#genuinely one of my favourite scenes in the game so far

[dutyworn]

my tav giving their body to haarlep karlach: person standing astarion: person standing haarlep: my tav: is raphael actually any good in bed the entire party including haarlep: how are you still alive withers at camp: hello

[thestargayzingheroine]

Why A Better World is my favourite "Evil Superman" Story

So in the last two decades or so, there's been a notable amount of dark and edgy stories around superheroes turning evil and whatnot and most of them really love to do their own expies of Superman. I've never been the biggest fans of these kinds of stories.

And then there's the actual stories of Superman and other heroes being outright villains or at least just massive assholes. In recent years, this has been largely thanks to the influence of media like the Injustice Games or the Synderverse DC movies. It's... honestly become a trope I am tired of.

Because you know the damnest thing? There is a story that does all these ideas really damn well and arguably better. It is the two-parter from the Justice League cartoon "A Better World".

Now, I am aware how most people favouring the DCAU has become a bit of toxic nostalgia at times and it's something I myself am trying to work through a bit. But in this case, I do think it's the best idea of doing an evil DC story, much better and more interesting than the Crime Syndicate, who if you ask me are not very interesting, though I do remember liking the Crisis On Two Earths movie a lot, which funny enough, was originally going to be this two parter before various things led to it being canned and then later repurposed as a direct to DVD movie.

Anyway, my main crux of why I love this story is simple... The entire Justice League turns evil... and the reasons are very much in-character for all of them. You look at the scene with Justice Lord Batman for example.

As fucking evil as the Justice Lords are... Batman can't quite fully hate his alternate self for his reason for taking part in all this being basically one-step further than his own mission, that no child should ever go through what he did. Hell, I recall reading that the reason the writers had Batman drop his batarang at the end of this scene... was because he genuinely wouldn't be able to come up with an argument to that.

Superman likewise kills Lex Luthor because yeah, Luthor literally exploited the flaws in Democracy and became president of the US, threatening to kinda basically start world war 3. It's obviously horrible... but Superman is a character whose main motivation is making the world a better place. And if people who abuse the systems of power of the world are hurting people, why shouldn't Superman put a stop to that?

And yeah, Superman should obviously never kill, he's the most paragon of paragons of the DC universe, a man committed to always being better than the villains he fights... but this is him pushed to his most logical extreme. Hell, the main Superman knows this and its why Lex used his knowledge of this alternate universe as part of his plan in the season after this, to goad our Superman into crossing the line because yeah, there's a part of him that could go this far.

But right as Superman is about to apparently finish him, the big guy says this.

"I'm not the man who killed President Luthor. I wish to heaven that I were but I'm not."

Because Superman like everyone else, obviously would have those same thoughts and same urges. He's human.

I've kinda gone off Injustice a bit because to be honest... the injustice games were kinda just this but a bit too edgelordy. Hell, in A Better World, Lois Lane still lives and the whole genesis of it doesn't revolve around her getting fridged.

So yeah, A Better World is probably one of my favourite mirror universe stories because of the fact that well... it really is like looking in a mirror and seeing just how easy the greatest heroes can become evil and how they wouldn't be massively out of character doing so. But also it reminds us that as much as this darkness can tempt some of our finest, the ones who don't go down this dark path are stronger in heart than anyone else. Because when the world becomes a dark and horrible place, it becomes very easy to be just as dark. But even though it can be hard to still try and be a good person even in dark times, it's ultimately worth it. Because good always triumphs over evil.

[noonblight]

Nemona, Female Neurodivergence, and Good Representation

Spoilers for the plot of ScarVi ahead, but here’s my full analysis and breakdown of Nemona!

So, I know what you’re thinking, ‘Game Freak making an autistic female main character? You must be out of your mind. This is clearly projecting!’

I’d like to preface this gently by saying that this is obviously just my personal conclusion based on subtextual analysis, but also, I’d like to call attention to the fact that Japan isn’t like the west when it comes to neurodiverse representation, and there isn’t a lot of Japanese media that explicitly uses the word autism. It’s a little unrealistic to expect Game Freak to call it by name, especially considering they make games for children and topics such as neurodiversity are often viewed as a more ‘adult’ thing to discuss. You are free to disagree with me, but please be polite in the replies of this post, as I only wish to have a constructive conversation about a writing decision that has been made.

Anyway, on to the good stuff and I must apologise in advance for this post being long, but I wanted to be thorough!

I played through all of ScarVi and I’m actually very pleased with Nemona as a character. I feel like despite the game’s technical quality, there was a real effort made this time around to flesh out the named characters. Nemona is one of my favourite examples of this, because her arc isn’t solely about being autistic, but it’s clearly a large part of her character and affects her life in a lot of ways.

Nemona is a battle fanatic, and it’s very likely one of her special interests. It’s how she connects with other people such as the main character, and it’s something she devotes her entire being and effort to. She never says she does so in order to impress others, but rather because it’s something she heavily enjoys.

