#dozen contexts for why this is this and that is that idk

[fishareglorious]

Hey, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading through your limbus "Liveblog(?)" Always entertaining to see someone's first time through a PM game

Thanks! I've been immensely enjoying the game so far.

[a-bottle-of-tyelenol]

agere odysseus headcanons !!

— art by duvetbox —

— requested by anon —

— cw: trauma & allusions to sa (it’s marked) —

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

🎀 - odysseus is a flip that has been regressing from a really young age. being crowned king at thirteen years old was extremely stressful for him and he regressed to cope with the sudden responsibilities and maturity thrust upon him— a coping mechanism that turned more and more into a trauma response as he got older and was faced with his experiences during the war and his travels back home. he’s had so many caregivers over the years, spanning from his mother (who took care of him when he was a child), penelope (who learned of his regression not long after he started courting her), polites (who had taken care of him throughout the war), hermes (who never strays far from his kin), and athena (who he had a very rocky relationship with, in part due to his regression). and if you like the iliad, I like to think of diomedes and menelaus as his babysitters 🥺

of these caregivers, odysseus never really commits to giving them any titles. for the most part, he speaks fairly formally and normal, even at his smallest, but he calls athena ‘momma’ when he’s really little and gives everyone else some kind of nickname. with penelope, he does that thing that kids do when they hear their parents use pet names for each other and then uses those same pet names instead of parental titles (like a toddler calling their father ‘sweetheart’ because that’s what their mother calls him), but it’s the pet names that Penelope calls him instead. so she likes to call him her little love and darling, so he responds by calling her (and telemachus!) the same thing with a lisp that she thinks is so cute. idk if that makes ANY sense but it’s adorable in my head okay

🩷 - as a caregiver, odysseus is very in tune with a little’s needs. he’s very good at playing pretend and is actually very well beloved by kids because of how charming he can be. before he left ithaca, he used to carve toys for the island’s children and that’s a habit he never stopped for the regressors he comes across. despite how easy it is for him to handle kids, it makes him incredibly uncomfortable because he’s convinced that the years of fighting and time away from his son has diminished any possibility he had of being a good father. he holds a lot of guilt for the kids that fell victim to war, particularly the ones he had a hand in dealing with, and so he often tries to avoid being anything more than a babysitter for someone because he can’t fathom the idea that he’s a good option for a caretaker.

🎀 - odysseus’ age range changes greatly with context and need. if he’s with another regressor, he will almost always be older than them to lead and take care of them; an instinct driven in him as king, captain, and an older brother. if he’s relatively okay and able to enjoy his regression (which is pretty rare), he’s still on the older side (around 6-10), and if he’s regressing because he’s triggered or upset, he goes much lower in order to process the extreme amount of trauma he goes through. he has a lot of trauma responses— including flashbacks, bouts of dissociation, and nightmares. he often regresses in tandem with these experiences and it leads to his smallness being directly linked to his fear, which is partly why he gets so young. he is pretty good at holding himself together when he’s around other people, but as soon as he’s alone, it’s very common for him to collapse into the meltdown of a terrified child. this means that he never really enjoys his regression and spends the entire time crying, sleeping, or making a mess of himself.

🩷 - ody believes that the best way to care for a kiddo is to run them absolutely exhausted. he’s a very physical caregiver. you’re throwing a fit? let’s go outside and herd the dozens of goats trampling ithaca. you’ve got the giggles? let’s chase all the hunting dogs and get that energy out. you’re feeling antsy? let’s teach you how to chop firewood. you can’t go down for a nap? well, an hour or two of jumping into the ocean will wipe you out. of course, he won’t just send you off to do it alone— he’s always one step behind, ready to put in some work himself even as he gets older and more run down. he thinks that kids should never be quiet and the idea of one sitting down to silently play with toys or do art is a travesty (unless, of course, that’s what the regressor wants to do. if they’d prefer being inside and having some quiet time, he’ll make sure they know that’s okay. he refuses to ever make a baby think of themselves as a burden to him).

🎀 - his favorite things while regressed are magic and games, which is partially why he loves being watched by hermes. the literal god of games AND a divine being that doesn’t mind using his most extravagant forms of magic to entertain a baby? absolutely incredible. his favorite game is knucklebones, or anything with dice really. he’s a tiny gambler in the making and nothing catches his attention like the chance of winning big on a roll. he’s a lot less active when he’s small— preferring not to partake in more physical games like tag— but he likes hide and seek or playing some form of spy (sneaking around and trying not to get caught as he smuggles snacks back to his quarters). and if you can combine magic AND games? oh, he’s sold. one time, hermes used some illusionary magic to form a bunch of little animal statues for ody for search for and collect like a scavenger hunt and, for every statue he found, the animal would come to life and disappear into the air. he lost his mind and spent an hour babbling about it to anyone who would listen.

🩷 - he’s extremely protective as a caregiver and also the coolest person ever to be one because he really doesn’t care that much for rules. these two qualities often combine in really interesting ways— like he won’t let a little touch a weapon, but he will use that weapon in increasingly mischievous ways if it makes them smile. one time, telemachus was quite small and really wanted to play with his father’s bow. odysseus, of course, told him that he was too small but that he was more than willing to show telemachus how it worked, which resulted in odysseus borderline harassing a bunch of chickens by shooting arrows and purposefully missing them by an inch. when their handler realized what his king was doing, odysseus responded by asking the handler to stand still so he could start raining arrows around him. you remember that scene in the lion king when mufasa was teaching simba how to pounce on zazu? yeah, that’s how odysseus is with everything.

(Cw: calypso and vague allusions to SA)

🎀 - odysseus is very nervous when regressed and is scared by just about everything. more specifically, he’s terrified of thunderstorms (for obvious reasons) and he is equally really unnerved and yet particularly comforted by women. he loves being cared for by women— there’s something so much less intimidating and safe about them after years of watching men slaughter each other. he’s very much drawn to the likes of penelope over any masculine caregivers. but! that being said, women make him nervous in a very different way than men do. with men, he’s spent thirteen years being surrounded by them and he knows what they do and who they are. he can defend himself against them, and he has before. but with women, all he can think about is what happened on calypso’s island, when he was frozen and unable to fight back against her, and how scared and abandoned he felt by athena, someone that had been his protector for so many years. he hates how these experiences corrupted the safety that he associated with a softer touch, especially when that touch was primarily his mother and the love of his life before he went to war. he craves time with penelope, but he trembles at the idea of her touching him. he craves time with athena, but weeps at the prospect of her leaving once again. it takes him a lot time before he can start to relax around them while regressed and both of them are very kind and patient with him.

(Cw: over)

🩷 - just like he’s very big on tiring littles out, odysseus is a nap guy. his solution to everything is to take a nap. he is genuinely just so exhausted and tired all the time and nothing feels better than curling up with a baby in his arms. he is such a family man and he loves being a father so much. if he hadn’t gone to war, he and penelope would’ve had so many little ones running around the castle and napping on every surface with him (all girls because the curse of his family is to have one boy per generation lol and telemachus would thrive having, like, six little sisters). as is, he fills that hole in his heart with taking care of his son and any other regressors he comes across, inviting them into his sacred nap time and catching up on some very well deserved rest.

[brazenautomaton]

I guess where we diverge is that I think the “Musk seig heiled” people *are* saying something true.

they’re very often saying mean things and crying until they win, I don’t disagree with you there. I also agree that that’s very sad and frustrating.

But, in this case, I think they have a point.

Idk why he did it, but to me, it’s very unmistakable. There’s a gif comparing his gesture to historical footage of actual nazis heiling on the front page of reddit rn, and it’s almost identical. personally, my theory is that it was an ill-advised edgy joke, because he’s kinda spergy, but I think he did do it on purpose, just maybe not in a sincere way.

you are missing context. you cannot argue the point that he must have been giving a nazi salute by selecting footage of nazi salutes most like him. you have to explain all the other images of every other politician doing the same "nazi salute" gesture while addressing a crowd.

explain why this has happened dozens of times in the past, a politician was accused of doing a nazi salute because they had a psychological compulsion to send coded messages about how evil they were based on a minor body motion, and how every single one of those accusations was obviously and laughably wrong, but this time when you are doing exactly the same thing for exactly the same reasons with exactly the same evidence and exactly the same theory and exactly the same argument and exactly the same moral certainty of all those other times that were obviously wrong NOW you're certain you're right.

