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myaaist · 1 year ago

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So about Terence and Dion

tldr; these two are really, really similar to Patroclus and Achilles

So a couple weeks after the game was released I tweeted this.

Of course two months later while doing some research for a WIP teredio fic I develop a brainrot so strong about this very comparison

disclaimer: this is all purely speculation made out of 7 hours of brainrot. I am not in any way an expert in greek mythology and i cannot even afford a PS5. This is purely a fun write-up I made in hopes of my hyperfixation reaching other people who also adore this pairing. This is also VERY long and windy.

Right, firstly, I don't think it is a reach to make this comparison at all; if anything, I am more surprised by how few people have actually posted anything in the interwebs about this (I found like, one other tumblr post, but I am also not a part of the ship Discord server for this pairing so I might just be late to the party 🤷‍♀️).

FF16 is FULL of references to greek mythology and culture. Cid's last name Telamon is the name of one of the Argonauts, Charon is the name of the ferryman to the underworld who requires payment for passage to the underworld, Ambrosia is the food of the gods, and those are just the simple ones that I think most people can tell from modern pop culture references. Comparing Terence and Dion to Patroclus and Achilles, one of the most famous greek relationships between two adult men, is really not that far of a reach.

Actually, the thing that got me to tweet that teredio reminds me of patrochilles is the whole hero-and-squire relationship they got going on since the very beginning. Terence is technically Dion's second-in-command, but with that opening scene of Terence holding onto Dion's spear and then followed by the cutscene of him tending to Dion's arm in the camp which is also followed by thee kiss scene? Doesn't take a meta analysis to draw the line from one ship to another

(Also the hero with blonde hair and his lover with dark brown hair 👀 but this is more of a common trope rather than something specific to patrochilles)

And that is where I left my teredio-is-like-patrochilles thoughts for a good while. I spent the next two months RTing all the gorgeous teredio fanarts on twitter, read a few teredio fanfics, then onto other FF16 ships like a normal person.

(my personal favourite for the longest time is Cid x Clive; the longfics for this pairing are insanely good..)

Then I decided to write a oneshot for teredio about their servant-and-master relationship (at least, that's how they worded it in the game).

I wanted to find a better way to describe their relationship in my fic; still sticking to the term master and servant as it is canon in the english script, but not neccessarily implying an irreconcilable difference in social standing or power imbalance. My searches somehow led me to biblical fanfiction, in which I find some very interesting takes on David and Jonathan, which then leads me to a wikipedia page about David and Jonathan --

and then back to where I began, Patroclus and Achilles.

except when I first made that comparison, it was just a tweet off the top of my head. I read Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller in 2016, and I do not remember everything that happens in that book. All I remember is roughly the overall feel of the relationship and that these two greek characters died tragically and that their ashes are buried together.

So imagine my surprise when I see this image on the wikipedia page for Patroclus and Achilles.

The caption says: Achilles bandaging the arm of Patroclus.

I do not have 4k screencaps the exact scene so have this image i copied off GamesRadar off a lousy google search

Great, so they both share an arm-bandaging scene. Doesn't make them any more similar, you'd say. Also, didn't I just draw similarities from Achilles to Dion and Patroclus to Terence in the beginning? This one is completely swapped!

Well give me a moment to recover from the shock of seeing what looks very similar to a ship i like on a real-life greek pottery painting, and let's get to actually comparing details.

Quick note, I will be using in-game canon, the information from the newly released FF16 ultimania, descriptions from homeric traditions, and also the book Song of Achilles (SoA). You can argue that using Song of Achilles as a reference is a stretch because it is a romance book that treats patrochilles as a canon homosexual relationship, but honestly Madeline Miller took 10 years to write that book and I don't think I can compete with her amount of research in 7 hours.

What's similar:

Terence is the son of a minor noble family in Sanbreque (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus is the son of Menoetius, one of the Argonauts. They are both from 'lesser' lineages in comparison to their partners, but is still technically born into nobility.

Terence and Dion grew up together after meeting each other in school at age 7 (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus and Achilles grew up together in Phthia after Patroclus was exiled. Both are childhood friends who grew into adulthood together.

Terence is instated as Dion's squire at age 12 (from the Ultimania), and Patroclus is given to Achilles by Achilles' father Peleus as his henchman (from the Illiad, though translations differ) or his trusted brother-in-arms (from SoA). Both are bound by duty to their partners from a young age.

Terence is Dion's second-in-command during the events of the game, and Patroclus is Achilles' right-hand-man during the events of the Trojan War (from the Illiad and SoA). Both are confidants to their partners during war times.

Dion is the dominant of Bahamut and the prince of Sanbreque, Achilles is the son of the Nereid Thetis and a mortal king Peleus. Both are born into nobility and are famous for their inhuman battle prowess.

Dion's main weapon of choice is a lance, and Achilles was given the legendary Pelian Spear by Chiron the Centaur before he participated in the Trojan War (from the Illiad). Both notably use spears/lances/pokey sticks.

I think those are the main similarities that I can in good faith say are pretty obvious. Next are the things that I personally think might be slightly delusional depending on the angle you approach the premise from.

What can be a bit of a reach:

The arm bandaging scenes. Assuming it is to relief the pain from the Crystal's Curse, Dion is not the only dominant to start petrifying from his arm. Cid also has similar marks on his arms and Clive's hand eventually petrifies. However, it is also the first scene where we explicitly see the extent of Dion and Terence's relationship.

There is no mention about Terence's relationship with his family, while Patroclus is notably exiled from his father's lands -- that's how he gets to Phthia and meets Achilles. Instead, we know that Dion's family did not love him (from the Ultimania)

Dion is the son born of a courtesan, and his father had her killed after buying him from her (from the Ultimania). Achilles is born of Peleus basically binding and coercing Thetis after she is gifted to Peleus by Zeus and Poseidon. Both tales frame the image of both men's fathers being not exactly good people, and their marriages and the births of their sons would be important to mark the start of upcoming events (the Judgement of Paris took place at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, Dion's birth and awakening backs Sylvestre's claim to the throne). I call this sort of a reach because this doesn't exactly play into the relationships' dynamics per se, just a reminder that their fathers are horrible people 🤷‍♀️

There is an element of fate in Achilles' death, where the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow Paris shot to Achilles' heel. The dominants in the game have on multiple occasions been mentioned to be slaves to their own fates, and the main theme of the game has much to do with defying fate decided by gods, even if it means die trying. Dion 'dies' defying the fate Ultima has decided for humanity, so I guess there is a similarity?

This is the biggest reach of all lol. So remember that I mentioned Telamon, Cid's last name, is also the name of one of the Argonauts? Telamon is also the older brother of Peleus, Achilles' father. Now, I do not think that this is the only explanation as to why the writers chose the name Telamon out of all the other greek names. The writers managed to shove in 3 different thunder gods into Cid's character, and I refuse to believe that they chose the name just because Telamon is somewhat related to Achilles. Telamon is also the father to Ajax the Great who is a notable hero, but Ajax is like, second to Achilles in fame and I don't really see a FF16 character that can be somewhat related to Ajax..

Okay, so what does this all mean?

Honestly I don't know lol

Terence x Dion, unlike many other ships I've liked, is an actually canon ship at some point in the game's story. Even without the comparison, the ship still stands as confirmed to be canon. Drawing lines from two greek mythology characters to them does not make the ship any more canon than it already is.

But the game's story also doesn't shed much light on the ship itself, not in the base game at least. Fair enough, it is Clive's story and not Dion's story, so Terence, who doesn't play a part in Clive's story, doesn't get to be in the spotlight for long. Dion's conflict with his own father is also given more weight to Dion's character development. We're given so little information about Terence that when the Ultimania came out I was just happy I get more crumbs of lore to work with.

I don't think the devs took direct inspiration from the tale of Achilles and Patroclus either. We've learned that FF16 is just a melting pot of all the storytelling and worldbuilding elements we loved from FFXIV, FF12, GoT, greek mythology, classic FF and media tropes, and so much more. The most I can think of is that the writers wanted to write a canon gay love story that people will love, and in doing so they picked out the romance tropes and stories that have been widely accepted and loved for a long time. Childhood friends to lovers, unrequited first loves that eventually became mutual in the threat of separation, the second-in-command who is loyal in both duty and matters of the heart.

If the tale of Achilles and Patroclus happens to fall under that category, needless to say I am very happy with the writers' decision. If not, well consider this just a very very long headcanon post

If you've never read anything related to patrochilles and is interested, I highly recommend reading the Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller! Prepare about half the amount of tissue you've used for FF16 and you're all set for a heartbreaking love story 🥰

Also I hope these two don't die as tragically as Achilles and Patroclus.

#ffxvi #ff16 #terence #dion lesage #teredio #flareknight #patrochilles #good lord this is long i will never post on tumblr ever again

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bury-me-in-potatoes · 3 months ago

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14 Days of MHA Day 14—Reflection

This is my final contribution for @pikahlua's 14 Days of MHA challenge! Thank you for reading!

My Hero Academia was the first manga that made me really feel things. Before this, I'd only watched a couple animes, and none of them resonated with me the way MHA did. I'm so happy I decided to pick up this manga, even if I did it a little late, and it's honestly an amazing experience to be able to be here for the end of it.

MHA became my favourite manga super quickly after I started it, and I don't think it'll be dethroned for a long time, if it ever is. The characters are amazing and I fell in love with most of them as soon as I met them. Although the story and the writing aren't perfect, nothing ever is, and I think for the most part they're pretty solid. I love hopeful stories, and to me, MHA is probably the epitome of a hopeful story.

Also, I think this is one manga whose art can't possibly be topped by the anime adaptation, or honestly by anyone else, period. I'm sure the one thing everyone agrees on is that Horikoshi is an incredibly talented artist, and the way he plays with panelling and dialogue bubbles is unlike other mangas I've read so far.

I also love how gentle (for lack of a better word lol) MHA is with its themes. Yes, people can make terrible choices. People can and will screw up all the time. People will turn a blind eye to injustice. But they can also always choose to try and do better. Change doesn't happen all at once, and more often than not it's gradual. When we all reach out to try to understand each other better, to offer a helping hand, we make life a little easier for everyone. Stuff like this never fails to give me a warm feeling lol. It's about learning from your mistakes and resolving to do better!!! It's about the Power of Friendship™!!!

As someone who only got here in early 2023, I haven't had much time with this manga and its community, but I'm grateful I at least got some time to read this manga while it was still running. Seeing the outpouring of love and support for Horikoshi really is something. It feels like the end of an era...

Honestly, I think my feelings can only really be summed up by this Izuku quote:

"My time with it...gave me a glimpse of the most amazing dream."

I may have only been here for the final battle and the ending, but it was amazing being able to experience things with everyone else, even if it wasn't for too long! I love this manga, and I loved reading everyone's reactions, theories, and meta posts. It's hard to believe that the manga's actually finished, to be honest lol. But I hope the fandom stays alive for a long time, because I don't think MHA's letting go of my brain anytime soon. I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Now look at the panel that keeps making me want to cry!!!!!

They're all grown up...

#14DaysofMHA #my post #manga spoilers

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britesparc · 4 months ago

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Weekend Top Ten #647

Top Ten Superhero Cartoons

It’s been a good year for animated series based on mainstream superhero comics. Well, I say that; it’ll probably have been a good year by the end of the year. Why? Well, because X-Men ’97 came out of nowhere in the Spring and totally blew everyone away. Do you… Remember It?

