#genuinely i have too many wants and thoughts on a sequel... so many possibilities...

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! <3

To be honest, I don't know. The stories I'm reading and those I have read have a quite consistent audience that writes many (and even quite a lot of detailed) comments while these stories are being updated. But I usually read in other fandoms, so I can't tell if the demographic of these fandoms is generally more supportive of their writers or if these writers just know how to engage their audience. However, when I look at the stats of a couple of stories in the YOI fandom that started around the same time as CYHMH (summer 2022), I'm not so sure that it's just fandom demographics. Back then, there was one new story that had 10 chapters out with like 200 comments and I even saw one that had only 2 chapters out but already 300 comments. So, even back then and a long time before the movie cancellation, it was pretty much still possible to excite readers (For the record: I didn't look around for too long to protect my mental health, so the data I have to base my impression on is very incomplete.) Now that I know that many fans are very vocal about wanting more canon content, including some in-between-the-episodes stuff which CYHMH has in abundance, I'm genuinely puzzled. Having heard about the success of other novelisations and sequels, I doubt that's just about original content.

Interestingly, the movie cancellation didn't impact my stats at all. At that time I had a long-wished for uptick in engagement (supposedly due to the fact that I had resumed posting the improved & beta'ed version, but I'm not sure of that) and that uptick held on until about two months after the cancellation. It made me hopeful that I had finally found a steady audience. Interestingly, shortly after the eros-off ice chapter [about 2 months after the cancellation], comments and hits/chapter dropped massively and basically back to the low level they had been at in 2022.

The story has 477 comments (I'm counting the threads, not the total number), which is about 10 comments/chapter on average. From the outside that looks really good. However, a lot of that is from either readers who discovered the story later and made an effort to comment each chapter plus the success it had during the first half of this year. And don't get me wrong, I'm so happy every time a reader takes their time to comment on chapters that had been posted long ago because many readers seem to think that writers don't care getting feedback for these although most of us crave that. In many cases that finally got me the kind of feedback that I would have desperately needed to keep going in 2022, and if I had gotten that back then, the long break wouldn't have happened. Because no matter how much I appreciate these later readers (they're 3 in total, including you and I love every one of you <3), I also need some support and engagement when I post these chapters to keep staying motivated and not being on the verge of quitting writing again because just sharing them had made me feel so miserable.

Right now, there's still some engagement left. But knowing my experience with writing a series for my last fandom (before AO3), engagement drops with every instalment. So if, at this point, there is already so little excitement for my take on the ending of the show and my take on a continuation, I just know from past experiences that it will go down even further for the sequel. And for me, that really begs the question of whether I want to expose myself to another bout of losing my joy for writing and contemplating quitting it because I've already been there often enough.

At this point, I'm just at a loss about what to do. I feel like I did already everything that I could and it's still nowhere near enough: I did tons of research for this story, especially regarding Japanese culture and figure skating. I conducted a meticulous canon analysis to ensure that the characters are in-character and that everything that I add is a logical extension of canon to make sure that this story "feels" like YOI. I worked with a beta-reader because English is not my first language and in those chapters I've posted in 2022 it really showed. I respond to every comment and thank the commenter. And I post previews with little success, at least here on tumblr (not sure what the people on twitter do with them). There's hardly anything I could still try and it's not working.

Okay, I need to get this out of my system.

I have planned to post the sequel to my YOI novelisation in exactly a month from now. My beta said that the sequel feels like an actual continuation of YOI and a friend is even drawing a cover picture, which is just so amazing. But the more I think about it, the more it seems like I'm bound to regret releasing this story a couple of weeks later.

I won't lie. CYHMH had the total opposite of a dream start. I even paused the story for an entire year to get a beta reader because I failed to keep my audience interested and concluded that it was obviously bad. Or maybe it only did so poorly because it can't compete with other novelisations. I don't know and I don't want to know because if I learned the truth, I would probably shoot myself.

The story has 600+ kudos, but that's not reflected in the hits/chapter at all despite all the improvements I've made. The number of hits/chapter which had skyrocketed for a brief time span earlier this year (aka after I resumed posting the improved version) has decreased by 75% since June and hasn't recovered since. Often, I lose bookmarks and subscriptions within hours after posting a new chapter, which couldn't be a more obvious feedback.

I see this loss in interest also reflected in my chapter announcements and previews (not they had ever been great to begin with). Often, I'm the only person reblogging them because rarely anyone else does. On the other hand, my post that I would postpone the latest chapter due to the US elections was so popular and the contrast to the reactions when I finally posted that chapter was so huge that I wonder if people just want me to shut up and stop posting. To be honest, not posting would save me a lot of time and spoons because, let's be frank: writing for a mostly silent audience is just not it. (I have a little bit more engagement on other socials, but the downwards trend is the same there.)

There are only three chapters of CYHMH left to post. The story is at its climax and seeing the lack of interest and enthusiasm so close to the end is just so fucking disheartening after putting so much work into this story which I call my love letter to YOI. Maybe I don't write the kind of stories that inspire the majority of its readers to gush about it, but a part of me had been hoping for at least some people to be thrilled that the chapter was finally out. Or to be at least excited about the sequel. And I can't decide whether my writing just sucks that much to most people, if you're just silent because you only talk about my stories in some exclusionist fic club, or whether a sequel is just not wanted or needed due to the fandom being already saturated with that kind of story.

Would you guys prefer that I stop posting? If you really want to read my YOI sequel or just anything for that matter, I beg you to tell me and to support me.

[an-ambivalent]

Woes of Reincarnation Part 2 [Yandere! Miguel x Fem! Reader]

Chapter Synopsis: You’re an Alchemax neuroscientist specializing in genetics and cognition memory research. Outside of work, you spend majority of your time with your daughter Gabriella and your partner Miguel. For the most part, you loved your life - you had a thriving career, a lovely daughter, and your wonderful stay-at-home partner who supported you and cared for your small bundle of joy in ways you were unable to. But slowly but surely, something starts to seem amiss with your husband and you realise that Miguel is not who you knew him to be. This is a sequel to this

Warnings: As this is yandere fiction, this deals with behaviours and themes of that can be uncomfortable to read. Specific warnings: implied noncon. This work also has spoilers about Miguel from the comics. Read at your own risk. This work is purely fictional, I do not condone this behaviour irl. By clicking the ‘read more/keep reading’ you are consenting to read this at your discretion.

Establishing yourself at your current point in career was a lot of work hard; from extensive studying, to jumping from one temporary contracted job to another, it often made you want to hit your head against the wall in frustration. Amidst all the chaos, the universe threw even more at you; just as you were finishing your PHD, and were starting to climb your career ladder, you had found out that you were pregnant. It was nerve wrecking, stressful, exciting, and involved so many other emotions and tears, and pondering over countless of future possibilities. Becoming overwhelmed from all of this was beginning to drive you mad. But lucky for you, Miguel was the perfect anchor to your chaotic storm of thoughts; he was with you every step of the way and was amazing at providing you the reassurance you needed. After your daughter was born, whom you had named Gabriella, things had been very challenging at first: you had to look after your daughter while still having your own recovery. Miguel took on additional responsibilities while also trying to look after you and your daughter as well. Eventually, after a few years passed, it became easier to manage and cope with the challenges that came with looking after a tiny human. Both of you decided that you were going to work full-time at your new job, while Miguel would be the stay at home partner to look after Gabriella. 

Over the years, you made exceptional progress in your career until you got to your current position. While you really enjoyed your work in the past, recently, it was starting to become too stressful and impact your mental health. There was a certain feeling of being done etched in your body language. And despite the fact that you looked after your physical health, there was a new type of dullness on your face in place of your usual genuine contentment, and the glint of mischief that always gleamed in your eyes and smiles was starting to disappear. 

A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you unlocked the front door and entered your abode. You took off your outdoor shoes and placed them on the shoe rack, while simultaneously slipped your feet in your indoor slippers. As you walked through the hallway and into the main living room, you raised your eyebrow in surprise when you saw Miguel leaning against the kitchen counter closest to you, with his back turned against you, and nervously tapping his index finger on the counter’s marble surface. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked simply, and threw your jacket and keys carelessly on the dinning table as you walked towards the kitchen. 

Your usual very composed and charismatic husband jumped at the sound of your voice. He whipped around in shock, his eyes wide, looking like a deer caught in headlights. He seemed even more jumpy when you neared him in proximity, grabbed onto the collar of his white shirt, and strongly pulled him down to your level for a chaste kiss as a greeting. Usually, your pecks that started out as a quick greeting, would turn into deeper, and more passionate kisses, almost into a full make out session. But that wasn’t the case this time around; this time around, Miguel was simple frozen in surprise as you kissed him. He did not respond back, and his hands were raised and stilled awkwardly in mid air as if he was going to push you away, but didn’t due to some last minute realisation. It was very strange because he never hesitated to wrap his arms around you and pull you closer until there was no physical space left, and one of his hands would be tangled messily in your locks. The awkwardness of the entire situation made you pull away instantly, and there was even more confusion evident in your eyebrow raise. Nonetheless, you released your hold on him, and started to work your way around the kitchen like your usual evening routine. 

“I’m surprised that you’re already home. Picking up Gabriella from her tennis practice and the groceries, you usually wouldn’t be home for another hour,” You remarked causally, while you put on your bright pink apron that had ‘Kiss the chief’ written on it. It was one of the gifts your Miguel and Gabriella had given you on the most recent mother’s day, so anytime you wore it, they had an excuse to shower you in kisses. 

Miguel blinked owlishly, as he stared hard at the words written on your apron for for a good few seconds, before returning his gaze to you. He showed no signs of moving closer to you to kiss you like he usually would. 

“Uh, doesn’t she have tennis practice on Tuesdays and not today? Besides, I don’t have the car.” He responded simply. 

You blinked at him in confusion. “She has her practice today - she has her coaching on Tuesdays and her club games on Friday. And what do you mean you don’t have the car? I left the keys in front of the TV and its parked right outside on the street...? We talked about it this morning - you dropped me off to work and I took the train back. This is no new information, come on Miguel,” You retorted, and opened the fridge to get the needed ingredients you required to make dinner. However, there was barely anything in there - your eye twitched. You turned to Miguel with your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“How come you didn’t go grocery shopping?” You asked. Just as Miguel was about to respond, your eyes widened in another realisation. 

“Don’t tell me you forgot to pick up Gabriella?! No wonder I don’t hear her trotting around! Miguel! What’s wrong with you today?!” You snapped, and instantly untied your apron, and took it off instantly. 

At the shift of annoyance in your tone, Miguel’s eyebrow twitched in anger. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know - this wasn’t even meant to be his responsibility. It was supposed to be your Miguel’s responsibility but he was dead now. He simply chose to replace him in this dimension because he had a family; he felt sorry for the young child who had lost her father, and a bit sorry for you, who would have been a full-time working single mother if you had found that your husband was dead. He was doing you a favour, and you had no idea how grateful you should be. But alas, you were so bossy instead. He wanted to reveal the truth so he could see the reaction on your face, but he couldn’t disclose anything. For his young child, he would endure. 

