#but the core of the story is very much intact and it's one of the best book series film adaptations like...possibly ever

[likeabxrdinflight]

binged through the hunger games movies because I wanna see the prequel at some point here, and I have to say- some of y'all are way too harsh on these films. many of your problems with them were not with the films themselves but with the marketing and, in some cases, the fandom.

[estcaligo]

Sebek and Romance

Some thoughts after this event update

I really liked this small detail in this part of the event - a "bittersweet" (or "sweet and sour" literally, from Japanese) moment between Sally and Jack. When she leaves her basket for Jack (which Trey refers to as a "bento"), we get to see the NRC guys reacting to that display of affection.

Surprisingly, Sebek's reaction was very calm and mature.

When Grim says "Bittersweet? I wanna try eating it!"

Sebek comments "Haha. Grim, that's something even you can't devour" in a calm manner.

In many fanworks, especially fics, Sebek is often depicted as inexperienced or nervous when it comes to matters of love. I enjoy this interpretation too because it can be funny sometimes. But understanding and reacting to romantic interactions is a learned skill (like any social skill), and we should remember a few points:

Sebek has loving parents who have three children. Considering the history of their relationship, I imagine they aren't shy about showing how much they love each other, including in front of their kids. I'm sure Mama Zigvolt has, at least once, explained to Sebek that this is because Mama and Papa love each other very much. So, Sebek is familiar with these kinds of feelings from his family.

Books, books, books.

Books are a big part of Sebek's life - for hobbies, studies, and bonding (for example, with his grandfather or the Prefect). He reads a lot on various topics, and naturally, throughout his life, he must have come across books with romantic themes. We can learn a lot from books, including social skills, even if it's only in a descriptive sense. So, Sebek has also learned about romance through literature.

Arts and culture.

Sebek is familiar with operas and musicals, as mentioned in the Endless Halloween event. We can assume he has some interest in them or, at least, participates in watching them with his family nowadays too (because he mentioned Zigvolts spend quite a lot of time together, like attending parks, so why not.)

We don't know what kind of plays he watches, but we can assume there are at least some romantic motifs, as is often the case in classic operas and theater. Watching actors - who often exaggerate emotions - could give him an understanding of how romantic situations unfold, and this exposure can likely have an impact on him. 

He also does thorough research into the arts when required, and some romantic themes might come up. For instance, if he knows Aurora, he must be familiar with her story, including her love interest and the kiss plot (though TWST may have twisted these stories, I presume core elements like the love story remain intact). So, Sebek can learn about romance thought art.

Lilia's supervision.

Sebek spends a lot of time with Lilia as his pupil, along with Silver, so naturally, he absorbs a lot of information about the world from his teacher - not just combat skills. And, well, Lilia's wisdom might be mischievous, if not dubious at times. In Ghost Bride event, it's noted that one of Sebek's visions of courting his future partner involves…well

which is kind of cute, if you ask me.

So, coming back to this event's reaction:

Seeing the display of affection between a loving couple is nothing new for Sebek, and he understands it surprisingly well.

At least when it comes to other people...

[perseidlion]

The Interview With the Vampire TV show is a perfect example of how adaptations do not have to follow the source material closely to be an excellent adaptation.

(This is a spoiler-free commentary, but it does discuss the dynamics of the characters in general.)

I read the books back in the day, and of course, saw the original movie. Despite a laundry list of big changes, the series still feels extremely true to the books because it captures the spirit. It gets the characters and their fucked-up dynamics right. It doesn't shy away from them being melodramatic monsters. It keeps to the rules established in the source material. The show also makes sure to preserve key moments and key scenes, but always with a twist.

Since they did that, they were free to shift things in time, amp up and adapt certain dynamics, and change the race of characters in a way that deepens the story and complicates already extremely complicated power dynamics.

The original movie stuck more closely to the era and the appearance of the characters as described by Anne Rice, but I don't think the story loses anything by changing those two elements. In fact, it gives it modern relevance and room for political and social commentary.

I have never ascribed to the idea that an adaptation has to be slavishly accurate to the source material to be a good adaptation. It just has to be smart enough to identify what to keep and what can change. An adaptation adapts. Honestly, I find it boring when I see exactly what was in a book up on screen with no surprises. Where's the fun in that?

The difference between a good adaptation and a bad one is not how accurate it is to the source material, but how well the adaptation respects what made the story compelling to begin with.

What's important here?

Lestat is dramatic and powerful and a monster who is deeply charismatic, but also manipulative.

Louis is overdramatic and self-hating, but oddly drawn to Lestat.

Claudia is fierce, but bitter about her eternal childhood.

Their relationship is deeply toxic but with true affection. They are monsters, but monsters capable of intense love and devotion - to the point where it has the power to destroy them.

THAT is at the core of this story. THAT is what they keep intact. This frees up all sorts of avenues for play around a few key plot beats.

This room for play also gives opportunities to expand on thinner characters or rewrite them entirely. It's been a long time since I read the books, but I don't recall Daniel standing out as more than a framing device, especially in earlier books. But in the show, he's one of the best parts. Not only does he take a much more active role in the story, he delivers some of the most hilarious and cutting lines of the entire series. If the show had stuck closely to the source material, we wouldn't have this Daniel.

It was also smart of them to make Claudia a few years older. The eternal child element is preserved, but the layer of arrested teenaged hormones and womanhood that will never blossom adds an extra layer of angst and sadness. She is stuck forever in a state of rebellion, never allowed to settle and come into her own.

Having her be a young Black woman also deepens her attachment to Louis, visually, socially and symbolically. They are different from Lestat and they understand each other in a way he never can. She's still very much the Claudia from the book but with layers added to deepen her character and add new, fresh dynamics and complications.

It's also delightful to see the show take the homoeroticism that was subtextual in the early books with Louis and Lestat (and in the original film) and making it unapologetically text. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles have always been incredibly queer and subversive, but it's amazing to see that side of it fully embraced and stated plainly with no ambiguity or qualifiers or hints. It's queer and that queerness is woven into the fabric of the entire narrative. Louis and Lestat are the toxic beating heart of the Vampire Chronicles.

It's also important because we need messy, dark, fucked-up queer narratives. Sweet, coming-of-age stories and romances are of course, important - especially for younger queer people. But us older queer folk not only want to see ourselves in multiple genres, we want permission to see imperfect, messy, and yes, even evil characters. It's a way of reclaiming the monstrous queer that was villainized for so long and making it our own. We want to find something beautiful in the dark.

If we all thought about it, we could probably think of dozens of examples where a show or movie went far off-script from the source material and was still an excellent adaptation.

Interview With the Vampire is just the most recent and one of the best examples of a stellar adaptation that respects the source material but also builds and expands on it.

I look forward to seeing how they surprise me next season.