Sorry, too soon.

Also, next month – in fact, next week– Batman: Caped Crusader launches on Prime Video, a 30s-set noir-drenched take on ol’ pointy-ears, presided over by Bruce Timm. He should do alright, because thirty years ago he tried to make a Batman cartoon and it was only flippin’ the best thing ever made, ever. So expectation are slightly high.

Anyway, all this exciting animated action has got me thinking about superhero series past and present. Because one thing that’s been true since, oooh, at least the 1960s is that comic books translate very well to the animated medium. Maybe it’s the bright colours; maybe it’s the tendency towards melodramatic narrative; maybe it’s because it’s easier to draw a giant purple-helmeted man trying to eat a planet than it is to actually realise it in live-action.

This list, therefore, represents my favourite animated series that are based on an existing superhero property. And I'm going to say right out the gate that all of them are mainstream; they’re all Marvel and DC series. The Tick was just bubbling under, but frankly I’ve never loved any non-Big-Two animated superhero show. I have not, I will confess, watched Invincible; rightly or wrongly I just don’t think it’d be my cup of tea, for the same reason I’ve never watched The Boys: I just don’t like nihilistic superhero stories. Or, for that matter, particularly violent ones. Maybe that’s just me. I’m often reminded of Grant Morrison saying they never really got on with X-Men because they didn’t like the fact that the characters argued; despite that, Morrison wrote some pretty damn good X-Men stories.

Another thing I had to have a mental chat with myself about was whether the Fleischer Superman series could be counted on this list; and I decided that yes it could. That was a series of cartoons; yes they were released theatrically, but nobody really had TVs in the 1940s. I feel like they were a product of their time and the medium available to deliver an adaptation; just like how the Spider-Man or Incredible Hulk animated series from the sixties reflect their era, or the nineties “Saturday morning cartoon” animations reflect theirs, or even how the likes of streaming-first series such as What If...?, Invincible, or Caped Crusader can be seen to reflect the here and now. Also it lets me have Batmand and Superman as number one and number two, just as all things should be.

Oh, and Turtles... I dunno. I just don’t think of it as a “superhero” show, even though there’s very little difference between an episode of TMNT, an Avengers, a Justice League, or even something like Transformers: Earthspark. So no Turtles. Sorry.

Batman: The Animated Series (1992-97): just a flat-out masterpiece; from writing to design to casting, every single aspect is brilliant. A mature handling of the character but still fun and exciting for kids (I know; I was there). Arguably the only show on this list that is generally regarded as the best all-round interpretation of a character.

Superman (1941-43): okay, so it’s a series of shorts released cinematically; but what shorts. Absolutely beautiful, some truly astounding pieces of Golden Age animation, telling stories that just feel so archetypically Superman; the visual of him punching a laser beam back to its source is an iconic emblem of the character.

Teen Titans Go! (from 2013): surprisingly divisive in its irreverent treatment of its characters, this is the greatest superhero parody of all time. Wild, weird, anarchic, the supremely meta fourth-wall-breaking jokes come at an extreme rate; the gags run the gamut from random DC ephemera to Hollywood references to entire plots about the Illuminati. “Bonkers” doesn��t come close.

X-Men ‘97 (from 2024): returning to a series thirty years after its original run, there’s absolutely no reason for this to be so good. Taking the themes of the original but giving them both a complexity and a maturity not allowed by a kids’ show in the nineties, this excels in all areas; some episodes will be remembered for decades. Exceptional.

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (2001-06): almost feels a cheat to include the variety of spin-offs and semi-sequels from Batman: TAS; the “DC Animated Universe” was an early and successful shared universe. These two conjoined series really just get these characters, delving deep into DC lore to give us great stories and even better character work. Some of my favourite DC moments are from this show.

Harley Quinn (from 2019): I’m not a fan of “adult” animation; I tend to find it edgy and try-hard. Somehow Harley wins me over; it’s probably a combination of a surprisingly nuanced take on the character, some amusing yet respectful twists on DC characters, and a very good gag rate. It really is very funny; it earns a place just for Bane alone.

Spider-Man (1967-70): no, I’m not just including this because you could strongly argue that the theme tune is the most iconic thing any of these shows have ever produced; but that is true. No, this is both a great example of its era, and also just a fun interpretation of the character; it nails his voice and his humour and does a good interpretation of Romita’s art style.

Teen Titans (2003-06): although the insanity and inanity of TTG vaults the original, it still should be lauded for its fresh take on the genre. Heavily influenced by anime – including a fantastic J-Pop theme tune – it was, for its time, suitably wacky and funny, and did a great job conveying the familial nature of the comic book Titans.

Spider-Man (1994-98): the two great Marvel animations of the nineties were Spidey and X-Men, and it’s hard to split the two. But this is the one I think I loved most at the time; its huge multi-part epics were great, and it really went to some superb comic-y places. Introduced me to so much of Spidey lore, and also did a multiverse team-up thirty years before Spider-Verse.

DC Super Hero Girls (2019-22): this earns bonus points for its connection to the Super Best Friends Forever shorts, also a production of showrunner Lauren Faust; the characterisation, the art style, and the general tone is indicative of most of her work (especially My Little Pony). An upbeat, friendship-focused female-led show, it has great interpretations of the characters, it looks lovely, and it’s very funny. More of this sort of thing, please.

#top ten #tv #cartoon #animation #superhero #comic book #dc #marvel

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manasurge · 1 year ago

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My Characters

Thought I might as well do this since I like how a few of my in-game characters turned out, so here's my roster so far (subtracting a few that are in limbo). Tried to put it in order to most to least used. I'm not one to make my in-game characters as OCs, but I still like to give them a name/aesthetic/theme that matches together (and colour-coordinated) so it sort of seems like they could (also for fashion wars reasons. Name above their respective images below). Also I like giving them singular names. (oh gosh I really hope this automatically shrinks the length of the post bc it's not giving me the "Read More" option >_>') My Main: Vespaura (Mesmer/Mirage). Crystal Bloom/Branded themed. Still waiting for proper crystal aesthetic looks lol (none available in game atm are what I'm looking for). I'm pretty much on her almost all of the time since I'm a ho for Open world and I love GS lasers, clones, portals, and evasion hax (I'm squishy so I need the survivability and sustain, and I tag almost everything, so it works well when doing metas and stuff).

Mourynn (Necromancer/Scourge) - This is the one I took my OC's name from lol, so it's funny seeing her in game bc I forget sometimes lsjflksf. I Tried to make her look like an infected/toxic/poisonous Awakened Nightmare Courtier Duchess, and the squiggly tentacles are meant to portray turning into the necrotic glider below. I really wanna get her a bunch of Mordy and Zhaitan leggies (one day~)

Ferahla (Revenant/Renegade) - I actually updated her back piece and colours a bit since this new back piece was released bc it fit her look much more. I tried to make her look gnarly (also this outfit makes her look a bit nakey, but I'm kind of okay with that tbh alsjflskdjf), and I'm trying to match her to the Chuka leggy for whenever I get around to finishing it. Renegade is also one of my favourite specs cuz I like being at ranged and having the support of Kalla and her Lesbian Warband.

Faihan (Ranger/Soulbeast) - I still adore her look and her name is one of my favourites too. I was sort of going for a pheonix/firebird Hunter (bloodborne) kinda vibe. I couldn't decide between capes so she has one for Power and one for Condi. Also it's tricky to dress for leather armour, so I like how this turned out.

Vaipaura (Mesmer/Virtuoso) - All my mesmers have similar names bc I think it's funny to headcanon they're just different AUs of each other (not gonna show Chrono here bc she's in Limbo. Her name is Vastaura). I wanted to give Vaipaura a Regal Canthan Noble Madam kinda vibe (also I just love the combo of this outfit and backpiece). She also has Exordium cuz it also matches this look too. However I still heavily prefer playing Mirage bc despite this one being great for DPS and very neat. It's just super squishy with not a lot of survivability/sustain and no clones to distract, and it feels so slow, but regardless it is still fun to play as well (I just miss spamming dodge all the time :( I also miss my clones)

Mortesque (Necromancer/Reaper) - I'm not 100% sure if this will be the final look for her or not, but I was mostly just trying to match her to Zhaitan's Bite when I finally unlocked it a little while back. As you can tell I really like greatswords (the only 3 leggies I have are GS lol)

Shroudryss (Thief/Specter) - My newest sapling. I'm stll not 100% sure about the outfit, but it'll do for now. Specter is really fun!! I really like fancy magical mobile classes. I need to play thief way more tbh since it's more of less up my alley (this one will be my first to go to)

Jadesta (Engineer/Mechanist) - Her name and look are very on the nose. HOWEVER I am proud of the name I gave to her mech: Caladborg (also I really like the Aetherblade look here and at least it's easy/fun to give her stuff for fashion wars)

Prismysta (Revenant/Herald) - I wanted to make her fit the pretty pearlescent look of Glint's facets, and I did want one light-themed cute character. Also there was just so many pretty pieces that wouldn't work with Vespaura that I thought it'd work well for her!

Hexirax (Thief/Daredevil) - I still super need to change her name bc it for sure as hell does not suit her at all lmao!! But since I still needed a pink Sylvari, I thought it would be funny to make it my Daredevil (also the weapon worked well for this so I made her Sakura themed. Her outfit is still subject to change if I find something better)

Vallotash (Guardian/Dragonhunter) - Still not sure what to do with her yet (might switch her elite spec, idk yet), but I'm still super proud of her name and I forgot I made this look on her. I like the colour combo, and I still might keep it (subject for change tho, but I don't hate it)

#gw2 #sylvari #my characters #Lol my other ones are a bit ignored atm but the first handful are my most used (Vespaura especially)#I've never really showed them off before so I thought I might as well while I'm here #I'm proud of how a lot of them turned out and a lot of their names #Fear my army of plant lesbians!

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stereopticons · 1 year ago

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for the fun meta asks:

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

19. Hahahahaha. I feel like you should ask @blackandwhiteandrose this question because she’s the one who has to deal with the fact that once I start writing, I forget every word I’ve ever known and use the same ten verbs over again.

I definitely use the word “murmurs” a lot because I maintain that there is no acceptable substitute. It’s a specific type of speaking that unfortunately occurs a lot in my writing and I spend a lot of time trying (and failing) to find acceptable synonyms. I also frequently describe feelings as being in the character’s chest (tightness, warmth, pain, whatever, it all goes behind the ribs I guess) and I do often describe how someone tastes when kissing. I’ve written Patrick coming out to David at a bar/the Wobbly Elm at least three separate times, so I should probably knock that off.

20. Ooh okay. Well. I’ve said, since I started writing fic, that world building is my biggest weakness. I’ve never felt very confident with it. So when I started writing indie band Patrick, I decided to challenge myself and really delve into the world building. Granted, it’s not fantasy or magical realism or anything like that, and it takes place in a real place (New York, primarily), but it’s outside of Schitt’s Creek and there are a lot of pieces I have had to pull together. Every place that’s mentioned so far with the exception of David’s gallery, really exists. I went on streeteasy and found apartments for Stevie and Patrick and a loft for David. I’ve researched music venues extensively lol. Even the subway routes. But the piece of completely unnecessary but still really fun world building that I loved doing was booking Patrick’s band’s tour. I had a couple of cities I needed them to hit for plot reasons and certain date parameters and used that to create a plausible tour route. Then I looked up music venues in each city that would fit the band’s status and the type of music I imagine they play. THEN I made a tour poster:

Of course, if I’d been writing instead of making that, maybe I’d have finished the fic by now lmao. Oh and I also created all of the song titles for their first and second albums as well as an EP, which I won’t share yet but they are pretty delightful.

