#but I immediately feel preachy.

[quiescentdestiny]

sometimes I think about the fact that I am so, so incredibly grateful that I do not hate my old art with a passion like some people. It's not often, but sometimes I have conversations with a friend or someone, and they tell me how much looking at their old sketchbooks makes them want to set them on fire and I think about the fact that I am SO happy I do not feel that way.

I did once upon a time, but I don't anymore.

and it's nice.

It's nice to be able to look at my old work and see progress, to look at it and see improvement, instead of the frustration and grief and anger I had when I was stuck thinking I wasn't good enough. It's nice to be able to look at my old art, and realize that while i was spending all my time wishing I had a distinct style, that there was anything at all that stood out, wishing that I could make that happen, and comparing myself to other artists who did have an obvious style...

I actually did. I didn't realize it at the time, because I was so caught up about it, but looking back I can see how that was my art, and it still looks like the art I do now, even though my art now is obviously objectively better. there are small details in the way I drew things like eyes or hair or whatever that have carried through. Maybe not in the exact same manor as they were then, but they're there.

I wish I knew how I got past that self loathing of old work, I really do. because so many of my friends will look at their own work and have the same frustration, the same loathing towards the things they create and it sucks. cause I know how it feels, and I wish I knew what to tell them so that they didn't feel that way about progress.

Stop looking at your older work and hating it. if you can see all the mistakes in the pieces you loved when you made them, that isn't a bad thing. It means you've improved. It means you know what to fix on things that you've done in the past that you didn't know were even mistakes then. It means that while you've been practicing, you've picked up on small details that make your work now better than your work then. You have more experience now, and more knowledge now, and that's a good thing.

[greencarnation]

i feel like i'm going crazy because my friends literally don't fucking care like at all. i was speaking to one of them today and when i was done she was just like "yeah it's horrible. anyway!" like bitch tf do you mean anyway??? fucking do something???? if you can see that it's horrible fucking do something, anything at all!!! but she won't because she doesn't fucking care. and another friend, who i also haven't heard a goddamn peep out of, but i know has been watching my many many stories on what's going on in palestine and the MANY protests and events here just posted pics of her like. chilling having fun at a cute wee coffee shop less than 10 minutes away from where the march was. she was right there and she didn't go because she wanted coffee. because that is what's important to her and i'm a shit person for thinking that's disgusting. how can you be so detached and deluded? it's not because they don't know what's happening i'm TELLING them what's happening they're actively choosing not to get involved and not to care, because it doesn't personally impact them enough

[noseboopsanddandelionwishes]

I feel like some of the reason that generative AI and AI tools have become popular and that things like this seem to be helpful, is the focus on completing or finishing something.

We don't necessarily get credit just for showing up to class; we also have to pass the test. The goal is only met when the website page is written and published.

In some instances and scenarios, using completion as a metric is understandable, but to experiment with other metrics of value, I have been trying to allow for areas where that doesn't matter. And just allow to try and fail, or get better, or just do the process because then I'm doing it.

I play guitar though I have no plans to play anything at all - but I put my fingers on the fretboard and experimented with what made sound. I bake a cookie recipe and chase the flavor or texture as the whim takes me and sometimes change it 10 times before the end result.

When the goal becomes "finish the book", then having it summed up makes perfect sense. The goal being "hear the author and their turn of phrase even if it's strange" or "sympathise with the characters and feel their journey" it's different.

Have you ever read lyrics before hearing a song? I don't know if it's just me, but they make no bloody sense when I do. And sometimes it's a song I know, and I read the lyrics and they fall flat, have zero impact, and are completely indecipherable. But when spaced out, set to instrument, emphasized in certain ways, suddenly many meanings emerge as each phrase is sung.

Idk, I think it's kind of like that?

But when I'm just trying to quickly absorb the meaning of the song through the lyrics, I miss the meaning of the song - but I did take in all the lyrics.

Making completed works, and getting good grades, and making products - all emphasize that the only value is after something is finished. So, I kind of get the push for tools to help us finish things quicker, so we achieve the thing.

But sometimes I think we need the space to not do that, and have it be valued - the work in progress, or even just the partially executed ideas, starts of things, and random trails that lead nowhere in the end but were a part of the experience. Running through hypotheticals and discarding choices and only making it 70% of the way through a course. There is no closed loop, or job well done, or finale. But they still matter and added to and enriched my life and sometimes prepared me for some other thing.

what is HAPPENING

[hemlock-dreams]

What's Spidys relationship like with the other NY bound heros?

Got a bunch of other hero asks so it's time for Ye Olde Lore Dump!

Johnny and H!Spiderman have never gotten along- in either universe.

They don't even really have any real beef with each other, they're just two dudes who grate on each other's nerves for no particular reason- like two guys at a frat party who are just waiting for an excuse to duke it out.

There's just something about Johnny's playboy easy-come-and-go vibe that makes Spidey want to plant a fist in his face. And Johnny thinks Spiderman is a fucking buzzkill.

Black Widow and Spiderman have a good working relationship. He once helped her out of a tight spot in New York and he was fast, smart and discreet about it- so when she's got some ops she needs a second pair of hands for (under the table), she calls him.

Spiderman admires Nat's competence and single-minded focus in getting things done- they all appeal to the hunter in him. (And he's got a massive crush on her.)

They usually do one or two jobs every few months, and meet up for drinks at one of her safehouses. She's also knows his secret identity, because she's just that scary.

Logan and Peter are BFFs. For real. Logan was in town to help with some shit that ended up involving Deadpool and found himself at St. Margaret's.

He and Peter struck up a friendship that ends up with them going camping every couple of months for a week or so.

Logan likes Peter's no-bullshit sincerity and can tell he's had some shit(TM) go down in his life. Peter's easy to talk to and is good at reading the room. And Peter feels like Logan fills in that space Marko left as a friend/mentor/gruff bro figure.

Logan actually picks up when Peter calls. (most others he leaves on read).