“You didn’t tell me to do so,” He responded coldly, since there was no other way he knew how to carry out his argument. 

You were so confused by his response that you had to stop for moment and gather your thoughts. You blinked at him in confusion, even more so, when you noticed the anger on his face - Miguel never got angry that easily. 

“It’s the same routine every week...? What’s there to tell?” You murmured to yourself. You glanced at him once more, and you looked at him from the top of his head, to the soles of his feet in scrutiny multiple times. Upon closer inspection, you saw something different about him; the exhaustion in his body - it was an exact reflection of yours. He looked like he was done. It made you think:  had you been so busy thinking about your own problems at work that you forgot to check in with your own husband? Had you relied on him to take care of you and Gabriella so much that you forgot to do your part and look after him?! 

Guilt wallowed up in your chest, and your throat started to feel constricted - you were starting to feel anxious again. However, just before your anxiety could overwhelm you, you pushed it down. Miguel needed you right now, not the other way around. 

“I’m sorry for snapping at you, love. I shouldn’t have done that. I guess work’s been too stressful,” You mumbled, and then, walked closer to Miguel. The Spider-Man was genuinely surprised at the quick apology that left your lips; he was even more shocked when you walked in front of him once more, and gave him a bright grin. He was taken back by how beautiful you looked when you were smiling and the way your face glowed when a hint of joy shone through. 

“We both seem to be having a tough time today, how about we get things done together and just relax? Let’s go pick up our cheeky munchkin and order in, we’ll get your favourite! Sounds good?” You said grinning wider, and cheekily swung your hip against his. Given his build and strength as Spider-Man, it barely did anything. But your joy and cheekiness was contagious because Miguel returned your grin with a playful scoff off his own. Instinctively, he lifted you up easily, and the suddenness of the gesture made you yelp in surprise. You easily wrapped your legs around his tiny slutty waist as he supported your weight by holding you in both of his arms, and wrapped your arms around his neck. You combed through his soft brown locks with one of your hands, and leaned closer to his face; Miguel felt flustered. 

“Can I kiss you?” You whispered softly, looking at him with so much love and longing in your eyes as if he had hung up the moon and stars for you. No one had looked at him with so much love before. Miguel felt flustered. Instead of answering you, he tightened his hold onto you, as he brought you closer to him until you were absolutely squished against his physique. He felt more muscular than before, and his grip on you felt more possessive rather than his usual protective one. But, you weren’t the one to complain since this was so much better than the awkwardness from before.

Miguel moved his arms so he supported your weight with one, and held the back of your head with the other. Then, he guided you down until your lips locked. It was a nice kiss, a bit clumsy than usual, but nice nonetheless. He didn’t want to follow your lead like he usually did, so you tried to follow his lead instead. It was definitely different, even more so, when you felt him bite your bottom lip hard. You yelped in pain and tried to pull away from him. Your efforts were fruitless for a few seconds until Miguel eased his grip at the back of your head. Just as he let you go, enough blood gathered instantly at the spot you were bitten on your lip that it started to drip down your chin. Immediately, Miguel licked it and then gazed at you with his disheveled hair hovering above the predatory and lust gleaming in his red eyes. Both of you breathed heavily, but he wore a giant grin  that showed off his canines. When did Miguel have canines? 

“What you said sounded good, but I would like it much better if we could relax, just the two of us, later tonight.” 

                                                         ***

Once upon a time, Miguel was a bright and innovative scientist himself. He was intelligent and quick to grasp things. For that reason, it didn’t take him long to adapt to the same lifestyle that the original Miguel of this dimension was living. Actually, this domestic life was so much better and easier than his job had been at Alchemax. Maybe, it was easy because he genuinely came to love it; he loved his daughter Gabriella like he had anticipated he would. But first impressions aside, he was also surprised at how quickly he came to love you. You were just so caring and attentive, and everytime you smiled your lovely smile, he swore, cupid’s arrow shot through his heart. You always looked at him with so much love - and it didn’t just end there - you always showed your love through actions too. Every morning when you woke up, before going to sleep, coming home, before leaving, and if you saw each other just after a few hours, you always kissed him. They were such passionate kisses too - it was addictive. All of your little quirks and the constant displays of affection were addictive. For once, Miguel was constantly surrounded by love and happiness. He loved it, and he was going to do anything to protect it. 

Although he did love his current life, there were some things that he did wish could be better - like how he wished he could spend more time with you. He had been trying to talk you into reducing your work hours, because recently, it seemed like you just were getting busier and busier. Your acts of affection, your long lasting kisses -- everything was becoming quicker and more rushed. The nights of intimacy you shared often when he had first came into your life versus recently, were much fewer too. It was distraughting and almost starting to feel frustrating because he had become accustomed to everything you had given him. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand how he had ever managed to live without having you by his side. Now, it was almost to the point where he felt that his even spider craved you. 

It was another night like the one’s recently. Presently, it was just after 9:30 pm, half an hour after Gabriella has been put to bed. Miguel had just come out of a steaming hot shower - his skin carried an underlying darker red hue indicating just how boiling hot the water had to be, and he only wore a small white towel around his hips. He was hoping that giving you a preview would help him finally get another night of sex with you. But the moment he had stepped out of your shared ensuite, and was browsing through your shared closet, pretending to look for clothes, you paid no attention to him. Instead, you were entirely focused on the folders of paperwork labelled ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ in big block red letters that you had been bringing home from work every, single, fucking, day. 

Come to think of it, exactly what was your job? Why were you the one that had chosen to work rather than his alternate deceased self? Surely, if his deceased self was also a scientist at Alchemax like he had been, he had to be making more than enough money. 

In the end, Miguel mindless chose to wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. He climbed into your shared bed with you,  and snatched your papers from your hands. You yelped when this happened suddenly, and immediately tried to wrestle Miguel for them as he started to look over their content himself. 

“What the hell, Miguel?! Give those back to me right now! That’s confidential!” You yelled, while trying to climb over him in whatever way you could to get your paperwork back. Miguel simply ignored you, and easily held you back with one arm, while holding up the papers with his other hand, and reading them. 

It read: 

“ALCHEMAX PROPERTY 

ONGOING RESEARCH PROGREES: PROJECT DIMCOG6.V - COGNITION AND MEMORY THROUGH THE MULTIVERSE 

RESEARCH LEAD: [Name] O’Hara

‘-utlising deep learning neural networks, we have managed to analyse microarray data at an anatomical level[1]. Given this groundbreaking discovery, we can hypothetically give ourselves false memories of living in another universe and completely alter our reality. Or, we could even transfer the psych of our alternative self to our current self. Tests will need to be conducted-” 

“You’re... working for Alchemax?” Miguel asked in disbelief, looking at you with wide eyes - like he didn’t knew you at all. In a way, that was not far from the truth. 

You took his shock as an opportunity to snatch your paperwork back, and scoffed at him. “Of course I am. I don’t see why you’re so surprised? You’re the one who told me to take the job when I was offered it.”

You carefully tied up your paperwork the way you had brought it from work, before setting it on the bedside table beside you. You turned towards Miguel and scowled at him. 

“I’d appreciate it if you don’t just snatch my things. Seriously Miguel, what is with you recently? You’re so moody and quick to temper! I understand you may be stressed and I’m seriously trying my best to make things as easy as possible for you, but you can’t just do whatever you want. You know I’m having a really hard time at work right now as it is, I don’t need you making it the same for me at home. Back off a bit, yeah?” You snapped. Instantly, you turned away from him. You had been feeling your regular nightly migraine building up for a while, and the stress from dealing with Miguel just seemed to have triggered it. You took off your reading glasses so they were resting on your head instead of your nose; a heavy sigh left your lips as you rubbed your temple to try soothe your headache. 

You failed to notice the angry red eyes that were glaring at you. 

“I didn’t know that you were working for the filth of Alchemax.... And I didn’t tell you to take that job, I would never allow my own wife to betray me like that. If it really had been me, in the first place, you wouldn’t even be working.”  Miguel hissed, as he had moved closer to you until his body was pressing right against your side. Then, he leaned closer to you, and gently nipped you right behind your earlobe. Chills went through your spine, and you groaned in frustration; you failed to understand exactly what Miguel words implied due to your horrible headache reducing your ability to focus. 

“I don’t have the energy to worry about your nuances Miguel, nor do I have the energy for sex tonight. Just let me rest,” You murmured, and tried to swat at his arms he wrapped around you possessively. 

You didn’t get the response you wanted - verbally or his actions wise. Instead, you screamed as Miguel pushed you so you laying on your back, and he sat on you immediately. From the impact, your glasses were swung backwards randomly and dug into the randomest part of your neck painfully. You winced and tried to move so they weren’t digging into your skin, but you were unable to move since Miguel had your wrists pinned down on the bed in each hand. He pushed all of his bodyweight on you making it hard to breath, and leaned down until he was right next to your ear. 

“Let me rephrase what I said, and really listen this time, okay? You’re my smart little scientist, I’m sure you can figure it out.” He whispered sensually, and this time, bit your earlobe hard enough to draw blood. 

You cried out in pain. You tried to wriggle yourself free, but your efforts continued to be in vain. When Miguel applied more pressure on your wrists to the point it felt like they were going to break, you stopped struggling. However, your breath started to pick up and your throat felt tight. Despite how light headed you felt, you understood that this wasn’t normal. His grip wasn’t normal - your Miguel would never do something like this. He had never raised his voice at you, much less be physically violent with you the way the stranger on top of you was being. So, for your own sake, you listened attentively to what he had to say. 

“I didn’t tell you to take the job. I would never tell you to take any job, much less at Alchemax, especially after what they did to me. If it had been me, the me in front of you right now, I would keep you locked up in a safe little cage that I make just for you.” 

Tears welled in the corner of your eyes. You hoped that what you were thinking wasn’t right. 

“W-What they did to you...? You never told me? I, I don’t understand-” You tried to say. You weren’t sure if you were just repeating yourself like a parrot because there wasn’t enough oxygen flowing in your brain to think rationally, or you were desperately hoping that what you understood to be the truth, wasn’t actually the truth. Maybe it was both. 

“I’m not your Miguel, I never was. Where I’m from, I used to be scientist at Alchemax. They spliced my DNA with a spider when I tried to quit,” Miguel started, and then, flashed his fangs at you. “I have access to many dimensions. I saw that the me of this dimension was killed and out of pity, I decided to take his place so Gabriella wouldn’t be fatherless and you wouldn’t be a single mother. 

