#but y'know. might as well make it its own post

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

something something Arthur and John and that quote about sunflowers facing each other both thinking the other is the sun

[darknight3904]

All Too Well

Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: As tranquility settles over your life, you wrestle with your feelings for Joel.

Warnings: Langauge, Joel's not-so-secret porn magazine stash.

Word Count: 2k

Previous Part / Series Masterlist / Main Masterlist

June 2024

Peace. It was something so rare in this post-apocalyptic world you lived in now. Despite its rarity, it is something you experience regularly now.

Your days had become calm and almost uneventful. It'd been nearly a month since Adam had shown up in Jackson and Joel had killed The Walrus for you. Whoever The Walrus had as allies in Kansas never showed up. There were round-the-clock patrols still going but Tommy and Joel had both told you many times that they weren't going to show.

Despite the inherent peace, you were still on edge. You knew Adam was dead, you had watched Joel drag his body off into the woods. The Walrus had been tortured and killed yet here you were, still scared that they might appear and rip you away from Jackson in the middle of the night.

These fears had landed where you were now. Instead of staying in your own home like the grown adult you were supposed to be, you had taken up residence on Joel's couch. The past three nights had been spent tossing and turning on the soft cushions. You weren't sure what it was, perhaps fear, or maybe just general loneliness but you found yourself, lying beside him in his bed.

There is a full moon tonight, it shines through the curtains and illuminates the room. The soft creak of the floorboards under your feet alerts him to your presence.

"What's wrong?" He mumbles, barely awake

"I'm cold." You whisper from his doorway.

It's a half-baked excuse, both of you know it's a lie. It's happened three times now, you tiptoe upstairs from the couch and make up some excuse to wiggle your way into his bed.

"Let's get you warmed up then."

The duvet shifts and you shuffle across the room to slip under the covers. You turn on your side to face him, your head resting on his pillow.

"Warm?"

"Mmhm."

"Good."

Joel had yet to address this newfound closeness. You weren't sure what to make of it, all you knew was that you felt safer under his covers listening to his snores.

Luck was never something you could claim to be blessed with. Even at the end of the world, you were unlucky. Todays bad luck once again manifested in the form of the mouth of one spitfired teenage girl.

"So, are you and Joel y'know, together?"

The question has you nearly choking on the glass of water you were sipping on. Ellie was standing across from you in the kitchen, still in her pajamas asking the most embarrassing questions possible.

Joel sighs and plugs his coffee maker in, pressing the start button before turning around to look at Ellie.

"Quit askin' questions and go brush your teeth."

Ellie's footsteps disappear upstairs as she mumbles something under her breath. Joel passes you a steaming mug of coffee before speaking again,

"Got a late-night patrol tonight."

You nod. Late-night patrols meant that he'd be returning in the early hours of the morning, there was no point in waiting up for him to beckon you under the warm duvet of his bed.

"I'm working in the Greenhouse later, going to visit Maria and baby Cailey first."

Joel nods, "I can come by later. You're harvesting potatoes today right?"

"Yeah," You say, "But don't you wanna relax today? We'll have to dig all the plants up, harvest, and then reseed them."

Joel's mouth quirks up into a small smile, "I can think of nothin' more relaxing than digging in the dirt with you."

You roll your eyes and turn away to dig in the fridge for eggs, hiding your blush behind the door as you push a jar of jam out of the way. He was so flirtatious these days, it drove you crazy.

"I don't know what I should do..." You sigh

Baby Cailey coos at his mother as she places him into a small pack n' play someone had hunted down.

"Why not just embrace it?"

Maria made it seem so simple. Embracing the way Joel would flirt with you, it was easier said than done. Truthfully, you were scared. Scratch that you were fucking terrified. You were terrified that it would all be snatched away from you in the middle of the night. Terrified that Adam would rise from his grave in the forest and break into Joel's home in the middle of the night. You were terrified of Joel getting cold feet the way he did twenty some years ago.

"You're insane." You point out, leaning back into her sofa.

She shakes her head in disbelief, "I get it, you're scared."

God, it's like she was in your mind reading your thoughts.

"Look, when Tommy first started asking me out I was scared too. Hell, I avoided him for nearly half a year just because I was scared."

A smile spreads across your face. You remember those days, Tommy had been so distraught whenever Maria would magically disappear from the Tipsy Bison after he tried to approach her.

"We can't let fear rule our lives. In a world like this, we have to live life to the fullest." She says

"And you think by fawning over Joel, I'm living my life to the fullest?" You question

"I do, but don't you already do that?"

You scoff and avoid Maria's smug gaze, she certainly thought she had everything all figured out over there.

"Two weeks ago, you told me you loved his biceps." Maria points out

"I was drunk." You dismiss her comment with a wave of your hand

"Off one glass of wine? Didn't know you were such a lightweight." She smiles

"Yeah, well. I guess I'm getting old." You lie, you definitely weren't drunk.

That had been the day Joel had pushed the couch across the living room and then lifted the TV into a new corner so there was less of a glare when Ellie watched her movies during the daytime. Your jaw nearly hit the floor as you watched from your spot at the kitchen table. God the muscles on that man had to be illegal.

"I don't like Joel. Didn't like him when Tommy first told me about him, still don't really like him now." Maria admits

"Yet you're pushing us together?" You look at her like she's lost it.

"I want to see you happy though." She says earnestly, "Plus, he's my brother-in-law so I feel like that gives me some moral obligation to see that he's living a good life."

You groan and fiddle with a loose thread on the couch cushions.

"It also helps that you act all, well, giddy when he's around."

"I do not!" You say

"Sure you do. It's like your normal personality leaves the room and you're laughing and teasing Joel like you two are high school sweethearts."

You scoff and turn your attention to Cailey who smiles at you when you peer over the edge of the pack n' play. She's got big brown eyes and tufts of dark curly hair atop her head. You're pretty sure Maria had created her all on her own since it looked like Tommy's genes had just given up in the womb.

"She's got your eyes." You point out, turning the topic of conversation.

Maria smiles at the way you observe her baby, "She's got my everything. Tommy was hoping she'd look a bit like him."

"Why? He wants to curse a baby with a life of torture?" You tease

Maria laughs and gently kicks your shin as punishment for bad-mouthing her husband.

"Is she sleeping through the night yet?" You ask.

You don't know much about babies, most of your knowledge came from high school health class when an old teacher named Mr. Klein had droned on and on about how teen pregnancy was the devil reincarnate and that you'd all die if you didn't use condoms.

"If she was, you think I'd look like this?" Maria gestures to her mismatched outfit and unbrushed hair. Her eyes look a bit dull as she stares down at her baby. Truthfully though, even with her odd clothes and sleepless face, Maria looks good.

"I think you look fine." You muse, "Pretty even."

Maria scoffs, "Now you sound like Tommy."

"Well, at least he's right about something."

The greenhouse is humid today. You kneel in the dirt and pull at the tops of the potato plants, ready to reveal the harvest.

"Look at that view!"

You groan and sit back on your knees, your partner for the day is Janet, an older woman who seems to never keep her mouth shut. Her choppy white gray hairs glimmer in the sunlight as she checks the tomato plants. She has to be at least in her mid-70s yet she moved better than you some days.

"Knock it off." You huff in embarrassment

"I'm not the one with those jeans on." She muses, "You said Joel is coming by soon? You're gonna give him a heart attack like that!"

"You're so weird." You sigh plopping a nice-sized potato into the basket on your left

"I know what men think." Janet points to her temple and then to your ass, "Joel is going to lose his-"

You toss a handful of soil at her when the greenhouse door opens, and Joel steps in.

Janet sends you a sly wink as you and Joel kneel in the dirt together, unrooting potatoes beside each other. She also lewdly picks up an eggplant and shakes it in the air when Joel lifts the heavy basket with ease to dump it into a wheelbarrow. You roll your eyes, how has your life become like this?