[gnomewithalaptop]

I'm still too distracted to write so here have a list of YJ-cast centric fics that make me froth at the mouth

Kon-centric recs:

I Want It That Way (1990s Tim/Kon) by WynterSky / @wynterstars -- A revamped, 90s-style Superboy origin story with added Lex Luthor AND a lil bit of 90s Robin for spice and flavor. Honestly, this whole series is so elite -- goes hard with the Superboy mythos + angst PLUS the third fic leans hard into the secret identity shenanigans in a way that'd make Miraculous Ladybug jealous. The first fic splits its attention between Tim and Kon, but the latter two are solidly Kon-centric

one plus one (easy math) by connerdrakewayne / @comphetkoncass -- Cassandra Cain and Kon go to a gala together. I'm always a sucker for a good Cass + Kon friendship. This one's very short and sweet, and it gets the job done -- 10/10 would read again

a timeline can be a haunted house by connerdrakewayne -- post-universal reset Kon angst + terrible coping mechanisms! This one goes so hard I read it three times. Tbh this author has an excellent handle on Kon as a character in general, so I honestly recommend just checking out their whole fic stash

Tim-centric recs:

Top 10 Secret Identity Fails by @havendance -- Tim's new English teacher is his on-again-off-again superhero teamup Helena Bertinelli (aka the Huntress). This one's just fun, okay -- the whole thing reads like it could be straight out of Tim's 1993 solo run, plus I love the dynamic between him and Helena. Overall just a very cool vibe

only the dead stay 17 forever by Sky_Dust (couldn't find their tumblr sorry) -- Listen, I've really been restraining myself here, because I realize my love for time-travel bullshit is not universal, but I genuinely couldn't not include this one. This bad boy is a Tim-centric time-loop featuring a seriously unhinged Tim -- definitely a darker tone, but I can't stop rereading it

Bart-centric recs:

reflections on respawning: a gamer's uncertainty by merils / @mamawasatesttube -- Bart has a hard conversation about his death and subsequent resurrection (feat. Kon) man, I just vibe with this one so hard. It's such a thoughtful take on Bart's more contemplative side, while still managing to keep his personality intact

the backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun by @kermit-coded -- trans/gnc impulse my beloved <3 also we get some funky Max & Bart bonding, made much rawer and more real by the fact that it's the 90s and nobody knows what they're doing. Again, feels like it's straight out of Bart's solo series

Cassie-centric recs:

you and I, we are more than just this armor by @suzukiblu -- KonCassie bonding + gender feels. They're both so trans in this, and the author does a great job of really digging deep into their complicated feelings (both about gender and about each other)

(also PLEASE somebody give me more Cassie-centric fic recs I'm literally begging you)

Team recs

I'm all yours but you're all mine by suzukiblu -- Poly Core 4 Soulmates AU! Essentially, everybody gets their 'soulmark'/soulmate-identifier (not really, but the best word) right when Kon wakes up in his pod, and because Superboy hasn't really made his big splash yet, they misidentify their soulmate as Superman; this is an issue mainly because 1) they're all 14-15 and Superman is roughly 30-ish, and 2) by the time this fic takes place, Superman is pretty verifiably dead. Currently in-progress, but this is such an interesting and fun take on the usual soulmates trope. I pinky promise you won't regret reading it

Love, Not Loved series by @popsunner -- hoooomygod this series makes me cry literally every time I read it, it's genuinely one of the most realistic representations of grief I've seen on AO3. Basically explores the general fucked-up-edness of pretty much the whole YJ Core 4 Squad dying one by one, with each fic focusing on a different funeral (complete with survivor's guilt, regular guilt, and just plain old complicated feelings). We get Cassie feels, we get Tim feels, we get Bart + Kon feels -- it's the whole shebang. Don't worry -- there's a happy ending eventually, but you def gotta work for it. This series beat me up and stole my lunch money and I'd happily do it all over again

Lost the Last Piece of Me by InsaneTrollLogic / @last01standing -- YJ Core 4 Animorphs AU! I'm sad to say I've never read the original Animorphs series, but every single Animorphs AU I've ever read has been such high quality. Unsurprisingly (I love this author, okay), this fic is no exception to that rule. Solid alien-invasion plot, character driven, and the world-building is explained well enough that even a newbie like me can understand (feat. some TimKon, but it's not the main focus)

Ikonoclast by anantipodean (couldn't find a tumblr) -- Tim and Kon get sent to an alternate reality that's almost (but not quite) like their own. This one's just fun for me -- I love the TimBart buildup and the worldbuilding on the other Earth is a funky time. Also, the other universe's Tim is goth and absolutely cannot stand mainstream-reality Tim, and I find that extremely funny for some reason

[zarla-s]

i forget if you ever said before, but how much of handplates was planned from the beginning and what was added as you went?

Almost all of it pretty early on, haha. Well, at least the main plotpoints...

I knew Sans would push Gaster into the core (not exactly how but I knew it'd happen)

I knew the brothers would stay with Asgore for a while afterwards to adjust to normal life

Knew the brothers would slowly grow and mature into their canon forms while aligning with canon itself (befriending Undyne and Alphys etc) although not the specifics of it

Knew there'd be a murder run that'd get reset and a pacifist run after

Knew Gaster would come back (not exactly how) and the brothers would have a final confrontation where they'd show they were adults now with the strength to face and fight him/their trauma and they'd eventually convince him to come back and try again

I knew a lot of the main points but not how to tie them together exactly or their exact execution, that came as I went along. As an example, shots of Asgore with the brothers were VERY early in my sketchbook... you can see me sketching out some of the layouts for the one with Gaster trying to get Papyrus to kill something at the bottom.

I was drawing Asgore from memory, that's why he looks off, haha. There are also sketches both for Gaster facing off with the monster (although I hadn't worked out exactly what the monster would be at that point), them back in the lab/finding the drill in Gaster's house, and Sans sassing Gaster on the same page about ten pages later in my sketchbook. I also knew that World Revolution was set in the Handplates timeline when I did it but I didn't tell anyone since it'd be huge spoilers at the time lol.

So you can see I was working out multiple parts of the story at the same time, haha. Some of my one-shot ideas got scrapped or reworked, but the basic shape of it stayed intact throughout. A lot of sections had a lot of wiggle room as they came to me - them in the lab, them with Asgore, them in their house, them on the surface, that kind of thing. So what happened during those times and how long I'd spend there I didn't know for sure, I just knew the basic shape of the story and where I was going eventually. It was an interesting way to do it! I had a lot of freedom to run with any sudden idea for the most part, but I also always had a direction and plan for where I was going.

I had absolutely no idea it'd be this long or take this long to finish though lol.

