#generally I liked all stories in some way or another

[obsessedwithceleste]

You Can Say You Love Me Now

Theodore Nott x reader

Summary: A little fake dating trope, just in time for Valentine's day

word count: 3k

©️ obsessedwithceleste. all works posted here belong to me and should not be reposted or copied in any way or form.

It was the perfect plan really. Or it had seemed like it at the time. When fueled by frustration, love, and desperation, what could go wrong? Theo had loved you for as long as he could remember and he wasn’t afraid to admit that. To himself at least. But to you, well, that was a bit more challenging.

Coming from a pure blood family, a sacred 28 family no less, Theodore’s fate had been sealed long before he was even born. Destined to marry another rich, pure blood heiress, have children, and secure the Nott legacy another generation. All ridiculous nonsense if you asked Theodore. What was the point of tradition anyway? Pretty much everyone who cared was already dead, so what did it matter?

Unfortunately for Theo, his father was not dead and had been trying to find a suitable match for what felt like years at this point. Names of witches that Theo couldn’t even match a face to had been floated by, but Theo had spoiled each and every potential match and his father had been growing increasingly more agitated by the day.

That’s when it had struck him. Kill two birds with one stone. Get his father off his back and gain the perfect opportunity to win over the witch of his dreams. Was it a bit short sighted? Sure. But he wasn’t left with many options at this point and this was as good a plan as any.

“Please principessa, you know what my father’s like. And it would only be a few months.” Theo begged, following close behind you as you make your way through the labyrinth that is the Hogwarts library.

“I am not going to pretend to date you for a few months Theodore. Or at all. That’s actually insane. Besides, no one would believe it anyway. We’ve known each other for how long? No one is going to buy the idea of us just now deciding to go out. Especially not your father. Do you know how long my mother has been trying to set us up?” you sigh, plucking another book off the shelf.

You had known Theodore practically your whole life. The two of you had been best friends since before you could walk. Your earliest memories involved waddling around the gardens of his family’s manor as your mothers watched on in thrilled bliss. There was simply no way the two of you would be fooling anyone.

“Well that’s just it isn’t it? Father has been hounding me to court you for ages, he’ll be too relieved to care,” Theo replies, an air of desperation creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, And what do you suppose we'd tell them hmm?" You ask.

"Don't know. We wanted it to happen naturally or some other sappy story. They'll eat it up."

You give your friend a pointed look. This was not the first time he had presented you with a half-baked plan that was certain to go wrong at some point.

“You’re being so ridiculous right now Theodore, this easily makes it on the list of your top ten stupidest ideas.”

“You keep a list?”

“It’s alphabetized.”

Theo has the nerve to look offended.

“Please principessa? I know your family has been on you too. This will buy us both a little time at least,” Theo protests. "Just think, we tell them over winter break, string it along awhile, and then after we've gone our seperate ways we're just too broken hearted to even consider any other possibilities for the future."

In all fairness, the boy was right. Your family had been bothering you for months now, asking if you’d found a special someone. You'd known when Theodore's father began ramping up the pressure for him to find a match that your family wouldn't be far behind, but it was honestly starting to get to be a bit ridiculous. And exhausting.

"It's not even completely incomprehensible. We've been mistaken as a couple before." Theo continues to press.

You glare at your friend, eyes rolling at the mere memory.

six months prior

It had been another one of your mother's usual, stuffy garden parties. The sun had been beating down on you all morning and all you really wanted to do was throw your blasted shoes across the lawn. Who thought it was a sensible idea to be out on the garden's cobblestone paths in scorching heat for hours at a time? This was not your idea of a good time.

"Principessa," Theodore greeted, arm wrapping comfortably around your waist.

"Don't even start, Theodore," you grumbled, leaning into the boy. "I'm tired, I'm hungry, and if my mother tries to make me join one more conversation about the Ministry or some such I'll set the whole garden on fire."

Theodore just laughed, pulled you closer.

"C'mon love. We can sneak off to the lake I reckon. Berkshire just arrived so the mums will all be too busy throwing him at the Greengrass sisters to notice."

Had you felt a bit bad leaving Enzo to the wolves? Sure. But still, you had let Theodore lead you down the path to the lake, collapsing onto the lawn sofa that was perched almost picturesquely on the patio overlooking the glassy water.

You had closed your eyes, feeling yourself relax into Theodore as his fingers combed methodically through your hair. You didn't know how long the both of you had been sitting there simply basking in each other's company when an excited gasp jolted you from your peaceful bliss.

"Oh! Oh my!" the shrill voice of one of your mother's airheaded socialites tittered. "I wasn't aware the both of you were courting! Oh your parents must be so pleased- what with your families being so close and all-"

"We're not courting." You interjected, holding your hand up to stop the women mid sentence.

She had stuttered awkwardly after that before finally shuffling off. Had you been a bit harsh? Perhaps. But you simply hadn't been in any sort of mood to deal with the notion of dating your best friend.

Theodore hadn't said a word, but you could feel him recoil ever so slightly. Not enough for anyone to notice if it hadn't been you. And things were a bit, strained, for the following days. If you could even call it that. And then things went back to normal as if nothing had happened.

You would have forgotten the whole thing, brushed it under the rug as something to laugh about in a few years, if it hadn't left a nagging feeling in the back of your mind.

You had never even allowed yourself to think that you could ever end up with your friend. Sure, years ago your mothers had shared the fantasy of the both of you ending up together one day. You were sure your mother was still convinced it might happen. But no. He would be auctioned off to the family of some wealthy heiress and you would be matched with some boy your parents deemed suitable. It was just how things worked.

Your feared your father was wearing going to wear through the carpet at any moment with the way he was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. Your mother sat twiddling her fingers on the sofa across from you, watching your father in exasperation.

Theodore was quite pleased with himself. To be completely honest he really didn't think he'd get this far. But sitting smugly on the sofa of his father's office, arm wrapped securely around you as he faced not only his own father, but your parents as well, he felt on top of the world.

"Well? Is it true? Are you?" your mother asks, finally breaking the silence as she had apparently given up on your father being the first to speak.

Your father had stormed off to Mr. Nott's office before you could even let out a breath, and by the time you and Theodore had finally slunk into the room, your mother was already doing a piss poor job of hiding her excitement.

It had always been a dream of hers for the both of you to end up together one day. It was hardly a kept secret. Maybe Theodore had been right and their blind excitement would stop them from asking too many questions because this was truly horrific.

"Of course it's true! It better be! The way I found him all over y/n," your father interrupts.

Mr. Nott just gazes on, eyes seemingly boring into your soul as Theodore meets his father's stare with cool, nonchalance. The smug bastard.

"Oh it's all we ever hoped for!" Your mother gushes, eyes falling onto the portrait hanging on the wall of the late Mrs. Nott.

"Well. That settles it then. They'll begin courting. Or whatever it is they call it these days," Mr. Nott says finally. "But there will be no more of this, nonsense. Not under my roof."

a few minutes earlier

"After further reassessment, this is the stupidest idea you've ever had," you hiss. Glaring at the brunette boy in front of you.

You were currently perched on one of the many desks lining the library walls of Nott Manor. Theodore was pressed up against the side, warm hands on your thighs holding you securely in place and sending shivers down your spine.

"Hush amore. How else will they be convinced we've been hiding a relationship, hmm?" He asks, slowly guiding one of your arms up to wrap around his neck.

"Oh I don't know. Suppose we just tell them? Ever think of that?"

"Yeah, and how would that go? Hey mum, I've been secretly seeing the son of your dead best friend who you've been trying to set me up with for ages. This is definitely not a distraction. Please believe us." Theo scoffs.

"I'm being serious," you respond, giving the boy a light whack on the shoulder. "When I agreed to the whole 'pretend to go out' bit, this is not what I had in mind."

"We've kissed before," Theo drawls, all nonchalance.

"You know that's not the same Theodore."

Before Theodore is able to respond, likely with another of his dry quips that you had grown to adore (not that you'd ever admit it), the door of the library swings open, footsteps echoing on the marble floors.

You don't even get the chance to fully take in the reality of the situation before Theodore's lips are on yours. It's slow and soft and warm as you feel his thumb softly brushing circles on your inner thigh. A soft gasp escapes you as you melt into the boy.

"What is the meaning of this?" Your father's cutting voice calls out, breaking you from your trance.

You jolt away from Theo, eyes snapping up to meet your father's, face flushed with embarrassment. Theo on the other hand looked quite self-satisfied. Oh you were going to kill him later.

"Both of you. Into the office. Now." Your father snaps out, looking like he was wishing he could obliviate himself in that moment.

"How long are we going to keep this going?" you ask, eyes not quite meeting Theo's as you lean your head against him. It was another warm night in which you and Theodore had managed to sneak up to the astronomy tower.

Your visits to the astronomy tower had started back in fourth year. It seemed like forever ago. And now you looked forward to nothing as much as nights spent with Theodore gazing up at the sky. The nights were different now though, you supposed.

It had been what? Five months now? You were almost certain it was five months, but those months seemed to have flown by in bliss. You hadn't realized how easy it would be. You and Theodore seemed to have been carefully tip toeing the line between friendship and more for years. You simply hadn't put the pieces together. It had been a bit clunky at first sure. Awkward maybe. But this was perfect. Standing in Theodore's arms as the stars above you seemed to go on forever. Perfect.

three-ish months prior

"Shut up. Shut. Up. You're joking," Daphne squeals, eyes locking onto your fingers which are tightly interlocked with Theo's as you enter your dorm room.

Something you seemed to have overlooked when agreeing to Theodore's dating scheme, was the fact that an integral part of the plan involved selling the lie to your closest friends.

It was much more difficult than you had anticipated.

You had spent the first initial month spending all your free time with Theodore, never really leaving his side. Apparently this didn't seem out of the ordinary. The flowers sent to your dorm didn't elicit a single reaction from your roommate, nor did Theodore's constant pet names. No, what really did it apparently, was the hand holding. Scandalous.

Your friends never failed to miss an opportunity to humble you.

"Took them long enough. Don't know why you're so shocked Daph," Mattheo replies dryly from his spot on the floor, papers scattered around him. He doesn’t even bother to look up.

"Well duh. We all knew they'd end up together eventually. Just didn't think they'd figure it out while we were still in school." Daph responds matter of factly. “Ugh. I owe Pansy 25 galleons now.” She groans, a frown appearing on her face.

"We can hear you, you know," Theo drawls, raising an eyebrow.

"Well it isn't as if the two of you have been subtle about it. Always holed up together in the library for hours at a time doing gods knows what."

"We study together," you reply, feeling the need to defend yourself.

"You’ve also attend every single ball together since, ever," Mattheo adds.

"Better that then go with whatever tossers our parents dig up."

"I've found the both of you asleep in Theodore's bed on more than one occasion."

"As friends."

"Right. You'd sleep together as friends, but drew the line at hand holding." Daphne says dryly. "You're both hopeless."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Y/n, I damn near saw you hex Theo's hand off in fifth year when he tried to hold your hand, and even that wasn't solid proof that you two weren't already going out." Daphne snorts. "Hopeless."

"C'mon Daph, let's leave the love birds to it then," Mattheo says, gathering his papers. "Make good choices. Don't do anything I'd do," he calls as the two of them make a quick exit.

As soon as the door slams shut, you turn to look at Theo as if to ask 'what on Earth was that about?'

“They make fair points,” he says with a shrug, pulling you onto the bed with him.

"We weren't being obvious about anything Theodore. There was nothing there to begin with." You reply, allowing him to pull you onto his chest.

You knew there hadn't been anything there before, or at least you thought there wasn't, because this was all very new. Sure before you might've fallen asleep in the same bed after staying up until 3 am studying for your charms exam, but you'd certainly never seen Theodore look at you like this before. And you'd certainly never felt his hand creep under your shirt to rub soft circles across your rib cage. You'd definitely never felt your heart try to beat out of your chest like this. Or maybe you had.

"Is it really so absurd to think we've always been so close?" Theo asks, eyes very clearly focused on your lips. Not that you noticed of course.

"Maybe not," you reply, letting your head fall to rest on the boy's chest.

This was nice you thought to yourself as Theo's lips pressed a soft kiss to the top of your head.

"How long do you want to keep going?" Theo asks after a moment.

"Don't know," you reply, feeling his eyes on you as you continue gazing out at the sky in front of you.

"Another month?" Theo asks carefully, pulling you ever closer.

You can feel your heart begin to race at the idea of it all ending so soon. You shake your head.

"You want to end it sooner?" Theo asks, voice wavering ever so slightly.

You shake your head again. You hear Theodore's sharp breath as he realizes your implication and you feel yourself growing increasingly more nervous as the silence stretches on.

You'd really, truly never allowed yourself to consider the idea of ending up with Theo. You knew that simply wasn't how the world worked. And frankly the idea of rejection couldn't even be a possibility. You couldn't allow yourself to lose your best friend. Or maybe you could. This was all his idea to begin with after all.

"What if we just kept going?" You ask finally, feeling the weight of the world lift off your shoulders.

Theo's arms tear away from you as he turns you to face him, hand holding your chin firmly in place, forcing your eyes to meet.

"Don't play with me like this, principessa," he says, voice all seriousness as his eyes scan your face, searching for anything that might suggest you're joking with him.

"I'm not."