After nearly three hours of digging in the dirt, you and Joel are on the way back to his home. Your shoulder brushes his and a tingle shoots down your spine. Even now, covered in dirt and stinking of sweat Joel Miller is devastatingly beautiful.

"You sure you're not too tired for patrol tonight?" You ask shyly

"I'll be fine." Joel assures you, "I wanted to give Ellie the house, she and her friend Dina are havin' some Star Wars marathon today."

You nod. You like Dina, she's nice and helps you clean the dishes whenever Ellie invites her over for dinner. Ellie seems to be more content talking the girl's ears off instead of actually scraping the leftovers into Tupperware bins.

"There's nothing worse than an adult hanging around a teenage girl hangout." You smile and elbow Joel's side gently

Joel looks over at you, taking in the wide grin on your dirt-smudged face. You sound like you're alluding to Ellie and Dina getting into trouble together.

"Well, now you're makin' me nervous." He huffs

"You should be." You tease, "You don't even wanna know what my friends and I were discussing at that age."

Joel shakes his head in disapproval, "Don't do that."

"Do what?" You laugh

"Tease me. Ellie isn't at home gigglin' over some...TigerBeat magazine filled with stupid pictures of Ralph Macchio or somethin'. "

"Or is she?" You over-exaggerate your gasp, "What if she got into your porn stash?"

You'd found it one day while Joel was off repairing something at the bar. Under his bed in a shoebox, you had pulled it out, wanting to sweep the dust bunnies from under the bedframe. And, as they say, curiosity killed the cat, before you knew it you were opening the shoebox to reveal three old porn magazines that had to have been from the 80s and 90s.

You had picked one of them up, it was clearly well-loved and flipped through it. Most of it was rather tame, at least compared to some of the stuff that had been on the internet before the fall. One dogeared page caught your eye, A man had a woman on top of him, legs on either side of his hips as she rode him. You couldn't help but notice the remarkable resemblance she bore to you.

"I don't have a porn stash." Joel scoffs, refusing to look at you all of a sudden, yup he was guilty.

"Then what's in the shoebox under your bed?" You ask innocently

Joel's ears have begun to go red as he keeps pace with you, "You're awful, y'know that."

"Don't be a prude." You laugh, "it's natural, Joel."

"Oh is it?" Joel suddenly looks at you, a glint of well, evil in his eye, "That mean you got a stash of your own, baby?"

It's your turn to blush now. Joel had just dubbed a new nickname on you. Baby. Baby. Fuck you liked, no loved the way it sounded coming off his lips. God, it was so him, calling you that.

"No, pervert." You scoff

"You're the one who brought it up, if anything that makes you the pervert." He teases

You huff and cross your arms over your chest, suddenly feeling vulnerable. How'd he turn this into a conversation to tease you? And that new nickname, fuck you wanted to climb right on top of him right here in the middle of Jackson. Instead, you send him a glare,

"You're so annoying."

"Thanks, baby."

Next Part

Ugh, they're so cute, I want to eat them.

My college semester started back up. I'm shaking in my boots and it's only syllabus week :(

Shout out to @heartpatch for inspiring me to introduce the baby nickname.

May I present, what I expect out of TLOU season 2:

Comment to be added to the tag list. This tag list is not chapter by chapter, I carry the tags over to each part.

Tags:

@lunaticgurly  @orcasoul  @snowlycanroc  @freythecrazyfae

@person-005 @greenwitchfromthewoods

@elli3williams @yawnzzzzzzzz @am-3-thyst  @concrete-jungleeee

@cherrypieyourface  @kanyewestest @bambisweethearts

@sarahhxx03 @loveisacowboyyy @amyispxnk @lou-la-lou @dancinglotusbud @superblyspeedydragon @heartpatch

[sapphic-agent]

So. I finally read this fuckass comic that's been talked about again recently. I'd only ever heard about it before so I decided to check it out. I'm gonna go through some of the pages and give my two cents because why not?

I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I don't get how Katara is "out of character" here. This is very reminiscent of Book 1 Katara, who was playful and teasing and immature and acted like, y'know, a kid. I know Bryke might have you thinking otherwise, but she shouldn't baby Aang all the time.

Especially because he is supposed to be practicing and just... isn't doing it. This was her way of lightheartedly trying to motivate him, which I think is pretty on brand for her.

You could make the argument that Katara is being dismissive here, but honestly? The subject clearly makes her uncomfortable. She was kissed (without consent) before a major battle by someone she saw as a friend. Of course she was uncomfortable. She has every right to not want to talk about or acknowledge it.

Calling that out of character is not doing Kataang shippers any favors when the most common criticism against them is their tendency to brush aside Katara's autonomy.

(At first when I saw this panel, I thought maybe she was being a little abrasive towards him. But... She's the same way with Toph in The Runaway. This isn't behavior that came out of nowhere. Why is it that it's only a problem when it comes to Aang?)

I guess a better question here is, is Aang out of character? For me, it's actually yes and no.

I think they made him overly mopey. Like yes, he's had his moments in the show, but drawing hearts in the dirt? What kind of shit is this??

Not to mention his weird little monologue inside the rock ("Who's really playing games here, Katara?" Are you actually serious, Bryke? Idc what anyone says, those words would never leave Aang's mouth). It feels like a bid to make him more sympathetic so that the reader feels bad for him. I'm fine labeling that OOC.

However...

Do I think Aang would purposely physically hurt Katara? No. Do I think Aang would get so caught up in his emotions that he stops being mindful of himself and his surroundings? Well.

Both times you could label an accident. But both times resulted from Aang being careless and being unable to regulate himself. Now, you could make the argument that this is OOC because Aang learned and developed past this point. And I would agree, if we were talking about Book 2 Aang or even mid to late Book 1 Aang.

But honestly, character regression is very on point for Book 3 Aang. Especially post DOBS. Most of you already know about my beef with Book 3 Aang, so I won't get into that.

Now, I do think that Aang would be a little more apologetic and guilty considering how regretful he was in Book 1. But him prioritizing his own feelings instead of how he affected her? Completely on-brand. In EIP he was upset about how he messed up his chances with Katara, not that he kissed her without consent and upset her.

But even if this couldn't fit Katara and Aang as characters, even if they were outlandishly OOC and completely different from the characters we knew, that doesn't really matter. This comic is official and canon. Just like the comics where Aang ignores her in favor of his weird fanclub and she swallows her hurt and puts up with it. Just like LOK where Aang is a neglectful father and Katara is a mild mannered housewife.

You can dislike this comic and criticize its portrayals all you want. But it's still canon. You can't ignore canon, especially when your main argument for Kataang being better than Zutara is that it's canon

[scienceandfandoms]

Some common shit I've seen said either directly to me, on my posts, or about the group of people discussing lack of transfem representation in Dropout shows.

"You're just trying to tear Dropout down"

No, the last thing I want is to "tear them down", I just want them to improve. Criticism is not hatred, I do not hate Dropout, either as a whole or any individual cast member, if I did I simply would not care. I want to see more transfems involved with Dropout because I enjoy Dropout.

With that said, these people are not my friends, and for most if not all people reading this, they're not yours, either. We need to be able to not treat criticism as a personal attack because those criticized are funny and/or charismatic.

"Shut up, XYZ more serious problem is happening"

I mean yeah sure I guess if we wanted to treat the ills of the world as a one by one queue we could operate like that but, newsflash, this is real life. I can care about multiple issues at once. And this is one of the few where I know there's a chance someone who I believe would care, and perhaps make some level of change (such as the people who are affiliated with Dropout) might notice if an outcry is made on Tumblr about it.

Also just going around and telling women to shut up when they speak their mind is a really bad look. Just, y'know, for those who have said that to me in response to my own actual posts.

"You're just upset that transmasc people dared to be represented for once"

I already directly responded to this one, but it's worth pointing out how hostile the "for once" makes this. What, trying to paint me as jealous? Again, really not a good look.

