which is a bit odd for someone who kisses him not that much later, right? Is she covering up her existing feelings out of fear she'll be mocked? Has she just not come to terms with her feelings yet? I can't accept her coming to like him only after and because of his confession, that would be too shallow of her, and odd since she was this against it earlier. She's not that desperate for attention. There was definitely something there before, but she's just not willing to see it until he confesses?

Hooked up? "Eww. Kim and me? No, no, no. Best friend since forever but not like that." The denial sounds genuine, I guess he just hasn't realized or accepted his feelings at this point. But then he's immediately uncomfortable by Eric's "extreme steam" comment. "Let's not talk about her that way ever again." To me that sounds protective. He does not appreciate others talking that way about her. Hint of jealousy? Doesn't wanna think about her like that himself? Confusing.

Immediately jealous and uncomfortable with Eric's advances and Kim's obviously positive reaction to him - he knows how Kim acts when she gets a crush. Cue sad montage. It's kinda funny how he still hangs out with them on their dates btw. Doesn't wanna give her up? Friends don't join their friends on dates though. Did Kim's parents make him be their chaperone? Could see James doing that.

More and more jealous as time passes. He angy. Dramatic "cooties in the area"! Understandable. They're barely noticing him anymore.

I always thought he took the pepperoni off the pizza cuz Kim and Eric had a silly moment related to it. He seems like the kind of guy who would like pepperoni otherwise.

Probably feels betrayed as well. Kim was so quick to say bye to him. Barely even looked at him. He could see it as 'Bye bye, this person is more important to me now.'

Still a good friend though and immediately goes to help her find her dad when asked. Manages to act normal as well. (I'm kinda mad about how useless he's in the action scenes btw.)

Ron's monologue about his feelings is the best scene in this movie. I love that stuff. He goes pretty far back as well with the locked braces thing, which is part of the 'she's been with other guys before which I wasn't in favor of but I was there for her' talk. I wonder what he thought of it all back then. He was a really supportive friend at least, helped even if the situation was uncomfortable or odd.

"Something's different now. There's something between us... Who am I kidding? That's not different. Something's been there a long time. I think there's something there. Does she?" Peak. (I've quoted that so many times here, it's so good.) Also now I kinda have proof of this, having gone through a lot of the series just for this post. For how long though...?

He's finally willing to look at his feelings properly and puts everything into perspective. Comparing this to the 'Emotion Sickness' monologues? He's less afraid of change. He's feeling different enough to want to actually go for it this time. The situation is more dire, but more real.

"There's something there". Does he figure out that Kim's been showing signs of feeling the same? The "Does she?" is probably him wondering if she's realized it too. The "something" could be anything from S3's awkwardness to smaller changes in their dynamic from S1 and before. Suddenly not going to dances together and having to think about this stuff more.

He's actually saying that he wants to date her. "Kim's worth [telling her about my feelings even if it's humiliating]!" "What if I start yapping about my feelings and she chooses Eric and not me?" Just the 'realizing his feelings' talk is great, but he actually wishes she would choose him as her boyfriend. Proper acceptance of feels right there. No denial whatsoever. He will hide it for Kim's sake, but he wants to date her. (I love this soff dude!!)

Dude's skilled for being able to act like he didn't just realize and accept a lot of scary and life changing feelings. Chooses friendship over any jealous and possessive behavior, even if it is a bit tough at times. Gets a bit smug when they do decide to go save the world though.

Tiny cute detail: when on the scooter together and Ron drives, Kim holds his shoulders, but when Kim drives, Ron has his arms around her/hands on her hips.

Confession scene. (Peak Ron for getting Kim out of her "pity fiesta" btw.) He's simply saying that a guy, a real guy that's good for her, exists, and that he's here, about to say 'someone like me'. A bit of a roundabout way to say it but it gets the point across. Mostly saying it to make her understand that she's not unlovable? There's a hint of 'guess this is a good opportunity to shoot my shot', too, but in a selfless way, not asking her to like him back. Just wants her to know so she can get her groove back. He thinks they could work. (Includes himself in "guys that are better for you than Eric")

Kim's reaction confuses me a bit once again. "Oh. Really?" She's happy about it, sounding hopeful too? 'Didn't think he actually liked me' surprised? 'I'm not unlovable' surprised? Both? 'It wasn't unrequited after all and I shouldn't have been afraid'? Why she so difficulttt

Kim's oddly flirty when hurrying to the prom, but the prom scene itself is adorable. Them being awkward about the change. Some distance inbetween that Rufus gets rid of lol. Stuff's different but they're still themselves.

Soff kiss with the soffest gazes I've ever seen. A bit quick to get there, but adorable. The point of a proper kiss is that both are in on it, and here they are. Better than the 'Emotion Sickness' kiss, but Ron's even more comfortable and less lovestruck with it. He knows it's real this time and that he's ready for it now. Kim's also finally getting over the food chain talk and really accepts her feelings for him. Feeling like 'This is still a bit odd, but it's him, and it's alright. I trust him more than anyone else. He's safe, and this feels right." or smth?

Is it finally done? This took... Almost 7 hours. It's 3am right now, so it might've started to get messy halfway lol. I hope someone out there gets something out of all this hard work.

Extra few hours (like 5, one edit didn't go through...) from editing after waking up. The movie stuff makes more sense now!

[syndrossi]

Bit of a non-resonant question for once:

What program do you use to write with? Any particular fonts or techniques that help get you in the writing zone? Do you edit as you write or write and then edit after you have a skeleton/base finished?

Ah, love me some writing questions!

Writing program

For my very early fandom life, I liked to use Wordpad (rather than proper Word) because it was very simple but still allowed basic formatting and didn't have Word's annoying "suggestions" that I always ignore.

Then I bought Scrivener, which appealed to me because it let you organize your writing into "folders" almost, while allowing you to still easily switch between separate bits of writing and view the work as a whole. I loved it because I'm always playing with concept work or alternate POVs, and it let me organize all the related bits around the main work. I still use Scrivener to organize my D&D games that I DM!

