#but it felt like it applied to those specific ships

[starchaserdreams]

"Basically the whole book they're like what if I fell in love jk jk unless"

[chuthulhu-plays]

I generally watch LPs of horror games bc I'm too anxious to actually play them but a lot of them have FANTASTIC stories, so sometimes I just binge-watch KrinxTV for background noise. Been watching a lot of playthroughs of Still Wakes The Deep because it's such a delight to hear Scottish voice actors get work and I thought I'd address some questions I keep seeing Let's Players ask:

--Adair is a member of the National Front as you can find out from posters in his cabin, a Neo-Fascist British political party that’s been going since the sixties. While it often preaches British ethnic unity, in practice that often means “everybody in the UK should be exactly like East End Londerners” and features plentiful disdain for Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folk, alongside those perceived as “not British”. No wonder the wanker eats alone in the canteen.

--Neeps and Tatties=turnips and potatoes, mashed, drenched in butter or sauce. Fills your belly, keeps you warm, probably makes you sink like a stone because it’s so heavy.

--Cranachan=a dessert made of raspberries, honey, cream and oats, absolutely delicious

--Rennick calls Caz a “wee ned prick”. Ned is apocryphally said to stand for “non-educated delinquent” and is basically just a way of calling someone an uneducated, lower-class criminal

--A lot of things said by and about Roy indicate that he’s a teetotaller who went through AA and specifically became Catholic and is making an effort at converting Caz.

--I think it’s entertaining how Scottish nicknames often follow a pattern of shortening/rejiggering that I also see a lot with Australian nicknames—Cameron becomes Caz, Rafferty becomes Raffs, etc. Trots is an unusual one but is almost certainly a reference to him being a communist, presumably a Trotskyist. Gibbo is also an unusual one in that it’s just very silly. There’s a kind of indignity implied in being killed by a guy called Gibbo.

--A few times on the radio you hear the Shipping Forecast, a type of weather report aimed at specifically reporting weather conditions out on the ocean, and is also famous for the report being read in such a calm, soothing tone that some folk use it as a sleep aid.

--All the yellow paint for interactable things is very video gamey, yes, but is also in line with old British health and safety standards, and yellow paint on things like emergency ladders or on the edges of stairs that are trip hazards is a thing ou can still see in some older buildings.

--Caz keeps saying he’s “good with the leccy”; leccy=electricity. Caz is implied to be quite a wee guy who can get through a lot of tight spaces, and my uncle swears blind that electricians used to refuse to take on apprentices over a certain size because they only wanted to train wee guys who could get up into the tight spaces that a lot of older buildings are full of. On that note, “wee man” is a term of endearment, generally, and isn’t exclusively applied to short guys.

--Finlay saying of Gibbo that “he’s no right” is INCREDIBLY OMINOUS. It sounds mild but “he’s no right, that boy” is what older folk say about a child who’s been found disembowelling cats for fun or someone they strongly suspect is a pedophile. It’s not something you’d say about a friend who’s just acting a bit unusually.

– “Great minds united over a Buckie”--Buckfast, or Buckie, is a caffienated tonic wine that’s cheap, widely accessible, and is a bit like rocket fuel for bad decisions.

– “Ya roaster” tbh I don’t really know where it comes from, calling someone a roaster, but I’ve always felt like it has a vibe of telling them they’re huffing their own farts.

--Scunnert/scunnered--buggered, screwed, utterly fucked, etc

– “You’re the jammiest bastart on this rig” Someone who is jammy is someone who has incredible luck that is implied to be related to their sheer confidence or willingness to engage in risky behaviour. Walking along the street and finding a pound coin isn’t jammy; crossing the road confident that the cars won’t hit you and stopping in the middle to pick up a pound coin before making it unscathed to the other side is jammy as all hell.

--Barlinnie is the biggest prison in Scotland, and largely hosts violent offenders—it’s where Caz would definitely go for hospitalizing a man.

--Weans are children (contraction of wee yins/wee ones). I thought this one was contextually obvious but apparently not.

SPOILERS BELOW

--”One spark and the whole thing’ll go up”—this is referring to the wee spark of flame in the lighter used to blow up the rig, but is also kind of a pun because electricians are often called sparks or sparkies, and in the end it’s Caz who blows up the rig.

[thecoolerliauditore]

Hi. I'll bite. What's the Jimmy ecosystem?

(completely genuine, feel free to direct me to an older post if there is one, i just didn't find it)

oh my goodness, an excuse to explain one of my strange pidgin language-esque terms of convenience that I'm not quite sure anyone understands outside of one or two people. that tubbytarchia guy put it into words pretty well if you're looking for the short version.

long version below:

"jimmy ecosystem" is more or less a shorthand I started saying to refer to the social system that keeps jimmy in his role of being "the worst one" (the butt of the joke, the one who goes out first, the obstacle to be surmounted, so on and so forth).

on the CC side of things, I think the imp and skizz podcast episode with joel put it best on how this came to be: jimmy is good at the youtube thing, and happy to be mocked or humiliated for the sake of making content. He's your guy for any gag, there's no wonder why he plays the goofy antagonist for so many of the POVs in esmp2.

but this creates a. very strange and sad effect when you look in from the perspective of character interpretation. esmp2 jimmy, for example, by being the bad guy in so many people's stories (especially when he really hasn't done much at all to earn the mockery he gets) feels more upsetting when you're watching his POV and it seems like no matter where he goes he gets mocked and bullied.

it carries over to almost every series: life series jimmy specifically gets this very clearly shown through his knack for being out first.

in a way I almost see the ecosystem and its effect on Jimmy (and Jimmy's performance) as an alternative school of thought to the canary curse. Both are concepts that explore Jimmy's "badness" being something forced upon him rather than something innate or entirely his failings as a player/person. Except while the canary curse ascribes the blame to nebulous concepts like The Watchers, the ecosystem puts the blame squarely on the people surrounding Jimmy who work at keeping him down. (<-- not that people can't like both ofc)

I used the term "ecosystem" because 1. it sounded funny and 2. it was what I felt like was the most fitting term, since the ecosystem especially when applied to the life series isn't so much people poking jimmy for fun but rather that and using it directly to their advantage to life themselves up. If Jimmy isn't out first, someone else will be, it might even be you, and you wouldn't want that so it is genuinely incentivized for you to keep Jimmy down as much as possible. This part has always been a bit heavy on the headcanon territory since historically the worse performing players are the ones much kinder to Jimmy, but it's definitely something to look at case-by-case.

Outside of literally his performance in the life series, I and others have also used The Ecosystem quite a lot to refer to Jimmy's relationships, mostly those with other men. Since Jimmy loves to do flirty bits, it spawns a lot of romantic plotlines, and when conjoined with the aforementioned inescapable bullying bit it gets... Weird, when you write about the characters.

With the exception of Tango, all of Jimmy's popular ship partners frequently hit, berate, mock and humiliate him, but all in their own special and unique ways. But one thing that tends to stay the same is that their relationships are nearly always more built on what the partner desires to get out of Jimmy.

I could go on but essentially: the ecosystem acts to me as an exploration of the intersection of skill at the game and worth as a person, as well as the themes of masculinity and gayness that I've found tend to pop up again and again in Jimmy's story. If you choose to read it as a story, of course.

Those initiated into the Ecosystem (Joel, Scott, Martyn, Grian, Fwhip, Sausage) have an understanding that Jimmy plays a certain lowest rung role in their social order and work to maintain that order for their own benefit (NUANCE button may be pressed here especially re: those first three). Those outside of the Ecosystem view it as a natural order they shouldn't disturb, sometimes even catching onto certain beliefs, e.g. "Jimmy is worse than everyone else" and internalizing them (Etho is a good example with how he was more or less Jimmy-neutral at the start of the life series and by the time SL/WL was happening he very casually says stuff like "oh, it's just Jimmy,"), few are completely oblivious to it and the fact that bullying Jimmy is what they Should Do socially but still will join in when prompted (Tango and Scar are very good examples).

If you've noticed that I've only listed male players, that is very much on purpose since even though there are women very much aware and participating in the ecosystem -- lizzie being the biggest example -- their involvement is, at least to me, noticeably a different flavour compared to the guys. Which I suppose makes enough sense with how much of it feels like a pseudoscientific wolf pack macho dynamic (and it probably doesn't help that they are entirely immune to the gay bits). Women in the Jimmy ecosystem is probably an entire post on its own, Lizzie alone could probably get quite a few paragraphs out of me.

anyway. very funny also to me to imagine jimmy as some sort of amoeba.

[mycatishandsome]

How I Shift: a step-by-step

So to start, I want to remind ya'll that what works for me, can and wil work for you, if you assume it will.

For context, I like to believe that the multiverse theory is true, but like mixing it in with the LOA (3D/4D/etc.) theory. I could sit here all day and talk and talk about those theories, but that's not what this post is about. If you scroll on my blog, you'll find plenty of posts that can do it better than I.

SO, where do we begin?

1.) As an obvious start, it's good to pick where it is you'd like to shift/ what you'd like to shift into this "reality". It's not super necessary, but it's great to reaffirm where it is your going/what you're bringing in.

2.) I like shifting at night (like most others), so before a shift, something I'll do is carve out a bit of time to go through my Pinterest boards. This is a great way to visualize what you want (what you technically already have) This is also great for my non-visualizers (or just those who have trouble doing it on the spot). it's a great way to reaffirm.

3.) Then depending on my DR, I'll choose an ambiance sound that is related (for example: star wars-space/ship sounds, harry potter-train sounds, pirates??? ships creaking/wind)(also sounds can be super broad, like rain/thunderstorm sounds) personally, I feel like ambience is crazy helpful for me (as I assume it is).

-The way I see it, and how I use it: The sounds I'm hearing ambiance wise, are the sounds I hear in my DR as well. They will not distract me! I have animals and loud roommates. Rather than sit there and get annoyed, i think to myself, "wow my house mates are rowdy tonight" in my DR. I apply those sounds TO my DR. This goes for the ambiance as well!

4.) At this point, I then pick how I'm going to meditate. So because I have autism, I tend to use the same two mediations because it's what I'm comfortable with (and they help me the best!) I'll tag them here :)

I start with this one: Law of Assumption meditation

Then listen to this one immediately after: Law of Assumption Meditation part 2

I listen to these one after the other using an app called musi. I set them to a timer so i don't have to stop a playlist or anything, just set it and go!