[ganondoodle]

(OC art)

kinda needlessly redid Eadrya's (they/them) demon form design instead of working on any of the other things (why am i like this)

more info (hahaha .. ha .. long post woops); their jaw is unhingable and their mouth can technically open all the way past their gills (?) with the lighter colored part being an extra flap of skin they are widely known as the most powerful demon to exist (not counting their dead demon god who is only very rarely able to possess shargon if given right circumstances but otherwise dont exist anymore) to the point that they generate so much coreblood/energy that excess is constantly being emitted to the environment around them giving them an aura felt even by humans (it generally has no drawbacks ... unless you later have to deal with demon hunters that use devices to detect demonic energy bc it kinda turns you into a lighthouse for them..) that fact also means they pretty much never have to eat or rest, though they are one of the very very few demons willing to eat other livings things and able to digest it (most demons cannot)

they are one of seven Lords, the Lord of Water specifically, and are very proud of that and, while acting like they dont care about anything or anyone, do probably the best job at keeping their world intact and other demons safe than anyone else- Eadrya is also kinda obsessed with strength and thus hates Shargon to the point of having attempted to murder him several times, not just bc he is so weak but mainly bc they think he selfishly took the title of King to essentially doom them all (since that title, only able to be given of demons with the core element of lightning, means that demon must be the one to go into battle alone for the protection of their world as the first line of defence, bc if the strongest demon, able to invoke their god, can defeat a threat alone theres no need to endanger anyone else, and if the king fails and the six remaining Lords cannot do the rest it was a lost battle to begin with--- the six Lords (not counting the King who starts as a Lord if none of the other accept them) also serve as a sort of council, and to put it bluntly, 'battery' for their god-

see, every demon naturally only has one main element, the Lords, if they accept the King as such, can lend the King part of their power enabling them to use more than one, with each acceptance their gods connection to the King gets stronger, and if it is summoned, will constantly siphon off (?) the strength of the Lords- which can kill them if its active for too long

MEANING that with Shargon being so unfit for that role it not only puts them all in danger, it also means all responsibility falls on them) a title like that cannot be undone once one accepts it, so alot of them, while not actively wishing harm upon him, hope a little that Shargon dies and a better King can be chosen

Eadrya, especially for the first part of the story, is an antagonist, and kinda an ass to everyone, the typical powerful, loud and mean guy that despite being never nice to anyone still does good, the only ones they really care about is Thor, an almost equally strong lightning demon and childhood friend who is also the only one Eadrya will listen to and due to Thors pacifist ideals always stops their outbursts, and Jyothi, Shargons daughter, who is a prodigy of a wind demon and has started to learn from Eadrya, much to Shargons dismay

generally they are way less mean to children and a surprisingly good and patient teacher ... if they are willing to teach you

(alot of their problems stem from a deep fear of being powerless and left alone- they dont think of themselves as highly as it seems and are actually very lonely- thinking that no one could actually genuinely like them for who they are and just does their bidding bc of their strength, of the fear they can instill in others-- they became a Lord at a horribly young age, not even having learned how to change form yet, and saw their parent, the previous Lord of Water (titles are not inherited, this was coincidence), slowly waste away with a strange disease, not even really understanding what was happening and after their passing spend months at the side of their corpse all alone)

they later have a character arc (that is horribly underselling it but i do not want to make this post any longer lol) and join the main group, one of my fav OCs of them all and the most detailed story and arc (god its so good i wish i could just show you all the movie in my head argh) besides Shargon :3

[serpentface]

I'd say the 'aware of loss of faculties until they aren't' description is apt, but with less of the horror that most humans experience with this knowledge. Units have a sense of personhood, but archin do not tend to philosophically imagine a 'self'. Their consciousness being an emergent property of many interacting bodies kind of precludes the illusion of some core, unchanging individual essence.

The basic experience of being divided is something every unit would have been through, an entire unit is not in literal constant communication and will temporarily divide itself even down to the individual to perform simple tasks (though always with the comfort of scent trails leading back to the collective).

It would still be unsettling and a source of deep melancholy. The pain would be more knowing that there is no going back, the scent trails lead nowhere, there are no more eggs being laid that will replace the parts of you that die or are separated. You would increasingly struggle with abstract concepts and complex ideas, the edges of your personality would slowly be smoothed out, you are increasingly running on raw instinct. You remember everything, but without any way to organize these memories into anything more than flashes. Most of the pain would be a profound sense of loneliness.

How a merger would feel would depend on how much of the unit remains. If its personality is more or less intact, it will probably survive as the same 'person' (mergers are usually accomplished with recently pupated ants, or by taking a few individuals from many units so as not to disrupt other consciences). If it's down to just a few ants, any remnant of the original personality will be lost upon the merger and they will settle into the new personality (perhaps subtly changing it, as all units do over time, but not in a distinct, easily identifiable way). The only thing that remains of the former unit is their raw memory. Even individual archin have very good memories and their learned experiences will supplement the new consciousness with everything it has experienced. So the new merger might learn and 'remember' the pain of loss, though not in a complex way (complex memories, like being able to tell a story, are stored in the collective and not the individual).

Mergers between roughly equal numbers of ants are rare and only done in desperation due to being incredibly disruptive to the personality of each, and a very literal danger that individual archin will become panicked and attack the 'foreign' bodies. A large ratio is ideal so one side has enough of an intact group consciousness to tamp down these impulses, and ability to physically restrain the other side until they have calmed and accommodated to the new scent. All mergers have risks of aggression, but introducing similar numbers is especially risky and sometimes fails entirely due to too many being killed in the process.

[the-lost-lights]

The Fixer Drone AU: Mini Update 1

(A follow up of THIS POST about my Fixer Drone AU)

Sorry for the delay but writer’s block is a bitch. Anyway I was planning to make another big post with lots of info about my AU but I’ve decided to downsize it in the first (possibly) in a series of small updates of this AU, adding a few info about the characters, some story bits and some random stuff.

Anyway, let’s start the show!

Tessa

She doesn’t sleep. EVER. She doesn’t even have a sleep mode function. This is because, before the Absolute Solver removed her capacity to sleep, every time she did that memories of her past tended to emerge, causing her to experience a notable amount of emotional distress and loosening the control the AS had on her. The lack of sleeping made her even more unstable than before but she’s fine with that since Cyn claims that’s for her own good.

Her head is 100% indestructible. You can hit it with a nuke and it wouldn’t be damaged by the explosion. This is because it stores her brain, left uncorrupted by the Absolute Solver, and if it ever got damaged or destroyed Tessa would die since her body lacks a core. She doesn’t know that and instead thinks that’s because she has a special, one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable custom-made core personally made by Cyn. 

 MPD

As some people correctly guessed they’re Tessa’s horrible parents, merged into an undying abomination in constant pain. They’re still aware of what happened to them and really want to kill Tessa not much for what she did to them but more for the fact that she allowed a Worker Drone (Cyn) to take over their company. 

They’re the only “person” working under Tessa that’s aware of the existence of the Absolute Solver, albeit they think that’s a human JCJenson worker that’s secretly working against Cyn. The AS promised them to let them kill Tessa but in exchange they would have to keep an eye on her and her assistants for some undisclosed reason….

Story Bits

I’m currently writing about Uzi’s first day at work: it starts with Tessa giving her a visit to the lab, letting her meet her coworkers N, V and J and giving her her first job: recovering an intact core drone that she left somewhere in the lab. It doesn’t go very well because the quartet of Drones can barely work together and Tessa forgot to add Uzi to the “do not kill” list of MPD.

Another idea I have it’s a short humorous story where Uzi finds out that N has a crush on V and tries to help him confess his feelings for her… And President Cyn decides to help. It’s going to be a trainwreck, especially since both Cyn and Uzi are terrible at romantic stuff and have to ask J for help in order to stop V from trying to kill N.