[slowd1ving]

[✦VI. FOR NONE SHED TEARS FOR THE FORSAKEN] SNIPPET • . DR RATIO

2770 words in... I'm on the first scene... it's not even finished yet... also quick note since the context comes before this snippet; heliaia is the supreme court of ancient athens and has been conveniently coopted for metis :3 idk if y'all can tell by the dialogue but I binged iwtv and armand's lines in particular stuck with me

LAMENT OF OUROBOROS MASTERLIST

HONKAI STAR RAIL MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

“A fledgling court, a fledgling government…” A prodding, sardonic finger broke past the mirage of the map and the stars rippled. You could not help but feel this was rather apt. “...dealing with an organisation, possibly several, that have existed… for how long? Decades? Centuries? Surely someone benefited from this from the very beginning, and it can’t have been just this flimsy government.”

He exhaled. Once, twice, while you thought with glazed eyes to the brittle construction of this world. “Just yesterday, you were vehemently protesting any other involvement. A complex political web, far too easy to upset, I believe you said.”

His face, so delicately wrought beneath that mask he typically favoured, twisted—for a fleeting moment you thought back to the sculpture. Though, as quickly as it came, the thought dissipated and you rebuked yourself for the very notion. 

“I will admit, the early stages must be done so discreetly that there is not a breath of it elsewhere save this room. There will be no room for error there,” he murmured. “The  evidence found will unleash the hounds of the Court of Ouroboros, which will be far more scrupulous than the… fledgling… Heliaia that you so mistrust. It will be a careful balance of treading the line of the law, but once the criminal case is underway, they’ll scatter.”

“And who will round them up?” Carefully, a chalk blur was traced against the richly stained wood of your chair. “Us? You, who suddenly has a degree in international criminal law? The ‘hounds’? Sophos—all due respect—why are you pursuing this in the first place?”

Why are you pursuing this in the first place?

A thousand years. A millennium, for attempting to set free the binds his progenitor had enforced onto the people. That was the price he had paid, yet he achieved nothing. Dozens of lifetimes, gone; and here he was, parsing through every material possible to finish his work. There was no mockery in your tone, but still, he felt his mouth set into a grim line. 

Why are you pursuing this in the first place?

Centuries of loneliness. With the absence of everything, anything—death, life. Each fickle sense, transfigured into cold, unyielding stone. His mind—subjected to the droning blather of a false dream.

Why are you pursuing this in the first place? 

A frigid smile painted his features. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, coolly. “On that item, neither should you concern yourself with my motivations. Do pardon the mistrust.” We didn’t meet under the best circumstances. He didn’t say that. Rather, his finger trailed across the enlarged city where the stars formed dense galaxies and constellations, past the streets he trod in his youth, and settled on where the points converged into a singularity. An amorphous, wriggling mass of taverns and smoke-houses stared right back at him. 

(The symposium of a young master. A youth weaves amidst the crowd, draped in intricate garb yet just a touch out of place. It’s not noticeable, not unless one has a rather distinguishing eye. Though the scholars sat around the table frequent lectures diurnally—and are considered some of the sharpest minds— when the suns dip beneath the gentle curve of the sea, the curtain falls over their eyes too. 

The seventh prince sits, unnoticed. 

There’s a peculiar scent on the air—of meat, wine, and the sinister odour of conspiracy and deceit. It cloys. Sticks to the skin so carefully perfumed with incense and oil. Honeyed wine does wonders for loosening lips, and the youth watches, entranced, as secrets flow freely.)

Your hard stare shattered the remnants of the memory, and his eyes refocused on where the ornate building used to be on the map. 

“Fine.” Your fingers drummed on the backrest of the chair. “Belated apologies for touching a nerve. You won’t involve a third party yet, and neither will I. Matter resolved.” 

His eyes narrowed, and you mentally sent a quick apology to Kakavasha. “What third party would you be involving?”

The drumming ceased, for the time it took a bowstring to be drawn, or a sharp inhale to occur. “My assistant,” you said, smoothly. “A disciple—apprentice, if you will—who has a keen grasp on information.” It was not a lie. Still, you’d rather he rest in the city, and you’d take care of the work of finding your statue and writing your paper, and this. 

Ratio mulled the words over, and his red-stained lips formed a pensive line for a brief few seconds. “No third parties. Yet.”

A wry smile stretched your face as you exhaled. “Cool. Do you trust me?”

“No,” he uttered at once, with a smile of his own.

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

firstly I LOVE your writing so so so much!!! so many of my fav jily fics are yours <3

#34 from the prompt list (“sorry, bad habit”) but it’s james fidgeting (messing with his hair clicking a pen idk idc u do u) and lily is annoyed with him with herself for finding it endearing & finally does something about it

from these prompts

It’s not that she never noticed it before.

Context, however, is everything and there is just simply a stark contrast between noticing it because McGonagall consistently points it out with a heavy sigh and a ‘for the last time, Mr. Potter, please wear your uniform with a sense of propriety’ and noticing it because Lily can’t physically make herself look away.

She’s not quite sure when her mind takes that sharp detour, though.

“Merlin, I’m knackered.”

Lily looks up from her book as he falls into the seat across from her. “You’re late.”

James grimaces apologetically. “Flitwick had me helping the firsties with—never mind. Sorry. Let’s get started, yeah?”

He wasn’t her first choice for essay partner, or her second or third for that matter, but he’s competent, which Lily supposes she should be grateful for. Honestly, she’s still trying to wrap her head around the fact that school has been back in session for an entire month and they haven’t gotten in a row even once.

James pulls his bag up onto the small table and begins haphazardly fishing through it for his own textbook and some parchment, then reaches up and gives a sharp tug on the knot of his tie, pulling it away from his neck. Lily’s gaze catches on the motion she must have seen him do a dozen times, but she’s never been close enough to notice the sliver of skin it reveals before and she’s certainly never found herself appreciating it.

She quickly files that away as information to never ever process and shakes her head.

“Yeah, let’s get…” She clears her throat and looks back toward her book. “Started.”

But once she starts noticing it—well. It becomes a bit of a problem.

The moment he walks into the common room, his hand moves to loosen his tie. As soon as he collapses onto the couch of their shared Heads’ Office. While he walks alongside her to Arithmancy. Every single day. Constantly.

“Blimey, the weather’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

Lily purses her lips to keep from smiling at the childish way James throws his hands up toward the sky the minute they step into the sunshine. It’s been a gruelling day of revising for both of them and she found herself not even able to muster a half-hearted excuse for why they shouldn’t take a break to go for a walk on the grounds.

“There’s just something about October,” he continues, sighing happily.

Lily opens her mouth to agree, but then she catches the flash of his hand—they’re not even fifteen steps away from the castle, but there he goes, the scarlet-and-gold-striped fabric slipping through his fingers as he makes quick work of the knot of his tie.

“Why do you always do that?” she finds herself blurting out.

He glances quickly over at her, his fingers freezing their motion. “Sorry,” he says, wincing, “bad habit.”

Lily just nods in response, not trusting herself to say something normal, and tries not to watch as he tugs the tie completely off and shoves it deep into the front pocket of his trousers.

October passes and Lily feels herself relax, because the Scottish autumn is on her side on this (and only on this, really). Hogwarts students spend the month of November adding more layers to their wardrobe, not removing them.

Lily has never in her life been so passionate about scarves.

“Most prestigious school in the wizarding world and they can’t bloody insulate the halls,” James whinges, blowing hot air into his cupped hands and rubbing them together.

Lily looks sharply away from that and ignores the little flop her stomach does. “That would compromise the ambience, Potter.”

“Of course. How can Hogwarts expect to maintain its honour if at least one student doesn’t die of hypothermia?”