5.) I sometimes strait up fall asleep and shift, and sometimes i shift during these meditations. It often depends on how my mind set is, as sometimes I've had a tough day, or i just can't stop thinking about the exam i have tomorrow. Generally when I feel like this, I listen to another meditation before these other two. I don't have a specific one to link, i usually just look up 10 minute meditations. These will usually help me to relax and empty my mind.

Notice how none of these are shifting meditations. if you think it will work for you, then it will! I've always found that even when i was in the right mindset, shifting meditations were very.....not what shifting is. I always felt like they played against what i was trying to achieve. I'm sure there are some that are great and incredibly helpful!! I personally just haven't found that one yet. Shifting is generally simple, and to the point, there's no need to use complicated steps. (ONCE AGAIN, UNLESS you find they work for you! in your reality they may work just fine!)

I hope this helps, or at the very least gives some of ya'll some ideas on what to try!

Happy shifting!

[churrorat-art]

Mouthwashing headcanons post I've been chipping away at for a while

Not really specifically on the ship, some would be like, modern au, but some definitely only apply to in game/ board the tulpar

!Tw for sh mentions in Jimmy's section!!

Anya

- loves disco music! The only music she plays and everyone on the tulpar eventually gets sick of disco /kinda reference to smth if u get it u get a gold star

-Is a lesibian lebisain lesabian lesbian aroace she/they

- has a specific pen she always writes with, gets very annoyed if its lost or she has to use a different pen

- enjoys crocheting and has made a few sweaters n quilts. Finds it very relaxing

- erm. Glasses wearer. One time she shattered her glasses and felt super bad about it. She also wears contacts occasionally

- BOOKWORM. gets so invested in the plots and could yapp abt books for hours. Murder mystery/ just mystery in general are her favourites. She tells curly all abt the books she reads alot. more less daisuke cuz he jokes around alot and isn't much of a book fan.

- such a sore loser. Says she loves board games!! Then she loses and what the shit! Once curly beat her in scrabble (like HOW?!) And she ignored him for a month after. Curly like "anya pls...I'm sorry I thought you'd be over this..."

- cant swim, hates swimming

- loves crocks! Has a pink pair of crocks daisuke got her that she wears all the time

- has broken multiple clipboards

- favorite board game is scrabble and shes Really good at it

- loves salad so much. Totally DEVOURS a good salad

- shes such coffee addict. I don't drink coffee but I think she likes it dark

- watches those medical type shows like house and greys anatomy

- is a cat person but never owned a cat b4

- could fall asleep standing up .

Daisuke ( @k9mackenzie wanted my daisuk headcanons)

-looves board games.

- highest subway surfers highscore

- chronic nail biter

- interrupts awkward silence by saying "meow" out loud. Probably makes it more awkward but he finds it hilarious

- loves to draw, often draws stuff for others as an act of friendship. Once Jimmy said his art looks like shit and he bit him.

- has a fursona

- very emotional. But bad at crying, just sadly stares at the wall whimpering

- hatesss getting yelled at

- he audhd

- pansexual he/she/they

- pokemon fan!! Brought a DS on the ship with him 2 play pokemon yellow and loved showing anyone who'd listen about the pokemon he caught

- Really high spice tolerance, but cannot stand sour stuff. Once anya gave him a sour warhead and told him it was just a regular candy. He spat it out and had a seizure(not really). He felt SO betrayed. But he can eat like a deathly spicy pepper with a straight face

- he has braces and HATES IT. eats popcorn anyways!!

- chews on his knuckles when stressed or bored much like nail biting

Curly

- super messy sleeper (when he does sleep) half off the bed, pillow on opposite side of bed and blanket in another universe type stuff

- he snores like TRUCk bruh

- loves jigsaw puzzles, very good at them. Him and anya like 2 do them together

- wins EVERY staring contest. They're so dazzled by his beautiful blue eyes teehee

- he IS Scottish. U cannot change my mind no matter how hard you try.

- doesn't like coffee but loves tea

- bisexual asexual he/him

- very good at baking

- he spaces out so muchh. Edit; no what I was talking about was dissociation. He just dissociates a lot. He knows this too and hes so ashamed and so mad at himself when it happens.

- HATESSSS disco music. But doesn't wanna tell anya cuz he doesn't want to make her sad by being a hater

- loves physical affection, doesn't show it much tho

- he has BEAUTIFUL hair .its so curly and fluffy and soft and no one could believe its natural

-takes pride in his hair and hes so irritable whenever he has a bad hair day

- daisuke asked him what hair products he uses LOL

- curly is transmasc

- nobody really knows hes trans though he just doesn't really tell anyone. One time though, daisuke's nosey ahh self came up and asked him "hey are you trans??" And he told him

- hes too scared to tell his best friend Jimmy tho

- SO oblivious .

- played hockey in high school. Was good at it too.

- has a little tooth gap mostly courtesy of jimmy. Jimmy absolutely punched his face. Actually maybe he threw a brick at him idk

- noticed daisuke sneaking the sweeteners. He left a few out on the counter for him with a sticky note that read 'hey daisuke please stop stealing the sweetners :) if you wanna then just ask' but didn't say anything to his face. Daisuke was super embarrassed he got caught (he ain't slick)

- in the cryopod, he was not found. He eventually died slowly.

Swansea

- straight man. he has a wife and 2 kids

- cracks his knuckles SO EFFING LOUD!!

- says "augh my backk.." after getting up .lol

- loves eating peanuts and m&ms. Trail mix is his lifeline /silly

- dancing queen fr. Daisuke was like "no way YOU can dance lol" and then swansea totally breaks it down

- makes really good card towers

- taught daisuke to play card games so now they all play together in free time

- (used to?) walk his dog all the time, sometimes with his wife too. Gets up early (like 5am )to walk the dog

- really good at making meatloaf

- sleeps like the dead (he slept through the crash AFDBCMV)

- hes really good at bowling.

-he got that uhh southern accent ykwim

-

Jimmy

- always complains abt being cold

-sleeps with like 5 different blankets. Likes those weird furry blankets that almost look like animal fur (eww I'm retching at the thought)

- he grew up poor and is an only child (his brother killed himself)

- not sure to call this schizophrenia, but he has like hallucinations and delusions often. Voices in his head are. so. Loud.

- rather DIE than drink alcohol. Used 2 alot drink a lot tho

- used to self harm aalot with like shards of smashed bottles and anything sharp he could get his hands on. One time curly saw all the scars on his arms and asked about it but Jim said it was from a cat or smth and told him to fuck off. Curly believed him and Jimmy actually felt sad that hed thrown away his only opportunity to let someone know

- rlly dry skin

- so effing gay but would NEVER admit it. Literally dreams abt gay yaoi but says hes straight

- Doesn't know what pronouns are (he/him) once daisuke asked his pronouns and Jimmy just looked at him like "wtf is that"

- impulsive control disorder

- sleeps with socks on, sometimes even still wearing his shoes

- got 4 teeth punched out once

- wears clothes til they're falling apart at the seams

- pulled some of his hair out once and got super terrified

- hes dyslexic

- shitty ahh posture

- he has a crush on curly. But like he hardly knows it hes like no I'd never like a boy. One sided jimcurly yaaa..

- sometimes when it's just curly and him sitting silently he'll tell curly to shut tf up. And curly's like ????

- if he gets any sign hes losing in a board game he flips the table and storms away

- hes a mlp fan. Says "hey everypony"

@aznack

[aquaaquila]

My very long rant about The Owl House many will have issues reading

Felt like writing my hot takes within The Owl House and its fan base after witnessing some crazy drama all over the blogs I follow and followed:

First things first, I want to establish that there's nothing wrong with liking other ships that are non-canon or ships that are canon. We can all co-exist peacefully, but we won't if we're going to assume that shippers of other ships by default must be sexist or delusional or just the worst. There are plenty of bad apples among all the shippers here, but they're not necessarily the norm (though to be fair the norm usually enables the worst behaviors of such shippers). As a whole TOH isn't a healthy collective and could never be as this fan base is much larger than people realise (you can't have so many people invested with this show for the fan base to be supposedly chill, like Fat Chance).

Like really you can go from canon purists who will keep everything wholesome and silly but because of how starved the actual canon left them they will include a hundred different headcanons that are not in any way related to actual canon and still be upset as if the canon was threatened when you can just to agree with the headcanons alone. There's still, of course, an issue of canon purists literally rejecting everything that's in their mind is supposedly not okay because it strays away from canon in a more direct way. Then you will have Wittelore enjoyers who just love everything about Belos, Caleb, and Evelyn in various different expressions, but it can at times go to becoming lowkey colonist apologist territory along with pretty much-appropriating everything that applied to the character of color into these three when two of them canonically were never given a proper characterisation and Belos is not supposed to be just a victim that deserves grace but the very force that creates victims and the one to continue the cycle without remorse or second thoughts becoming the cycle itself, thus not making it any wrong to unceremoniously end it, though plenty of people will still have problem with it and wish the show validated Philip's feelings. However, you will also have POC defenders who will give the attention and love to characters of color they deserve and even the demon characters like King for example, and acknowledge how they're in fact the main characters while pointing out the clear white favoritism. But this can also go to an extreme territory where you will be called racist for actually finding white characters your favorite and still being interested more in their characters, which as I said is in fact incredibly extreme and disingenuous and also, something that will invalidate all the other good arguments by the virtue of this extreme being the underlying reason behind all of them and thus completely diminishing the problem because people will no longer take it seriously. Then you will have shippers of non-canon ships that are literally harassed by canon persists and were like that for years until they snapped and started to return the favor in the same way to the point of being delusional about how the canon pairings were not the original plan and how they actually suck and it's the non-canon pairing that should be canon which also further fuels the cycle and validates those who believe that somehow the shippers of other ships are after them specifically and how they mean o good when in fact they're the monsters they created themselves. This also leads to the infamous "critics" of the show who will pretty much hate anything within it to also inaccurate extreme that is based on assumptions born from the collective gaslight of some headcanons being canon, along with people judging the show on the surface and assuming things that were never the plan because they made a connection to something else they liked and got disappointed when those two things turned out to be unrelated (for example Hunter's arc being not like Zuko's arc when clearly it was never the point) and thus shushing away any potential criticism the show actually could get by the virtue of getting criticism that holds no water upon the closer look and thus makes people believe the show is, in fact, flawless or that the flaws don't matter in the slightest (when they do as they help improve future stories to not make the same mistakes and create something better). And of course, you will have people collectively gaslighting everyone around them that everything is fine and there's no drama in the show even though everyone hates each other here and fuel toxicity together by constantly drawing distinctions between "us and them" but never talking about how toxic it is.