Various quibbling over terminology or specifics such as whether regulars on Dropout would consider themselves to be "members" or calling out the relatively few transfem performers/appearances, such as Persephone Valentine

Arguing semantics is literally such a huge waste of time, the point is the lack of regular appearances of transfems, whether they're considered independent artists getting repeat work or are employed directly by Dropout, that isn't the point. And while I am very happy that Persephone Valentine and a couple others have been able to appear on the platform, the actual numbers are still REALLY bad.

Again, to be clear, NONE of this is a condemnation of the morality or quality of Dropout, its shows, or the individuals involved therein. I am not looking to ruin it, cancel it, or otherwise dissuade anyone from enjoying it. Nor am I looking to remove anyone who currently appears on the platform from their positions.

This is an issue that goes beyond Dropout, of this I am well aware. However, the DisneyMarvelFoxPixarLucasfilms of the world strike me as a lot less likely to care about these concerns. That this are being brought up is a mark of a shared belief that the people at Dropout care about how their fans feel, because that is what we are, to one degree or another. Fans, or at least, prospective ones.

[txttletale]

Wtf is Lancer and why is it shit (serious question)

lancer is a tabletop roleplaying game made by the guy who drew kill six billion demons and another guy. i wouldn't call it 'shit', necessarily--it's good in a lot of the ways that matter. it's first and foremost a tactical mech combat game and on that level it's incredible. its ruleset is finely tuned, provides great amounts of GM support to make running what might otherwise be overwhelmingly crunchy combat easier, and has a truly stunning and cool level of character customization available. so as a game, i think it's great fun to play and run, genuinely innovative, and a huge step forward for battlemap tactical wargame type TTRPGs in general.

the lore though, kind of sucks. i think it has two clear and overlapping core problems. problem #1 is that it is a utopia as envisioned by a social democrat. it's a world which the text describes as 'post-capitalist' (but there are still evil megacorporations with private armies who own slaves) and 'post-scarcity' (but only in the developed 'core' systems, so. y'know. there's scarcity). at many points in the text they say that Union (the game's main faction) is utopian, throwing around that exact word a bunch of times as well as 'mutual aid' and 'direct action' and the like. but what they describe is just kind of an imperialist Space Sweden with several distinct forms of slavery that constantly expands and uses its Benevolent Imperial Power to intervene on the Backwards Violent Worlds on its outer border but its good because its just trying to bring them UBI.

to show what i mean, here's one of the game's writers¹ talking about how it would be morally wrong for Union to, say, appropriate the property of a private military corporation that also operates as a fascist nation-state:

it's 'revolution' as imagined by the limpest of social democrats. and of course this would honestly be fine, whatever, most sci-fi settings are fundamentally achingly liberal, but the game goes so out of its way to signpost how Radical it is and how Hopeful and Liberationist you're meant to see the setting as

the other core problem is closely related--it feels like the lancer guys put every cool sci-fi idea they had into lancer even when it completely clashes with the core ideas behind it. like, AIs in this settings are callled 'NHPs' (non-human persons) and they're eldritch god-like beings from another dimension who have be kept 'shackled' (lancer's words, not mine!) to keep them as pliant and obedient AI assistants instead of hostile eldritch abominations. this is obviously horrifying and dystopian but it rules, it would be sick fucking worldbuilding for something with the tone of 40k or a one-off doctor who or star trek episode--but as a fundamental technology foundational to what we are supposed to believe is a post-revolutionary society founded on mutual aid and solidarity and blah blah blah it's glaringly dissonant.

bear in mind this is all just going off the rulebook. lancer fans have told me that the supplements and campaign modules fix some of this or contextualise it. but on the other hand communists have told me that they make it worse and i trust the communists more. i leave you with this incredible passage from the game's foreword:

[bomberqueen17]

how it's going

I am delighted so far by the responses to the post about signing up to beta/cheer-read the solarpunk tallship bisexuals novel I've decided to really give a go this year-- if you missed it, this is the post-- I have gone through and added everyone who signed up so far and it's a lovely mix of names I know and names I don't, not so many people it'd be hard to keep track and not so few that I'm worried about burning somebody out or totally winding up relying on one poor reader to keep my sanity going. I am also always pumped to get a lurker to de-lurk and say hi, not that there's anything wrong with lurking, I've got a few spaces where I lurk because that's what I need from that space. But it's always nice to be able to like, relate to somebody, y'know?

Not that you can really talk a lot in a google doc. I admit a lot of what's kept me going on Witcher has been having various little Discord threads where I can paste in whatever line I'm smug about, or that I'm stuck on for workshopping, and having a conversation about it, and not having that (I have a thread going in a Witcher discord but since it's off-topic it's kind of... well, low-traffic). I don't know if it's feasible to make a new Discord so I probably won't. But.

Anyway I will at some point turn that form off, but it seems to have worked pretty well so far as a method for adding people specifically to the doc, and I will leave it open and keep checking it for a little longer if any of y'all reading this were on the fence about signing up. I just can't rattle around alone in that doc and still keep my momentum. I'm only up to chapter three or so and the main plot hasn't even started but there's thusfar been at least one really confusing action sequence and I've realized that I've got a serious case of zero visual information being conveyed, so that's been helpful. Even with only a couple of readers-- ha, even the last couple of hours before I started adding people to the doc it had already done a lot of its job because I started proofreading with an audience in mind, which in my case tends to improve readability, which is what I want.

Listen, there's a noble purpose in telling stories for their own sake to yourself, but the idea of telling a story so that others can understand it is important to and I value it highly. So. That's what this is about.

So I've got a few people poking around in there with me and I feel much better about life and have some hopes I might make it over the hump into a real plot now, LOL.

But I think I'm gonna snippet post, which I haven't much with this work yet! (Have I? I forget. I started it in the fugue state of pre-holiday fuckery last year so who knows.)

bah i can't find a good snippet. well, here's a recently-composed one anyway.

As they approached the ship, Tom said, “You’ll tell the others, yeah? Simmons didn’t know. It ain’t his fault.” “I don’t know as it’ll help,” Keller said. “They’re mighty displeased about how you been treated. It reflects on them, y’know?” “It’s not so bad,” Tom said. “I’d rather be here than escorting the Barka convoy back to Subia in Jeanette all by my lonesome knowing damn well Righteous is waiting there for me with a bone in her teeth. No thank you, I’d rather not be set up on a suicide run like that. And you know if I got killed in a fourteen-gun sloop facing down a bloody-minded forty-gun privateer they’d tut-tut and say a proper Subian gentleman could’ve won.” “Oh sir,” Keller said. “You know they’d say that,” Tom said. “You know they would. No thank you, I will take my lumps and stick with Haines and I’ll thank you not to force me to defend poor Simmons the entire time. It weren’t none of his doing, Henry Keller, but that don’t mean I want to have to argue with the rest of you lot about him every blessed day of this commission.” “He’s also an ignorant sod,” Keller pointed out. “It don’t signify,” Tom said. “You know me and Yardley won’t let no harm come to the ship.” “Oh, Yardley,” Keller said. “I forgot he’s aboard. He’s been scarce.” Tom rolled his eyes. “He’s taking it well, too,” he said. He rummaged through the few parcels he’d brought back, and pulled out a bag and handed it over to Keller. “Share that out with your mess-mates,” he said. “And tell them-- it ain’t his fault, at all.” Keller took the bag with pleasure-- it was candy, Tom knew they’d have liked liquor better but he didn’t dare risk them being found with it and punished, with Simmons and not him in charge, so candy was safer. Keller looked back up at Tom, weatherbeaten face crinkled with a grin, and said, with a wry, grudging concession, “I’ll tell them.”

[numberonenarinderhater]

Why i made this stupid blog

First, I have NOTHING against what people do in a fandom. I do NOT care if you ship narilamb or whatever the fuck you do with your blorbos. I do not ship it and I don't engage with that content but I'm not here to mock creators' hard work or demand they make me understand why they make it.

I don't like Narinder because of things I felt the game and the canonical material didn't do (or didn't do very well).