“You really pissed me off in our first interaction.... but now, now, I love you, I can’t see myself without you. I might not be your Miguel yet, but you are my [Name]. Thanks to your research, we can start again. I can figure out a way to change your memories so you’ll know me as your Miguel from the start. I’m sure there’s a dimension out there somewhere we can use.” He whispered in your ear, and then, grinded against you. 

Goosebumps of repulsion and fear arose across your skin - you shook your head in denial. 

“Don’t, please don’t do that. You have no idea what you’re messing with--” 

“Shut up. Now that you know, you’re going to see what I would have done with you in the first place. I’m going to keep you locked up in a cage I make just for you. No work, no research, nothing for you. I’m going to keep you locked up so you’re not a tired cranky bitch and I’m going to be the only person you see. I’m going to make you so touch starved so that whenever you see me, you’re going to be nothing but yearning and desperate for any ounce of attention that I give you.” 

Then, Miguel wrapped his hands around your neck, and pressed tightly onto your trachea until you passed out from the lack of oxygen. He grinned widely. 

“Goodnight [Name]. We’ll meet again on the other side.” 

                                                          ***

[1] deep learning neural network is a type of AI technique that mimics the workings of a human brain. It’s used in neuroscience to study the complex intra- and interhemispheric coherence, and other brain regional interactions in relation to cognition and behaviour. 

Microarray data refers to studying many genes at once. So, given all this, and how astrophysics works (if you were to be anywhere in the universe, like being pulled into a black hole or a neutron star), their ruthless gravity would literally tear you apart at your atoms level. So my theory is that, if you were to transfer “memories and cognition” through dimensions and defy the very essence of space and time, you’d need to have studied the neurobiology at the atoms level to the very least. [JUST MY THEORY BASED ON WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THESE SUBJECTS. I JUST WANTED TO NERD OUT OKAY]

[2] basically the ‘isekai’d’ reader’s memories in Part 1 can be understood in this  way: in all the manipulation of memories that Miguel does after this, [Name] gets so many new memories implanted she eventually remembers all of this. She made an escape plan to stage her own death and live in the shadows with random memories planted (like she thinks she reincarnated and lived in a ‘different’ world) but thats actually just false memories. And given how much Miguel was trying to code that “she loves him” in her genes everytime he changed her memories, that turns into a false memory of him being her favourite character and that she “simps for” so she automatically wants to seek him out to meet him when she gets “reincarnated” 

I hope everything I explained makes sense and that you enjoyed this! Let me know if you have any questions! 

[kamimarroco]

First time meeting Ren

Good morning, good afternoon and good night everyone! I brought another BTD fanfic that I worked on for a few days, and I confess that it gave me a bit of work. Anyway, the title gives it all away, and also, it can be considered a sequel to my first story. Enjoy it!

As your eyes felt heavy, the complete darkness of the basement was inviting, your eyelids slowly closing in the face of exhaustion and the pain of freshly inflicted wounds. Usually you weren't one to admit this, but your captor really made you feel the worst possible sensation with this last torture session. Maybe he was too excited about the discovery of your immortality and the possibilities that fact opened up for him. You still remember the smile of genuine euphoria on his face when he saw you returning from the dead, breathing like any other living being. At that point, everything went downhill.

Without anything else to do and with drowsiness already affecting you, you allowed yourself to sleep peacefully in the face of this situation. Even though you were still tied to a pole and the pain from the bruises continued to burn, you just wanted to escape it for a moment. Who knows, maybe you'll wake up in your bed and realize it was all just a terrible nightmare. And then, you would laugh and tell your friends about this madness like it was no big deal. If that weren't the case, then you'd be content to dream about cotton candy or pudding, it doesn't really matter.

These thoughts brought a smile to your face as your consciousness switched off, finally being able to rest from this fucking hell, your breathing becoming regular and deep.

[...]

Because you had nothing to guide you about the time, you didn't know how many hours had passed since you slept. The only thing you were sure of was the sound of soft footsteps coming down the stairs, as if someone wanted to go unnoticed. Well, bad for that person, because you noticed their presence the moment they entered the basement. Even so, you didn't bother opening your eyes to find out who it was.

“So you're that immortal girl he talked about so much? Damn, you look just like any other”, a young, male voice said, making you confused and forcing you to finally open your eyes to satisfy your curiosity. "Hehe, I knew you were awake”

Looking carefully, you noticed that it was a young, short boy with visible red hair. You would have considered him an ordinary boy if it weren't for his fox ears and tail. Goddammit, you had no idea your captor had another prisoner.

“If I'm not wrong, either you are cosplaying or you are a beastkin”, you stated your first observations. “And to be more exact, I'm a grown-ass up woman”, your tone sounded a little irritated.

“For a grown woman, you sure don't have the manners of a lady”, arms crossed, the tail twitched methodically, flat ears on the head and a judgmental look on his face.

You sighed, trying to regain your posture. “Right, sorry. I'm probably just taking my anger out on you”, you hoped your words sounded sincere, wanting to lighten the mood. “You know, can't expect someone to be in a good mood when trapped in a basement”

The beastkin looked to the side, seeming to relax for a moment. “It's alright, I know how it feels"

“Yeah, I kinda figured it out”, you said, referring to the scars and the collar around the boy's neck. Some of the injuries on his body were fresh while others were completely healed. “It seems like you've been experiencing it longer than I have”

“You can say that”, he closed the distance between you and him, crouching down to look at you closely from top to bottom. You hadn't paid attention before, but his amber eyes were very beautiful to look at. “Looks like he didn't bother to take care of your wounds. Do you want me to help you?”

“You are gorgeous”, those words left your lips without a filter, making him blush slightly. “I would be very grateful if you helped me”

“Right…”, still embarrassed by the compliment, the boy got up and started searching for something in the basement cupboards. With his back turned to you, you could see the fox tail more clearly and observe its movements from side to side, your eyes completely mesmerized by the animalistic feature. Come on, it's not every day you come across an almost human being with animal parts, this could be your only chance to see something like this.

“Enjoying the view?”, he asked as he grabbed a medical kit, turning to face you.

You immediately looked away, embarrassed that you had been caught staring for so long. “I wasn't looking at anything…”, you made the cliché move of denying your attitude.

“Let's say I believe it”, he chuckled as he crouched down again to treat your injuries, taking some objects from the medical kit. “This might hurt a little, so be prepared”

“Don't worry about me, go on”, you said in a confident tone. As he cautiously brought his hands closer to your wounds, you couldn't help but eagerly anticipate the touch. And no matter how much you mentally prepared yourself for the moment, the cloth moistened with alcohol still made you groan in pain, the burning sensation making you grind your teeth. Still, this was nothing compared to Strade's playtime, so you tried to do your best to look strong during the process.

You could see a look of admiration on his face as you occasionally glanced at him, your attention more focused on the treatment of the wounds. The striking color of your blood, so beautiful and bright… Was that why Strade got excited so quickly?

Well, whatever, the important thing is that your wounds were finally being disinfected, which would save you from future problems. Being already used to the pain, it didn't take long for him to take care of the rest, making you let out a sigh of relief.

“And it's done”, the beastkin spoke as he finished his work, getting up to put the medical kit back in the cupboard. “You surprised me, I thought you would at least complain about the pain”

“I couldn't make myself vulnerable so easily in front of a boy younger than me”

“Come on, I'm not that young”, he put his hands on his hips, a smirk on his face. “Maybe you're just too old”, he chuckled.

“You know, it's rude to ask a woman her age”, you looked at him with a smile on your face, enjoying the moment the two of you were sharing. “Besides, I've been through worse”, remembering the origin of the bruises sent shivers down your spine.

“I know exactly what you mean”, his eyes stared at the ground, his facial expression changing to a more serious one. “Anyway, I think I stayed here too long. He probably noticed that”, the boy stated as he approached the stairs.

“Wait!”, you called him, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract attention. “Thank you for taking care of my bruises, and I'm sorry for being rude earlier”, you said softly while maintaining eye contact. “Can I at least know your name?”

The boy looked thoughtful for a moment, but then began to speak. “It's Ren. You can call me Ren”

Ren... It was a beautiful name to say. “It's a cute name, it suits you”, you stated without hesitation. “You can call me by my legal name”

“Really? And what would it be?”

“It's…”

As you spoke your name, you saw his smile returning to his face, seeing a sparkle in his amber eyes when he heard you, ears twitching along with his tail.

“It's a good name, I think it suits you”, he gave you a compliment before leaving. “Maybe I'll see you again, who knows”

“Yeah, maybe…”, you whispered as you saw the boy going up the stairs, hearing the sound of the door being locked seconds later. Without any more company, you sighed, looking at the blood-stained floor as you waited for something to happen again.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Was aaron ehasz wife a zutarian or is it just made up

Do you think the comics and lok are so messed up because aaron is misding or was it a great team work of all of them 3

I don't know what Elizabeth's thoughts on the ship, assuming she had any, but I know she wrote The Southern Raiders and I think on the script she did use the word "zutara" instead of saying "Zuko and Katara" during one of the action scenes. It does not surprise me if people took it as confirmation that she liked the ship, and who knows, maybe they're right.

She wouldn't be the first writer on the team she said she liked it - it's surely way more believable than the idea that Aaron was fighting to make Zutara a thing but evil Bryke stepped in, like it was in the infamous "interview" zutarians still quote even though he has repeatedly said that shit is fake.

While I think Aaron was a part of why the original show worked so well, and his job as lead-writter meant he had a HUGE impact in it, it's not fair to pretend he was the only one who truly mattered. Bryke were the ones to come up with the very concept of the show and they were pretty heavily involved in it, and the other writers (like his ex wife) deserve credit too for developing the story. And we gotta remember, Aaron also approved of bad parts of the show. Nobody is perfect.

So no, I don't think he alone could have saved the comics or Korra - especially since Bryan and Mike would still have the final say on the matter and they were clearly more than okay with all the awful creative decisions that ruined these projects, including letting Yang project his daddy issues onto Zuko's plot, accidentally reverting his character to the point that I'd argue he became WORSE than pre-redemption Zuko.

I consider both the comics and Korra to be bad storytelling - that had POTENTIAL to be good. It's why you have little moments of good writting, or funny bits, or even good ideas that were simply not handled well but are not inherently bad. Hell, the newest Azula comic was THE best thing we got since the original show, and not in a "it's the best of terrible content" way but in a "this is genuinely good and mostly coherent" way.

Is it possible that maybe Aaron would have noticed some, or maybe even ALL of the major issues with the comics and Korra? Sure. And is it possible that maybe he could have made Bryke change their mind about SOME of the things they were about to give the greenlight to? Yes.

But that's the issue. MAYBE he'd notice. Or maybe he wouldn't. MAYBE he'd do a good job of explaining it to the people calling all the shots. Or maybe he wouldn't.

There's too many maybes to say "Aaron would have made the comics and Korra be great." Personally, I'd say he would have at most made them decent, but not genuinely great like the original show because his presence/abscense is not the ONLY factor that changed.