Congratulations, we created our Emperor's Coven at home! This entire thing is pretty much the reason why I'm making this thing.

But back to the rest of the actual meat of this post, that was mere appetizer.

Second of all: Multishippers exist. Some people like both Lumity and Lunter and there are Lunter shippers who like Amity, me included as Amity's one of my favorite characters. It's disingenuous to assume Lunter shippers are by default lesphobic or just hate Amity. Heck, the reason Lunter shippers dislike Amity is less about her and more about the fan base's attitude. Imagine being constantly harassed that you don't ship mainstream ship by being specifically reminded that a specific lesbian exists, even if this isn't about her. You would be tired of her too because "good for her to be a happy lesbian", but Lumity may still not satisfy people as it's basically all fluff at this point. People are so overjoyed with them being together they hardly explore now possibilities of them going through something. At most, they will use green-haired Amity but people still will be waiting for green to turn into periwinkle, and fluff will just overwhelm anything else. And don't get me started on how both of them also end up being flanderised and dirty because of each other (as it goes both ways). People can just not vibe with that or be indifferent, but because people get harassed for daring to not love Lumity or Amity, they just end up hating it more. The issue is not Amity, the issue is Amity being the only option allowed. And gatekeeping people from enjoying other ships isn't ok. It really makes you feel like people erase aspects of their characters just to conform to a specific image of them and how can you accept something like this when the show is all about embracing weirdness and differences and not conforming to anything. Loving Lumity is a norm in this fan base, not a break with convention.

Third of all: I'm sorry to y'all but I think that considering Evelyn and Willow as literal parallels because they both fell in love with "Caleb" is disingenuous to both of them. No one would draw this connection if Willow wasn't romantically involved with Hunter. And while I don't disagree that Huntlow is goated and canon/semi-canon, their relationship is still left to interpretation and they are only implied to have a thing but not confirmed to be downright an item. We don't know 100% if they're dating, playing the long game, engaged, or amicably broken up. And that's great as both of their characters work in their own right and they don't need an established relationship to be fulfilled and people can interpret their relationship however they like, no need to throw pitchforks at one another. And Willow being dressed up AS A STEREOTYPE just doesn't help the case of her somehow being Evelyn's foil. Luz was dressed as an actual witch character (even if said witch is also not how real witches operate either, but it's still closer in meaning than Willow being dressed up as a devil as if Evelyn indeed charmed Caleb and he didn't fall in love with her like a normal person or that Evelyn was ever in the wrong to like a boy).

And as for Evelyn: please stop just summarising her up to Caleb's love interest for Titan's sake. We may not know much about her but we know that they did start as friends according to Dana's livestream and later on they would become parents to their child (if Belos didn't ruin it). Not only it's different from Huntlow as Huntlow didn't establish where they stand in their relationship at the end while it's clear that Evelyn and Caleb fucked, but Evelyn and Caleb had their love story that did take time (Huntlow at most is just getting started but for all, we know they could still break up in the future cause why not, it's their choice, first love isn't necessarily the only option). My point is that Evelyn's life didn't revolve around her love for Caleb alone so saying Willow and Evelyn are parallels because of them being lovers of our favorite white boys pretty much erases both of their characters. Evelyn's worth as a character doesn't end on getting pregnant, but also being a catalyst of all the events within the story, along with being a Clawthorne ancestor and original wild witch living between worlds.

Fifth point: this is where I bring Luz into this as the parallel, the infamous "Luz is Evelyn" everyone just loves to discard because it's only used as Lunter's argument and further making Evelyn only Caleb's bitch and nothing else, but here's a thing: you can use this parallel platonically to further spite Philip. People draw the connection because aside from having no romantic feelings towards "Caleb" (which is the only distinction between the two), Luz is also a wild witch (wild as in both wild personality-wise, wild as in everything Belos stands against (and side note: Willow being someone Belos wouldn't approve of is not a high bar because Belos would literally not approve of ANYBODY within our cast, so Willow's not special in this regard, heck Belos doesn't even know Willow all that much), wild as in using the very magic that came from the titan and wild as in a wild card that changed the course of history) that traveled between realms and came from another world (let's be real, Hunter is a witch from boiling isles, not a human from the earth, so Luz by a longshot matches the description better than Willow who's just a regular witch born in the demon realm to Hunter that frankly wouldn't be hurt or restrained by the coven system as she only uses plant magic from her bile sac and didn't go against the empire until season 1 finale and even then she didn't do it as a wild witch but child witch railing witches belonging to the coven to release Eda). Both of them also have loose association with Clawthornes as Luz isn't legally one but just a surrogate daughter of one and Evelyn's surname isn't known, the clan could've been established much later down the line or Evelyn's descendant married into Clawthorne's family, making Evelyn just an ancestor at best and distant at worst. I also already mentioned how both of them are catalysts to both the rise in power and the death of Philip while having massive guilt over it (Philip died on the inside as he killed Caleb, crossing the moral event horizon along with setting on the journey of destroying the entire realm. Plus I cannot imagine the survivor's guilt Evelyn must have felt over Caleb dying and orphaning their unborn child - which parallels Luz thinking she doomed her palisman by carving into an egg thinking it could never hatch because of how "she keeps on messing up constantly"). And of course, it's clear as day that Luz kickstarts Hunter's redemption arc by introducing Flapjack (and Evelyn did the same with Caleb, meanwhile Willow's only interaction with Flapjack is her giving him flowers on his grave; and it's worth noting as I doubt that Evelyn intentionally 'fixed" Caleb, much like Luz didn't intentionally "fixed" Hunter, though people sure love to think otherwise), making him question what he knows (a witch hunter falling in love with a witch - existential crisis is warranted, along with tones of guilt) and making him "betray" Belos (Hunter disobeyed Belos in HP and then questioned him directly in HM; Caleb "left Philip behind"). Like I'm sorry but Willow did nothing but wait till Hunter gets his shit together by himself (the only thing she actively tried to change his mind about is not judging a book by its cover but that's where it ends; she didn't call him out on doing the utterly terrible thing of kidnapping them to his cult nor anything else he did that wasn't morally correct) while Luz openly defied him and his worldview for him to come to his senses ("You're really going to take all those Palismen? I know what he does with them. I thought you were a good guy, but that was just wishful thinking" Hunter then proceeds to protect Luz from Kikimora, reveals his name, and lets Luz go with the Palismen just like that). Trivia: Evelyn also has brunette hair that is wild and tied back, Luz used to have them too early on but shorter, and currently they're curly.

That's where parallel comes from. That's what Evelyn us to Caleb: catalyst of change. Yes, Luz isn't in love with Hunter, but we could headcanon away that Caleb would be merely an uncle of Evelyn's kid, who's going to stop us from doing that? We can even make it that Philip felt replaced by Evelyn by her being Caleb's "new sibling" just for the fun of interpretation of the character.

But even if we won't do that (as no one forces us) then we must remember that parallel characters are not 2 characters being one and the same. Evelyn and Luz would still be separate entities and there's no crime in that. Luz not falling in love with a blond white boy is fine because that isn't and shouldn't be Evelyn's defining trait. Evelyn's defining trait is kickstarting change in Caleb which kickstarts Belos's vendetta against Witches. Romance was a bonus.

My sixth point: Last but not least let's finally talk about the elephant in the room that is parallel between Philip and Luz. All interpretations are valid, if you're choosing to interpret them like that, it's your valid choice and opinion. But saying that it's THE thing that happened within the show is just not correct and let me explain why before you discard me altogether if you haven't already.

Luz projected into Belos and Belos took advantage of that.

There, I said it, that's the ultimate truth of the show, you literally cannot deny this isn't how it happened.

Luz pretty much only had Philip as a point of reference to someone who shared her experience of a human in the demon realm. However, if she got to know Caleb instead of Philip, he would be the one Luz would compare herself to him. Ironically, she would be more correct as both of them are humans who run away to the demon realm after being possibly rejected by the closed-minded society and leaving behind unpleasant reality and their only living family member who they didn't realize how much they've hurt for choosing to leave them for the world that made them happy and helped them flourish (compare starved Caleb in Belos's vision to Caleb living in the demon realm and introducing Philip to Evelyn before he decided to kill them,). You could even say that Luz is a fusion of both Caleb and Evelyn at once. But unfortunately, Luz doesn't know Caleb as well as the audience does, all she knows is that he used to be a witch hunter who fell in love with Evelyn but that's about it. She doesn't know that he even has a connection to the portal door or Clawthorne ancestry.

So with no one else as a point of reference, Luz is going to compare herself to Philip Whattabitch. She assumed that she must be as bad as Belos because she thought he sincerely thought he was doing everything for a genuine reason and not because he was just a douchebag. Sure Philips's motivations are complex, but they don't come from a good place in the slightest. The Titan himself literally asks Luz if she's drunk on Eda's apple blood for thinking she's just as bad as Belos.

Like seriously, Luz stumbled on the Isles by pure accident. It was never for a reason or a higher purpose. She was never "destined" to go there, but it was her actions and decisions that led her there and changed the world around her. She didn't know the reason why she landed on Boiling Isles because there never was any reason or a prophecy to justify her presence there as it was never needed. This is not the same as Belos who willingly went to the demon realm to both find his brother and destroy all the witches. Luz very quickly grew out of "I'm the chosen one" whereas Belos made himself a false messiah. Even the Titan said that she's not chosen to be given Titan powers by fate but for her actions and kindness she's given them to support her and it was her decision to accept them. Not to mention that she respected the Isles, the inhabitants, and the magic that was part of this world, while all Belos ever did was destroy, murder, and steal it all for himself.

