#can we maybe try posting about other cast members who are also on the shows

[fastidious-and-a-mess]

hey guys. btw. cause it seems like some people (especially in the game changer tag) are maybe forgetting. um. brennan isn’t actually the main character of dropout. or game changer. there are other people on the shows too, actually.

[edit: this is the least complete version of this post, please look in the notes for actual discussion lmao]

[hiemaldesirae]

I completely understand a crippling fear of twitter, but if you ever DO decide to make it, I'd love to hear your most behated Hazbin takes bc people do keep getting Vox so wrong lmao

ur so real for this nonny

actually since u sent this ask in i may as well

a lot of the shitty characterizations i see are all revolving around mostly twitter staticmoth/radiosilence shippers (no surprise there i guess :/) and almost always portray vox as a macho dom daddy with a superiority complex and that 50s Misogyny Grindset babyyyy or just as a straight up rapist and s/aer. which. Sigh. i can tell you right now ive not only seen that take from rdsl shippers (which, while disappointing, isnt surprising because most of the ones with shit takes are actually just alastor whump fans) but also from a staticmoth shipper???????? ive since blocked and muted their ass but whatever the fuck they were on i do NOT want to go near .

and while im AWARE that yeah sure its all just hcs l and they can do whatever the fuck they want w them (and ill do what i want x1000 intensity just to spite them all) i get SO inordinately pissed at the notion that vox is some sort of violently abusive man perpetually stuck in 50s misogynistic mindsets with an obsession for alastor OR val. he's hell's media darling, for fucks sake. he's not preaching outdated shit to people, his WHOLE FUCKING THING is UPGRADES and MOVING ON into the future. does he BELIEVE IT? maybe not. but he's not going to ever show that if he isn't, because he needs the love and support of the media.

and on that, vox is one of the most fragile cast members: his head is a fucking tv screen, for gods sake. you know how hard it is to break a flatscreen? Not very hard. and he's upgraded before: out of necessity or out of want, we won't know, but he willingly upgraded to something more fragile when he could have kept a CRT. why would he do that if he was a violent and abusive character like some people like to posit? it'd be more advantageous for him to keep the old head, but he doesn't- and that's because between vox, al and val, he's the "brain" of the bunch: his power lies in his words and his mind, not his fists or his physical might- he's not just another val with hypnotic eyes, for fucks sake, he's got a different skillset and specialty because he's not as physically violent as the other cast members. if he's hurting people it's with his words and persuasion, not like al or val.

and on the obsessions: vox Is obsessed with alastor, yeah, i won't deny that, but alastor REVELS in his obsession, and frankly, he's just as obsessed back- there was this tumblr post about stayed gone and how al was listening to vox even before he started the broadcast, and Thats certainly not something someone not happy with the attention theyre getting would do. the thing most ppl use to say vox is obsessed w val is the cameras- and . Hey. have you ever paused to consider that Maybe he's monitoring val because he's a loose cannon who LITERALLY TRIED TO GO AND ATTACK THE PRINCESS OF HELL BECAUSE HIS EMPLOYEE WAS STAYING AT HER HOTEL??????

ignoring all the other facts such as that there are cameras around to monitor his employees and velvettes studio as well and just focusing on the cameras with val (and alastor i spose but luckily i havent seen much try to tout this argument) is reductionist as all hell and literally so dumb i wonder sometimes if twitter keyboard warriors failed their highschool english classes. they teach media literacy there, did you know? you should go and see if you can sign up for one of those.

sigh okay thanks for sending this in nonny ive quelled la creaturas need to kill people

[eddiediazismyhusband]

Wait was edy confirmed to have been filming last night??? PLEASEE WHEN CAN SHE JUST BE GONE

I don’t think she was 100% confirmed to be filming last night or not in all honesty- I blocked her transphobic ass a while ago so the only information i get about her whereabouts on set are from what i’m told by other people, but i think the big theory going around right now is that she always posts after others post about being on set, and people think she may be piggybacking trying to make it look like she’s there when she actually isn’t… of course this is just a theory and like i said i blocked her. a while ago so i don’t see her posts to confirm nor deny the plausibility of this, but knowing her attention-seeking attitude i wouldn’t put it past her.

And i would not fear too much anon, actors are often contracted for a specific number of episodes, so her being there does not mean her days aren’t numbered. Obviously we don’t know anything for sure, but I have my own theories- we know the time that she posted herself crying on her story and then started talking about auditioning again was around the time the show was picked up for season 8, so obviously contracts would begin being discussed at that time. My personal opinion is that she was told then that she would not be returning for season 8, and that is what sparked this attempt to stay relevant in the fandom (following cast members she never followed before, constantly posting about being on set and how “thankful” she is to have a job, interacting with people bashing the show for being “too gay,” etc.) to me it all reads as someone who is desperately trying to cling to the quickly unraveling thread that is her place on that show and it’s only a matter of time before she’s gone.

i mean ryan himself called her a ‘filler’ relationship for eddie. even the plotlines she’s been involved in this season she’s barely been there. eddie was quite literally on the verge of breaking up with her in 7x5 before his advice to buck made him decide to simply start over their relationship. My theory now is that “ghost of a second chance” has a double meaning of us seeing the ghost of a past relationship that eddie is still grappling with (maybe shannon, maybe someone else…. an old “army buddy” perhaps who he had never really understood his feelings for?) while also pertaining to the “second chance” he gave their relationship being dead. I mean the man brought his grandmother who lives in texas to his coworker’s wedding, and he barely trusts her with his kid (christopher is always being watched by someone else, he says things like “she’s already babysat this week” as if watching your significant other’s children is a burden to her) and like i said he was on the verge of ending things in 7x5…. i think it’s safe to say that their relationship is bones, and there’s no other logical direction for them to take it in, considering the fact that marisol is barely a character anyway, the fans don’t like e*y (for good reason), and they know that if they try to keep her on they will receive backlash (which we know tim sees after the karaoke debacle)

i am fully preaching to the choir here, because i have massive anxiety and the constant stress of speculating about where eddie’s (and buck’s) story goes is something that always runs my nerves up a wall… for reasons i won’t get into, eddie is a character i relate to deeply and i want to see his storyline handled with care and attention, so while the idea of the show sticking him with something as lackluster as marisol (played by a problematic untalented actress) obviously makes me stress out too, i try my best to remind myself just how little sense narratively it would make sense to keep eddie with marisol, since she is a wash rinse repeat of every romantic interest he’s had before- something they keep bringing up in eddie’s story as a bad thing.

so stay strong, dear anon… the light at the end if the tunnel has not gone out— there are things happening that none of us know, and it will do us no good to focus on the possible negative outcome when the positive outcome seems so much more likely in this situation.

Sorry to completely hijack your ask into an explanation of eddie, but if you know me you know i’m obsessed w the man so 🤷

Thank you for the ask, anon! 💕💕

[nobodysdaydreams]

Unpopular opinion, but while I’m not a fan of random or spontaneous musical episodes of media in general (there is usually no reason, they add nothing to the plot of show, they’re awkward, the members of the cast who can’t sing are mysteriously absent from the episode or shameless dubbed, it’s weird when they parody a specific musical and force it to tie into the plot), I would have been strangely fine with a Wolf359 musical episode and think it would have actually fit the show extremely well.

The Dear Listeners’ whole thing from the beginning was about music, so it fits the theme extremely well, it’s not like the musical vibes would “come out of nowhere” and if the Dear Listeners are the ones that cause it happen, it would actually make sense. It’s also plausible in the Wolf359 universe as the Dear Listeners can create time loops, clones, and do a ton of stuff that’s already way more impressive than forcing people to sing, and AI like Eris can trap them in a virtual reality so that’s also a possibility.

Not to mention the entire cast would have ATE UP a multi hour special musical episode. Just imagine:

Lovelace. We heard her sing already in Change of Mind, she would rock this. A song about her old crew perhaps?

Minkowski. The whole plot to her musical and her Broadway dreams. Her talent show performance. All of it. Maybe a song about Dominik or whether she regrets coming here. Her dreams of seeing the stars and how now all she wants is to see home again.

Kepler. He’d turn the Whisky speech into a villain song and what a villain song it would be. Casually and smoothly threatening their lives as he twirls the glass in his hand. He sings a reprise on the way out with old lyrics meaning something new or with entirely new lyrics and the final line of the song is cut off when he’s blasted out of the ship, leaving a haunting silence where his last words should be.