He was not the only one who left and there were new people around. And nearly 20 fucking years have passed. Aaron changed, Bryke changed, everybody changed. Putting all the old team in the same room is impossible because they're not the same people they were in 2005.

And in my opinion there's another factor here: while ATLA still had storylines that could be turned into a sequel show/comics (what the hell happened to Ursa, what's gonna happen to Azula, how will the Gaang help rebuild a world that spent 100 years at war, is Toph ever going to confront her parents, the dropped idea for an episode centered on Aang's parents, etc) I just don't think Avatar could EVER be turned into this big franchise that keeps going on and on for decades that Bryke wants it to be.

First they made the mistake of not giving that show the fourth season it clearly needed even though it fucked up the pace of book 3, and now they're making the mistake of not letting the story end even when they don't seem to have anything left to say. Ehasz can't fix that.

[cloudmonarch43]

[ID in alt text, repeated below the cut]

My to-watch list is pretty short now and it's not especially satisfying to write about movies while trying not to say too much about what happens in them, plus I barely like Instagram anymore (where these posts are focused), so it'll probably at least be a while before there's another post like this. But never you think that I don't want to talk about movies!! (Oops, I never noticed I wrote the wrong year for Alien. It's right in the alt text because I typed it all first and then copied it down!)

Image 1:

Saw (2004) is a very silly movie that manages to stay enjoyable the whole way through. Aside from a few good bits, I didn't like Saw II (2005). There were too many characters, underdeveloped, so that even in context it just felt cruel to kill them off. I like engaging with the mechanisms of the games, and yeah the point of the games is violence, but the second movie felt like it didn't care about the game part. It made some good moves as a sequel, but the first one was a lot more fun.

Rather than telling me a story, Dirty Dancing (1987) felt like it was telling me about a story. I liked watching the dancing, and I liked the story that was being summarized, so I liked the movie, but it was strange how much of it just felt like information. Even though the plot was a bit convenient, the great variety of relationships made it feel like a genuine world.

The first time I watched I Saw the TV Glow (2024), I didn't know what I was in for; I kind of stumbled home in a daze of delight and sadness. Movies are such a capacious medium and I love it when that potential is actually used. It also feels good to watch something where the queer interpretation is not just a side effect yet it's still abstract and metaphorical.

We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) is a super effective movie about watching other people's videos. In reviews I saw, I thought people credited it with a lot that wasn't actually there—only a place was set, which the viewer automatically filled. It didn't resonate with me as much, but I think it's cool to be put through the same sort of process as the characters.

[pencil sketch for Dirty Dancing of Johnny and Baby dancing]

Image 2:

Pretty much everything I wrote in my journal about The Sixth Sense (1999) is using it as a comparison to clarify other things, so I don't know what to say about it on its own. I enjoyed watching it.

After that I rewatched some stuff.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is great. It really lets you sink in, and there's a lot to sink into, both visually and conceptually.

Blade Runner (1982) seemed more self-contained and a lot easier to follow this time through. I liked it overall but it's so bleak. I guess it's supposed to make me think about what it means to be human but "either you're a cop or a little guy" is the undisputed thesis statement I heard.

The Thing (1982) remains one of my top favorite movies (which is a list I haven't written, but "I Saw the TV Glow" is on it too). I hadn't even remembered a solid half of the great special effects moments because there's just so many.

Alien (1979) didn't work out as well. I still think it's a good movie, but it turns out a lot of what I liked about it was the suspense that doesn't hold up when I know what's going to happen. I know people love to analyze this movie but it's just not catching me that way.

Challengers (2024) is all about three random people I don't have any reason to care about... plus I don't care about tennis. It's not really my kind of movie. That said, it's just about as satisfying as it could possibly be.

[pencil sketch for 2001: A Space Odyssey of an EVA pod]

Image 3:

Pulse (2001) is really sad. What if the loneliness was never ending! It's a high quality, coherent representation, and then it just exists and there's nothing you can do about it. (Also it definitely should have been called Circuit.)

I watched Happy Death Day (2017) because I love time loops a lot. It didn't give me more than that, but it was easy enough to sit through. I think it could've pushed its concepts further but at least it didn't fall apart.

Of course then I had to rewatch Groundhog Day (1993), which I'd mostly forgotten, and I was delighted to discover that this movie rocks. It's efficient, covering a lot of ground without feeling distant or dense, and it really felt convincing.

Nightcrawler (2014) is brutal, unforgiving, and a great movie. Lou isn't a defeatable villain; he's a concentration. This movie refuses to lie, and that feels good even though the things it's saying don't.

[pencil sketch for Pulse of Ryosuke kneeling next to Harue, who is hugging herself]

[luvo27]

for the fanfic game (sorry if it's too late, ignore me!) 16, 28? :D

castles it is NEVER too late to give me an excuse to ramble on about my fics!!!!

16. word or phrase i think I use a lot: probably anything to do with breathing. i'm a sucker for a "breathe in, breathe out," or anything along those lines!! drawing attention to a character's breathing feels like, an anatomical comma in the way that it makes you pause for a moment and also in how i probably overuse it!!

28. oh man i answered this one in terms of dc fic, where I ended up going with the first fic I wrote a character as explicitly aromantic in - you might see where I'm going with this.

On Haunting vs. Being Haunted was supposed to be a maybe 1-2k singular scene of an open ended-messed-up baron and riz interaction and then I accidentally started with writing the scene where riz talks to fabian about the briefcase first on the blank doc and then I started writing the scene where Riz tells Sklonda that he's dating Baron (i write so out of order. i often write like, only the dialogue of the middle of several different scenes out of order and then reorder them and finish writing them.) Then I got maybe 5k or so into it and realized I wanted it to have a happy ending. But see, at the time, if I were asked, I probably would only have said I was queer, and only that I was aspec if I was feeling courageous, so as I was figuring out the ending, I had no idea what Sklonda could possibly say to Riz that would feel true - how could I assuage the fears of a fictional character if I could not do the same for my own? and then i thought about the friends that I'd made in the last couple of years. I actually messaged one of them as I was writing to say that their friendship was what let me write the fic, and that writing the fic was making me question whether or not I wanted to use the aroace labels, and then I posted the fic, and then so. many. people. commented. It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be told that they were able to relate, or feel seen, or just had a good time reading. I hold every story that people felt comfortable enough to share there in my heart. So i was getting those comments, and I was getting comments on the dc fic i mentioned before, and the sequel to haunting wasn't originally planned to have a riz epilogue, but it turned out there was more I wanted to say! There's so little representation of asexual characters in media, and not a lot in fanfic, even less of aromantic characters in most media, and even less in fanfic, and even more so for aromantic characters who do not want qprs or something that might look like one, and it is hard to imagine a happy ending is possible if you never see it realized! again, it's genuinely been one of the most special things in my life that I was able to give people this story, happy ending included, and hear their stories in response. rizs internal monologue at the end of stress vs love started as like, an imaginary open letter to everyone who read on haunting, but most importantly, to myself. I am aroace, and I do not have to be afraid forever :))

castles, thank you so much for letting me ramble on about this. i've thought about sharing this personal little behind the scenes a lot and I'm so happy to finally do so because this story and the response to it really means so much to me!!!

[fourth-dimensional-thinker]

hello! i just finished reading "time is a flat circle" and oh my god it was soooo good. i read the whole thing in what was basically one sitting i just had to keep going. i've never enjoyed suddenly realizing how terribly fucked a character was by the narrative as much as i did reading that last chapter holy shit. amazed at your skill of weaving in all that sweet foreshadowing while the wholesome stuff was playing out. i will be thinking about this fic maybe forever

in an earlier post of yours you mentioned plans for a sequel! absolutely no pressure at all but i was wondering if that was still in the works? the entire situation from the end intrigues me. i gotta know of the horrors that await him

Oh, wow, hi! This ask made my whole day. I think I’ll print this out and frame it.

I’m very happy you enjoyed my fic so much. Writing Doc and Marty’s new dynamic and planning out all those little bits of foreshadowing were the highlights of creating the story for me. I’m a big fan of relationships that have genuine love between the characters, yet also have this twisted, underlying danger to them. There was no BTTF fic with that concept, so I had to make it for myself—and was excited to learn other people were into it, too!

I did say that I might write a sequel, and the status on that is…complicated. When I was writing TIAFC, I wasn’t planning to write a second part for it. That’s why the fic stops where it does, with the final chapter pulling the rug out from under Marty and ending on a sort-of cliffhanger. At the time, I didn’t know where else to go from there, so it just ended where it did. But after I got so many positive comments on the ending, I got motivated to try to do some work on a sequel. 

Even though I knew I was going to leave it open-ended, I still had a few ideas about Marty’s fate before I wrote the final chapter. I did a lot of brain-storming with a friend and wrote a few short sequel fics, one from Doc’s POV and another from The Pinheads' POV a few days after the ending wondering where Marty is (though, I don’t think I’ll publish those anytime soon). I liked parts of them, but I didn’t feel confident in continuing them. It felt too “dark” for it to be BTTF fic without also feeling out of character. 

Eventually, instead of trying to write a sequel, I turned towards writing original fiction. I still wanted to write a twisted-wholesome relationship, but this time with new characters. I’m currently working on a story that has evolved from this fic, and has grown into its own enough that you can’t distinguish any part of it that originates from BTTF—other than the 80s setting. That story is also not ready for the world either. 

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I haven’t stopped thinking about the core of TIAFC, but haven’t actually published anything for it in a long time. I don’t want to say that a sequel is definitely not going to happen or still could possibly happen. My motivation and available time for projects fluctuates wildly, so I’m not going to make any promises or guarantees. I’m very happy to talk about it, but I’m a bit iffy about writing for it at the moment. 

Now, if you would like to know more about Marty’s fate, I can share some things that have been consistent throughout all the various drafts and I thoughts I had:

Since this follows directly after the ending of TIAFC, Marty still has strong fear of Doc’s flux capacitors. Despite Doc’s mastery of his time travel skills, Marty is very nervous about the “disintegration” power he has, and is scared of physical contact from him.

Related to the point above, even though he wouldn’t hurt him, Doc wears gloves around Marty to help him feel safer during physical contact (which Doc likes to make a lot of). Doc wearing gloves also serves as an important cue for whether or not there’s going to be any time traveling or “energy-eating” about to happen. 

Marty isn’t going to outlive Doc. Interpret that how you will. I can’t imagine Doc dedicating his life towards his friendship with Marty, only to not be around for the rest of Marty’s life. 

Marty’s not actually being imprisoned in Doc’s estate. He is ~technically~ allowed to leave, but if anything goes wrong, Doc is not going to be happy that something bad happened to his best friend. 