The show doesn't tell you Luz and Belos are foils, the show tells you that Luz VIEWS herself as Belos's foil, but she's nothing like him. Even their respective hero complexes are different. Luz seeks self-improvement to find a community for herself to belong to. But Belos? Belos wants to get praise and glory for slaughtering "the evil". Those two are not the same because Belos doesn't care about anyone but himself while Luz is all about what other people feel and think about her and she sacrifices herself multiple times for other people's sake. Belos would never do that. Belos wasn't even happy that Caleb was actually well and healthy in the demon realm, in contrast to the vision where Caleb is starved and sleep-deprived because he had to look after him ever since they were little orphans, sacrificing his own well-being. But Luz would rather give up her own hopes and dreams just to not see anyone she cares about ever put themselves on the line like that.

At most, I can agree that Luz represents what's best in humanity and Belos represents the worst, but that is still an incredibly broad concept that just doesn't contribute much to the actual story of TOH which isn't about humanity as a whole. And I'm sorry but this parallel is just used to woobify Belos and villanise Luz, something that certainly is not right. Because even if you made Belos a hero and Luz a villain, they'd still be nothing like one another.

Even Luz's dynamic with Hunter is nothing like Caleb and Philip. Caleb and Philip grew up together and they were the entire world to one another growing up. But Luz and Hunter didn't even have each other when growing up, they didn't get to know them until their teens, and the first time they meet they were at each other's throats which is different from Wittebane brothers having a loving relationship early on only for Belos to stab Caleb. Arguably, even if liked the idea of Luz and Hunter being siblings, I'd be disappointed with how much the show didn't do anything with them and it's always the fan base that pulls heavy weight on them being sibling-like. Like Hunting Palismen is them not even being friends let alone family and it's still supposed to be the pinnacle of their sibling rivalry, even though they were actual enemies and Luz is just as petty and immature here as she is with Kikimora? Luz supposedly didn't go after Hunter after he ran away from the Owl House whereas she did chase King when he learned the truth in Echoes of the Past? Supposedly we never had an on-screen scene where Hunter officially becomes a Noceda? I'm sorry but I will take a "You're family" from Afro-Latina as not confirmation that I'm a sibling but a friend who is close enough to be as valued as a family member, especially followed by Willow's "You're one of us now" and preceded with Camila's "I'm a mother of six". Are Hunter and Willow siblings too now? Hunter didn't even get to be in a photo of the Noceda family in the epilogue, what kind of brother would that be?

Camila is more of a Caleb to Luz considering it was her who raised Luz through trials and tribulations, sacrificing her own quirks and encouraging Luz to do the same just to conform to the norms of Gravesfield. But quite frankly it's Luz who ultimately runs away because of a certain Clawthorne Witch leaving Camila behind. Hunter literally has no such story with Luz, unless you count him running away in HM, only to return to COTH a week later and then finally live under Nocedas' roof.

Even when Luz didn't like Hunter's guts, she would never kill him. And despite being dressed up as Belos in the nightmare sequence, there's never a parallel between Philip and Caleb, because truly this isn't their relationship. And while we're at it, the whole nightmare sequence is once again a play on Luz's insecurities and doubts, but none of them are the truth. None of Luz's friends blame her for what happened, none of Belos's crimes are her crimes, and Luz would never willingly destroy the Boiling Isles because she doesn't destroy the things or people she hates. Even Belos was not finished off by Luz but by boiling rain and her family.

Ok, I finished venting about everything that's been going on inside my head. Might add more on the way, but those were the issues that were bugging me so now do whatever you want with it.

[icryink]

Hi! Do you have written explanations for the Cringetober themes? I understand you already have made a video where you explain the themes but because English is not my first language it's sometimes hard to understand everything from just speech.

I didn’t until 2 minutes ago, but here they are!

screenshot redraw - something easy we have screenshot redraw, this can be from a TV show or cartoon or movie or whatever. you can replace the characters or just redo it in your own style

tsundere - a tsundere is the trope where a character, usually a girl, pretends to find their love interest annoying out of embarrassment for their crush

oversized prop - pretty straight forward. love a good disproportional hammer

fursona / fursuit - first bit of encouragement to explore outside 2D illustration. i know full suits are expensive, so let this be your sign to make or design a partial yourself out of whatever you have lying around; cardboard, fabric and wire, even paper. of course, you can stick to drawing your fursona

gjinka - it's a humanization of anything, whether that be a pokemon or other monster character, an animal, a concept or emotion like inside out, an object or even something like an app

unnatural eye color - fairly straightforward, character with weird eyes

crossover - characters from different media interacting with one another

dead meme - perfect opportunity for people like me who see a meme or trend going around and then, by the time they get around to it, its well run its course

childhood videogame - this can be any game you played when you were younger, but i was specifically thinking of stuff like pokemon, sonic, mario, minecraft, five nights at freddy's, or undertale

ship dynamics - a relationship dynamic or overused cliche

5+1 things - fairly common trope in fanfiction, it refers to a character or characters experiencing 5 similar events that all go roughly the same way, as well as another similar event that this time ends up pretty different. it can be happy or sad, and of course you can stick to a comic or illustration, but fanfiction or creative writing in general is often looked down upon, so i think y’all should at least try to write something

hatsune miku / vocaloid - any vocaloid, doesn’t have to be part of the main vocaloid suite. people make cool interpretations of hatsune miku’s design specifically, but you can do any character you’d like

rule 63 - for every male character, there exists a female counterpart, and for every female character, there exists a male counterpart. basically, genderbends

incorrect quote - you can depict a character (original or not) saying any kind of iconic quote that you think suits them

animation meme - most classic animation memes are actually really simple with somewhat jerky movements, which is ideal for those just starting animation. if you've always wanted to animate but the concept seemed too daunting, here's the opportunity for you! of course, you can just reference popular animation memes with a still image if you’d prefer

something you've been bullied for - there are a lot of things that are considered cringe that a person can't change about themselves, even if they want or try to. i didn't want to single out any specific insecurities, so i left it broad enough for it to apply to everyone. it's kind of like a free space to celebrate anything about yourself that you've felt ashamed of

f2u base - f2u stands for 'free to use', basically an empty sketch you can use to draw whatever characters you want. this can be interpreted as either making or using a free base, so do whichever one you'd prefer. if you're using a base, just remember to credit the original artist if you post it

Fandom AU - good simple fun. draw characters you like from a piece of media you like in any alternate universe you like

alternative fashion - your opportunity to experiment with a fashion style you've always thought was cool but were too nervous to try. alternatively, (haha) draw a character in alt fashion

tumblr sexywoman - a female character that is, for whatever reason, incredibly popular and found attractive

closet cosplay - build a cosplay using only things you already have in your closet! I wanted to encourage people to get into cosplay since it’s such a fun hobby

candygore - gory drawings that involve pastel colors and sometimes literal candy iconography

adult cartoons - cartoons intended for older audiences, ex. Hazbin Hotel, Smiling Friends, Amazing Digital Circus

niche interest - another free space that lets you make something relating to a pretty unpopular or not very well known thing that you really like

gacha life (I spelled it wrong on the list) - it’s a website where you can design characters and move them around and make up stories. it was super influential for a lot of artists

Y/N or Mary Sue - could be a male Mary Sue too. A very overpowered, perfect character. Alternatively, you can interpret this as literally “your name” and insert yourself into whatever media you want

YouTuber fanart - do some fanart for a YouTube channel you enjoy, whether that be for an art channel, a commentary or video game youtuber, or sketch comedy

mascot horror - anything relating to horror that involves cute marketable characters. FNAF, poppy playtime, Amanda the adventurer are all some examples

experimental makeup - trying out a makeup style that you haven’t done before. of course, if you aren’t comfortable wearing makeup, you can totally draw a character experimenting with their own makeup style

supernatural or monster character - demon, vampire, werewolf, fairy, or any monster type character you can think of

HALLOWEEN - anything spooky to celebrate Halloween!!

While I hope this compilation was useful, please remember that all the prompts are completely up to interpretation. There are no rules to Cringetober! Just do whatever you want and have fun :)

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 5 Pt. 2

I want to talk about Knives for a sec. Up to where I've read in the manga so far, we really don't have much of an understanding of him yet. I think I may have a slight advantage in having watched one of the shows before starting (I've watched Tristamp) because otherwise I don't know if I would quite get what to make of him so far.

I won't say anything about Tristamp here since I'm not going to assume everyone in book club has seen it, but I did draw a conclusion from it that, after reading volume 5, I am almost positive applies to the manga version of Knives too.

Knives treats Vash as if he were an extension of himself.

[ID: A panel from Trigun Maximum volume 5. Knives stands casually, holding a cup and smiling as he greets his brother in Vash and Hoppered's shared flashback to July. Hoppered thinks "It's him..." as Knives says "Hey Vash." End ID.]

Ok so first off I need to establish something because it's important. Listen. I have no doubt that Knives loves his brother. I do not doubt that. But his behaviour towards Vash is actively and deeply cruel. Knives is friendly up until Vash disagrees with him, and then his mood suddenly changes for the worse - he has gone so far as to specifically target people Vash loves just to break the ideology he disagrees with, shifted culpability from himself to solely on Vash several times, violated his autonomy, and has on a few occasions physically restrained him. <- That's. Really bad. I would argue that these behaviours are in keeping with uh... pretty textbook manipulative/abusive behaviours.

However, here’s the thing: these kinds of behaviours are typically perpetrated because the person wants power over the victim. I think it's easy to read that into it, but I honestly don't think that's Knives' intention at all. He wants Vash with him. If anything his little "Watch it!" when Vash shoves him away just after the colony ships fall reads as genuine confusion. He's incredulous every time Vash points his gun at him. After all, as Knives puts it: they're brothers. They only have each other.

If Knives wants power over anything, I'd argue it's power over Rem, not Vash. He sees Vash's suffering and believes it was her who "made him like this", disregarding his own accountability in both Vash's continued pain... and her death. I do have to wonder if his attempts to break Vash's pacifism is also an attempt to make Rem's ghost leave them both for good, because there is no way Millions "I thought I'd spare her but now I see she was just as flawed" Knives felt no sadness or remorse over her death.