Speaking of villains, Rachel. Her rotating between the characters, condescending each of them as an aside, talking about everything she’s done and will do to get ahead, interrupting David Clarke when he tries to have a solo.

Hera. She’d have a nice heartfelt song about her inner feelings, anger, sadness, heartbreak, etc. that Pryce would do a villainous reprise of that has disturbingly similar emotions related to her own disability, but takes a dark and vengeful turn at the end as opposed to Hera’s more hopeful and resilient attitude about her situation. Also the way Pryce sings hers can lead the audience to thinking it’s Hera singing at first until they realize.

Jacobi and Maxwell. They sing a duet about how they doubt what Goddard is doing sometimes, but it’s allowing them to follow their dreams and discover who they’re meant to be (plus how they found family in each other). After Maxwell dies, or the musical hallucination of her disappears, Jacobi has to sing the reprise alone and the hopeful tempo is replaced by one of sadness, anger, and ultimately acceptance as he wishes Alana goodbye.

Hilbert. He would either resist for such a long time then sing a short sad song about Russia and his sister that he claims means nothing, or he’d refuse to sing and finally be forced to sing in a monotonous unenthusiastic off key bland voice with a heavy accent. Go girl, give us nothing. Another option is this is Blessie’s song sung through Hilbert.

Cutter. Do I even need to restate it, this man dragged a grand piano to space so he could dramatically play it before his evil plans. He would eat up a villain number and enjoy every single second of the performance too. Starts out falsely pleasant and sweet, the ominous vibes slowly come in until they’re in full swing.

Eiffel. He’d also insist this was stupid and try to refuse to sing or would awkwardly or sarcastically sing a weird song, but would eventually break down and sing something quiet and heartfelt about Anne and whether he can even be a hero now after all he’s done.

I hope this post finds the right people. Please someone understand my vision!

[morethansky]

As promised, my thoughts on Tech's fate.

If you think they changed their minds about revealing Tech to be alive, you might not want to read this. I'm not trying to debate or dissuade anyone; this is just my personal take.

Also, please be forewarned that this is quite Hunter critical. I love to write the man, but god, he’s so bad for my blood pressure.

This is still such a hard thing for me to talk about. To be honest, I ducked out of the TBB fandom between the time when i finished “i keep what i can of you” and S3 started because it felt like I couldn’t say what I thought without either hurting the people who thought Tech was dead and were traumatized or inciting the wrath of those believed he was alive, some of whom got so haughty and/or oddly hostile whenever any other possibilities were stated in their vicinity. It seems that after I left, the opposite started happening too? The hellish fandom ouroboros.

Anyway, so here are my unfiltered thoughts, because I might explode if I don't write them down. After I watched “Plan 99,” I thought Tech was dead, and I was extremely traumatized and hysterical about it. I remember that night I couldn’t sleep, and I stayed up till morning trying to process the sense of betrayal I felt and figure out what to do with the sweet little WIP I had been working on, which was about Tech and Wrecker facing the concept of death for the first time. (I have now rewritten it to be much darker but for Tech to live, and as CX-2, so I hope that proves I mean well with this post.)

Because it’s me and it’s media, I was not only traumatized but also furious. To be frank, I’m not usually this deeply affected by character deaths. I have written a lot of major character death fics and grief/mourning is a component of like 60 percent of my writing. In fact, when character deaths are done well, I think they’re fantastic. The worthy, well-done ones can make the characters shine even more brightly.

That is not the case here. Tech dies for literally nothing. The protagonists don’t achieve anything at all from it besides returning to square one, less a member. They don’t find the coordinates to Tantiss. They don’t find anything about who Hemlock is or what the Advanced Science Division does. They don’t overhear any vital intel from the meeting with all the Imperial bigwigs. They don’t gain any insight from Saw. They don’t even find out whether Crosshair was actually in captivity and whether his saying Plan 88 was him laying a trap for them or not.

And that is some of the worst messaging I’ve ever seen in a Y-7 American action cartoon. And believe me, I’ve watched a lot of them.

Allow me to beat the dead horse one last time. Finally, after two entire seasons of the show, a member of the main cast is like, “Hey, remember how Crosshair used to be one of us? Even if he kind of sucks, shouldn’t we help him? He did just try to warn us.” And I was ECSTATIC. Didn’t expect the autistic character to be the one to be like, no, fuck you, we should do the right thing no matter the risk (autistic characters are so often morally gray and it’s so frustrating), but I loved it so much! That’s me!!

…And then he literally dies because he wanted to do the right thing. Hunter, the character who does not want to help people, who rejects the idea of going to Eriadu and has to be convinced otherwise, IS PROVEN CORRECT. What the ever-loving fuck is that messaging? That’s right, kids—if you selflessly try to help other people, you’ll be killed. So maybe don’t bother, actually. And this show just underlines that message over and over again! The only people who matter are those you consider family. Everyone else can rot. In fact, people who are willing to risk their lives to help people are foolish and idealistic. The things Hunter says to Echo are repeatedly so fucked up ("When will it be enough?" Dude wtf???), and it's nuts that the show doesn't offer Hunter's narrow-minded perspective as a contrast to Echo's determination to do the right thing—it offers Echo as a contrast to Hunter's motivations to retire (which we understand because when the two of them split up, we follow Hunter instead of Echo—and not even in addition to Echo! He only shows up again because he's visiting Hunter's story!).

That’s straight-up American conservative ideology. I will never not be pissed at them for making the fucking deuteragonist—and a clone character at that—like that. And in Star Wars! The franchise that is overwhelmingly and consistently about fighting fascists! Made by the company founded and based in the Bay Area, the most progressive region of the country!!!

To be frank, I almost turned the TV off right then. But I thought, okay…a horrible way to get to it, but…maybe now is the moment? Maybe now they’ll finally join Echo and Rex, and be super determined to find Tantiss and Crosshair and the many other clones whose designations were on the roster—to complete the mission that Tech so passionately insisted on before he sacrificed himself.

BUT NO! Hunter immediately pressures Omega into going to Pabu. And why wouldn’t he? The narrative proved him right! By trying to do the right thing, Tech died. So we’ll just go back to ignoring the suffering of countless beings across the galaxy, including our own kind. Millions of straight-up metaphorical versions of us. Cool.

And then Omega gets captured. So because Tech wants to do the right thing, he dies, and because Omega agrees with him, she gets taken away. And then suddenly Hunter puts away Pabu entirely and becomes super gung-ho about finding her. Which is just…why did they write him like this. Why did they even have the conversation about Pabu?? Leaving it out would have made Hunter's motivations flow so much better. Because by introducing that, they invite the crucial question: Why was that what it took for him to stop running but losing Crosshair and Tech didn’t??? Because he only cares about this one child's well-being and it's his single motivation as a character???

A contingent of Crosshair fans have seemed to vocally dislike Hunter from the start because he left Crosshair, and I’m like no, you don’t understand. It’s not about the character, it’s about the writing. In some cases, it does end up being the character rather than the writing, and you can usually tell because the writing condemns that in the character. Not here though! Hunter's decisions throughout the show are celebrated by it. And Hunter gets his way, as we see now with them retiring on Pabu and ignoring the fight even as "the Rebellion needs pilots now more than ever." Thank god the finale at least posited that Echo was also right, which is kind of like the bare minimum they could've done in that regard.

So Tech’s death hit me particularly hard because it felt like just a waste of two entire episodes, a waste of an enjoyable character they had just given some really poignant depth, and a waste of the chance to give Hunter the character development I was desperate for—and also like a betrayal, a slap in the face, because it was like the show was saying that heroes are stupid, that Tech was foolish for wanting to do the right thing. Which is nuts given the rest of the SW animated oeuvre. And is fucking hurtful. And bad for kids.

So when the theories about Tech’s survival started floating around that night, I thought, okay, yeah, maybe this was such a stupid death and waste of screen time because it’s to set up something really cool. I could get behind that, even if the entire setup would still be faulty and honestly kind of repulsive to me.

I engulfed everyone’s theories in those weeks I spent mourning, desperate to be convinced—but as much as I wanted to believe there was a plan at work, I just couldn’t buy it 100 percent because…would the people who wrote this awful arc, and who made all the oddest choices possible at any given time throughout both seasons thus far, really intend to set up and execute something so well thought out and complex?