And just like that, Theo's lips are on yours once more. They seemed to find themselves there a lot lately, melting your mind to absolute mush as he pulled you closer. You could feel your back, now pressed up against one of the marble pillars of the tower as Theo's lips moved slowly from your lips to your jawline, and carefully down the side of your neck.

"You can say you love me now," He whispers into your ear, his warm breath giving you chills as his hands continue to wander.

"I love you," you gasp out.

"Sorry, who?" he pushes, leaving little pecks across your jawline once more.

"Theo. I love you, Theodore," You say finally, just as Theo presses another kiss to your lips.

"And I love you, amore."

Did I start this well over a year ago? Yes I did, thank you for asking. Did I change the title three different times? Absolutely I did. Am I posting this before editing? Also yes. Cope.

[essektheylyss]

idk I kind of feel like I'm an idiot bc I actually enjoyed cr 3 from the jump to the end but like the blogs who follow bc I feel they are definitely more articulate and insightful than me are like "the whole thing was meaningless and pointless! matt fumbled everything!" so maybe I'm wrong to have liked it all? I'm not really sure where I'm going with this sorry

I think one thing to keep in mind is that many (and in fact, I would argue, most!) people who are critiquing the story and construction have also generally enjoyed the campaign as a whole! Certainly I don't know anyone who stuck it out through the end who did not overall enjoy watching it, for various reasons; I know there are people who hate watch, which I think is an absurd and honestly really stupid waste of time, but from my experience they are normally making snide and vicious tweet-length posts rather than long considerations of what isn't working for them.

There are also a lot of levels of critique—I've greatly enjoyed a lot of moments in isolation that I simultaneously felt weakened, contradicted, or even actively undermined the structure of the story as a whole, but those moments were still really fun and interesting beats. The Arch Heart's cameo comes to mind, as does, in hindsight, some of the construction of the post-Solstice split, but there are plenty of others of higher or lower impact on the story. In the finale the Raise Dead falls into this place very strongly, so I'm going to talk about it at length for a moment, since it was an absolutely stellar moment for me personally and as such I do think it serves as very illustrative of an example where I simultaneously fucking love a moment while finding it worth significant critique. I think it also touches on the critiques you're referring to, which I would summarize overall as the idea that many of the outcomes feel influenced negatively by pulled punches on the part of the DM rather than a flaw of one player or another. (Also, I want to talk about it cuz I love it. :3) This got very long but I think that to your point, it is worth examining in this amount of depth.

First, the good: it is an absolutely phenomenal culminating point of an arc that was only really concluded in summary; I have, as noted earlier this week, written at length about how Essek is never situated as a protagonist, which is functionally fine and even good. He ends up tied very strongly to Caleb's arc, and moves in the narrative in such a way after 2x97 that allows Caleb to reach a concluding note, and strengthens that narrative. So we only really hear about the outcome of Essek's choices, his inevitable leave from the Dynasty, in the summarization of the campaign 2 epilogue. This is not inherently a problem, because he is not a protagonist. But this moment does functionally create a material representation of that denouement, and in particular the tension between the outcomes of his poor choices and the better—potentially even good!—person he is trying to be as a result of the Nein's influence, which does strengthen his arc in its own right.

This moment also, hilariously, bears out my argument from this post. That the resurrection should only work with this intervention, particularly while the Nein are involved, does follow through on the Nein's general positioning within Exandria. Essek's leave happening without a fight (and, frankly, with only one attempted Counterspell) both makes for a very well-paced moment and also maintains the overall sense of story that the Nein impart when they are on screen; I'm thinking again of how their Ruidus episodes feel, much like their campaign and their post-campaign one-shots, like an intrigue action thriller series, and this fits well in that framing.

So overall, it is a fantastic moment... for the Nein. The Nein are not the protagonists of this story. They exist in the world, and are such active agents that they do continue to develop and exert motion on the narrative into this campaign, and frankly, I think this would have been fine if the party given ownership of this story and campaign did not abdicate their responsibility for it with unfortunate frequency. They do not exert a strong control over their story, which is at odds with the fact that the Nein do, and are present and also involved by the nature of their ending. It completely overshadows Ashton's heroic moment, in that the culminating action beat of this sequence is Essek getting away, which kind of takes the wind out of the sails of the Hells' involvement in the gods' outcome. It doesn't negate it, certainly, but it does refocus the story from them to, for some reason, Essek. So in this sense, it occurs at the expense of the Hells.

I find that while the handwaving of using dunamantic intervention to push Raise Dead beyond its limits (if indeed the reason it didn't originally work was because Ashton's brain was essentially gone) fits fine and even well within the framework of the Nein's story, and an NPC being able to do so without a roll is fine, since NPCs are vehicles the DM uses to guide the story, this is a significant divergence from the overall mechanics of the world at large; even the Nein had to do a full ritual for the resurrection of their tiefling. Matt put those mechanics in place specifically to create narrative meaning behind resurrections, which can feel very unmotivated and like a get out of jail free card in D&D, and while it's been noted that this would've really strained the runtime beyond its existing length, prioritizing it at the cost of, for instance, more truncated end notes for the Nein and Vox would've bolstered the Hells' presence in an ending to their own story that even many of their fans felt was ultimately lacking.

Giving the resurrection full weight would've also given Ashton's sacrifice and the Hells' involvement more narrative weight; the reason the other parties are involved at all is because the Hells were truly running on fumes by that point, but any lack of involvement this created could've been alleviated by having them directly involved through pre-established ritual elements that are not contingent on them having any mechanical offerings. So this moment sits within the context of critique that I agree with: that it felt like a pulled punch that ultimately also served to decenter the Hells within their own narrative, when it could've been used with more deliberate narrative force.

At the same time, I fucking love it, and watched it four times in a row yesterday, because it is so good��and it is, as I described, narratively and thematically coherent in one sense! And I think that is one issue of the campaign: many, many great moments are excellent and coherent in a certain framework but are weaker to varying degrees when considered as one piece of a larger whole. There are so many frameworks at play in this narrative, and not enough direct intervention to manage those as frameworks rather than as a single story, but at the same time, I think those frameworks are far more apparent if you're really looking for them, and that's much more difficult, if not impossible, when you're in the midst of them and telling the story.

I also don't think this means one cannot critique this; in fact, I would say this is more an issue of being a serialized narrative than an improvised one, which is often how critique of it has been pushed back against within the fandom. I was thinking about this as I'm currently in a course on, quite literally, how to critique comics, and we discussed this week how Marjane Satrapi said in an interview after making the film adaptation of Persepolis, which was first a serialized comic, that she ended up preferring the film, and I speculated that was because with a film, one has the ability to make a more cohesive narrative purely by virtue of the fact that with a serialized form, you cannot go back and make retroactive edits when new developments come to light. This is something that long-running comics must constantly navigate (as do many long TV shows), and in extreme circumstances such as decades-old comic franchises, ends up resulting in infinite timelines and hand-waving, which becomes so ridiculous that at this point it's a meme. In that scenario, though, it is not presented as a non-contradictory story, let alone a cohesive one.

Many of the critiques of campaign 3 are operating within the idea that this is presented as one overarching narrative. (And honestly, comics and other narratives that don't utilize that presentation are also still critiqued on that merit by people who greatly enjoy the texts they're critiquing anyway.) Within that context, I feel that the framing of the Raise Dead, as well as much of what would be my critique of the other pieces I referenced (the Arch Heart's cameo and some of the party-split sections) if I was to do the same kind of rundown of those, actively undermine this presentation by introducing and forefronting too many conflicting frameworks that are not interwoven well enough to create a single, cohesive overarching narrative.

This is a very long-winded way to illustrate my point, which is that I would really encourage reading critique not as a lack of enjoyment of the campaign, let alone a suggestion that no one should've enjoyed it (and if you did, then you're not smart enough to know better), but as a way to engage with the text(s) as presented within one framework or another. I think this is sometimes obscured in online fandom spaces, where we're not engaging in critique in as formal of a sense as one would in, say, an academic setting, where the norms generally dictate the framework one is using is explicitly stated if not fully delineated within the critique, but it is, more often than not, still implicitly present within the critique.

And as a final note, I would also really urge everyone reading others' opinions on something they enjoy to resist the urge to elide their own opinions from the conversation, even if you don't feel as articulate or as well-versed in critique. Critique is a trained skill, so it is certainly something one can pick up if they are inclined, and at the same time, someone doing it does not mean they are inherently right—and in fact, with all argumentative writing, it is up to the reader to consider the argument and decide whether or not they agree with it. (You can decide that you disagree with me about the Raise Dead! Just because I wrote a thousand words on it does not inherently make my interpretation truth; it's just an interpretation. You get to say whether or not you think my interpretation makes sense based on the evidence presented.) Even here I'm using the framework of some critique that others have made, but I don't delineate in full myself. In doing do I'm not presuming that you agree, but I am presuming that you've read it and know what I'm referring to. Strictly speaking it's also not even saying that I take that critique as true; it's saying that I feel the conclusions drawn are applicable as a basis for my argument. If you wanted, you could even say that you feel that my argument is irrelevant to you because you don't feel those critiques are true! But you ultimately do have to be the one to decide any of that, which does involve a balance between a confidence in the formation of your own opinions on the text and an openness to entertaining others'.

[drdemonprince]

this feels like a silly question but I know you have the answer. is hypnotism real? or is hypno kink just another form of roleplaying? Or something in between?

the trance states some people reach under hypnosis are undeniably a real thing! in fact, people enter into trance-like states in everyday life all the time! when you're zoning out on the highway, particularly engrossed in a book or movie, wrapped up in a fantasy, or even in a more receptive state while listening to a particularly compelling speaker or preacher, you are entering into a trance state! hypnosis is just one of the means by which a person can enter into this altered state of consciousness. people also reach trance by meditating, praying, engaging in repetitive tasks, and all kinds of other ways. trance is also highly similar to subspace, or even Domspace really, heightened mental states that people enter into after engaging in a kinky role under the right conditions.

research shows that when a person enters into a trance they are generally more vividly imaginative, receptive, and suggestible, and they may also be less inhibited and more able to access feelings and thoughts they are normally uncomfortable with. this can make it both a really meaningful state to enter into, and a potentially risky one to play with or have exploited by another person.

in practice, some people with hypnosis kinks only roleplay the activity (though because of the nature of how trance works, sometimes pretending to be in a trance can just get you into a trance!). other people are only interested in fictional depictions of hypnotic states in animated GIFs or stories or things like that. but a great many of us in the hypnosis fetish community do engage in actual hypnosis that is informed by what research is available on the matter, and work on developing new techniques for helping people achieve hypnotic states and experience particular phenomena while under hypnosis - for example hypnotic amnesia, hallucinations, hands-free orgasms, and any number of other conditioned responses.

for the average novice getting into the kink, the most you're going to experience at first is a feeling of relaxation and maybe some cute party tricks, or maybe a little extra intensity when taking on a different headspace, such as pup space or bimbofication. you might feel a little bit more at ease, silly, and able to take in suggestions and run with them. with practice and a seasoned hypnotist and hypnotic subject though, you can get into the realm of some pretty dramatic personality change and preference change kind of stuff. I've had entire whole new kinks inserted into me by hypnotists before that have stuck around for years. I didn't used to be until latex for example. I also learned how to deep throat exclusively from listening to hypnotic files and all the reviews indicate I'm damn good at it (The limitations of my small mouth not withstanding). hypnosis got me to learn to suppress my gag reflex really easily, and it's great for training physical relaxation and responses like these.

I've also had like breaks from reality from being in trance states for days or weeks at a time with hypnotic mantras running in the back of my brain telling me that I'm a robot I'm not a person and stuff, and known people who have experienced psychotic breaks from pushing the throttle on certain forms of hypnotic play too heavily when they were already vulnerable to that kind of thing, so you can reach really high highs and low lows with this stuff. That's if you have the right mindset and dedication to it, it's not magic. but it is a lot like being in a cult, or being under another person's influence in some other way. humans are far more susceptible to influence than they realize sometimes.