Lily’s laugh is halted as they turn a corner and begin their portion of the patrol colloquially known among the other prefects as The Polar Vortex. This section of the castle seems to always be particularly drafty, and honestly, if Lily wasn’t eager to extend her time with James, she’d likely suggest they just skip it and head back to Gryffindor Tower.

As it is, though, she shivers involuntarily, her teeth clattering loudly together, unbidden.

“Merlin, Evans, here. Take—”

“I’m fine!” she says quickly, because, Jesus bloody Christ, he was reaching for his scarf.

“That hypothermia joke wasn’t a personal challenge, Lil. Take my scarf and—”

“I don’t want it!”

His next step falters and he turns slowly to face her, his face setting into a confused frown. “Why not?”

Lily feels her face begin to flush. “I just—I don’t want to be a…bother.”

James watches her for another moment, then a grin slowly spreads across his face. “Evans,” he says, unlooping the scarf from his neck, and turning to more fully face her, “you always bother me.” He gently drops the scarf around her neck, ignoring her protests as he tugs it snugly around the collar of her jumper.

Lily takes a breath, hating and loving the fact that the scarf smells exactly like him, but otherwise settles into a feeling of relief. That wasn’t so bad. Just because he removed his scarf doesn’t mean—

“Oh my God, are you serious right now?!”

James stops walking again, his fingers freezing in the midst of their mission to unknot his tie. “Er, what?”

Lily covers her face with her hands and tries not to scream. 

“Evans?” He asks, and that pushes her closer to the edge, because she can hear the concern in his voice. “Am I serious about what?”

“Nothing,” she squeaks, shaking her head, even as her hands remain covering her face.

“Ev-ans.”

“No, really, I—”

He gently tugs one of the ends of the scarf—his scarf—causing her to stumble toward him a bit. “What’s wrong?”

She allows her hands to fall and forces himself to look up at him. “Why are you even wearing your tie?” she mumbles.

“What? My…tie?” He frowns, deeply puzzled, then manages a half-shrug. “I dunno. Just forgot to take it off after lessons, I guess. Why?”

“You constantly mess with it,” Lily says. “Non-stop. Loosening it, untying it, taking it off, playing with it.”

“I told you,” he says sheepishly, “it’s a bad habit. I—”

“It’s infuriating!”

His eyebrows lift in surprise. “I’m…sorry?”

“A Lily Evans torture device, really.”

He opens his mouth again, but she beats him to it.

“It’s like, if every person who’s ever hated me attended a…a convention. And they had a chat about all the things that drive me spare, devising a plan to slowly make me go completely mental. This—,” she knows she’s mad and that she’ll hate herself later, but she doesn’t care because she’s been wanting to do this for months,—“this is what they would end up deciding on.” She reaches up and, in one swift motion, tugs on the knot of his tie, watching in immense satisfaction as it separates from the collar of his shirt, hanging limply across the grey fabric of his jumper. 

James stares at her, eyes wide, body completely rigid as she, Jesus, manhandles him like a fiend. 

“Sorry,” she huffs out as she draws her hand back to her own person, but she isn’t even sure she means it. “You just—it really is a terrible habit, Potter. Promise me you’ll work on it.”

He blinks. “I…”

“Good.” Lily nods. “Thank you for the scarf, by the way. We should be good to head back down now, yeah?” She takes off walking down the corridor, before he can verbally question her sanity or she can do something else truly mad like use the leverage of his tie—stupid, bloody tie—to bring his mouth down to hers.

[sentience-if]

#i'm a bit surprised no one's been upset at val

oh i can talk about how mine for sure is

Val leaving Io made my MC feel so hurt, especially since she also doesn't like the Religious and didn't want to come here but made to anyway. she doesnt see why he could not have ran out with her hand in his. as a result, once she found him and got say her accusatory "You left me", she left. and she wanted to Val to follow her or stop her or something, but Val didn't (for justified reasons, i wouldnt have stopped Io in Val's place either)

i think something between them has been broken now, likely irreversibly. she might grow to like him again and even have some trust, eventually, but i think Val has been labeled as "would leave you" forever in her mind. i dont think she'd trust Val with her life anymore. i think anytime Val might joke "Have I steered you wrong before?" that there will be a sour, accusatory silence. my Io went from "shame there's no Connie-Val poly in addition to the Klaus-Val poly, because i camt imagine her ever NOT loving Val" into, "well, it's a good thing theres a Klaus-solo route and also that Connie's route never had an option to be poly with Val, bc idk if Val can get Io to that point of love again"

which i do wonder if that makes my Io especially vulnerable, in the sense that someone else can now step into Val's "place" and be a lot less good-intentioned about it. bc my Io had been nigh co-dependent, had been "I don't exist without Val", and now something has just shattered where my Io has now very rapidly developed abandonment issues

and the realization that Val does know where Io came from in the sense of the ending revealing Val saw who Io was before Io's current form?? that is not helping. that is making things actively worse. that is now "oh. so you didnt tell me, so you kept me at arm's length in a way i didnt see that you were, because you were scared of me. you didnt take me with you because you were scared of me. like all the stuff in-between where i was Becoming A Human Being didnt matter, even when i didnt remember what i used to be, because you DID remember. and you kept it from me. because you were scared of me." in a very.......... uhhhhhhhh

have you ever seen Fruits Basket?? im internally comparing Val to Kyo's mom. that's how my Io sees Val now, basically. albeit Val is less extreme than Kyo's mom, obviously

if youve never seen Fruits Basket, this is a spoiler, for sure, but it would also give context(?). Fruits Basket has a scene where Kyo can turn into this monstrous creature anytime he takes off this bracelet. and his mom was ashamed that he could do that, that he could transform like that, but she didnt want him to know that (but he did) so she kept saying stuff like "You're so adorable, I have to keep you all to myself" and "It's okay. It'll all be okay because I love you. That's why I don't want anyone else to see you, to look at you. Nobody look at my son, he's all mine. You're just so cute. I can't help it" and "I'm so proud to have you as my son" while also never letting him go outside or be around others, and even said "No, honey, you're as human as anyone else. You turn into the form sometimes because of evil magic. Not because there's anything wrong with you. You turn back to normal soon after, right? That proves you aren't a monster. It's okay, I promise, I'm not scared at all" and he would think back in recollection and go "Liar. You were scared, weren't you? That's why you checked dozens of times a day to make sure my bracelet was still on". she used love to be in denial of what was happening. eventually, the denial and unspoken shame and self-silenced fear and whatnot became so bad, she "unalived herself". and Kyo's dad blamed Kyo for that (like a dickhead) while also saying "She loved you. Your mother loved you more than anything else in the world". Kyo would come to say (to himself, to the memories of this) "Stop it! Stop it, you're wrong! Don't force that kind of 'love' on me, I don't need it, I don't!". and when he remembered that his mom would say "Sweetheart, I love you. I would die for you, you know that, right?" his internal response to that memory was "Why did you always say stuff like that? How can you love someone when you never acknowledge who they really are?"