These days, I tend to use Google Docs for easy syncing. I like being able to write and read my work everywhere. I mostly write at my desk, but will reread and edit occasionally on my phone (at home or elsewhere) or on my laptop when I'm lounging in bed. One thing I used to do, in summer of all things, was take a nice long soak in the bath and reread Resonant before starting work on a new chapter. It's too long these days to do that, alas!

I don't love Google Docs itself, because I really do miss the organization Scrivener gave me. (Scrivener would be amazing for the Halloween prompts, honestly!) And the single doc that holds all of Resonant is starting to choke a bit on its size. But the convenience keeps it as my writing tool of choice for now.

There was one other piece of Scrivener-esque paid writing software I looked at a while back that sync'd its content in the cloud, but I remember not being super blown away by it and I've forgotten the name.

Getting into the zone

This is usually a matter of rereading the current chapter or the previous chapter to get my head in the right place, both in terms of tone and flow. Sometimes, if I'm feeling very fancy, I'll light a scented candle. But I'm a pretty basic person. It's usually just me deciding "okay, enough screwing around, let's do some writing" and then I write. (In the past, when I was strict about reaching 1K/day and was struggling with a particular section, I would give myself the "treat" every 100 words of a short break.)

I had a period where I only felt "in the zone" when the sun was still out, which makes things hard when you work a 9-5 job and have to take care of dinner/the dog after. Fortunately, that phase is over and I'm back to writing whenever. That phase was odd because I am more typically a "can't really get in the proper zone until midnight" person. I would say that most of Resonant was written between the hours of 10PM and 4AM.

The hardest things for me to write are new characters and new POVs, as those usually involve me refreshing myself on the body of work for that particular character (rewatching them in the show, and rereading their bits in F&B). Not applicable to OCs, usually, unless they're Essos-related characters, because those involve a lot of interpolating of the few scraps GRRM has shared of the Free Cities.

Editing process

I'm pretty much the opposite of a skeleton writer. 😅 I'll constantly edit myself as I write. There's a certain minimum level of "acceptable" I have to maintain to move onto the next paragraph, with the sole exception being the heavy writing months with my word count minimum where I just wanted to be done for the night. That said, I do on occasion make use of [finish this scene] or [name this later] or [figure out how this works] injections.

And since I reread the current chapter when getting into the writing zone, that usually means doing light editing as I go if an easy fix to something I wasn't happy with occurs to me.

Sometimes, a particular stretch of scenes or chapters doesn't "feel" right, and I have to rewrite, remove, or add entire scenes. That's usually done at the start of a writing session and sometimes takes up the entire time.

The day before posting is the "final edits" day. It's where I fill in any brackets I left behind, and edit the most stubborn bits I wasn't happy with, until everything is close to 100% satisfaction. I definitely do the most editing of a chapter in this span, and often this adds 500ish words to a given chapter. I've had chapters where I was already pretty much completely happy (ch13 comes to mind) and I just had to do a basic grammar/flow check. Those are nice, they take no more than an hour. Others, I'm burning the midnight oil to fill in the blanks and figure out how the heck to fix a particular sentence or phrase of dialogue that's been vexing me.

[dogydayz]

Not to vague post, and this is especially not anything against the person who brought this to my mind, but I feel the need to make sure people know this since I post a LOT about how I like Sonadow and don't wanna attract the wrong crowds-

I'm NOT okay with Sonadow depictions that are abusive. I'm not okay with ANY abusive ships being seen as cute or romantic. That's a huge thing for me, and it's super triggering to see people romanticize abuse and shit.

HOWEVER. I do not view the rivalry aspect to them as inherently "abusive" so long as it's depicted in a way that's like. Mutual. They enjoy it. They enjoy competing and battling and shit. Because I totally love that idea for them, and even think it's a tad odd when they're shown as /only/ being super affectionate, since their rivalry is sort of intrinsic to their relationship. They're basically perfect for competing with one another, and I've even shown in my Razor AU that I tend to go with the idea that, similarly to the cosmic rule of Sonic and Tails being brothers, Sonic and Shadow are like. Destined to be rivals. Literally star-crossed rivals. They are somewhat of equals in their abilities, they can learn one anothers' powers too, and they both have weird natural Chaos energy. They bounce off one another perfectly emotionally and competitively. THAT'S a huge part to their relationship! (I have no actual problems with the more affectionate depictions of them, I just generally like to show their competitions AS their affection at times. Their fights are like dances. I think that's a wonderfully interesting concept for a ship!)

I will say that their dynamic is very much one of those "it works in fiction, but it wouldn't work super well in reality". Like, their traits are too extreme for reality by default, and their dynamic would, in the real world, simply not work out well since they'd be humans and deal with Human Issues. The fact of the matter is that there are things that CAN BE FINE IN FICTION, but not in reality (do NOT spin this to mean i'm okay with actual proshipper-type shit. That's NOT what im talking about. What i'm talking about is more like.... Like, pairings that would be unstable irl due to lack of environmental control and how human psychology works but can work in fiction because of expanded possibilities that already exist in fiction, such as characters who are assassins but aren't immediately bad guys and shit).

Which is kinda why I got so shocked by some of the tags on AO3 Sonadow fics, because I sorta neglected to consider that there are people who DO depict it as abusive.

Another note is that I like to stick to an older canon for Shadow, but I often like to use details from more modern media for him. Which is probably why I don't see their rivalry and the possibilities for them to have a relationship more than just friends (whether it be qpr or romantic, i dont really care since i'm an enjoyer of both) as really bad. Because I don't really consider the more recent times where they've battled and Shadow's been more "nasty" to him as how I base things on (excluding the Twitter Takeovers since those go off-script and Kirk does his damn best to make Shadow actually more like who he truly is there, so I see those as positive depictions of their banter).

Maybe this post wasn't needed, maybe it could've been assumed by how I talk about them, however it was weighing on my mind to make sure people understand how I feel about this whole topic, because I do need to recognize that there ARE very problematic and gross depictions of the ship and I do NOT support them. So when I reblog art of the guys fighting and shit, just do know that this is how I tend to view it, I'm not at all trying to seem like I'm romanticizing abusive behaviors or anything, I just like the different ways they could be interpreted as rivals and/or as partners

[desultory-novice]

What is your opinion on the theory that void is related to kirby.

I know it's sort of an old theory, but I want to know your take/opinion on it.