Fun fact, he has no idea Peter is Spiderman.

And another fun fact, it's not Johnny Deadpool is jealous of, it's Logan.

Peter has a very complicated relationship with the Avengers.

On one hand, he knows what they do and what they stand for- on the other hand, he's got a real problem with authority figures. He's been invited to the Avengers multiple times, in both realities.

The answer is always blanket N.O. (And, depending on whether it's stark asking, accompanied by a giant middle finger). (Though he's reluctantly agreed to have an avenger's phone in case there are any massive threats they need help with).

As for the members:

Stark gets on his nerves like nothing else. He's not super easy to rile up, but Stark's playboy arrogance (real or not), way he talks down at people, the self-appointed authority, the entitlement, and, of course, the fucking hypocrisy- it makes Spidey go 0 to 'cashmeoutside' immediately.

He and the Captain sometimes get along, but mostly when the Captain isn't in one of his preachy, pontificating moments. They do work very well together in a combat capacity, but they don't have much to talk about.

Thor is fine, but completely outside of Spidey's sphere and also, difficult to work with given his powers.

Bruce and Spidey just don't have much to talk about, and once again, Hulk is way too loud and can't particularly coordinate when they have to team up.

In general, H!Spiderman gets along with the more 'loner' heroes like Murdock, Deadpool, Black Widow, Bucky, Logan, Clint and so on.

(Side note, imagine he said all these shots fired shit to the Avengers and they were like 'no? none of this happened?' because it's not the same reality and Spiderman has to go home and die from the cringe???) (no we'll let him be cool for this)

-----

Once again, thank you so much for the asks!! I really appreciate all the love this AU has gotten and I hope these answers satisfy!!!

[keepingeahalive]

Miss Rosabella Beauty: The Queen of Wasted Potential

Okay, I'll admit it. I do ship her and Daring. I'm a sucker for Beauty and the Beast, and I couldn't help myself. That said, objectively, this ship and Rosabella's character.... yeah, it kinda sucks.

Maybe I didn't want to admit it because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. But the more I look into her character, the more I realize she embodies virtues that contradict her own story. Epic Winter was more about "fixing" Daring's supposed selfishness than addressing the real elephant in the room, and Rosabella was a plot device to push that narrative. I think she could have been an interesting character with flaws and a lot of depth. But she wasn't, and I am very very disappointed.

Her Character

The first time I saw her, I was really rooting for her. She's an animal rights and monster activist. She could have been great friends with Cerise for that reason. She could have even had interactions with Ramona in the past. But she comes off as self-righteous and preachy.

I get she's an activist and that's the joke; activists are inherently self-righteous. But this is Ever After High. Where's the nuance? She could be an animal and monster activist because she's experienced prejudice herself. She's the daughter of Beauty and The Beast. Look me in the eye and tell me she doesn't have any Beast genes. I dare you!

It's canon that Beauty and the Beast is considered a bad destiny story, with the stigma of the heroine falling in love with a creature most fairytales would pin as the villain, and a handsome prince carrying the stigma of being of being a beast even after the curse is gone. She should understand that better than anyone. And yet, this kindness and compassion she tries to convey comes off as condescending. She inserts herself into situations because she feels she's needed when nobody has asked for her help.

2. DARABELLA

Rosabella was only introduced in one minisode and suddenly gets a big role in Epic Winter? She and Daring hadn't had a meaningful conversation up until that point. Really, she barely knows Daring.

For the daughter of Beauty and the Beast, she's so .... judgmental. She's supposed to have the ability to see people's true intentions, but why does she get it so wrong? She immediately assumes Daring is self-centered and narcissistic. On the surface, I can see where she's coming from. But, that's only on the surface.

Daring is more complex than she made him out to be, and Epic Winter wanted the audience to think she was in the right. We know this isn't true. Daring loves being a hero and saving people. He loves his siblings and does what he thinks is best for them. He certainly cared about Lizzie enough to respect her wishes. He's chivalrous to a fault!

Daring is clearly going through some things, and it doesn't seem like anyone's paying attention to what's really bothering him: He has no purpose anymore. He's been brought up his whole life thinking he would be King of Ever After, and now his world is shattered. He's not coping well. And Rosabella thinks he's full of himself when she's barely met this guy.

Having him become the Beast from Beauty and the Beast felt natural to me in the story progression, but Rosabella's inclusion felt forced. She gives him the same old advice from her original story when she should be hinting at something greater. This should be the turning point in Daring that destiny is malarky, and he can break away from the expectations his family and peers put on him. But she doesn't understand that. She only sees that he's obsessed with his looks because his main form of coping is gone.

He's not really upset about his looks. He's upset that his destiny is gone, and either that's not as important to her as him getting over his looks or she doesn't know him well enough to know what's been put on him. Assuming it's the latter, why wouldn't she try to find the root of the problem instead of fixing what she thinks needs fixing?

Daring is the victim here, even if he has issues to work out. And it doesn't seem like she's really listening to him.

3. The Cousins No One Talks About

Yeah. Rosabella and Briar are cousins. And there is very. little. BACKSTORY!!

We know their dads don't get along. Briar's is a monster hunter. Rosa's is The Beast. Their moms are sisters. That's all we know. What's her relationship with Briar? Is it a tragic sisterly bond? Or did the two drift apart/fall out because of their family conflict? Rosa's mom is likely the black sheep of the family, so do she and Sleeping Beauty still talk anymore?

How does Briar feel about all this? Does she have time to feel anything about it at all? She has her own family and her own destiny to worry about. What kind of influence did Briar's parents have on her views on beasts? She hadn't even been to Rosa's home until they were both well into high school. How much do they even know about each other?

We know so little about their dynamic. Family conflict shapes a child, and both of them probably have some deep-seated trauma relating to their families. But did the writers forget that they're cousins?

4. How I Would Write Rosabella (and maybe Daring)

First, give her the ability to transform into a beast. It's not hard.