I have planned most of the story of this AU and I will post about it “soon” so that you’ll be able to know how the story ends in case I drop out of the fandom and decide to stop writing it.

[ben-talks-art]

I have a confession to make... I don't think I like this movie

Before I start I just want to say, I do think this is a good movie. I think the visuals are amazing, it is very creative, has very pleasant lights and colors, the robots all have nice designs, it's paced well, has a lot of good humor despite what the trailers might have alluded to, and overall, as a stand-alone story, it works well for the most part to tell the tale of two friends eventually becoming enemies.

My problems with this movie come from... admittedly a very entitled headcanon-ish mindset of "This isn't how I wanted things to play out."

Kinda like how when you watch Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and you get upset that Peter doesn't tell jokes because that's a part of the character that really appealed to you, this movie feels like it doesn't do the parts of the character of Optimus that appealed to me, or if they do, they don't do it in a way that I wanted.

I grew up with quite a few different versions of Optimus through the years. The ape gorilla one from Beast Wars, the firetruck one from Robots in Disguise, the young one from Animated, and the one with weird feet from the Bayverse.

They all offer their take in Optimus but they all manage to keep the core idea of his appeal intact, that being... He's a boring guy, that just so happens to be THE coolest boring guy ever.

He's someone who is ready to fight and kick ass for the things he believes and giving it his all until his last "breath", but the things he believes in are pretty basic stuff like world peace and things like that. It's like if your school teacher was a superhero, the most boring person you know secretly fighting crime when they have time but still valuing more the importance of teaching and guiding people in need.

To me, what makes Optimus so cool is that despite being this massive killing robot that can turn his arms into blasters, the guy is just a giant dork who loves life.

His sense of duty over protecting others comes from his sense of love for all living beings and for their right to exist. He doesn't see himself above anyone, only above those that try to use their power to cause harm.

He's a pacifist that only fights when he has something to protect, he's a diplomat who always tries to solve things with words and reason first, he's inspiring because he never ceases to believe in the cause he fights for, and he has the leadership skills to back up everything he stands for. The dude is just HIM.

Even down to the name "Optimal", he represents the best of us in the best way possible.

So I was curious to see how he was going to be handled in Transformers One and... He's kinda basic.

My thing with this version, keeping in mind that this is meant to be a young Optimus, is that I don't really see any of the things I admire in him from other versions.

The focus here is more on playing up his "optimism" as Scarlett Johansson says, to show how cool he is because he never gives up, never stops dreaming, never stops fighting for a better future, never thinks he is less than those above him...

And all of that just feels so generic.

It felt like they could not give a damn about trying to show why Optimus loves and wants to protect life and values diplomacy over violence, and instead just tried to turn him into a Disney Princess who "dreams of more" because he was sick of being a miner.

Heck, the first few segments of this movie were showing him being incredibly reckless and putting himself and other people in danger, all of them for pretty much no reason.

He literally grabs his friend and drags him into a race without letting him know and proceeds to jump on top of several racers resulting in many getting injured, and by the time we were done he didn't even seem to care.

I thought this was going to build up to some reality check moment where he needs to grow up from his reckless behavior, but no, if anything, his behavior only leads to good thing after good thing in this movie. He gets praised by his superior, finds a lost message in the trash, uncovers a hidden secret about his people, unlocks the ability to transform and finally becomes a prime.

Optimus in this movie is constantly getting rewarded for being reckless, impulsive, selfish, and for not thinking.

To a point where when he does start acting like Optimus and takes a shot for someone else and nearly dies, I was like, "Oh, yeah... This is meant to be Optimus... Kinda forgot about that."

I just kept watching this movie and going "When is he gonna become Optimus? When is he gonna become Optimus? When is he gonna become Optimus?" and once he did, it didn't feel earned for me.

Again, my problem was that I never got the sense that this guy was someone who valued peace and life. I got the sense that he was impulsive and ready to fight for what he believed, yeah, but I didn't care what he believed in. The stuff he believed in was stuff any generic action main character tends to believe in.

Stuff like "There is something more to life for us out there, that we're all destined for greatness, that if we just believe in ourselves we can accomplish anything, and blah, blah, blah..."

I didn't really get a sense that he believed all life was worth protecting and even sacrificing yourself for.

There was a little bit of that hinted at with a scene with Jazz and the scene where he takes a shot for someone, but I needed more than that. I wanted to see why this dude would lead armies and fight armies just to protect the innocent, but I never really got a sense of connection between him and the innocent.

Like, we get a brief scene where they see a couple of animals and I was hoping he would have a moment going "Look at them... They're beautiful!" but we don't really get that. Or maybe a scene where someone ends up dying on his arms and he decides to devote himself to never let that happen again, but that also never happens. Or perhaps a scene of him talking and hanging out with the other bots, showing them struggling with their lives and giving him some sense of duty of "I need to do something to help them out!", but no, he barely talks to anyone aside from Megatron.

It's frustrating because we have these core four main characters and I kept thinking we would get some great bonding moments to show why Optimus feels it's important to fight for others, but their bonds is really surface-level. I never got the feeling they really knew each other that much.

I was so sad when I heard the speech about how his "Optimism was his greatest quality" because I just know there will be a lot of people coming out of this movie and going "Oh! That's what makes Optimus such a cool character!" and it really wasn't.

I remember in Puss In Boots 2 when they told the backstory of the little dog and we see how sad the two cats got for him.

I believed that emotion, I believed that connection, and I believed that Puss and Kitty would fight to protect him.

I never really believed Optimus truly cared about anyone any more than any generic action main lead would for their extras in a movie.

Transformers One Optimus is not, in my opinion, a good representation of what makes Optimus such an iconic leader, because it failed to convince me that this Optimus was a protector.

They put too much focus on him being an ambitious dreamer, and not enough on him being a hero.

But maybe that's just me. What do you guys think?

[catsharky]

It looks like her horns are much bugger and more devil like than tiefling naturally. Would her horns grow back to that shape if sue let them, or is it more like docking a tail and permanent? Would she become more comfortable with her original horns being around tieflings more if they could grow back? Why did she trim them initially?

Ehehe I'm glad you caught that, cause yeah you're right her horns are very much meant to be more devil than tiefling!

I figured if a devil is going to screw someone over by giving them a stolen child, why wouldn't they aim to pick one who would bring as much chaos and misery to that person as possible? Ember has no idea who her bio parents are, but she's definitely no ordinary Tiefling.

I put the rest under a read more because it got a bit long:

To try and kind of match the other companions, I wanted her to have the capacity to be incredibly powerful, but limited for game/story reasons. So for Ember, at least one of her parents is someone Powerful and Important in the hells, and that parent is where her sorcery comes from.

It means she's capable of crazy strong magic (like, on par with Gale before he got nerfed strong) but a combination of being self-taught and a lack of motivation means that she's never had a reason to find out what she's actually capable of. She also grew up very isolated, so until she met Gale she was under the impression that magic was just like that for everyone. And tied to all that, one of the most obvious tells that there's something else going on with her is her horns.