Of course not. People kept being like, “We have to trust the writers. They have a grand plan. They wouldn’t just throw away Tech. It would be ableist, and that’s why he’s not dead.” Like??? The show was already ableist! One of the main characters is disabled and his being disabled is specifically relevant to why he’s even in this squad and in this show—and it’s never remotely discussed! The closest is the most oblique reference ever to how Echo doesn't like to be alone. That's it. Just because they actually managed to write this wonderful moment about Tech being autistic doesn’t mean their track record was suddenly irrelevant! Killing off their neurodivergent character is exactly the kind of ableist shit they would do! And see now: Crosshair's hand. Also Echo suddenly having a hand after not having one for so long and it being completely untouched upon. It's par for the course!

So the Tech Lives theories all hinged on the writing being really clever, but I just. Already hated so much of the writing, and it felt way more likely that they were just continuing to be bad writers and continuing to go with the poorer plot choice option every single time they had the opportunity to go a direction that would be thought provoking and emotionally affecting.

I felt very much and very sadly proven right when the season started, and we got no mention of Tech being dead until the FIFTH episode. The Batch never talked about Crosshair and why he tried to kill them, so I guess why would they talk about Tech dying, sigh. And it was so bizarre how people were arguing that Omega and Crosshair's little exchange about Tech was super touching and gave us everything we needed. It absolutely did not! The fact that we couldn't agree on whether Crosshair even knew tells you everything you need to know about the wacky writing choices! Why was it so vague?? They literally could have added one word:

Crosshair: Did they teach you plan 72? Omega: Mm-hmm. Tech had me memorize all the plans, before... Crosshair: Of course he did.

On that note, I began to feel uneasy about the fandom again, because it started feeling like an echo chamber, and I was worried everyone was getting too hyped about something that might not happen, and even if it did, might end up being some kind of poorly done fanservice. I started seeing a lot of defensive posts being like, “Well, the reason they’re not mentioning Tech is because he’s not dead, and you’re an idiot, unlike me, if you’re falling for their sneaky tricks.”

Like??? The prevalence of ride-or-die sentiments like that started making me feel like I was losing my grip on reality and watching a completely different show from everyone else. Wouldn’t the dramatic effect of Tech being alive be strengthened by the characters all mourning him, thus making us mourn him, thus making the plot twist that he’s alive even more effective?? Wouldn't the characters being shown to be affected by his death instead of just ignoring it be the most promising sign of his impending return?

To me, the characters not mourning Tech meant that the writers had put him aside and moved on (which is, again, terrible writing because it doesn’t give the viewers the space to grieve and then move on, and it makes the characters feel terribly heartless, which, well. At least they were consistent). And that blasé moving on made the possibility of him being dead WAY more likely to me. Of course they would kill their neurodivergent character and then just all but pretend it didn't happen. Of course they would act as if he had just been a convenient plot device! Of course they would only bring him up and act like they missed him when he wasn't there to miraculously do the characters' work for them and the writers' work for them! Fuck that so hard.

So then “Infiltration” and “Extraction” were a big surprise! I was like, oh, huh, guess I was totally wrong and they’re really doing it, wow. Okay, let’s see if they can actually pull it off. I liked the writing a lot better this season, so it felt more plausible that they were finally getting down to business. The fact that the clues felt so heavy handed was kind of weird to me, and I complained a lot about there not being red herrings, but I love a good Came Back Wrong story, so I was willing to believe I had been too pessimistic and cynical, as I often am.

After “Bad Territory” and “The Harbinger,” however, I started doubting it again. Fitting both this M-count mystery that had already taken up so much screen time plus a Tech Lives mystery just felt like a lot of ground to cover, and this was the show that couldn’t even seem to fit more than five seconds of the main characters being sad about the death of their squad mate. Did they really have what it would take to pace it?

Of course not!!!

After “Point of No Return,” I started to feel like if they did bring Tech back, it would be at the cost of it being done poorly. And to me, for his purported death AND his resurrection to be badly written would be way worse than just the former. And the draw of the whole Winter Soldier deal is the fallout; the guilt and doubt the characters harbor; the way they have to reckon with the fact that even if their loved one is back, they will never be the same again, because they did die in a way—and the less time allotted after a reveal like that, the fewer of those key things there would be, which would just make it feel so tacked on for cheap shock value and social media chatter. Especially because there had been so little buildup to such a thing at the beginning of the season. These writers' abilities are just not remotely close to Ed Brubaker's, y'all.

Then Rampart being introduced afterward felt like the death knell (oop) because it was a new plot thread they would need to wrap up by the end. But the Clone X thread was still dangling, so I felt like it wasn’t out of the question. But I guess after my complaints about the Tech connections being too obvious and there needing to be more red herrings, it turned out that the Tech connections themselves were the red herrings.

Although I feel like that's probably even giving the writers too much credit. I don't know if I really believe they were trying to mislead us. I feel like they just clumsily ended up doing things that coincided with the Tech Lives theories. Like I honestly wouldn't be surprised if when they used "domicile" it was completely without realizing they had previously had Tech say it and that this would lead to the viewers drawing an erroneous conclusion. They probably just wanted CX-2 to say something fancy and mysterious tbh, and the same words tend to float in writers' minds. Rip us.

I guess now I understand what I could never work out—if CX-2 was Tech, then why did he so specifically use rifles like Crosshair does and so proficiently, i.e. specifically better than Crosshair did? Why wouldn't he dual wield hand blasters?

Also, although I was in some ways relieved that at least they didn't write a bad resurrection for Tech, and there's absolutely no way it wouldn't have been shit if it'd just been shoved anywhere in the last three episodes, all this is not to say the Clone X concept didn't end up being super hamfisted as well. Just the fact that there are other Clone X types with different weapons and uniforms makes the concept even more confusing. Clearly these guys were meant to mirror the Batch, but then why did all the ones we encountered before CX-2 wear the same uniform as him?? Did they sort the clones into categories of which Clone X they would be? It would actually be cool if the point was to sow fear in the galaxy because it would seem like the person in the CX-2 suit was undefeatable, especially because they were completely covered and their build would be the same every time. But that would be too cool and coherent for this show, sigh.

Also, was Hemlock project managing them, or was Scorch? Neither really makes sense, but who was sending them after Rex's rebel cell? Was there a military higher-up giving the Advanced Science Division that directive? Why did CX-2 and the one that Rex's cell captured hate Crosshair so much? Why the fuck did CX-2 cut off his hand???

Anyway. I could go on forever, but I think at the end of the day, we all read too much into it because we are just collectively better writers than the writers are tbh. Sadly, a classic fandom experience. I guess what ultimately saved me the most from heartbreak and allowed me to earnestly enjoy the finale was that I had already spent a year believing Tech had died and suffered through my grief (by, you guessed it, writing a grief/mourning fic), and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was no way these writers could pull off something so emotional and complex. I swear I didn’t actually want to be right!

I think if nothing else, one thing we can all agree on is that Tech surviving could’ve been one kickass story, and it was a hell of a missed opportunity.

[drawbauchery]

I'm curious about the recovery timeline. Sakura and Aoi were there to help with Shuichi and Kaede. Does that mean there was quite a big gap between DR1 and DR3's killing games in this AU?

Are all of the DR1 cast recovered (as much as can be expected) by the time the DR2 cast's killing game occurred and ready to help or was there a crossover where the two classes were in the hospital together? Were there still DR1/DR2 cast members in the hospital as patients when the DR3 killing game happened or were they all out by then and ready to help with physiotherapy and whatever else?

I'm asking because I can't get over how sad it would be those who had recovered well were in one room helping another group of traumatised people with physiotherapy whilst thinking about how some of their friends are still in the hospital dealing with the same stuff.

uruhhmm...again we don't really have it mapped out yet, i'm no good at this and i'm taking a LOT of liberties so bear with me. but i think all of these are relatively close together. makoto's class is rescued by the future foundation and the ones who "died" are holed up in the hospital wing. i'm gonna say it's maybe just a few months before the remnants are captured and 2 happens.

so by the time the remnants wake up from their comas (and are also placed in the ff hospital wing because they're too messed up to take care of themselves on jabberwock) it's likely makoto's class is mostly (physically) recovered but now unable to function like they used to. leon, hifumi, & mondo especially spend the most time in and out of the hospital even when the others in their class have recovered.

v3 here is not part of a dumb meta show, it's run by a cult trying to replicate junko's "work" (dr1 was broadcast after all, and tsumugi became inspired). so i'm gonna say tsumugi started planning her masterpiece at the same time that the remnants were mucking around, during peak chaos times. right when the remnants wake from their comas in the hospital is when tsumugi streams v3.