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Volume 2. Knives sits in the escape ship with most of his face shadowed. He is hunched slightly, with a difficult to read, rather blank expression. End ID.]

^He is totally not bothered by this, definitely a-ok with her death. /j

But here's the thing: I really do think Knives believes that without Rem's influence, his brother will think and act exactly like him; that she has "corrupted" him somehow. This plays out in the way he's almost eager to show Vash their Plant abilities, apparently completely ignoring that Vash is confused and terrified - there's a serious dissonance to their interactions, where Knives seems less uncaring then oblivious to Vash's obvious distress. A good first indicator is directly before Fifth Moon, where Knives realizes that Vash has blocked out the memory of July, and is more intrigued than alarmed by this. Idk man if that was my brother I would be. Concerned.

See, if you read Knives as wanting power over Vash, then it's kind of reminiscent of the older sibling who thinks they know what's best for the younger. Indeed, that is the role Knives seems to take on at times.

But Knives is not actually older. They're twins.

Zazie also has an intriguing line after seeing the lengths Vash will go to in order to protect those he cares for: "It definitely isn't in Knives' nature to fight for anyone." <- This is an odd conclusion to come to for someone who is supposedly doing everything for a new world that's safe for all Plants, including Vash. I'm choosing to take Zazie at their word since I don't think they would have any real reason to lie or really see the point in lying.

So, what this implies is exactly what I stated earlier - Knives makes little, if any distinction between him and Vash. The world is divided into "same" and "different", "family" and "threat". It unfortunately allows Knives to continuously undermine Vash's autonomy - it's fine to forcibly activate Vash's angel arm because it's "our" power. It's fine for the doctor to poke and prod at Vash's arm to get readings because Knives is supervising it. Vash will stick with him because they're brothers, right? Of course he will. And if he doesn't... well that can't possibly be Vash. It's Rem's corrupting influence. And that makes him violently angry as he attempts to destroy any last trace of her that persists in his brother. Because surely, without her, Vash would be just like him, right?

One last note I'd like to make is the way Knives keeps obscuring Vash's face when he forcibly activates Vash's angel arm.

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun and Trigun Maximum. The first image shows Knives grabbing Vash's face as he forces him to activate his angel arm during the Fifth Moon incident. The second image is of the same during the July flashback. End ID.]

The thing is, you can't argue this is necessary to activate the ability. In the July flashback, Knives actually has his hand placed rather gently on the side of Vash's head... up until Vash tries to resist. That's when Knives slams his hand down over his face instead and shoves him onto the floor.

In the context of Knives seeing Vash as an extension of himself, it could take on a few different meanings. If he muffles Vash's screaming and crying, perhaps he doesn't have to see the clear distress on his brother's face. Maybe it's representative of stripping Vash of his personal choice in these scenes. Maybe because this is the truth of the matter - Knives does not want to see the person Vash is if that person is so wildly different from himself, to ruin the illusion of twin as extension instead of a separate person.

Meanwhile, Vash is trying so hard to be everything Knives isn't. Knives' face is shadowed in flashbacks to create distance between them until July reveals the destruction they both caused and Vash can no longer deny the harm he too is capable of causing. The twins cause me emotional damage man.

[matan4il]

"Breaking your faith in humanity "... Truer words never spoken. There is knowing the true horror that was done to innocent civilians and being horrified by it. But then there is the ultimate sadness in how some people act now. How are people criticizing Paltrow for speaking the truth. Rape is not resistance!!!

Even on a mundane level, I can say as I first found you because of Buddie, I almost have no joy for it coming back. I'm almost grateful there were no shows this fall because it would have felt icky for me. But it still does even now. It feels vapid to find joy in something knowing how people suffered and are still suffering. I, of course, don't judge others who find solace in it. I will watch it and hope. I just find it hard to go back to a normal thing like shipping a fictional couple.

As always, I hope you're staying safe and sane. I hope you feel ok and maybe have the house situation figured out . xoxoxo

Hi darling!

I hope you're well. *hugs*

It's insane to me that the sentence, "Rape is not resistance" is something that actually needs saying. People who are truly against rape, are always against rape. They don't need convincing not to make Jews an exception. I have NEVER heard in any other context people saying, "Well, I'm against rape as an idea, but this specific case is okay."

If you're okay with some rapes, you've never truly been anti-rape.

But the fact that so many of those who say it, who supposedly justify it as anti-colonialist, are actually colonizers living on colonized land, is even more deranged, because it means either they're saying they're okay with they themselves, their families and fellow colonizer friends and colleagues being raped as well (I doubt that's what they mean), or they're applying this "notion" of rape being resistance in a discriminatory way, where rape is resistance so long as it's done to Jews living in the Jewish ancestral homeland. Which is not anti-colonialist at all, IS hypocritical and IS antisemitic. HOW can they take this stance, and not see how harmful to Jews it is? They're being pro-rape and anti-Jewish, while claiming they're motivated by empathy and concern for human rights!?

I'm so happy you found me thanks to my Buddie content, and I endlessly appreciate what an incredible, real ally to Jews you are. I'm generally very grateful for every 911 fan, who actually implements the show's notions of compassion, which include listening to marginalized groups about their own experiences (and Hamas' massacre, the motivation behind the war, the pain over the loss of so many Israelis and Jews by a nation which has survived a genocide, and still carries an inter-generational trauma because of it, the sense of betrayal over the rise in antisemitic incident on Oct 7 already, while the terrorists were still inside Israel, butchering, raping, beheading and burning people, these are OUR experiences. Ignoring us when we talk about them or telling us we're only motivated by bloodlust, an antisemitic trope, when we explain that we're much more concerned about liberating our hostages and preventing another massacre, that's speaking over us. Arguing with us on what is and isn't antisemitic, that's speaking over us, rather than listening to us. It's antisemitic in itself, and it's not something that's done to ANY other marginalized group).

I can't believe we're at the point where Jews have to beg people to just listen to us, listen as if we're human beings, and not caricatures of vampiric villains (again, a classic antisemitic trope), cruelly interested solely in destruction and death. But in response so many people just look at us, knowing there's a rise in antisemitism, and still go... "No."

When people in every fandom go around, not just blocking Jews and Jewish allies who believe a Jewish state has the right to exist in the Jewish ancestral land, but they're also telling others to block us, to silence our voices, to act like there is no pain and there are no victims on the Israeli and Jewish side of this conflict, it is hard to be enthusiastic about any fandom.

At the same time, I KNOW I'm living through a major trauma, the worst Jews have experienced since the end of the Holocaust. I've seen my maternal grandmother never really recover from the trauma she went through in the Holocaust. I've never seen her laugh without a touch of sadness and pain being there, she never went through one celebration without slipping aside for at least one moment and crying. After my paternal grandmother died, I discovered that her sister never had kids because of the Holocaust, and actually ended up taking her own life (up until our grandmother's passing, my sis and I were told she died of cancer). So I know how persistent trauma is. I know that the Holocaust did not end in May 1945, and I know that Oct 7 didn't end when Israel was freed of the 3,500 terrorists who invaded it that day. Oct 7 probably won't end even when the current war does. That's why I recognize how important it is to hold on to every bit of normalcy I can, to not let the trauma take over. And that's what fandom is in a sense. A semblance of normalcy.

Except fandom isn't normal anymore, not after I've seen incomprehensible amounts of hate and hypocrisy, including from people I trusted and liked, and thought liked me. My belief in the kindness of people (especially when it's people who love a show that is all about celebrating kindness) has been shaken to the core.

Which is why I currently honestly don't know what I'll do once s7 premieres. I'll watch it, obviously. And I am excited about some stuff I've seen. But will I write and gif? I don't know the answer yet. It's not a certain yes, it's not a certain no. I guess I'll see how I feel at every given moment. I'm not putting any pressure on myself one way or another. But I promise you that whether I post my Buddie content or not (let's be honest, if I watch 9-1-1, you better believe there will be Buddie content alive and kicking in my mind), I will never stop loving them, or thinking they're the ultimate battlefield boyfriends, and sweetest little family unit with Chris. :) And I know that if I do post, it would be an honor to be in this fandom with you, and those like you, who care about my people, and actually listen to Jewish voices (all of them, not just the few they can tokenize).

So... THANK YOU. I can't say that enough. And yes, I've moved into my new home, though it's not quite what it needs to be yet. But I'm getting there! Tiny steps still count, right? I'm sending you massive amounts of love, always! xoxox

[imogenkol]

— WIP/MUSIC MONDAY WEDNESDAY

tagged by @cassietrn thank you lovely 💕

tag list (ask to be added or removed!): @adelaidedrubman @florbelles @marivenah @simonxriley @shegetsburned @voidika @kyber-infinitygems @inafieldofdaisies @statichvm @socially-awkward-skeleton @aceghosts @carlosoliveiraa @risingsh0t @unholymilf @thedeadthree @jackiesarch @gwynbleidd @shellibisshe @loriane-elmuerto @katsigian @captastra @simplegenius042

You only feel it when it's lost // Gettin' through still has a cost // Quietly, it slips through your fingers, love // Falling from you, drop by drop // What I had left here // I just held it tight // So someone with your eyes // Might come in time // To hold me like water // Or Christ, hold me like a knife

Note: feeling very unhinged about this song for very specific reasons and I will confirm that it is a Bix/Imogen song

—

And here is a flashback I've been working on of Inquisitor Imogen!

Imogen surveyed the crowd of civilians that her troopers rounded up, pacing like a patient, yet hungry beast. The small Mid Rim moon harbored an eclectic collection of beings with humble lifestyles. Some were farmers, others were traders, tavern owners, local law enforcement that quickly withdrew their control of the community once they saw Imperial ships land. To Imogen, it was the perfect stack for a needle to hide in.

Through the Force, she felt their fear – their anticipation for what she might do. The Inquisitor took the time to meet every single face with her focused gaze, searching for a connection or even a hint of a power greater than common rabble. She lightly prodded their minds with her own abilities and caught glimpses of memories, frightening images conjured by the imagination, and the barest conceptualizations of words left unspoken so as to not provoke her. 

Nothing stood out. At least, not here. But Imogen intended to turn over every stone.  