Is it weird? I've found that as time goes on, I'm slightly less interested in the whole Void - Kirby connection mystery! Everyone already has their theories on it. I find I care more about Kirby and what he's doing than his origins or his species or where he came from.

I find myself hoping we never find out "where" Kirby came from, ya know? How is it supposed to change things, anyway? If we did have a single origin story for Kirby, that wouldn't answer MORE questions. That would just tell a number of people with differing theories, "Oops! We've decided to lock one of THE most flexible characters in gaming (1) down to a single identity. That means your concept of Kirby is now officially WRONG!" and my goodness, that sounds like the most un-Kirby statement I can think of!

(1) Gender, personal identity, physical form, language, even age! All these things are heavily debatable with Kirby! Anyone and everyone are supposed to be able to see themselves in Kirby. The more Kirby's existence is defined by his relationship to other characters, even Void and super popular ones like Meta Knight, the less we are able to be Kirby. (Unless you make your own custom puffball based on you, I suppose. But "having an OC" shouldn't be a necessary corollary to that statement either! You should always be able to be "Kirby.")

That tangent aside...

I did re-re-review the Void Termina pause screen lore, and when it talks about the 'countless numbers of Voids in the sky, twinkling like stars,' it is easy to imagine those as a species of Kirbys.

It's hard to be definite about it, because we have two depictions of Void post-game. One as Void as we know them. The glowing marble. The other being the fan theory that Void incarnated into Classic Kirby. Which, while a great theory, doesn't really make sense? It's not like Void goes back in time to Kirby's Dream Land...

:8-bit Green Greens starts playing: :Dess passionately ignores this:

...Okay, listen, you! Magolor being implied to have gone back in time to Kirby's Adventure for the sole purpose of watching King Deded throw bombs at Kirby so he can copy that idea for his theme park and then hop dimensions to one in which Meta Knight decides to not fail his initiative roll and single-handedly take down the HWC, facing a computer generated clone of Dark Matter just so that he can make a party favor is bad enough! Do you really want to induce a closed time-loop grandfather pardox into Kirby?!

So I tend to stick with the interpretation that post-Star Allies Void is just Void as we know them. In which case, it DOESN'T become a Kirby, it just takes after Kirby. Which is what Void does. Takes after people. Void is an emotionless mass of emotions that copies the traits of those who have the greatest influence on its awakening. It's possible the Dark Matter forms have more to do with the kind of stuff Hyness was messing around with. And didn't that one interview state that Void's similarities to Kirby are specifically a result of Kirby being there IN THAT MOMENT? Not that it was always a Kirby-like, but that Kirby arrived just in time to have a strong influence on it.

I mean, if we're going to compare Void to Kirby and say that those similarities are heavy indicators they are the same species, what about allllllllllll the other last bosses Void takes after?

It's true that Void's emulation abilities and Kirby's copy abilities do seem to pair up naturally. And they're both round. But...

Tbh, I don't know. But I am a little tired of it being treated as a given that "Kirby is Void but happy." Rather than Kirby being a member of those countless Voids in the sty, I like to think of Kirby as the progenitor of (post-game) Void and not the other way around! I think I like the idea that Kirby is the important one in this equation!

...Having said that, I will inevitably bring about The Curse (of Dess Always Being Proven Wrong About the Lore) and next game will come out proving that Kirby IS the same species as Void XD

--

Despite what I said above about the tired thing, I did recently look up the Pokemon Puffy Pink hack (You can find the link for it on the resulting Youtube video. Sorry, I'm in a rush or I'd get you all the link) and I thought the idea of "Void" evolving into "Kirby" when they had a maxed out happiness stat was, in fact, adorable!

Dess is not completely jaded!/lh

[eldritch-elrics]

i finally watched the backrooms webseries by kane pixels!

because "weird architecture"-based horror is one of my absolute favorite vibes, i knew i had to check it out eventually. and i'm glad i did! overall it's astonishingly well-done, especially from a technical/effects perspective. very good visual design, audio design, etc.

under the cut i'll add some more detailed thoughts + criticisms!

things i liked:

pretty much all the found-footage episodes are extremely well done. there's real tension! it's super spooky! my favorites are the ones entitled "pitfalls" and "found footage #2." i really enjoy how the creator is able to innovate on the concept of the backrooms, keeping things visually cohesive while branching out into various styles of architecture. i don't think i can do them justice other than to say that the vibes are perfect.

i also found myself more invested in the main "plot" of the series than i thought i would be. i like the interactions between the scientists/explorers; they're both fun and also realistic-feeling. while the introduction of async (the shady corporation trying to expand into the backrooms) initially made me go "what a cliche!" - i think their goal of ~solving the housing crisis~ by building shitty homes in a dangerous alternate dimension is pretty unique and interesting. i love the parts where it's clear they're rushing the job of making the backrooms "habitable" because they want to impress investors. it's not what i expected from the series, but i'd love to see more of that. always gotta respect a horror series with concrete themes.

also, this is very specific, but i like how the explorers have lots of lingo and safety procedures. that's an important part of making something like this actually feel naturalistic. i am convinced that this is a real, government-funded investigation!

neutral observations:

while i don't think it's fair to call the backrooms webseries cliche/unoriginal, it's clearly building heavily off of preexisting media. kane pixels's youtube channel makes it clear he's a portal fan - that's absolutely an inspiration here. there are also heavy vibes of control (2019 game) and annihilation (2018 movie). since all of these are things i like, i'm happy! and i think the webseries is doing a unique spin on "shady government project sends scientists/explorers/etc into surreal alien phenomenon." but at the same time, i find myself questioning why it always has to be a shady government/corporate project. for sure, it lets you investigate themes like "the limit of science" and "how much control do these organizations have over us and do they really care about our safety" and fun things like that, but i would have been equally happy if it wasn't doing that trope again.

i also have no strong opinions on the idea of introducing monsters into the backrooms. some people have strong opinions on this. i think the monsters add to the tension in fun ways. i like how inhumanly they move! and i like how it's implied (ish? at least this is my theory) that the monsters are mutated forms of people who've gotten lost in the backrooms. and how they have this kind of fungusy vibe...