She's advocating for people like her to exist. She wants people to see both sides of her and those like her to be seen as more than monsters. But she's had her fair share of prejudice, even within her own family. Her uncle is a monster hunter, so a half-beast niece would be considered an abomination. Because of this, she suppresses her anger to better the image of beasts. She doesn't want to, but she feels like she has to, for her own safety and to make herself more palatable in society. However, the more anger she holds in, the less control she has over herself. Her judgment becomes clouded, and this makes her jump to conclusions about people's behavior. She wants things to be fair so much that she gets in trouble for it. She wants to be understanding and patient, but having a hair-trigger temper gets in the way of her goals.

Give her a backstory with Cerise and the Hood-Badwolf family. Her family would know more than anyone the hardships that a human-beast family goes through, and they should be very good friends because of that. Her growing up around Cerise and Ramona would give her more of a reason to protect the beast population.

If any sort of relationship with Daring were to work, they would both have to learn from each other. Daring would learn to let go of people's expectations of him, and Rosabella would learn to let her anger out in a healthy way and pick her battles. Daring can't be the only one learning from her, and Rosa shouldn't see anything to fix in him. She needs to accept him for who he really is, not just preaching about appearances.

She should be embodying both Beauty and the Beast, all the kindness and grief that comes with it. She's not meant to be a paragon, and the writers should not have portrayed her as such. She needed to be a character with her own development. She needed to be portrayed just as in the wrong as Daring was when they met, not about appearance but about each other. She needs to admit her mistakes and acknowledge she is not always right about everyone. Or, at the very least, have her see right through Daring's facade about looks and realize there's something deeper going on.

The writer's dropped the ball on this ship, and they did Daring so dirty here. But they also did Rosabella a disservice by making her so two-dimensional and preachy, almost not even her own character. There are so many routes they could have taken with her. She could have been great, but she wasn't.

[luckyarchivist]

Ais helps Kuras in the clinic~

And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for a while!! I was gonna write a fic but then I was like "Don't you have a Tumblr? Just make bullets lmao" so that's what I did and here's my HCs about Kuras and Ais in the clinic <3

Ais will just drop in on him sometimes. Like, no warning, Kuras will get back from picking up more laudanum or whatever he uses and Ais'll just be sitting on the counters, kicking his feet (but respectfully not letting his feet hit the lower cabinets).

He also never really gives a reason for being there. Always chalks his appearances up to boredom or loneliness. But then again, Kuras knows that for Ais, that's probably all the reason he needs.

They don't talk much while they're in the clinic together—just silently enjoy each other's company. Ais is also surprisingly good at organizing when he chooses to be, and Kuras has started putting away his supplies the same way Ais does subconsciously.

Ais does like to check in with Kuras to make sure people—and Monsters—haven't been harassing the clinic when he's not around. Kuras is perfectly capable of taking care of any problematic patients or unruly loiterers, but he appreciates the concern nonetheless.

When good patients visit the good doctor, Ais sometimes will play nurse: counting people's heartbeats, disinfecting minor wounds or injection sites, rewriting prescriptions so patients can actually read them. Regular patients recognize Ais, while occasional visitors have no idea who he is: both groups are a little scared of him, but also a little charmed by him.

When problems decide to show their faces, Ais acts as bodyguard instead. He certainly doesn't need an excuse to beat someone up, but he likes that helping out Kuras gives him one. Kuras always tells him to go easy on people, though, and Ais doesn't want to make more work for him, so he can't go all out unless someone's a real danger, instead of just a nuisance.

When Ais finishes beating somebody up, Kuras will take a moment before accepting another patient to inspect Ais for any injuries. Pressure is applied to cuts until the blood starts to coagulate. Kuras usually holds off on disinfecting or bandaging anything until Ais is about to take his leave, to make sure he doesn't immediately ruin Kuras's hard work.

On slow days, Ais will talk to Kuras in whatever language he's practicing or feeling like speaking. Kuras will converse back and, if he's feeling preachy (or like being a troll), correct Ais on his incorrect conjugations or lazy pronunciations. Ais keeps trying, but he has yet to find a language that he knows better than Kuras.

Just like his arrivals, there's no way to predict when Ais will leave. Sometimes he stays until the clinic closes; other times, he'll keep Kuras company for less than an hour. It all depends on his mood. For however long he chooses to hang around, Kuras tries to make sure Ais knows that he appreciates his presence.

And that's all my thoughts!! omg just rereading this checking for spelling mistakes i was like "i love them sm. i love them <3" in my head~

[moononmyfloor]

Finished The First Shot (雪迷宫), some more miscellaneous commentary

Ep 1-10 commentary

I like The First Shot posters

The second one I especially love how you can immediately tell who's the dad guy and who's the mom guy lol They are just so What would Asian gay parents look like if we were allowed to have openly gay Asian parents in the 90's 😭

Look the Dad tshirts and dad armpit bag and dad briefcase bag 😭

Oh and the secondary character pairings were amazeballs too in this, everyone had SUCH a great time with bantering

Also I swear Cdramas always have the cutest babies 🥺

.

Try give me a heterosexual explanation for this camera language, I will wait

.

I checked on fanfics for The First Shot, one of the Chinese writers I've subscribed to have written a fic so I clicked on it and the stats blew my mind!

THIS AIRED LAST MONTH OH MY GOD? I have literally never seen this before, not this fast. Not even for MLC. Wow the sleeping Chinese AO3 community woke up for this?? I feel sorry for DMBJ now, you guys have truly left it huh 😂😭 Before I thought it's because ao3 ban and all its difficult to climb over firewall BUT YOU DID FOR THIS. Some of the best of Chinese dmbj fics are pickling over there with like 5 kudos each huhu

Like it's bamboozling. ALL of these are Chinese fics!! It's a great show but omg I didn't think it'd garner this much instantaneous fanbase. As a show about meth, looks like it indeed felt like meth for many HAHAHA.

That being said I've read some and you can totally mtl and enjoy them and please do because they are amazing!