[thegrinningghost]

Th𝓮 Hig𝓱 Guar𝓭

Do you ever think about the High Guard, and wonder how many of them had conjunxes or sparklings? How many had friends, family; how many loved someone but were too scared to confess. How many never wanted anything with romance, but had close mentor-like bonds with those younger and older than them. Do you ever think about those bots, and wonder if they ever joined the High Guard, too? Or perhaps they stayed and worked for their cause in another way. Maybe whole trines would join, by force or choosing. Do you ever think about how often those bots would pray and wish for the High Guard to return safely after every battle? How they realized it was a noble cause, but hated the danger it put those they knew into. Do you ever think about how, one battle, the High Guard didn’t return? And the Primes were dead. And everybody knew that, but nobody knew how, and nobody knew where the High Guard went. Nobody knew if they died. Nobody asked, but they wondered. And slowly, those courageous bots became mere myth. Do you ever think about how often their story got told? How it may have been passed down through generation, or told on the off-chance someone brought up the Primes. Do you ever think about the High Guard, who, despite their cruel behavior and stern words, maybe really just wanted to go home? How they were stuck in hiding for years, longing to see or just be able to say goodbye to all they used to know. Do you ever think about how the first time the High Guard got to go home was cut short? Do you ever wonder how those they loved felt, seeing them fight only to hail some false, violent leader, and fly off with no words to be spared? Do you ever wonder if the High Guard regretted that day, or even the day they decided to join the military ranks beneath the Primes? Do you ever think about how the first and last time they got to be with the people they loved, was fighting against a system? Do you ever wonder if, during that battle, they ever truly saw those bots, or if they remained clueless to what happened after they disappeared? Do you ever think about what Orion said to D-16? How he should take the High Guard and leave. Do you ever wonder if some of the High Guard didn’t want to follow anyone anymore, but were forced to because of their exile? Do you ever wonder if it was because Orion knew they’d follow power, and couldn’t trust them? Do you ever wonder if the hatred that they built up over the years was more for their loss of choice than it was for believing in any sort of cause? How Sentinel took it, and Orion, and then Megatron. Do you ever think about how some of them may have wanted to leave? But they couldn’t. Because they probably had seen what D-16 did to Starscream and Sentinel. They likely saw what he still does to Starscream. And it would be too much of a risk, but they longed to have that freedom to choose again. They longed to be far away from the leading front of a war. Do you ever think about how the High Guard left for war, hid, slaughtered, and then fought in more wars? Do you wonder if the High Guard ever got a moment of peace? Do you ever wonder if that only came to those who died, and if those still living will ever get it? Do you think the High Guard deserves to finally feel peace? Do you ever think about all these warriors, later named the Decepticons? Do you ever wonder about everything we know about them, and all that we don’t? Do you ever think about how much their numbers dwindled? Do you ever think about the lives they led before, and the lives they could’ve had? Do you ever wonder about the High Guard?

Because I sure do.

[urautismdiagnosis]

LANGUAGE HEADCANONS

including the vegimals, also some pirate culture lore for kwazii ig

@calamaroo

BARNACLES

Barnacles learned basic English as an extracurricular when he was younger, but he only really learned it (and gained the accent) when he went to university in Manitoba (polar bear capital of the world and the university works by, with, and for indigenous people with a lot of foreign people coming to study). he's got a similar thing with the speaking Russian and I'm gonna steal the specific language of inuktuk from you.

Also because the Arctic has so many different countries in it (although everyone in the Arctic considers themselves as just "the Arctic because wtf are u gonna do about borders? come through the snow storm and take me to another snowy white spot that looks exactly the same (to you) as the other snowy white spot I was in? FCK borders in the Arctic no one there gives a sht)

Anyways they do have a common sign language because I LOVE SIGN LANGUAGE AND WILL INSERT IT EVERYWHERE I CAN

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

KWAZII:

Kwazii did grow up with a very mixed pirate crew, although A LOT of members were either English speaking or Japanese speaking predominantly , he also watched a lot of old kids anime as a kid in Japanese as well lol. not to mention the native island cultures they often interacted with including my very fictional "meowri" (they're sphinx cats with ttattoes and very loosely inspired by Polynesian cultures)...

Because of the general culture of the pirate crew being diverse (esp cuz of interactions on ports/other crews) there was also a lot slang and terms that was known shared and sort of used as a basic communication system for everyone.

so there'd be random Spanish and Arabic terms from the most niche origin points just being used commonly, and that includes a lot of outdated ones, cultural sayings, or words that just don't exist in a lot of other languages, and etc

not to mention that because of how old the pirate clan he was a part of was (founded in 1920s) and because of the different crews there's genuinely like hundreds and hundreds of them being in these isolated communities and even being born and raised in them. so there's a lot of words that cant even be found anywhere else, so kwazii does get frustrated when he cant express what he wants to say but he just... cant even translate the word

OR the words everyone else uses for it doesn't make any sense! it... it kinda makes him feel stupid sometimes

also because his clan did work with a lot of wild animals as non tech sources of information (you feed them and then they get u good info!! for strategy, spying, whatever! and no one even blinks an eye cuz its just a crow (an extremely intelligent bird)!) but uh... the problem with that is that well alot of animals uhhhh misunderstand stuff

so that means that all the names of locations, descriptions of wild animals, ways of naming ships, and all the information would've have to have been animal comprehension friendly. not to mention be more coded cuz of non-friend pirate clans and G O V E R N M E N T S- so I'd get some wacky name replacements for all sorts of things.... its really a mess XD, a beautiful mess but still

also explained why so many of the pirate tales about *insert scientific name of the episode's animal* was often over exaggerated with strange details... including ones pirates shouldn't even known. Like how could they know about sword fish making the water around them warm?

its because a lot of that info CAME from the animals... animals who... don't understand numbers and say things like "and it was 20 feet tall!" even if it was only 5.... because it FEELS that tall to the small animal yk? also not understanding science on a deeper level so its all explained in a strange way. Ofc the pirates DONT help the issue because they be exaggerating the hell out of their own stories-

yeah sure the snake was "long as the river itself" Cj and SURE it was 20 sharks or whatever and not THREE that chased you kwazii

lying in story telling is just a form of pirate love actually, so is pranks and pickpocketing but kwazii refrains lol... this turned into me yapping about the blorbo

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

BASIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

Speaking of the basic communication thing, the octonauts crew was trained on the main words for rescue related communication in more common languages like Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, etc and will take time to learn (or just refresh) before heading to a new location.

Because in my own au the communication abilities of the wildlife is a lot more limited based on their level of intelligence. so an orca would technically be bi lingual in their own orca language and be able to speak nearly identical to a humanoid person

also like I said before about sign language, BASIC PIRATE SIGNS THAT ONLY OTHER PIRATES KNOW AYYYYYYYYY

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

DASHI:

Australian Dashie my beloved<3 honestly she WOULD have learned several languages and learned more for/from her friends shes so capable and incredible fr. also FCK it MORE sign language! I headcanon shes CODA, which means you're the child of one or two parents who are both either hard of hearing or Deaf! so she actually was learning sign very VERY young from her mom <3 and well the rest of her family cuz they all knew it lol

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

PESO:

peso is obviously bilingual and he's the BEST at the basic communications skills thing and most well versed cuz he deals with the most animals one on one, so he actually can communicate with pretty much all the animal creatures, even taking the time to learn some slang terms the animals might have learned so that they'll feel safer and more comfortable around him!

he also picks up on a lot of dialects especially since his cousins are so diverse

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

TWEAK:

as for tweak she knows a lot of Spanish actually because hey! Miami has A LOT Spanish speakers, so much that's its actually made an entirely new developing dialect unique to the area!

tweak actually understands a decent amount of Japanese and Russian but.... not for normal conversations, more like because of all the engineering studying she did! research papers, studies, articles, lectures, books etc etc... so she could probably have a full conversation about the physics and math of submarines in those languages but if you wanted to talk about like... how you're feeling today or what you want for dinner she can not answer that LMSO

INKLING:

inkling would absolutely know like SO many languages, I have the headcanon that the reason he actually met barnacles in that university was actually because he studied LAND SPECIES for years (and continues to enjoy observing his crew and doing behavioural experiments on them without anyone noticing, esp since they're so diverse and they're in such a unique social environment on the octopod! but shhhh don't tell the others it would ruin the natural response they have! he does this with love btw)

hes also literally mega brained so I'd be surprised if he didn't at least understand the basics of any language the octonauts knew purely based on his own curiosity....

SHELLINGTON:

hehe Gaelic go brrrrrr

also because I headcanon Shellie as being a a mix of Eurasian otters and small clawed Asian otters, I think he does have some Philippine heritage and knows some Tagalog but not that much and he's a bit sad about that in all honesty. his *ss would also know latin

VEGIMALS:

IVE BEEN PLANNING TO MAKE A VEGIMALESE LANGUAGE POST:

ok so basically their language is entirely unique and not just because of them being the only known vegimals:

the thing is that their vocal cords (or vegetable/fish equivalent) isn't really made for the languages they hear on the octopod... or English.

the thing is they are their own little pod, and during their earliest developmental years they spent the MAJORITY of their time only with eachother or with shellington, what this means is that while some of the verbal and auditorial cues they have is just innate to vegimal understanding- (and also had difficult time replicating sounds shellington made, while it being easier to replicate a word one of the other vegimals made)

they quite literally made their own words for a lot of things while talking with eachother, before shellington had even realized! a lot of their language development did formulate very similarly to english (and Gaelic) because that's what they were hearing from shellington!

as they continue to grow and get older (they're really only about like 11 to me) their English has actually improved a lot, because they've learned how to mimic the others better, that's how they learned that the vegimals still used a lot of the literal baby talk words that shellington used with them while they were growing up, but just in their own original language

not to mention a lot of their language does have a lot of the meaning derived from the enunciation, tone, rhythm, and etc... so that means its a bit harder for those who just.. don't have the built in brain biology to distinguish those sounds to understand them

ofc shellington did literally raise them so its much much easier for him to understand because (whether he realizes it or not) he was actually learning the language AS they developed it! ofc over the years the other octonauts have actually started to subconsciously pick up on the meanings of those more subtle language features of vegimalese, and combined with knowing the vegimals slang/phrases, and the vegimals learning how to replicate more and more English ones, their understanding of the vegimals only keeps increasing

but to anyone else who isn't an octonaut its.... kinda like hearing a lil guy yip yip a bunch of gibberish and then everyone else in the room going "oh yes of course! that's a great idea Tototofrit! and don't worry, well make sure our fish friends aren't scared as we perform your very clever and crafty plan!"

also my friend said I can pull off a decent vegimal accent so if anyone wants any tips lmk (I would stim in vegimalese in middle school btw LMSO but I did learn a decent amount on how they pronounce things and their speech patterns... still working on perfecting it but I got some starter tips LOL)

also the reasons halibeet and pikato don't show up as much as the other vegimals is because they're just genuinely more introverted, halibeet and pikato do enjoy each other's quiet company tho (as well as the other vegimals, but they're really more homebodies who just aren't as into the whole adventure stuff)

[dailyadventureprompts]

Hi there! I hope your having a wonderful day!

So i had a question, or more acuratly wanted to ask for some advice. Ive more or less recently started dming, mostly in the form of one-shots for my main group. And ive stumbled across the following issue: while i love the lore building and describing and rp-ing i really struggle with combat. I tend to get overwhelmed and forget about effects and skills, and struggle with coming up with 'battle tactics' (which is what our campaign dm suggested) or make it way to easy because i worry about the players being dissappointed by 'loosing'(eventhough they've mentiones they would love harder combat and would even be okay with a tpk if it was earned)

So do you happen to have any suggestions or ideas on how to practice running and organizing combat and/or scalling or ways to not get so overwhelmed?

(Im sorry if this isnt quite what you do, i just didnt really know who else to ask)

This is ABSOLUTELY what I do friend, every part of the dungeon mastering experience is worth talking about because that's how we improve.

If you're having trouble learning your way around combat you're more than justified: it's a whole second game, and strategic skirmish tactics requires a very different skillset compared to the collabrative storytelling rules you're just now getting a handle on.

First, lets talk about what combat in d&d is even FOR: Fights in d&d are really no different than any other challenge, they're a hurdle you as a DM employ to introduce drama to a narrative and engage your players, not all that different from a locked door or an obstinate NPC that needs to be convinced. The difference is that when you call initiative, you are shining a spotlight on the moment to moment decisions your party makes when time is limited and greatly raising the stakes: Seconds matter in combat, quick thinking matters, mistakes matter.

To use a simple example, recently I ran a road encounter where the party came across a gnomish merchant who's wagon had been attacked by predatory flightless birds. The question wasn't "can the party defeat the birds", I knew they could, the question was " Can the party defeat the birds before they eat this poor gnome who will be a friend/ally to them later"

The reason you're having problem with tactics and being worried about killing your party is that you're thinking about combat as its own isolated thing rather than a dramatic beat as part of a larger story. Most fights in D&D are NOT about attacking the party directly: Instead the baddies have something they want to accomplish (Take, devour, defend, slay) and it's a question of whether the heroes can stop them before they accomplish their mission. Combat only takes 2-4 rounds generally, which is a limited time for your players to put their thumbs on the scale and try to alter the course of events. Tactics are emergent out of goals, so think about what your minions would want to happen and how they would've gone about achieving it before the party comes by to wreckingball through their carefully laid plans.

Another example: An enemy force is attacking a castle the party are guests at, looking to secure hostages in preparation for a coup attempt by a rival noble. While the villains' over all job is to capture pieces, the initial wave of badguys are primarily concerned with slowing the party down to prevent them from interfering with the other attackers around the castle, meaning they'll fight defensively, potshots from cover and barring exits.

When you refocus the badguys' goals away from killing the players and towards things that push the plot in a particular direction (especially one the party would generally like to stop) you’ll have a clearer idea of what the enemies want to be doing, which not only helps you decide how they act, but also pick what enemies go into a fight.

If you're feeling totally overwhelmed another option would be to switch to a game system that focuses less on crunchy combat. It's drastic but everyone has game systems that fit better with their particular DMing style, especially in the early days when you're first developing. I'd highly recommend Forged in the Dark, or Powered by the Apocalypse systems, as they still have the punchy action-forward storytelling of d&d without having to manage much on the mechanics side.

[liondrakes]

On Chosen Identity and the Optics of Authenticity

by Sivaan of Candlekeep

Blurb: A personal essay in which I discuss the nuances of having a chosen identity. I also break down my thoughts on perceived “seriousness” or authenticity within the community regarding choice.