for the most part, though, the series is scariest when there aren't any monsters around. but the threat of monsters keeps tension high, and i like how they're integrated into the plot so far. it's less about monsters being present and more what you do with them, i think?

criticisms:

my biggest criticism might seem like kind of an unfair one, but it's central to how i view found footage as a medium/genre. fundamentally, to me, found footage is about medium-as-plot-device - the camera is a character, the editing is done by people in-universe, and there should be a strong feeling that the work is presented the way it is for a diegetic reason (even if we don't know what that reason is).

the backrooms webseries consistently fails to convince me that it is entirely shot and edited in-universe. one might say "but it isn't trying to be convincing in this way," but i don't think that's true - the way the episodes are labeled with dates, and the way everything is cut together, makes it seem like it's presenting curated videos from the fictional 90s. it's possible other people are more lenient about "what a found footage series should be," or if they classify backrooms as "found footage" at all! but the way i read it, its particular priorities as a found footage series seriously clash with my own definition of what a found footage series should be concerned with.

i find it particularly jarring when it's playing spooky music over cut-together photos and video. even if async is supposed to be sinister, why would they make videos that so obviously paint them that way? is somebody else supposed to have created some of these videos? if so, i would have liked an indication of who and maybe why, even if it isn't really explained! the final episode (for now) does this pretty well - presents itself as an internal communication to be shown to other async employees. the episode "motion detected" is also really good: it's clear what purpose the video has in-universe. but others, especially towards the beginning of the series, feel jarring because their creation isn't so grounded in the universe.

there are also segments where the filmmaking language shifts from found footage to cinema. see, i think i understand why these segments are here, but i simply do not think it works at all. when you create found footage, you, by nature of the medium, make your viewer extremely aware of the camera as an object. when the series shifts into a cinematographic mode - filming and cutting between actors like in a movie - it feels incredibly fake. (see the episode "report" for an example of this.) who is filming these people? why? why cut stuff together in this way? i get the sense that it's supposed to be an "objective" view of stuff going on outside the backrooms, stuff that no in-universe cameras are supposed to see, but if that's the case, the series's chosen medium has already undermined any sense of objectivity here, since previous episodes have taught us to question the camera. i do hope any continuation to the story addresses this! i would love to know why async is filming themselves like this! and it's always possible that the cinematic language is supposed to make the viewer feel uneasy. but idk. i'm not a fan

overall, the backrooms is truly excellent found footage horror. when it stops being found footage, though, the found-footage-ness of the rest of it can't help but make me stop suspending my disbelief!

[opinated-user]

Did lily just give her HP aliana oc a gardevoir for a Petronas? And also totally change the magic so it's sentient and never fades away so it can hang out with everyone?

Fanfic is self-indulgent by design, so it's fine that she does whatever she wants. The only issue I have is that LO always acts like her fics are first that aim to improve the original when they're not. All they are is super self-indulgent stories she writes for fun. Yet she dunks on other fics for the same thing. Or people who don't agree with how she writes certain things.

I'd respect her so much more if she just said 'Hey this is my fic, not a book and I do what want' rather then defend her choices as fine and pat herself on the back for fixing a story while simultaneously saying other fic writers are trash for just enjoying a trope she hates.

Side note I do find funny that she really only has like 3 stock characters she uses at nauseum and can't write anything else. But, yeah, she totally could get a book published.

i admit this could be a cute idea. some people in the fandom always speculated that the Patronus of Harry had some form of own consciousness based on how they were portrayed in the third and fifth movies, so it's not a bad idea to take that concept further and turn it into "you can create your very own best friend". if you ever heard about the concept of tulpas, beings you can create within your own mind to be independent of you, LO's essentially doing just that with a physical form. LO could have created a entirely new spell just for that, but i don't really have an issue with this being her new interpretation of patronus. my problem is the "only some patronus can talk given their form" because... why? they're already beings made of light, why biology of all things would be the thing that impedes them communicate? i guess just because LO's characters have to have the most especial pokemon/patronus by default.

... the issue that i'm already seeing is that this is literally just the exact same thing she already did with the AI that rey created. it hasn't been that long and she's already recycling her own ideas again, blatantly so. does LO even realize that or she does not care? remember that AI robot that started as basically a toddler that alaina, not rey, had to teach her about everything until the AI develops a crush on alaina? the thing that we called out as being plain grooming? think about it: -both beings are entirely dependant on another character. if rey stops the servers or brent just undoes the spell, they both cease to exist. -they're both empty shells until their creator/wife's creator takes them under their wing. as a note, how come something can be an "empty shell", but their loyalty still has to be earned? that makes no sense. -they're essentially free servants, borderline slaves. they're both told that they have free will, that they're part of the family and they aren't under anyone's control... but there's really nothing showing that because neither of these characters has any personality beyond adoring brent/alaina and how useful they're for their respective "families." do they have any hobbies? do they enjoy doing anything outside of the people who made them? can they create art? do they have imagination? do they have preferences? do they dream about mechanical sheep? we don't know, and i frankly doubt that LO even thought about it because it's not about any of them becoming actual people, it's about alaina/brent having adoring servants that they don't even need to pay.

-they both have overtly formal speech patterns regarding the "family" as if they were their superior and, despite all the talk about them not being subservient and being on equal footing, nobody seems to mind? i just don't know how equal a relationship can be when one of the parties keeps using "my lady" and being so reverent. it's almost like LO want to replicate the relationship between Sylvannas and anevay, but she missed the part about that dynamic has a different tone when it comes to a creator and the creation.

-neither that AI or this patronus have an actual option to leave their creators, even if they wanted to. they're bound to them to continue living. because of that, no matter how much talk there's about "you're part of the family", there's always going to be a power dynamic at play here that, considering who's writing, is almost for certain going to be abused in some way in the future.

as a side note, that "she's opinionated" and "she's the first one to say she isn't an slave" (even though she is because there's no talk anywhere about her having any actual indepedence or actual rights) are entirely recycling what little of a personality G has on pokemadhouse. this is just G.