Most ideas for this are about exploring the internal conflict Marty has. If he leaves and gets into something as little as a minor argument with someone, that person is going to suffer and Marty feel feel immensely guilty about it. There’s always potential danger to Hill Valley anytime he goes out. But on the other hand, if he remains inside, he’s going to be with Doc all the time. And Marty is so conflicted, because he’s terrified of Doc, but also knows he used to be friends with him in the past. 

There’s a lot that focuses on Marty’s mental state as time goes on. I haven’t been able to pick a direction on where to take it, but it’s not a fun time for him. 

Thanks for the ask! It was nice to re-visit my notes for this fic. 

[mayasha-chan]

Don't know if this has already been done as a fanfic (If it has, I'd love to know where i can find and read them please!), and genuinely this might be fuelled by my insomniac brain running high off a movie binge...

Just now I'd love to read a fanfic/series of oneshots of characters from Star Wars having a movie nights watching some films from our world.

Whether Original, Prequel, Sequel trilogy - doesn't matter! Invite everyone! Or only have it be specific characters or trilogy only! Heck do all three of you'd like - I know I'd read them all, sounds fun!

Just brought a smile to my face as I was watching some films, and thought "I wonder how they might react to this?" I think it can be particularly fascinating to see their reactions, hear their thoughts and different perspectives vs ours on how they feel about the films, and even maybe if it effects them at all afterwards. Particularly if this is set during Prequel era it could be amusing or entertaining to see if this causes any reactions through the Jedi temple/Order and even the Clones too!

Heck! Maybe even go full AU/Isekai with it and have a person from our world fall into theirs every other night for a film night XD

Here's a few I thought could be interesting, may add more later, and my thoughts on why (Apologies that some are more in-depth than others. Some cane to mind in wonderful details while ithers struck my brain like lightning spur of the moment "Oh! This one too!"):

1) A Quiet Place (The one that kind of kickstartered this idea): I feel like this would be such a GREAT one just for the questions it would pose and discussions between characters on how they would handle such a situation, communication techniques, survival techniques etc Honestly think this would be a really good one to hear from Clone Wars era gang in particular just because between the clones and our favourite jedi I feel there are some fun dialogue to bounce between characters.

2) The Hunger Games series: Just this series of films from any of them would be... An experience to say the least!

3) Moulin Rouge: The chaotic nature of the Prequel/Clone Wars Era characters watching this could be outstanding - all depending on just what direction you're want to take with character reactions - I feel there is such peak comedy to be had here. Heck, even having the original trilogy watching this one could lead to some hilarious misunderstandings!

4) Lord of the Rings series: The parallels you could make for the wars in each era to the inner battle for the Jedi of the dark side and keeping balance as a whole - truly could have dome good back-and-forths and maybe even some battle strategy debates.

5) Each Era reacting to each other's films: Is it extremely meta? Yes. Could it be confusing? Most likely. Could it still be fun if written and handled well? Absolutely. There's so much potential for hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, comedy and utter chaos to be had with this one.

6) Inside Out: Oh the possibilities! I'd rather love to see a lighthearted whimsical approach to this, but you could approach this in so many ways. I feel like the Jedi could use this to potentially help Younglings/Padawans with processing certain emotions and understanding them.

7) Wall-E: For one, beautiful love story. And another, just imagine the droid appreciation!

8) Steven Universe The Movie: From the wonderful songs that I feel could strike a cord in many a beloved character - I feel this could spark a discussion on feels of loneliness, isolation and potential abandonment issues for a CERTAIN few.

9) Train to Busan: I'd love to see any of the Star Wars react to a horror flick especially a Zombie one and this one is phenomenal! And that emotional punch at the end just... Aaaaaah!

10) Lilo & Stitch: Found family, themes of Identity & finding purpose, and unique characterisations of Alien species.

11) Five Nights at Freddy's: Similar to my reasons on The Hunger Games that this would be an EXPERIENCE - not to mention just trying to rationalise anything happening.

12) Poirot - Murder on the Orient Express: Yes, I very specifically mean the 2010 David Suchet version (It is the best by far with David Suchet fantastic portrayal and does not change the ending or events in the narrative unlike some versions) No film night is complete without a good murder mystery and this is one of the best. I'd love to see the theories and guesses they'd toss around, the shock at the ending and questions it provokes on the justice system and justice itself.

13) Clue/Glass Onion: We've had a serious murder mystery, so how about some funny ones too! Feel we could have a number of confused characters and those laughing their arse off.

14) Taken: Similar reasons to Moulin Rouge - oh my gosh, could you imagine Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padmae's reactions?

15) V for Vendetta: A part front being an amazing film (The graphic novel is even more incredible! Honestly, they're both great) I couldn't begin to think of how Anakin's brain would malfunction. Heck, imagine Luke and Leia seeing it with some context on their mother's identity!

16) Invasion of the Body Snatchers/The Thing: Creature feature! (At least I've always thought of them as such 😅) My goodness, the shock. The accusations. The paranoia. So many good reactions you could get! And I feel there is great potential for the 'Aftermath' .

17) Titanic - Tears abundant. Devastation. The pure tragedy - or maybe frustration depending on how you prefer to take it? I could imagine some characters questioning why characters don't just do this or use this specific item? Could end becoming a critique.

18) West-Side Story (1961): Really wanted throw a musical in and "In America" popped into my head.

19) Much Ado About Nothing: Oh I don't see this causing any has any realisations about some of their own relationships - no suree! 😁

20) Pokemon The First Movie: I would LOVE to see what they thought of Pokemon! And also what happens to Ash in this film because by the force, this film can still make me cry even after 20 years!

21) Maquia When the Promised Flower Blooms: This film broke my friends. It broke me. I have no doubt it would break the anyone in Star Wars - and I would love to see it.

22) The Neverending Story: Quintessential heroes journey. Okay, truthfully we all know the scene that made me list this.

23) Jumanji: Don't know if this will unequivocally confuse every character or if they would enjoy the fun adventure?

24) Indiana Jones series: Would Han be flattered, confused or irritated by an imposter?

25) Matilda: I 100% believe they would think Matilda is a force sensitive child and would love the way she uses her abilities - and not to mention the judgement of Miss Trunchball!

There's so many more that can be done, and more that I might add later! And there's even a few series I'd love to throw in there: Hazbin Hotel, The Legend of Vox Machina, Lackadaisy, Digital Circus, Poirot etc

Anyway, if anyone knows of a fic like this already - please let me know! Or if you decide to write a fic like this - I will absolutely read it in a heartbeat!

[aceofstars16]

1, 3-5, 8-12, & 16-20 for Jade Torch, please?

Finally getting around to answering another one! 😂

1. what got you into this story?

Haha, well I’ve been friends with @dragonanne for…almost 10 years I think??? So I’ve know a little about it/seen art of the characters for a *while* and even read some of the webcomic she started before deciding that a book would work better. So…yeah…and like I mean, dragons, why wouldn’t I want to read about dragons???

3. quickly list 3 things you like about the story!

Interesting and fun characters, beautiful illustrations, a very intriguing plot and world that is so thought out I LOVE IT

4. assign this story a hyper-specific genre name, e.g. "inspirational religious semi-horror sci-fi western"

Uhhhhh…I’m so bad at these…political intrigue/adventure/fantasy with Christian undertones/ DRAGONS

5. do you have a favorite character? who?

Oh man….this is so hard! Ughhh how do I pick?!? It’s hard not to love Gabryl, but I LOVE Lune too, and Kenneth…and so many others pfft 😂 (also this insanely minor character that hasn’t even shown up yet, but I got to help name him so I love him lol)

8. what questions are or were you most excited to learn the answers to while experiencing the story for the first time?

Well…it’s still ongoing so uh…there are a lot of things I still don’t know haha, I genuinely think I just…am curious about the…gosh what are the called, like the forgotten lands? (I’m too lazy to grab my book 😅), I don’t know if they will come up later but they intrigue me 😂 (and just like….how everything ends up too lol)

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

For the first book: A princess goes on a mission and ends up severely traumatized (sorry, not sorry 😂)

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

I was literally blanking but uh….then I remembered “Unpack Your Heart” and yes, it’s a Henry/Jo song for me but I actually love the idea of it for Lune (maybe with a specific person *cough* Kenneth *cough* but….it really could work with a lot of her friends cause they all care for her a lot 😭)

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

Nooooo! Please no! 1 maybe, I already have enough trauma…though having a dragon bond would be cool…so that part would be fun at least 😂

12. assuming your loved ones would be there, would you want to live in the world of the story?

Hmmm…if it was post war era then yeah, I want a dragon 😂

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

I mean, I feel like anyone can enjoy it? It’s fantasy but with some political elements and Christian themes, which I feel like isn’t really niche?

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

I think the only thing is the politics. Normally I’m not big on those in stories, but they play into the story and it’s not like, as confusing to me as other stories so I don’t mind it and genuinely do enjoy how they add to the plot

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

Close friendship! Dragons! Adventures! Just the love the characters have for each other makes me 🥹

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

Oooo, honestly a prequel about Noein and how the whole Eliesic Corps was founded could be really cool!

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

I mean…I just want to read more of it but also like, I knowing writing takes time so, I will wait 😂

[bakersdaughter21]

hey so I have a lot of thoughts after watching that fucking teaser (THAT WAS ONLY A TEASER OH GOD) so excuse this bigass rant

First of all let me say no hate or blame to the actors in the movie. It’s a job, it’s how they get paid. I think Jack Black was an excellent choice for Bowser.

I also think Warner brothers also knew this, and hired Jack Black so the minecraft movie could ride the hype train of the Mario Movie/Jack Black. Which… sure, I get it, but if that was their only reason to hire Jack Black for Steve, then… doesn’t sit right with me? hire someone that maybe actually makes Steve’s character intriguing and impactful, rather than “hey look we hired the guy from the mario movie to play in this movie, this means it’s just as good right???”

look. i didn’t know what to expect from a Live Action Minecraft movie. that part kind of slipped under the radar while we were focused on the news of A MINECRAFT MOVIE, JASON MOMOA, JACK BLACK!! but, y’know, I had expectations. I had hopes. Part of me is still hoping this is somehow an april fools prank, in september. The last thing I was expecting is the most fugly, ai-looking hyper-realistic-in-the-worst-possible-way animation with the jarring clash of irl actors against said fugly, ai-looking hyper-realistic-in-the-worst-possible-way background.

And somehow that’s??? not even the worst part???

From the look of the trailer it really seems like Warner bros wanted to make a Jumanji 4, or 5, I don’t know how many there are now. The “people in the real world are transported into the video game world and wow there’s a person here that has been stuck in the game for a very very long time and is a pro!” plot that, in the first reboot/sequel to the og jumanji movie, worked! because it was new! but that only really worked for jumanji, because we had already established in the Robin Williams (forever the best Jumanji) movie that people can be sucked into the board game and trapped for decades.

So, we have abhorrent animation, pandering/hype hired actors (that are nonetheless talented but still), and possibly an overused, unoriginal plot

And this is just the teaser trailer

What the fuck is going on?!