Choice is a complicated subject within the nonhuman community. Whether or not it's fully accepted depends on who you’re asking. If you ask me, I’d say yes but also no.

I say "fully" because there's plenty of individuals who'll say that they support or recognize their peers who chose their identities, but only if they identify this way under a broad label (like nonhuman) or a specific label like otherlinker. Calling oneself a chosen therian or chosen otherkin strikes a chord in complete strangers who feel like it's their duty to "correct" the language of other complete strangers.

Chosen identity is usually acknowledged in one of two ways:

It's "valid", but it's not as important to an individual as identities that aren't chosen.

It's "valid", but it's not as serious as identities that aren't chosen.

Neither approach treats our experiences with as much grace or understanding as other experiences.

It adds insult to injury in seeing discussions around our "validity" in general (i.e. asking if we even belong in this community). There's more of that than any discussion around what it's like for us to choose or the significance of choice in our identities.

I’ve addressed my grievances before in Involuntariness, Voluntariness, and the Stigmas in Between, but I decided to revisit my thoughts in an organized piece. I also decided to discuss my relationship with choice. I’m collectively quoiluntary. In being quoiluntary, my relationship with origin doesn’t fall neatly on either side of this framework.

Personally, I experience all manners of origin but I’ll be focusing on the identities I’ve chosen in this essay. I’m only one person, and although it’s not guaranteed, I hope that my experiences can at least open some minds when it comes to chosen identity.

Starting off, I’m proud to be a Badger of Mossflower Country. Mossflower Badgers are archetypal in their existence, to say the least. Our depictions are comparable to that of fantasy dwarves. We’re renowned for our smithing, battle prowess, and hardiness. I may not apply every aspect of us to myself, but I love being a Mossflower Badger nonetheless.

Mossflower Badgers are somewhat anthropomorphic european badgers who’re among the most prominent tribes in Redwall, alongside mice and otters. I specify Mossflower because the Mossflower Woods is the general vicinity of most Redwall stories.

Moreover, not all Badgers dwell within Salamandastron, a notable badger stronghold typically occupied by men of the species. After all, the first badger that readers meet is Constance, a Badger Mother of Redwall. I personally prefer the position of “Badger of Salamandastron”, though. I am no lord nor lady, but I’m fond of this stronghold as a reader and as someone who chose this identity.

I’ve always admired these strong and noble folk. As a child, part of me even wanted to be a badger within Brian Jacques’s Redwall series. It’s like when kids muse on which Warriors clan they’d be in while taking quizzes or making characters. If I could choose to be in any tribe, I’d be a badger in a heartbeat.

A couple months ago, Redwall was one of the few childhood favorites I revisited through audiobooks. Those feelings resurfaced, except this time I knew I could become a Mossflower Badger if I wanted to. This identity started as a link. Soon after, I shared my introspections on this link in a Tumblr Community, specifically the Alterhuman Community.

Unlike most of my links, it became a part of my identity fairly quickly. I suspect it’s because of my familiarity and resonance with this fictional group. Those feelings have been around since my childhood.

One thing to take into account is that I incorporate another identity into this one. I didn’t choose to be a honey badger, but I do perceive myself as a semi-anthropomorphic honey badger when I am a Mossflower Badger. As I’ve mentioned earlier, Mossflower Badgers are exclusively european badgers in appearance. This makes sense given the settings of Redwall. Redwall takes place within a fantasy woodland based on the environments of England or Scotland if I’m not mistaken.

While I technically don’t belong in this environment, that never stopped me in being a Mossflower Badger. Technicalities are nothing against my convictions, and one thing about choice is that you are often your own master.

My appearance doesn’t define me as a Mossflower Badger. My character does. I am steadfast in my values. I support the agency and freedoms of all creatures. I’d rather go down swinging than bow my head in submission, than to sullenly accept plight at the hands of another. That’s just being humane on paper, but in relation to Redwall, that’s also the makings of a tried and true badger.

Furthermore, there’s an experience among Mossflower Badgers that’s not exclusive to them but happens to them so much that it reminds me of myself. Mossflower Badgers tend to carry a mental condition known as Bloodwrath. It intensifies the emotions, abilities and tolerances of an individual, essentially causing them to enter a berserker state. Often triggered in battle, it’s a traumatic ordeal for anyone who undergoes this state. It’s not completely without its setbacks in battle either, for it can cause someone to struggle with differentiating between their friends and their foes. It’s also very difficult to control. Not all badgers carry this condition, but it’s still quite common amongst us.

I don’t experience berserker shifts, per se. However, I do have schizophrenia-based disorders which affect my perception of self; this includes my perception of my species. In revisiting the Redwall series, I liken Bloodwrath to my own struggles with particularly intense or overwhelming bouts with psychosis. Obviously, I didn’t choose to have said experiences but I do think choosing to be a Mossflower Badger helped me reflect on those experiences on my own terms.

Though, I must specify this isn’t a copinglink. This is just another reason why Mossflower Badgers resonate with me so much, hence my decision in becoming one.

Much like Mossflower Badgers, some of my links formed simply because I wanted to be them. While there’s usefulness to terms like copinglinker and funlinker, I also feel like they’re more boxes to put on myself. It’s not often that I refer to my links under those specifics. I have exactly one copinglink, and I only label it as such because I believe that’s how that identity will stay. It exists to cope with a very upsetting point in my life which I won’t get into.

As for the rest of my links, I had only two supportlinks. Besides those, my links didn’t really need those labels since their reasonings tend to be a bit more nuanced than what’s proposed for otherlinkers.

I link Colossi because Shadow of the Colossus is not only my favorite game ever, but it is a game that has deeply inspired me as a creative. I chose to be one of its titular enemies to grow closer with the game I love.

This is a choice not made for fun, for aesthetics or for support, but made out of love and passion for something. There’s nothing wrong with the aforementioned reasons, of course; I just want folks to understand that choice isn’t limited to those avenues.

I linked the Starlii, an open species, because I really liked the species concept. One could argue that this started as an aeslink, but reading about them in detail made me more invested beyond their looks. I wanted to further explore this species and their lore but not exclusively through original characters and ‘sonas. To do so, I chose to be a Starliian.

With this link, I also realized it serves as an outlet for my connection with the sun. I’ve never had a word for that connection as it always felt like an impasse between being and not being. Being a Starliian helps me bridge that gap by being someone pulled from solar energy but not being a sun myself. This realization ultimately caused the Starlii species to transition from a link to a formative part of my identity.

Despite already having a non-chosen identity from Creatures of Sonaria, I linked two species from said source for completely different reasons. Funny enough, I don’t play Roblox whatsoever.

The Fleuralis species became the first of two supportlinks. I originally chose to be a Fleuralis because I wanted to express my leonine nature within its source. However, the reasons behind my choice soon changed. It was less about asserting my leonine nature, and more about leaning into a more imaginative, fanciful side of myself. I linked this species to better embody myself as a fantasy creature. It worked so well that it eventually became a part of me.

The second was the Verza species. Their dreamlike space aesthetics were nice and all, but what led me to linking this species was their presentation. I was drawn to the Verza because, for a lack of better words, they were very gender to me. I’ve been meaning to explore other means of presentation, such as androgyny and femininity, while being a transmasculine individual. They’re avenues of selfhood I’ve wanted to forge for myself but always struggled with to some extent.

I chose to be a Verza to tap into those qualities. The Verza species was an ideal model outside the standpoint(s) of cisnormativity and orthohumanity, respectively. I experimented with this species from a queer perspective, and doing so made me feel a whole lot better about myself. Eventually, it transitioned from being a supportlink to simply being me.

I am an otherlinker not for my chosen identities, but for my struggles in saying with confidence that I am (x) by choice. Many of my constels come about because of involuntariness or vagueness. Additionally, I don’t get to choose what I shift into either. My polymorphism pretty much resets each day and takes the shape of my constels or core identities at random. I can choose a new species, no doubt about that. Embracing the choice is the hard part.

I’m so used to either knowing and not having a say in it or not knowing at all and letting things be as they may that it’s difficult for me to adjust to my choices. I’m an otherlinker because linking allows me to process those choices and build up my confidence.

If the process wasn’t so difficult, I probably wouldn’t call myself an otherlinker. There would be no need to. I could just specify which identity came about in what way if I felt like it. At the end of the day, I am who I am.

As is the case for chosen therians, otherkind, and nonhumans. They are who they are. Simple as that. I know that idea gets under the skin of some folks, but I implore them to ask themselves why it bothers them so much.

Someone choosing to be otherkin or a therian doesn’t inherently mean that they think all experiences involve choice. Someone choosing themselves doesn’t inherently mean they proceed with this identity in a disingenuous manner. These concerns boil down to people’s perceived “seriousness”.

The topic of “seriousness” has confused me for longer than it should have. What does it mean to have a serious identity? Identity is a nuanced subject. Who cares about its tone? I love having in-depth discussions about my experiences, or the experiences of others, with my peers. I also love joking around with my partner, saying “You wouldn’t hurt a little guy like me, would you?” during a badger shift and seconds before she snipes me in Splatoon. I love writing essays and poetry about my identity, but I also love Wet Beast Wednesday like any other blogger.

Voluntary identities are approached with the perspective that they aren’t given much thought. Chosen therians, otherkind, etc. are thought to be extremely laidback about their nonhumanity and go about their choice(s) without consideration. Meanwhile, their involuntary peers are thought to treat nonhumanity with the “seriousness” and complexity it holds as an experience.

Not only is the former’s behavior a non-issue, this approach is a false equivalency. Plenty of involuntary therians, otherkind, etc. have blogs and make posts that are lighthearted. You’ll find an infinite number of memes, shitposts, and reblog bait (ex: “Share to turn someone into a dragon!”) in our tags. Some are also shapeshifters, polymorphs, polykin or polytherians, and constelic nonhumans with many identities of their own. These qualities are not unique to voluntary members whatsoever.

I understand not relating to that sort of content. It’s not my speed unless I see something that actually humors me. That said, I don’t make it my problem. All of us engage with the community differently. I shared my thoughts with my partner a while ago, and I said something in passing that I feel is still relevant now. Perceivable “seriousness”, or lack thereof, is just another way to stress about authenticity.

Authenticity is a hurdle for any community. It’s certainly no stranger to us. This applies to both personal contexts (ex: “Am I still (x) if I (x)?”) and general contexts (ex: What are your thoughts on (x)?) among nonhumans.

Personal contexts come in the form of second-guessing oneself. It’s common to see a new member questioning every single detail about themself and worrying if it is the “right” or “wrong” means of experience. Some will find themselves in a community where they feel like they belong, but don’t want to “overstep” and risk being invalidated or ousted. They pour a lot of focus into what is the “right” or “wrong” way of being instead of focusing on their own journey. Regardless, that journey can still get caught up in concerns regarding validity.

The bridge between that and general communal contexts comes in the form of discourse. Old discourse is kicked up, and old stances are put into place to determine who is and is not one of us. I’m coming up on three years of being in this community, and for the first year or so, I wasn’t all that active. Most of my involvement started in early 2024, and despite the recency, even I’m tired of the tit-for-tat nature of our discourses.

This usually happens out of concern for KFFs (folks who “kin-for-fun”), trolls, and misinformed newcomers affecting the community. Even so, KFFs typically frequent fandom spaces and don’t associate themselves with us. They are hecklers, not participants. A multifandom blog asking their mutuals to “kin assign” them is not the same as someone who chose to be a werewolf. Moreover, a troll is a troll. I know our community has faced its fair share of assholes poking around, but someone identifying as a therian by choice isn’t enough evidence to go off of. As for misinformation, sharing resources and information is always welcomed. You can do that without trying to nudge someone out of a label.

In this case, folks tend to do this by nudging others towards using otherlinker. Otherlink/er is often used as a default for chosen identity, but it’s up to the individual whether or not they want to label their identity as such. I support spreading information about other labels in our community, but I don’t think insisting upon said labels helps anyone.

It’s like trying to nudge someone who uses synpath into using otherhearted instead. You have a general idea of what they’re talking about, so what difference does make it in telling them to use something else?

Some believe it’s to prevent confusion or conflation with words and their meanings, but I think folks are “helping” from a place of bias and aren’t aware of it. There’s so much emphasis on having a serious approach to identity that involuntariness, or intrinsic identity to some, is basically put on a pedestal. If there is any way to “prove” or assert the authenticity of your identity, it’s to experience it without choice.

It’s a perspective that I’ve grown bitter towards, even as someone with involuntary identities of my own. To me, this is a product of approaching involuntariness and voluntariness like a binary. This also comes from a place of respectability. Even if folks are loudly and proudly nonhuman, the ways in which they distance themselves from those who chose to be nonhuman leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

No one wants to be associated with “fluff”. No one wants to approach others’ experiences with fairness. Unless, of course, they linguistically separate themselves from therianthropy and otherkinity by calling themself something else.

They’re “valid” but only if they don’t label their experiences as we label ours! (This is sarcasm.)

Cringe culture is supposedly dead up until someone chooses to be what they want to be. Suddenly, they’re associated with all the bad actors one can list at the top of their head.