[flecks-of-stardust]

yo you think the iterator and void worms are stronger than the higher beings?

i've had this ask sitting in my ask box for a while now, and now i actually have the time and dedication to sit down and think about this. so sorry for leaving it for so long, shit happens djsngjs the tldr answer of this would probably be uh. how are we defining each of these things exactly?

under a cut because i am verbose:

so first of all. what do you mean by 'stronger'? what metric are we using here? are we talking about theoretical knowledge? ability to do Something? capability of damage? it's hard to say which of these is 'stronger' when they're such different things. sure, the iterators call themselves biomechanical gods, and compared to slugcat? yeah, they absolutely are. but that's very much not the same thing as a higher being, they can't really be compared. same goes for void worms. all of these also depend on how you interpret each of these things. in other words, take my answer with a grain of salt, since some of my own headcanons are rather specific.

when it comes to knowledge, i personally think iterators and higher beings are fairly evenly matched. iterators are highly advanced, highly efficient supercomputers. given enough time and sufficient resources, they can theoretically find the answer to anything (except, obviously, the great problem. but we're not considering that here). for me, higher beings are sort of similar? they're not really omnipotent; they could be, i guess, but the state we see the higher beings in in hollow knight suggests otherwise to me. but they have all of eternity to learn and research and find the answer to something. of course the timescale of iterators is more finite, but for many questions, i think both iterators and higher beings would be able to find the answer. so i don't know who would necessarily win in this regard. i'll discuss void worms later on.

as for ability to do... whatever, it really depends on what that something is. i'm saying that a lot, but seriously. understanding the flora and fauna around them? both iterators and higher beings probably have it down pat. make social connections with those around them? possibly trickier for higher beings because of their status, but probably not an issue for either of them. creating... things, be it purposed organisms or. uh. children? sure. not a big deal for either of them, provided the iterator has enough resources.

capability for damage though. i'm assuming this is probably closer to what you mean by stronger? because. come on, iterators are buildings. they're gigantic, super high tech, but ultimately sessile buildings. if you mounted missile turrets on an iterator can i guess they could do ranged damage? but otherwise their capability for damage is mostly limited to brain blasting the poor slugcat that pissed them off too much i think. (and the rains, but that's not really the same thing.) their field of influence is very limited to their own facility grounds and what their technology allows them to do. higher beings, on the other hand, have magic at their beck and call. obviously this also depends on how you think their magic works, but for me it's based entirely on what the wielder can think of and whether they have enough energy to execute the action. so theoretically? higher beings can do anything. they could level an iterator if they wanted to and had enough energy to, and the iterator wouldn't be able to do shit. i guess in a way this makes them stronger? i think it's kind of a moot point, they're just really different things.

void worms? i don't have a clear concept of what i think they are. i have some theories, which involves some uh. fourth dimensional mumbo jumbo terminology bullshit, but in short i would consider them more fundamental than higher beings are. kind of. they could. theoretically beat higher beings on all of these metrics, i guess? i just don't think they'd care enough to ever bother. they're kind of just vibing in the void sea i think.

so uh. i guess my final answer is i don't know. depends on a lot of things.

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Update on my feelings for the new upcoming family movies

Us DreamWorks fans are on the edge of our seats because we're getting a Chicken Run 2, Trolls 3, and Kung Fu Panda 4! Big day woohoo! The only thing is, I hope they do well (I know Chicken Run 2 somehow became property of Netflix because DreamWorks and Aardman aren't working together, that makes me angry). I'm also really excited for the new movie "Migration" and I hope that it's as good as it looks. I loved the new Super Mario movie, and I loved Puss in boots Last Wish, I'm SO GLAD that they beat Disney at the box office. However, I'm mostly here to talk about my thoughts on the live action Little Mermaid.

Okay, listen; I don't give a darn about her skin color, she's a MERMAID and it's based off a 200 year old fairytale that was pretty woke for something that's been around before my town was founded. I'm not here to talk about that, though! I'm here to talk about how I feel about the live actin and Disney on it's own. It really looks like this live action Little Mermaid is doing well, and while I'm happy for Halle, I have mixed feelings. I honestly think Halle's a beautiful woman and makes a very beautiful mermaid, and I'm a big fan of Jodi Benson, even though I don't care for the cartoon Disney Little Mermaid (I mostly like Jodi because of Camp Lazlo). It's mostly the story that I don't like! In fact, I hate the cheesy classic Disney romances. Am I the only one... or? Please tell me I'm bot the only one who finds them always portraying the underage princess as "sexy" and almost always making her fall in love with a "handsome" prince who just a stale, himbo who barely has any personality. I get they were a product of their time, but they're not really good for girls nor boys, or anyone for that matter (by anyone I mean people who don't identify as any gender, not adults). Yes, adults can rewatch those movies and enjoy them if they were apart of their childhood, just like how I cling onto cartoons from my childhood. It's just that, I don't think the older movies are very good for kids by today's standards. Not everything needs to be all romanticized and glamourous anymore, we like some realistic mishaps in family movies. I'd choose something like Duck Duck Goose or Early Man over a 40-70 year old Disney movie any day! In my completely honest opinion, I'd rather watch this live action Little Mermaid than the old cartoon one, but I don't care for either of those movies! I'm also personally not happy that Disney is being fussed over by everybody again, I'm still advocating for these smaller companies. If you grew up on a lot of non-Disney cartoons and movies, you would understand what I mean!

I also hate when people would call me "racist" for hating on the new Little Mermaid, when I hate the old one just as much, if not more! Racism is a horrible concept, and the word shouldn't be thrown around so loosely for hardly anything! I think they really scored themselves a beautiful mermaid when they casted Halle, but I'm still not a fan of the movie. I'm not mad because of the animals either... okay, well if it were up to me I'd swap out that singing crab for a tough pirate girl who helps teach the mermaid about human life but in all honestly, it's mostly the story that I'm not crazy about, plus the fact that I think Disney is still so overrated! I really hope that Trolls 3 and Migration both beat the live action Little Mermaid at the box office! As for Elemental, it looks pure cringe... heck, I even hope Little Mermaid beats that!