IMPORTANT

Jokes aside, if you plan to watch this, for a crime show it's pretty standard, there are some CW (if you don't like slightest spoilers don't read anything below but then again if you already read everything above then you likely don't mind spoilers lol)

Murder and forced amputation and child trafficking and abuse and harassing women but not a lot, they are not dragged out and well balanced by the nice police squad scenes Speaking of which, it does get preachy at times with how bad drugs are etc 😂 But that too, I (pretended) to not see because it's set in 90's after all (modern drug dramas are just as preachy but hey🤣 I like the show so I excused it lol)

And in ep 24 of there's a CW SA scene too and its not too graphic but still plenty enough to be triggering 🫠

And in general, I wasn't too satisfied with how they concluded the show but not because it was bad but compared to how good the rest of the show was, it felt a tad bit underwhelming is all.

[vaultedvagabond]

Listen I love Dalinar hes very well written but. Imagine being a farmer in Jah Keved or Herdaz. He cuts a bloody swath across Alethkar and Alethi warlords consolidating power is never a good thing for your people. He burns an entire city to the ground then once his brother dies he feels bad about it and starts acting holier than though and preachy while stealing the throne from his nephew.

He starts going on about a second storm and voidbringers and the lost radiants and everyone thinks he lost it but hes right. He spends 2 years leading this coalition and writes a fucking book about his warcrimes and how bad he feels. He then he ascends to the throne of god and immediately gives the power to the voidbringers, forfeits the war, and now the highstorms and the sun are just fucking gone. Youd never get over it. Imagine if George Bush started his painting thing and then 2 years later he ended the world.

[victoriadallonfan]

For worm/ward questions: Who would be the most interesting Undersider and Breakthrough members to swap teams?

I think Bitch and Ashley are similar enough that you could plausibly see them sticking with each team or being recruited, while also having radically different outcomes.

Ashley is of course far more destructive without therapy or her medication, and her power makes fights a lot more deadly for everyone involved while removing the option for the Undersiders being getaway experts. On the other hand, Lisa isn’t out in the field due to Ashley not caring, so they likely switch up tactics completely.

She would like Brian’s professionalism but they had a LOT of conflict of personality and her desire for leadership. She and Alec would probably get along decently well, barring moments he pokes fun at her and things go awry. Lisa might latch onto her like she did with Taylor, if she gets the right info, but that could go really well or really poorly. Taylor would absolutely hear Ashley talk and think she’s a bona fide evil villain, maybe even comparing her to Emma, but I can see a chance for Taylor to see past her mask in quiet moments where Ashley tries to stop infighting. I think the big thing that can sway this is that Ashley would probably not stand for Coil treating Dinah this way. I’m 50/50 on her attacking him outright or shocking Taylor by siding with her immediately, because what Coil does pushes a lot of her buttons (plus she wants his spot). That would be interesting, to imagine this unlikely duo working together, and it might actually ruin the plan to return to the Undersiders post Leviathan if it’s not sincere enough.

Bitch is interesting, because WB has mentioned that she could benefit a lot with therapy and a positive environment with other kids her age, which I presume happens if she’s with Yamada. Entirely possible she gets sent to the same Asylum that Kenzie, Vic, and Sveta were at, having meet some or all of them before.

I imagine she’ll always be gruff, but a lot more overtly aware of that and sensitive to others, maybe having long since begun to treat them like dogs (affectionate). I can see her sympathizing with Byron’s situation of dealing with family while also coming to respect Tristan as a potential leader like she did Brian. Absolutely takes to Rain immediately like in canon, the two of them often discussing survivalist stuff and her becoming an unofficial protector for him. Chris and her actually get along fairly well, especially when they talk shop about dogs and medicine for them. Kenzie, Sveta, and Vic depends on what she knows of them. Possibly sees Kenzie as a very excitable and overly attached puppy, so some of her methods of dealing with her can be blunt, maybe too blunt at times. Sveta and Bitch may be a bit frayed, because Sveta can be a bit overbearing and preachy, and Bitch isn’t sensitive about the same things Sveta is, but they get along and understand how powers fucked them up. Victoria and Bitch, again depends, but I can see Victoria feeling trauma by comparing the mutant dogs to her flesh coffin, and Bitch being naturally wary of the new comer. I think there’s no real conflict though, not with this timeline switch, and ultimately they come out respecting each other like in canon. Bitch might help Vic understand Chris and bridge the two of them together…

[nono-bunny]

Thank Starkid for uploading VHSCC to Youtube, albeit temporarily, because their site doesn't work for me so I couldn't buy it or any other digital ticket (including Cinderella's Castle for which I was a kickstarter 🥲) and I'm so glad I can still watch it now!!

Anyway here are my thoughts/liveblogging post from watching! I didn't think to do this until I reached the second part and realized I had a lot to say so everything about the new material is retroactively written

I. Hate to say it, but I can't remember a single new song. One reason I love VHSCC so much is because it only took me one watch to remember the songs, they're incredibly catchy and iconic... And the new ones did nothing to me.

In general I didn't really vibe with the new material? I think it's important to note that I don't celebrate Christmas, like, it's not even the main wintertime holiday of where I live so inherently theres a level of disconnect for me with that angle, but I still find some Christmas stories charming- case in point, I genuinely love A Christmas Carol! I know these two stories outside of the lens of Christmas- I'm fairly certain I heard a different holiday version of Gift of the Magi as a kid, and I had the book of The Little Matchgirl as a kid and didn't uh. Really touch it after reading it once because I found it senselessly sad. So like? I'm familiar with these stories, but this version of them really didn't hit me in the way I think they're meant to or in the way the original versions do. I didn't really find Gift of the Magi touching or funny, which I feel like is what they should've gone for at the end, and I felt... Nothing with Little Matchgirl, which surprised me because I was fully prepared to cry.