There’s a lot of “You’re so valid!”-posting but not a lot of substance coming from it. People want more weird and unapologetic nonhumans, but still struggle in accepting someone who creates their own identity. People want their peers to show how they’re “truly” are a part of this community. Yet, what we really need is to seal those old wounds.

We need to reconsider how we approach experiences outside of our own. Community isn’t just about the similarities we share but the diversity that brings us together as well. It’s about recognizing those differences and embracing them. There is beauty in innately being someone or something, but there is also beauty in choosing who you are and in having your own experiences outside of either concept.

Ask us about our experiences with choosing our identities and how we facilitate those decisions.

Ask us about our experiences fluctuating between or existing beyond the framework of voluntariness and involuntariness.

Don’t let it stop at the contexts of origin either. This applies to other stigmatized experiences as well. Physical nonhumanity, clinical zoanthropy, and endelity, to name a few. Reconsider holding discussions on someone’s right to be here. Instead, open up discussions alongside each other. How do they feel as members of this community?

If they’re comfortable sharing, ask them about their experiences. Their voices deserve to be heard just as much as everyone else. It’s not hard to do. It should be common sense, if anything.

If we focused more on understanding each other, regardless if we relate or not, I feel like this community would be a more welcoming place.

[stealingyourbones]

I’m fine with posts about my Blorbo getting ignored. It happens. We all know that. It’s disappointing, but you get inspired, start plotting, maybe even start writing yourself, lose motivation, and stop. It’s normal. It happens to all of us. Not a big deal.

But. BUT. BUUUUT. What drives me fucking insane is when some beautiful creative once-in-a-lifetime hand crafted prompt gets derailed into the generic stereotypical tropes that this crossover fandom constantly falls back on. I know that happens to you a lot, how do you deal with it?

In truth, when you sign up for creating content that you allow anyone to interact with, it’s just a part of the gig. It happens a lot, I may not enjoy it but others do and a community of people writing and having fun is what I strive to create.

My main ways to divert posts are either:

1.) Leave it be and let folks do their thing. The point of prompts is to let anyone add their thoughts, it doesn’t matter your personal feelings on a trope or headcanon.

2.) Simply stop interacting with that reply chain. I used to reblog absolutely every reply I got but now I only reblog the ones I enjoy. It has helped my mental health greatly. Additionally, if you don’t reblog responses to your posts, go and do that. It makes people more likely to see the responses you like if they already follow your blog for your writing and you’ll have a higher likelihood of that prompt gaining more replies.

3.) Put in the tags (#not ____ AU/trope/headcanon). I’ve done it a few times before with Ghost King AU’s I believe, mainly because I think that avoiding that trope for that particular post would make people flex their creativity more and write something they wouldn’t even have thought of if not given that limitation. This will sometimes work. Some folks reblog the post without the tag and the trope is posted anyways. People also might see the tag and think you’re being picky and rude and avoid the post entirely.

4.) Complain. I don’t really recommend doing this because people will Not Be Pleased but I am 100% guilty of doing this more than once. I have been pretty vocal on making my opinions clear on: Danny and Bruce’s relationship could also be something other than paternal, the automatic adoptions tropes, Ghost King AU’s, OP Danny, and not consuming some form of DC media is nigh impossible and actively avoiding it prevents you from learning about new characters and giving you new interests and ideas to spread and influence the fandom. This is the second least effective action to do. The first being saying nothing. Venting might be a good way to express frustration but let’s be honest, no one wants to listen to or read someone complaining for a few hundred words when they could be consuming a positive take on something they enjoy. For example: this post might get like 50 notes maybe max. It’s not a topic people like to read of and it’s critical on the things they like so they probably won’t interact with it.

5.) Add back onto your own post or another persons post with the idea of how you thought the post should have gone! If you don’t like the angle other folks are going at it, write your own thoughts on the prompt. A few solid paragraphs of ~500 words are what I have seen work the best in influencing and changing the direction of replies to a post. This is the best course of action to have people write another direction in tropes you enjoy and ideas you view are fresh and new. It might not be people’s favorite response to hear, but if you want a story to go a particular way, you have to write it yourself and hope the audience receives it well and picks up what you’re putting down.

6.) Write something similar again and hope a different audience receives the post and interprets it differently. Add a different spin on the concept and maybe add the (no ____) tag if you really really want something different.

I hope these tips help! Main takeaways if you don’t want to read everything: Complaining solves nothing and action solves everything. If you don’t like the way a post is going, write it to the way you want it to be.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Madoka Magica Ship Analysis - HomuMado

Based on these two polls [X] [X], I will write an analysis that'll also include how I feel about the ship (similarly to my Digimon shipping game analysis posts).

Disclaimer: I won't claim this to be a conclusive/definitive analysis of all of the ship's aspects. I have watched the original 12-episode-series and movies (including Rebellion), the Magia Record anime and I've read several manga series (the Original, The Different Story, Wraith Arc, Rebellion Story, Oriko Magica, Another Story, Mitakihara Anti-Materials). But I'm aware that I haven't seen/read all of what's out there and am also not thoroughly familiar with the games. Plus, oftentimes, ship dynamics vary depending on which series/timeline you are looking at. I'm fairly certain that thousands of words must have been written about this ship already, better and more elaborate than I probably ever could - so this is going to be my personal take on it.

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

As the main faces, characters (and ship) of the entire franchise, it's absolutely impossible to watch/read/play the series without taking note of Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi and their dynamic. Their characters, arcs and development are irrevocably connected with one another - no pun intended (yet) - and without them, we wouldn't even have a story to talk about to begin with. But let's start at the beginning, shall we.

On one hand, we have Homura - who initially started off as a shy and timid girl, prone to sickness and ridden by insecurities. Presumably raised as an orphan at a government-funded orphanage, she struggles to find her way, fitting in at school, keeping up, making friends and socializing in general - thus she becomes an easy target for corruption (we shall keep this in mind for later) and is almost being dragged into suicidal tendencies by a Witch... If it wasn't for the pink-haired Magical Girl (and her senpai) who is going to rescue her - and Homura has no idea yet that she'll end up committing her entire life and purpose to her soon after.

Madoka initially starts off as not considering herself to be anything special - but is still determined to do good as a Magical Girl, she appears to be straight-forward yet kind, gentle and welcoming... Especially towards Homura. So - is it really surprising that Homura, timid, insecure, lonely Homura, would end up thoroughly enchanted by Madoka? The first real friend she must have had in ages? The person who smiled at her, reached out and encouraged her in her pure, innocent ways? Absolutely not, it's highly relatable, endearing... And thus, it shall be even less surprising to see Homura not wanting to lose her again. The feeling of being wanted, appreciated - of not being alone anymore.

After watching Madoka sacrificing herself, ending up killed by Walpurgisnacht in the original timeline, Homura makes her wish to become a Magical Girl herself - not just to meet Madoka again, but to be the one to rescue her this time. What appears to be a wish of determined, unexpectedly confident heroism at first will, just like every other wish, turn out to be a multi-layered mess of human complexity. An underlying desire born from affection - that will eventually turn into something deeper, desperation, obsession, whatever you may want to call it.

Homura lives through countless timelines, repeating the same month over and over again to save Madoka, discovering the fate of Magical Girls to become Witches eventually along the way, becoming more and more skilled at weaponry combat... At some point, she was already perfectly ready to become a witch alongside Madoka, as long as they're together, destroying the entire world - but is held back by Madoka's wish to prevent her from falling for Kyubey. And thus, Homura thoroughly hyperfocuses on her personal mission, so she won't lose the last bit of hope, no matter how bleak the situation may be. However, in the process, she is growing more and more distant, not only from Madoka and their fellow magical girls, but also from herself. Hardened by the experiences, she develops a cool facade and a stoic attitude, swallowing and locking away emotional attachment to anything and anyone that is not Madoka in order to reach her goal.

With every timeline resetted, more karmic energy revolves around Madoka - but with Homura's wish revolving around saving her, she also becomes increasingly more timid, reserved and insecure each time(line). While her general stance on Homura is still mainly the same - finding her, her look and name cute/pretty -, their ability to relate to one another dwindles with every reset. Homura's attempts at reaching Madoka, as desperate as they may appear, rather scare and alienate Madoka - who cannot possibly understand what she has been going through, the time she had spent, the absolute commitment...

Until Madoka eventually makes her own wish to honour all of Homura's achievements - until she wishes for witches to never have existed and, enabled by all the karmic energy, she becomes a literal Goddess in the process, the Law of Cycles to keep magical girls from despairing, creating an entirely new universe... One in which she has never existed as a human, but only as a concept. Selflessly wishing for everybody's happiness - whereas Homura wishes she didn't. While Madoka thanks her for all she had done for her sake, giving her her red hair ribbons as memory for safekeeping, Homura cannot fully accept this new reality. She does fight on at first, honouring Madoka's wish within a world that has Wraiths instead of Witches, determined to defy anyone and anything that shall threaten her legacy... But this state isn't meant to last.

The long twintail-braids shy, timid Homura used to wear alongside her glasses, mirroring Madoka's red-ribboned twintails as a symbol of innocence, are merely a memory of who Homura Akemi is going to become. For the sake of her initial wish, for the sake of devotion and love that have turned into an obsession that doesn't allow much deviation. And her will to keep living in Madoka's universe is fragile - as she has to overcome temptation in the shape of shape-shifting Wraiths, showing her her beloved Madoka once more - just for example.

And eventually, despair takes over: Trapped within a Witches barrier inside of Homura's own Soul Gem, a world has formed that technically would have granted her biggest wish - a world in which Madoka exists happily alongside her and her/their friends, fighting together, living a peaceful life... But this world is just a facade as well, meant to lure the Goddess into a trap to regain power over the old Witch System of an alternate reality. And Homura, whose hair can never be turned back into braids again, who has lost her way and purpose, turned into a Witch and is ready to sacrifice herself if it means keeping Madoka safe once more. But even as she is, once again, mercifully saved by Madoka in the end in return in another act of selflessness - Homura's initial wish takes over. To be the one to save Madoka - in Homura's sense, means to stop her from being selfless for once, giving her the chance to live a normal life in another fake reality. It's Homura's, presumably, selfish desire in contrast to Madoka's - as they have truly become opposites in every single way. In order to fulfill her wish and become Madoka's sanctuary - even against her will -, she became a Devil to defy the Goddess' universe, following a corrupted form of love once born from the wish to protect the one most important to her. To maintain the image of Madoka she had formed in her head, regardless of whether that is what Madoka has eventually become and wished for by herself. And thus, she cannot wear Madoka's red ribbon, the sign of her legacy and innocence, anymore. A black dress and red eyes now have to face a white dress and golden eyes. The braids cannot return... At least not for now.

... Too long, didn't read: There is A LOT to work with, you already know all of this and yet, I am pretty sure I haven't been able to capture every aspect of them.

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

As mentioned, depending on timeline, universe, state of progression, their dynamic tends to be WILDLY DIFFERENT. You can take Moemura/Shy!Homura and OG!Madoka, you can take Cool!Homura and Anime!Madoka (and their various states in between), you can take EndofAnime!Homura and Madokami, you can take Rebellion!Homura and Rebellion!Madoka, Homucifer and Madokami and you can take Homucifer and FakeWorld!Madoka... The possibilities are ENDLESS (especially when you also include the more comedic-leaning portrayals in spin-off mangas like Homura Tamura).

The good part about this is - you can basically pick your poison, you can make this dynamic as wholesome or as toxic as you desire your own personal brand of Yuri to be. Which is, in my opinion, one of the aspects that make Madoka Magica and HomuMado in general so unbelievably intriguing.

Let's start with the toxic side of things, because I would argue that this is where Rebellion left us hanging and where Walpurgisnacht Rising might continue (at first): Homura's wish and her mingling created a very idealized version of Madoka in her head that she wishes to protect and maintain. Her initial thankfulness and endearment towards the kind, strong Madoka in the original timeline have basically been replaced by her unshaken desire to SAVE her. She has to be the one who (selfishly?) stops her from being selfless, she has to be the one to shield and protect her from any harm, keeping her locked in a precious glass bowl preferably nobody else can mess with. The problem here is that this version of Homura (which is basically Homucifer, but also several stages of her before that) cannot accept any other reading of reality than her own. Yes, in an ideal world, she could have allowed Madokami to finally take her away to exist with her in lesbian heaven for the rest of eternity - but that was not what Homura had wished for. And also probably not what Homura thought she deserved after everything she had done. In a way, having her turn into Homucifer was also some kind of self-chosen punishment as a "sinner"...

And Madoka, honestly speaking, probably had a very idealized version of Homura in her head as well. I'm not just talking about Rebellion!Madoka (or FakeReality!Madoka for that matter), whose memories had been tampered with, but also Madokami - who claimed to have seen all that Homura had done for her, in all timelines and realities... But apparently, she hadn't noticed her state of mind, her being so close to despairing and snapping because she just couldn't take this universe. That she couldn't let Mami or Kyouko in, no matter how hard they tried. She still felt alienated from them and lonely, thus she always reverted back to her initial goal, as she simply didn't belong into this universe. It kinda leads me to believe that it may be impossible for even Madokami to see Homura as anything other than the braided girl from the very beginning, her "best friend" from the original timeline.