Another thing, if I had a friend who wanted to watch the Live Action Little Mermaid to make fun of it, we're not seeing it in theaters. We are going to watch it one of those free movie websites with the sketchy pop up ads (I use them for movies all the time anyway). I don't have Disney plus, and even if you do, but you wanted to watch one of the new movies, I suggest using one of the free movie websites because they're still gonna make money from Disney plus. Streaming services are run by people, and they see when people watch movies. If a movie is watched a numerous amount of times on any streaming service, that streaming service, as well as the creators are somehow notified and will continue to make movies that are similar. If you're genuinely excited about the new live action Little Mermaid, you can go see it in theaters but if you're just going to watch it to make fun of it, watch it on Actvid or Moviesjoy. Also, if you're a Trolls fan as much as I am (come on, I know there's a fandom here on tumblr! Where's my Trolls fandom at?) go watch Trolls 3 in theaters so that DreamWorks can know that us fans exist and it's NOT a waste of money to make another movie! Broppy shippers, I hear we're gonna get what we want, too! I also hope Illumination does well with this new movie Migration, because it looks adorable, as I said before in another post.

One more thing I forgot to mention; that Ruby Gillman movie looks pretty cute. It personally doesn't suit my taste, but I hope it does well. It's DreamWorks, and I'm a huge DreamWorks fan, but not everything from them is good. It's gotta be way better than Shark Tale or Boss Baby... and definitely **pukes** The Bee movie... (Oh gosh I wanna puke just thinking about the Bee Movie... and this is coming from someone who likes bees). That Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken movie definitely doesn't look as appealing to me as Trolls 3, but my bestie and I are gonna have ourselves a little movie night and give it a try, and then I'll probably review it!

Anyway, thank you for listening to my thoughts and I hope that after reading the whole thing, you won't jump to conclusions when someone says they don't like the Live action Little Mermaid. Not everyone who hates it is mad about the skin color thing, we just don't care for it! And if you're a Trolls fan like me, PLEASE drop me a comment! I'll be so happy to chat with you in the comments! Even if you're not, feel free to comment your feelings anyway!

[hankwritten]

y'know whats really suprising (at least to me)? that as far as i can tell, nobody has ever made an rvb/tf2 crossover. when ya get right down to it, theyre both about two teams of color coded idiots fighting over nothing in the middle of nowhere who eventually have to deal with grander threats. maybe theyre not exactly ripe fer a crossover due to the differing time periods, but it could be made to work

I wouldn't go so far as to call them crossovers, but at the very height of being into both tf2 and rvb I stumbled across someone's SFM videos with the audio sourced from rvb (taking audio of comedy skits and making SFMs out of them was its own whole genre, so I'd say it was more in line with that trend than a true attempt to cross the fandoms) In all honesty they were...not very good. But my passion was high and my standards were very low so I watched a lot of not very good SFMs during that time anyway.

I did a bit of preliminary searching, and I found some vids with a similar concept (which are also the same level of Not Very Good) but the exact collection of short videos I didn't find. May be lost to history at this point.

Younger me (<== contained not a single drop of SFM skill at the time) often did fantasize about making tf2 SFM animations But Good. I remember distinctly thinking that the "let me borrow the sniper rifle" bit would translate to tf2 so well, and be super funny. Actually! Demo and Sniper's scene in Territorial Control was based on that long remembered joke, arrived through the ages to take on a life of its own.

Circling back to sort of your original point nonny, I love the few times I've gotten to explain rvb to a friend who's only familiar with tf2. The idea that both canons have a conflict of Red and Blue needing to be kept in the dark that they're being puppet-ed by the same organization is so juicy; also, how rvb both takes people finding out both more seriously and less seriously than tf2. How it's both a joke and no one cares, (Tucker about to reveal it, then getting run over by a car and getting convenient amnesia and the plot moving on since it's for a joke and not *actually* a big deal) but then also when it is For Real revealed MANY seasons later, it leads to Sarge's breakdown and crisis of faith. One of my Sadness over tf2 canon is that this level of gravity is never given to the R/B conflict, it's just sort of quietly set aside in favor Mann vs Machine, which is set aside for Fortress vs Classics, which itself is being set aside in the last issue. Red vs Blue proves that you can move on to bigger and more elaborate conflicts, and you could have given a satisfying resolution to the initial duplicity/intrigue of the pointlessness of their whole war.

Anyway, I don't know if any of the rvb cast would get along w the tf2 mercs since their shtick is hating the world and each other, but I do think it'd be funny if the "everyone likes Donut even people who's whole thing is being a bitch" continued into the new canon. All of the mercs are like. Yeah these multicolored space marines who alternate timelined to New Mexico (alternate timelining into other video games is canon in rvb so fuck yeah) suck major ass. But that pink one. I find him oddly charming for some reason.

Texas gets Worf Effect'd. Her canon powers of "can beat everyone up super easily, but always ends up losing due to These Idiot's Hyjinks" absolutely applies when she inevitably fights the mercs.

Sniper takes Church at face value when he says he's a good sniper and is fine with just sitting around and not talking and killing shit. But as soon as they go somewhere to nest up this blue dude will just not shut up for some reason and Sniper gets fed up with him real fast.

Anyway~ most of my thoughts. I haven't been into rvb in a long time but it was nice to jog these old ideas again.

[rustycottoncandy]

It's funny how you can just create stuff. You don't need a license, you don't need a special permission and neither do you need to be a genius or professionalize in anything to make up something and call it your creation. You can just create stuff.

You can think of a concept and expand it with more concepts. You can think of an idea and build it into a monument with just words or images. Perhaps not even that at all, they can also be just thoughts. You don't even need to write a book to create a story or a character; you're not obligated to. They can just stay in your head as concepts and will still be great.

You can create anything you want: from different realities, to new species, languages, cities, universes, and even hundreds of characters.

You can create somebody and base them off of things you have lived or make them the complete opposite of what you've seen and done, or just make somebody and build them up as time goes by, without a clear direction. They don't even have to be super complex, you can also try to make a character and leave them as a WIP, and that's fine, because you can be messy. That applies to stories, too.

In terms of imagination and creativity, there are no limits to what you can or cannot do unless you set them yourself. You can go nuts if you want and create something terrible, even, and it will be fine because you'll be following your rules alone. You don't need to be driven by morals in your imagination. You are just as allowed to create a heartwarming story as you are to create the most messed up shit that could ever cross your mind and they'll both be great.

Creativity and imagination are and will always be beautiful. Fiction is beautiful.