Make no fucking mistake tho. I am a hater. I am here to be a hater on the hater website. HOWEVER!! I'm not gonna reblog anyone's posts to bitch about why i don't like it or talk smack about any specific person. I have no intention of targeting anyone in specific or harassing creators. I might complain about what I see as generally held ideas in fandom but none of it is meant to be personal or even a criticism of anything's quality.

For context:

I didn't hate him at first but I was super disappointed that he wasn't, y'know, a wolf. But what the fuck do I know.

I have only briefly played the game on single-player mode. For the most part, my partner and I play a co-op file together (on the Nintendo switch).

I understand that the game started as a very humble project and that there might still be added content in the future. Any criticisms I have of the story so far are just that, criticism of the story so far.

I like the other bishops!! I think they're awesome and they have great characters, flaws and all. I think Narinder is the outlier in terms of writing quality.

Some of my dislike is petty and doesn't stem from anything. Some of it I can support with an actual argument. Again I'm a hater.

Most of my complaints come down to the way he's portrayed in-game. I don't consider headcanons/fanon/fan content to be evidence of his canon personality. (Listen!! I like fanfic and I support artists' license to reinterpret things, but that's not rly what I'm here to bitch and moan about)

I understand that characters have flaws. I'm not an idiot, I promise. But I'm also not required to find characters endearing.

I am willing to hear people out!! But don't hold your breath. I am, after all, a hater.

Why I think he sucks:

The way he attacks his siblings didn't feel like a "crime of passion", so to speak. It feels deliberate, cruel, and calculated- more in line with the image of a cold-blooded sadist than someone who has been deeply hurt and betrayed and is lashing out. He finds amusement in what he's done to them and the game never indicates that he has any regrets about it. (Or, at least, I can't find any textual evidence suggesting that ever did)

When he becomes a follower with higher loyalty, the little things he says to Lamb don't come off as cute to me, they come off as creepy. The devs seemed to have removed special follower missions from Narinder and replaced them with generic dialogue instead. For... whatever reason, some of the things Narinder says include things along the lines of "I love you" or "How's your day going?" It doesn't come off as cute to me and it only succeeds in making him seem creepy and bland. I would really really like special follower quests to be put back so that he doesn't wander around confessing his feelings for me several times a week like a sad old creep with memory problems.

AFTER YOU DO FINISH RESTORING THE BISHOP'S SEVERED BODY PARTS (THAT HE TORE OFF HIMSELF) HE STILL OFFERS VERY LITTLE. This is what sent me over the fucking edge. The other bishops give you rich, emotionally textured dialogue that really makes you understand why they all did what they did and act how they do. It's great writing!! Narinder's own monologue consists of: a reminder of how he was hurt (AGAIN), deflecting blame/explaining why he won't explain himself (THE ONLY THING I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR), a vague sentiment about how times goes on (sure man), concluded by: 'here's this relic'. The relic is admittedly pretty cool but its a total failure to characterize him when the game had a chance.

Speaking of failing to characterize him!!! I have no idea what motivates him. What does he want?? Why did he start resurrecting people?? Was he aware that he was threatening his siblings' authority?? Did he care about that?? He never offers his own side of the story and I, for one, refuse to fill in the gaps for him.

He could be really cool????!!!! But he's so boring???!! Again I think this could be slightly improved by putting his follower quests back and making him a more interactive character. As it is now he's a dull follower who does very little.

He is a lot cooler if you do choose to kill him instead of sparing him and making him a follower. At least then he seems to have a complete narrative arc. I don't consider his character on the other story path to be nearly as complete considering he seems to be floating in an uncomfortable space between redemption (something that would require that he apologize even once) and antagonism (something that requires that he be an active presence in his own story which he isn't once he is indoctrinated).

I'm not gonna cinemasins ding Narinder for all the dramatic things that the narrative asks him to do even if it makes him look really bad or stupid. (i.e: why did wait this long to make the last sacrificed lamb into his vessel when he could've started right away, why didn't he just resurrect those lambs considering he can resurrect the player character? why didn't he just amass a huge army of vessels to lead his cult all at once if he needs believers that bad?) At the end of the day, I can overlook it.... BUT the absence of these answers is really felt the more you think about it. As far as the writing on the wall is he is selfish at heart and if he isn't stupid then I guess I have to assume that he's way weaker than he says. laaaammee!!

Small gripe but the game developers seem to really really want the player to spare Narinder and it annoys me. If players do kill Narinder then they get a second chance to spare him from the mystic seller, something that no one else gets afaik. It makes the decision feel much cheaper and less dramatic, as if it didn't really matter the first time and he could have been revived on a whim.

Also speaking of that, the devs really seem to push the idea that Narinder has some kind of feelings for Lamb. It's funny at first but then it just annoys me because it makes me feel like I'm forced to deal with something I didn't ask for. Like I said before, the combination of him thinking mushy thoughts about Lamb and giving generic follower lines like "I love you leader" make him come off as kinda pathetic if you don't choose to pursue him as a spouse. Like man... I'm just not into you like that.

I'm sorry but he really did need to be a wolf. Am I the only one thinking this?? C'mon.

That's probably not the extent of it but this is what comes to mind. Sorry for the long ass post but no one else seems to share my opinion. That's a big reason why I made this blog, just to see if anyone else agrees or if there's something I have just SEVERELY misunderstood. If you wanna dog on me or explain then feel free to send an ask.

Praise the Lamb. Glory to the Goat. Fuck that fallen bastard.

[richardsphere]

Watching sublimation now

Ok they at least manage to sell Mari as genuinely interested in becoming her friend. (low bar, and i hate that i doubted they'd do even that). I think i figured out why Adrien and Sublime get along seemingly so well. (its the fact that they're both Disney Princess-parodies.)

---- Ok Mari... please no breaking the harp what the fuck is wrong with you. That'd be real messed up. Like legit "hero complex" shit. Honestly even the fact you're going out of your way to stalk her hoping to swoop in and "solve" a problem when she has one is kind of emotionally manipulative already... Like she's behaving like a fucking Friendship Vulture.

OH THANK FUCKING GOODNESS the string broke on its own. We havent sunk that low yet. (imma place a bet based on the currently-established tone of the character: Sublime fixes it herself by using her magic hair as a replacement string. Disney Princess-shit) MOTHERFUCKER THAT WAS ME JOKING. ---- as an aside... I think the fact that Mari has fallen so far from "normal girl"-status that they need a gold-medal winning paraplegic, 3-instrument virtuoso disney princess to make her feel self-concious in comparison is probably a bad sign in and off itself tbh. Like Sublime feels lika a writing-room admission that Mari just plain isnt relatable to real children anymore. (note: the paraplegic thing is relevant cause it draws on that whole "inspiration porn"-thing to make Sublime even more perfect.) --- Adrien is trying to get his two friends to meet. Which is nice. Tikki is starting to feel a bit ashamed of Mari's behaviour. (at least someone in the writers room must've realised this isnt looking too good) Ok, i thnk i just heard Blond!-parent refer to Grey!-Parent by name. but i cant make it out so i'll refer to them as Blond and Gray until it's more clear. I dont like the way that Blond!parent seems to be legitimising that old "disabled people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and learn to adapt"-mentality. Like i know its just 1 scene, and might not be reprasentative of her overall character. But first impressions matter y'know.

---

Ok i dont like defending this minor moment, but i will acknowledge that its hard for a person who doesnt usually hang out with amputee's to mentally connect that "proshtesis mean the part is detachable" (that should be clearly part of the definition, but there's a difference between knowing in theory and mentally adapting to the reality). So Mari's conclusion that Sublime had been vaporised isnt as stupid in-universe as it obviously is out of universe. (Also, is her name really "sublime"? Like i get that some people name their kids shit like "Hope" and "Faith" but "Sublime", what kind of pressure to put on your kid) --- Ok so Sublime is doing some really weird self-hypnosis pep-talk in the mirror. (some kind of trauma, presumably from whatever lost her the legs....)