Long story short - these two need to actually TALK for once. Getting to know their REAL CURRENT selves in whatever state or timeline that may be. Seriously, letting Madokami and Homucifer have a verbal conversation about all these misconceptions and misunderstandings about each other, talking about needs and desires and BOUNDARIES in a meta-kinda-way would be incredibly satisfying to watch. (And I am pretty sure, such scenarios exist in both fanfiction and doujins, but I haven't found them yet!)

Personally, I also highly enjoy the dynamic between Moemura and OG!Madoka - even after a few timelines have passed, as it has been depicted in the second season of the Magia Record anime. It gave me the impression that Homura had already gained a little bit of confidence and Madoka was still hands-on enough for them to be on a similar wavelength - which makes their dynamic among the healthiest in the entire franchise and gives them a lot of opportunities to bond and develop. For Homura to form a proper sense of self, encouraged by but not entirely dependent on Madoka. Actually, this version is also incredibly close to the Rebellion dream versions of Homura and Madoka - which, unsurprisingly, also is one of the most peaceful versions of them, having them sit together in a flower field, talking for hours about actual things. However, this Homura is still hyperfocusing on Madoka here - and it may not even have been her 100% authentic self, since her memories had been influenced by Homura's vision of her.

However, you have to allow them to talk and actually get to know each other and their flaws, let them banter and tease... Let Homura see and learn to accept undesirable aspects of Madoka - and let Madoka shout back at her if necessary. Deep down inside, they both adore and admire each other - which is why they were compatible in the original timeline in the first place. Homura admired Madoka for her strength, whereas Madoka admired Homura for her coolness. And they absolutely have the potential to help the other to become their best selves. But they need to see each other for who they really are and thus have to abandon codependent tendencies for it to work; Homura has to accept that Madoka is her own person who doesn't need to be overprotected - and Madoka has to accept that she cannot "save" Homura just by herself, but that she may encourage her to get therapy to deal with her self-image first. Let Homura understand that "love" also means to let go. Let her see that different people define "love" differently as well and that you have to understand how your significant other loves to love them back right.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

When I had watched Madoka Magica for the first time approximately 10 years ago, I was positively - and obviously - in love with this ship and its potential. I adored Rebellion for how tragically it portrayed it - and again, I'm not even sure if I did them justice in comparison to everyone who wrote about them before me. As outlined above, it has various layers to pay attention to and I absolutely cannot wait to see how Walpurgisnacht Rising will add to my initial analysis of them. Because their dynamic WILL change, there is no denying.

Even after all this time, I still (want to) see the romantic potential between them. They may not be my favourite Madoka Magica ship anymore, but I still rate them very highly due to their complexity, my own nostalgia and hopefulness - although I'm aware that I would ship them in very idealized ways myself that are self-indulgently peaceful (and required a lot of therapy). As much as I want to see them get a happy end one way or another - I am currently very invested in exploring Madoka's and Homura's polycule potential dynamics with the other members of the Magica Quintet and am looking forward to writing more ship analysis posts soon!

[weirdero]

So fucking excited for the next three episodes coming up just based of their titles

Episode 5, Trojan Horse,

Episode 6 Attila,

Episode 7 Chikhai Bardo

I’ve been thinking about what they might mean for the story, so I did a little dive into the titles, and honestly, this show is just top tier TV. It’s seriously gold.

we all know what a Trojan Horse is and what it represents YK harmless little thing that’s actually oh shit! a secretly trap or deception. I’m curious if this title points to a specific character or just the general theme of deception in the episode. I’m assuming it’ll likely tied to the Helena secret agent reveal, but thats just a guess

Now, Attila is the episode that has me the most hyped because I actually know who that is! Fir all I could know they are referring a different Attila or like a fancy chocolate brand but I doubt it

In very basic and simple terms, Attila the Hun was the leader of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453 AD. He wasn’t a leader in the stereotypical European king or Roman emperor way, but more like a war general and sovereign ruler to his people. That said, he did rule his people like any other king and was respected among his community as such. He is recognized as one of history’s most infamous conquerors, known for two major things: first, his ruthless military campaigns and borderline bloodlust behavior. The man did not play. Not only did he control a strong and loyal army with good numbers, but he was also a very skilled strategist, able to complete territory raids quickly and efficiently. Secondly, he is known for his raids on the Roman Empire. During this time, he earned the title “Scourge of God.” His attacks on the Roman Empire were eventually stopped after his failed invasion of Italy in 452 and his death in 453, but his raids had such a huge impact that they led to the demise and fall of the Western Roman Empire. They never really recovered from his attacks.

Eugene Delacroix 1847

In media, Attila is usually used to represent brutality and ruthlessness. For example, the only reason I even know about the guy is because of The Sopranos (Season 1, Episode 5). Tony is out of town visiting Meadow at college, and he later calls Carmella complaining about something I don’t really remember just being miserable about some shit and Carmella responds with,

“You’re not Attila the Hun, you know.”

And if that doesn’t convince you on how brutal Attila was, the second media reference about this guy that I can think of is literally from Dante’s Inferno.

Specifically in Canto XII of Dante’s Inferno, Attila is placed in the Seventh Circle of Hell, YK the circle reserved for those who committed acts of violence. The circle that is made up of murderers, tyrants, and warlords. Yeah.

So I wonder what’s that’s about. will say I’m expecting a major milchick crash out or who knows maybe even a proper mark s crash out. I like it when whimsical men get angry.

Now Chikhai Bardo is the one that interested me the most because I had no idea what that was had no clue what this was at first, but according to my research it’s a reference to Tibetan Buddhism beliefs in the afterlife?!???! swear to god you learn something new every day. I fucking love this show

with my very limited understanding of it. From what I’ve gathered , Tibetan Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, which emphasizes compassion and the potential for all beings to attain Buddhahood.

(Quick side note: if you didn’t know, Mahayana Buddhism is one of the major branches of Buddhism, often called the “Greater Vehicle”. It focuses on reaching the universal potential for enlightenment, with a strong emphasis on compassion and helping all beings achieve liberation/buddhahood)

Tibetans Buddhism blends in indian Buddhist traditions with local Tibetan practices. The religion focuses a lot on rituals, meditation, and the guidance of Lamas. Another thing about Tibetan Buddhism is that they believe heavily in reincarnation. This ties in with the episode title I swear

So the term Chikhai Bardo comes from Bardo Thodol which is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Bardo refers to the intermediate state between death and rebirth. And Bardo Thodol means “Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo.” It is meant to be used for guiding the consciousness of someone who is dying, or someone who has just died, through the various stages of the bardo

(So this is the most used cover for the Tibetan book of the dead I couldn’t find who it was made by of if there were other covers so yeah. )

In the Bardo Thodol, there are three stages after death that determine your place in the afterlife. Chikhai Bardo is the first step in that process.

The Chikhai Bardo happens immediately after death, where the consciousness encounters the Clear Light of Reality (whjch based of my light internet skimming its supposed to be fundamental transcendent essence) a light that represents the true nature of reality. If the deceased can recognize this light they can can basically achieve enlightenment and escape the cycle of rebirth and reach Buddhahood never having to experience suffering again

If they don’t recognize the light, they can’t escape the cycle of rebirth and have to go through another round, facing the karma from their past life in this new one. This cycle continues until they finally attain enlightenment by recognizing the true nature of reality.

This concept is insane. Resurrection had been an idea the fandom has played with especially in relation to the Lumons cult like nature, and everyone’s obsession with keir spitting his writings off as scripture but throwing in enlightenment and rebirth is next level. And the idea that enlightenment can only be reached by realizing the true nature of reality is heavy as hell.

And I’m tellling you that episode is probably going to be crazy as fuck. Probably some trippy ass shit too y’all remember Defiant Jazz? That was Episode 7 in season 1. So yeah, this episode better be fucking crazy.

I can’t stop thinking about this show I’m basically living off breadcrumbs, but God, I love the attention to detail. I could just she’d a tear.

Also, this is a pretty rough and general overview of Tibetan Buddhism. I spent a very short amount of time doing some light skimming on the internet, so if I missed anything or got something wrong please for the love of god call me out. Same thing goes for Attila all the information I know about the guy is from a paper I wrote about him from like a year ago… anyways I love learning new shit like before this I didn’t even know there were different branches of Buddhism, so yeah the more you know!

Also some of the websites I used specifically for the Tibetan Buddhism stuff in case anyone was curious

Guide to the classics: the Tibetan Book of the Dead

Bardo Thödol | Tibetan Book of the Dead, Afterlife Guide | Britannica

https://www.samyeinstitute.org/nlncnd/the-six-bardos/

[mollysunder]

In s2, Ekko receeded into his own bubble like Jinx and Viktor have, and just like the latter, instead of have him further engage with Zaun his relationship with it becomes largely symbolic. Sure, we know in Act 1 that he and the Firelights have been using their base as a safe haven for Zaunites to escape the violence of the gang war, which is good but it's evident that they don't have any plans for Zaun. They've been leading people into their base blindfolded to protect their anonymity from the greater populace of Zaun, and so they ran into capacity issues.

Instead of fighting for more space in Zaun (or Zaun on general), his story has him fight for a tree. It's fine for him to be concerned about the health of the tree, because he lives in it, but in the hierarchy of issues plaguing Zaun, which includes the fact that Caitlyn (someone he recently provided aid to) was gassing it while Ekko was still around, this shouldn't have been his absolute top priority.

But the tree, for which it's value is largely symbolic to the Firelights (they didn't even grow it they found it) is what makes Ekko move in the story. And when Ekko does confront someone with power, it's Jayce... who resigned from the Council. Then he's unceremoniously thrust into another timeline where his relationship with Jinx, Zaun, and Jinx as a metaphor for Zaun are explored through Not-Zaun and Not-Jinx, rather than engage with the former two.

I could see Ekko's story work better if it was done with the intention to contrast Zaun's other two most influential figures, Jinx and Viktor, and how they all miss the mark with Zaun in some way. Jinx refuses to actually engage with the community despite becoming a powerful symbol of rebellion, and it's nearly irrelevant to her story. Viktor believes in doing good, and was able to build a community, however his power stole the ability for any of followers to dissent in anyway and thus never actually engaged with Zaun's populace they were just puppets. Meanwhile Ekko's style has translated into addressing the symptoms (some of which are benign by act 2) of Zaun's problems rather than the root cause.

But I won't hold my breath with that one as the writers have asserted that the alt!timeline was where the correct choices were made. By that logic, Vander and Ekko's similarities in leadership means the showrunners believed Ekko was making the uncontestable right decisions as well.

[not-poignant]

Hi, Pia! A year ago I discovered you through the Mysterious Skin fanfic, which truthfully has helped me in so many emotional layers till this day (and always will). After that read, I jumped on your profile and was blown away by the world you have created with your own hands. You really inspired me to publish my first fic in AO3 recently (for a random fandom), but sadly I've been having a hard time with it.

At the beginning I was relieved that fear didn't stop me anymore, but then it happened again, it came back, in another form, hitting me harder. I don't know how to explain myself, it's just that I think I'm not good enough, that there are better stories with better characterisations and when I read one of those I think: "This is perfect, I could never achieve this level, I don't have this voice, I should just delete mine, I don't have nothing to say, I can't make people feel this way" and I hate to have those feelings because I think it breaks down the true meaning of writing in general (to help people, to connect, to make a tribute, to have an emotional journey), but at this point I have lost my mind. My dream was always to be a writer, but I left it behind for so many reasons, now I thought things were changing inside me, but I guess it's not the case, I can't even deal with a fanfic...

I just wonder if you have ever feel this way before. How did you start writing? How has it been for you? How do you deal with these things? Feel free to answer me only if you're comfortable with that, I don't wanna put pressure on you as if you were my spiritual guide, but, for all the thoughts and things you share here, I think you are a wise person.

Sorry for the long text, I don't have people in real life to talk to about these issues. I'm really grateful to you already because of your story, it's always in my heart, it's part of me. Btw, I hope you are doing well, keep the amazing work. ❤️

PS: Sorry for the mistakes, not a native English speaker here.

Hi anon,

Congrats on posting your first fic! That's really huge. Even if it does open us up to The Insecurities, it's still a massive thing to do in the first place and I'm so happy for you.

As to everything else, oomf, let's get into it.

So the first thing is there is no writer out there who doesn't get assailed - literally assailed - by insecurities and massive feelings of self-doubt or even self-hatred over their writing (if there is, I haven't met them).

There's no point in writing at which they stop, and if you overcome some, new ones come in their place. I think that's just the nature of the beast - both wanting to (ideally) please at least some of our readers, and also offer something decent to read.

It can help to realise this is a normal part of writing and the experience. Obviously at its most severe, it might require therapy support, or professional support of some kind, but getting assailed by The Insecurities is part of being a creative person.

I don't know how to explain myself, it's just that I think I'm not good enough, that there are better stories with better characterisations

So yeah, this is true. Hear me out! This is true for me too. This is true for every writer that exists. Even the ones who win Pulitzers. This is going to sound blunt, but this is true for every story in the world. I know when I post my works that there are better stories with better characterisations out there. And there are stories that I consider perfect to me. But this last part is really important! I don't get to determine what's perfect for everyone. I'm not allowed to make that choice for them. And also people don't read in order to find The Most Perfect Story Ever, they read for many many many reasons, and that one often isn't even on the list! That's just on our list, when we feel beset by The Insecurities.