Actually it. Felt really preachy while also somehow being just completely empty of meaning to me? Little Matchgirl in particular. Idk. The tragedy of it just... Completely failed to land for me when Clark immediately starts singing about uh. Activism essentially? It's like, bro, you didn't even give me enough time to process it or to get sad before you just started preaching at me??? Idk, I just. Really didn't like it. Clark's parts in general were the worst parts of the new material in my opinion, which surprised me, because I did like them in Christmas Carol! Idk, it might be a matter of the stories being too short, so it feels intrusive for the detached narrator to cut in to fill in blanks that weren't there or to hammer down the message, instead of letting the characters and story do it themselves.

I genuinely don't enjoy shitting so hard on the new stuff, but. I didn't really like them and kinda just wanted them to be over so I could watch a show I knew I DID like. I don't think it was all bad, I mean, the acting was fun and everyone's obviously mad talented, but in terms of musicality and story, which are the two things I really loved about Christmas Carol, it felt like a big step down for me. Also, I did like how Scrooge was just. There though, that was really funny

OK! Moving on! From here on its probably gonna be way more positive lmao because I love VHSCC and this is it now!

The smaller cast feels weird with how big the OG one was, in general the different casting is gonna be interesting. The stages configuration is a pretty big difference, but it does feel like, intimate which was probably really fun in person, and I like how they're playing around with it! I'm also less of a fan of this screen so far, it basically added nothing but uh. We'll see ig

Scrooge actually screeching after Clark narrating him doing it was a fantastic addition lmao. It caught me (and seemingly the audience!) so off guard and it was hilarious!! AJ has generally been way less physical than Dylan so far, which I kinda missed, but ngl he completely won me over with that one lmao

Meredith is so pretty, she's nailing it!! As I knew she would but. Still felt noteworthy lol

OK ngl given how Jaime was just. Not in the first half but still credited I was 100% sure she was not gonna be there physically, just through the screen similar to Ali in the OG, so I was actually really fucking surprised when she came out??? Where were they hiding her for the entirety of the first half!!! Travesty!!!

God the spirits are just as attractive a year later (two technically by the time of me watching this, but shh), they're SO good. A stark contrast to Clark's awful wig, actually, my god what is up with that thing???

Fuck yeah, physical chains!!

I wonder why they changed some of the interstitial lyrics? I mean, the snore was hilarious, but this isn't the first change and the previous one didn't have a comedic element added in.

The new choreography is excellent, I'm actually really happy with the stage for facilitating these changes

I'm sorry Curt is too much of a sweetheart and I'm really having a hard time buying him as post-money Scrooge lmao. He eats the singing though! Brian did too, but weirdly enough only on stage and not in the recorded version lmao

Janaya is fr so talented, I'd love to see her in other Starkid stuff!

I miss Corey. Unrelated to where I'm at in the musical rn but I forgot to mention it at the start. Brian is just. A completely different Fred and it feels weird

Best song incoming! VHSCC is what made me fall in love with James- it was the first time I saw him in a bigger role, and I can't wait to see him in Cinderella's Castle

Just wanna clarify: Brian's Fred is still fun, he's just like, different from Corey's? He's more... Sarcastic, if that makes sense?

Every year that goes by makes Brian playing Tiny Tim funnier

Thief Brian is giving Junior vibes lmao

I knew about Della and Jim replacing the gay couple so that wasn't surprising, but a nice cameo nonetheless, especially with how Scrooge bought Jim's watch lmao

Okay the "screen" aka what seems to be a sheet of fabric being projected onto is just. Completely pointless and useless aside from minor ambience. Not only have they lost the VHS aesthetic it had, the actually fun and cool effects just don't seem to be possible with it and it sucks

I do love the rest of the vast staring at and then dragging Scrooge down, that was cool

Is. Is that the ghost of the Little Match girl orrrr...? Are we dealing with an AU situation? I mean, the Della and Jim resolution doesn't necessarily conflict with what we saw and is very sweet too but. This sure raises some timeline questions lol

Matching uncle and nephew sunglasses 🥰

I wish more Starkid shows included the curtain calls, those are always so fun and they feel important to recreate the feeling of watching live theater, even through a screen.

Anyway, I'm done watching now! Final thoughts? Might warm up to the first half upon rewatching (not like it hasn't happened to me with some shows before!), but initially I'm not the biggest fan. I can't say that this rendition of a Christmas Carol is better, but it's absolutely not worse either, and honestly that's all I wanted really. It was still tons of fun, and I liked it a lot! There's for sure a disconnect between the two halves though- heck, even between the two stories in the first half- and they feel... Too different to me, so I can't exactly say doubling the length was exactly... Worth it? One advantage of the OG is that it's short, which results in me frequently rewatching it, and this doesn't really have the same advantage, especially not considering I'll probably only really wanna rewatch the second half Anyway... Regardless, I still wish I could've paid them to watch this last year, it sucks that their site just. Doesn't work for me, so I'm glad that they made it accessible for me here. And now I'm eagerly awaiting Cinderella's Castle!

[ezrisdax-archive]

the very first gifset I ever made was on january 26th 2014, it took me a month to immediately make a set for a femslash pair for characters who had never met. (shoutout to anyone who a) remembers the old blog and b) remembers the pair)

I've been doing this for almost ten years now.

and for ten years I've had to put up with ridiculous tags that only come up on a femslash set. "feel free to ignore the romance implication" "I don't ship this" "friendship goals" and it's forever something I've noticed that only happens on those kinds of sets. never the (extremely rare from me) slash set or the het sets. hell at most if I make a gen set someone will say "I don't go here"

fandom likes to pretend it's so much better now than what it used to be in the days where female characters were just blatantly ignored and femslash was lucky if it wasn't from xena. (sorry, I love xena, I'm just trying to make a point that other fandoms didn't get that wide femslash base, yes I know there was still a few). in truth fandom hasn't really changed much of it's attitude at all.

if you've ever followed the top ships post of ao3 that's done here you realize that out of 100 you can count the number of femslash ships on your hands.

and you can always make the argument there aren't enough female characters, or they don't get the same dynamic male characters get and that's true. but that's never bothered fandom to make up a ship before for a slash pairing. fuck man, moran didn't even show up in bbc sherlock and yet it's there with over 3000 fics on ao3 with moriarty. I'm lucky if a femslash ship gets out of the rarepair section when rare pair fic exchanges come around.