Meta asks for writers

#thanks for asking!

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silvertsundere · 7 months ago

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Silver Talks AniManga (14/04/24)

suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper late post this week, not only cause I started a buncha new stuff but I was also traveling on the weekend which cut off a ton of my free time (imas could've been last week but subs were late for a whole week 😒) also GBC and BA might not be on the corresponding sunday post for the ep that aired that week cause of their sub situation. Should be fine for GBC, but I ain't putting up with terrible subs for BA so I'd rather wait a couple days for better ones (even if I could watch the bad ones and understand it no problem)

but anyway, lots of yappin this time around, next week should be a lot more chill

green - new series/new to me blue - finale/completed

Anime

Girls Band Cry Ep1-2

this one is quite the ride for me. when it first got announced I was gonna watch it cause nari is the character designer and I love their art and it's a cute girls show. then it was revealed it was gonna be cg and I changed my mind. then the ep came out and people were praising it so I was like, "ok maybe I could watch despite it being cg". but then I saw a clip where it looked really bad so I was like "oh ok I was right not to watch it nvm" BUT THEN I saw a different clip that looked super good so after some deliberation I decided to watch it anyway and it turns out it's actually REALLY GOOD? like if every cg show was this level of quality I wouldn't be such a hater the op and ed(s) were really good too but they better be when it's a show about a band lol. the real ed (the one from ep2) has all the art done by nari which is super cool ep 2 was really good too, ep 1 had already convinced me to watch all of it, but still nice to see 2 being good as well

The Idolmaster Shiny Colours Ep1-2

while I was watcing GBC I was thinking "man the cg being this good is gonna make SC look even worse" and sadly I was right. Now, it's not terrible mind you but just like the ML anime, coming in the heels of something like the U149 anime which not only was traditionally animated but also had incredible direction with the quality art to back it up, it feels very bland. Luckily for it, it has the imas spice and, repeat it after me, I Am Not Immune To Idols. It's amazing how they get my ass every damn time... It's a shame that my lantica girls already had their episode so early since they're my favourites of the launch units but I'm sure they'll get at least one more at some point, along with a little more screentime every now and then like the others did on ep2 but anyway Ep1 was basically teasing the different units while introducing mano and getting her together with the other two. While ep2 was mostly about lantica with some small bits with the other groups spliced in. After ep1 I thought they weren't going to follow the usual formula of dedicating 1 episode per girl and/or unit but after 2 I'm not sure anymore. There's only 12 eps so if they do 1 ep per unit, while having little bits for the other ones, that would take us up to ep 5/12. We already know that there's gonna be a s2 with straylight and noctchill so we know they're not gonna show up in this season. I guess they could do a wing episode for each of the units which would put us up to 9/12 leaving the remaining episodes for big group episodes with everyone but we'll see.. Also speaking of s2, there's still 2 more units that weren't confirmed for it and since this s1 has 4 units you think it'd make sense for s2 to have 4 units as well. However the 2 units that haven't been confirmed are related to each other, in a way, so I could totally see them doing a s3 with just those units, since I don't think they'll introduce another unit any time soon. But anyway I'm starting to ramble and talking too much about meta. TL;DR: show shouldn't be cg and bandai can damn well afford a traditional show but they're greedy. other than that it's good ofc. like I said with ML, if you like any of the imas anime you'll like this. if you like the game/girls you'll like it as well

Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night Ep1-2

this got announced around the same time as GBC and I posted about it as well. I was going to watch it just because it was a dogakobo original and I like the studio and it seemed like a nice cute girls show. As the season came closer I wasn't sure about watching it anymore but was thinking of giving it the good ol 3 episode rule just out of respect to dogakobo. When it did start, something had happened that caused me to change my mind and decide that I wasn't going to watch it. I don't remember what it was anymore but anyway. However my buddy mega did watch it and said it was really good so I decided to give it a shot like originally planned and... it's really good too. The mains being takarie and mikku is a rare combo but very welcome and the show also has that characteristic dogakobo polish to it and the direction is very good as well. I also appreciate the yuri vibes but I'm me so yknow ep 2 was nice as well, both the op and ed are good, and kimura might be a little freak but she's fun. I guess the next episode will be dedicated to the vtuber girl but we'll see

Kaiju 8 Ep1

that was a solid first ep, there wasn't anything too impressive to show off so I guess we'll see how it goes in the next episode, but it looked good enough that I'm not too worried about it. shame it's only 1 cour but I'm sure they're planning on adapting it all since the manga is almost over too it'll be nice revisiting these early parts of the story, it wasn't that long ago that I caught up but it's been long enough because it's not weekly that I don't remember the early parts with that much clarity but yeah, ep was nice, good voices, good music, good art (for the most part I thought some shots of mina looked off) and the animation wasn't bad either. if they keep up this quality until the end it'll be a respectable adaptation but I hope they at least give us some sakuga crumbs during the big iconic scenes

Manga

Astro Royale Ch1

tokyo revengers' wakui ken as left kodansha to come to shueisha with this new series and you can really tell it's the work of a veteran author I didn't know what to expect since I never read/watched TR, outside of seeing some clips and caps here and there, but this was actually really good. the setting and the characters were all set up very well, along with the main trigger that sets off the story. really great use of spread pages as well I've been saying for ages that wsj needs a new hit with some of their biggest hitters ending soon and they seem to think so too since no recent series have really popped off (except kagurabachi [the power of memes]) so they decided to grab another veteran (there's a bunch more in the mag currently). We'll have to see the next handful of chaps but just from this debut I can see this series having the potential to be a hit for sure. I've been doing this long enough that I got a pretty good intuition for this kinda stuff, tho there's always exceptions like me thinking red hood would last and that nue would get axed but I'm usually right for the most part.. anyway the series seems like it'll be fun so looking forward to it, I know people complain that TR went downhill after a certain point but this isn't TR so no point comparing this to it on chapter 1. just trust that the author learned his lesson from whatever went wrong with TR and enjoy the series for what it is, not like it's a sequel or something

Two on Ice Ch28 (Finale)

well that's over and I don't really got much to say tbh I don't really care about skating so I wasn't interested in this from the beggining and the artist didn't do a great job showing it off either. it was informative but not engaging. there were a few good panels/pages but a lot of big spreads got wasted with tons of expostion instead of showing off the art. I also didn't care about the "villain" at all despite how much the artist loved and pushed him still not one of the worst things I've read on jump that's for sure, just not for me and not interesting enough for me to change my mind and care about. an opposite example of this would be blue box which is a romance series and I thought I wouldn't like it when I started catching up to it and ended up loving it cause it's a lot more engaging

#silver talks animanga

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chromonym · 7 months ago

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wanna write for a while about something you love? or just find interesting? it'd be fun to read

genuinely difficult to decide what to talk about bc i have so many things uhhhhhhhh let’s do OneShot. i’ll try to avoid spoilers for this first bit.

OneShot is one of, if not my absolute, favourite games of all time. the story can and will absolutely break you, and even though it’s been years since i’ve played it i still miss Niko (the main character).

the gameplay itself is… eh, let’s be real, it’s an rpgmaker game with no combat. at the very least there are some quite interesting puzzles - nothing overly difficult, but their main purpose isn’t that. they serve to immerse you (for want of a better word) in the game.

the immersion and the story are the absolute highlights, although again ‘immersion’ might be the wrong word to use. i’m trying to word this without spoilers in case you or anyone else reading this hasn’t played the game, but you’ll be able to tell within the first few minutes of gameplay what i’m talking about. for similar reasons, i’d recommend the steam version over the console version (‘world machine edition’) despite the latter having quite a few quality of life improvements.

the story, aided by the ‘immersion’, can and will make you cry. i played the game after watching a playthrough (something that i would strongly recommend against!), and i still cried over it. it’s pretty simple, your job is to guide Niko to the centre of the world of OneShot to replace its “sun”, a giant lightbulb. well, okay it’s not really that simple there’s some other things that become apparent right near the end. :)

also, the Solstice route (think of it as a new game plus) will ruin you emotionally in a completely different way! if you haven’t played it yet, say hi to Rue and TWM for me.

oh also the music is great and certain tracks (pretty, i’m here, thanks for everything, etc) still make me emotional

but i’m not done. only look under the cut if you’ve played the game, and if you haven’t, go play it!!!

so: SPOILERS FOR ONESHOT (not including Solstice).

the funniest thing about OneShot is that it’s just a glorified trolley problem. with the main difference, of course, being that the entire game has been setting you up to have Genuine Emotional Investment in it, and it. fucking. works.

i absolutely love the way that it does this, too. throughout the tutorial area, you kind of expect to be playing as Niko - that’s how it is in almost every other rpg, after all. but immediately after you’ve made this assumption, the game refers to you and Niko separately - and it says your name before you’ve even had a chance to input it. (this is also part of why i recommend steam over console, because this is a lot more unexpected there)

this is then expanded upon when you meet prophetbot, who gets Niko to talk to you directly! you then kind of get to know Niko through these chats (as well as Niko talking to other characters in the game), which makes the final decision so much worse. they’re just a kid.

the meta puzzles are quite fun (and again another reason that i recommend computer over console), but saying they immerse you in the game world isn’t exactly right - they immerse the game world in reality. they, along with things like Niko talking directly to you, utterly demolish the fourth wall while simultaneously bringing direct attention to it. obviously there’s still a necessary amount of suspension of disbelief, but you can almost imagine that the program OneShot is an actual simulation of a digital world undergoing corruption.

i also love the tower sequence, because of what you can’t do in it. you can’t talk to Niko. it’s a very simple limitation, but it’s absolutely fucking destroying given that you’ve been able to for the entire rest of the game. and even though you’re still in full control, it feels like you’re not.

and then! once you are finally able to speak to Niko again! you need to tell them that the entire journey has been for naught and you can’t save both them and the world at the same time! look, there’s a reason that the song Pretty (the one that plays in the final elevator ride) is in a playlist of songs that make me emotional.

god i fucking love this game so much

(i’ve decided that i’m not going to write anything about Solstice because. i don’t think i can do it justice. just play it. you’ll know.)

#xxoc #theprotogenagian #oneshot #oneshot game #please let me know if you’ve played it so i can be Even More Normal about it #ask

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risu5waffles · 10 months ago

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TENsion and Chills

So.... the servers are fucked at the moment, which is... not good. Folx getting folx banned (including the Community Manager), and the online has been shut down "for maintenance," and we can just cross fingers they come back up at all, let alone reasonably soon. i'm lucky i'm backlogged to the 25th, but i'd rather my last Archive episode not be 390 (the level is, to be fair and honest, kinda pants. Spoilers).