Ok mari... dafuq was this supposed to help you? And she supers-up for selfish reasons. (didnt Tikki use to say that the powers werent supposed to be used for selfish reasons. I sure hope that the show actually starts letting the implied concequences occur sometime) --- Ok so we're just plain-up not supposed to like Blond!parent. Good to know. Yup mom is definitly using the name as a form of emotional blackmail "you must excell and be amazing and perfect or you wont live up to my expectations, which is why you're named what you are named". ok we see the tiny bubbles as she steps, showing that mari did fuck this shit up before she transformed into Bug. But at least it isnt intentional... like its clearly her fuck-up clearly her mistake but the out-of-context i read when i woke up this morning at least misrepresented the intentionality. (though no, it did not misrepresent the guilt). --- Oh the "hands in front of mouth-what did i say" screenshot i saw posted above the "we moved Revalator forward in season" announcement is from sublimation. thats a fucking goddamned relief, at least a sliver of a chance that episode isn't a "truth-telling" akuma. Still likely given the name, but now its at a 25-30% chance of a rescheduled, early-season Gabriel reveal instead of 55-60% estimation. --- Welp. Sublimation's very fist use of her power is mental/psychological. That removes one possible defense for the "mari shrugs off Self-Improvement Magic" allegation. (I didnt want to root for "the mom's idea of Improvement is limited to the physical body" cause it'd be ableist. But it'd have been some degree of cover for "Global Gaslighter isnt affected by the power" if it was just physical) Blonde's name is Caroline. --- Oh now i understand why they had to establish that Sublime and Family are from Out Of Town. If they didn't establish that, this entire fight ends right there. at the "release the akuma and I promise i fix everything" line. (cause she cant World-Healing-Wave without the Akuma). --- Next scene and... goddamn it mari wasnt even TALKING about the magical reset-bugs when she talked about fixing it.

And she has a magic pager that can reach Adrien in his civilian identity now. That is new, (it's also not-yet established, and feels like a big violation of the "Mari cant know Chat's Identity" rule because its not established how it reaches Civilian!Adrien) ---

No you arent volunteers, you two were drafted by an ancient cultist, and you've made it repeatedly clear that as far as YOU (lb) are concerned, no one is allowed to retire, or even refuse service should you decide to bring them a miraculous. Even if they have very good reasons to make that decision (IE: Chat in the New York Special) they cannot leave. This show is setting some very dangerous lessons about the nature of "volunteering".

Ok so the source Im watching the episode on is definitly incomplete and begins cutting left-and-right at this point. going straight from Chat putting Bob in the trash, to cat mid-sentence on a roof. Doesnt even show LB getting hit. So i have found a more full, less choppy version of the episode. But that one is entirely in spanish. Which i dont speak. So im going to watch the choppy-edited scenes in english, then go back to the spanish one until it catches up with the english. (its the best i can do right now) I might still miss a thing here-and-there so full disclosure. God spanish-cat has a deep voice. Yup they just tank the hits like claimed. "Our characters are perfect, no potential for growth or development left in this show". This scene is the equavalent of "you can stop watching the show now". THE EVERLOVING FUCK IS AN "ANTIKUMA"? Like Lila just gets the ability to make her Akuma's turn into a giant "superpower-sealing" laserstorm? --

Ok so the show now acknowledges that Mari was the one in the wrong. (hence the mirror). But it also claims that Mari cannot improve because she is so perfect it renders her immune to personal improvement magic. Cant have it both ways here. I guess you could argue that Sublimations´ Improvement Powers dont actually do mind-controll, they make people better and that means they could only make Chat and Bug better heroes thus guaranteeing a beat-down when they get hit. But that still feels like mixed messaging if the episode is meant to end on the "the mirror meant you were the villain" conclusion.

--- Ok so... Lila was in the audience. Which suggests its actually marinette that she's stalking. (Ilustrhater implied she was stalking the date between Mari and Adrien, but failed to imply further. So having it clarified which of the two she's going after is actually important). I dont like it tbh, Lila's motivation for going after Marinette is shallow unless its a stable-timeloop where she's just following orders from her future-self about doing the things that let her future self know Mari is Ladybug down the line. (And im of the opinion time-loops are kind of a shallow motivation themselves) At least stalking Adrien would make sense because she has Gabriels' files, and knows Gabe once suspected Adrien as a possible Cat. Either that or Lila just plain knows mari is ladybug, which would go against the entire point of the london special. --- Looming Tomoe is ominous. It also feels strangely xenophobic? like the way the shot lingers on the city of paris framed by a Japanese Dojo, Bonsai tree and Japanese swordrack? it feels like a shot that is meant to warn the audience against the threat that "foreign influence" poses to "our beloved homeland". Having representations of Japan "swallow" the capital like that feels mighty deliberate. And i dont know if thats me over-analysing one shot or not, it just feels uncomfortable. Unless we're gonna have an extremely ableist "she was only pretending to be blind so people would underestimate her"-reveal, the looming shot of her looking out at the city she is ready to conqueer doesnt work unless she's y'know: looking out over the city she is looking to conquer.

--- Well... at least the episode proper is better then the things i heard out of context made it sound... but only ever-so slightly. Im happy that at least the broken prosthesis was clearly an accident, even if none of the lead-up to it felt anything but forced. (not out of character, forced. Mari's decision feign a Soap-Based-Akuma makes no sense) But the mixed messaging is fucking blatant. Simultaniously saying "Mari is in the wrong this episode" and "Mari is perfect and even actual magic cannot improve her" is kind of bad. In review: Could've been worse, should've been better.

[citrusinicake]

Day 2 :: Zombie Apocalypse

full text below

do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to be a zombie in this economy? you just go out there trying to have a bite to eat so you go up to some randos and they just start SHOOTING YOU! like straight up just SHOOTING YOU! like what the hell man? i mean i know im trying to rip your brains out and shit but cant you let a guy just fucking eat???? speaking of, this guy's brain tastes weird like im pretty sure its at least fifty percent plastic, maybe even a hundred percent i don't know. was he your boyfriend or something? does this mean you're single? wanna go out sometime? you're annoying as shit but i like that in a man, keeps you on your toes y'know? keeps you humble as well like you just wake up in bed one day and go "oh god this is the guy im dating and i don't even want to break up with him or anything what the hell's wrong with me," which i think is a pretty important thing to have-- at least for me 'cause im awesome as shit and if i don't have that sort of anchor i'll probably lke turn into god or something and i dont wanna be god. not out of self-esteem issues or anything, just out of principle 'cause i think that everyone should have a fair chance at killing me which not gonna lie is pretty easy but that's besides the point, the point is that i think anyone who wants to be god is fucking stupid and should just fucking die. like, hello??? who the hell do you think you are rying to reign above other people? are you stupid? are you dumb? hello? anyways, if you wanna know more about what i think of this i post a lot on r/atheism, im user u/waffleontopp-- wait , do i have to explain reddit to you? 'cause you seem more like a tumblrina to me, honestly reddit's pretty similar to tumblr so you won't have a lot of trouble figuring it out on your own but don't be shocked ifbyou see cock and balls on there since porn isn't banned there unlike tumblr. how's that whole thing treating you by the way? must be tough not seeing some girl's boobs every once in a while-- wait are you gay or bi? must be tough not seeing some guy's boobs every once in a while, that won't be problem if you start dating me though. haha just kidding, my chest is basically concave now after a survivor beat me repeatedly with a baseball bat so ive got like negative double D's now. oh but i do know this one guygirlthing whose boobs are out basically 24/7 who likes to hang out with me and this other guy so maybe that'll make up for it. they're not zombies and im pretty sure they didnt get infected so you don't have to worry about that but they miiiight have rabies or something im not sure to be honest so maybe watch out for that instead. if youre wondering why two non-infected humans are hanging out with a zombie then we're in the same boat, might have something to do with the possible rabies i mentioned earlier. also if they tell you that im their pet zombie that is simply not true, if anything it's the other way around, they're my pet guard dogs and they do basically anything i say even if it kills them. or at least i wish it would kill them, they're way too hardy in my opinion, i need them to die so i can eat their brains-- oh but then i'll have to do manual labor. hmm, on second thought, they can stay actually i don't wanna deal with all that. normally i dont even do my own kills nowadays, i just leave a trap or get the other two to do it for me, you guys just caught me offguard which is lowkey embarassing but trust me i am a huge, like Huge alpha sigma gamma male and would totally dominate everyone else around me. but not in a god way of course, just in a lone sigma alpha gamma wolf kinda way like those anime wolf furry drawings. you know the ones. and like im not a furry but not gonna lie they totally popped off with those