And here’s another thing. If you want to go watch it, that’s fine! If you have the financial means to go watch it in theaters, enjoy it with friends, your kids, your friends and their kids, that is fantastic! i’m happy for you! But a lot of people don’t have money to spend frivolously! Including myself!

Going to the movie theater is an Event for me and my siblings. We get lunch before or dinner after, we sneak in snacks, we buy the overpriced popcorn for the experience, and we only go if the movie is one we are interested in and looks cool/promising. I am not going to spend $100+ on food and movie tickets to watch a movie that just makes me wish I was at home actually playing minecraft instead of watching this.

Going to the theater to watch the showing of a Big Movie is my way of showing support. If I believe I will like the movie a lot, I WANT TO SEE IT IN THEATERS

Here are some movies I have gone to theater to see in order to show my support and have the most fun experience instead of waiting or buying it at home (i also save my movie tickets as a souvenir so that’s another aspect i enjoy)

Deadpool & Wolverine

I took my friend to this movie! It was great! This was the first Deadpool movie I saw in theaters! I was genuinely so excited and I was SO hyped for the fight scenes

Napoleon

My mom wanted to see it so we did! And I enjoyed it! I like joaquin phoenix! he’s a great actor! I like historical movies/dramas! I actually didn’t know a lot about Napoleon so I learned stuff too!

FIVE NIGHTS A FREDDY’S

FUCK. YES. I WAS SO HYPED FOR THIS MOVIE!! My siblings and I made a day of it! We got ramen before hand from our favorite place! We took pictures! We loved the movie!! I had never been in a theater where people laughed, gasped, and clapped/cheered at the end! It was so fun! You could feel that everyone was so excited to see their childhood take the big screen!

The Super Mario Movie

I took my siblings to this for their birthday and they were so excited! They had been wanting to see it, and it was the perfect gift for the one birthday sibling and the other that just was excited for the movie

TMNT Mayhem

I was so so so excited for this movie and I dragged my siblings along!! I have been a fan of TMNT for most of my childhood and I loved the artstyle, the voice actors, everything! It was a fresh take that I really enjoyed and it reawakened my love for the franchise again!

Dune 2

We watched the first movie at home and I was so intrigued!! So when I found out the second one was soon coming to theaters I took my siblings! I loved it, I was so invested in every moment! I’m waiting for the next movie!!

Now getting into several years ago where my memory is more spotty—

Venom: Carnage

I loved the first Venom movie and I was so excited for this one!! I went with my friend and her husband + kid on a whim and we all had fun!

Spider-man: No Way Home

Actually forgot i went to see this in theaters, I only know bc I have the ticket (SEE) but I remember being so hyper/having to restrain myself when Tobey and Andrew came on screen!!

and in 2020 I went to the black widow PREMIER. My sister and I dressed up, had a black/red theme, makeup and everything!! The intro to that movie was chilling in the movie theater.

So to make a point to this rant, I, and I’m sure lots of people, don’t have the money to spend on a movie that ultimate disappoints or spits on a subject that is close to our hearts. The Minecraft movie appears to be a mockery, or a parody, 10+ years in the making? And they don’t have an excuse after the FNAF movie, which was also 10+ years in the making, did a soulful and loving interpretation of a game that has become wildly popular. This isn’t cool. This isn’t something I’m going to pay money to see.

My petition is, on April 4th, instead of going to see the minecraft movie, we turn to YT where there are HUNDREDS of AMAZING minecraft animations, and even short movies!! 10+ years old but still amazing!!

I put forth The Mincraftian and the sequel, the Last Minecraftian, totaling in around 56 minutes, from the channel Joshua Mutter. Also Slamacow and their many minecraft shorts/oneshots! (the witch dance-off is my favorite)

If you have any others, feel free to put them in the tags/comment/reblog!

[tiger-moran]

Still thinking about writing the sequel to my last fic but now I'm getting irate with ACD for all the canonical contradictions again

(How can Watson and the police not know who Moran is in The Empty House when they knew who he was in the late 1880s?

And if they did all know who Moran was in the 1890s then why did none of them seem to have any suspicion of him even when an acquaintance of his was 'mysteriously' shot dead? That would tend to suggest Moran was above suspicion because... he didn't actually do it?

And Watson never refers to the actual trial of Moran, he never states the actual motive for Adair's murder, Moran is specifically stated to be alive many years later. If Moran killed Adair he should be dead within weeks probably given the speed of trials then, and Watson should have some better idea what the motive for the murder was by the time he writes the story. But he still doesn't seem to know what the motive was and Moran is alive.

I mean... were we really, genuinely supposed to infer from this that there was a real possibility that Moran didn't do it? Because there seems to be more evidence that he didn't than that he actually did (also no witnesses and the physical evidence is all completely circumstantial or two badly mangled bullets which couldn't possibly have been compared properly due to the damage and also when forensics was in its infancy then, also no motive even suggested except some petty reason that doesn't sound at all like a reason someone like Moran would murder a man over. Some sort of lover's tiff between him and Adair or Adair being infatuated with Moran and Moran not being interested and having to take extreme measures to fend him off is still far more believable than 'Adair found out he was cheating and this threatened the income he got from cheating at cards' because, firstly how much money was he really going to be making from cheating at a few card games, he wasn't even seemingly playing for huge amounts anyway and secondly, Moran was rich, he had loads of money, what's he supposed to have done with that? The motive suggested is flimsy as hell. Also let's not forget that Adair had broken off his engagement not that long before he died too).

Were we supposed to suspect even that someone else might have organised the murder instead using one of their other contacts? Someone like Moriarty? I know a lot of stuff was just because ACD simply did not care but did he ever have it in mind that Moriarty had survived because it definitely feels like at the very least he was trying to keep his options open with him, the same as he probably was with never actually showing Holmes's death - everything is too vague, nothing is ever confirmed, a lot of details just do not make sense and Watson never sees anything that would confirm to him never mind to us the readers that Moriarty was dead, or that Moran was actually guilty of Adair's murder.

And whatever ACD thought, Watson has definitely lied to the readers somewhere - the same as with Moriarty, he cannot have both known about Moran and not known about Moran at the same time. So why has he lied, what is he hiding?

(He probably did know Moran even before Holmes knew anything about him - their army careers overlapped, they very likely came back to England at the same time maybe on the same ship. Watson, did you really fuck Moran in Afghanistan? Or on the ship. Is that what you're trying to hide?)

And then we get back to the 'why does Holmes specifically not want Moran charged with attempting to murder him even when the evidence of Moran's guilt of Adair's murder is so flimsy surely he'd want to throw everything possible at him?' thing. This also seems to tend to suggest maybe Holmes knew Moran wasn't actually trying to murder him then he was just making a point that he could do so? And what is up with the weirdly homoerotic antagonism between Holmes and Moran anyway?)

The relationships between these four characters - Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Moran - are so much more complicated than it seems and there has to be a lot more going on there than Watson (or Holmes via Watson) ever lets on. I mean it's fascinating for the possibilities it raises but it is infuriating, all these plot holes and contradictions and just that... so little is ever actually shown to us. Also that so few people ever seem actually interested in exploring any of this, or what really went on between Moran and Adair either. So much gets taken at face value even when it actively contradicts something else but there is so much more to unpick there.)

[writing-for-life]

Tell me more about your OC, Thalia! How did you get the idea for her? What’s your fav part about her? Any thoughts about her as a character that ended up on the cutting room floor?

I love those questions! My OCs are my babies, I love talking about them!

I’m super used to writing OCs since that’s usually all I write (The Light of Stars is actually my first fanfic, believe it or not, but I’ve written original stories for literal decades).

Funnily enough, Thalia started with… the name. I knew from the start there would be a lot of references to Greek mythology. Too much to mention here, people who read the fic will know, but I had this idea about Psyche’s journey to the underworld I wanted to reference at some point, and I also wanted a reference to a muse. Thalia had the nicest ring to it while being somewhat referential. Sometimes it’s really as simple as that 😂 I pronounce her Tah-lee-ya btw (it’s a less common pronunciation of that spelling, but it exists. I just didn’t want to spell her Talia for obvious reasons, but she totally sounds like it. And now I’ve destroyed the sound at least half of my readers had in their heads 🙈).

Thalia is the muse of comedy, and I wanted some of that in her. She has this intelligent sense of humour that is both genuine but also a coping mechanism, and it made for an interesting dynamic with Morpheus, who is always so serious. Her humour is, albeit observational, warm. She’s not a cynic although she has every reason to be, and I guess he knows that because he knows her story and what she’s been through, and it probably makes him think. He finds her challenging, but there is also an honesty and emotional openness to her, especially about her own hurt/darkness, that he finds intriguing. And that honesty also extends to how she relates to him—she is someone who actually sees him in the truest sense of the word, and it’s something he both needs so desperately but also finds impossible to trust and fully give in to for a very long time, and for a lot of reasons.

I guess the idea was to find someone who is in many ways like him (only in terms of shared human experience) but has a completely different way of dealing with it. It is, although a love story, at its core an exploration of trauma, loss and grief, of second or even third chances at life (however you might define the latter), and I’d long wondered what would happen if he met someone who is NOT trying to change him. They have their problems and conflicts, yes, but ultimately, this is about a deep mutual understanding that hinges on acceptance. And that acceptance is possible because it was there from the start, for reasons that I won’t give away here, but they are deeply rooted in how she always related to who and what he is on a conceptual level. And now I’m writing the sequel, and it becomes even more important.

My favourite part about her must be how she has the ability to make him laugh? Like, little by little, from something that barely makes him cock an eyebrow to a tug on the corners of his mouth to little smiles that get more frequent. And that moment when he sees the painting and actually realises he *is* like that around her was weirdly emotional to write because it wasn’t planned.

Plus, that she gets him to the stage where his laughs are actually audible, and they’re *not* weird. Well, at least not *that* weird. And from a writer’s point of view, it felt like a really natural, gradual progression that just happened, so it wasn’t something I had plotted. They just did their thing, and I wrote it down 😂

The stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor was mostly related to the no mortals rule. I explored a lot of different angles but ultimately didn’t want her to be a goddess or witch or somehow overpowered to circumvent that, it just didn’t sit right with me. So I spent a lot of time on setting up different beats that might look like one thing or another, but without giving too much away: The whole story hinges on her humanity and mortality, and it was ultimately the only thing that made sense.