I like to think that for most Tieflings, their horns do grow throughout their lives, but hit what's considered 'full sized' by around puberty- at which point the growth slows to a crawl. I also have to assume based on Karlach's broken horn that if the horn breaks? It's gone for good, though they will still maintain that slow growth so long as the core at the base of the horn remains intact.

For Ember however, her horns are just enormous. At age 4 it's expected a Tiefling will have started growing their horns but that they'll still be blunt, nubby things like a baby goat. Ember's were the size they are in the age chart, and continued to grow even larger as she got older.

She likely would have trimmed them no matter what, because not being used to having horns in the first place made dealing with them frustrating, but they're really just unreasonably huge. She trims them down pretty much as far as she comfortably can, the blue tips being where the darker outer layers were cut away.

To her annoyance, they also grow back and do so remarkably fast, which is where the jewelry she has wrapped around them comes from. Those gold embellishments are actually enchanted so they'll stay the size she wants them! (They also keep them from catching on fire when her emotions are high, but that's a whole other thing) So she could actually let them grow back to their full size if she wanted to, she just doesn't because they'd be way too unwieldy and annoying to deal with.

And while I can see some of this stuff becoming relevant after the events of the game, for the duration of BG3's plot this is all just more or less flavour text. The magic stuff is the only part that would have a notable impact.

Also fun fact, this whole part of her backstory is just because I needed an excuse to make her immortal. I didn't have the strength to give Astarion a companion who he'd have to lose in less than 100 years. My heart can't take that 😭 So fuck it, she's the daughter of some big powerful demon or whatever so Astarion can have one nice thing that won't be taken from him!!!

[spyderlondon]

A Mischievous Symphony (1927)

The Amazing Digital Time Capsule AU AND STORY ART by @the-amazing-digital-time-capsule @mangotangerinepastry (Given permission to write this. They've been super helpful in the making of this!)

THIS STORY IS SOFT CANON- ALTERNATE TIME PERIOD FROM THE ORIGINAL AU! I just had an idea of what to do and wanted to write this!

------

[Access:/ Host memories

Time period: 1927 during The Director's leadership]

----

"No, no, no!" A harsh, male voice sounded out towards the man on the piano, "You can't just keep doing what you like, Caine! I gave you a certain way to play this piece and I very well won't allow you to mess this piece up!" He snarled in anger, almost sounding like he wanted to throw his baton at the pianist.

"Oh, come on, [REDACTED], can't you lighten up at least a little?" Caine could be heard laughing, his voice jovial as his eyes moved upwards to face The Director. From the sound of his tone of voice and how his teeth moved, the pianist had a smirk as he taunted the man scolding him. His vision suddenly went pitch black as a quick snap of teeth crashing together was heard right before something that could be perceived as hitting the front of the teeth from the outside- presumably the baton after the man conducting him finally got fed up with how he was acting. He opened his teeth a tiny bit to see The Director seething with rage despite how obviously whatever puppeteer controlling this place was currently puppeteering him as the leader of the capsule had the metaphorical strings held taut as to do avoid further damage.

The Director had to close his eyes to keep his anger from boiling over before he breathed out slowly- if Caine didn't know better, he could've sworn he saw steam leaving the man's mouth and ears. He chuckled softly to himself at the idea of that before suddenly shutting himself up as soon as he noticed the piecing glare that could've easily burnt holes through his teeth. The pair of dentures suddenly felt a tad threatened by the look- at least it meant he was doing a swell job in angering the leader, he supposed.

"Leave." The Director spoke finally, his tone was deathly calm- which admittedly, did strike him to the core with slight fear. As rebellious as the man was, he had to own up to the fact that this tone and posture being shown in front of him was a little bit terrifying, "Did you hear me, pianist? I said, LEAVE!" He demanded once more.

Caine frowned a bit but went silent as he moved the lid prop away and down before closing the lid carefully and had the cover of the keys placed on top of them. He huffed as he left the room before the leader had a chance to blow a gasket and actually tried to lunge at him. "At least this gets me away from [REDACTED]..." He huffed a bit as he headed towards his room.

-------

Caine sighed, feeling a tad tired after dealing with The Director as long as he did. How could he be that uptight all the time? Was it really all because of the some weird puppeteer that controlled him? He shook his head- there was still so much he didn't know about the time capsule and whatever was keeping everyone here. What he did know is that he had to keep his personality intact as much as possible, he couldn't let this whole system get to him. He knows that there were people who couldn't take it anymore but... their names? Faces? He couldn't remember those details about them anymore... He hated that the most, no one deserves to be forgotten about- even that awful Director deserves to be remembered in some capacity.

As he got lost in his thoughts, he continued his path to his room while greeting a few of the other inhabitants in an aloof manner until he was alone in his room.

He sighed lightly as he leaned against the closed door, feeling a bit detached from reality as his thoughts continued to get away from him. That is, until he noticed his reflection in the full body mirror next to his dresser- it seemed to snap him out of his reverie as he stared at himself in the reflection.

The first and most obvious part of him was his head, or he supposed, the lack of head- instead of a head, he had dentures that had crozat braces connected on either side and the back to which kept him from opening too wide. The teeth of the dentures, he noticed, looked a bit like piano keys as if it were a cruel joke on his choice of instrument and role in the capsule. The next thing that was pretty hard to miss were his eyes that were connected by veins that attached to his upper jaw- they had two different colors: his left iris was a purplish-blue while his right one was olive green. Both of his eyes were bright and had a slight mischievous sparkle to them despite how they dulled a bit after his practice with The Director.

The pianist let his gaze drift down his reflection to look at his outfit next: he was adorned with simple white long sleeved shirt, the sleeves of which he had rolled up to his elbows which let his pale skin show from underneath and the collar of his shirt was lightly folded down to allow for his neck to be seen. Over his shirt were brown straps that connected to his navy blue slacks that had a small silver chain that was attached to a small army dog tag coming out from his right front pocket and the bottom part of his pants barely covered the top bit of his brown cap toe dress shoes that a tan bit where the toes were.

He felt himself calm down a bit as he took in his appearance through the mirror's reflection- just remembering who he was helped him feel sane at the end of the day. He may be stuck in this odd place for who knows how long but it didn't mean he had to lose his sense of self even if others have.

Caine shook his head as he stretched his arms forward a bit. Everyone else should still be at work doing whatever The Director was, well, directing them to do. He was pretty sure that he was the only inhabitant that was kicked out. He hummed as he decided to lay in his bed to take a nap, kicking off his shoes to the ground before he got under the covers.

----

A pattern of knocks on the door woke the pair of dentures from his slumber- although, it was more of a rather light sleep as he couldn't stop his mind from racing the entire time. The knocking sounded again except a bit louder this time and a voice came with it, "I know you're awake, Caine!" A male voice came through the door as the pianist rolled his eyes and sat up, slipping on his shoes.

Caine opened the door right when his friend was about to knock on the door a third time which ended with a fist hitting the pianist squarely on his olive green eye. The tap dancer quickly pulled his fist away, "You really chose a bad time to answer the door-" He cleared his throat apologetically, moving back a step and averting his gaze.