SO. makoto's class is pretty much post-recovery while hajime & shuichi's classes share hospital time. they don't mingle much, but the survivors get to know each other and hajime takes care of the v3 class along with his own.

[spnfanficpond]

Weekly Pond Newsletter

Monday is President's Day in the US, which means if you work in parts of the government or banking system you might have the day off work. If you're in retail, you're probably working a sale. Sorry about that. In honor of the day, though, let us know about fics set in the White House! Reblog or reply with a link to your favorite Presidential fics!!

Old Business:

Fishing For Treasures - This weekend is FFT weekend here at the Pond, and this month's theme is SMUT!! Since we got almost 250 links sent to us, and we can only queue 50/day, this weekend will end sometime on Wednesday. Enjoy!! 🤣

#TweetFicTues prompts - Since we missed the last two weeks, we've got three sets of prompts for you!

New Business:

Weekend Giveaways in the Discord server - The past few weeks, Admin Michelle has been cleaning out her collections of random things in her office by giving them away! We have now added a new channel just for giveaways! This weekend, you could win a near-pristine copy of the EW Ultimate Guide to Supernatural edition! All you have to do is drop a link in the giveaways channel for a fic that features the bond between Dean and Sam. Can be Wincest or gen fic, just as long as the bond between them is central to the story!

Manta Rays in the Discord server - This week, Manta Rays Arthur and Spencer will be spending time in the Discord server chatting with you! Keep an eye out for announcement posts with exact dates and times, or take a look at our calendar. (You can also add our calendar to your Google calendar by clicking this link.)

Jason Manns and Paul Carella in the UK online - Jason Manns is across the pond touring with Paul Carella for the next week or so, and they're going to stream their VIP show online next weekend! Click here to learn more and get tickets!

SPN Rewatch: Fanfic Edition - Next weekend we are having another chat in our series rewatch, and we'll be discussing 1.19 Provenance and 1.20 Dead Man's Blood. Sam kisses a girl! John returns! Vampires exist! So much to talk about!!

Writing Sprints - Our sprint room is open all the time to anyone who wants to sprint, but next weekend you can win prizes for sprinting! Since a few have asked, writing sprints are where we set a timer, for usually 15-20 minutes but that is up to those sprinting, and you just write. You compete to see who can write the most words. They don't have to be polished words, just words on the page/screen. Some of our members use it kind of like ADHD body-doubling, even if there's no one else around to sprint with them! Competitive sprints mean you get to win prizes, too! If you have any questions about sprints, feel free to ask.

Angel Fish Awards - February is almost over, which means the monthly raffle deadline is approaching! Every fic rec you submit is one entry into the drawing, and there is no limit to how many you can submit! Spread some love and win prizes, too!! Here's a link to January's Awards, and more info about how it all works can be found at this link here.

(Divider by @glygriffe!)

That's all for this week! To see all Pond events, and also other SPN-related things like conventions and online concerts, check out our Google calendar! Click here for a static view in Eastern US/Canada time (desktop only, no mobile app access, sadly), and click here to add our calendar to your own Google calendar! We try to keep it as up-to-date as possible. If there's something you want to see on the calendar that's not there (maybe a convention we missed, cast birthdays, or something similar), send us an ASK and let us know!

Hope you have a great week! - From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @spencereliotwinchester and @heavenssexiestangel!

[personwithatophat]

Intresting concepts, I love where you're going with that idea. I needed some expansion on that ngl and you fully cooked there /pos (Also hi Tophat)

What thoughts do you have on the idea Austin can see everything/the fact he either has no filter or a broken filter? Why would he be given this ability by Showfall besides the idea of an entertainment asset?

Hello! o/ thank you and good followup because austin is my crutch so i appreciate making me take it head on. (feel free to challenge my theories it helps me build them! :] ) As for austins filter being broken, I think the theory is good but incomplete. Austin does have a filter and has involvement, but it clearly works differently. in fact most of the 'filter items' have their own rules that they go by, its not a uniform model.

and a bit of this has to do with just how the show works sneegs hat isn't wired into his skull because he takes it off a couple times during the show or moves it around charlie has some kind of base program where he can run multiple items at once since during episode 2 he was wearing the glasses and the headphones and there are theories that details like this such as placement, hardware, etc have an effect on the items' limitations. for example, sneeg doesn't have surgically implanted hardware so he can't run two items like Charlie can and when they try, it shorts out and we get the ep 2 hat scene. or that other cast members couldn't be 'The Hero' since ranboos mask is necessary and capable of more complex sequences. that being said I've seen people speculate that Austins item is his jacket, which is entirely possible but it makes it confusing when he actually takes it off in the dressing room. so I'm going to pivot to the theory that he doesn't have a formal item. "so he doesn't have a filter?" not what I said. During the beginning of ep 2 before sneeg gets soft rebooted he doesn't actually have a filter item either and is still very much in character, he doesn't even recognize ranboo, we have hard proof that this is possible. and we know Austin is filtered/playing a character just by how he's acting in general. Austin as a showfall media victim has no reason to lie about having a wife and several children. why wouldn't he have a formal item? maybe because he was originally written to get double-tapped in Nikki's place in scene 1. Its very up for interpretation still but I believe a lot of this stems from the way that Austin is compared. Specifically how he gets compared to ranboo and sneeg when Ethan dies. i would like to counterpoint this with the way that Austins character is built for the episode. desperate, afraid, ......straight. but at the same time, he stalls to catwalk in the closet, mouthes off to puzzler questioning him having children, and is also very gay. so I think there might be some difference in writing. So yes, Austin is the only one who has a normal and more aware response to Ethan's death. Austin is also the only one there that isn't 3 layers deep in meta.

during this moment Austin is the only one freaking out but consider the company. ranboo is an NPC at this point. he got factory reset and basically has a cap over free thought, right now the only thing in his brain is the objective to go through the show. Austin is still in his role of character trying to escape this actual saw trap he's stuck in, his panic is as warranted in character as it is out so he panics and when the others don't it freaks him out more. sneeg on the opposite side of the spectrum is knee-deep in lethargy. sneeg is actually the one seeing everything how it is and can't respond to any of it so he doesn't care about anything anymore. after his soft reboot sneeg can still see but he's confined to the roll, I want to make a separate sneeg post because he's actually the one I think people view Austin as. so yeah I think that Austin has something going on but I think it's a step to the left of the current theories. sneeg is where the real awareness is feel free to ask me for any clarification on this since I jumped around a lot or if you have other questions/theories because this is epic :D -Tophat

[lemotmo]

I feel like something has to have happened behind the scenes. I don't know if it has anything to do with anyone being told specific story arcs, because I have no idea how 911 does those things in the off-season so I don't want to assume any of the actors have been told anything. The radio silence from Oliver is not abnormal or unexpected this is kind of his routine. I feel like the interviews that came out with Ryan immediately following the season finale you could tell he was not thrilled with the storyline. He's had time to rest, reflect and maybe been given some ideas about the upcoming season and this interview came across much more positive. I do think he was comfortable with the interviewer as well, which is always noticeable with Oliver and Ryan.

The absolute radio silence from Lou across the board is the big mystery here. First he completely shuttered his cameo account. He went from multiple daily posts about 911 and Tommy to absolutely nothing. He's no longer liking posts. He's no longer replying to Twitter messages. Absolute silence. I know some people are saying it's because he was 'attacked' and is just taking a break but I don't buy that at all. You don't go from being a complete attention seeker to dormant because a few people called you out on Twitter. Now you have his goon squad talking about how they're being blocked by people who work on the show, and the jounos who cover the show have started publicly calling them out, which they've never done before (as far as I can remember?) to Tim flat out saying it was a mistake to have ever engaged in the first place even out of politeness.

I don't know but it's weird how sudden it was. I saw one post on Twitter this morning where one of his fans (gag me) said they were getting a little concerned because not only did the BTS videos show a clear separation between him and Oliver when they're not rolling but now Kenny, who I guess was the one cast member who 'liked' Lou's posts had stopped doing that shortly before Lou went dark. Ryan pretty much debunking all their nonsense in one interview didn't help their cause either. I don't know, this got rambly but it's noticable and it's odd so I'm very curious what happened.