Thanks again for the ask. It was a really good opportunity to talk about character creation/development, because so often, people seem to believe that all OCs are straightforward self-inserts, and nothing could be farther from the truth (OC fics aren’t reader fics). It’s impossible for characters not to have little bits of us because they come out of our brains, but they aren’t mirror images. I sometimes give characters little bits I’m confident in writing authentically without having to do a lot of research. For Thalia, it was drawing/painting. I had other female OCs that rode a motorcycle or did a martial art I’ve been familiar with since my childhood, others again were professional performers. I find I can write these things without overwriting them because I know what they feel like. Because sometimes, people will research these things and write them like an instruction manual. And while the detail is correct, someone who really *does* these things would never describe them that way. But that’s often really as far as it goes. It pains me to say that I’m far more like Morpheus than like Thalia, but I didn’t need to self-insert for that to be the case 😂

And now I want to know: What’s your favourite part about her and their dynamic? Other readers are welcome to chime in, too.

[jasyred]

Reflections: sequel to ruminate.

I bet she's a k-pop stan.

I remember typing in the group-chat looking at her username. It was a random group-chat, with lots of random people and some random dude went ahead and added lots of new girls in there. Her username caught my attention.

She had a dark profile picture, not the type you'll find chronically online, but when she did come active, she had the ability to catch everyone's attention. In a good way of course. She was a woman of many talents; she is a woman of many talents.

I was slightly envious; she was everything I wanted to be.

We were a year apart and she seemed in a much better place than me. Made me wonder where I am going with my life. I feel talentless. She's exactly who I dream to be. Why did I give up on things I wanted to do?

Is it even possible for someone like me to be friends with someone like her? We're opposites...

"EVERYONE FACE REVEAL" "NEWBIES DO A FACE REVEAL" "COME ON" the group-chat was then bombarded with new picture threads.

Here we go. I clicked sent.

After that, I don't have the memory of who reacted what to my picture but, I do remember holding down the screen to stare at her longer.

"She looks..." unfamiliarly familiar. I don't think I have ever seen a face like that before. She feels like a distant memory. I checked the username again. It was her. This is what she looked like. "pretty", I replied to her thread with my own picture. I was nervous, when I clicked sent.

I tapped through other people's pictures, but they went in a blur. I felt like I was in a trance. That's the quietest I had ever been. I opened the whole thread again; she wouldn't know I replayed. A long silence passed by. "She's cute." and she also became more beautiful the longer I spent my time staring at her. I closed the app. Not a single thought through my head.

"There's no way someone like me could ever become her friend."

I remember I had also mistaken her for someone in her teens until she told her birthday and turned out our birthdays were four days apart in the same month.

"Woah? we're Gemini babies, it's so hard to find someone close to my birthday." I was genuinely surprised.

"Yes. Please don't say we're long-lost sisters though."

I remember going oops physically, because I was about to type exactly that.

"Yeah, I won't"

I laughed to myself later. She's a grown woman you idiot.

It was a round of praises and appreciation always whenever she interacted with others. She was worthy of it. To me, it felt like watching a star I could never reach. Only appreciate and admire from afar. It was hard not to remain quiet all the time she was around. But I liked listening to her.

It took a long time for us to even take our conversation to personal chats, but I didn't really expect it. In the middle of this transition, I had spent a lot of time in thinking, "how do I even talk to her personally?" more importantly, what do I even talk about?

I had eventually given up but then like magnets pulling, we got to the point where we could exchange numbers.

I was nervous, I remember. Anxiously waiting for the call to be received on the other end. Lip biting. Legs shaking. Palm breaking out in nervous sweat. What if she doesn't like my voice? Weren't you always confident in your voice? Yeah, but what if she doesn't like it? What if I'm too weird?

All this anxiety, for the woman I just wanted to be friends with.

"I wonder what she sounds like..."

She didn't sound how I expected, heck I don't think I was expecting anything but, her voice suited her. It was unique, just like her face.

"So, I can call you whenever I want to, right?" it was the first time someone had asked me that. I wasn't the type to do calls freely because of the house I grew up in, hence I avoided them. But here, I agreed, instantly.

"Yes!"

I'll just sneak around to receive it; I can manage that much.

"Can I spam you whenever? Even in the middle of the night?"

She sounded like a bunny, so excited. I found myself smiling hard. "Sure, you can."

Now that I look back, I remember my heart beating fast throughout the call, and my ears going red. I had contemplated a lot over what name I should save her contact with. A contemplation I would do over my boyfriends.

I wanted to keep her a secret. To hide her.

She's just a friend.

Yeah, I know.

Why are you thinking so hard in saving her contact info then?

Well, because we'll be talking a lot and what if I get caught? I don't want anyone to be suspicious.

Then just say that you made a new friend. What's so hard about that?

Yeah, but you know...what if...how will I explain..?

......you are not making any sense.

Maybe arghh idk, go away stop confusing me.

In the end, I had saved her name as a nickname of another friend's name. But it felt wrong and unfair, so I got back to using her name. "Whatever, I'll be just discreet."

We never ran out of topics to talk about. I never grew out of talking to her. Calling her became a daily habit of mine. I specifically found myself going out for walks just to wake her up, to be the first person of the day she talks to. I didn't mind going round and round circles of the same block, our conversations were endless.

It was unreal.

Everything with her, was unreal. Magical. Time passed by in a blur, and without even realizing she became someone I couldn't tolerate losing. And it was out of my control. Her becoming a part of me.

She set standards to my normal friendships. A friendship that felt more meaningful than love. I didn't mind being a celibate my whole life as long as she was the one who sticks to my side.

Since when did I become like this?

She uncovered parts of me that I didn't know existed in me. Both ugly and beautiful.

How could someone like her do so much for someone like me...?

I never understood.

I never understood why she loved someone like me. Even as a friend. I had nothing to offer. Infact, for the first time, I had such a good best friend that I became the bad best friend.

The one who is always taking and never giving. The one who drains and sucks the life out of people. The one who always hurts.

Losing her hurted more than losing a lover.

Strange.

It hurted in way that all my will to live was exhausted. It hurted in a way that I wish this heart to be ripped away from inside my chest.

And yet all of this hurt, is nothing compared to what I had inflicted.

Strange.

My world felt like it came to a standstill. There was no meaning, in anyone, or anything. It just didn't matter anymore.

You, who is my best friend, your absence hurts more than any lover. I do not understand why you make me feel this way. Why I choke up every time I think about you. Why do I feel this intense envy when you give your attention to anyone that isn't me. Why do I feel scared that there would be someone who will take you away from me. This doesn't make sense.

She didn't believe me when I told her I loved her as a woman.

I didn't believe it either.

I spent days and nights in denial. Questioning everything I felt about her. Yes, I saw her as my friend. But when did those roots transform into something like love? When did they start holding a meaning deeper and more profound?

When did I become like this?

Or maybe I was always like this. I just didn't bother digging into it.

I thought it was normal. It was normal to call her out in my sleep. It was normal to have dreams about her where we're more than friends. It was normal to feel jealous when she gets close to other girls romantically. It was normal to be annoyed that others have the same picture she sent to me. The same smiling face. It was normal wanting to be the only one who sees the soft side of hers. It was normal telling people that she's off limits. It was normal not minding her kissing me. It was normal to wish about seducing her if she was a man-

...oh

you dumb fucking idiot.

I realized it was only me who harbored thoughts like these. Silent thoughts like these under the guise of normal.

I had cried. A lot after realizing it. And even more when it hit how much of a bad person, I was to her.

And yet I wanted her.

How absolutely terrible of me.

I must have lost it. I told myself. In all honesty, it is morally right for me to stay away from her.

And yet I keep coming back to this. Where I tell her that I love her. That I'll be better.

Wait, you don't mean it seriously right? Did you actually fall in love with your best friend? Don't joke with me.

Her words annoyed me. Every time she tried to deny the fact that I mean what I say. But then again, she never took me seriously, I was just a dumb little girl to her. I wanted to trap her in between my arms, make her look into my eyes and see if anything I say seems like a joke to me. Kiss her to make her feel if I am jesting with her.

It made me angry when she would doubt my feelings.

Why do you not believe me? Why do you keep running away from it? Can't you see how much I yearn for you?

but then again, what reason does she even have to believe me...?

...do I even deserve the right to ask her for her trust? Me of all people? When have I ever given her a reason to have faith in me? I look nothing more than a hypocrite.

Nobody will treat me better than her, nobody can do it like her. Nobody can give me the warmth that she gives, nobody can give me the love she gave. I know I have no right to be even next to her in the first place.

.... but you are my sun. You who is always adorned in dark clothes, always associated with the dark is my light....oh...there's nobody who can replace you...but there'll be always someone who can treat you better than me, someone who can love you better than me, someone who wouldn't hurt you like I did...there'll always be someone better than me for you so how could I ask you to stay by my side...?

But you're my sun...no matter what sadness may lie in your past or our future.... I will forever be standing here.... waiting for you. Loving from near, loving from afar, and only hope, you'd love me too, and come back home to me.... right where I hold you.... where I can give you the love you deserve.

I can only hope.... even if you want that person to be anyone but me.

[flecksey]

PIKMIN 4 THOUGHTS (spoiler free)

I've now officially completed Pikmin 4 (still working on platinums tho) and it's everything I ever wanted and more. There's always going to be a few nitpicks but it's hard to focus on them in light of the absolute love for the franchise on display. It genuinely feels like a fangame at times with the way it uses ideas from 1 and 2. 2 especially gets a lot of love, with this game clearly being a sequel to it in many aspects. In some ways it makes the differences all the more obvious, with certain formerly imposing creatures being easily taken down in this entry, but there's a joy to it as well. Basically everything I could have hoped for has been included, from the Piklopedia to a couple notable unlocks. There's even a few surprises I ended up loving, such as one endgame power up that has me roaming the levels just for the fun of it. 

I'll say that the timeline weirdness is... fine? They're clearly poking at the seams throughout the game, it even contradicts itself at one point. Much like the repeated crashes it adds an air of uncertainty and superstition that I don't think needs to be concretely explained. I'm a Zelda Timeline hater so if this is their way of saying they don't feel Pikmin needs a consistent timeline I'm all for it. All of the enemy lore is still intact so I don't see any issues.

Very curious to see what's next for this series and even just this game. It's pretty meaty so I don't feel DLC is necessary but I'm sure we'll at least see an update or two. More frequent Pikmin games is always the hope, though I'm fine with this being the newest game for a while. I also expect at least a secret or two to be found, given the series' track record. 2 especially had quite a few, so if this game loves 2 as much as it proclaims to then I'm sure there's something hiding in it. I did see an alternate title screen once, not sure how to trigger it. 

My issues come down to the difficulty and redundancy of some mechanics. Items can make a lot of encounters trivial. The later upgrades make you and Oatchi virtually immortal. The pikmin caller upgrades basically invalidate Oatchi's level 3 command. You can leave caves whenever.  Speaking of Oatchi, basically having a "throw all your pikmin at once" button is incredibly strong and there is almost no trade off especially at max upgrade. Having all of your Pikmin stuck to you also makes things far easier for most combat. All of these issues mostly arise from already having a high skill level at Pikmin, to the point where I didn't need these abilities to do well. I'll be curious to see how newcomers take to the game given this, but a lot of it just feels unnecessary. In some ways it ruins the tone of the series, with 1 and 2 seeming a whole lot more threatening like you’re actually on a dangerous expedition. There’s still some challenge in the endgame but most of the game does feel a bit too easy.