The quiet had been her ally. It helped fear to brew within those vivid imaginations at a steady rate, which could cause even the strongest nerves to buckle once the correct amount of pressure was applied. She only broke silence when necessary.  

“I find it disturbing that not one of you has stepped forward willingly to offer us any information,” Imogen said, shaking her head with her hands behind her back like a disappointed school teacher. “You know what we seek. You know that we root out any remaining Jedi traitors for your own protection. Where is your dedication to the Empire? Your loyalty?”

The entire crowd seemed to hold its breath as Imogen stopped before them and went utterly still, her intense gaze piercing through what felt like all of them at once. The very wind seemed to cease. 

“You should know that I do not leave my assignments empty handed,” The Inquisitor continued. Her voice grew gentle, almost as if she pitied these people. Inside, her heart pounded with the rush of power she held over them. “If I cannot have loyalty, very well. I shall accept subjugation. If I cannot have subjugation…” In a very casual manner, Imogen held her hand out at her side. The hilt that rested on her hip flew off of her belt clip and into her open palm. With a screech loud enough to make some of the civilians flinch, she ignited her lightsaber and became half bathed in the crimson glow of its plasma blade. The low hum vibrated in her veins, turning her blood to fire. “Then I will settle for taking your lives. The choice is yours.”

[dearweirdme]

Regarding the 2020 discussion, I do understand what anon means and how someone could watch some of the content during that time and come to a similar conclusion. At one point, I was really considering it myself. However looking back, I don't think it can be specifically applied to Taekook.

Between the period of 2018-2020 (with a couple of outliers during late 2017 and early 2021) there were moments where Taekook appeared sometimes distant and different on screen. I remember being so confused because I'd see these moments and wonder if there was a problem but then there were also more 'hidden' and off screen moments where they seemed just as close, if not closer than ever so a lot of things weren't making sense.

And even within the same content (like Run eps for example) Taekook could seem to blow hot and cold (though we've all, I'm sure, seen clear cases of editing when it comes to pre-filmed content)

As a Taekooker, my thinking at the time was that there might have potentially been a break up but even that didn't make sense because those moments of closeness we did see contradicted any on screen distance and awkwardness. It didn't make sense how they'd be so awkward on screen because of a break up or shipping yet manage to drop that awkwardness in their private time.

Then after rewatching a lot of content at a later date and with less of a hyper focus on Taekook, I realised that Tae was, at times, coming across as a little disoriented and disconnected in general. Anon has only picked up on Taekook and Tae and Yoongi (which personally I don't see as the greatest example of what I'm talking about because unless im getting my timelines mixed up, I think they had some of their closest moments during that period) but Tae's relationships with the others also didn't seem to be running at peak either.

And I'm not alluding to anything malicious or speculating about major fallouts because we saw the guys trying to rally around him. We saw Jimin trying extra hard to make him laugh and put a smile on his face, we even saw RM ask him in a live to reach out to him more and hugging him and talking him out of negative self criticism, we saw moments of concern from members about Taehyung potentially bottling up his feelings, we had the guys so desperate that they even used an interview format to practically beg Taehyung to come to them and offload on them when he felt burdened and was suffering. We saw moments of JK being hyper alert to his moods (which is one of the things that confused me when put up against the 'not close/breakup theories)

It was clear to me even then that Taehyung was going through something seriously with his mental health though I didn't like to speculate openly at the time. However, he's recently spoken about it hinself at this point so I feel comfortable in saying that I think a lot of that awkwardness and disconnection we were picking up on was him struggling to get through his duties, emotionally numbing as people do during depression, disassociating etc.

For a long time, it seemed like only JHope and to a lesser degree, Jin, could crack that shell a little during content and I really do think it's by force of their personality alone and easy going nature. While probably even closer to Taehyung, JK is one of the most easily affected by the others moods and Jimin is a natural problem solver.

If we're hyperfocused on Taekook then we're only going to see a distance between them compared to the fun and mischief and boundless energy we used to see between them but if you look at the bigger picture, you can see Taehyung being withdrawn, reserved and having moments of disconnection in general---not just with the members but with himself and whatever he's engaging with at the time.

As a fan from very early on in the group the change in Taehyung's emotional state was jarring, concerning and pretty drastic. I also saw the impact on his interactions with the other members. Again, I'm not claiming that anyone did anything wrong or anyone was to blame because we also saw how loved he was, how hard they tried to lift him up, build his confidence back up, put a smile on his face, keep an eye on his moods etc. It's just that sometimes what you need isn't what you want when your mental health is suffering.

And he got through it because as surely as I saw the change in his mood back then, I started to see it positively shuft again by 2021 and, not coincidentally, we had people talking about how open and bubbly and energetic and engaged he seemed again, how he seemed more like 'the old Tae' (though I loathe that saying) and how he and JK had never seemed closer and how Vmin was rising again etc.

I know we rely a lot on the timeline as a counter in some of these discussions but that because whenever there's a moment where you could make a valid arguement that Taekook broke up/aren't close/are distant/fell out etc---there's something in the timeline that completely contradicts that idea.

I've been caught out and surprised myself a few times thinking I knew what was going on only to see it countered in black and white when seeing the timeline.

I've been so sure on a Tuesday that their relationship is broken only to have my eye wiped by Thursday's post that shows them being as close as can be.

So while I do understand anon, I also think some Taekookers, including myself, are more susceptible to being a little narrow minded and tunnel visioned when it comes to their relationship and that sometimes, it's best to take a step back from Taekook and look at the bigger picture overall.

Hi anon!

I absolutely agree with what you’ve said here. It’s a tough thing to talk about, because it’s such a delicate matter and we really have little knowledge about all the reasons why and the full extent of Tae’s mental health issues.

Standing by and watching a loved one struggle with depression is so hard. It’s not comparable with how the person actually suffering feels, but the feeling of powerlessness and constant worry is huge. I recognize what you have laid out here from situations in my own life.

There’s so much more to a person than the relationship they’re in. Yes, we do look at Tae and Jk’s interactions a lot, but to understand them we need to understand as much about their lives as we can. People aren’t static and the way they interact and respond to things may vary from day to day and from moment to moment even.. it just depends on so many things.. we will never be able to deduce what exactly went on.

To me Tae and Jk also make sense in the bigger picture. At times the ‘greatest love story’ comments irk me a bit, because yeah.. I think their love is of the greatest kind, but at the same time I would have wished things to have been so much more easier for them. I think Tae’s mental problems must’ve been so hard on Jk and your ‘jk being hyper alert to his moods’ definitely rings true for me.

[pink-valkyrie-writes]

Hey kore! Was wondering if you’d be willing to do something where read gets hurt protecting them? Specifically Angela and Odessa? Anyone else if you want! I’m just down bad for those two.

omg thank you for my first request! I’m so sorry i have been really busy lately but I understand being down bad for those two, trust me<3 I hope you enjoy this!

Mercy and Junker Queen with an s/o who gets hurt protecting them

Mercy

-Angela accompanied you to Rialto for a mission that included Talon

-Though she had a whole team, she always made dure that you were healed and boosted enough to keep fighting and defending her from Talon soliders

-The battle was loud and chaotic. It was sad to have such a battle in such a beautiful place like this. You remember taking Angela to Rome for your 2-year anniversary to surprise her after you and her came back from a 4-month long mission, it was hard to come back to Italy to fight a battle

-You knew she would always be watching from above and she would watch you from below. When she had to come down back to the dropship to heal your teammates, a certain sniper had her scope set for your girlfriend's chest

-You’ve noticed a red dot on her white chest plate. Immediately, you shoved her out of the way and felt a pain in your left arm

-Angela whipped her head around to see you on the ground, holding your bleeding arm. She knelt down and the soldiers around her shot around the area the bullet came from

-She was able to pick you up and take you inside the ship. Angela felt herself tearing up as you cried out in pain

-Angela and her team laid you down on a stretcher to examine your injury. Since the bullet was deep, this would have to require surgery to remove due to Widowmaker’s bullet being customized to release spikes into he muscle so it would be harder to remove

-You cried out in pain and held onto her hand when her assistant applied pressure to you arm to stop the bleeding. Your girlfriend watched you, looking like a hurt puppy on the side of the road

-she shushed you and kisses your forehead, “Mein schatz , we’ll be at base soon enough..” she said as she used some of her healing to ease the pain for now

-Angela wanted to be in the surgery room with you, she knows medicine but she also doesn’t think she has the strength to watch you be worked on. She wait in a brightly lit waiting area, bouncing her leg like crazy

-Other heros like Lena and Hana tried comforting Angela but they knew she would only feel better if she was besides you

-Once she could see you she felt relieved you were alive and well but she also felt like she failed you as a support medic and your girlfriend. She sat by you in your room all night, the nurses didn’t bother to kick the Dr.Ziegler out of patients (her partner’s) room

- When you woke up, she greeted you with a soft smile and a firm grip on your hand. You gave a weak smile back, “I missed you..” you said, voice laced with your sleep in it

-With the healing process, better believe Angela is taking care of you! She makes sure you don’t strain your arm, apply creams and take medications, but most importantly of taking it easy

-She lets you stay in her office with her during work hours instead of training so she can keep an eye on you. At home, she help put your shirts on or take them off. Yeah you can do it yourself but she doesn’t want you too. Whenever you tell her this she simply says, “You have to take it easy, doctors orders,” with a smile and a kiss pressed to your forehead

-Angela loves you and wants to take care of you always. She will feel guilt from the situation so your only job is to comfort her and let her know that you would take a bullet for her any day of the week <3

Junker Queen

-Odessa loves being queen with you! No one will ever touch you, if they try, she will fight them and make an example out of them to her people

-You and dez loved to hit up the local bars in Junker town, just because you guys are royalty, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun

-Your large girlfriend always kept and arm around you, showing everyone that you are hers and they should even try to come and approach you

-Of course with bars comes the drunken morons that basically live there. One of the drunken men decided to come over to “woo his queen” by making stupid remarks and trying to hold her free hand

-You felt a surge of confidence, see her clearly uncomfortable and trying to ignore him so she can have a good time. You told him to fuck off and to not talk to her like that

-The man’s cheery demeanor change to a serious one. He walked over to your side of the bar, asking if you wanted to fight since you wanted to “act tough”

-Odessa, for once, didn’t want to fight and tried to pull you away. Instead you decided to stand up to him and yell at him about how he shouldn’t disrespect the Junker Queen just because he was drunk

-He swung the first punch. Thank god the alcohol in your system helped you deal with you, it also gave you courage to start punching back

- Your girlfriend watched as you fought this guy with other junker’s cheering you on. Odessa was used to violence but not with you. To her, you are like a water lily flower that floats in a clear pond, not someone who fights. That’s her job.