[scrunckled-idiot]

DOING THIS BECAUSE MY G/T BUDDIES ARE EHEEHEHHE :D

pocket and their relationships with their co-workers:

(relationships might have changed from their original post)

scout: literally the yapper and the listener. will hang out with the boy when things have been too quiet for too long. will listen to him go on and on and on about miss Pauling, the enemy team, how much he hates spy, how he's hungry and wants to go out for food, how he doesn't know what to draw next and that he needs some better pens- just general stuff, and they just nod along to every word. usually goes out into town with him or just uses him as fast travel. both are actually really creative together since pocket will go out and find scraps of magazines or trinkets scout can use in his scrap book. team work baybeeeee. scout sees them as like his tiny older uncle/aunt thingy, because believe it or not, pocket actually has some authority over the boy, like jiminy cricket. if jiminy cricket had no voice. especially when it comes to think before you act. you do NYATT annoy heavy when he's just woken up to do the night shift.

soldier: pocket... pocket isn't really sure. i mean yea he's ok, a bit handsy and brash, and loud, but in a- charming way? i mean- they're not that big of a fan of him when he has his little episodes or mood swings, because then more than likely THEY will be his outlet. WILL out of the blue start bolting after them around the base no matter the situation. off day? MOVE THOSE LEGS! sleeping? UP AND AT 'EM SUNSHINE! getting dressed? NO TIME FOR THAT! GO GO GO!!! thinks he's helping keep them on their toes on this gravel hellscape of war, but its just causing them even more stress (and cramps in their legs OW-) will also kidnap pocket and explain some sudden delusional idea he came up with and drags them along with him, which pocket reluctantly allows (not that they really mind it anyway. they kinda dig the fact of how much of a wild card he is :3). sometimes insists on covering pockets back during matches, which often pays off. how nice! :3

pyro: he doesn't talk, they dont talk, perfect. pyro sometimes follows behind pocket like a lost puppy, going wherever they do. pocket doesn't mind the company. sometimes has to endure a few tea parties with them though and reluctantly let themselves be roughly dressed in (partially burned) doll clothes and sit for an awkwardly long time with them in their room as they play pretend. pyro handmade them a tiny house out of an old mint box the second day they arrived. pocket still uses it sometimes, even though they have their own room. its just a nice gesture y'know?

heavy: heavy usually doesn't allow pocket near him and makes up some excuse that he's ill or something. pretty believable with how pale his face goes and how shivery he gets. but after hearing some gossip from medic about his Microphobia, pocket understood, keeping their distance. but slowly over time came closer and closer after medic asked pocket to conduct some exposure therapy. now you could see pocket sat on the armchair of heavys seat as he reads his book, possibly explaining the story or going off on a tangent about how its written to them.

engineer: pocket and engie are like this 🤞fr fr. goes to him for anything and everything. usually hangs out with him after missions or on off days. weather that be tinkering in his workshops, helping him in the kitchen when making dinner, or even just lounging around with him in general. pocket looks up to him (no pun intended) as a farther figure and sticks with him during missions when they aren't entirely up for it. willingly a test subject for any crazy contraption the guy makes, weather that be a sentient smart kitchen, walking sentry girl bot thing, miniature rocket boots- you name it. one time engie made a growth ray to see if pocket would like being well- normal. hated it, threw up and got REALLY REALLY ill for some reason, the perspective change was NOT GOOD ON THEM. interesting for everyone though (but hahah turns out they were taller than engie HAHAAHHA). engie has since locked it away somewhere and forgor about it.

demoman: demos pretty fond of the wee fella in all honesty, like a... like aaa... like a pocket buddy! (how creative) sometimes snags them up subconsciously when hes drunk off his ass and just carries them around with him all night in his hand, rocking them side to side as he mumbles under his breath. its- yea a little weird, but no harm done in the end (except for that one time where pocket nearly became his "hangover cure".) he's always saying how much they remind him of the wee folk in his childhood stories and shows them pictures from his books. listens to him during his piano time, tapping their foot to the tune, flipping the pages for him, sometimes even trying their hand at it by hopping from key to key. pockets getting better at it slowly but surely! doing these little jazzy duets with demo.

medic: least favourite, but doesn't hate per say, just a bit jumpy with him. keeps scaring them and popping out of nowhere and grabbing them, cackling. its not like that can do anything about him, he's their co-worker! AND he's the one who found out that they're indestructible! so they're gratfull for him getting accurate and speciful results from him but... still though he just kinda freaks them out with that- huegehh- smile of his. but they can somewhat tolerate him. from afar. a good distance away. in another room. out of reach. Mabey with engineer as a meat shield.

sniper: both are socially awkward so they dont mind each others rare company at times. sometimes joins him, demo, and scout on their mini trips into the dessert. he's a little weird and freaks pocket out sometimes whenever they catch him eating bugs or roasting a gecko over a candle but i mean- we all got our quirks right? (tastes great tho) likes to scared pocket by laying traps around the base or telling them fun facts like "you know an iguana or something could eat you and we wouldn't know, right? pocket has a fear of animals. he knows this. it makes it so much fucking funnier when he pulls one of the fuckers out from behind his back or car seat. pocket usually gets back at him by cock-blocking him and demo. other than that they're just chill like that bro.

spy: barely ever interact really, aside from the few times spy lent a gentleman's hand in their time of need. pocket knows spy, and spy knows pocket. they acknowledge each other sure. spy sometimes keeps some of his "relaxation tobacco" spare for them when he notices they seem particularly Shakey.

bonus!:

entire blu team: out to get the fucking traitor

miss Pauling: doesn't know

admin: KNOWS

Archimedes: THE ULTIMATE SHOW DOWN OF ULTIMATE DESTINY!!! *gets pecked to "death"*

wanted to do this cus @circushaven and @bluespace-skull did and i hav severe FOMO :')

[toxic-potions-productions]

OOOOODYSSEUS OF ITHACA!! But, as a woman! :D

THIS TOOK ME SO FUCKING LONG TwT

Yeah, so uhm, this was something. If you guys saw me on a VERY specific Epic the musical community, you'll know I made a post about this specific au/idea that was microwaving in my brain for a while

I also saw another dude in that same community reblogging a post where it explains how Ody is already pretty womanly, so that's also where this idea came to mind

I present to you my Queen of Ithaca au! Where everyone, gods & mortals alike, are the exact same, but Odysseus is a woman & y'know what? I'm obsessed with her. Even though she kinda looks like me IRL--

The story is the exact same as the normal musical that Jay made, but there's still some subtle changes. Like Telemachus being a surrogate baby, & how she disguised herself as a man just so she can fight. Even though it's, uhh, painfully obvious she's not a guy, but that was only during the Troy saga, so when that's over & they're heading back, she doesn't hide as a dude anymore

& I just wanna see some OdyPen yuri, sue me-

Now that this was brought into the open, your girl has alot of ideas, but for now, I'm tired from working on this Well, here's some closeups for you:

(Yeah, we only do historically accurate bows for Ody around here)

(This was her around the end of the story, during both the vengeance & Ithaca saga Mmmm, female rage 😋)

(I had to, I fucking had to XDD)