now, years later, this gets further addressed via Tohru. as Kyo meets this girl named Tohru, and has a real connection with her but is hesitant about getting closer even though they already are close. because Tohru doesnt know about Kyo's monstrous form. his mother's death impacts his need to keep Tohru in the dark, but other people know Kyo's secret form and force him to reveal it to Tohru without her havung any idea of what is happening and without his consent. he runs away, and Tohru ends up following him. he tries to push her away, even causing her shoulder to bleed because of his claws, and she does initially walk away before realizing, if Kyo didn't come back with her, she'd probably never see or hear from him again; and then turning around and hugging his arm as he thrashes around for her to let go and run already. she begs him "Let's go home, please! We have to go home, right now!" to which he replies "No! Just go away!" and she says "No!" back and he yells "Don't you get it?!" and she says "No, I don't!". she continues, "I'm scared. Even though I know that's your voice, it doesn't sound like you. You're in a form I've never seen before. It scares me. But scared or not, I want to understand. If you need to talk, I'll listen. If you need to be selfish, I'll let you. I want to help you, the way you've helped me. If you're feeling hurt or scared or weak, tell me. I want you to tell me so I can face it with you. Because I want us to keep living together. I want to eat with you, study with you, worry with you. I just want to stay with you, Kyo." to which Kyo replied, transformed back to his human self again, in a mix of words to Tohru and internal monolog "The thing is, if she didn't love all of me, my mom, that would've been fine. Or, even if she were scared, I would get that. Because being scared would've meant she was looking at the ugly part of me. But she never did. My mom used 'love' as a way of avoiding seeing the truth, to avoid even thinking about it. But, I wanted her to understand. I just wanted her to say 'We'd face it together', I just wanted her to say she wanted to stay. Even back then, I knew it was stupid. A kid's dream that would never come true. Because who would ever say something like that to me? That's what I thought, until... Tohru." and he goes back home with Tohru to face everyone again, and keeps Tohru a close part of his life

so, my Io sees Val now as more of a Kyo's mom than she does a Tohru. obviously Val isn't AS BAD as Kyo's mom, vut i think you see my point?? and so now my Io is looking for "her Tohru", so to speak, albeit not conciously. and she no longer sees Val capable of being that. so her love for Val can only go as far as, well, as far as Val can, really. it doesn't bridge the gap between them. no matter how badly Val might insist their own love can bridge it (but it isn't, maybe it can't) or how much Val wishes my Io's love could bridge it (but it won't. it used to. but now she's too scared of being abandoned again after getting her hopes up). and so my Io's every route has Io and Val being "almost"-in a relationship, as close to being in love as two people refusing to label it can be, before this effectively ends the romantic side of their relationship. i guess that means Val is her situationship? that feels weird to put on Val, but yeah. and maybe Val can turn this into a "second chance romance" and "be her Tohru" and bridge the gap, in the sense that idk how you plan to progress and am not a mind-reader and therefore cannot say "never again" because "never say never" and whatnot

but yeah. that's where my Io is right now. very upset and feeling very unlovable. and maybe Connie or Klaus can fix that (i do also love Kat and Ira, but i dont think my Io does, so im currently not playing either's route but maybe that'll change! thatd be nice!!) or maybe Val can fix it. but not right away

but yeah!! cant wait to see how the story goes. im in shock at how damaged my Io and Val's relationship is, how my Io is basically scared of Val and sees them as.... "a flake" feels inaccurate but that kind of same "dont buy into Val's promises so much, you'll only get disappointed. Val means well. but Val still left me behind when push came to shove, Val still omitted all this from me" of self-restraint. she feels very much like a kid who got her hopes up only to be let down, kind of like a kid with a deadbeat dad who promised Disneyland but he never shows up to take her and instead he stays at the bar(?) but not quite. but does that make sense?? not angry, not resentful, just feeling very stupid

but, yeah, add another tally in the "Ios who are upset with Val" box for me lol

ohoho the ANGST the DRAMA this is good food thank you. I've seen parts of Fruits Basket in that I had a roommate that watched it a lot but yeah I can definitely see the parallels

Val will get a chance to fix it but I think I'm definitely going to have to write a route where Io does not forgive them. And for an Io who turns to Connie or Klaus instead- that would sting Val so much, in equal but opposite ways. It's probably a very good thing that Klaus wouldn't want to hurt Val because you're right, it would be really easy to take advantage of Io's emotions right now, and I wouldn't put it past him

oh and as to your second ask re: not gendering Val- genuinely don't worry about it haha. I just use they/them for Val (and Connie) in asks because i don't want one to seem more canon than the others. I don't mind if readers pick one

[alleyskywalker]

I sat down to write my reaction post to the second ep of HOTD and…realized Idk how to approach it, where to start. And not because I hated every single thing about it – like with ep1 there were lots of good or at least interesting moments. There were other choices I wouldn’t have personally liked in any circumstance but that weren’t necessarily bad in and of themselves if they’d been in another show, surrounded with other context or other scenes. The problem is how ridiculously biased this writing is and how that bias and the ridiculousness of it permeates everything, even the parts that were good or fine or reasonably in character. We knew, of course, even from S1, that the writing was biased. But this season it feels especially blatant.

How am I supposed to feel about say…Jae’s funeral? On one hand, a gut-wrenching scene, carried so well by Olivia and Phia’s superb understated acting. It’s a scene that has every reason to be there – royal funeral processions/spectacles were (and still are) normal. And even if it’s not a regular occurrence in this universe (questionable), it’s a very good and smart play by Otto. On the other hand, is it not suspect that the funeral of this child was less of a melancholy moment of mourning like Luke’s funeral (despite the obviously grieving family) but focused on Helaena’s panic attack at being too close to too many people, and with the distraction of Jae’s cart getting stuck in the mud (was that supposed to be symbolic of something???). Do we not remember TB shrieking long before the episode aired that the Greens have a public funeral for Jae “just to make the Greens look bad”? These people are known for the worst faith takes, so what does it say that the writers apparently agree with them?

How am I supposed to feel about Alicent’s inability to successfully, if at all, to comfort her children? Is this a potentially interesting exploration of how her own grief, guilt, self-blame/low self-esteem, and complicated relationship with her kids due to their common and individual family traumas (and, in Helaena’s case…neurodivergence, I guess?) have and are affecting her? Or is it just a low-key attempt at character assassination, given that last season she was shown as perfectly capable of showing affection to her children (more than one with Aemond, hugging Helaena and making other attempts when she was less receptive, even kissing Aegon at the coronation despite their turbulent relationship)?

Is Alicent’s self-blame and guilt a potentially interesting exploration of how grief can affect people, of what happens when a person feels they are breaking some moral or ethical or religious code of conduct that they sincerely believe in/believe they can be punished for breaking? Or does the narrative blame her too/knows that a large chunk of the audience will too or at least will find the self-blame and guilt pathetic or unsympathetic (because goodness knows that’s all Twitter/X has to say on the matter, it seems).

How am I supposed to feel about Aegon hanging the ratcatchers? Of course, Otto is right – this was a terrible thing to do, not just because it was politically a misstep, but first of all because there were many innocent people executed without trial. It’s a canonical event, and in context of Aegon’s grief and fury, it’s interesting in and of itself, it’s part of the commentary on the wreckage that war and nobles’ games cause. I’d have no issue with it, except…. Why was this made into a literal cartoon-villain-esque kick the dog moment? By making me feel sorry for the sad, cute puppy am I supposed to think that hanging Cheese was somehow wrong? After he sawed off a child’s head? And why is it that the smallfolk get angry when Aegon hands the ratcatchers but not when Rhaenys trembles dozens of smallfolk in the dragon pit? How come Aegon is held accountable for all his mistakes, at least by the people closest to him, and Criston very specifically sends a kingsguard member to impersonate his twin and kill Rhaenyra, but the show removed maximum responsibility from Daemon and of course made sure that Rhaenya was just appalled by the whole thing. (And suddenly cares about Helaena? I actually rolled my eyes at that line so hard it hurt.)

What am I to think of the messy/awkward/complicated TG family dynamics? They’re interesting! They’re fun! They could make for some great television (and fic lol). I could/should/would enjoy this. But on the other hand, when TB get all these bonding moments, or the potential messiness (e.g. Rhaena feeling ignored by her father) is ignored in like 85% of situations? And when this imbalance is not at all in the book? (When it feels like they wanted to cut/held off on Daeron specifically because he was so sweet and mild tempered and beloved by everyone?) It becomes frustrating, not fun.

At what point do I need to decide that this show isn’t worth it? After all, I think the sentiment that “maybe this is just not telling the kind of story you want to hear/watch” is generally a wise approach. Except…that would hold if this was an original show or if it was one of those “loosely based on/inspired by” things that were not pretending to be adaptations. But when you’re advertised an adaptation, you’re not coming in blind. Ideally, you’re coming in knowing what sort of story you’re coming for, at the very least. Unlike  ASOIAF, the Dance is a fully finished story. There shouldn’t have been any “nasty surprises” like some people got in the last seasons in GoT…

But they mentioned Daeron by name. Tom’s acting is incredible. We know I’m not going anywhere for now lmao.