-She pulls you aware and punches the drunk one last time. She yelled at everyone in the bar and threatened to kick them all out of her city. She picked you up, threw you over her shoulder and left the bar, slamming the door on the way out

-Back in her room, you have a bloody nose, a bruised cheekbone, and bruises everywhere. You also had some cuts due to giy you fought wearing rings. Odessa scolded you as she cleaned you up, “What were you thinking! You should’ve let ME handle it, not YOU!”

-“I can also defend you Dez! I can fight for you as you fight for me! I know you’re bigger and stronger but that won’t stop me from protecting you too!” you yelled back. She knew you were right, but she doesn’t want you to resort to violence like she does. She looks at you to be her better half. Her calmer, collected, and logical half

-“I know…I just hate seeing you hurt baby..” she mumbled, pulling you into a hug. You couldn’t help but hug her back, “Let’s go lay down, yeah?” which she agreed to. Odessa carried you to her huge bed, laying you you down next to her. Though you were still a little annoyed with her, you couldn’t help but kiss her softly, “Thank you..”

-She does have to admit, it was hot to see you beat someone up for her. She does help you ice your cheek and is careful around your bruises, to not hurt you more

-The next day she found out who you fought and kicked him out. New rule was put in place, “Don’t approach The Queen and her partner without permission”

———————————————————————————-

Thank you for reading!

Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated!! <3

[saltedsnailstudio]

Hi! I just found your page, love your work! I do a bit of lino printing and really enjoy it. I want to start printing on fabric but not sure how to transition.. What inks do I need, do I need to start using wood blocks, and how do I go about that, etc?

Any info or tips would be so appreciated :)

Hey, thanks!

Absolutely I can offer some tips for fabric printing! I also answered an ask about fabric printing a while back and there might be some info in there that you’ll find useful - https://www.tumblr.com/saltedsnailstudio/729384076745850882/how-do-you-print-your-linocuts-so-beautifully-on

So first off I would say don’t bother switching to wood for fabric printing. Linoleum does great! And, honestly, so does rubber. I don’t personally work with rubber/ez-cut style blocks often because I prefer unmounted battle ship grey lino, but it has been my experience that soft rubber blocks are easier to print onto fabric if you’re printing by hand. I recommend sticking with whatever blocks you like & are comfortable working with!

Since you asked about ink specifically: There’s a lot of different inks on the market you can use to make relief prints on fabric that’ll stand up to washing. Speedball has an ink made for fabric printing that some of my print friends swear by, but I personally despise it because I hate the texture of it and find it difficult to work with because it doesn’t have a very long open time. I use cranfield caligo safe wash relief inks for all my printing, both paper and fabric. I love the way it rolls out and it’s works really well for me because it’s oil based but it's water soluble before it dries, so it doesn't require wild solvents or anything to clean up like some other oil based inks do - just vegetable oil and a rag will do to get it off stuff. (careful using vegetable oil on the speedball beige/tan brayers, though, because it'll start to break down their material and make them go tacky if you dont adquately wash them and apply some cornstarch after!!) After the cranfield ink dries, it's no longer water soluble so it'll stay on fabric after washing. Keep in mind though that oil inks take ages to dry - I just hang my fabric prints up and leave them alone for a good two weeks, which might be overkill. When they're dry, I hit them with a hot clothes iron to help heat set them a bit before I wash them in cold water. I don't know if this actually does anything or is the placebo effect, but it really feels like I get less fading with fabric prints that I've heat set. You don't have to use the same ink I do, though I love it so much that I'll prostheletize it for ages, but make sure you do use an ink that's suitable for fabric printing because theres no heartbreak worse than putting all that work in only to watch it wash away.

In my experience, you'll need more ink on your block for printing on fabric than you would if you were printing on thin printmaking papers. You still don't want to just gob it on the block in one go - apply many thin layers to build up the ink on the block rather than trying to go in with a single thick layer.

Now that ink's handled, let's talk about the most important element of fabric printing: the fabric. A lot of folks have ratios of how much natural fibers vs synthetic whatever should be in the fabric you're choosing for relief printing. I'm sure those methods work for choosing good printing fabric, but I'm at a point of having failed enough times to know by look & touch if a fabric will probably work well or not. I really suggest just trying shit out, seeing if it works. I'm lucky enough to have a creative reuse center near me, but if you don't then I suggest snagging garments with fabric you like from thrift stores and cutting them apart if you're trying to make patches. You're looking for something with a nice smooth surface and a closed weave, no gaps showing through the threads. I really like tightly woven linen-y blends, personally. I've also played around on wool felt and have found it to print beautifully. When I first started printing on fabric, I went to the fabric store and got a half yard of duck canvas because that felt sturdy and very "punk" for patches. It was a miserable failure - the weave was too chunky to get really clean prints. Play around, don't spend too much money on fabric, and know that screwing up is a part of the process.

When it comes to actual printing method, I'm limited in my scope of advice for hand printing on fabric because I'm very spoiled and have a lever press from woodzilla that makes the process a lot easier for me. I'm not sure how you burnish your paper prints, but the spoon technique won't work with fabric since it'll move too much. I like to print my paper prints with the paper on top of the block and I reverse that for my fabric prints - the block lies face down on top of the fabric. I've seen folks get great results from laying down their fabric, laying their inked block on top, and then stepping on them to get more pressure than they could get from just pressing with their hands. You need a lot of pressure to get clean fabric prints and that pressure needs to go straight down - you need to be extra careful not to let the block slip, lest it smudge the image. You could try laying a wooden board down on the block before stepping on that if the print is large enough to require it. I've also seen some really ingenious ways of creating book binding/flower pressing style wooden vices on a budget to get the even pressure needed for a print, but this feels rather labor intensive and time consuming to me. Whatever the method, be patient and apply firm downward pressure.

Screw up, rejoice, have fun. If you end up needing any help trouble shooting specific problems as you experiment on fabric, feel free to send me another ask/pics and I'll try to help sus it out!!

[mr-deblob]

Aerti Reading of No Promises to Keep

So, new FF7 theme song, new group of lyrics to analyze, debate about Who It's About. While I'm fairly certain it's about all the people who Aerith came to know and who care for her, I can't help but feel that they lyrics point towards Tifa most of all. Perhaps it's simply shipping vision, but Hollow, while generally being about Cloud's state of mind trying to handle loss, definitely feels like it centers around Cloud's relationship with Zack specifically.

I'm not gonna write an essay about those two, but I will link to a video that pretty much embodies every reason why it embodies Zakkura:

But now, let's break down No Promises to Keep with that in mind. Hopefully I don't kick any hornets' nests in the process.

Walking city streets with worn cobblestones Listening to people rushing past to rhythms all their own Life passing me by, not thinking how the years have flown Until I met you

This portion can apply to Zack, Cloud, and Tifa pretty equally. All three of them played a part in Aerith engaging more in her own life. Zack kickstarted her flower-selling business; Cloud's fall led to her leaving Sector 5 with him and deciding to help rescue Tifa; and Tifa herself became her closest confidant and friend, both of them acting like each other's childhood girl friend that neither of them had a chance to experience.

I won't say that it was fate I won't say that it was destiny But if not, what could it be that drew you towards me? Could it be chance?

Let's be real- the fact that Aerith met Tifa at all is an absolutely wild chain of events from an outside perspective. Because Zack got her to start selling flowers topside, she ran into Cloud and happened to meet him once again when his fall from above landed in a church she frequents to gather flowers from. Then, when she accompanied him out of Sector 5, Chocobo Sam's cart carrying Tifa passed by and fired Aerith up to help rescue her.

Given that the Whispers only show up when the destiny of the Planet needs to be corrected, there's definitely an implication that all of these events were fated to occur. However, given that the Remake Trilogy's themes are heavy on changing destiny and if fates are fixed, these lines could be reflective of how Aerith is trying to fight the future she saw. Thus, she doesn't want to attribute the reason she met these people important to her to something greater. Better for it all to be pure chance that she knows them, that they sought each other out instead of being herded towards one another.

Till the day that we meet again Where or when? I wish I could say But believe—know that you'll find me Promises to keep, we won't ever need

While this is very much a general sentiment of Aerith wanting to be with her friends again after her death, the last line's rather striking to me. She doesn't need a promise for them to meet again- they will, even though she has no guarantee for how it'll happen. It's meant to reassure the ones she's singing to, and when it comes to someone who relied on a promise to keep herself connected to an important person in her life, Tifa Lockhart is the first one to come to mind.

Tifa has a lot of abandonment issues, rightfully so given... *gestures at her entire history*. At this point in her life, her childhood friend group had started seeing her as a romantic prospect and severely strained her ability to be open with them. Cloud, distant as he was, felt like the only one she could connect with who wasn't openly trying to court her, the closest one to treating Tifa like Tifa instead of a Young Maiden. If he leaves, she would lose the one person her age who talks to her like a person, and there's no guarantee that they would ever see each other again once he's gone. Trace of Two Pasts says that Tifa had a "special 'like'" for him, one that she couldn't afford to lose. So she comes up with the promise, a way to cope with the loneliness, something to believe in, like how she tried crossing Mt. Nibel to find her deceased mother on the other side.

She's the type of person who would need this kind of reassurance, especially with someone she's developed a close relationship with. Rebirth is not shy in showing that Aerith and Tifa are basically inseparable. And given the *ahem* separation which occurs at the end of Rebirth, Aerith would want to try and soften the pain and despair that would come for Tifa through the grief. If she could tell Tifa when or where they'll reunite, she would, but all she can do for now is help Tifa believe that they will meet again, that this parting is temporary and she won't need to mourn forever.