At least it gives me a little time for some administrata.

youtube

A bright and stickertastic homage to The Gardens, which (generally) manages to maintain a decent pace throughout the race. Like a lot of these kinds of levels, it felt like it would have been a lot more fun wiv friends, but i still managed to have a good time. Except for the spinny-grabby bits. Gods but do i ever suck at the spinny-grabbies.

youtube

We talked about this one on LittleBite-sizedPlanet episode 287, but the short version is it sucks? Just a troll level for the lulz? Tho', to its credit, it is a level; like, beginning, end, gameplay in the middle, some work to present an environment. So... i guess i mean a troll level in the sense that the creator is clearly capable of more, and just decided to shitpost? So... not a troll level, a shitpost level.

youtube

This is the level that inspired Tin_Boy551's Cardboard Castle a couple videos up, and even tho' it's not my favourite of five-ate-five's work, you can see the jump in quality over The Garden in 1 Hour. This one definitely would have been more fun wiv friends; there's just so much going on, and i can imagine players on different paths and getting into each other's way. i bet it was a hoot. There's also a fair amount of working in the secondary characters. We do run into levels from time to time that give you the chance to play as every character, but generally it's more of a frustrating toss-in.

youtube

Now this is some quality stuff. Some real inventive playing around wiv LBP1 mechanics, a fun well-realized theme, good puppet work, enjoyable gameplay. See, i told you five-ate-five could produce quality.

youtube

A big, chonky, proto-Adventure here. All the levels are pretty great, tho' the second is the one that initially caught my eye. It's funny, because i'd worked in a similar conceit for an enemy/obstacle in my abortive Archives level, but it's handled so much better here (the benefit of planning an entire level around the concept, instead of throwing it in as a one-off fairly late in planning... also that five-ate-five is just a better creator). Shame how over-bright it is, but that might just be a combination of lighting changes between LBP2 and 3 and my telly's contrast being a touch wonky.

It's interesting, but it feels like there was a period in LBP2 where you ran into a bunch of levels working in the meta of community creations, and directly, openly breaking the fourth wall to address player expectations the way we see in Huge Inspiration Stealing Lazors. It... kinda works? Like, as a bit of community history, seeing it and remembering "oh yeah, players demanding boss fights was totally a thing for a bit." But it also feels a bit like a "you had to be there" kinda deal, and that the creator wasn't confident enough in their ability to craft their own narrative. i feel like a good example is in Over There and Back Here Again by scuzzy1973 that we featured way back in LittleBite-sizedArchive 061. Like, it just sticks out like a sore thumb, and comes off a touch mean-spirited? Here it mostly kinda works, but i think a lot of that is that it manages to stick the landing pretty well. Also that bitchin' falling castle platforming bit after the fight.

youtube

i just loved this one. The environmental design just hits all of my good buttons, and you can see how it was a clear inspiration for how i presented the city in A Totally Reasonable Response. Gameplay stays pretty fast moving once you know the level layout, tho' the first time through i can see it being easy to get yourself stuck in a couple of places. Not, like, softlocking the level or anything like that, just not quite realizing where you're supposed to go next. Still, i had a lot of fun going through this one multiple times to get a really good run for the Archives, and that's not something i can say about a lot of levels.

youtube

These are both fine levels, tho' i feel like almost anything would have come off as a bit of a step down after a week of some of five-ate-five's best stuff.

corysix6 made these after a hiatus, and it's always nice to see a creator get their inspiration back. i wish i'd had the chance to take a look at some of their older work on stream to get a feel for how these meshed in, and if they were indicative of cory's style, or just a shaking off the rust exercise, 'cause they are a lil scanty. Even so, the gameplay is fun, and the presentation may be sparse, but it is clear, and clearly thought-out.

-----------------------------------------------

Right. That's another TENspot done and in the can. Depending on how Sumo reacts to this latest clownfoolery, we might only have three more of these before we put a bow on the whole endevour, and that has me feeling all sorts of ways.

i know one of my biggest complaints has been time, and the lack of it in my life; and i know one of the biggest timesinks aside from work-work is my video work. It might only be a couple of hours every day or every couple days, but those are still a couple hours out of a very short stock of usable ones. i don't know what i would do if i suddenly had those hours back, but it would be something.

But on the other hand, i do all this because it is, in fact, fulfilling. Seeing and sharing other creators' work, sometimes creators who may not have had any eyes on them aside from a friend or two; the recording and simple editing. The time i spent getting those title cards laid out just right. All the work that goes into the LittleBite-sizedPlanet reviews. Getting a video together and uploaded, and being able to say "i did that." It's never been about getting big on YouTube, or step-stoning into some career. It's just been a little thing i've done for myself that's helped me get through some really, really rough patches just by being a continuous process that has a tangible end... product isn't the word i want, but it colocates wiv end, you know? The fact that i've met a lot of good people through this, some of whom i now consider close and important friends, was an unexpected, but deeply, deeply appreciated cherry on top.

And that, after so many years, i've finally had a spark of wanting to create my own (non-video) stuff; i wasn't thinking that would happen at all. But i look at Craftworld by Rail and A Totally Reasonable Response, and i am a little proud of them. i'm glad, especially wiv Response and it being very much a loveletter to the other queer players in LBP, that they resonated wiv so many people.

So this server shutdown has me feeling some kinds of ways, let me tell you what. i've known for years that LBP (in the company-supported online sense) has been living on borrowed time, 15years is very long in the tooth for something like this. We still can't say that this is the straw that breaks the camel's back, but it's clear that Sumo and Sony don't put a particularly high stock in keeping the ship afloat, and the last time things were pushed sideways (thanks Jon, you fucking fuck) it cost us lbp.me and the PS3 servers. If corpo says "yup, we're done here," i'm not going to be shocked. But it is going to hurt a little. Like watching your meemaw who's being treated for latestage cancer get hit by a bus. You knew the end was in the post, but you weren't really prepared for it to be right now.

#littlebigplanet #little big planet #lbp #lbp1 #lbp2 #lbp3 #littlebite-sizedarchive #LBsA #Youtube

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weatherman667 · 2 years ago

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The worst thing about Primaris Marines is not that they are Mary Sues that swallowed the setting whole, it’s that they are uninspired. It seems like the only way GW could think to add anything new to the setting was to make the Space Marines more Space Marine. They then had the Indominatus Crusade that managed to created no new Chapters with battle honours. They then add them to all of the chapters, completely annihilating the millennia of honours they have.

They then decided to have the Devastation of Baal, which makes no sense. It makes as much sense as the US dropping multi-million dollars bombs on Afghanistan. As a comedian said, the for the first time in history, the bombs we are using are worth more than the things we are bombing.

You can’t devastate Baal, as it’s already devastating. You can devastate the Blood Angels successor chapter called Blood Angels. And then you know what they would do?, take some from all of the other Blood Angels successor chapters to rebuild it. It would be a fantastic chance to sell a bunch of new chapter badges and characters. When they rewrote the chapter fanout, they fucked up, because they didn’t include a Death Company.

Oh, wait, Primaris Marines are free from the chapter flaws. Now, this isn’t just about them being better, it’s about the fact that narratively, flaws and wounds are what define a character. You don’t have a Blood Angels chapter without a Death Company. You don’t have Space Wolves without alcoholism. The only ones the Primaris represent are the Ultramarines.

This is also incredibly important for the meta, as the Blood Angels successor chapter named Blood Angels is the template for all of the other Blood Angel successor chapters. So, not only are the Primaris Marines not to make a quick buck, they are losing money, as one of their biggest chapters just lost any interesting thing about it.

If they wanted to make money:

Keep the Primaris Codex separate from the Astartes Codex.

Create Primaris Chapters, and give them their own unique natures.

I was actually about the buy the codex and start on Blood Angels models when they ruined the chapter, and literally forced me to buy the Primaris Codex with the Astartes one. I was like, okay, my next favourite would be Vostroyan Firstborn, which they don’t produce any more.

When I first got into 40k, I started looking up Squat lore, and absolutely loved it, (Dwarves are always my favourite fantasy race), only to find out they have been REDACTED.

Yes, Squats are back, but I’m not holding my breath. There was a single phrase. Not even a single sentence that bothered me, but a single phrase

“regardless of gender”

Now, 40k is notoriously absent of gender roles. Astartes can only be male, biologically. Sororitas can only be female, legally. The Golden Boys and Sisters of Silence.

Then there’s basically Banshees and Genestealer Patriarchs.

Other than that, EVERY SINGLE POSITION in the setting doesn’t care if you are male or female. They have female-only Militarum regiments, (that GW refuses to make models for), Inquisitors, Farseers, etc. Presumably Necrons have gender, or at least had one before they had their souls transplanted into machine bodies.

There is one caveat, that they are adding gender roles to the new Squat society, but then it would only seem to be there to be subverted. The only logical conclusion is going woke.

#40k #suffer not the primaris to live

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noddytheornithopod · 10 months ago

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ask for no reason! Favourite companion for each (modern) Doctor

Let's see...

Nine: Wow, this is a really difficult one... who could there be... Rose. *remembers Jack counts* Eh, still Rose. Jack felt more like a guest companion only being in it for five episodes (only three stories), and of course I haven't listened to Big Finish so I can't judge from that, so Rose wins by default. She had the most complete relationship with the Doctor anyway, and that all worked out. I actually prefer the dynamic she has with Nine than Ten. I'm not anti-companion romance, but I just found Ten and Rose's dynamic being happier and less complicated less interesting, even if Doomsday is a massive gut punch.

Ten: For years I said it was Donna... but that's actually changed since my rewatch. I think Martha slightly edges her out. It kind of comes down to just me having a soft spot for the most underappreciated (seriously when they brought her back in Series 4 she didn't do much of note until the finale and even that's debatable) but I do really like how she basically decided she was tired of the Doctor's shit and also understandably needed a break from everything after all the shit the Master did. I hear she even gets unlucky in Torchwood.

As for why Donna got slightly bumped down... I think it's a couple things. First... revisiting the Meta-Crisis as I'm older? Kinda total bullshit. I envy kid me who was able to just run with it, now I'm just seeing total nonsense. I still love Donna... but I'm not really sure how I feel about the culmination of her self worth being basically "she absorbs the Doctor's brain so now she can be like him". Not to mention there's an absurd amount of ass pulls to make meta-crisis stuff work in the story. For other things... I think it's just that she's kind of been elevated in a way that was unncecessary? I'll explain under 14's section.

Honorary mention for Wilf I guess even if he's more a guest companion? Still loveable as ever even as growing up I now feel he has some major boomer energy lol (look I think he's pre-boomer but you get what I'm saying). Imagine him in the room with Christopher "parasite in chief" Eccleston when he's telling people to show respect for the queen for example, lol. But yeah, joking aside, it's amazing how much heart he's able to bring to being the supportive grandad of Donna.

Ugh if I listed Wilf as a guest companion but wrote about him anyway, then I'll have to also give an honourable mention to Adelaide Brooke. One episode, but she was amazing in it (it's also awesome to see the Doctor play off an older, less wide eyed woman for once), even as she had one of the darkest endings for a central character yet.

Eleven: This is a weird one, because this is what I remember the least, having watched his era the least of everyone's recently (and I didn't even see eps with Amy and Rory). Honestly... I'm not sure how much stock I put in anyone here. If I HAD to pick, I'd actually say Clara, but I think that just comes down to me loving Day of the Doctor and Jenna Coleman being great in the role even if she was just a walking mystery box in Series 7.

So why not Amy and Rory despite being actual characters here? Look, the main stuff I remember about them is basically Rory falling under the "henpecked husband" trope and Amy treating him poorly through that, not to mention you have weird stuff like them needing to get back together like three times (with Asylum of the Daleks being an especially bad example). Just not my thing.