Like, yes, better stories exist. That's very subjective. They're better to you, they might not be better to some of the readers who read your work, and unless your only goal in writing is to be 'the best ever' (this is not a great goal imho because it's unattainable) sometimes a simple 'oh...yeah I mean it's true there are better stories according to me, but that doesn't mean that people won't enjoy mine, or that people won't think my stories aren't the best, and I'm not even writing to be the best in the world, so I don't know why I'm listening to this because it's not even what my values are in writing.'

But I also need to make it clear that your insecurities will never leave you 100%. They find new ways to come back, and they do keep coming back. We get periods free of the worst of it, often have low-key doubts in the background fairly frequently, and sometimes feel really good about writing. That's...writing. You haven't done anything wrong in your writing or in yourself when you have new insecurities coming in, and you've acknowledged yourself that things have already changed, because these are new or different insecurities. Think of it like an upward spiral, you circle back to feeling insecure, you have to if you want to keep going up.

You won't stay there forever, but the circling is part of the process. It can help to remind yourself of some cognitively true facts - what you think is perfect in writing is someone else's 'worst story ever' if they read it. What you love to read is not necessarily what you end up writing, and that doesn't mean it can't be someone's favourite story. And yeah, someone has already done something better by our standards, because I don't think there's any point on this journey where we go 'that's it, I've done it, I've become the best writer ever, insecurities begone!!!' (It would be nice, but it's not how it works).

So when insecurities come back it's not 'oh god I've failed at writing and/or keeping the insecurities away' it's - this is normal. You can go 'oh I'm being a regular writer right now, in the hard part of it.' I know this. It sucks. It probably means I need a break when it gets really bad, and I need to recharge a bit. I can keep improving, and my writing doesn't have to be anything other than entertaining. I've pretty much struck perfect from my vocabulary. It's too subjective.

I just wonder if you have ever feel this way before.

Anon, about twice a year I feel so bad about my writing I become convinced that the only answer is to delete all of it off my AO3 accounts. And on a regular basis I go between what I consider fairly normal insecurities (is that closing okay / is this arc good / will people like this character / have I pushed this too far / oh god my engagement is down am I terrible at writing), to pretty intense ones (idk why I do this nothing I write is good / how have I convinced these amazing people that this is worth their time / I wish I could write like (insert X author here) instead of this absolute mid shit etc.)

It helps me a lot to know that some of it is mental illness, but most of it is actually just normal. I'm a writer who wants my readers to have a good time and who wants to write something I can be proud of, and sometimes my brain won't let me feel proud of anything I've done because I made it, and sometimes I don't like myself very much. It means I should work on liking myself more. It doesn't mean I should stop writing.

I started writing as a kid, to cope with fairly awful life circumstances at home. So I was lucky that insecurities didn't matter because no one was seeing my writing except for me, I already hated myself (because people who were supposed to care for me, hated me - there's a reason I write the stories I do!) and I was literally trying to survive something that some people don't survive.

When I started sharing my writing, The Insecurities came. And...idk, I learned how to recognise it as a normal part of the process. It took a long, long time. It's normal to feel like there's something unique about how much we suffer over not liking our writing or feeling like it's bad, that the insecurities say something really true about our writing or even our integrity as a person.

Most of the time they say nothing at all except about the state of our mental health and how tired we are. For example, it's more normal for artists and writers to hate what they create during times of government unrest, or increased oppression, or in abusive households, because it's a way to redirect a lot of very unpleasant feelings to something we think we can control.

Sometimes it just happens because we're tired and the wave crashes over the dam we have in place that says 'go away insecurities.' Like you'd be amazed how much food, staying hydrated, getting good sleep / having good sleep hygiene can actually keep the worst of The Insecurities at bay.

Sometimes we need a break! Too much of a good thing in writing can lead to our brain trying to tell us we're terrible at it so we'll just walk away and watch some movies for a bit! The best way to prevent that is to take a break before we get there.

The good news is, you're a writer feeling something very normal for us writers. The bad news is that it feels bad. It can help to step back a bit, and also to join some writer's groups online maybe, ones that focus on support and lifting people up.

I wish I could say you one day hit a point where the insecurities never come back, but if anything, I don't think you can do these sorts of crafts without them. At their extremes they're not good for us, but the extremes of anything aren't good for us. You're not alone, I promise. The worst you've felt about your writing, is the worst many people have felt about their writing. It's just...often such a lonely process and many writers don't talk about it, but it's there, and it won't last. It's part of the spiral. Over time, you might find it easier when you know it's normal, and temporary, but frankly, there are times it's just really, really hard.

You will move past this, and then one day you'll touch on this again, and then you'll move past it again. Sometimes we spend longer in it than we wanted to, sometimes we need to take a longer break than we meant to, sometimes we write more than was good for us with how tired we were at the time.

It's not perfect, it's not supposed to be perfect, but it is part of the journey, it just means you're a writer like the rest of us writers, anon. I hope you can find your way back into writing more soon! And I hope you can be compassionate towards yourself. You put yourself out there, and have been writing, and honestly that's fucking amazing. I think you're awesome.

[queer-ragnelle]

can i ask your opinion on wildly different portrayals of arthurian figures? like, there are versions of the story that paint Arthur as a decent king, but an abysmal husband and bloodthirsty warlord. and there are versions where he's a great, loving husband and an overall good guy.

I think variety is great. Arthuriana is meant to evolve. Static Arthuriana has never existed. There’s no consistency to begin with.

That said, it pisses me off when there’s a double standard about how Arthur acts and the things Guinevere does. Like he’s allowed to cheat but the subtext slut shames her. Otherwise go ham. Make Arthur as good or as bad as you want.

I especially like this when an author chooses to write a more nuanced or sympathetic version of the character. I’ll never be upset if Mordred or Agravaine are kinder to women, if Gaheris doesn’t kill his mother, etc.

I think the exception is when a character with a consistent theme is overturned in a drastic way and left unrecognizable. Some characters have more wiggle room than others.

So for example I don’t like when Maiden’s Knight Gawain is made into a rapist (this has happened many times, to my dismay as a hapless reader). Gawain’s love and care for women is such a consistent, prominent detail tied to his role in every story that it feels like gutting him to change it in such a negative way. That portrayal defeats the purpose of the character. That’s not Gawain anymore. Why include him if the character doesn’t resemble the source whatsoever?

Another example would be writing it so Tristan and Isolde aren’t in love. Their romance is the whole point. I won’t say you shouldn’t write that, do whatever makes you happy. But I wouldn’t enjoy it. Their love is the focal point of the story so removing that fundamentally breaks the story. If someone were to say “Well that’s not the story I want to tell,” of course that’s their right, but then I wonder why they’re using Tristan and Isolde as a basis at all. Make OCs!! I will enjoy your narrative as you write it without you having to warp Arthurian characters to fit your vision. I think in the end that makes for better writing all around.

But generally speaking yeah I approve of wildly different character portrayals. Whether Arthur is super evil or super good isn’t as drastic a shift for me because the point is that he’s a powerful king. Some writers have chosen to interpret that as fierce, ruthless warlord, some also throw in that he’s a great loving husband. But the latter isn’t a requirement. He just can’t be a wimp. Cowardly Arthur wouldn’t make any sense and not be an engaging read for me. Do you see what I mean? So I support everyone making changes, but for me personally, they have to be thoughtful changes which enhance the story without coming out the other side alienating Arthurian fans and new readers alike.

[danbensen]

I’m trying something new here, which is to write off the cuff, with little editing, and press the “post” button without much thought. I’m doing so because this is the first spare moment I’ve had to respond to 

Bassoe’s response to my review of C.M. Kosemen’s soon-to-be published book All Tomorrows, and I don't want to let this interesting conversation wither on the vine.

If you had trouble following that last sentence, it’s enough that you know this: we’re talking about the evolutionary future of humanity.

The Machine-God Scenario

Bassoe talks about “machine-gods...obsessed with tending to the well-being of an inferior species” where “the only remaining selection pressure is desire to reproduce.”

Another selective pressure would be to make ourselves adorable to the machine-gods. Perhaps the gods have a template for what they consider to be human, in which case we'll only be able to evolve in ways that don't deviate from that template. I'm reminded of a Stephen Baxter story (Mayflower II) in which humans on a generation ship turn into sub-sapient animals, but they still press buttons on the control panel because that behavior is rewarded by the ship's AI.

The Super-Tech Scenario

But I agree that even without a super-tech future where all our material needs are met, the availability of contraception means that there's a selective advantage to people who don't use contraception. There are many ways for evolution to make that happen. An instinctive desire for babies or an instinctive aversion to contraception are two such ways. I remember a Zach Weinersmith cartoon where he jokes about future humans with horns on their penises that poke holes in condoms, but of course any such physical adaptation won't be able to keep up with technological innovation. We will have to *want* babies.

Another option is (ala Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos) that future humans aren't smart enough to use contraception.

The Artificial Womb Scenario

In this case, I think the most selected-for humans are the ones that are most efficiently produced by the artificial wombs. Maybe it's easier to pump out limbless grubs, which are fitted with cyborg arms (see John C. Wright's Myrmidons in his Count to the Eschaton Sequence). The form they take will depend on the parameters of the machines' programming. (see also Vanga-Vangog's The Endpoint)

The Collapse Scenario

I think this scenario is unlikely. If "life, uh, finds a way," then intelligence finds even more ways. When one resource runs out, we find another. The mere fact that you don’t know what the next resource is just means we haven’t found it yet.

But say for the sake of argument that there's a hard limit to technological progress (ala Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky) or science really is like mining, and it takes infinitely increasing resources to make the next marginal gain in technology. In both cases, you'd expect the graph of human advancement to look like a population when it hits carrying capacity. Exponential growth (we're doing that now) followed by a cycle of die-offs and re-growths, converging to a horizontal mean.

With no ability to innovate, natural selection would take over from technological progress. Once we’ve eaten all the meat and potatoes, there will be strong selection for people who can digest grass. I would expect humans in this case to diversify until our descendants occupy nearly every niche, absorbing most of the matter and energy available on Earth (at least). Whether these people are intelligent or not...probably not. @simon-roy seems to be hinting in this direction with his masterful comic series Men of Earth.

But I don't actually think collapse is likely. I bet that our population (and technological advancement) will not hit an asymptote, but will instead as progress according to a power law, as with the bacteria in Lenski's Long-Term Evolution Experiment.

The Mogul Scenario

Bessoe asks about a future in which “our cultural norms stick around indefinitely, those who generate more profit reproduce,” which I very much doubt.

In 20th century America, the more money you made, the fewer children you had. Now, it seems there's a saddle-shaped distribution, with the very poorest and the very richest women having the most children per woman. This is sure to change again, and faster than evolution can keep up. Perhaps you could say that if contraception pushes us to evolve an instinctive desire to have more children, and rich or powerful people will be in positions to gratify these instincts, then whatever traits make someone rich and powerful will be selected for.

Maybe, but now's a good time to go back to the Reich Lab's "Pervasive findings of directional selection," summarized here by the illustrious Razib Khan.

In comparing ancient to modern DNA, the Reich Lab found evidence for selective pressure in humans in Europe since the end of the Ice Age: increased intelligence, increased height, decreased organ fat, increased walking speed, decreased susceptibility to schizophrenia, increased immunity to many diseases, and, funnily, increased tendency to home-ownership and university education.

Obviously people weren't going to college in the Chalkolithic, but whatever traits make someone likely to go to college now have been selected for since the arrival of agriculture in Europe. You can paint a plausible picture of the sort of people who were most reproductively successful in the past six thousand years, and there is even some evidence for selection in the range of 1-2 thousand years. Aside from obvious things like immunity to smallpox and Bubonic plague, Europeans have gotten paler and blonder, and more of us are able to digest lactose than in Roman times.

But the 21st century is very different from the 1st, which in turn was very different from the pre-agricultural -70th. Maybe you can say that being smart, strong, and disease resistant have always been good, and being tall and baby-faced gets you some sexual selection (almost everyone seems to have evolved shorter jaws and lost their robust brow-ridges in parallel). So we can imagine future humans who just all look gorgeous.

read on (and see the pictures)

[lych33dragoncookie]

Chatting around a bit with my partner, something clicked for me.

Okay, I guess I'm making a semi-detailed Eternal Sugar analysis post before the Shadow Milk one? odd, but that's because honestly it's gotten to a point where I would rather wait for the APV update before doing anything with him (partially because i wanna get the chance to go on my high horse about how all the SMC redemption hype was horrendously misguided and never likely to come to fruition), so I might as well dump out some thoughts related to Eternal Sugar, considering she's logically up next after Shadow Milk and before SIlent Salt.

... So we all agree she was the previous Sugar Swan or something of the sort, right?

Kind of a wild thing to put out when we know so little, but what little we do know is more than enough to place a firm connection.

First, something I IMMEDIATELY noticed that stuck out to me while I was looking around at the Earthbread map.

They are right. Next. To each other. The Forgotten Sugar Paradise is not all that far north from the Dessert Paradise. And, what is it that we can find inside Dessert Paradise, at least back in Ovenbreak's continuity?

The Eternal Sweetness. Ignoring the fact we've not seen it outside of how it looks when Black Sugar Swan has it, the general role of the Eternal Sweetness is to keep Dessert Paradise as well. A paradise. A place where nothing needs to hunt for food, nothing dies, everything just kind of perpetually lives forever in harmony and peace.