Caine placed a hand on his, now swollen, eye and sent the man in front of him a look, "Care to explain why you were knocking on my door in the first place, [CLASSIFIED]?" He questioned flatly, a bit of annoyance in his tone after the accidental punch in the eye. He began to walk off to get some ice with the tap dancer coming from behind him and to his side.

"Oh, right!" The tap dancer blinked as he was reminded that he wanted something from his friend, "I was just wondering if you wanted to help me practice my tap dancing routine with your piano as my music?" He questioned with a smile.

"After you hit-"

"I will also buy you dinner and some whiskey!" The man was quick to interject before his friend could refuse his request, knowing he couldn't very well reject an offer like that.

Caine stopped mid sentence as he heard the rest of the deal before scoffing a bit, "You're lucky I see you like an older brother, you [%$^$*$@]." He pushed him lightheartedly, teasing him a bit.

"Yes!" The tap dancer pumped his fist with a grin, excited to spend time with Caine despite how they hang out a lot anyways.

-----

Clicks and taps of a pair of shoes could be heard on the stage as the tap dancer of the capsule practiced his routine while piano music filled the air from the pianist sitting at the grand piano that sat next to the stage. Fingers danced across the keys with practiced taps and strokes, nothing like how he played for The Director, the music here was elegant and went well with the beat of the taps.

Caine looked up from the piano as he played, his fingers still expertly pressing every key correctly and in time despite not being watched, and smiled as he enjoyed the scene of his best friend dancing away without a care in the world. The pianist could help but to feel the beat of the song just from the tap dancer's metal from the soles of the shoes hitting the wooden stage, his friend always performed extremely well with little to no mistakes that he was always in awe every time he watched him or even just listened.

The pianist moved his head back towards the piano as he closed his eyes, just listening. All the sounds on the outside- the piano playing its classical music, the taps and clicks from the stage and even the chatter amongst those just watching and listening from afar- all of it sounded like a symphony to him.

He just wanted to live in this moment as long as possible.

---

[Stop the log]

[krawkpaladin]

I pretty frequently see posts about "If you think that D&D is too complicated or the rules get in the way of your story, try Monster of the Week/Flying Circus/other PBtA game or something else rules light," but I don't know if that's necessarily the best advice with no caveats, and it's specifically because of how rules are treated and structured.

Since I mentioned Flying Circus, I will explain my thoughts via an overwrought airplane metaphor. D&D5E is like a commercial jet liner. It's big and complex, sure, but it can also survive if some of the bolts aren't put in perfectly. The plane will likely survive and still function in getting you from point A to point B, even if it isn't the most comfortable flight, so long as certain core pieces remain intact. But something like a PBtA game is like one of those ultralight gliders, where absolutely every part is needed to stay in the air.

If you start with D&D, you're very frequently okay if you ignore rules here and there. As long as you have the core rules down, you can play the game without things breaking down entirely. But if you bring that mindset into something where every rule counts because there's only five of them, you're going to start running into issues the moment you go "we can skip this one" because every bit of rules tech is that much more important.

I guess what I'm getting at is that, unless someone is specifically citing an issue that is specifically caused by following a rule along with all of its adjacent rules (looking at you, material components for spells) or some sort of genre conventions that do not gel with the rules (looking at you, every *slice of life* campaign that ever unironically contains the phrase "cone of cold"), just recommending them a different set of rules to ignore isn't going to help them enjoy whatever game they choose to play. Like, if they're really that against any rules at all, they'd be better served doing improv with their friends or like a communal writing thing. At least they'd be having a nice time.

Anyways, safe flying.

[tchaikovskym]

Wangxian fic recs pt4

(pt1, pt2 & pt3)

Losing My Mind by pupeez4eva

On a drunken dare, Jiang Cheng drinks a potion that allows him to hear other people’s lustful thoughts. It’s just his luck that he’s stuck in close vicinity with the guy who is completely and utterly besotted with his idiot brother.

One thing's for certain - there is no way he's leaving this with his sanity intact.

(Or, where Jiang Cheng has a lot of regrets, Lan Wangji is having an ongoing sexuality crisis, and Wei Wuxian is as oblivious as ever).

Really sweet and funny fic, made me grin all the way thorough it

The Light That Fails to Dim by glowingreverie

Wei Ying lost his parents in a night hunt. Cold and alone, he wandered the streets of Yiling for nearly two years. However, one fateful night, a tall, scary man finds him and takes him back to a place he calls Qinghe. Later Wei Ying, now known as Wei Wuxian, discovers that that tall, scary man is not bad at all. And his cowardly brother makes an even better friend than he initially thought he would. With a content feeling in his chest every day, Wei Wuxian can only hope these peaceful, happy days with his new family will last until the end of time.

Or, in which Jiang Fengmian is unaware of what happened to Wei Wuxian's parents and Nie Mingjue takes him in and the story continues from there...

A brilliant fic that broke my heart in pieces and glued it back together. Multiple times. I would call it a fix-it fic that takes into account all the things that were broken beyond repair in the original story and leaves them like that.

I hope that you will come and meet me by feyburner

The second time Lan Zhan said 'Wei Ying, come back', Wei Wuxian did.

Absolutely lovely fic about how much Wei Wuxian loves Lan Wangji and is being loved back by him until they both notice that. This was really sweet and warm and I love it with all my heart.

null hypothesis by chinxe

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji practise kissing. With...each other.

Exactly what it says on the label. Very sweet and lovely with lots of kissies

between two lungs by fruitys

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says again. He leans forward, just a little. His hand is still wrapped around Wei Wuxian’s wrist. “You promised that you would let me take care of you.”

Wei Wuxian swallows. “I never said that, specifically,” he tries.

(Or: three days in the jingshi.)

Lovely post untamed canon hehe

Falling to the Rhythm by Selenay

"So it's a bet?" Jiang Cheng said. "Dance the showcase if you get him, fancy coffee machine if you don't?"

Wei Wuxian considered the machine. "Fine. You're on. I want it in red."

"Don't start planning your caffeine overdose yet."

"It's in the bag," Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. "There's no way they'll match me with someone like Lan Wangji."

Teaching Lan Wangji to dance in front of the nation for twelve weeks, how hard can that be? Wei Wuxian is about to find out.

Did I know anything about ballroom dancing? No. Did I know anything about the Strictly Ballroom show? Also no. Did I enjoy this fic with all my heart? Yes!!!!! Wonderful fic!!!!

nothing you confess by PorcupineGirl

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian have both been told since childhood that if you are lucky enough to have a soulmate, a red string will appear on your wrist the day you meet them. This is common knowledge.

What nobody ever told them, likely because nobody knew, is that if your soulmate loses their golden core, you can feel it happening.

I really love how everyone loves Wei Wuxian here. As he deserves. Mwuah.

mianmian the disaster lesbian saves the cultivation world by likehipsonthesea

Luo Qingyang’s expression suddenly shifts, her eyes widening once again, lips parting. With some measure of disbelief, she says, “You’re a cut-sleeve.”

Lan Wangji stiffens. How did she—?

Apparently decided without need of confirmation, Luo Qingyang sighs deeply on a smile. Leaning back against the bookshelf behind her, she says emphatically, “Thank the Heavens.”