Maybe I won’t do my usual type of notes/reaction post this time, after all I’ve said so much of what I most feel right now anyway.

Sorry for the depression/pessimism guys. I’m just so tired.

[reigraceee]

(Out of Context) Notes from a first time Severance viewer Pt 3

Part one / Prev part / Severance notes tag

Right, here I am back at it again: sharing the notes I took while binge watching Severance a few days ago and reflecting with some additional thoughts. We left finished Season 1 in the last part, so this part will pick up at the start of Season 2 and cover ep 1-3.

ep 1 I crash out in confusion, anxiously wait for mdr to reunite, and try to find out what's going to happen between Mark and Helly since I ship them big time. I started having fun again once the team was back together again lol. I also totally was so invested in Mark x Helly that a lot of the... signs. went blissfully over my ignorant head lol

Since I'm covering 3 episodes (because ep 4 needs a dedicated post) it'll be longer one, but feel free to skim

^I was pretty confident that mdr wouldn't get off that easy, but luckily there wasn't some extreme next level breakroom for them to endure or anything lol

^see I was not about to take Milcheck's lies lol.

^this was me trying to figure out why one of the mdr replacement's description of his workplace didn't sound like the one we're familiar with *at all*. then later on it was confirmed that there are dozens of Lumon buildings, so that case is closed.

^I was crashing out because this episode was so different than what I expected. I can't imagine waiting years for the next season and the writing continues to tease you by not letting you know what the outies did post-finale and not having the mdr reunite until halfway through the ep lol

^Notice how I'm asking the important questions. This one stayed in my head for a very long time. Until ep 5 (I think) where Mark opened the fridge while talking to Helly. That was a good enough answer for me lol.

^idk if you can tell but I really like Helly. I was so excited to see her again that I ignored ~the signs~

^the stop motion video killed me lmao

^when I say I was crashing out while I watched this episode I mean it lol

^notice how I didn't bring up any suspicions lol. For the record, I did pick up on when "Helly" acted weird, I promise lol.

Like when Helly stood still for a couple seconds before hugging Mark back when she first ran out of the elevator (actually, I'm not sure why she was running in retrospect and that drives me crazy)

Or when she said "Mark, are you okay?" a little more heavy handed than felt natural

Or how she seemed too salty to be the sweet Helly I knew. Suddenly Helly was awkward and more serious than before.

I just assumed it was because she was really upset about being an Eagan, but looking back, I think Helly R has enough separation between her outie and herself to handle the reveal. Helly already thought of her outie as a separate person, so it shouldn't have made sense how bothered she suddenly seemed about who her outie was.

^yeah, I was kind of bothered with Irv's writing in s2. I really liked Burt and Irving and I understand how big of a deal their relationship was to Irv, but it was just giving me too many war flashbacks to when I (an isolated feeling aroace) would have to be around kids/teens that took their handholding-level relationship wayyyy too seriously (I thought, at least). I just felt like there was a way to approach their relationship without it being to over dramatic, but that's probably a me issue lol.

^yeah. I just spent a whole upset and stressed over a really seemingly mundane setting just to turn around and I say I loved the show. don't let my seemingly unhappy notes fool you, I was having a blast and I'm in love with every one of the characters lmao. that's how we play it here.

^you know what. I've come around to Helena. I can talk more about it in a separate post, but the more I think about it, the more I empathize with her. And she should totally reintegrate because it would be fun for me lol

^to this day I'm still battling to figure out how much of a subconciousness the outies and innies share

^notice how I'm asking the really important questions here lol

^rip Helena you would have loved the sims etc etc

I was having so much fun watching Helly and Mark's relationship and trying to figure out where they could be going that I totally didn't pick up what was really going on here

Idk what I seriously thought that Helena was doing, but looking back she was definitely trying to figure out how to emulate Helly R. I would also argue that was jealous of Helly R and her relationship with Mark, but that's another conversation so whatever lol

^idk what kind of phone Mark had, but it was most certainly not an apple product lmao

^not sure what I mean by "all the sudden". Really, I'm not sure. Mark has always been #1 diva from day one lol

^we all talk about how cool Milcheck's dance moves are but now I want to talk about how cool it is that he's a leather jacket, motorcycle riding kinda guy ON TOP of that lol

^we need an mdr outie get together STAT

^I could not stop throwing Ms. Cobel shade lol

^I'm slow I know. A while after realized that we saw Ms. Casey going the elevator in s1, but I didn't make the connection before lol. I've also realized that the in-intro sequence, the woman in the elevator flashes between being Gemma/Ms. Casey and being Helly! Which was a pretty cool detail to discover lol

^Mark S sounds nerdy is what I'm trying to say. And he does, he's an absolute dork. I've also listened to Adam Scott talking about he was trying to emulate code switching, which is when you talk differently with the people you're comfortable with (Outie Mark) vs. the people you want to impress (Innie Mark). Which is pretty cool! Mark's innie and outies also have pretty different body language, Innie Mark being more confident and energetic and Outie Mark being more downcast and burdened. Idk why it took me so long to put words to the difference lol

^see, another example of me noticing Helly acting weird and not completely thinking it through lol. I'm so embarrassed how much went over my head, but I guess that's what happens when you binge watch a show instead of watching it episode-by-episode with community conversation in between lol

I think that the real Helly would have kissed Mark, for sure. She's an initiator and she's more familiar with Mark's boundaries. I don't think Mark would have ever needed to take initiative with Helly.

^because she's cute and charming. I figured it out.

^no Petey in s2 was awful.

^talking about Getchen here. I really like the scene between them. It was awkward, but also funny and cute

^still wondering if the goat people ever leave

^seriously. it's a good one

^talking about Dr. Reghabi here lol. The way she just pops up with no backstory or anything and steals the show every time lol

^The basement brain surgery scene was so good lol. I also kept becoming increasingly sure that Mark x Helly wasn't going to happen. Which was fine. I accepted it. I shipped them not expecting anything to manifest, anyways.

Well just wait until I lose it next episode: Woe's Hollow.

[cheswirls]

idk if this has been addressed more coherently on here yet but i keep seeing the "bonney is technically a CD" hot takes and they never make any sense to me so. idk what it is with ppl not taking context into account but i want to clarify for my own peace of mind

cw for typical celestial dragon nonsense

the point i've seen the most is "bonney's biological father is a CD therefore she is one as well"

that's not how that works. especially when you take into account how many "wives" a single CD can have at one time. the first look at a CD in the story was a guy who had 10+ wives and very nonchalantly dismissed a handful of them while making plans to take a woman from sabaody to add to his ranks.

when your parents are world nobles, then by birthright you are one as well. but do you really think a CD would consider the child of a slave as anything but a slave? egghead gave us a whole arc of the five elders referring to humans as insects - all of them!! even their own cipher pol agents!! there is no difference to them. why would they consider the offspring of a "human" as one of their own?

also, another point, "bonney is an outlier with her bloodline"

you have to be incredibly dense to think that at this point in the story. bonney is the only human with a world noble parent that has been shown and named in the story, yes, but she is a dime a dozen in the one piece world. what happened to ginny was tragic, but it's supposed to be so sickening bc you as the reader have it click that this is commonplace. they sent ginny away because she was sick, not because she was pregnant. they could have terminated her pregnancy at any time, but why would they? that's another slave.

case in point? kuma. not long after kuma was born, a spy in the hospital told the WG about his bloodline. kuma was enslaved as an infant instead of being killed and his father, the older and stronger person who would be more suited to perform work as a slave, was taken along with his newborn child. that's reality. they knew kuma would grow up and be useful as a slave.

that very well could have been bonney's reality as well. ginny was enslaved because of her beauty. all they had to do was bide their time and wait for ginny's baby to grow up.

kuma's backstory as a whole really made me question just how many slaves are born in captivity. it's chilling to think about. the thought never crossed my mind before egghead. wano scratched the surface with slave labor but kept it to men who could work (or also, i think it was only men who revolted in some way, so citizens that kept quiet were left alone). the children born in wano grew up in extreme poverty, but it's different from being born a slave to a master that considers you subhuman.

tldr; bonney isn't a world noble of any kind because she has human blood running through her veins.