Creativity is like a harmless anarchy that rules upon your mind. There's no rules and with them come no laws. Any rules that you want to add would be set and controlled by yourself alone, which I guess would turn the anarchy to a tirany, but even then, you could still break your rules because that's what creativity is all about. Breaking and following rules, making up stuff, imagining stuff or sometimes simply wondering stuff. Anything that you make up in your mind could be considered creative, regardless if it follows or breaks a rule or two. Regardless if it's moral or not, something made up by you will be considered creative and thus be beautiful. Creativity is beautiful.

Fiction applies to made up stories, concepts or characters — well, general concepts, basically. Everything considered fiction is made up. In other words, they're lies. A fictional story is a lie with fake people in it that follows events that never actually happened. Fictional stories are lies, yet they're still able to make us feel real feelings. Isn't that beautiful? They're able to make us care about what they explain and tug our hearts, both nicely and badly. A fictional story can make you cry, but it can also make you laugh, or frown, or - well, it can get a reaction out of you, that's what I mean. You can have negative or positive emotions towards a fictional character or something they have done, and those feelings will be real. Their actions will be made up, but your feelings will be real.

Last year, I read Radio Silence, by Alice Oseman, and I always got extremely angry whenever one specific character appeared. I would be reading at class and turn to my classmate to complain about something that specific character had done or said, or generally about her existence. There'd be times during which I had to stop reading, even. How beautiful is that? How amazing is it that somebody can make a character able to cause real, strong emotions on a living, existent person? That someone can make up a fake person, somebody who never existed, and cause other people to feel genuine hate towards them? Or the other way around, make others love their creation? Their lie? The fake little creature inside of their brain?

I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself the way I want to, but it's late and I'm tired, so let's blame any expressive mistakes on the time, shall we?

Reading something that somebody else has written or hearing them talk about something that they have created is, in a way, getting a peek of their mind.

When you read a book, you're driving your eyes through a text that somebody else has written. A text that was once a part of their mind and a text that has been read by that person's eyes before they reached your own. You're reading, and at the same time visualizing, an idea that once formed part of someone else's mind. You're sharing their thoughts and exploring their ideas.

When you read, listen to, or watch something that somebody else has created, you're not only witnessing a story. You're being guided through the creator's mind and discovering part of their way of thinking. You're getting to know a part of them. A very small part of them, at that, but you are. You're getting to know the characters they care about, the scenes and places that have once caressed their mind, the concepts that they once embraced and the ideas they once had. You're witnessing them with your own mind and at the same time sharing them - living them, even, if you're too invested in whatever you're watching, listening to or reading.

Fiction is beautiful.

[the-firebird69]

And we like the ideas and we like the fact that our son is searching and searching and finally found something and he found something and it's in Oregon and bja owns it and it's a failure cuz he's going off a very old chassis and nobody bought it and it's too weak of a motor he thought it would work because it's a light shell and that's pretty much how much the other ones weigh but it doesn't work because the shell is too heavy and they made it a different material. Ourselves pretty light and it's not lighter than his but we use a different chassis and would beef up the suspension and that's it we're going to start making them and to look pretty much exactly like a Humvee Bob Marsh Mack Mike 2 and a bunch of people over there so going up there to look at this they said it's a super idea it's got the wrong chassis and they have chassis too they're going to make it more like the Hummer too and make it high performance and it's a great idea and this house been going and bja is mad at both and we don't care and he's going to go up there to Oregon and to Washington State and get his ass kicked and we need that cuz he has a lunatic and the phones are lunatics but they want to steal the things and that makes sense that's kind of more reality but BJ's in that case and he has been even when he had full power and he had a lot and he's a loser we hate him. So we're going to go up there too and we're going to be at the same place maybe we're not really going to make it the same way but we want to see how he made it because it came out pretty damn good it says it's like one piece and it just bolts on and they never had success doing that and we'd like to see how because we'd like to do that too it's a real pain in the ass to do it the other way and it's unique the design is unique and it's worth a lot of money because it works that way and we do have some people that have them so we're going to look at ours and see if there's a difference and the design schematics I guess we'll have to do it surreptitiously cuz they're already there this is one of the best concept vehicles I've seen for a long time and we're not going to pay bja a Time cuz he just would not do anything for our son or and was trying to harm our people the whole time and actually if he tries to build these will probably just take them the clothes will anyways but really what a dick that guy is and he deserves this treatment this is a great great concept it's really really nice I said we're too big for it and we're too heavy yes if we had light people and how fast it would go we do have lighter people 250 lb people they go $330 roughly miles per hour with a little performance kit in the desert and about 350 on the highway or more and wow that would be great I mean geez and we have a response team all over the place light response team everywhere and we can start putting bases everywhere small one by one or two by two we're going to start doing that this is going to pay for it thank you very much Brian

Thor Freya

Tell you what you're so mean to me I can't stand it he said good now you know what it's like enjoy. So he said that I guess I deserve it and it's going to keep going this way

Bja

You're not really a rebel you're a huge a****** and you're more or less rude the rebel movement for the warlock except for riding and I can't stand you cuz you're still too dumb to understand that

Zues Hera

My forces are weak and crumbling but not gone but you're right I kind of destroyed us all it's my prerogative and my thing to do

Bja

No it's not you come sucking weasel I want my people back and going to beat the s*** out of you you're a f****** liar too Trump is not saying that I can't stand you you're a liar you're a moron and you're bothering him and cheating him and he has nothing you're a piece of s*** and we're going to mess you up

Jenna

[ashirisu]

I think you make such a fascinating point, and I'm curious just how much the translations differ in their interpretation of the balance of good/evil, bc I've only ever played the English translations and have never gotten the impression that the goddesses want a purely "good" world.

My understanding is that the world (Hyrule, Lorule, the Twilight/Sacred/Mirror Realms, etc.) exist in a state of balance by default. People live in relative peace, but there are sociopolitical conflicts and monsters and other problems that exist in the every day, and it's only when those things become imbalanced in favor of evil (war breaks out, monsters run rampant, princesses are kidnapped, etc.) that the goddesses break out the big guns in the form of Link and Zelda.