(This doodle makes me giggle, so it deserves its own closeup)

I was actually considering doing a doodle in place of one of the already drawn ones, where it's when Polites got pancaked, but I decided not to

IDK if I'll change her name to something similar that sounds more feminine yet. If I do, it'll be something like "Ophelia" just so it has the same amount of syllables as Odysseus At least I think that's how that works-

But, given how everything in this au is supposed to stay the same with only Ody being female, I'm probably not gonna change her name. This might age poorly, this might not, who knows, who cares? I just never wanna work on something for this long ever again

He's so pretty as a woman, I love her QwQ ---------------------------------------------------

Odysseus from: Epic the musical

Au by: Me

Epic the musical by: Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Do not steal, trace or copy. (Since this took me TEN FUCKING DAYS-)

[localratman]

skybound Thoughts

sooo uh, im thinking about doing a rewrite of ninjago skybound.

im currently rewatching it because of this, and in case i never get around to actually writing anything, im gonna word-vomit onto this hellsite (affectionate) cuz im having Thoughts.

quick tangent though, skybound seems very similar to danny phantom (at least in how the fandom treats it) in the sense that, when you actually watch it, it's pretty tame and honestly kinda shit. but then you dig deeper. and you see the Implications and Possibilities, and suddenly it has you by the throat with all the ways this could have gone if it wasn't a kids show.

like, in skybound you get genuine torture and creepy implications on nadakhan's part (seriously, get away from jay and nya you fucking creep), and while it's never really explored since, y'know, kids show, it makes nadakhan one of the best and most terrifying villains i personally have watched in ninjago.

anyway, here are a couple of things i've been toying with in terms of a possible rewrite:

one thing im thinking about taking from various other fics i've seen (i think its mainly shown in bending but never breaking, which is an absolutely amazing fic and you should go read it but MIND THE TAGS AND TRIGGER WARNINGS PLEASE) is jay learning to use the electricity in his body, though obviously not painlessly

bonus points for his elemental power getting royally fucked up once/if the vengestone is removed, but in the sense of suddenly he is completely overwhelmed and his power is so much stronger and its a danger to both himself and others

queerplatonic jaya: i think in this season especially, nya felt very aroace coded (i might just be projecting as i myself am aroace, but that's the vibe i got) and so for a skybound rewrite nya and jay would have a serious conversation about how nya doesn't feel that way for anyone, even if she *does* really like jay

just general angst and torture

id rewrite jays obsession with nya, specifically his first wish (if i dont just jump right into him being on misfortunes keep)

i think id like to do something more with delara than just her being some dead girlfriend. i.e.: i'd make her fucking unhinged and the kind of person that would fall in love with and support nadakhan.

i really liked @cotidianoseeder's idea for canary!jay, so possibly something in that direction

i also really like it when people keep serpentine aspects in jays character, so some of that as well

fuck it, make him inhuman, y'know?

i'd age everyone up i think (i dunno how old they are in skybound, but a 17 minimum would be in my rewrite)

OH! i'd put bruiseshipping as a romantic relationship cuz i love them

nya would make the final wish, since a big part of her character would be forging her own story and taking control of her own life

zanes falcon would survive cuz i love that fucking bird

echo would be taken off the island post-rewind

what do y'all think??? i keep having more ideas, i might post them

[wathanism]

Your ideals are going to kill people. The only thing refusing to vote is going to do is ensure that the republicans win and their project 2025 gets enacted. This is not a conspiracy theory. They want a theocracy. They want authoritarianism. They want fascism. You and everyone you convince to not vote is letting that happen.

I don't know who convinced you that its impossible to care about two things at once, but abandoning the vulnerable here in the states because you care so deeply about the vulnerable on the other side of the world doesn't make you more righteous.

Refusing to vote for him is a foolish act that will do nothing to stop what is happening. Even if he finally pulls back all aid for Israel at the eleventh hour, no one will vote for him now, which means the vulnerable right here at home are fucked. Thanks.

i was really close to not answering you at all because i have a hard rule about not talking with selfish cunts who are commited to misunderstanding everything a non-white person says to them. but since you had the good sense to realize that you were being an ass right then, i'm going to assume that you're worth engaging with, and i'm going to hope you'll talk with me in good faith and read everything i have to say rather than blow up at me again. if nothing else, i'm going to use this as an opportunity to say all the things i've been wanting to say since i made that post. that said, i'm real pissed and i'm not gonna be all nice and palatable in my answer.

first of all, no i'm not a US citizen. i live in west asia. y'know, where all the wars are? gaza is five hours away from my hometown of damascus, which is also being bombed with your tax dollars, by the way! in fact, i grew up living under a textbook authoritarian theocracy. so don't sit there and talk to me like i don't know what it's like to be afraid of your own government. we're in this shithole world together, and you and i are a hell of a lot more like each other than the politicians putting our lives on the line.

second of all, i should have been more clear about what i actually would like for US voters to do. contrary to small-minded liberals' assumptions, i'm not republican nor am i anti-voting. i'm saying people should vote third party. i even have a preferred candidate in mind, jasmine sherman. they even have strict and well-defined policies to protect trans rights and provide universal healthcare that includes gender affirming care and reproductive care.

this is usually the point when usamericans talk down to me like it's my first day on earth, so let me be clear. i know about the electoral college. i know about the flaws of the first-past-the-post voting system. i know about ranked-choice voting and why that's a better system in almost every way. i know that until there's drastic changes to the US voting system, there is no chance a third party candidate could even win. i'm not delusional about that. and i'm asking you to protest-vote anyway. which, yes, i realize is a big ask, but consider that this is a big fucking problem that requires pretty drastic actions.

several absolute dumbasses who i refuse to engage with said some very interesting stuff that made me realize why so many people are quick to dismiss the idea of refusing to vote for either major party. some examples:

they describe the push to vote third party as us lashing out at biden. in their eyes, we're not politically aware adults with a righteous passion for justice. no, we're petulant children causing problems for everyone whose rights actually matter. maybe a nicer person than me can give them the benefit of the doubt, but i find it extremely suspect that they truly seem to believe that non-white people are irrational, easily-angered, thoughtless creatures with no understanding of the complexities of the situation. there's a complete refusal to consider that there might be an actual coherent strategy behind the activism of indigenous and black people.

and again, because this is not my first day on earth, i know about the "but trump!!" argument. i honestly am BAFFLED that liberals seem to genuinely believe they're offering anything novel or valuable to the discussion at hand when they parrot talking points that we've been hearing since 2016 with quite literally nothing to show for it.

but i digress. the important thing is: yes, i fucking know. i know trump would have a near identical policy on gaza. he'd also have an identical policy on the police, on covid, on immigration, and on most other issues. you worry about project 2025, and you're right to! but the thing is, and you'll forgive me for quoting imani here but she is the most correct person ever always, "everything in project 2025 relies on biden doing exactly what he's fucking doing right now. the more successful this genocide is, the more likely project 2025 is to happen." because at the end of the day, it doesn't require a republican president. it requires a CONSERVATIVE president. and that's what biden is.

i don't know if you're missing it or if you don't care, but democrats benefit from you being terrified, and that's exactly why they'll never keep you safe. you will always be one election away from being killed by the system because that's what keeps you complicit. democrats won't shoot the gun, but they will ALWAYS make sure it's loaded and that you're trapped in a room with the person who'll shoot you. don't forget that roe v. wade was overturned on biden's watch. trans rights were rolled back on biden's watch. covid deaths skyrocketed and protections were dismantled on biden's watch. he'll find every loophole in the book to funnel weapons to israel's military but he'll never lift a finger to fix the problems ruining your life, because he needs you to be as scared as you are. that's exactly what's keeping you from showing an ounce of compassion or solidarity to palestinians right now. and no, your fucking lip service and crocodile tears don't count as solidarity.