I guess River Song could count since this was the era she'd count as a companion... but her best appearances are the episodes with Doctors that aren't Eleven (and having now seen Husbands of River Song I literally only think the final scenes are genuinely great there). Funny how that works. :v

Twelve: Nardole. Just Nardole.

...okay enough kidding around. I think I'd say Bill here. I don't really know her in and out and I haven't seen most of Series 10 in ages, but not only was it nice to see Moffat finally write a character that doesn't fall into his usual female companion tropes, but her dynamic with the Doctor was genuinely refreshing, and is honestly still pretty unique in the modern era.

I will say that I do think Clara could potentially give her competition though. I think I'd need to revisit Series 8 to be sure (aka where she's arguably the least likeable lol), but I do think her Doctor-companion dynamic is genuinely one of the most fascinating even if not everything worked in that era. Also, I'd need to see how much their relationship is able to step above the usual domestic abuse BS Moffat can't help but insert cuz he loves his dominant women, lol. Huh, Capaldi gets all the cool unique dynamics huh?

Thirteen: ...can I say Dan? For the memes? No? Fine. What's the point of being alive?

This is interesting though, cuz looking back, I do kind of think a lot of the companions blend together. It's not as bad as most say it is for sure, like I feel like they do fit specific roles (Graham and Dan as the older comic relief with a dash of heart, Ryan the more youthful person being opened up to the world, Yaz being the more experienced/accomplished person to match the Doctor when needed), but I do see why people feel like they blend together.

Hmm, if I had to pick... I'd go Yaz. Please ignore that she's a cop though. ACAB. Not sure if it's fair, but I think it might be BECAUSE she got to be with Thirteen the longest (her whole run in fact). Like, I feel like she didn't really get to live up to her full potential, but I do think seeing someone like her with her rough past going all in on the Doctor only to be shut out because Thirteen is afraid of being emotionally vulnerable (which could arguably be influenced by what happened with Clara, and I do think you could argue Yaz has some similarities here, like she even got taught how to fly the TARDIS). Her story is honestly pretty tragic, but I guess like Martha, I have a soft spot for the underappreciated (gosh it's always the companions of colour who are the underappreciated ones huh?). I think the whole semi-unrequited love aspect certainly added to that, and kind of cemented why she had to leave (even if she didn't really have much of a say, it was more just a quiet understanding, at least I think so). Power of the Doctor was also honestly a nice culmination of everything for her, too. Wish it was clear how much she knew about the Timeless Child stuff though.

Fourteen: Gosh, another really difficult one... so hard to choose... oh, Donna. Okay I'm sure some might argue Rose Noble and even Mel could count, but I don't really see them as full companions here.

I guess to continue what I was saying on Donna earlier, I described her as kind of being elevated in a way that was unnecessary. Like, after everything, as great as it was to see her back and get a happy ending... was that really the best or most interesting thing to do for her? I just can't help but feel like RTD was being overly indulgent with her, like how many felt he was with Rose (Tyler). Also... yeah, the metacrisis stuff is still bullshit. "Just let it go." I know emotions were running high in Journey's end, but come on, it makes all the drama there feel kind of hollow now.

I will say I do enjoy the evolved family dynamic though.

Fifteen: Ruby Sunday. I'd say it's super hard and there's so much to pick from, but we've seen so much, and there's so many rich complex layers, it's unlike anything we've ever seen... okay, enough kidding around. We've only seen one episode of them so far, but I am curious to see where they'll go with them.

...but wait, there's more! Time to acknowledge all the other Doctors that were created for the revival!

TimeCrash!Five: Look, he might be a bigeneration, so I'm counting him just in case... oh wait, no companions. Fuck, forget this.

TenToo: Rose! So hard to choose, I know. But isn't it cool that Rose has her own home grown Doctor she can fix again? ...what am I even saying?

Dream Lord: He's from the Doctor's brain, so he counts. Seemed to like fucking with Amy a lot, really exposed the whole love triangle she was in, lol.

Ganger!Eleven: Ganger Amy. Gangers traveling across all of time and space.

War: Clara. Day of the Doctor. Oh wait, I already mentioned that for Eleven. But I guess she kind of ended up working a lot with him specifically.

Curator: The painting. Gallifrey Falls No More. Look, I haven't listened to Big Finish, I don't know what counts. Also something something bigenerated Fourth Doctor (who also might end up being the Watcher if you subscribe to that version of bigeneration theory, like me who's trying to stay sane?).

FakeOne: That's not the First Doctor in Twice Upon a Time, that's a new incarnation who got his brain scrambled from the bigeneration reaching back in time for his first regeneration, making the side effect of him being a bad sexist parody of his original self. So who does this bigeneration have as his best companion? That one soldier dude. The Brigadier's grandpa or dad or whatever. Because they can laugh about women being made of glass. Oh right, Bill was there. Or Bill's avatar from Testimony. She had actual heartfelt moments. Or they would've been if I liked that episode. I'm committing way too hard to this bit.

Fugitive: Lee Clayton, anothe really har- Oh wait, Karvanista was one. Do you think her and Karvanista ever dated? I'm sure someone thinks Karvanista is acting like a bitter ex. Danvanista shippers, team Ruthvanista is gonna give you a run for your money!

OG Timeless Child: That kid who pushed her off the cliff. He's not just the best companion of this very first Doctor, but the best in the whole show. Without him, Tecteun would never have found out the child could regenerate, and therefore we'd have no Time Lords. And no Time Lords means no Doctor Who. This kid is the reason the show exists. Show some gratitude to this kid, guys. Also, who wouldn't push their friend off a cliff to keep playing with a toy?

The other pre-Hartnell Doctors: IDK Tecteun? Are the worth calling a companion? ...why am I still doing this

The Thirteen Doppelgangers from the Vanquishers: um how many people did she interact with, also wait it's all still one consciousness trying to manage three bodies this is a reach sorry forget i said this

The Master!Doctor: It was so great when he shouted at Yaz right? Or when Vinder held a gun to him? Oh yeah what about the Dalek and Cyber-Master perplexed at the Rasputin dance? They were still around after the Master stole the Doctor's body right?

The other bi-generated Doctors that are basically canon now that RTD is in charge: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

#ask #doctor who #shitpost #for the final bit #look i couldn't help myself okay #weird morning today

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3terna15unshin3 · 1 year ago

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Then Because She Goes

Beautiful, please don’t cry, I love you

★ Chapter 3 of 15, 5727 words

★ Matty Healy x Original Female Character

★ warnings: alcohol consumption

<< 2

7 September, 2018

trumanblack: Agreed but also why does it control my entire life

trumanblack: I liked it tbh the simplicity of the writing was very charming and I liked its views on adhering to social pressure and blah blah blah

trumanblack: But towards the end Keiko drove me up the wall honestly she started getting sooo unlikeable and I was like Im running out of empathy

este.manansala: Omg especially in LA. That place is a fever dream

este.manansala: I’m glad u liked it at least a little bit !!!

este.manansala: That’s interesting tho bc I am a firm believer that a main character doesn’t need to be likeable to be a good character

trumanblack: No fr that’s why when I’m here I feel like I have to actively resist the gravity of every single LA resident turning me into the same caricature of a human that they all are

trumanblack: Hmmm I guess

trumanblack: But sometimes I feel like reading is inherently like a self-inserting practice even in third person perspectives so I can’t help but disconnect when I don’t fuck with the main girl u know

este.manansala: Yeah no I get it

este. manansala: I feel like a lot of female characters are deemed unlikeable for the same reasons male ones are sympathised with

Este pressed ‘send’ on the message as she thought back to her conversation earlier, with the customer looking for classics. She definitely used Matty's point about likeable characters to sell Emma, and completely understood where he was coming from; but she wanted to give him a hard time. She felt inclined to be playful and make him laugh, for some reason.

trumanblack: Ok damn

trumanblack: You’re right

este.manansala: I know :)

trumanblack: I’m part of the problem arent I

este.manansala: Probably but I’ll let you off the hook x

este.manansala: Are u gonna give me a book of essays to read now??

trumanblack: Wait I actually will

trumanblack: I read this collection called You Are Here: Art After the Internet by Omar Kholeif bc I saw someone on the train reading it and it was so good

trumanblack: I named the new album after one of the essays in it lolll

este.manansala: It seems very meta to be telling me to read that over instagram dms

este.manansala: I’ll try and pick it up tho!

este.manansala: Busy in LA?

trumanblack: It is meta that’s why you should read it

trumanblack: And yeah we need to have the final masters submitted for in 2 days so it’s go time

trumanblack: Just living in the studio pretty much

este.manansala: What are u doing messaging me in the middle of the day then like get back to it

trumanblack: Fuck off I’m eating lunch rn

trumanblack: What were you doing not responding to my message for weeks then????

este.manansala: … soz

este.manansala: Honestly never check my dms so i didn’t see it

este.manansala: Until I went to message you about Love It If We Made It bc it’s my favourite song of the year so far

este.manansala: Like actually

trumanblack: Este don’t say that if you don’t mean it :(

este.manansala: I’m being serious

este.manansala: I fully wrote paragraph about how much I like it and was about to send it your way and then I saw u messaged me first

trumanblack: That means so much. Really

trumanblack: Thank you x

trumanblack: But also u can’t just admit that and then not show me the paragraph. Like send it over pls

este.manansala: Yeah no way lol

este.manansala: Must keep the mystery alive somehow

Este finally looked away, for now. Her lower back was sore from sitting on their hard wooden chairs for a little too long, so she decided that it was a good time to get ready for bed. But, before she could, a buzz of excitement scraped goosebumps into her skin as Cate’s keys jangled in the door, eager to fill her in.

“Hey!” screamed Cate from the hallway, still out of sight from Este. The project for her biggest client of the year had just begun, so her hours became a bit unpredictable and she often arrived home late.

They caught each other up on how their days went, Este glad to hear that work was going well and Cate being particularly excited that Matty had reached out and taken a liking to her.

“It really isn’t anything crazy, we’re just talking about books and stuff,” Este tried, although a small flutter in her heart knew she was lying and that she ultimately was excited to even reveal it to Cate. “He’s just a cool guy. Really smart and friendly.”

Cate’s eyebrows raised, unconvinced. She dropped her coat into her room before reentering the main area to start the kettle. “Is he just a ‘cool’ guy or is he a ‘hot tumblr singer in a band who slid into your DMs’ guy?”

Este cringed at her wording and threw the mushroom sitting on her plate from dinner at Cate playfully. She dodged it in disgust.

“Just a guy, Cate. And he didn’t ‘slide into my DMs’, I just gave him a book recommendation and he told me what he thought of it,” Este argued.

“Whatever you say, babe,” she entertained. “It is kind of hot that he reads, though.”

They laughed as Este agreed, and they both headed off to bed.

✴ 18 November, 2018

To Este’s surprise, she and Matty continued to casually chat. It was mainly book talk; their personal lives only coming up occasionally. Neither of them expected responses to be consistent, especially with the busy pre-album schedule of Matty, who was now back in London. His work was also a reason why they hadn’t gotten through many books, him taking much longer to pick up anything Este shared, but the conversations were thoughtful and worth coming back to.

It was a struggle to find any titles Matty mentioned because of how obscure they were. Can this guy get any more pretentious? Este thought as she furiously searched for a copy of You Are Here: Art After the Internet online when they first messaged each other. Still, over a month later, she couldn’t track one down—not even on eBay. Matty thought he’d never hear the end of her complaints.