I guess this just comes across as preachy and annoying 'why isn't my ship as popular' but there's always been a push back in fandom when it comes to femslash. they don't get the depth that fandom is willing to explore when it comes to other pairings. they're the cute background ship that's saying 'lol oh guys when will you get your act together' for the slash ship.

it's exhausting.

[mdhwrites]

is there a way to write hate sink characters well? Cause the only hatesinks I can think of that work for me are shou tucker and Medusa, most others feel like they're there to make the heroes or love interest in a love triangle look better or to be preachy. Idk I like a lot characters that I know im supposed to hate on virtue of I can feel a writer trying too hard to make them unlikable to the point it feels ridiculous, like a caricature or in the worst case scenario the character wasn't originally a hatesink and went through a character assassination. So how do you do a hatesink right?

So I actually looked up the trope page for this one to make sure when I said this it felt right: I think you have it backwards, at least for the best hate sinks. For me, a hate sink is never something a writer should explicitly go out of their way to write. It's like forcing someone to be comic relief: If you have a character who is only one note, they will end up one note. That doesn't mean the term is invalid though or I can't talk about what makes a hate sink become a hate sink but I wanted to get that out of the way first.

The core to making a character your audience will despise even more than your main villain is to make a genuinely good and compelling character for a detestable role in your narrative. Medusa isn't just a faceless big bad. She is an abusive mother who only uses the facade of love to make sure Crona stays trapped with her. Shou Tucker is by all means a very normal dude except for what lengths he will go to to keep his comfort and status. Funny enough: Neither is as one note or pure evil as The Joker or Darkseid but both are hated more because, well, as the trope page says, their evil is less abstract. This makes them well written villains who grip people's imaginations more than most.

This also causes most Hate Sinks to be smaller in scope. Why is Shinji's dad the worst father in anime when there are people like the evil emperor in Mar who is, you know, the main villain and the MC's father? It's because of his small time villainy. The cruelty towards his own son. We as an audience can relate to that better because it's an affront to the morality we have to deal with day to day. This is what I mean by them being less abstract. As a note because of the fandoms I've been a part of: Bullies fall into this really easily as well. Even if they actually aren't even that cruel as far as bullies go, so many people have dealt with that ONE. ASSHOLE. and so seeing them portrayed can immediately make a fandom turn hard on them, even if they're very clearly not written as someone that is meant to be universally despised.

This also brings up a final note: How close are their actions to the main cast? Maka and Crona's plotline constantly intersects, with Medusa's abuse stopping resolution there as Crona becomes increasingly sympathetic. That pain to Maka in turn sharpens our blade against Medusa. Shou Tucker is in the grand scheme of things not in a lot of Fullmetal Alchemist but it is one of the most personal atrocities that Ed and Al face, along with it killing off a beloved character. Worse yet for Shou is that unlike Envy, who also kills a beloved character, he is never nuked a couple dozen times to give the audience the cathartic beatdown we want for something as awful as what they did. Not giving that payoff is another way to cause a character to fester in people's minds as someone to despise because it can feel like they got away with it, even if they technically didn't.

A lot of this still just comes from what I said at the beginning though: These are genuinely well written characters who are given a reprehensible role. The hate sink page lists Umbridge from Harry Potter but how many people actually have a lasting impact from her? Because she isn't a character. She's just a bitch. Woopdie doo, that's SO NEW. rolls eyes She is genuinely written just to be despised and for that she can make a fun villain but she isn't the sort that sticks with people so that every time she gets mentioned, everyone sneers and goes "THAT BITCH!" Not like they do at quite literally any mention of Shou Tucker.

And Shou is only that effective because the question around him was how to tell the concept of a pathetic man desperate for fame in this setting in a compelling way, not for how to make one of the most detestable human beings in all of anime. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[ladylilithprime]

Day 27: Prayer

(Set in the werewolf!Sam'verse. Immediate follow-up to Day 13, before Day 23.)

FINDING OUT THAT the bunch of demons who kept hunting for Sammy weren't just trying to make him their unholy Messiah but were actually trying to kick off the literal Biblical Apocalypse, and that certain factions of Heaven were perfectly happy to let them despite the supposed Time being several hundred millennia too early because Heaven had been manipulating bloodlines to intentionally get two sons born of the union between the Winchester and Campbell families to serve as Vessels for Michael and Lucifer to have their bug Battle Royale and lay waste to the Earth with humanity as unlamented collateral damage... yeah, even without having had any faith in God or Heaven or any of that preachy bullshit Pastor Jim used to talk about, that was a harsh blow. Sam had ended up knocking back half his tequila straight from the bottle, and Jimmy had looked very much like he had wanted to ask for some to top off his Bloody Mary. Castiel had obviously known at least some of it already, but even he had looked devastated by the (heh) revelations.

Dean kept that joke confined to the inside of his head, too, since he kinda figured Sam wouldn't be in the mood to hear it.

The arrival of Dean's ordered bacon cheese fries had given them a bit of a reprieve from the heavy talk. Loki - or Gabriel, Dean was still on the fence about what to call their "divine patron" now - needed no further encouragement beyond Dean's general "dig in" to help himself to some of the cheesy bacony thick-cut potatoes. Sam had shot him a bitchface that was three parts annoyance and one part grudging agreement before tugging on the edge of one of the plates to put it between the two of them, leaving the second plate for Jimmy and the angels. Dean got a brief snicker out of watching Castiel try eating at both Loki and Jimmy's encouragement, but most of his attention was focused on Sam.

"Some day, huh, Sammy?" he murmured, hesitantly pressing his leg up against Sam's and relaxing when his brother pressed back.