*~*~*

In which Mianmian is a disaster lesbian (yet still the only one with a braincell), Jin Zixuan was just trying to help, and Lan Wangji suddenly finds himself in possession of two shiny new best friends.

They're all better off for it, in the end.

Would the world have been a better place if lwj had some friends? Yes! Lovely story!

Bet Your Heart by Vamillepudding

Wei Wuxian grins. “I’m going to use this summer to seduce Zewu-jun, and I’m going to get his brother to help me do it.”

Or: To win his bet against Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian has to kiss Lan Xichen. Who better to ask advice from than Lan Zhan?

Very sweet and lovely fic. It involved a lot less lxc than I expected lol, but in a good way

And Fall to Desire by cqlorphan

Wei Ying makes a small, anguished sound. It is not a refusal. Slowly, so that such a refusal may still be voiced, Lan Wangji brings up his hand and places it flat on Wei Ying’s stomach. A quiet gasp is muffled hastily, and hands curl into fists.

“Yes,” Wei Ying grits out. “Please.”

After a nighthunt, Wei Wuxian takes a curse meant for an inadequate husband. Lan Wangji happens to be in the wrong (right) place at the wrong (right) time.

Listen I know fuck or die trope is sort of messed up, but this one solves itself so beautifully, leaving you lighthearted at the end.

you are the you who has dyed my lifetime red by Quixiote

Lan Wangji was born with a gift.

Really nice fic that will hurt you in the right places and put you back together afterwards.

wide enough and wild by impossibletruths

Wei Ying leaves. He follows.

Very lovely and shows the hardships of Burial Mounds, and the absolute devotion lwj has for wwx

If It's You by etymologyplayground

"Good morning," Wei Wuxian says. He is trying to figure out how to get Lan Wangji to kiss him.

-

Wei Wuxian sneaks back into the Cloud Recesses after a year away.

This fic fed my cats, wrote my thesis, fixed my car, and bought me a house in this economy. For real though, very sweet and lovely

The Simplest Way Forward by harriet_vane

It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him.

“Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?”

“It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.

This is the best "marry for green card" fic I have read. The pining!!! The mutual pining!!! And it doesn't have long drags of miserable miscommunications and suffering. Yes, it has some expected communication issues expected for a mutual pining fic but just the right amount. Love this fic.

through the warmth, through the cold (keep running til we're there) by fleurdeliser

Five months into his travels, Wei Wuxian gets word that Lan Wangji has disappeared. Everything changes.

Absolutely lovely

lightning in a bottle by nighimpossible

Wei Wuxian does not need a bodyguard, thank you very much.

Your good old hot bodyguard fic.

Dimples by bodhan

Wei Wuxian sees something very interesting on Lan Xichen's face when he smiles, and concludes that Lan Zhan must share this feature. So begins his mission to make Lan Zhan smile.

Lan Xichen is mischievous.

Lan Qiren suffers.

And Lan Wangji is fondly exasperated.

Short and sweet

F.U.N Run by malkinmalkout

Track star Wei Ying finds the positive side of his leg injury when it offers the perfect opportunity to befriend his physical therapist roommate Lan Zhan.

Or modern AU where Lan Zhan seduces Wei Ying with medical massages.

Very nice fic where the idiots in question just need a little push.

say my name by fruitys

“Wei Wuxian, what have you done,” he moans aloud, anxiously carding his hands through his hair. If the discarded drafts are anything to go by… he had said… well, he had said everything he had been so careful not to say. For the past year, for the month at the Cloud Recesses after Guanyin Temple, for every moment when he had looked at Lan Zhan and felt flowers blooming in his chest. For every moment he had wanted to say: Lan Zhan, don’t leave me. Let me stay with you.

Or: Wei Wuxian has a revelation, and then he does something about it.

Very, very sweet

The Ritual by nightwalker

Lan Xichen asks Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to participate in a ritual for the protection of the Cloud Recesses. There may be some ulterior motives going on.

You know I think this is the best of like. Ceremonial sex.

180 centimeters by Ceta

Wei WuXian is not small or short or anything of the sort, but Lan WangJi looks at him at times and takes in his slighter shoulders, how easy it is to press his lips to his forehead, the way his arms can wrap around Wei WuXian and envelope him completely, the way he is allowed to do this — and he thinks, and he is overcome.

-

Lan WangJi’s world is 180 centimeters tall.

They are in love your honor, that's the fic

Take Root, Come Home by piecrust

Living with Wei Ying is a dream come true – Lan Wangji has nothing to complain about…

Except.

Except one thing. A small… thing.

Mhmm yeah a good fic. Really unpacks their happily ever after

Look Not With The Eyes by Spodumene

Wei Wuxian returns from his travels to join Lan Wangji on a routine night hunt, but when things take an unexpected turn, Wei Wuxian will have to fight for what he's really looking for.

The good old The Untamed post-canon where feelings are unravelled.

Tripped at Every Step by brooklinegirl

Wei Wuxian knows that Lan Zhan is the same Lan Zhan as before, but also so, so different. This Lan Zhan is soft for him. This Lan Zhan has a set jaw and a steely look in his eye, ready to fight anyone who gets in Wei Wuxian's way. This Lan Zhan puts up no fronts - it almost hurts to look at him, he's so open.

Wei Wuxian looks at this Lan Zhan, and he wonders.

(i.e., Wei Wuxian tries real hard to use his two brain cells to figure out if Lan Zhan likes-him, likes-him or not.)

This fic was basically lwj making out with wwx and wwx being like hmmm is this like a bromance or what. Multiple times with the making out part rapidly growing more and more intimate.

Nothing But Trouble by brooklinegirl

"I don't want to really date anyone. It's so stupid, I just need to pretend date someone until Jiang Cheng gets his act together, then go back to my own life." He stares at his empty coffee cup.

"Date me," Lan Zhan says. Then he looks at Wei Ying's empty cup. "Would you like another cup of coffee?"

"Always," Wei Ying says automatically. "But wait, what."

"I'll get you another cup." Lan Zhan rises smoothly from the table.

"No, wait, hang on." Wei Ying grabs his wrist before he can take the cup and Lan Zhan freezes up, staring down at where Wei Ying is hanging on to him. "Fuck, sorry, I'll—" Wei Ying hastily lets go of his wrist. "Sorry, I—what did you mean?"

"I can pretend to date you," Lan Zhan says. "You take it with cream and sugar, correct?"

Mwuah your good old fake dating fic that got everything fake dating trope brings in all the right ways

The Pearl by musicmillennia

A dragon's pearl has untold power. Perhaps enough to replace someone's golden core.

Very cool dragony fix-it

[kitzatara]

My full Zatanna Bring Down The House Review!

(spoiler filled, you have been warned!)

First of all I really enjoyed it, it is a very good characterization of Zatanna. We see her heroism and her innate desire to help people, even strangers, and people she doesn’t trust. Helping the magic users, and seeing her desire to do what’s right. She was determined and doesn’t hesitate to help, just like the hero she is.

She had a dry sense of humor, a showman personality and love of performing, her stubborn will and her temper as well. These are all traits that I have seen and consider to be consistent in Zee over the years. So seeing them be core to her in this book was very much appreciated.