liberals have managed to completely forget the most important lesson about social justice: none of us are free until all of us are free. you've been so busy yelling at arabs to even realize that this moment in time is one of the greatest pushes against the two-party system. do you not get how important that is? right now, when damn near everyone who's even mildly left leaning (and many who are right leaning) is so deeply unsatisfied with both major candidates, is the perfect time to be thinking of ways to break out of this system. to organize, to advocate for your mystical fucking ranked choice voting!

palestinians aren't asking you to lay down your life and throw away your human rights so they can mildly spite joe biden. they're asking you to grow a fucking spine and stand on principle and god damn DO SOMETHING to tear apart the two-party system. make people realize that a third party candidate IS a viable one, so that one day they can be.

you're framing this as a matter of pitting palestinians versus americans, which couldn't be further from the truth. maybe instead of directing your hate towards palestinians and their allies, show some gratitude. palestinians are uncovering the veil of all the atrocities and all the corruption in the world, and they're giving the people of the earth a banner to unite under. there have never been so many people (afaik, at least) pushing against the systems of corruption in america. that kind of thing ripples out. standing with palestine isn't easy, but all of our lives will be better for it, including and especially the lives of minorities living in the US.

there is so, SO much more i can say about palestine, and it will inevitably turn into a very spiritual rant about the uniting force of the holy land. but i'm instead just gonna leave you with this tweet that i think sums up everything about this.

[autisticalastor]

seven sentence sunday

tagged by @the-flaming-nightmare tysm for including me!! :3

since the first date fic is FINALLY posted, i can focus on other installments of this series! have a lil bit of a future piece >:)

"I, uh, I've got something for you! For our date today!" Lucifer announces, dropping the item into Alastor's hand.

Alastor's eyes narrow as he looks it over. "What is this supposed to be?"

By all means, it does look an awful lot like a cat's collar: a dark ribbon, with a red pendant shaped like bursting star hanging from it. It probably could use a bit more explanation, especially with someone like Alastor.

"Oh! It's– It's not what you think it is. It's... kinda complicated to explain..."

"Try me."

"Well, sinners can't really leave Pride, y'know? Oh, of course you know that; that's a stupid way to start off—" He takes a quick breath to gather his thoughts into an order that hopefully makes sense outside of his own head. "Sins can, and often do, give their subjects some of their power. For the sake of making this make sense, the closest comparison would probably be Oz over in the Lust ring. See, he has these crystals he uses on his succubi that let them go into the living world!"

Alastor gives him a look that seems to say get on with it, and Lucifer quickly speeds through the rest of his explanation. "For obvious reasons, I can't do that. I mean, I can't even go to the living world. But I can travel the other rings of Hell freely, like any other sin or any Hellborn can. And that pendant I just gave you will let you come with me. If– If you want to. But you have to wear it, and it's gonna break when we get back. I'm, uh, not really supposed to make these at all, but... I know some places you might like to see." Lucifer looks away now, blushing as the weight of his offer hangs in the air between them.

not me making it seven paragraph sunday again teehee >:3 im so excited abt this part of the series! its gonna lead to ✨️ more interesting stuff ✨️ trust!

since its so late into sunday that im getting this out, im gonna leave this one open to any of my followers who wanna join in!!

[mothman-can-write]

I was randomly searching up what Maria’s name meant and it said “of the sea” and I couldn’t help but think of sailor Maria from your fic! All the stuff it said fits her so much which is funny. (Unless I’m stupid and you did that on purpose lmao)

Oh you don't know the can of worms that you've opened, anon.

I'll admit that my penchant for giving Maria ocean imagery was originally just complete coincidence! I can't even really describe where it came from, it just made sense to me. When I see her I think of the ocean, maybe because she's very blue? and then when paired with Natasha's hair and general 'fiery' theme, you end up with a nice fire/water motif. I don't know, but it crawled its way into my brain and now its stuck there forever.

But! The name Maria. Gorgeous name, I love it. It has so many meanings because it's been adapted from a bunch of different languages, so I'm gonna go through a few of them and how they hurt me.

First of all, relating to the sea, obviously I like this one because it ties in nicely with my own writing themes, and honestly I just think it fits very nicely with her personality. I've written posts before about how she is like the sea, so I won't go over them again. I also find it funny that sometimes this is written as meaning 'marine' and well, she was one

Another meaning of it is 'wished-for child' which is especially painful. We don't really know much about her mother, but I wonder if either of her parents knew the meaning when they picked the name. I wonder if Ed ever thought about how wrong it was. I wonder if Maria ever found out about the meaning and thought about the irony.

A more lighthearted one is how Miriam (which has later been adapted into Maria too) apparently means pretty woman, or... woman the size of a pigeon? Idk but I think thats funny to think about. She is pretty, and sometimes I wonder if she was a gangly teenager before she joined the marines and got buff. Y'know. Bird legs n all.

Bitter and beloved are also fun, because honestly I do think she is a very bitter character, mostly because she was not beloved. Famous is another funny one, being the head of an international underground security org. Pretty much as far from famous as you can get. Infamous maybe, amidst SHIELD agents and world powers

Rebelious, again, hilarious. That woman has never broken a rule in her life. Unless they're stupid rules, then she breaks all of them. I guess she only doesn't break rules because she makes them. Maybe being a part of SHIELD is a rebellion in itself. When Ed is her father, who can blame her? I can imagine her being a very rebellious teen, but a very rule abiding child because she was scared all the time. I just think you can't be 16 and hate your dad that much and not sneak out of the house at least once a week.

All of these meanings are just what I've gathered from googling it, because obviously I am not an etymologist, but I do think it's fun to look into the meanings of names! Especially when there are so many for Maria here. My faves are obvs 'star of the sea' and 'wished-for child'

Also, as a side note, I find it especially funny that in comparison Natasha's name has essentially no meaning. It just means 'born on christmas day/around christmas', and she was born on Dec 3rd so it's just...a very normal name for her to have

Thanks for the ask! I'm glad everyone likes sailor Maria as much as I do. I really think she might be the AU I think about most, and I constantly have to hold myself back from writing the exact same AU again but longer. I need to write about her fishing. I need to.

[smahell]

so the obey me boys aren't going to AX this year..

to absolutely nobody's surprise. yes solmare, you take away one of the most anticipated events for AX for obey me fans (at least for me; I need more fan content!)

but what I'm genuinely excited about, though I'm unable to go is..

now THIS is what i'm interested in. a new youtube audio drama project by ntt solmare: Ex and Bee: Nightfall's Coven; a mystery-centered audio drama with a dash of the dark arts and occult! am I excited just by that premise? from the little sneak peaks posted on twitter, which is the bare minimum, it's just enough to hype me up for this, yes. finally something else that might be solmare's legacy other than weird luke art and bad representation.

y'know what makes me even more excited.

look who's having a video appearance. heh. heheheh.

are they recycling VAs? yes. do I care? not at all. get that bag, Kada-san.

i genuinely think this project will be well received by those who do recognize it. with its more mature, somber theming, perhaps darker tone than obey me, it seems to still be catering to that same 16-24 age group but more to those who may be interested in psychological horror, sci-fi and true crime (aka, autistic people like me).

there's not much information i could dig from the internet about whoever else is working on the project, but i fear that the series will be reduced to 'obey me's lesser step-brother', and won't reach (enough of) its target audience, and then be completely discontinued out of nowhere after a year due to 'funding issues" (aka, not enough popularity, and daddy solmare wanting to spend his big bucks in silly dating sim game and their shitty 3D model concerts around the world (Japan and the US)).

[which is one of the reasons why i made this post. i do NOT want this project to flop just because of its relations to obey me and under funding.]

i think Ex and Bee deserves a chance its own separate fanbase from obey me... even though one of the main selling points was "hey guys!! you remember these guys??? they're gonna be here!!! please recognize them!! give us money!!!" and all that other corporate greed blabber that you don't hear from the social media managers.

conclusion: (army general voice) i want YOU to attend this panel if you are going to AX, and if you aren't, i want YOU to hype this shit up when more information comes out!1!!