"We're taking a vacation after this," Sam murmured back, snagging one of the cheese-coated fries and jabbing it in Dean's direction. "A real vacation, where we just kick back and relax for, like, a week at the least. Preferably with a beach."

"I can be down with that," Dean agreed. Frankly, he was willing to give Sammy anything he wanted at this point, and a week on a beach actually sounded kinda awesome. "So long as you'll rub sunscreen on my back and aloe on the sunburns I'll end up with anyway."

"If you don't end up ditching me for a girl or three in string bikinis, I'll rub whatever you want," Sam said with the fervency of a vow, too serious to be passed off as a joke. Dean felt himself twitch and had to force himself not to squirm at the mental images that promise evoked in him. When he didn't move his leg away, Sam's expression softened slightly. "I mean it, Dean. I'm on board with this if you are, but you gotta be the one saying go. You decide you'd rather bag a few beach bunnies, I'll be your wingman for a week and then head back to Stanford until you're ready to come find me."

"Maybe we should find a really private beach," Dean mumbled, gripping his whiskey glass. "Y'know, so it won't matter which skin you feel like running around in, and I don't have to put up with wearing shorts."

"I can accommodate you gentlemen on that one, if you don't mind 'too remote for roads' as a condition," Loki piped up, saluting them with his Shirley Temple. "Just putting that out there for you, sorry to interrupt the private pow-wow."

"We'll think about it," Dean said after sharing a look with Sam. If Loki was willing to bring the Impala along, too, despite the lack of roads to drive her on, it was definitely tempting. "For now... how's this prayer phone thing supposed to work when it ain't to you?"

"Standard invocation starter, just the name of the angel or archangel you're trying to reach, then say whatever you need to," Loki answered. "A'course, given it's you, you could probably just say something like 'I pray to the Big Sky Daddy' and it would get through to Mikey along with whatever angels are on the team assigned to hear general prayers."

"And it has to be me?" Dean asked, grimacing when Loki nodded.

"Gotta be a human, and of the two we have at this table you're the one Mikey will listen to more," he said.

"Not sure I could muster up enough mind to pray more than 'fuck you', anyway," Jimmy muttered, his words a little slurred. He eyed the remains of his Bloody Mary, then pulled out the celery stick and took a bite. "Pro'ly get smited for it."

Well, that was discouraging, since "fuck you" was about what Dean really wanted to say. He sighed and propped his elbows on the table, then folded his hands like he'd seen some people do on TV.

I pray to Archangel Michael, Prince of Heaven... he started, then huffed. That should be good enough to get the bastard's attention. Alright, listen up, you great feathered dick. I've never had any faith in God or angels, and even knowing y'all exist that ain't changed any.

Sammy, though... my little brother did believe in you, in the lore that calls you a celestial cosmic force for good, a balance to the evil demons throw around. He prayed, every damn day, so quietly and privately I didn't even know that until he told me! He only stopped when a credible source told us that, because of who and what he is, no one up there's been listening. And buddy, if you asshats are the kind of judgemental morons to completely write off a good kid and a fucking saint of a man like Sam because some dickhead demon bled in his mouth without his consent when he was a baby? I don't want anything to do with you, either.

In the meantime, since Sammy is a werewolf and according to your bro Gabriel wouldn't be getting into Heaven anyway, he and I are dedicating ourselves to Loki. Gabe says fuck you for trying to start the Apocalypse waaaaay too early, by the way, and I'll let Sammy turn me, too, before I ever agree to let you use me to destroy humanity and the earth. And since the angel you sent to investigate why I never made a deal went and asked Gabe to take him into his service, you can consider this notice of Castiel's resignation, too.

Dean paused, waiting to see if anything was going to happen, then unfolded his hands and picked up his glass to slam back the last of his whiskey.

"Ah-fucking-men."

[crossdressingdeath]

Astarion: It feels so good. Freedom - true freedom. Finally. I can feel my strength growing. Every day that passes, I gain new abilities. You know, now that our enemies have fallen, I might be the most powerful person in the world. And as you're my consort, that makes us the most powerful people in the world. Kyvir: I wouldn't want it any other way. Astarion: And neither would I. Together, we can do anything. The world is ours for the taking. So, what would you like? Kyvir: I want to sit on your lap, sipping blood from a chalice, ruling the Gate from our foul throne. Astarion: Oh, darling. I love the way you think. We will need to be careful, of course. There are still powerful forces in the city. We can start slowly - quietly charming and manipulating key figures, building up our network of puppets. Before long we'll have our hands on every string in this city, and they will dance however we tell them to. We have a beautiful, bloody future to look forward to, my love. I can't be sure what it holds for us, but I know one thing. This is going to be fun.

The worst husbands in Faerûn continue to be the worst, yes. I love how unrepentantly awful you can be if you romance ascended Astarion; yes, you saved the Gate! But mostly because if the illithids take it you can't have it. I also love how you can be all for the whole "sitting in his lap on your throne" thing that he mentions if you go Chosen Durge; I guess as soon as you get out of the incredibly preachy section immediately after ascending him wiser heads in the writers' room prevailed and reminded everyone that a given PC might be totally okay with this situation, actually. This relationship may not be healthy but both parties can be having a wonderful time despite that and it's grand. Codependent possessive jackasses making that everyone else's problem! I get why so many people write it as fucked up and miserable and the PC having to suffer through it because they've trapped themselves in this situation, but honestly I find a dynamic where the PC went into this with open eyes and knowing the risks and consequences and finding that they are in fact quite pleased with their situation just as compelling. If not more so; I won't lie, I find horrible people being a genuinely loving power couple in their own ways much more interesting than one partner being the other's innocent victim.

[burr-ell]

🔥 Critical Role c1, please ? or TLOVM ?

I really don't care for how TLOVM is adapting Keyleth and Vax. Their relationship doesn't do a whole lot for me in C1, but I respect it, and I actually find it more interesting as this sort of legendary star-crossed tragedy, written in fables and shrouded in myth. We know who these characters were in canon—Keyleth was fierce, compassionate, self-righteous, naive, courageous, and stubborn; Vax was loyal, fun-loving, snarky, possessive, reckless, and foolhardy. Like, the dramatic irony between what we know about Keyleth and Vax and what the world knows about the Tempest and the Champion is great!