The chill November breeze came through Greenhouse quite frequently during Este’s Sunday shift. A mild autumn day with crunchy leaves scraping against the pavement seemed to always be busy for the book shop. The weather and aesthetic was perfect for the activity, leaving the store with a more frequent customer count while Este was busy dealing with an angry woman over the phone (the post lost the copy of Sapiens they’d ordered for her). It ate up all of her energy and left her on edge for the rest of her shift. So, when she felt a buzz coming from her phone and saw what the notification read, panic ran through her veins.

[este.manansala] trumanblack: Are u working today

Este’s eyes widened as she registered what the message most likely meant. There was no context, no ‘hello’ to preface, no warning—but in her gut, she knew. Matty is in town.

The frazzled state she was in only got worse as her mind thought of every awkward experience she’d ever lived and convinced her that seeing him again would out do them all. Using the term ‘self-destructive’ to describe her mindset was an understatement. Este couldn’t figure out what made her so anxious about facing Matty.

Thinking deeper about it, as she couldn’t distract herself this time around (despite the handful of customers she’d checked out since seeing his message), Este realised the nerves’ origin. He wasn’t just Matty like he was last time stepping foot in the shop—he was Matty Healy.

She tried not to let that change things, but it did. It brought on a certain reluctivity within Este’s messages. Never completely committing to being 100% herself when speaking to him—she defaulted to her ‘casual cool girl’ persona that she usually stored in her pocket to pull out in times of need.

She was scared that it would reach a point where it meant more to her than it did him. His face was on billboards that greeted Este on her way into work every day. The singles leading up to his album were at the top of the UK charts. Este couldn’t let their collection of DMs and developing friendship be an exciting thing in her life when it was, without a doubt, miniscule in his.

The longer she spiralled about it, the longer Este put off replying to his message, only getting to it a couple of hours before she had to close the shop.

este.manansala: Yea what’s up

She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so the three word response would have to do. Maybe it’s too late for him to stop by, she secretly hoped, loosening up her worries and busying herself with work once more.

After Este witnessed multiple customers sneeze near their poetry bay, a Swiffer duster insert found itself in her hand as she wiped away the thin layer of grey gunk atop the shelf. She hummed to herself as she dusted, not even realising that the melody she conjured up was the tune to one of Matty’s songs.

It was dark now, thirty minutes until close, and nobody had come in for around an hour. The crazy day was thankfully coming to a close; Este’s anxieties subsided after assuming that what she had endured would be it for the night. But, she assumed too soon.

The small, new wind chime Sam hung from the door just a few days prior made its twinkly exclamation.

“It’s not too late to come in, is it?”

Este turned to see Matty. It was actually him.

She smiled and wormed her way around the maze of bookshelves between them. “For you, yeah. Get out.”

Their eyes finally found each other and Matty spread his arms out, offering a hug. Este accepted and wrapped her own around him, just above his shoulders, as she felt his drop to her waist respectfully. He isn’t very tall, thought Este. And he smells good.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Matty sarcastically responded. “How’ve you been?”

They stood face to face in the open area by the front of the store.

“Good.” She nodded. “Same old, same old, really. I don’t have a massive album to release in two weeks or anything.”

He laughed quietly, taking off into the shelves. His steps were slow and calculated to sustain his attention to their conversation but his eyes scanned the book titles. “I guess that’s what I’ve got in the works,” he admitted. “It doesn’t feel like it’s that soon, though. I don’t think I’ve accepted the fact that it’ll just be out for people to hear,” he explained, pausing his movements for a second to pull a book off the bay and study the back cover.

“That one’s shitty. Read it last year.”

Matty raised his eyebrows at Este and placed the book where it belonged, in defeat. The trench coat she first saw him in was hanging off his body lazily. The tie-belt skipped one of the loops behind his back, and one side of it dragged drastically lower than the other along the floor. The coat’s square pockets were full and sagging.

Este followed his path as they continued through the shop, Matty repeatedly grabbing books to beg her blunt opinions. Every one he chose so far resulted in it returning to its place on the shelf within seconds of escaping. She knew the place like the back of her hand.

“What are you doing in Manchester, anyway?” she wondered.

Matty stopped and turned to her, flipping through another novel, this time satisfied with what he found. Shrugging casually, he responded, “Visiting a mate for his birthday, dinner and drinks at Head of Steam. Thought it would be more fun but it was sort of a drag, to be honest,” he complained. “Too much dinner and not enough drinks.”

“I was just about to ask, what sort of dinner and drinks end before,” she clicked open her phone to check the time. “…7:36pm.”

They both laughed and Matty shook his head. “Yup, that just about describes how exciting the event was.”

The book in his hands happened to be another Este had read, this time one she was fond of. “You should read that one,” she commented. “It’s new. Not sure how we managed to stock a used one already. I think you’d really like it.”

Matty continued flipping through it, stopping a couple of times to focus on certain pages, without saying anything. Suddenly, he sank down to the floor and sat comfortably, leaning his back against the shelf behind him. His legs were outstretched in front of him, straight, his feet almost touching the shelf opposite because of the cramped nature of the shop.

“Care to join me?”

He patted the patch of carpet next to him, and Este obliged. She sat on the floor next to his feet, laying her legs out like his were, and faced him as he studied the novel. Her phone lit up with the reminder she always set when working, making her aware that it was five short minutes until close. Usually, Este would take this time to ensure the shop was tidy for Sam to be greeted with the next morning, close up the register and deal with the float inside it. But, none of that crossed her mind with Matty sitting opposite her.

“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” Matty read. “What an interesting title.”

Este couldn’t stand that he was opening the novel to random pages and reading content without the important context, so she jokingly reached forward, laying her hands beneath his and forcing the book shut for him.

“You know books are meant to be read from the beginning, Matty.” She left them there for a second before pulling them away, Matty following her instructions and setting the book down in his lap.

“I always skip to random parts in books before I read them. Lets me know what I’ll be getting into,” he defended.

“That’s blasphemous to me. Especially with that book, because Vuong, the author, is a poet as well. Every sentence feels meaningfully placed,” she rambled.

“Wouldn’t that also mean that they stand well on their own? If every line is like poetry?”

“I guess, but that’s not the point. The context holds the weight of his words. When I read it, at least, I’d come across something that felt really powerful. And I’d just think, wow. That’s the point he was leading up to. That was the whole purpose of the pages of words beforehand. But then, I would read the following line, and suddenly that became the purpose. And it just never stopped metamorphosing, like he carried me through the book in the same way he made the revelations himself.”

He looked at her with fondness as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. Matty could see the passion on her face and smiled in response. “You sold me. If you talk about all books like that, I understand why you sell them for a living,” he complimented.

Este leaned forward and pretended to bow. “My work here is done,” she joked. Her job being brought up prompted her to check the time again, seeing 8:02PM looking back at her from the screen. “Shit, it actually is. I have to close the shop.”

“Oh, sorry—”

“Don’t worry. I stay late all the time, just have to lock the door and flip the sign,” Este started, without thinking, as she got up from her spot on the floor to walk to the front. “That’s if you want to stay. You don’t have to, if you have somewhere to be, or if its weird to be locked in a bookshop on a Sunday night or something,”

“I’d love to stay.”

✴

She only kept two lamps on and then sat back down on the floor, not wanting Greenhouse to look too welcoming and inspire people to try and come in. The door was bolted shut, and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous hadn’t left Matty’s grasp. Este wasn’t sure why she hadn’t offered him to sit at the table in the back room, but something felt natural about wedging themselves between the shelves. The carpeted floor was comfortable.

“I’m actually going to buy this from you, buy the way,” he clarified. His right foot was crossed over his left and slightly grazed Este’s left arm that fell next to her body.

“I’m not taking any money from you, Matty.”

“So I’ll just make you keep the shop open late and then steal an item from you?” he protested.

“I borrow books all the time, Sam doesn’t care. I’ll just tell him I let a friend borrow it.” She was being serious.

Matty accepted her offer, and thought about the item he brought in his pocket, debating on whether it was appropriate to even bring it out. It was oddly personal and he found himself doubting his idea, even though he didn’t think twice about it when leaving his flat earlier that morning.

“I can return the favour, then.” He pulled out his copy of You Are Here: Art After The Internet. The pages were yellowed and there were blue tabs messily sticking out of the side of it. Este realised what it was, shocked to learn that Matty was lending her his copy. “So you can stop complaining about not being able to find one.” He took Este’s hands that were resting in her lap, unravelled them to put the book in, and closed them back up to force her to hold it.

They made eye contact for a couple of seconds. Matty had never noticed how dark and straight her eyelashes were. They framed her eyes well.

“For me?”

Matty nodded.

Este fanned through the pages with her thumb, seeing every page for a split second. She noticed pen marks accompanying the printed text and wondered what each blue tab stood for.

“I see you’re the annotating type.”

“It’s cathartic,” he replied shortly. “Please don’t judge what I wrote, though. If you read anything stupid, just assume I was high, or something.”

To her, it felt like he was lending her his diary. She couldn’t imagine letting someone into the thoughts she had while reading a book, let alone the impulsive and quickly crafted ones worthy enough to be scribbled into the margins. It was an intimate act.

“This is really sweet of you,” she vocalised. “Now I feel like I owe you my copy of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous instead of letting you borrow the shop’s.”

He raised his eyebrows in interest. “So you’re an annotator too?”

Este nodded and smiled. “I marked it up quite a bit, actually. It’s not here, though. It’s back at my flat.”

“Well, do you live far?”

✴

She rushed through her closing duties as Matty browsed some more. Her arms slipped into her fleece-lined denim jacket and her mind raced, trying to fathom the fact that he was about to be in her car (and later, her flat). As much as things had been easy and flowing naturally until now, the dilemma she considered earlier in the day still haunted her.

He was panicking almost as equally as Este. Suggesting they should go back to hers was a chaotically forward thing to do, and Matty instantly feared it would come off wrong. They both weren’t sure why they agreed, but did anyway. It felt wrong to end the night there.

Eventually, they were walking down the street together to get to her black Honda Accord that had gone far too long without a wash. Their conversation remained sweet and light, finally gracing the basics of getting to know each other.

“I went to school in Wilmslow, though. That's where I met the guys and when we formed the band,” he explained.

“This whole time I thought you grew up in the city.” She acted shocked. “You call Manchester your hometown. Liar.”

Este clicked the button on her car key and the headlights on her car flashed. Matty went around to the driver’s side to open her door for her, flashing her a smile. She smiled back. Chivalrous, she thought.

“I moved a couple times. I don’t know what my hometown is, really, I give a different answer every time—but it feels like home here. I just say I’m from the North of England. Wilmslow, Cheshire, Macclesfield, Manchester. Whatever,” Matty said, securing his seat belt and tucking the strap underneath his arm. “You grew up here, yeah?”

Her finger tucked an unruly strand of hair behind her ear as she carefully pulled into the road, before responding. “After I moved, yeah. On my seventh birthday I spent the whole day on a flight over to London from the Philippines. But I only lived in London for a couple of months before me and my mum and dad moved to Manchester.”

They drove in the dark, Matty asking her more questions about life in the Philippines and what it was like to move over. Este brought up her grandmother and how she and her husband stayed in London after finding a nursing job she didn't want to say no to. “My nan was my best friend growing up, so that was probably the only thing I didn’t like about Manchester when I came over. That she didn’t come along.”