Hey Nonny. I must admit that I'm a bit hesitant to post your message on my blog. Mostly because I always try to stay respectful towards people. But I really wanted to reply to this, so I decided to go for it.

For anyone coming across this: Me replying to this message is not an invite to send hatred my way. I myself am not hating on anything or anyone. I simply want to give my input and opinion on this message that was sent to me, since it's an interesting topic. Remember, every opinion is valid and it's okay to post about your opinion on your own blog.

Ryan did seem so much happier doing this interview. You could see that he wasn't struggling to look for answers that were 'acceptible'. So yeah, I do think something shifted bts. I can't know for sure, but to me it seems that he got a YES for the storyline he has been wanting to do for a couple of seasons now. So yeah, I choose to believe that this is about queer Eddie's journey.

As for Lou. I have no idea what happened there. It's possible the showrunners talked to him about the cameos or his recent behaviour on social media. I don't know and I also don't want to spend too much of my precious time speculating about a man I really don't like. Ultimately I don't think it matters. I don't see him lasting very long in season 8.

Basically the truth is that we don't know for sure what is going on. He could just be on a vacation for all we know. I think the guy earned enough cameo money over the last couple of months to afford a trip to the Maledives. :D

As for all the other stuff... again, I don't know. Did it seem like he didn't get along with the rest of the cast? Yes. Is it true that Ryan talked about a lot of subjects that were used against him by certain people in the fandom? Yes.

Are some of the BT fans really 'passionate' about the ship and do some questionable things because of that? Yes. But please keep in mind that not everyone is like that. I know some perfectly reasonable fans that just like the BT ship dynamic. I might not understand it, but it's their take and it's valid. We need to keep them in mind as well when we speak about the BT fandom. It doesn't do any good to lump everyone together in one big general heap of shippers. Everyone is different. It's the same in the Buddie fandom.

So, look... am I curious about what is going on bts? Hell yes. But mostly in function of how they are planning Eddie's coming out and the eventual Buddie of it all. The rest is really not that important anymore.

All we can do now is focus on the things we do know: the possibility of queer Eddie Diaz in season 8? BIG HUGE YES!

[themuse-if]

Another 20 (or so) Questions with Jo Nielsen

Interviewer: Welcome to another installment of our character interviews, where we dive deep into the lives and minds of our favorite cast members of The Muse. Today, we have Jo Nielsen with us, the drummer of The Rebel Rejects. Jo, thank you for joining us. Could you start by telling us what made you want to pursue music?

Jo: Hey, thanks for having me. Music has always been my refuge, especially after the tumultuous experiences of my upbringing. The drums, in particular, spoke to me – they're like my voice, expressing all the emotions I couldn't put into words.

Interviewer: How would you describe your music?

Jo: My drumming style is raw and energetic, I really feed off of Ro and De's energy. I tend to really let loose and leave it all on the kit. We have a blend of punk and post-punk, with slight influences from other genres thanks to De's eclectic taste.

Interviewer: How do you want to be seen by others?

Jo: I want to be seen as someone who's genuine and empathetic, who's been through struggles but still finds joy in life's simple pleasures.

Interviewer: How do you want your art to be seen by others?

Jo: I want my drumming to resonate with people, to be a source of comfort and empowerment. I want it to inspire others to find their own voice, just like music did for me.

Interviewer: What is your latest obsession?

Jo: I've been obsessed with hiking! I really love being outdoors, so I've been trying to hit all my favorite trails at home this summer before the move to university.

Interviewer: Describe your best friend(s).

Jo: De and Ro are literally the most amazing people I’ve ever met. When I first transitioned into normal life I wasn’t really sure what types of relationships I would form, but they showed up in my life and made me feel so seen and secure. They show me so many types of beauty in everything and truly keep me grounded when I’m feeling…lost. I know it’s cheesy but I would definitely say we’re soulmates.

Interviewer: Wow it sounds like you found true kindred spirits in De and Ro, that’s lovely. Could you describe your ideal partner?

Jo: Someone who's understanding and patient, who accepts me for who I am and supports my passions. Someone who's willing to go on adventures and explore the world with me. Also they have to get along with my friends, it’s an automatic deal breaker if they don’t.

Interviewer: What was your first kiss like?

Jo: I don’t really like to talk about it…it was a bit traumatic… I will tell you about what I like to think of as my first kiss. It was actually with Ro. *chuckles* I know, I know what you’re thinking, but it was actually really sweet. I had just finished opening up to them about my past and they asked me if I wanted a redo. It was nice…soft and gentle. Ro can actually be really sweet.   

Interviewer: Aw that's so cute! Ad I'm sorry but I have to ask, have you kissed since?

Jo: *starts to blush furiously* I uh…maybe once or twice…I mean did Ro say anything?

Interviewer: *stifles a laugh* Mmm I think I’ll let you ask them yourself. Moving on, have you ever been in love?

Jo: Not yet, but I believe in love and all its complexities. I think when it happens, it'll be a beautiful and transformative experience.

Interviewer: When was your last relationship, and why did it end?

Jo: I haven't been in a serious relationship yet. Honestly I had never even had real friends before Jo and De. I've been so focused on my music and my friends that I hadn’t really thought about dating. 

Interviewer: What’s your ideal Friday night?

Jo: I love just hanging out with the band, whether it’s practice, a gig, or just staying in. It’s alway super fun when we’re together.

Interviewer: What’s the last song you listened to?

Jo: "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. It's a classic that always hits me right in the feels.

Interviewer: How do you behave in a relationship?

Jo: I think I'd be a supportive partner, someone who's always there for their significant other no matter what. I believe in mutual respect and understanding in a relationship. I like to do little things for the people I love to show them I care.

Interviewer: Do you approach those you’re interested in or let them come to you?

Jo: I think it depends on the situation. I'm not afraid to make the first move if I feel a connection, but I also believe in letting things happen naturally.

Interviewer: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Jo: People who are closed-minded or judgmental. I believe in acceptance and understanding, so it frustrates me when others can't see things from different perspectives.

Interviewer: What do you notice first about a person?

Jo: Their energy. I believe in vibes, and I can usually tell right away if someone is genuine and authentic.

Interviewer: What did you dream about last night?

Jo: I think it was more of a nightmare…*gets comically serious* I dreamt I was on stage completely naked, with just me and my drum kit. And I was using bananas instead of drumsticks. AND even worse the audience was throwing bananas at me! *hides face in hands* That’ll teach me to eat a banana before bed.

Interviewer: *doubles over laughing* Alright Jo...not to suddenly get serious but... This is the final question, and I know this is a sensitive subject for you, but I have to ask. What's "the incident" that caused you and you mother to transition back into normal life?

Jo: *sighs so deeply* I... honestly... I still don't think that I'm ready to share that just yet. It's very personal and I only feel comfortable sharing that information with someone who has thoroughly earned my trust.

Interviewer: I understand, I'm sure it takes a lot for you to even open up this much. Thank you for today. It's been wonderful getting to learn more about you.

[danielfeketewrites]

Red Dwarf: Polymorph

It's Red Dwarf Day! Nice! Maybe I should finally get around to writing the post about the script I've read like a month ago...

Oh, Red Dwarf Day was yesterday? Oh well. Anyway - Polymorph.

About two years ago, during my third year of uni, I went to a charity shop and found some Red Dwarf treasures - namely, Red Dwarf Omnibus (which features the first two books, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life, as well as the pilot script) for 1.99 and this, Primordial Soup, for 1.49... An absolute bargain!

Primordial Soup collects six Red Dwarf scripts, picked as favourite episodes of the two writers (Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, together forming the gestalt entity "Grant Naylor") at the time:

Season 3: Polymorph + Marooned

Season 4: Dimension Jump + Justice

Season 5: Back to Reality

Season 6: Psirens

I still haven't seen all of Red Dwarf, but Polymorph has to be one of my favourite episodes, if not the favourite episode. In these posts, I try to think of something I've maybe learned from reading the script and such. But here? I think the lesson is - if you already have a TV show (or a storytelling platform of any kind for that matter), just have fun with it! Don't get bogged down by what the series is or should be and do something stupid instead! Are you doing a silly character-based comedy? JUST ADD THE FUCKING THING FROM JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING. Yeah, of course, that tracks.