So I really feel like TLOVM is fumbling the ball here. Keyleth hasn't exhibited a single flaw other than "doesn't believe in herself enough, hasn't memorized the druid 5e spell list", and it strips her of what made her relatable and interesting. Gone is her contentious-yet-loving relationship with Percy; gone is her distrust for the gods; gone is her preachiness and willingness to be the moral compass. What's left is a Disney Princess who says fuck, who's just so endearing and likable, and it feels so sanded-down. Her moments of triumph don't feel earned, because what did she have to overcome other than self-doubt?

She doesn't even have the agency to change her clothes! That could have been a great moment where she swaps out green for red to honor her fallen people, not to mention excellent setup for her conflict with Raishan later, but instead it just...happens because of her doing magick-y stuff in the Fire Plane. It's a small thing, but it adds up.

Vax is just...frustrating. There's not a single moment that really makes him look bad; even him being mean to Percy is completely understandable and justified by the narrative. (Like, Percy killed his sister, man. It was an accident, sure, but he killed her. Vax has every reason to be mean to him!) He doesn't do something like knocking Kynan unconscious in one hit in a misguided attempt at tough love or charging into a trap in Anders' office and nearly getting Cassandra killed. The reckless "but did you die" attitude he often has in that stage of the campaign is nonexistent, leaving in its place a very nice YA love interest who traded his life for his sister's and follows the Raven Queen now. He's completely palatable and sympathetic the entire time.

There is one exception to this, and it's completely unintentional: the grove in the Fey Realm. Percy tells the group they have to project positivity, and right as Vax is grumbling that it's stupid, he gets attacked. Vax...immediately blames Percy, and even Percy says it doesn't make sense. But it does. Vax was openly and loudly showing negative emotions. Why is no one pointing this out? Why is Vax allowed to have the last word in this scene? Why is this a "Percy doesn't get the Fey Realm" or "there's something weird about Vax" moment? From the scene as it's written, Percy gets the Fey Realm just fine; there's no reason to conclude from this that there's anything special about Vax other than that he's being surly, doing exactly the thing Percy told him not to do. Now I get what they were trying to do here; this is, to be clear, a flaw in the writing, not some ontological element of Vax as a character. The fact remains, however, that it's poorly done.

The romance itself suffers as a result of this, and honestly almost feels a little phoned-in, at least on the part of the writing and boarding teams. These characters aren't challenging each other; they aren't moving each other; they just blush a lot. It's just not very interesting.

I get it, adaptation is hard, but they gotta push these guys more, because as it stands, they're the weakest links in the show by far.

[inqilabi]

I’m kind of surprised you started dating a lot more and are open to Islam recently, you’re one of the reasons I stopped entirely, which neither is a wrong thing to do. It’s kind of hard to do it alone but I just prioritized friendships in the time I’ve been following you. Which actually is closer to 10 years now I think, definitely since way before the pandemic. Anyway it’s just been on my mind to send this ask for a while now, you seem so successful that when I get to be where you are I know I’ll be even less interested in marriage and dating, but I guess that’s also a plus for you since you said you want kids. Good luck with it all, It’s great you were able to reconcile yourself and Islam, I’ve never felt like religion could be fulfilling, especially when you have views on gender and politics that go again the core tenants of a patriarchal religion. But I can see how the immediate community has its appeal and people are judged overly harshly when they don’t conform to societal and gender expectations of be a woman/man then have a partner/kids, and it’s not like there aren’t other good things too. Anyway I’m glad I followed you when I did because I got a new perspective and it made me more of a brave, accountable person, I’m not really afraid of being lonely and I can take accountability for my wrongs too, knowing that socialization is so deep I need to think about why and what I’m doing. You a few other people impacted me so deeply when I was 16 and trying to leave my parents home

wow this is a very sweet message. But almost makes feel scared that i had an impact on impressionable young teens I dont think my views on Islam have changed, certainly not as much as my view on dating. I still have the same criticisms of sunni jurisprudence. I think i just have less of exposure to that community now as i did back in the day, and it just use to rile me up. I was just angry, justifiably so, and wanting to dismiss everything - and it showed up in the tone of my writing.

I mean i still can't go around muslim events saying the things i actually believe. Sunni jurisprudence is undeniably patriarchal. But so long as they aren't like getting very preachy, doing halaqas and sermons on how to oppress women, im okay. In my uni days, MSAs were actually doing exactly that. That's why i was so critical. But i see now this type of thing seems to be dying down, atleast in my area. i dont find religion fulfilling but i do find likeminded people fulfilling. I still associate more with like academic type folks who either research religion, anthropology, write critiques. I went to a party full of marxists the other day. I didnt agree with everyone there. But i suppose, its discussion that's fulfilling. And sometimes muslim community and gathering can be very dismissive and not receptive to discussion. Which is a shame because in the islamic golden age, that's all they were doing.

i was honestly planning to be alone, and my plan was to solo adopt a kid if i wanted a child. I felt this way all the way up until like summer of 2022. then something did change. and i didn't want to be alone. if you had asked the 2013-2022 version of me, i would have balked at the thought of me wanting a partner. I was almost proud of it. Proud of being a single unattached woman with no men in her life. I suppose the only thing I can say now is that it's very hard to predict how and what you will feel and want at some point in the future. I was certain that I wouldn't want companionship and kids. Half my blog was dedicated to it. And that is kind of scary. I actually wrote about this on my blog back in the fall of 2022. It scared me how much something had shifted so suddenly, something that was a such long held state. If that could change, what else could change?

At your age, i would say prioritize career first ofc/financial freedom etc. If you dont have that, you wont feel ready for anything else. And ofc keep expanding your friend circle and forming connections through local activities or travel.