I might come around on the difficulty if there’s a lot of depth to replays and challenges. I'll probably try doing a few challenge runs to see how the difficulty fares. Most prominent to me is a "no upgrade" run, which seems possible. I don't think there are any required upgrades in the lab or for Oatchi other than those given automatically. I think that being able to leave and enter at any sublevel clearly removes any sort of challenge the caves once had as gauntlets, so it makes sense to forego that as well. In fact, I can't think of a single time I actually left in the middle of a cave before beating it. In some ways it makes sense to apply personal restrictions to increase the challenge. Even Pikmin 1 is trivial within 30 days at this point. I'll also be interested to see how speedrunning affects difficulty, since collecting materials to buy upgrades would be unnecessary time. The fact that I'm already thinking about replaying a game that took me 40 hours to finish says a lot. It seems like there's a lot of freedom in how you can approach this game and I can't wait to see it pushed to its limits.

Overall it's a wonderful game. I'm still trying to pinpoint what this game has that Pikmin 3 didn't (other than a ton of content), but it feels a whole lot more satisfying to me than 3 ever did for a similar wait. It’s just so... full. As much as I can nitpick the difficulty and the ways it affects tone, it’s undeniably Pikmin. I haven’t even gushed about the incredible soundtrack or how great the game looks. I’m sure I’ll be playing this for many years to come.

[stargazeraldroth]

Hot Take: If Black Pearl Cookie Shouldn’t Be A Legendary Because She’s Not An Elemental, Then Neither Should Timekeeper Cookie

So idk if this opinion is very popular still or anything like that, but I genuinely don’t understand why people have such an issue with Frost Queen Cookie and Black Pearl Cookie being Legendaries? Like I get the whole thing about the Elementals and all, but if being an Elemental Guardian or whatever they’re called is the criteria for being a Legendary, then how do you explain characters like the Dragons, Dark Enchantress Cookie, and Timekeeper Cookie?

Btw this is just a ranting post, it’s not meant to be taken too seriously!!! I’m not trying to offend anyone with this, I’m just tired of people harshly criticizing the new Legendaries in Kingdom and calling them “fillers” when that same logic applies to Ovenbreak’s Legendaries. I feel like Tumblr’s a relatively chill and safe place when it comes to sharing opinions, at least safer and more open-minded than TikTok seems to be, so I thought I’d voice my input here. There’s a TLDR at the end.

At the very least, Frost Queen Cookie has known relevancy to the Elemental Guardians as she’s one herself, she’s just Kingdom-exclusive (and with how many Ovenbreak-exclusive characters there are right now, I feel there’s zero reason to complain about this or use it as an argument). You can argue that the Dragons are something of Elementals themselves, but they’re really just like Beasts of Old or something. I don’t know how applicable this is to Ovenbreak Legendaries, but according to the CRK wiki (and yes I’m aware it’s fandom-run and therefore not 100% reliable in interpretations), Legendaries are defined by their god-like statuses and immense influence over Earthbread. Now, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Legendaries who aren’t Elementals.

1. The Dragons. The Dragons are listed as Legendaries in Ovenbreak, but they’re given the unique rarity of ‘Dragon’ in Kingdom (which I think is complete bs but that’s not the point). The Dragons themselves aren’t Elementals, at least to my knowledge, they DO however have god-like statuses (just look at Longan. Literally just look at Longan Dragon), immense amounts of power, and have a lot of influence over Earthbread’s history. Therefore, they’re deserving of a Legendary status.

2. Dark Enchantress Cookie. The main antagonist of Kingdom (and possibly Ovenbreak? I haven’t seen much Cookies of Darkness content for that game yet, so I’ll mostly be focusing on CRK). You could potentially argue that her status comes from being the reborn version of White Lily Cookie, but the Ancient Heroes are directly connected to the Elements or anything just because they have Soul Jam. Let’s look at some of Dark Enchantress Cookie’s accomplishments throughout CRK’s storyline so far;

- Unleashed havoc on the Night of the Witches and presumably killed at least some Witches, beings who were known to be incredibly powerful and were worshipped as gods by Cookiekind. This is essentially the Cookie Run equivalent of slaughtering gods.

- Waged a war against just about all of Earthbread, or at least the kingdom run by the Ancients, single-handedly causing one of the biggest tragedies in Earthbread’s history. The Dark Flour War not only brought an entire era to an end, but it completely changed the course of Earthbread. Like, the only reason the Crème Republic exists in the way it does is because of Dark Enchantress Cookie declaring war against everyone. And from the looks of it, we’re going to be getting a Dark Flour War 2 (Electric Boogaloo: The Sequel No One In Earthbread Wanted) in future updates of Kingdom.

- Defeated all five of the Ancient Heroes in a battle. You can argue that she had the Cake Witch with her, but these are the five Ancients who were presumably at their peak state during this battle. Still, you could probably argue that there’s a weird situation with White Lily Cookie in this scene, but even then, that’s four Ancient Heroes who are presumably at their peak state.

I was also gonna bring up how the Soul Jam got shattered/scattered at the climax of the Dark Flour War, but I honestly don’t know if Dark Enchantress Cookie did that or if Pure Vanilla Cookie did that when he sealed her away, so I’m not gonna use that as a point. But regardless, literally the whole Night of the Witches situation and the Dark Flour War makes her one of the most important figures in Earthbread’s history. Dark Enchantress Cookie is a TOP example of a Cookie who deserves the Legendary rarity without being connected to the Elements.

3. Timekeeper Cookie. I don’t know Timekeeper’s canon pronouns off the top of my head, so I’ll be using they/them. Feel free to inform me on those. But anyway, Timekeeper Cookie literally has no connection to the Elements. There isn’t even anything you can argue about this. Their control and mastery over time comes from their Sonic Embroider, which is an invention. It’s not an inherent power or anything. Because in order for Timekeeper Cookie to have a connection to the Elements, Croissant Cookie needs a connection to the Elements. I feel like their status as a Legendary also comes from their role as the Director of the Time Balance Department, and the way Timekeeper SEEMS like a God of Time or something. But they’re not. However, we can’t turn a blind eye to the god-like status and power they do have.

4. Black Pearl Cookie. My god, the amount of times I’ve seen people call Black Pearl a “filler” or “false” Legendary is insane. And the arguments I’ve always seen, or the ones I remember anyway, all boil down to her not being an Elemental. Again, that’s a flimsy argument considering Timekeeper Cookie’s a Legendary without being an Elemental. Black Pearl Cookie at least has some association with an actual element, which is water, being a mermaid and all. Besides, Black Pearl Cookie is literally the subject of a legend in the CRK world, which is what her and Captain Caviar Cookie’s whole update was about. The Black Pearl Islands and Duskgloom Sea, which are like her “kingdom”, can be considered the Bermuda Triangle of the CRK world. We see in the event itself that she’s capable of growing to a gargantuan size and is responsible for sinking countless ships that entered her territory. Something I’ve noticed about the Elementals is that they all have some kind of myth or legend surrounding them, like the City of Wizards being one of the Seven Mysteries of Earthbread (or whatever Wizard Cookie said), the Millennial Tree itself being viewed as a sacred tree of Earthbread, and Frost Queen Cookie being known as the Frost Witch in the myth at Cotton Cookie’s village. Black Pearl Cookie is incredibly powerful and is the legit subject of an existing legend in the CRK world, so why wouldn’t she have the Legendary status?

Idk, it just feels hypocritical when people bash Kingdom’s Legendaries when their arguments can apply to Ovenbreak’s Legendaries as well. But for some reason, Ovenbreak’s Legendaries get passes because they’re the OGs or whatever? You can’t bash Black Pearl Cookie for not being an Elemental Cookie when Timekeeper is right there. And I absolutely love Timekeeper, they’re on of my favorites, but if being an Elemental is the criteria for being a Legendary, then they shouldn’t be a Legendary.

TLDR: Legendary Cookies aren’t solely Elemental Guardians. There are Legendaries who aren’t Elementals. And if Black Pearl Cookie’s a “filler” Legendary for not being an Elemental, then some of Ovenbreak’s are “filler” Legendaries by those standards as well and don’t deserve the rarity.

[thecloudstan]

I totally get your point about the original, and I didn’t mean to criticize the game itself because I know it’s practically ancient, at least in terms of videogame standards. It’s just that I’ve seen so many old fans saying how the original is superior in every way and it pretty much discredits everything added to the remakes. Like I get that they have their nostalgia, but it gets annoying after a while if you genuinely enjoyed the new stuff and you just have a bunch of people complaining about everything. I’ll go on Reddit to see if anyone has theories about the ending or what they thought about the game in general and I’ll run into a good amount of people on every post complaining about something- even if it’s inconsequential- and it’ll feel like they’re doing it just because they’re grumpy it’s not a one to one remake.

Again it’s not meant to be criticism against the original which is like three decades old by now, but rather of the people who just refuse to accept change. I do agree though that people on both sides need to calm down. There’s so much anger for nothing. If you’re going to get mad about something can’t you find something better to take your frustrations out on? Like is all the complaining about time shenanigans and slightly altered plot points really worth all the energy?

I agree, My People (oldies) are way too fucking precious about the original. Devs were in this rock and hard place of "don't change my thing but remake it and make it perfectly." Girl, what? It's not possible. Open your mind. Massage your ego a bit, take the nostalgia glasses off. YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON THIS. I just want to shake them!!

My husband was one of these types and we had HEATED arguments between 2015 and the release of Remake in 2020 about this very subject. I'm happy to say he's 100% reformed. LOL.

And if I sounded touchy, it's only because I'm old and tired. I actually avoid Reddits and tags about the game for the same reason you stated. I'm either going to see new fans confused and misinterpreting things or old assed fans who just won't accept any changes. Remake is a SEQUEL. It is literally Sephiroth trying to RE MAKE the events of the original so he can win. Everything that happens is inconsequential to the original game, so if they want their precious baby intact, it very much still is. And tbqh with you, the new fans are a lot more fun lmfao. Which honestly just makes me sad for my people because I'm like...guys, relax. You of all people should be enjoying this because of your knowledge of the Deep Lore. That's a layer of added interest, not something to get all babyish about.

As far as the original being SUPERIOR, ignore those fools. They're literally robbing themselves of a great experience over an apples and oranges argument.

Actually!! This happened wayyy back in the 90s, too. I got a lot of grief from people for loving the original so much. Back then it was mostly male Nintendo fans that I was surrounded by, so I was that sole bitch straight up defending Cloud's honor on the battlefield (the schoolyard). And then by the time I was in high school, all those guys had played FF7 and loved it.

They'll come around. Just laugh at them for now.