I do have a couple narrative nitpicks, 1) she’s never killed anyone, ever. So the decision to have her accidentally kill a kid in the story was a shame to me. I don’t like the breaking of that 60 year record. My only comfort is that it technically isn’t canon. So technically her record is still intact.

2) is the casters doing logomancy. I think that should be something only Zataras can do. It’s such a unique style of spellcasting, and having other magic users be able to do it sort’ve undermines this unique concept. The original reason the Zataras spoke backwards was because they were descendants of Da Vinci. So others should find it extremely difficult to do if they can do it at all.

I’ve mixed opinions about the casters & bunnies in general. They remind me of the Homo Magi, And I couldn’t help but feel that making Zatara part of a secret magic group was just taking from Sindella’s origin. Which has already happened by making Zatara a Homo Magi, I think the casters easily could’ve been swapped for the Homo Magi. But they were interesting, warring factions of magic is always a fun concept.

One problem I have, that isn’t exclusive to this book, was having her not use magic much until the end. It’s very common for magic users to have this trope of powerlessness. Especially at the start of a hero’s journey. So, I recognize the story format but I’m tired of seeing it.

We’ve now have had 6 stories follow a similar route (7 soldiers, come together, Mystik U, Jewel of gravesend, mystery of the meanest teacher) also absolute power, and technically both JLD runs also begin similarly. Seeing Zatanna constantly at square one no longer serves her character, her story, and discards her history. We should move past stories centered on her not using magic and start moving on to stories of her being a fully realized sorceress.

My final big problem with the story is constantine’s inclusion. I’ve made posts on other platforms about how poorly he treats her and will eventually post one here. But in Bring Down The House he is once again made a part of her origin and revealed to be manipulating things behind the scenes, keeping secrets from her, and even lying to her because he knows better and is trying to “keep her safe.” It’s just an example of sexist tropes like him manipulating and infantilizing her. Which I am also sick of seeing.

That all being said the conclusion is the crown jewel of the story. It’s immensely satisfying. We got to see her transfiguring an army of demons easily. A powerful ability in her tool kit that I feel isn’t utilized as much as it used to be. The bunnies as allies was also fun, and having magical bunnies as allies and a part of her show is a fun and whimsical addition to her lore that I’ve wanted to see.

It was dare I say almost worth the typical and repetitive hero’s journey. While the decision to make Zatara the villain of this story was interesting, albeit not one I would have made. His defeat was wonderful and spectacular. It was emotional, impactful and bad ass. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finally, it must be said and cannot be understated how beautiful the art was. It was colorful, whimsical, and just perfect for her story. It wove with the narrative seamlessly. I loved the artwork in this book. Truly blew me away.

So even though I have my criticisms and nitpicks, it was still a really fun and beautiful read, with a perfect ending. I wish the series was an ongoing, or led to a solo title for her because reading this showed how fun her story could be. All in all to me it was a 4/5.

Thank you for reading

Eht dne!

[kalapenopeppers]

A long time ago, two races ruled peacefully over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, a terrible war broke out between the two races.  After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magical spell.

Many years later… In the year 201X, a small child scales Mt. Ebott. Legends says that those who climb the mountain never return. 

Seeking refuge from the rainy weather, the child enters a cave and discovers an enormous hole. Moving closer to get a better look... the child falls in. 

Now, our story begins.   

So, we all know generally how underswap goes with the role swaps and personality swaps but I still want to put out the premise for my dedicated take on it.

The original AU follows partial personality swaps which is my favourite type so I'm adhering to that, but I'm taking that concept and twisting it to make it work for me and create something hopefully more unique.

This underswap is along the lines of a timeline that diverged so much it’s basically regarded as an alternative universe, starting with Frisk being born in the place of Chara.

In terms of characterization, while parts of their surface level demeanor and attitude match their role and counterpart with some core personality traits swapped, things like their relationships, individual preferences, insecurities, skills, and abilities generally stay intact (if only adjusted to account for the changes an AU like this inherently brings). Some extra add ons from the original au with also be kept. This lets the new parts that are swapped be expressed through the lens of their UT selves that they retained, allowing new scenarios and interactions to take place.

Not every swap is one to one with the original AU. Some additional characters, enemies, and items have been added in. The Underground itself has experienced some changes. Canon story beats are present but new storylines have also been built around them, as I also employ my personal headcanons into the mix.

This does have a full story in the works behind it and most of the details for the personalities have been ironed out. I hope to communicate it over time with those who take an interest in it.

The post will be updated as more details are revealed.

Asks about the current zone (Catacombs) and characters within it are welcomed. Questions touching on content past the current zone or spoilers will not be answered or be very light on details.

Swaps listed below the cut:

Chara ⇆ Frisk Flowey the Flower → Flowey the Temmie? Asriel ⇆ Monster Kid Asgore ⇆ Toriel Sans ⇆ Papyrus Undyne ⇆ Alphys Napstablook ⇆ Mettaton Ruins dummy ⇆ Mad dummy Annoying dog ⇆ Temmie Snowdin Dogs ⇆ Snowdin Bunnies Grillby ⇆ Muffet Nice cream guy ⇆ Burgerpants Ice Wolf ⇆ Aaron Bratty and Catty ⇆ Royal Guard 01 and 02

And more that will be revealed throughout the story. Stay tuned!

[davenswitcher]

Writing Interview Tag Game

Thanks so much for tagging me @cinnamontails-ff @spagyricqueen and @busy-baker 💕✨

When did you start writing?

I first started writing mainly lyrics when I was a teenager. Then, I became interested in developing games and drafted a few ideas and outlines for games. But with Baldur's Gate it's the first time I'm writing anything longer.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Not really. I write what I'd like to read. I'm not into heavy dead dove or too kinky (for my taste) stuff, so I neither write nor read it.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I haven't been compared to any writer. I enjoy Andrej Sapkowskis stuff from The Witcher and R.A Salvatore's Drizzt stuff.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I write mainly on my laptop. I have a very small desk and there's usually a coffee mug, some snacks/breakfast or dinner next to me and letters I have to go through.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I am a serial daydreamer. When commuting I listen to music and even at home daydreaming and music are my muse.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I don't have any recurring themes afaik.

What is your reason for writing?

I like telling stories and it fills me with joy when people enjoy my little dancing brainworms.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any comment is motivating. If I feel the story isn't enjoyed by people or if people can't even muster a keyboard smash then I do think I have failed. Artists and writers live from comments. People are right when they say we have a praise kink lol.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Fondly? I don't know, honestly. If I leave one mark on this world even a little, it's an accomplishment.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I believe it's a good flow and keeping character's core intact. I consumed many TV shows and movies as a kid, and it influenced me a lot, I'd say.

How do you feel about your own writing?

There's always things to improve on, but simultaneously I try not to dwell too much on it else the imposter would have my heart in its hands.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I try to keep the writing as much as I envisioned it as possible. I only add stuff that might be considered easter eggs or insiders.

no pressure tags:

@larvasmoon @thedreamlessnights @karinamay @kalmiaphlox @waterdeep-weavemoss