Matty shoved his cold hands further into his pockets. “Speaking of your nan, actually,” he started. “On the plane to LA in August I was so bored out of my mind that I started organising the files on my computer. Then I found this picture.” He opened his phone, clicking on his iCloud files and scrolling through to find the photo.

Este interrupted before he could. “You can’t just say ‘Speaking of your nan…’ and then furiously search through your phone without explaining further!” she impatiently exclaimed, both of them erupting into laughter after realising how creepy it seemed.

“I swear, it’s not weird! Let me find what I’m looking for and then you’ll get it,” he defended.

It finally came up, and Matty held up his screen to show her. Este was in the middle of turning down her street, so it took a couple of seconds before she could break her attention to the road, but then eventually she studied the relic.

“Oh my god! That’s Lola!”

She was shocked. They both found it hilarious that Florencia and Matty had met before, a picture proving it.

“She was the best, honestly. Made the hospital way less of a horrifying place to be,” he gushed. “You should tell her, next time you see her. If she remembers me. Then maybe she can replace that horrid memory of me thinking her name was Lola with the fact that she nursed me back to health after getting my gallbladder removed.”

“She remembers you, for sure. I think she likes you more than I do, to be quite honest, so she’ll be excited to hear that you two go further back,” she joked.

Matty threw her an offended ‘Hey!’ in response.

They pulled into her flat’s parking spaces and Este took note of Cate’s car being absent from the spot beside her’s. A small wave of relief hit. No awkward flatmate introductions. A silence fell over them as they exited her car into the evening chill. Este didn’t have to ask if he wanted to follow her up, since he began doing so anyway. It was only 8:30, but time ticked slowly.

After getting through a couple of locked doors in the lobby, they comfortably entered the elevator, and Este pressed on the button with the 4 on it. The two stood next to each other and turned to face the doors, their shoulders brushing innocently.

“You know, we’re painfully pretentious for coming all the way here just so I could read your specific copy of that book. I literally already had one in my hands,” Matty pointed out.

A ding rang in the air as they passed the first floor.

“I know.” Este smiled. “I think that’s just who we are, though. You, a little more than me, but still.”

Another ding. Second floor.

“"I think we’re equally pretentious, but—” said Matty, but she cut him off by silently holding up the copy of You Are Here in her hands, proving her point. He flipped her off.

The forth ding was heard before the doors opened back up, Este exiting and letting Matty follow her. She was nervous for him to see her and Cate’s relatively small flat, but was glad that at least they kept it tidy; and, with time, found an appropriate position for the couch. They hadn’t said anything since reaching her floor, but not in a bad way.

She swung the door open, welcoming Matty inside. Walking past the kitchen and into the living area, he studied every detail of the space. He liked the small ceramic rabbits that were scattered through their very full plant stand, with greenery sticking out in every direction, and how each of them had a different expression. The prints hanging on the walls felt aged and added character to their maximally styled room. Matty assumed each piece had its own story.

Este hesitantly asked the question that had been tickling at her tongue the entire walk up to the flat as she removed her jacket and threw it onto the dining room table.

“Have time to stick around for a brew?”

He was hoping she’d ask him to stay. “Course,” agreed Matty. “You know, this is exactly what I expected your place to look like.” He copied her and removed his coat, setting it down on the couch and then taking a seat next to it.

She made her way back to the kitchen to start the kettle. “Really? Why?”

“Dunno. Really artsy and charming with tons of little trinkets. Endless amounts of things to look at—books and plants, just like the shop.”

Which mugs should I use? Este thought, opening the cupboard. Which mug of mine is the coolest? Has an interesting backstory? She shook her head to herself, embarrassed to be internally worrying about choosing a mug.

“Thank you. I think I’m just a hoarder, so the minute I find something cool I just stick it on a shelf either out here or in my room and then I’m bonded to it for life. My flatmate, Cate, is the same way so it’s twice as bad.”

Even after realising how stupid it was to care about what mug to give Matty, she still tried to pick her coolest one. It was a plain white ceramic mug that was sculpted to look like a slightly crumpled red Solo cup but with a handle. Este thought Matty would either love it or hate it, and wanted to find out which it would be; as if the answer would be revealing of his spirit, or something.

“Milk or sugar?” she asked, looking up to make eye contact with him for the first time in a couple of minutes.

Matty was already gazing at her, watching her potter around the kitchen. A blush spread over Este's cheeks after she noticed. “Just a dash of milk, please,” he told her, standing up to walk over to their kitchen island and lean against it. “I’m kind of the opposite of a hoarder. I own like three things in total.”

The kettle started whistling, signalling her to pick it up and pour their cups. “That doesn’t at all surprise me, Matty,” Este claimed while opening up the fridge to grab the milk. In it, she saw the case of Heineken she and Cate had bought last week. She cringed. “I’m also just now realising that I have beer in the fridge and it was really lame of me to offer you tea.”

Pouring the milk anyway, Este pushed Matty’s cup towards him.

He muttered a quick ‘thanks’ before taking a careful sip. “I mean, in a mug like this,” he pointed playfully at the eccentric Solo cup pottery. “Totally not lame.”

Este could hear the sarcasm in his voice, so she reached up and shoved his shoulder with her palm. “Hey, that’s like my best thrift find of all time. It’s edgy. The perfect combination of classic and modern. Practical, too.”

Their conversation continued for another half-hour as their teas dwindled in both fullness and temperature. He eventually asked for a tour of the flat, so Este showed him around, even letting him take a peek into her bedroom and its many more trinkets. In it, she picked her copy of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous off her shelf and handed it to him. Matty accepted it, while continuing to throw compliments her way, commenting on the oozing personality of all of her belongings.

Looping back around after seeing the whole flat, the couch dipped as both of them took a seat, now with beers in hand.

“So, do you invite customers back to your flat very often?”

Este was slightly embarrassed by the nature of the question, but tried to play it off and replied, “Only the ones that are famous musicians.”

Matty took a swig of beer and set it onto the coffee table with a coaster beneath it. “Oh, I see. So this is a meet and greet.” They both laughed and silence fell upon them again. “I’m actually really nervous. For the album, I mean,” he admitted.

She looked over to him, her expression softening. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s just a bit scary. You know, people have been liking the songs so far, but the single we put out last month sort of has blown up my whole junkie, rehab, drug thing. So I feel a lot of pressure to say the right thing.”

“I mean, I feel like that just gives people a reason to connect to the album even more. Your art still holds its purpose—that emotional release.”

Matty smiled thankfully. “Thank you for calling my music ‘my art’. That really withholds this whole pretentious thing we've got going on," he said with a chuckle. “And seriously, thank you for liking Love It If We Made It. It’s cool to have a cool person like your stuff.”

“I love it. Really do,” she pushed. “And thank you for calling me a cool person.”

“You are.” Matty meant it.

His eyes trailed from the dimple on her left cheek to the chain dangling from her neck and further to the clothes draped on her body. “Is that necklace you wear a dragonfly? Or is it a butterfly?”

Este was confused at the randomness of his question but answered anyway. She could tell he was itching to know even the little things about her.

“It’s a dragonfly,” she confirmed, reaching up to fiddle with it and give Matty a closer look. “They remind me of my grandpa. Dragonflies love him. Back in the Philippines, he was a fisherman, so he spent a lot of time out by water. I have hundreds of memories of being with him near the ocean and seeing one land on the rim of his cap or even the tip of his nose.”

He smiled warmly at the sweet anecdote but left space for her to continue, liking that she responded to his questions with stories, not just answers.

“There aren’t many out here, though, especially since he lives in London and stays in the city. So I wear one around my neck instead,” Este explained. She studied his face as she sipped her beer. Matty was listening. It felt like he was looking through her, too.

After talking for as long as their minds took them, through topics big and small, light and dark, Matty decided he better make his way. “Shit, it’s 12:30. Might want to catch an Uber.”

“Where are you staying? I could drive,” Este offered.

He opened his phone to open the app and see the rides available, denying her kind gesture. A few clicks later, a car was on its way. “Oh please, don’t worry. It’s late. I’m just crashing at my mate’s—the one whose birthday I came in for. Taking the train back to London tomorrow morning for rehearsals,” explained Matty.

Este handed him his coat as they both stood up and slowly made their way over to the door. The Uber was minutes away, so they didn’t stop before leaving the threshold of her flat and taking the elevator down to the lobby.

“Rehearsals? Is tour happening that soon?”

“Not until next year. But, we have a show in Kingston the night before the album comes out. Shitting my pants about it, honestly, so we’ve been rehearsing like crazy,” he said as the elevator doors reopened to let them onto the ground floor, continuing to walk towards the main door. “You should come, if you’re free. We always leave room at the side of the stage for friends and family. I’d love for you to hear the new stuff live.” Matty now stood on the pavement, turning to face Este, who stood just inside the doorway. She grinned at his offer, appreciating his generosity.

“That would be amazing,” she agreed. “Let me know the details and I’d love to be there.”

He nodded at her and held up the book in his hands. “Thanks, for this. And tonight.”

Este likewise thanked him for the novel of essays that now sat on her coffee table upstairs. They shared a casual embrace to say goodbye, with Matty’s hands gracing the small of her back and hers meeting over his neck. She pressed her lips to his cheek, close to his jaw, holding it there briefly before letting go. Matty wished they stayed there a little longer.

One last ‘good night’ left their mouths as the car pulled up and Matty got in. He shot Este a small wave from behind the tinted car window.

4 >>

#the 1975 #matty healy #matty healy fanfiction #matty healy x oc #the 1975 fanfiction #matty healy fic #Spotify #tbsg

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squishedegg · 1 year ago

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1. My favourites have to be Rick, Morty and Jerry

2. I saw a post talking about how domestic Beth had the same nose shape as the Beth in the first seasons, so for that reason I'd say domestic Beth

3. I think that Rick C137 were definitely romantically involved. There's alot of proof and theories that I've read that have convinced me

4. Honestly, I think a good name would be Tammy, since, well, Tammy is dead and I feel like Bp would be the type of guy to name her after Tammy :,) But I'm not good with names so I can't really think of any other name lol

5. I've heard that the show will continue on to at least season 10, I feel like that's a good amount of seasons to properly end the story with a good enough finale

6. Smash, even when I first saw the show years ago, I knew that Rick C137 was a smash lol

7. My favourite villain has to be the devil, but if I had to choose the best executed, I'd pick King Jellybean. Although I do despise how Morty and Summer are constantly going through stuff that they shouldn't at their age (like dating older people and witnessing murders). I do think that this episode handled it better. First off, Rick doesn't force Morty to tell him and instantly realizes that something happened between him and King Jellybean, and he realizes that whatever it was, it really fucked Morty up. Instead of ignoring it like in the later seasons, he decides to give Morty what he wants, even if that means Rick doesn't get to prove Morty wrong. And I've gone through similar situations before, so seeing how Rick would react warms my heart.