[hyakinthou-naos]

I’m new so plz be patient

I’m kinda scared of the gods especially Apollo and idk what I should do

He’s are not always the nicest in the myths but idk how accurate some of the characters are. I’m scared of offending or angering him, but I also feel a connection to him

I was raised evangelical and they don’t have the healthiest relationship with their god so idk if it’s just my upbringing or not

Thank you ☀️(I’ve also asked other blogs in case you see the same question)

Khaire Miles, and thank you for your question!

I want to start by saying that it is okay to be afraid; there should be no shame in fear or trauma, and The Theoi should *never* be angry with you for having emotions.

A slight tangent, but (from a mental health perspective) emotions in it of themselves are neither “good” nor “bad” - it is what you do with those emotions that denotes morality*.

*Of course there is a lot of nuance in this type of discussion, but an important bit of nuance I want to add is that (in this context) emotions are not the same as beliefs.

As humans there is so much pressure to “control” and “fight” our emotions. But in my experience, it is much easier and more productive to allow yourself to feel your emotions without judgement and then try to understand why you feeling the way you are - instead of trying to “fight” your mind.

I also want you to know that you are not alone in how you feel! I was raised Roman Catholic, and I was scared/hesitant to work with any male divinities (Apollo included) when I began my venture into Hellenic Polytheism.

I was put off by the way myth depicted deities such as Lord Apollo, King Zeus, and even Queen Hera. These emotions and beliefs were due in large part to the fact that I was operating under the mindset of “mythic literalism” or “fundamentalism” (which is present in most Christian denominations).

“Fundamentalism: noun

a form of a religion […] based on the belief that everything that is written in the scriptures is completely true”

- Source: Oxford Learners Dictionary

However, current theories around ancient Hellenic worship - as well as the current worship by Hellenic Polytheists - tend to favor viewing Greek Myths through the lense of Mythic Symbolism instead of Mythic Literalism.

“Literalists tend to seek factual or historical bases for a given mythological narrative while advocates of one the many symbolic approaches prefer to regard the narrative as a code requiring some mode of decipher-ment.”

- Source: “The Flood Myth” by Alan Dundes

To simplify - if you view Greek Myth from a Literalist perspective, then you’re going to believe that Hades/The Underworld is a physical place you can get to if you dig deep enough below the ground. If you view Greek Myth from a Symbolic perspective, then you’re going to view Hades/The Underworld as a metaphor or symbolic explanation of what life is like after death.

So, did King Zeus literally cheat on his wife with dozens of women - ignoring his marriage vows and often assaulting women in these various myths? No.

Greek Myth existed and continues to exist as stories, to explore human morality - to explain that which we don’t yet understand - and to provide a framework for belief and ritual. The reason why so many myths portray The Gods in a negative light, is because the actions of The Gods are supposed to be a reflection of humanity. Humans can be terrible, we can cause unspeakable harm to ourselves and others - but humans can also be wonderful, creating joy and kindness in situations where these things are lacking.

This paradigm shift, from Mythic Literalism to Mythic Symbolism, is something that can be challenging and difficult to navigate. I was a practicing pagan for 10 years before I ever comfortably worked with a male deity - and now Lord Apollo is the principle god in my personal pantheon.

Lord Apollo is an incredibly complex and wonderful deity. He is artistry and creativity, he is joy and light - he can also be one who requests discipline and rigor, one who holds his ground and embodies social justice. He is many things to many people, but to me he is nothing to fear. I firmly believe he has been guiding me my whole life, and I would not worship him if I thought for a second that he was not a moral or just entity.

I hope this has been helpful to you in some way, if you have any additional or follow up questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Eirene - peace and farewell,

- Aön

[pricemarshfield]

Answer the prime numbers. Do All Tha Prime Numbers 🫵

good lord. okay but i’m putting it under the cut

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

biiiit of both? i know very concretely where i want a fic to start & end, i know the general placement of a few important scenes throughout the fic, and then i have Loose outlines about how each chapter will get me there. but mostly i write as i go; i just have an idea of the endpoint so i don’t wander off into the wilderness (drive my outline wildly off course)

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

well since playing bg3 it’s: become haunted by an idea involving raphael baldursgate, say oh my god no i haven’t even written any of my current wips in months i don’t have time, and then blacking out with 6k of porn that’s somehow not even close to done on my google docs. and this repeats forever

but also. i kinda just do it idk. i sit at my computer and write until it’s done

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

context dependent. if i ask for it, yeah. unprompted in comments, nah. people are much better about this than they used to be, which is funny because i’m less bothered now than i used to be. baby fic author sarah was haunted by concrit; current me is like yeah critique is the only way to improve but i am writing this for funnnn so leaf me alone

(should specify i Just mean in terms of like. technical advice here. if i’m being a bigot in my writing somehow, that is something i want to know and fix asap)

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

vibessss. whoever i wanna write more in the moment unless the specific scene only works from one perspective. this is why talk is getting a sequel (threequel. i guess. bc i’m also doing the two-part “endings”) which is just the same fic but from raphael pov bc i want to write him now

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

only three? damn. can i do four 😭 you sent me over a dozen questions i’m doing four.

of street names & subway wall prophecies by @dalgursbate is SO good. buffyverse au shadowstarion, so well-characterized and vivid and also FUN i LOVE it. i already liked shadowstarion (shocking! girl who multiships everything likes pairing between two of her favorite characters!) but now i rotate them in my mind forever. i want to bind this physically so i have it and am only stopped by having not actually kept most of my bookbinding stuff when i moved. but i need a physical copy so i can Eat It. also everyone should read everything else molly’s ever posted

who will burn who by @pouralaura is so good i’m proselytizing for it. PHENOMENAL fic. professor au raphael and he is SOOO fun; he fits so well in this verse without being defanged into something unrecognizable. and also it’s HOT!!!! SO HOT! fanning myself when i read it! the prose is just soooo fucking nice in this too. all of what i’ve said about this fic is true of all of laura’s fics and once again. everyone should read everything she’s ever posted

Blood in the Wine by @atrueneutral is so fucking interesting that i literally had to lie in bed and just stare at my ceiling and THINK about it after i read the latest chapter today. priest raphael au But Watch Out. i’m so deeply intrigued by the world-building in this, and neutral’s tav is INCREDIBLY compelling. this fic makes me want to paint again and if i had a canvas on hand i probably would have by now. and not to sound like a broken record but everyone read all of neutral’s fics too tyvm 🙏

Cooler Than Me by @wetcatspellcaster has absolutely brightened my day with every update, which has been nice because boyyy am i going through it a little bit. an academic/celebrity modern au with rosalie frostsong, love of my life, as the academic consulting on a film about a historical figure she Hates, and astarion, playing that guy. it’s so fun and funny and fluffy, and i just love seeing how all the different characters are translated to this AU because they’re ALL bangers. fox you are my roommate and know this already but for anyone just reading through, i absolutely cannot recommend all of emma’s fics enough :)

for all of these peep me being #insane in the comments and also know i could have listed like eight more fics even Just sticking with bg3, plus like 10 more if i brought in all the banger d20 ones i still need to catch up on. anyway i’m gonna go reread all of these once i finish answering this ask

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

FOR ME show don’t tell works. because i treat it as a mantra to make sure i’m showing what i’m telling, since my (unedited) writing style is just. so direct. my characters are introspective and love to think “i am doing x because y which results in z” and that’s fun but sometimes less is more. but also i think it’s a tip that’s oft misused and not always helpful hence the For Me

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

i simply do something else 👍 i am past the point of forcing words out of myself. i wrote a 40 page paper in one night bc i procrastinated so badly in my senior year of college and i don’t want to return to the mental state that invoked in me. especially not for Fanfiction, my Hobby

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

post-canon, fluff, and alternate universe - canon divergence are the main three; i should note that these are largely one-off fics under 2k i wrote half a decade ago, and most of my fics now are messy longfics with a lot of smut. the canon divergence one is still real though