If only I'd never known All the burdens I was born to bear Lived a life without a care in the world save for you… But that won't do

Remake Aerith's gotten some glimpses of what will happen in the future/has happened in the past, something that's clearly weighed on her throughout the games. She's scared of the Whispers stealing away those parts of her, warns Cloud not to fall in love with her, and tries to keep Marlene and Red XIII as out of her memories/visions as best she can. But she knows she's meant to die for the sake of the Planet

Even beyond the meta elements of it, Aerith's status as a Cetra- the last Cetra- and her connection to the Lifestream has prevented her from really feeling as just another girl. She's the centerpiece of Shinra's plan to find the Promised Land, she's watched over by the Turks, she's been trapped since her birth and has never been able to make any real choices.

Wouldn't it be nice to be ignorant of all that? To have even a year where she didn't feel the weight of the world on her shoulders and could live as a carefree girl who loves flowers? But even if she could sweep away all those worries, she would still want to know the important people in her life and all the struggle that comes from caring. Now, that's an impossible dream, a good dream. To go shopping topside with her friends, going on a beautiful date with Tifa in Costa del Sol, basking in the wonder of the Gold Saucer. It would be nice to stay in those fantasies forever, but the future's approaches, it's survival hinging on her playing her part. So she has to let them fall to the wayside.

Till the day that we meet again On our street, I want to believe In the chance that we'll share a glance Promises to keep, we won't ever need

Much the same sentiment as the first chorus, but this time focusing on Aerith's perspective. Even though she put her carefree dreams aside, she needs to hold onto the belief that there's simply a chance for them to see each other again.

Aerith and Tifa have a recurring gesture of turning towards each other to connect, eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart. That's their way to communicate with each other in a way only they get to hear and see.

Then, in the ending scenes of Rebirth, when everyone's getting up to leave the altar, Cloud and Aerith look back to wait for Tifa, with Aerith in the foreground. When Tifa shakily gets up, takes a breath and turns around, Aerith's not there for her to look into her eyes, to share a mischievous smile with, to whisper their little jokes to. Maybe Tifa can't see Aerith now, but Aerith wants to believe that they might get to share a glance with each other one more time.

Till the day that we meet again At our place, just let me believe In the chance that you'll come Take my hand and never let me go Take my hand And believe We can be Together evermore

I don't think I need to point out how often Tifa holds onto Aerith's hand or has to catch her in her arms. Granted, a number of these happen in life-threatening situations, but we're in a JRPG here- those moments are basically flirting without calling it flirting /s. Honestly, though, these ladies give so much physical affection and care for each other. It'd take forever to put down all the examples, but you could probably find some real easy just by searching up Aerti, so let's move on to the last bit of the song.

Walking city streets with worn cobblestones Struggling against the crowds and finding ourselves all alone Fate and destiny are no guarantee Still I hope someday you'll come and find me Still I know someday you'll come and find me

Once again with walking through busy streets. Though this time the two of them make it through the crowd and get to be alone. The only crowd I can think of is Tifa pulling Aerith through the Gold Saucer crowd to get closer to the front. As for the two of them being alone, off the top of my head there's the room in Kalm and the cargo hold on the cruise ship where they're softly sharing their Pre-Order Pasts with one another... seemingly only with each other for now. And once more, there's a lack of trust put in fate and destiny.

However, she hopes and then knows that she'll be found be this person. Really reminds one of a pretty vulnerable moment Aerith had in Remake does it not?

She was already found once. She trusts that she'll be found again... someday.

[felassan]

Illuminating tweet series by a former Anthem developer [source].

They mention elsewhere in the thread that Anthem was developed in 15 months. Per the tweets, before this period, it spent 5-6 years in pre-production, lacking a clear vision and with an ever-changing vision; in game development this causes a lot of working and reworking. The devs were talented and all passionate about the game, but they were building "a new IP from nothing on an engine that was meant for an FPS with half a team that had never created live service games".

They further elaborate in more tweets that:

EA had their reasons to release it early but were stupid and the devs' team "had to pay the price". EA learned a lot from the development of Anthem but whether they applied those learnings is unknown

Jason Schreier's article (How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong) was all 100% true at one point in development or other, and only scratches the surface

How did they manage to ship it in 15 months? The dev mentions working about 90 hours a week for 15 months. Many other devs on the team were also doing so and they think that others were doing 90 hours a week prior to the 15 month mark. "It wasn't sustainable and not even a position we should have been in." "I'm fine now, but not without damage. Contributed to the cost of my marriage and I needed therapy for a while after that endeavor." "It was a lot of morale hits on a personal level and a team level. Everyone had their own way of dealing with it." "There was a lot of pissed, stressed, rinse, repeat. It was a vicious cycle." "I guarantee we could have put something out in Unreal. Working in Frostbite was rough." After launch the team got death threats because of drop rates

Anthem was delayed as it had missing features, lack of polish and bugs that needed fixing. Another big problem that it faced was that it had lots of scope creep. "There were really high expectations for this game and the team felt it. We always were trying to push for cool features, etc.. So I think we could have done it if we kept our scope creep in check."

The main team was focused on getting the game out in a functional state. "We really needed another 1-2 studios to make endgame content while we were finishing up the game."

After launch it was all hands on deck to stabilize the game. Content and features that they wanted to do consequently kept getting deprioritized. A major focus they were trying to address at launch was all the server issues. "I think the shittiest part about this, besides no endgame and replay ability, was that during development, management was putting in gating mechanics to 'lengthen' the time it took to complete the story. IIRC it was removed from the final version after backlash from devs."

"It was a great team effort to get the controls how we shipped. We went through many iterations and it was super rough in the beginning. I know the team was really happy where the controls landed too. We actually took in a lot of feedback from the EA game changers."

A Twitter user asked "When you say it wasn’t ready, was that always communicated with other members of the team i.e. publishers?". The dev replied "I think it was ignored/denied from leadership. There is a story there, but I will refrain."

A transparent retrospective on Anthem/its development will likely never come to light because of both current and former devs still being under NDA

The dev has an assumption that if they didn't release Anthem, BioWare would have been dissolved. They also observe that BioWare just wasn't good at multi-project development, which is hard. Most people at BioWare didn't believe in "BioWare Magic". There was and maybe still is a lot of stress and politics surrounding Anthem from the development and publishing side (a problem not specific to Anthem). The dev mentioned that it was both an EA failure and a BioWare upper management failure. "I actually don't think it was all EA's fault. A developer and publisher is supposed to be a healthy relationship of trust and transparency. It's a 2 way street which i don't think was satisfied on either side."

Re: who made the decision to release the game in the state it was, some of them left and some remain at BioWare

On Anthem 2.0/Anthem Next, the game was really fun and was going in the right direction. The team had hit a really great milestone, when EA canned it. It was a different development team driving Anthem 2.0. The team were gutted when it was cancelled

(please note it's always best to read tweets and the like in full and in context, from the original source)

[source]

[sitp-recs]

HP Rec Fest, Day 30

Here we come with more @hprecfest! Today I’m only reccing rare pairs since I couldn’t think of any pre-canon Drarry fics 🤔 I wonder if canon divergent / canon rewrite applies?? I don’t read them often either way, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to boost lesser known fics. I think this is my favorite rec post for the fest so far - there’s something so poetic in reccing these two specific fics alongside each other since Little Compton Street verse was my first (unforgettable, devastating) contact with Prongsfoot and 5 years later here I am reading them again - this time welcoming the pain. More embarrassing emosh blabbing below!

Day 30) a pre-canon fic:

empire builders by shecrows (James/Sirius, E, 25k)

Say, James, he rehearses in his head. Remember that time we were both roaring drunk at the end of term, and you put your cock in my mouth, and I came so hard I still get tingly thinking about it? Was that just a one off, d’you think, or did you want to do it again sometime?

Prongsfoot my beloved 😭😭😭 sometimes I feel like I’ll never feel as strongly about a ship as I feel for them which sounds so crazy because I don’t even read it! or, well. after being utterly ruined by Winter of ‘79 (curiously a fic within LCS verse as mentioned below) I promised myself I wouldn’t look for this ship anymore bc the inevitable tragedy of it depressed me way too much. I locked them away in a secret space deep within my heart and only allowed myself to re-awaken those feelings this year, with the brilliant empire builders. what a fic! a few lines in and I was hooked and completely obsessed with Sirius’ unbelievably spot on voice, the peak friends to lovers dynamics, and the unbearable sexual tension mixing guilt and devotion (my favorite shippy combo btw). fuck, they are so young and so lovable, and so attuned to each other it makes me wanna cry. never before a 25k fic has felt so short, I’ve read it in a frenzy and couldn’t stop thinking about their love for days. the best word to describe my state after this fic is “tormented” which might as well be the best compliment I’ve ever given in a rec.

Play Me Like A Love Song by @writcraft (Minerva/Will, E, 67k)

Minerva McGonagall doesn’t believe in love at first sight, which is why her instant attraction to drag king Wilhelmina ("Will") Grubbly-Plank is so unexpected. War tears apart the wizarding world and as one battle ends Minerva and Will must fight once more, this time for the lives of their friends on Little Compton Street. A love story spanning five decades defined by music, laughter and tears, in which love is not always easy, but it’s always worth fighting for.

truly a masterpiece of lesbian fiction, this fic is more like a religious experience, bold, brutally honest, romantic, eye-opening and necessary. I never thought I’d care so much for a ship like Will & Minerva but they worked their way inside my heart and I’m deeply moved by how their story encompasses everything that’s inherent to the queer experience: love, loss, resistance and hope. there’s so much joy and grief walking hand by hand, and it is our privilege to watch the characters mature and experience life as individuals and as a couple. Writ crafts oh so thoughtfully two stunning character studies (Minerva’s voice omg, please don’t @ me on my competence kink) while taking us by the hand into the magical universe of Little Compton Street, which is so completely irresistible and healing. I adore the atmosphere, the imagery, the soundtrack, and how this seductive setting allows them to explore their queerness in such a free, proud and joyful way *getting emosh* I feel like nothing I add here will make this story justice, it’s such a poignant and transformative fic but sadly deeply underrated like it happens to so many wlw tales. I hope this rec inspires at least one person to check it out and while at it please also check the entire series with a Drarry piece and a Prongsfoot piece, a perfect trifecta!