You've got to admit - sitcoms don't tend to have an actual sense of danger. And yes, by the time we get to the scene with Rimmer's mother, that danger isn't really there any more, but I really think there was some. And there certainly is some again in the ending. (Although, admittedly, I prefer the other ending, as it was the first version of Polymorph I've seen. But yeah, the script ends with a "Lister" - his head spins around while his body is static, then he grins into the camera and walks off... Properly sinister stuff. This episode really is John Carpenter's The Thing as a sitcom.)

Alright, there's one more thing to learn here. It all comes back to something my teacher at uni said about writing sitcom characters - base them around their flaws. And what might those flaws be? Start with seven deadly sins.

While not all of the negative emotions eaten by Polymorph are on this list - some of them definitely are. And you can see how Polymorph was created as a specifically sitcom threat, as by removing "negative emotions", we remove who those characters really are. Polymorph, with a surgical percision, is a mutant designed to eat sitcoms.

It's not just a sci-fi parody, it's genuinely clever. Also, it's a good way to approach an ensemble episode, ie one where the focus isn't on a single member of the cast, the focus is on the whole crew.

So yeah, Polymorph is great. What a surprise.

As I've already mentioned, I read this script from a published collection. Which means it wasn't formatted properly... But that's probably a good thing, as Red Dwarf was very likely written in the older format of a studio script, which is just a pain to read. So, on this occasion, I prefer it that way. We're probably gonna get around to me ranting against some of the formatting in published scripts in the future.

Anyway, I'm gonna end this post with the scene that made me burst out laughing. It's the afforementioned scene with Rimmer's mother. I did remember a lot of the jokes in Polymorph, but not this one and it really caught me off guard in the best possible way. Enjoy!

[markantonys]

previously i'd speculated all 4 polycule members will meet at falme at the end of s2, but the more i think about it, the more i suspect min won't go to falme in the show.

a) no sign of her in any of the images/shots from falme we have so far, or in the pic of the 3 wondergirls preparing for a trip. of course, i can't base an argument that she won't be in falme only on the fact that we don't have proof that she will be, but at the very least, we don't have proof that she will be.

b) unless they plan to significantly change her one non-rand-centric canon storyline, she needs to be at the white tower in season 3. no one else who will end s2 in falme will be headed for tar valon in s3 (no, for the love of god, egwene and elayne are NOT going to make a detour there in s3 just so they can take the accepted tests their stories don't actually need them to take), so it feels unlikely to me that min would travel halfway across the continent back to the white tower all by herself rather than joining one of the other roadtrips or being asked to join by someone who wants her viewings to help them out (for example, elayne and nynaeve would surely be eager for her help with black ajah hunting). not impossible, but just kinda clunky to have her go from tar valon to falme back to tar valon in quick succession rather than simply staying in tar valon the whole time.

c) the only things we know for certain about min in s2 are that her aunts have been cast and that at some point she is standing in front of a window that looks like the window in what appears to be rand's inn room in cairhien in the trailer (this is a quick post so i'm not digging up screenshots, but i did a window comparison the other day and confirmed that min's window defs is similar to/the same as the window in that shot of rand channeling fire alone at night). we also know for certain from s1 that her hometown is tar valon in the showverse, and we can predict with decent confidence that siuan makes a trip to cairhien in s2 while rand is there. now let's pull all this together into a prediction.

after losing her livelihood in fal dara, min heads home to her aunts in tar valon, and tar valon is where we first see her in season 2. maybe we start with a taste of her home life (so that she can actually have a backstory and relationships outside of rand), and then she winds up in the white tower (maybe because moiraine suspects she'd go to tar valon after leaving fal dara and has gotten word to siuan to keep an eye out for her). she spends an episode or two or three forming connections with siuan, the wondergirls, and possibly mat, and maybe having her powers studied by aes sedai or trying to research them herself. siuan gets wind (probably from moiraine) that rand is the dragon reborn and is currently in cairhien, so around mid/mid-late season, she travels there with logain (whom she hopes can teach rand to channel) and min (whom she hopes might have useful viewings about rand) in tow. the three of them spend one episode there and all return to tar valon at the end of it so they'll be in place for their s3 storyline. this is the last we see of min, siuan, and logain in s2.

i'll also add a very flimsy d) i read some random person on the internet claim that kae alexander isn't a regular in s2, so if true, that would likely mean she doesn't appear in all 8 episodes, which could in turn mean she'll be absent from the late season if my speculation that she'll be present in the early and middle season is correct.

so, what are the story implications of min not going to falme? honestly..........not much. the fact that she was kidnapped by the seanchan and witnessed their abuse of egwene firsthand had so little effect on her in subsequent books that i had genuinely completely forgotten it had happened by about book 4. i remember thinking later in the series "huh, i remember min was at falme, but how the hell did she even get there?" and drawing a total blank! her involvement in that storyline was literally never referenced again after TDR-ish. so i could imagine that rafe & co might have taken a look at her long-term book arc (lmao at the idea that min even has a long-term book arc to look at!) and decided to jettison her falme stuff because it never plays a role in her story again, especially if the restructuring of other characters' timelines means that min being in falme would make it difficult for her to make it to her much-more-important tower storyline in s3.

what does this mean for polycule development? again, not much. it would be a small bummer to lose the chance of min and aviendha meeting before either gets involved with rand, but that's not a big deal because i'm still confident the show will make much more of an effort to develop their relationship in later seasons than the books did. i do worry that we might lose out on some TGH min-elayne bonding (more because of min's potential cairhien trip than her potential falme absence), but as long as they have some hangout time in an early episode(s) of s2 and get to spend more time together later on than they do in the books, that's okay.

min would lose the TGH confrontation with lanfear over rand, but a) she would instead get more bonding time with an Actually Conscious rand during their cairhien episode, and that would be much more meaningful & believable relationship development than her telling lanfear she's got a claim on this rando she talked to one time, and b) i really am frothing at the mouth for that confrontation to go to egwene instead, with lanfear taunting her for choosing the tower over rand and that turning into a sort of "we may not be right for each other as romantic partners but i'll always love him in one way or another, so fuck off, lanfear" moment of closure for egwene like rand got in 1x08. and i for one would much prefer a natural, gradual relationship development for the polycule over the show broadcasting "Rand Is Fated To Have 3 Girlfriends, And Here's Who They Are" before anyone's remotely close to getting together, like the books did, and it would be all too easy for that broadcasting to happen if all 4 of them crossed paths at falme and if min had the confrontation with lanfear.

[devsmuses]

plotting call!!! hi friends! i've found myself wanting more in depth plotted roleplay threads, so i figured i'd post some dynamics, plots, and pairings i'm itching to play. feel free to shoot me a message if any of this sounds like something you'd want to write together!

• i have a gay nicholas galitzine oc, ezra, and i'm wanting to use him in some angsty mlm pairing. i always love a classic secret relationship plot, we could do something with one of the muses being closeted, maybe they are in a relationship, have a family, a wife, kids, and that's why they have to keep this thing with ezra a secret, but it's so complicated because they're beginning to fall for ezra. they want him, but they can't ruin the life they've built to be with him.

• i saw a post floating around where the female muse is a broken party girl who sleeps around and she works at a diner with the male muse who's just a nice guy, and she's always telling him he's too good for her, and maybe they've shared a few kisses, but she just won't let the male muse treat her right and take her out on a date. give me them working late in the diner together, give me the female muse complaining about her tragic love life to the male muse while he's thinking he could treat her better if she just let him, give me him bringing in a date to the diner or maybe a customer flirts with him in front of the female muse and now she's being short with him and acting jealous. ideally i'd like to use my devon lee carlson muse, kylie, but i'm open to using a different muse i already have.

• give me a pair of criminals who team up together and have to go on the run after their first big-hit doesn't go how they planned. give me them arguing about whose fault it was that their plans fell apart, give me them in a dingy motel together having to share a small bed, give me them finally bonding and maybe becoming just a lil flirty with each other. i can imagine them chatting and telling one another how they turned to a life of crime, and just detailing the old lives they left behind. give me them doing more jobs, give me them having to escape their motel when the cops show up randomly.

• something horror related or supernatural! give me something like scream, maybe one of our muses is the killer, or maybe they're both being stalked by ghostface and they're trying to survive! maybe they're each a child of someone from the og cast, like sidney's child, gale's child, etc. or it could also be fun to just each play one of the canon characters having to deal with ghostface being back again. this definitely needs further plotting!!!