8. Anatomy Park. I forgot what my other favourites were, but Anatomy Park will always be one of mine.

9. Vat of Acid. I have some others because I have autism, so it's unbearable to watch something that gives me second hand embarrassment. I especially hated the Vat of Acid episode because Rick was so cruel to Morty lol

10. Some of my least favourites are the fandom favourites so idk which one to pick :,)

11. The episode where he does this whole heist just so that Morty will continue to be his sidekick forever. Rick has done some fucked up shit (mostly to Morty) but this is just the first thing that comes up to mind, just because of how cruel this was. I mean, Morty even tells Rick that he'll just give up on his dreams and stay with Rick forever, like you can't tell me that this episode was fucked up, poor Morty

12. I do think it would be difficult because the side characters will be affected too, but considering how meta the show is and how portal travel-ly Rick is, I have no doubt that the writers will find some way to introduce the new voice actors or whatever they plan to do

13. Tysm @rickxation for tagging me 🥹 @thesoftboiledegg is one of the first ppl that followed me and I love their theories sm (I would tag some more but the ppl I reblogged from already mentioned some pretty cool blogs)

14. Morty, Rick then Jerry (in order). To most people it is confusing how I relate to all three but I've read some theories or posts that explain how they are like each other sometimes. Also I may be projecting but I headcanon Jerry as autistic, he's always made fun of (by his own family) and often can't read the room and some other stuff.

15. I haven't seen the show in awhile so I don't remember many bits. I think one of my favourite bits is in the episode, Rickdependence Spray. Although the whole idea of the episode was stupid, it still managed to make me laugh. There were tons of jokes that stuck to me, like the fact that one of the people said it was a "text-book trebuchet" after Morty said that no one would know the difference. And I'm a huge fan of occurring bits/jokes, so seeing Morty being called a boy that never lies the whole episode until the reveal, was funny to me.

16. Season 2/3

17. I did have a least favourite but honestly I forget which one it was lol, I think it was season 4

18. Idk

19. Oh man I have many, "A vat of acid, are you dying of dementia?" and any of Rick's catchphrases; are the ones that come to mind immediately

20. Morty ig lol I relate the most to him so I feel like I would be the best at being him

20 SHORT-ANSWER* RICK AND MORTY QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

*You can write long answers, if you'd like! Feel free to skip questions, too!

Who is your favourite Rick and Morty Character?

Which Beth is the clone: Domestic Beth or Space Beth?

Do you think that Rick-C137 and Rick Prime were previously romantically involved?

What do you think would be a good name for Birdperson and Tammy's daughter?

How many seasons do you think Rick and Morty will eventually have?

Rick C-137: smash or pass?

Who is your favourite Rick and Morty villain?

Your favourite Rick and Morty episode?

Your least favourite Rick and Morty episode?

Who is your least favourite Rick and Morty character?

What is, in your opinion, the worst thing that Rick C-137 has ever done?

Do you think that Rick and Morty will be affected substantially by having to change the voice actor for Rick and Morty and a bunch of other characters?

What's a good Rick and Morty blog?

Who is the Rick and Morty character that you relate to the most?

The funniest Rick and Morty bit/scene, in your opinion?

Best Rick and Morty season?

Worst Rick and Morty season?

Would you stop watching the show if Justin Roiland returned?

Your favourite Rick and Morty quote?

If you had to be one member of the smith family in the next season, who would you want to be?

#rick and morty #sorry for not posting much #i lost my hyperfixation for rick and morty #its still an interest of mine so dont worry lol #sorry if this post doesnt make sense #im listening to nu metal at full volume rn so my thoughts might be incoherent

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baeshijima · 4 years ago

Text

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫!𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫!𝐲/𝐧

MASTERLIST

now, childe as a general streamer,,, he’s a whale in every sense of the word

…

poggers—

so childe as a streamer in general would be one word ;

✨chaotic✨

he would definitely be a variety streamer, but more so for games !!

especially pvp and/or pve games

competitive meta mf—

probably plays LoL, overwatch, apex legends, valorant and minecraft

don’t question the minecraft

he likes mining but has a personal vendetta against the creepers bc once they blew up his mansion

yes, a mansion

ask any of his community and they’ll tell u he spent a full-blown month and a half playing just minecraft to build it, only for it to go down just like that ;-;

his chat loved it tho <//3

he’s played honkai too !! mainly for the pve and grinding bc he’s a whale but uh,,, shhh

his community,,, his community are just a bunch of trolls at this point i cant even lie

they just KEKW, SADGE & COPIUM spam everything and the newer viewers get intimidated until they realise he deserves them all HJGKJHF

especially when he starts getting annoyed by the game,,, his reactions are too good to pass up on gn

typically when he does mario kart streams 👩‍🦯 that shit’s wild when it happens oh my

when he falls in rainbow road 🤡

and especially bc he has his webcam on, his viewers just see him internally dying or wanting to scream

also gets passive aggressive

shit talks everything and everyone when in that mood <//3

for what’s left of his dignity i won’t disclose what happens

definitely gets jebaited a lot too <//3 unfortunately he’s too easy for his chat ;-;

another mf with a massive community except he has a lot of friends (sorry not sorry albedo)

ppl have a love-hate relationship with him tbh; u either love him or hate him

no inbetween

unless u show ur love through bullying him then go off ig

his discord server, twt + yt are also really big too !! also verified on insta

also !!

he has lots of plushies :(( esp whale plushies from his community bc he’s the biggest whale they know <//3

but if u look at his setup, there’s a mini whale plushie on the top of his main monitor (he has 3), one big one (like,,, up to his chin) behind him, a smol on the top of his chair so u can see it above his head, and just more off screen HKJSDHL

they asked for a room tour once and half of it was just whale plushies

the rest were LED lights + shelves of merch & gifts from his community !!

he even has some fanmail (actual wholesome ones that aren’t cursed) pinned on a board too 🥺

also has an ensuite—

when he was eating on stream one time, his chat was sent into an absolute outrage

u know why?

bc he was eating noodles with a fork

bby ;-;

so sometimes he’ll get sent those beginner chopsticks with the finger guides to help him 👩‍🦯

he’s actually made sure to eat with them on stream tho bc he was sent one with a narwhal on top and he thinks it’s cute JHGJKH

nOW ONTO THIS MAN BEING WHIPPED FOR U AS A GENSHIN STREAMER !!!!

herkekle

now, his (also) AR56 ass has been playing since genshin first came out

an og if u will

this man,,, he’s been in love with u even before the game’s official release 🐥

not only were u in the promotional art and trailers, but he was also one of the beta testers so he got to try out ur character first hand in the early stages !!

and when i say he fell hard for u,

i mean it

when the game wasn’t released publicly yet, he wasn’t allowed to disclose any information and ngl, it killed him that he couldn’t talk abt u :((

so all he could do was say this upcoming was really nice so far and subtly brag abt u to everyone JHGKJSDFHLK

when the official ads & promotional art were finally released 🥺🥺 when i tell u he immediately went live talking abt the game and u HKGJHFDK

he didn’t care that he streamed at an ungodly hour bc he’s been waiting for the reveal for so long he needs to let everyone know </3

he retweeted everything from their official twt straightaway, made a yt video based off his spontaneous stream promoting the game + pinged his entire server abt it

yes

his nearly 200k server all got pinged abt this one game bc he’s in love with a character from it

and he has no regrets abt it <33

the day the game was available for download, he stREAMED THE ENTIRE DOWNLOAD PROCESS

while he and his chat were waiting, they decided to watch the trailers and character showcases to get a feel for the game, and played some mario kart to pass the time !!

as soon as the game loaded, he threw mario kart behind him and went on 🐥

he typed his name (ajax) for the when he chose aether and literally everyone was appreciating the aesthetics HKJFS

but childe,,, he was waiting for it to be over so he could see u ;-;

he appreciated the aesthetics, fighting mechanics & voice acting a lot tho !!

now he had gotten through all the tutorials, got all the chests he could he was finally in mond

and there u were 🥺 after the dvalin encounter u arrived before kaeya did

and boy did he show u off sm to his viewers HKJHKLF

they knew he was down bad before but now?? they know it’s hopeless to save him and if he ever falls out of love that’s when the world ends

luckily that’ll never happen tho <33

but he took !! so many !! screenshots !!

oh, and did i mention he changed his wallpapers to u? and his twt + discord pfps are also some very aesthetic screenshots of u from that first scene ;-;

he just appreciates u sm okay 🥺

he even clutched his chest where his heart is and sunk down his chair when he heard u speak 😩

his chat just spammed his downbad + y/nlove + SHRIMP emotes and he accepted them all with grace <33

now when he unlocks the wishing feature,,, u already know he’s wishing for u as soon as possible

ur in the standard banner so ur always there which he appreciates but he would’ve wanted u to be limited so he can rub it in ppl’s faces ;-;

and since it was the first release rewards, he had tons of wishes right off the bat !!

he was gonna roll for venti after he gets u bc,,, well does he need a reason??

also he doesn’t do well with archer characters in general ;;; but if ur an archer then ur obv an exception sooo

bUT he got a 5 star in his first 20 pulls !!

tho it was diluc 👩‍🦯

while he was happy bc he got an incredibly meta character right off the bat,

he wasn’t interested in diluc,,, (even now his diluc is barely looked after, and only used for spiral abyss, *sweats*)

the next 5 star he got was around the 60 mark, and he got a weapon,,,

i mean,,, he got the weapon that was most suited for u so that’s smth at least (ˉ▽ˉ；)

after he used all his remaining primos and fates, he finally got u 🥺

he just went “fuck the storyline” and immediately put u in his party and just

admired u as a whole

went through all the voice lines available, ur character story, ur idle animations (he had a heart attack from u and his chat clipped it) and took many, many screenshots

his favourite voice lines would have to be the night + about us + (y/n)’s hobbies

and then he equipped u with ur weapon and damnnn did u look so good with it 😩

he changed u to be his avatar, with his signature as :

“(y/n)’s whale <3”

and now the whaling process begins 👩‍🦯

after at least £2k, he got u to c6, along with at least 1 copy of all the standard 5 stars,,

then he went for venti’s banner—

his chat were just too focused on how he’s gonna play u to even think of anything else tbh HKJAH

with ur kit, u were honestly seen to be a dps or even a sub dps if ppl don’t want u on the field all the time

so definitely a perfect character for mr meta strimmer tartaglia (his twitch name btw ;;; childe is just smth he prefers his community to call him as but they also call him ajax too HKJSD) here

so he went through the archon quests with u as his carry and i won’t lie, ur name card is smth he has printed and framed behind him after he got it 🥺

he later finds out ur part of the fatui in the liyue archon quest tho and has to fight u with,,,

well, u ;;;

he finds it hot tho so it’s okay—

i won’t lie tho, his zhongli after he got him is his second strongest after u

he just builds all his characters in the most broken way he can so he can show his viewers that everyone can be a dps in their own right, not just the ones meant to be since there’s no right or wrong in this game !!

but now ur weapon is r5, ur lvl 90 and u have lvl 20 5 star artifacts that make u the most broken (y/n) seen

ppl who co op with him are honestly baffled,,, especially when the feature of them being able to view other players’ character stats become available,,,

u with ur nearly 3k atk,,,

he’s hit over 600k with u tho and he’ll always flex that

no one can top him as a (y/n) main and that’s honestly just a fact at this point 😩

when he saw that the dating sim hangouts was official, his immediate and iconic response was simply ;

“so when will (y/n) become a dateable, huh 🤨”

to this day he’s still waiting to be able to date u in-game <//3

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact childe #genshin childe #childe #childe x reader #genshin childe x reader #genshin impact childe x reader #childe headcanons #childe scenarios #childe fluff #hsdkjfhklsdfs childe pls come hom on main ;-;#streaming dreams

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