Now, I hopefully don't need to tell you that this thing being called the Eternal Sweetness raises an eyebrow when the Beast with big pink feathery wings is called Eternal Sugar Cookie, and said Eternal Sugar Cookie's domain is basically RIGHT next to Dessert Paradise, said domain literally having the word Paradise in its name.

THIS is where I'm taking a few leaps for my predictions on Eternal Sugar's motives, but hear me out here.

I genuinely, genuinely think Peril in Paradise could be used to draw some parallels. Despite Sugar Paradise being a place where nothing can die and nothing decays, it happened that a heart consumed by selfish and corrupted desires got its hands on the Eternal Sweetness, causing that eternal life and peace to slowly but surely decay into nothing. Mold had started growing on plants, the inhabitants of the land started hunting for food, and death was introduced to a place where death was never meant to be.

So, we can potentially tie this back to Eternal Sugar.

Eternal Sugar Cookie is the Beast of Sloth, originally holding the Virtue of Happiness. Clearly, there HAS to be some relation to Dessert Paradise, considering the frequent reuse of certain words between Eternal Sugar's stuff and Dessert Paradise. Here's what I'm thinking; originally, the Forgotten Sugar Paradise was Dessert Paradise, or its predecessor of some kind. Here, Eternal Sugar Cookie took up the role of the land's watcher and protector, preserving the life of all the resided in it, much like what the Sugar Swan would do later on. I'm personally thinking that, at some point, something similar to what happened in the Peril in Paradise story happened here. For one reason or another, death and decay were suddenly introduced to the paradise; withering, hunting for food, lives actually at risk. Unlike what happened back in Ovenbreak, Eternal Sugar was likely unable to stop it, or was only able to stop it way too late, with a significant portion of the paradise's lives being taken. And that's when something in her mind broke.

Having forcefully been introduced to the concept of death and decay, the protector of paradise would become desperate to never let that happen again. A crippling, debilitating fear of death. So, what would they do about this? Preserve the world's beauty, by force. Make sure that nothing will ever have to spend energy, never have to decay, never grow ill, never age, never be tarnished. Asleep, forever, perfectly preserved. To her, the only way to ensure precious, beautiful lives will never be taken again is to fully embrace sloth, and ensure that nothing ever has to move so much as a finger, never put itself at risk, never be in any danger, never age, never rot, never die. Pristine. Peaceful. Eternal.

Reaching more into assumptions, I'd think that if this is the motive, she'd want to keep everyone and everything encased in glass, unmoving, asleep, undying, preserved forever, their beauty on full display for all of time. Hell, if you wanna make her REALLY scary, have it so that by the time we meet her, she already has a small collection; cookies, dessert animals, other sapient beings all encased in glass, asleep. Like they'd been frozen in time. And, honestly? Even though she would be the antagonist, she could have a weird relationship with Hollyberry where unlike all the previous ancients, there's no actual animosity, no personal sense of antagonism. Thinking that, ultimately, yes, Hollyberry should be preserved, she deserves to, as someone so strong and loving and passionate, qualities that deserve to be preserved and regarded beautifully; despite how much they think in opposite ways (With Hollyberry rightfully thinking that the only way to live life is to LIVE it, to its fullest extent, as happily and vividly and eagerly as possible).

... You can also make it yuri, if you so please. Something like Eternal Sugar going on about "Why? Why won't you let yourself be preserved? You are so beautiful, so perfectly baked and formed and well taken care of, so loving, and yet you're okay with all of that being lost? Why? Why won't you let me save you? Why are you so willing to let something so beautiful rot and fade with time?", genuinely desperate to make sure that what seems like her beautiful other half can be preserved forever. Not gonna happen canonically, most likely, but I think it would be fun and proooobably make sense. Probably. We'll see.

But yeah, those are my personal predictions for Eternal Sugar. I'd be really happy if they came true, honestly! Bringing in some more old-school Cookie Run lore and stuff for one of the Beasts would be a good way of making her stand out, and feel quite gratifying for more long-time fans. Really excited to see where the writing team takes her.

[smixhino]

Sonic The Hedgehog 3: A Perfect Blend of Mediums (Sonic 3 Review)

Released on December 20th, 2024, and officially the 21st in the UK, the third in a series of well-known blockbusters by Paramount Pictures, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’ continues the trend of these films becoming more like the games they are inspired by, breaking away from the trends of typical kids movies to deliver a quality experience for both general audiences and fans of the source material alike.

An all-star cast was brought in for this, including Jim Carrey in a double feature, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves, and more to deliver the story with engaging performances. Speaking of, the film features Team Sonic on yet another adventure to stop a new threat, a mysterious hedgehog named Shadow. Along the way, Robotnik’s long lost grandfather Gerald joins Shadow and his grandson together, creating higher tension for the heroes on a quest with higher scales than ever before.

It’s incredibly clear that director Jeff Fowler and several others on the team are very big fans of the source material and want to create something truly special out of it. First off, the CGI is absolutely incredible, and a remarkable step up from the first two movies. In basically every scene, the characters look completely natural and don’t clash thanks to the textures and lighting, making them feel like a completely normal part of the world, meaning that your immersion won’t be broken at all. Because of this, you manage to feel every scene involving them, whether it be the fast-paced action or strong emotional moments, truly leaving a profound impact. The mise-en-scene as a whole is incredible, with settings like the G.U.N HQ, Eclipse Cannon, or just straight up space, all looking incredibly natural and well-done, to where you’re in constant awe at what you’re looking at. Everyone also looks incredibly dressed and fitting for whatever scene they’re in, further enhancing the tones of the scenes, especially comedy in the case of the Robotniks.

Special mention can also go to the cinematographers and choreography team in this film, because they pulled out all the stops for this one. The action in this movie is absolutely insane, with every moment involving it being incredibly dynamic with so many camera angles and tracking shots that make the movie such an exciting watch. One scene in particular makes great use of those tracking shots that help keep the immersion going and the blood pumping. The way the characters are framed also helps with this, helping them be intimidating and hilarious when the time calls for it. Shadow especially gets this treatment, with every scene involving him feeling like an event with the way he’s framed. It’s all truly impressive work, and much like the CGI, a massive step up from the first two films, which, while good, cannot compare to how amazing the action was here. It’s honestly night and day, as Sonic 3 is so much more articulated and expressive with it’s action that it honestly makes the first two look a bit pathetic in comparison.

The humour is where a few of my problems come about, though. This is obviously subjective, due to humour itself being such, but for me personally, some of the jokes didn’t land. Some were definitely really funny, don’t get me wrong. I especially loved ‘Revenge Guac’, but some others didn’t land for me unfortunately. The main problem is that some just last too long, to the point where I do wish they would get to the next scene to advance the plot, but they just drag on. They also can interrupt some very pivotal and exciting moments that make you wish they would cut back to the moments that get you hyped. One moment especially took me out of it and if I could swap back to the exciting action and skip the comedy, I would do it in a heartbeat. But, as I said before, many of the jokes do land for me, and I imagine many others, so overall I would say the comedy of this film is one of it’s positives, and even if the joke itself isn’t funny, a member of the cast may still deliver it well, or the comedic timing of it makes up for a lame punchline. I would still consider this movie pretty intentionally funny at times.

Speaking of the cast, they absolutely brought their a-games for this. Jim Carrey is at his absolute best here as both Ivo and Gerald Robotnik. He of course portrays the zaniness and tomfoolery he and one of his characters is known for very well, always managing to be humorous and cartoony. He does, however, manage to convey some serious moments surprisingly well, showing the range he has and why he’s a great actor. Speaking of great actors, Keanu Reeves absolutely killed it as Shadow, which makes sense given his roles like John Wick. He manages to convey Shadow’s pained and sullen emotions perfectly, making his character clear and entertaining to the audience. Shadow’s character was incredible in this, which I will get to later, but Reeves’ performance elevates it. Elba as Knuckles and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails were both great, much like in Sonic 2 and the Knuckles TV show, with their lines all being delivered greatly for the scenes and elevating their tough but funny and heartwarming respective characters greatly. The same can be said for James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Krysten Ritter, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Lee Majdoub and Adam Pally as the human characters, all being fairly important for the first few and helping deliver the emotions of the scene really well, such as the heartwarming family moments, and one scene especially manages to convey the sadness and tension without the need for dialogue thanks to Tika. But special mention has to go to Ben Schwartz as Sonic, who is the best he’s ever been. He manages to show Sonic in a way unlike the previous films, and delivers a surprisingly wide range for his voice that shows off how great of a voice actor he is, showing cockiness, sadness, and even rage unlike anything before. It’s all incredible work from everyone in the cast.

I think it’s about time I talked about the plot now, huh. It’s easily the most intense Sonic movie, with stakes unlike anything the previous films had. Where those ones just dealt with stopping an evil guy, this one does still have that, but on a global scale. By ramping it up like this, it draws audiences in and makes them wonder what will happen. Once again, Shadow stole the show, as despite his surprisingly little screentime, he managed to push the plot along greatly, feeling like a threat and keeping the story engaging thanks to his influence. Everyone else is great too, with it feeling like every character that was involved having a significant part to play. This is a big step up from the previous film, where it felt like some characters, mainly Tails, didn’t get to do anything too important. Here, everyone gets involved and it’s really nice to see. One problem I do have with the film’s plot, however, is the way it’s paced. Especially in the first act of the movie, it feels like some of the scenes go by really fast and don’t have that much time to sink in or leave much of an impact. As such, it does leave a feeling of whiplash going from one scene to the next before it truly sunk in. There is also the problem of some scenes feeling like they’re missing. What I mean is that it feels as if there was a scene cut from a point before a pivotal moment that could better justify said moment, such as with Gerald’s character and what happens with him. If these were in place, and this film had a longer runtime, this could likely have been alleviated. Regardless, these problems don’t drag the movie down all too much, especially by the final act. This film’s third act is basically perfect, from the amazing and dynamic action, the incredible performances, the high stakes, and the insane looking setpieces and characters, it all combines together for an absolutely breathtaking conclusion.

But now for why I titled this the way I did; why Sonic 3 is a perfect blending of mediums. I have been a Sonic fan ever since I was five years old, and I have been incredibly satisfied with the previous two films to see the characters I love so much on the big screen. That does come with the problem, however, of these not really feeling like video game movies, and more like movies that involve video games. The first one especially feels like a rather generic buddy-cop movie but with Sonic, and the second film does also fall into that trap, despite being a big step in the right direction. But, Sonic 3 was honestly perfect. It adapted so many elements from the games to make an engaging story for both Sonic fans and general audiences. Sonic Adventure 2, especially, was heavily drawn from for adaption, and since that’s my favourite Sonic game, how could I complain? Most of it is based around that, from Shadow’s character arc and overcoming his trauma, to Gerald trying to destroy the world, to journeys across said world. I will admit, Gerald is a very heavy departure from how he is in the games, and it may alienate people who get into the series from the movies, so I do wish he was handled a bit differently to better ease people into the franchise. Sonic himself is also victim of this, what with him being a static character who inspires others in the games, but here he does have a character arc of becoming part of a team, but I honestly don’t mind it. Regardless, this feels like a film that isn’t afraid of being a video game, but still knows that it’s a film first and foremost. One example of an opposite problem to the first two films is 2023’s Mario movie, which I did really like, but it was lacking in terms of story and overall value beyond it being an adaptation of a series I like. Sonic 3, in my opinion, strikes a perfect balance, being able to entertain general audiences but also feel like a movie for Sonic fans above all else. This can be felt through all the references to the source material, from iconography to setpieces. It feels like a Sonic movie, and not just a general audiences movie.

That is also why I have neglected to mention the film’s soundtrack. The first two films were fairly lacking in terms of being adaptations of a series known for iconic music, being rather generic action and family music throughout. As you can guess, Sonic 3 picks up the slack. Not perfectly, mind you. There is still plenty of basic rock and orchestra throughout, and there is still a way to go before something like, again, the Mario movie, which had sound cues all throughout, but it’s a big step up. Many leitmotifs from the games are lifted, like level clears, level themes, and main themes from the games themselves. Sonic Adventure 2 and it’s main theme, ‘Live and Learn’ absolutely got this treatment the most, however, and I could not be happier, as it elevates the scenes (especially one in particular) to be absolutely amazing.

Overall, while certainly not a perfect movie in regards to it’s pacing and some of it’s writing, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 has certainly proved that video games can make compelling stories. With generally great writing, outstanding performances, superb music work, breathtaking cinematography and action, and so many references that make it proud to be a Sonic movie, I can say with no hesitation that this is not only a great movie, but an incredible Sonic movie, and in my opinion, the best video game movie yet.

Objectively, this movie is more than likely a 7 or an 8 out of 10, but my love for this franchise, as well as how well things were executed were so great in my opinion, it made for one of my favourite movies of all time, so I will be giving Sonic The Hedgehog 3, a 10 out of 10.

The movies aren’t done either, with Sonic 4 already being confirmed and set for a release on March 19th 2027. This, combined with the amazing game that was Sonic X Shadow Generations releasing on October 25th last year to great reviews and fanfare, means that Sonic has been doing better than ever, and I for one, can’t wait to see where it goes from here.