• some kind of period roleplay! we could do like an arranged marriage royal plot, or maybe even some plot revolving around a band in the 70s/60s. for the royal period plot i would love for it to be wlw or mlm because that obviously raises the stakes. i imagine for the 60s/70s band plot to be a similar dynamic to daisy jones and the six. give me a romance between toxic band members. they shouldn't be together but they have to always be around one another, and their passion isn't the kind you can just ignore.

[castlebyersafterdark]

awww noah lmaoooo nooo the fan account thing! ok so some non-juice: one of my fam members is a creative and their product became viral famous for about 3 months a few summers ago cos a member of a huge K POP band bought one of their pieces and suddenly every fan of this band wanted a version of the item. they were snowed under and followers/engagement etc shot up. it was stressful and hilarious and great for business for a while lol. but i remember cracking up at seeing how this person i had always known became this semi-public figure and the way i was like I KNOW THE REAL UYOUUUUUU hhahahaha

i imagine that's what is happening here with noah, like it's oddly thrilling to view someone you know and love through the lens of strangers and fans who only know their fame. maybe noah is kind of laying down breadcrumbs for the future when they wont be able to film together anymore? or sort of celebrating finn's (and his!) fame by trying to view them through the lens of being a fan. this is such a reach but the psychology oddly works out for people with weird brains like me (im gonna reach and say noah is an Odd Brain too lol <3).

i remember timothee chalamet, when he got famous, saying he would stare at pictures of him and his mum for ages. just like trying to get your head around who you are and your relationships with people you love. its sort of like us staring at pics of finn and noah but its them doing it to themselves lmao. does that make sense? i bet loads of people have stared at selfies of themselves theyve taken where they think they look cute. i bet people have stared for hoursss lmao just revelling in how hot they looked that time

so yeah i see this as mildly freak behaviour (we all know noah is an actual stan lmao) but also a way of clutching the present before life changes forever

WILD that happened to a relative!!! The sudden fame must be such a mind fuck. I cannot imagine. Suddenly being perceived.

But that does drive a good point, the fact that despite being rich and famous, a lot of celebs do strive for a normal life. Maybe not the most tippy top of A listers, but Noah and most of the younger cast do seem able to at least somewhat navigate a famous life and a private life. He is so engaged with his online fandom and persona. That seems very apparent. Viewing the people you personally know and interact with through the lens of that fame must be very interesting to switch into. Like how they hang out and work together but can still be fans of each other's work and projects, the duality of knowing someone intricately and intimately but also the somewhat aloof distance of "but I'm also a fan of them." Like when you see major celebrities freaking out at awards show red carpets about seeing other celebs and I'll think - girl, that's your peer? You're also in movies? But they still feel that way. An oscar winner fangirling over another actress. Even if they might get lunch the next day. It's that duality line again.

So I can understand this fan account thing, two-fold interesting if there is a relationship afoot. That extra layer. For suuuuure, mild freak behavior, but he's lowkey a little weirdo. And we love that for him.

And only semi related but still kinda on topic. The whole perception of knowing someone and the image put online. Like, I don't even have a FB and I don't post on insta, but my fiance does (ohhh!!! that's the first time I've typed that word on this blog 🥲 oh wow...) and I have a private account to follow and occasionally look at stuff on there. And to see what he posts about me. I'm living my life. Living with the man. Experiencing the random things he photographs. But it's fascinating looking at what he decides to post and share. Because sometimes I think... why do that? I look and it makes me happy but I wonder, why these moments? Others like seeing them clearly by those who hit the little heart button. Why maintain an online presence? Before this digital world, people used to keep photo albums for themselves and family only, but now our photo albums are all shared with the world. Is that all it really is - the adjustment to a change in media tech? Who is it for?

But we can ask that of any person with social media. I guess for most people I'd think it's sharing a memory or showcasing happiness or some other emotion. It's just what most do now. The veneer of social media. You wonder the thought process behind what gets posted by these famous people we follow, what they think of knowing that the posts they add to their digital photo albums have millions of eyes looking. How a guy with a crush on a friend maybe just wanted to feel silly and watch some videos people online edited with his crush's image - or his partner, if a relationship is there. What is he looking for when he watches the edits? Pride, envy, humor?

Way too complex to even get into, I'm really rambling now.

[notmoreflippingelves]

"Would you ever write": 1) a narumitsu story (doesn't need to end well *smirk* Sorry I am mean XD ) 2) an Ace Attorney/Elena of Avalor crossover 3) a Krisnix fix-it ?

Yes and No

What I mean by that is that. No, I would never write a story where narumitsu is the exclusive and only focus. I'm not even sure that I could write a Phoenix & Edgeworth gen platonic story. I'm just not invested in their dynamic enough to want to center a fanwork about it.

However, I would be open to writing a story that incorporates narumitsu provided that it isn't the main/only focus. For instance, I might write a krisnix that has past narumitsu, unrequited narumitsu, or future narumitsu, but in those cases, krisnix would still be the "main" ship and the narumitsu would stay in the background. Even if the narumitsu is "endgame," I would absolutely imply that Phoenix will always be more than a little in love with Kristoph.

I would also be open to writing Phoenix and Edgeworth as part of a poly ship with someone else. I made a post a few days ago about how the introduction of nearly any third party into the Nick & Miles dynamic is somehow able to make me care about narumitsu. I think the most likely candidates for the 3rd member of the triad would naturally be Kristoph, followed closely by Lang. But I admit to also being curious about Lana or Blackquill. So who knows where it might go.

2. Maybe

I already have way too many works-in-progress/plot bunnies for both fandoms (plus a few other fandoms) to think seriously of adding to them. So I don't think it's particularly likely that I would write an AA + EoA crossover. However, I have actually put some considerable thought into how exactly a hypothetical crossover might work. (If I ever find a way to make my blorbos from each fandom interact in a way that makes sense, this could definitely change).

In the series finale of EoA's sister show Sofia the First, we are teased with the idea of multiple-dimensions/alternate universes existing within canon. The Ever Realm (where EoA and StF take place) is specifically identified as being in a distinct universe from NeverLand and the existence of NeverLand implies the existence of London. And given that London is the setting of the both the Ace Attorney/Layton crossover and the Ace Attorney prequel, we can assume that this universe would be compatible with the wider Ace Attorney franchise.

So due to ambiguous magical shenanigans (maybe involving Esteban's teleportation staff?) , the cast of Elena of Avalor could hypothetically dimension-hop into the same universe as the Ace Attorney characters. I think a crossover might work best if it was set primarily in Kingdom of Khur'ain from Spirit of Justice. It would still be quite an adjustment but definitely less of a culture shock than having the EoA crew land in modern-day Japanifornia.

I have thought a bit as well about some of the character interactions that I would love to see.

Esteban would not get along with Minister Inga, as he would remind Esteban of the worst aspects of himself (pompous, arrogant, ambitious). Nahyuta would also remind Esteban a lot of himself, in the sense of being , once-idealistic-but-grown-more-jaded as a result of being trapped from a young age under the thumb of a very powerful, cruel, and dangerous tyrant , being forced to do terrible things as a result but nevertheless clinging to their humanity through it all and trying to use what little influence they have to protect their family and country. I really think that they could really help each other heal. I also feel like Esteban might develop a crush on Dhurke Sahdmadhi, but he absolutely would not recognize it as a crush. He would just be all "he's so tall and mysterious and manly. like a hero from a storybook. I want him to think I am cool and smart and interesting too." (This is also how I head canon that Esteban hypothetically views Antonio Agama in universe--an actual crush that he mistakes for a very long time as being a man crush/hero-worship due to him being a very closeted, very repressed and even more oblivious distinguished disaster bi.)

Athena has the potential to develop some really powerful bonds with both Esteban and Elena. Elena's emotion dress magic and Athena's emotional-hearing + Widget provide an interesting point of commonality on discussing how they feel and process emotions in themselves and others--as well as how to cope when the strength and intensity of their feelings overwhelms them. Esteban, meanwhile, would not easily be able to hide his loneliness, guilt, and insecurity from Athena's super-hearing, nor from her compassion. Hear heart would go out to him and she would work on helping him see the good in himself/build himself back up as well as reminding the other characters to show him the affection, attention, and validation that he's always needed.