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

🗣️ if you’re stuck, go back three sentences!!! oh my GOD did this save my editing process. the fact i finish editing chapters ever is due to this. also write what you want to write when you want to write it; if you’re writing for a self-imposed deadline or entitled commenters, the fun’s gonna get sucked out of it Fast.

also if you get someone who makes a Lot of fic requests that brush veryyyy close to what you’re not comfortable taking just block them. it’s fine. protect your peace

29. What’s your revision or editing process like?

finish draft. take a full day away from it. reread. fix mistakes. i absolutely Should do more—reading aloud, probably make comments to myself and then go back—but tbh. i am impatient. i want to Post and see people’s Thoughts right away

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

used to be characters and a Vibe and the plot would come after, now plots complete with characters and themes attack me in the night until a new outline appears in my google docs. i blame raphael

37. How do you choose where to end a chapter?

“okay so this chapter should end at this scene :) oh god why is this other scene getting so long. ah fuck this is already 6k words and i’m not halfway through my plans. oh jesus christ wait a second it’s incredibly self-indulgent additional scene with the steel chair!!” and then i keep writing until i hit whatever is in my outline. don’t do this. you can change your chapter count. i am inflexibly stubborn but everyone else can and should do that. or just don’t commit to a chapter count at first. don’t be like me

41. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

I LOVE REREADING FICS !!! i guarantee every single fic i recommended above i have reread at least a dozen times times, and i think all three of them came out this year. one i discovered a momth ago. i have some fics i have reread Hundreds of times. i Love to reread fics

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

*poorly hiding a comically large mallet behind my back* i’m sooo nice to my characters actually. ignore the longfic which is just my tav’s bad end. and also the one where i put her in a version of hell she’d hate more than usual. and also all the things i’m gonna do in later knife’s edge chapters. and also that time i posted “this sucks for everyone but me, the writer who loves making things worse”

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

one. two if i’m really motivated. like a quarter of the way through before i give up and post immediately if i’m really UNmotivated. don’t be like me

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

i go through phases of each. i’ve written a lot this month, i read a lot last month. i think probably like 60:40 reader/writer but it’d probably be 50:50 if i wasn’t so committed to leaving comments with my full thoughts (and i love commenting. so i will not give that up)

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

my mom said she’d read my noir au when i told her about it (she has not). my grandma tried to figure out what to get me for my birthday by asking what fanfiction characters i liked right now. my aunt who i don’t even like has my ao3. i have no shame and also my writing fucks so like

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

I Need. To Read My Ideas. I Need Them To Exist. The Words Need To Be Out Of My Head And In A Form I Can Enjoy. also it’s fun and i like the community aspect of fandom

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

i love prompts and challenges but the fics i’ve been most excited to write have been fully independent ideas. still, fics i’ve loved and think are some of my best have come from challenges! so. idk i guess wishy-washy copout answer It Depends

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

i got a note on my phone with bullet points that are not clear enough and that i will be confused about later until at 3am i remember what the hell i meant by a bullet simply reading “jowan” (note: this is a real example. it is not a dragon age fic)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

i got no clue. i’m so bad at describing my own writing in general, i have no idea how to differentiate it from others’ work. i like it though! i’m just terrible at articulating stuff about my Own writing lmfao

fox you sent this to me An Hour Ago. if there are typos dont tell me. if i missed a prime number for Sure dont tell me. goddamn.

[sporesgalaxy]

Hey I've seen you got into one piece.

I've also recently gotten into one piece, I find it really cool.

I've seen you also talking about the show both to praise it and in a critical way.

Sorry to ask unprompted and this isn't to spark anything just a genuine question: what do you think about usopp's design?

I love the character but his design has always felt.... Bad and uncomfortable to put it mildly. Mostly the lips.

Am I being stupid? Idk you or maybe some of your followers can answer me/there can be a (civil obviously) discussion.

If you don't respond could you say that you won't be responding to the usopp ask so I know to never ask things like this? If you want. You don't have to do anything

Yeah, the lips on Usopp's design resemble an anti-black caricature. I do hate that.

I can't say I know or understand if the context of drawing lips that way is the same in Japan as it is here in America*. In America, there is a generations-long precedent of stylizing lips that way for antiblack racist caricatures. This put me off of One Piece for many many years.

I started reading just before the live action show dropped. I wanted to know why so many Americans could overlook something as off-putting as the Usopp's caricature-esque lips.

I fully expected a dime-a-dozen case study in audience willingness to dismiss antiblackness when there are enough other appealing aspects to distract from it.

What I learned was this: One Piece is very long. One Piece has made openly anti-racist arguments on more than one occasion, especially in some recent parts of the story**. One Piece has played into racist tropes on more than one occasion, especially earlier in the story.

The philosophy One Piece is built around is that everyone deserves equal human rights and autonomy, and that everyone is capable of helping to make that a reality. That philosophy is fundamentally against antiblack racism. That absolutely does NOT mean that One Piece or Oda are incapable of antiblack racism.

But I think One Piece's philosophy makes it a story worth discussing!!! A story worth reading and thinking about and using to reflect on yourself!!!!

I think that Usopp is irreplaceable as an aspirational figure for people with a desire to make a positive impact on the world who struggle with fear and anxiety, and I'm glad he was written. I still fucking wish they would stop drawing his lips like that though, yeah.

*The more Japanese animation I've watched over time, the more I see nonblack characters with lips stylized that way. That's what makes me question if there's some separate origin to it, maybe not based in bigoted caricature?? But I have no idea.

**Recent parts of One Piece have also started discussing DNA as a source for superpowers. If Oda fucks this up and makes it eugenicist I'm going to kill him. I have hope that it won't happen, because of all of the non-biological family representation in One Piece, but if it does, seriously, I'm gonna flip my shit...

[kierancaz]

The way I’m literally about to fight and bring the facts to this TikTok comment section because people can have their ships but also can y’all realize that certain characters have certain functions and they may not be big functions that’s ok. Cause like someone posted a video of Miles and Margo of their 30 second interaction with like pieces of the script layered over it and like yah you can see the vibe between these two but ALSO Margo has two functions 1) make Gwen jealous the way Hobie makes Miles jealous and 2) don’t hit the button on the machine and let Miles go back to his own dimension.

“I WANT THEM TO BE TOGETHER SO BAD !!!!” Why? Literally why? Margo has no character, has had a total of like 1 minutes screen time, and 1 scene with Miles.

People trying to use the spider-resonating as something to prove they should be together when that happens to everyone when they meet another spider-person?? Someone commented that in a book or smth it says Margo finds Miles cute which I think in her short screen time they get across really well.

But it just baffles me because like, Gwen and Miles are set up so perfectly. To me they’re on the list of ships I could never break for anyone else and that’s like two other ships. What is it that you see in Margo and Miles besides them idk looking cute together??

Scrolling through these comments is making me actually insane someone said that they were mad at Gwen for pulling Miles away like she owns him and said “and then you have ppl on tiktok acting like it wasn’t weird” ???? GIRL THEY ARE IN A RUSH TO GO MEET MIGUEL ?? GWEN IS CLEARLY STRESSING LIKE THIS WHOLE WALK ???

And then literally the creator of the og tiktok replied to them and said “the whole fandom likes to think Gwen owns Miles- I know the reason, but that’s for another discussion” and then when someone called them out for making everything about race they said they didn’t and that the person calling them out was making it about race like ?? You know don’t actually have to say the words “race” or “black” or “white” to make something about race? Your insinuation was clear as fucking day.

And also, because I did comment what I said earlier about Margo being to Gwen what Hobie is to Miles, someone replied saying that Hobie and Gwen see each other as friends and it’s obviously not the case with Margo and Miles and that they have a connection that will probably be explained in btsv.

I’m sorry. But I think you’re wrong. Hobie is super interesting and layered and I love him for that but he also serves two main functions (the creators just decided to give him much more depth with his five minutes of screen time, which I’m sure they would’ve done with Margo too if she had 5 minutes of screen time). Those functions are 1) make Miles jealous and 2) make the watch for Gwen so that when she gets booted back to her world by Miguel she can still travel dimensions.