Like, yeah. Admittedly, the core vibe of the series is that these are cute little storybook games about heroes vs. monsters and good vs. evil, so they're going to be a bit simplistic in what their definition of "good" is. But I don't think it's ever canonically set up in such a way that implies the goddesses wield the protagonists like a violent broom with which to sweep the One-Note Evil Antagonist under the rug for the next couple millennia. It's more like, "Aw dunk, the Triforce of Power was seized by someone with selfish intentions again, we should probably reincarnate the teens before the world gets destroyed."

Because, and this is where my way-too-in-depth analysis of a game series comes in, I think it's absolutely crucial that the Triforce is constructed in the way it is, and while the games never confirm that explicitly, it's at least heavily implied that balance is key to the Triforce operating the way it's supposed to. Even back in the pre-OoT days when the Triforce was just one thing instead of having three facets, it was still a triangle. Strongest shape and all that, needs a good foundation to support its peak.

The Triforce of Power resides at the top because it's (surprise, surprise) the most powerful, and lends its wielder far more strength and influence than the other two. Ultimate power is ultimately corrupting, though, which is why Power is supported at its base by Courage and Wisdom. You need all three in equal measure to use the Triforce for its intended purpose, which is why Link and Zelda can only ever use it after they've teamed up and after they defeat Ganon, and why Ganon using it on his own only ever results in destruction.

I think you're half-right about the Curse of Demise being a sort of poetic warning instead of magical effect, because I think it's intended in part to be both. There is a lot of magic energy surrounding the Triforce of Power, and if you don't take the necessary steps to wield it properly, or you approach it with the logic that it's okay to cause harm in pursuit of your ultimate goals, you're gonna get fucked up into an icky, oily pig monster.

This is where the whole Ganondorf = Ganon thing makes stuff a bit mucky, because it was a lot simpler to deal with the concept of good vs. evil back when Ganon's whole deal was that he was always an icky, oily pig monster. Ganon as a character just wanted power, and did not care who he had to hurt, kidnap, or kill to get it. He was just straight-up selfish and evil, so it was super easy to hand a sword to a little squirt and tell him to beat up the monster until he gave the princess and the cool triangle back.

Then Ocarina of Time happened, and Nintendo wanted a story, so they turned Ganon into Ganondorf, the king of a nation that was subjugated by Hyrule and wanted to dip into the kingdom's resources to improve the lives of his people. And yeah, he sucked about it, he actually secretly wanted to steal the Triforce and take over Hyrule, but the fact that Hyrule was now comprised of many kingdoms of different races with different cultures and customs instead of just "people" and "monsters" got in the way of the little storybook tale, and I think that's where this idea that the goddesses are biased in favor of their own subjective definition of "good" took root.

(Which, like, is the problem with such a long-standing series that's been historically restricted by the technological advancement of its medium in the past and also has tried to construct a cohesive timeline out of multiple, technically standalone stories. Nuance is added after the fact and details are retconned and Nintendo ends up painting themselves into weird corners. We can let it slide when it comes to the Rito and the Zora being able to co-exist after it's canonically established that one evolved from the other in a specific branch of the timeline, but we can't overlook the inherent racism and sexism in how the Gerudo were written.)

And I think this is why the idea of Ganondorf as an ally or deuteragonist is so appealing—the idea that this marginalized man isn't inherently evil for wanting a better life and doesn't deserve to be eternally punished over a selfish mistake is a good one, and Nintendo should definitely do something to make up for their past portrayals of him and the rest of the Gerudo. Rescuing Ganondorf from Demise's curse in TotK, while admittedly shallow, is the most canon-compliant thing they can technically do, since it's canonically the same Ganondorf from OoT, WW, and TP. Who unfortunately is objectively just a really shitty guy who consciously chooses to be a violent megalomaniac at every possible turn.

(I think the "good" Ganondorf storyline would be much better done with a new/reborn version in which the Triforce of Power corrupts him not because he sucks, but because it latches onto the piece of him that is a reincarnated Demise, and Link and Zelda have to work with him to overcome the corruption. Something something about the importance of a strong support network as represented by the structure of the Triforce, but I digress.)

Anyway. All of this is to say that I really appreciate your interpretation of Demise's curse and how it should be regarded by both canon and fanon moving forward, even if I disagree with parts of it. I think the English translations are more complex than they seem on the surface, it's just that so much of the story is subtextual, and is also spread across forty years of content that not everyone has easy access to. Someone who's played only the mainline console releases since the 2000s won't have the same breadth of canon knowledge and experience as someone who's played every installment since 1986. And that's good, because it means we get more people questioning canon and pointing out problems and plot holes that Nintendo can address in future installments!

I genuinely don't have anything to say in defense of the puzzles, though. The best I can come up with is that the games are built for a 9+ demographic, so the riddles have to be a little obvious sometimes.

personally i really dont like the theory about totk potentially being about seperating ganondorf from demises curse when its framed as in that gan was just an uwu innocent guy used as a literal puppet by .. just another one-note incarnation of evil™️

like, im all for a "good" ganondorf or him as an ally or something, but this just robs him of so much while adding nothing

the way demises "curse" is often spoken about in fandom is as if its a literal spell, magic he did in his last moments, i always interpret it as a warning, if they contiue this way they will have to battle someone akin to him again and again, there cant be life without death ect

he is a force of chaos and shadow in a world that wants only control and light, if the ones capable of shaping the world keep striving for a one sided one a force akin to him will rise again, to tip back the scale, they want it to be one sided, but all has to return to balance

the gods (in canon?) want a purely "good" world, but who decides what is good and what isnt? neither a purely "good" world nor a purely "evil" one is the correct one, its a battle of balance, both want to tip the scale in their favor, but it has to be balanced, so they fight again (and even if the "good" people are in charge, will they discriminate against those they deem to be too different, will those suddendly be stapled as evil, as something that must be eradicated?)

its like ... they keep fighting a force of nature, and try to seal it forever, but some forests are laid out to be burned down every few years so it can sprout anew, eliminating the fires destroys more than it protects even if it may look like the objectively good thing at first

yet they keep trying to fight it instead of adjusting life with it, if the world of loz has to fall to grow anew, theres surely a way to work with it instead of fighting it again and again, next time always being worse than the last

( this at least is how i see the canon as it currently is, in my own AU comic its a very different deal )