I feel like Mateo and Apollo would not get along. This is probably a combination of me projecting my Mateo apathy onto Apollo and the fact that Apollo is in general fairly prickly, hot-tempered, and judgy. They would squabble and I would live for it.

Klavier would absolutely flirt shamelessly with everyone. Gabe and Esteban just roll their eyes and Mateo and Elena would be oblivious. But Naomi...he would absolutely rub Naomi up the wrong way and she would bond with Ema over it. She eventually comes around to him, especially when he turns down the playboy persona and is a bit more genuine. I also feel pretty sure that Klavier and Prince Alonzo would start out as bitter rivals, abruptly become besties, and then maybe something more?

Ema and Isabel would absolutely talk each other's ears off about science, and thanks to Ema, Isa would probably enter her "forensics" era for awhile and spend a lot of time using science to play detective.

I feel like Trucy might exchange sleight-of-hand tricks with the Delgados. She would also be fascinated by Elena's scepter and Esteban's staff and would spend a lot of time trying to figure out how the "trick" worked.

Haven't really thought much about Phoenix, the Feys, Edgeworth, Larry, Blackquill, Ziska, Gumshoe, or any of the others. But I think there's potential there. Maybe particularly in having Maya or Pearl channel Alacazar as well as Elena's and/or Esteban's parents.

3. Yes. Yes. Yes.

I actually have a few plot bunnies/works-in-progress (albeit very much on the backburner) that have elements of "krisnix fix-it-fic."

One of them is a post-canon, angsty mess but that ultimately will have elements of getting back together and Kristoph receiving mental health care.

Another is a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend AU in which madcap screwball romantic dark comedy shenanigans ensure that Kristoph never actually kills anyone, undoes a lot of the damage he's already done/takes accountability for his actions, and ends up with a relatively happy ending (even if I'm not entirely sure whether he'd end up with Phoenix ,alone or with one of the alternate love interests.)

The third is a time-travel AU scenario. The DLC case of SOJ supposedly includes elements of time-travel but are later revealed to be faked/misinterpretations. This fic would presuppose that in the process of investigating the case, Phoenix discovered that time travel really does exist. In exchange for successfully convincing everyone else that it doesn't, the Time Travel Bureau will allow Phoenix to make a few changes to the past, provided that they don't disrupt the wider timeline too much. After his first choices of saving Mia and Gregory Edgeworth are rejected (as their deaths have too great an impact on events), Phoenix is permitted to "save" Kristoph by preventing him from committing the murders (as it's gauged that Zak and Drew Misham would've died of natural causes soon afterwards anyway). Phoenix has to be *very* careful in terms of not letting anyone know what he is doing and only making the slightest changes. He will still lose his badge and spend 7 years without it, Zak will still abandon Trucy, Kristoph's forgery will still be revealed and he'll be disbarred and sent to prison for it--though fortunately he doesn't have murder on his conscience/sentence. But Kristoph will eventually get out on parole, live a much happier life (I'm thinking he ends up working in the marketing department for Ariadoney), and possibly get back together with Phoenix.

Send me an ask that says “Would you ever write…” and continue the sentence. I’ll respond with yes or no and give an explanation as to why if I want to.

[reallyghostlypost]

So, there are multiple magic shrines in the game. This post will be about the shrine where you can make your spouse forget all about you, since the other two are smaller in scope, only really affecting you and your family. The memory shrine on the other hand will modify the memory of every person that knows about the farmer's marriage. The shrine doesn't seem to rewrite reality, since you still need to write and submit the paperwork for divorce, and it doesn't erase the memory completely, since the targeted character will mention the farmer looking familiar. It also seems to force everyone to think about something else whenever the topic comes to their minds, since they don't realize obvious issues like someone not knowing who the farmer is even after the farmer lived in Pelican Town for years or a family member suddenly moving back into their old home. But we know that the spell is very strong, since there's nothing anyone can do to reverse or break the curse.

I'll try the 'read more' thing again, maybe it'll work this time:

In vanilla this all makes sense, after all the townspeople being helpless against the magic of the shrines is normal. And them not noticing obvious changes, like someone not knowing who the farmer is even if the farmer moved in the Valley years ago, can also be explained by the fact that they have no ability to protect themselves from magic and no way to even recognize the effects of a spell cast on them. At best, some of them have some sort of magical affinity, but without any training or experience it won't help much. In vanilla, it also makes sense that Rasmodius doesn't realise, or cares, that someone in Pelican Town got cursed. He almost never interacts with the rest of the town and doesn't seem interested in what happens there at all, so it's possible he won't even notice that something is off or that someone is behaving differently. It's also possible he can sense that the magic comes from his ex-wife's shrine, and he does his best to avoid her, so he might not interfere even if he can tell that someone got cursed. So, in vanilla the farmer is free to do whatever they want.

But it's more complicated in SVE. Unlike in vanilla, Magnus is now directly responsible for the safety of the community and can't avoid his ex if she's harming someone in Pelican Town, and it's hard to believe that the villagers having permanent magical induced amnesia will go unnoticed for too long. There are now wards around Pelican Town so magic passing through them would probably disrupt them, and Magnus visits the town occasionally and probably interacts with the mayor often enough, given his new duties. Even if he still doesn't know the residents enough to notice someone suddenly acting differently, it still increases the chance that the curse will be discovered. And SVE makes it clear that magic is not exactly subtle and that mages have a keen sense when it comes to detecting magic and other types of energies - Magnus and the farmer can feel small changes happening deep in the forest, Magnus and Lance can feel when a snowstorm is approaching or when nature is awakening in spring, and Magnus can feel the void shard the farmer is carrying. Marlon can too for that matter, which shows that dark magic is easily recognisable by those who know what to look out for. Even if Magnus is mildly affected by the spell, since he'll know about the farmer's marriage, it's harder to accept that the shrine's magic can go unnoticed for too long.

But SVE complicates this further by letting you marry Magnus and Lance and then wipe off their memories. They are not only highly trained wizards but are also surrounded by other trained wizards. Can't anyone around them sense that something is wrong? The farmer getting accepted by the mage/adventurer community and having their talents recognized hinges on the fact that both Magnus, and later Lance, realized their potential and vouched for their talents. All the adventurer and mage community (thousands of people) know about the farmer comes from these two and Marlon, won't one of them suddenly not knowing who the farmer is be suspicious? The farmer could have been part of the guild for years at this point, how could Magnus not know them? Besides, there are probably reports and other bits of paperwork detailing the relation between the farmer and both Magnus and Lance, paperwork that the farmer doesn't have access to so they can't destroy it. It would only take one person to notice the history of their collaboration on different projects or the reports on the farmer's abilities and progress written by these two to realize that some magical shenanigan has happened. Sure, the shrines are powerful in vanilla, but how strong is their magic in SVE? And at least Magnus is a trusted member of the Ministry of Magic, which apparently write rules and take decisions that the rest of the mages have to obey, surely there must some security measures in place, right? Especially against mind manipulation. The farmer only uses the shrine to wipe their spouse's memory of their relation, but it's possible that it can be used to modify any memory, the farmer simply doesn't need it for anything else. How much damage can it do if used by somone politically motivated?

Of course, then the question is why isn't the witch using the shrine this way to get her revenge. Maybe the shrine isn't that dangerous, or maybe she's not capable. After all, dark magic seems to corrupt the mind, and it's possible that she's too far gone to be able to think up this type of long-term plans. Also, we see Magnus cast a protection spell on his ancient fruits against her, so maybe he expects something from her and protected himself in advance. But he never suspected the farmer, so remained vulnerable to the shrine's magic. But still, the fact that he's this vulnerable is the problem. It's also possible that either she or the shrine aren't that strong. Nobody seems worried that there's an angry witch bothering Magnus and looking for revenge - Magnus acts annoyed and guilty, and according to Lance everybody else finds it hilarious. It's possible that she never was very powerful in the first place, so no one considers her a danger. As for the shrine, maybe making someone forget their marriage is truly all it can do. But the fact that a small shrine hidden in a swamp by an outcasted and corrupted by hatred witch can affect him this badly is pretty worrisome. After all, there is always the risk that another similar shrine is out there, more powerful or simply more dangerous.

And actually, we know there are, since Qi created a very powerful shrine just for the farmer to mess around with the mines. I wanted to write about both shrines, but this post is long enough, so I left it out for the time being.