Yes we know Hobie and Gwen see each other as friends but Miles does not. What Miles knows is that Gwen for the last however many months she has been in the spider society has been hanging out with some guy called Hobie that she thinks is super cool and he lets her crash in his dimension. What Miles knows is that Hobie is actually super cool and despite not wanting to like him because of Hobie’s relationship he does because he’s just that cool. He knows that Gwen took his shoes and left her sweater at his place and her toothbrush. He knows they’ve been on a couple dozen missions together. He knows that Hobie calls Gwen “Gwendy” and “my drummer” which while we may not have picked that up in a romantic context Miles in his little tiny jealous teen brain could have.

And also. When Miles hears any of that information is it very clear that he is NOT happy about it. It’s very obvious that he is jealous of Hobie. What Margo does is that same exact thing for Gwen but in a much shorter span of time and with much less build up because that’s all they really have to work with. And they get that Miles and Margo have chemistry across great.

But over all, there is no real reason to ship them. Because Margo has almost no character depth and almost no scenes and no real relationship with Miles in like any way. I’m not even sure you could call them acquaintances at this point. It feels like the only reason people ship them is because they’re two black characters.

Anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk ig.

[aita-blorbos]

aita for killing my best friend?

This looks so bad lol but I'm posting in anyways, its one of those title vs post things. My (16, i lost my gender in an accident) best friend (15F) cannot, functionally, die. Well, she CAN, but she can just "respawn" so it's basically nothing. No problem! We're all pals here lol. While dying is technically traumatizing as all get out for her (she like grows back all her flesh n shit??? its so gross i dont really watch that feels kinda gay :/) she says its fine if I need to kill her for like a bit or to get us out of a jam or if we don't have anything planned.

I usually hang out with her in a group of 3 other people in our grade--we're in this stupid little club that we cant quit because its load-bearing in a way. Anyways, one day were sitting around and we arent doing shit so I take a brick out of my backpack and throw it at my friend's head which kills her. Someone else in the club (15NB) is like "oh my god OP, you just killed her!" For context, this person both knows about my girlfriend (PLATONIC i'm not gay) and her respawn shit and HATES me.

Going off topic to talk about this person, seriously they hate me so much and I don't know why. We have such a needlessly contentious relationship and I don't know why! I've only thrown things at their head like a couple dozen times, and have really toned down the insinuating they're going to hell. Anyways, back on topic, they saw me kill my friend (fine) (morally correct) (heterosexual) and got all up in arms.

They went off about how that's "fucked up" and "taking advantage of her natural loyal disposition" even when I pointed out it's literally fine! I straight up kick them in the balls every once in a while and they don't even care. They were stubborn about the whole keeping a brick in my backpack thing and I was pretty solid on my convictions, but IDK! Am I the asshole?

[mollywog]

Far From The Madding Crowd - Chapter 20

Revisiting this chapter because it’s my favorite so far in the reread

In every point of view, ranging from politic to passionate, it was desirable that she, a lonely girl, should marry, and marry this earnest, well-to-do, and respected man.

When you think about it, she probably should feel more alone: she’s in an unfamiliar place, with no family present, taking on a job she didn’t expect, she fired her Bailiff… Gabriel is the only person she knows and trusts. He’s a steady, reassuring presence in her life

~~~~~~~~

This feels significant-

Oak stood somewhat as Eros is represented when in the act of sharpening his arrows: his figure slightly bent, the weight of his body thrown over on the shears, and his head balanced side-ways, with a critical compression of the lips and contraction of the eyelids to crown the attitude.

Eros - Greek God of Love and Sex 👀 - she’s also about to talk to him about her love life so there’s that too.

~~~~~~~~~

This description is so vivid, I can feel it:

The peculiar motion involved in turning a wheel has a wonderful tendency to benumb the mind. It is a sort of attenuated variety of Ixion's punishment, and contributes a dismal chapter to the history of gaols. The brain gets muddled, the head grows heavy, and the body's centre of gravity seems to settle by degrees in a leaden lump somewhere between the eyebrows and the crown. Bathsheba felt the unpleasant symptoms after two or three dozen turns.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then there this:

He relinquished the winch, and inclosing her two hands completely in his own (taking each as we sometimes slap a child's hand in teaching him to write), grasped the shears with her. "Incline the edge so," he said.

Hands and shears were inclined to suit the words, and held thus for a peculiarly long time by the instructor as he spoke.

"That will do," exclaimed Bathsheba. "Loose my hands. I won't have them held! Turn the winch."

In another context, this would be a pretty sexy moment, and maybe it was for Gabriel who held on for a peculiarly long time, but that Hardy says ‘taking each as we sometimes slap a child's hand in teaching him to write’ which kills the vibe for me… with that being said - it sets the scene for the rest of their encounter - Gabriel (compared to the God of love and desire) reprimanding/advising her on her actions towards Boldwood and Bathsheba, frustrated and batting him away.

~~~~~~~~~

As I was listening - this popped out at me:

A woman may be treated with a bitterness which is sweet to her, and with a rudeness which is not offensive. Bathsheba would have submitted to an indignant chastisement for her levity had Gabriel protested that he was loving her at the same time; the impetuosity of passion unrequited is bearable, even if it stings and anathematizes—there is a triumph in the humiliation, and a tenderness in the strife. This was what she had been expecting, and what she had not got. To be lectured because the lecturer saw her in the cold morning light of open-shuttered disillusion was exasperating. He had not finished, either. He continued in a more agitated voice:—

Which reminded me of

It takes a long time before I get to the bottom of why I'm so upset. When I do, it's almost too mortifying to admit. All those months of taking it for granted that Peeta thought I was wonderful are over. Finally, he can see me for who I really am.

IDK, what do you think? Does the whole argument have a similar flavor to Hijacked Peeta’s first conversation with Katniss?

[dragon-reblogs-and-rambles]

One down 7 to go hoooooooooooo boy

fun fact this is the first time i got 100% achievements on a game please ignore the Visual Novel tag I am a very pro gamer I swear

anyway some quick rambles:

I've been slowly making my way through this game rather than rushing through so some of my thoughts on the early sections are lost to time,

the main thing about this is that it takes a while to get to the good part but also without the slice of life elements i think it would be a significantly worse game so probably slowly going through rather than binging all at once is the right call

also the steam release has "updated" sprites (you can turn off) and i have a rant on why those sprites are actually worse in my opinion even tho they are technically drawn better but that could be its own post

(would you believe me if i told you these two sprites are supposed to be conveying the exact same emotion, according to the game these are the same sprite)

(or what about mion being banned from showing emotion beyond default anime expressions, not like she's a super playful energetic character or anything)

you can turn these out so it's not an issue but if we have to have redraws for rereleases can they be like.... good, when all a visual novel has is a couple dozen sprites per character they need to be good at showing emotion

oh yeah also its very obvious they only have like 7 songs total for this game ost lol there is only one good song in the ost btw, from a quick google serch looks like every version of the vn has a different ost lol

what else was i gunna sayy uhhhhhh

oh right yeah one thing is that going into the VN knowing the twist from the anime i think did make the experience slightly less good in some places i kinda do wish i could go in 100% blind but i know it would not hold my attention otherwise

(spoiler talk) knowing about the Hinamizawa Syndrome ahead of time def made it some some suspenseful scenes had me going "Keichi you ass your literally just tripping balls" like on one hand scenes where i notice a logical explanation with the context of knowing the twist is a sign of good writing but because i did not get my first experience with the VN idk i feel like i was missing out

regardless ill probs slowly go through the rest of the VN cuz i liked it overall, i already bought the next 3 games (first was free) so i guess i have to cuz i hate having a backlog

oh yeah the first chapter of the VN is free and its 10+ hours so if you like sorta kinda are intrested cuz of the anime you dont have anything to loose i wouldnt say its a strong reccomened yet but its more a "i enjoyed it and didnt feel like my time was waisted"