Right from the start, Nemona is a successful champion rank trainer and wants you to become a trainer who can rival her in skill, and feels like it would lead to a better friendship if you could do that. Nemona’s priorities always centre around battling, and doing as much of it as possible. She’s the one who asks Geeta for permission to bestow a Tera orb upon your player. She gives you tips about the battle courts at different gyms. She even raises a new team of Pokémon throughout the game just to have an excuse to battle you at your level and watch you improve.

Nemona even loves battling so much that she finds it a little strange when others aren’t as enthusiastic about battling as she is, below is a quote I found particularly interesting because it really does show that she can be socially oblivious at times when it comes to societal expectations about what is an appropriate place or time to have a Pokémon battle.

Accompanying this, multiple times throughout the game she exhibits impulsive or oblivious behaviour and asks you to have another battle with her straight after another battle you’ve just had, usually due to being excited. Sometimes other characters will need to remind her that your Pokémon require healing first, or that there are other things that need doing. She doesn’t always understand how things should be handled in a conventional manner, despite being an expert on the topic of battling! (Or, she gets too excited and can’t help herself.)

In post-game, there’s even a scene where she doesn’t seem to understand that another student is reluctant to battle her and makes an excuse to leave early because she’s so far from being a casual trainer that it intimidates him. This is, in my opinion, actually quite a sad scene. She genuinely continues to think that he will challenge her to a battle at a different time, not realising that her ‘unusual’ enthusiasm and skill has scared him away, and that he has no intention of returning. A situation I’m sure a lot of neurodiverse children would connect with because it so accurately depicts what it’s like when others don’t share your interests to the degree that you hoped they would. This scene also hints at Nemona’s trouble with reading the emotions and intentions of others.

Nemona’s final post-game scene (which please, I BEG of you to go watch, it’s so good) confirms this outright, and also gives one of the most relatable lines in media about what it’s like to be neurodivergent in any way, especially as somebody who is younger:

Something I like about Nemona is that despite being socially oblivious and pushy with her interests, she is still a very sympathetic and friendly character. Not only does she cheer you on throughout the game, but she doesn’t only do it for the sake of serving only her own interests! She’s genuinely caring about others around her too.

(Nemona, congratulating the player when they beat her at the end of her storyline after she goes full-out. She is thrilled that you beat her! I love this moment.)

Throughout the last chapter in the game, there’s a lot of great moments with Nemona that show how caring she is. I think the best moments however, are where she tries to understand and support a scared Miraidon, and where she tries to help Arven.

Initially, she is misunderstanding and expects that the second Miraidon will be friendly and that it will be a family reunion, but once she realises this is not the case, she immediately switches to trying to support your Miraidon in any way she can. Despite not understanding why Miraidon is so afraid of returning to the Crater and facing the other Miraidon, she can be observed multiple times attempting to encourage it during the final battle, and can be seen in the final cutscene of the game with her arm around it as the group walks back to the academy.

(Nemona, displaying an implied struggle with visually judging the emotions of others.)

Nemona is also the one who suggests after a very heavy story ending that everyone goes home, and that they take the scenic route back to town. She clearly doesn’t know what to say to Arven about what he’s just been through, but she attempts to make him feel a bit better regardless.

I think this makes for particularly good representation, because not only is she less feminine than previous female rivals with her more sporty style and interests (something very common with autistic women) it also shows depth. I’ve seen autistic characters before that fall into the stereotype of coming across as emotionally detached or cold, or far too over-reactive. But I think Nemona strikes a lovely balance of caring, emotional, and socially lacking.

Now, on to a smaller detail that I want to point out that I really like the inclusion of is that glove. I could talk about how Nemona displays memory issues at times or other smaller symptoms of autism, but I really want to talk about the glove. I made a post on this subject the moment Nemona’s design was revealed on the official website, but I like that the game content openly confirmed that Nemona has motor issues with her dominant hand.

(Nemona, needing to support her arm when about to throw a Pokéball, or when she is about to terastalise her Pokémon. The burst of energy from the tera orb must make things a bit more difficult for her. A lovely small detail in her battles.)

(Nemona, confirming that she has trouble with Pokéballs. Something her website entry also stated.)

Now I’ve saved this until last because this is, in my opinion, a smaller detail that they didn’t need to include to make Nemona read as neurodiverse, but I’m thrilled they did. Nemona is the only character who wears an arm brace, something I picked up on immediately in the trailers before the games released. No other trainers wear one for the terastalisation mechanic, unlike the Z-bands from Alola. And even though Pokémon battling is her bread and butter, she still struggles with certain aspects of it! Not only is this trouble with motor skills realistic, but it’s also a very accurate portrayal of motor dysfunction that a lot of neurodiverse people experience in their day to day lives.

To bring this all to a close, I think that even though it isn’t stated outright, I believe Nemona isn’t just representation of neurodiversity in women, but I think that she is also GREAT representation. She knows that she has problems, and tries her best regardless! She is kind, and caring, even though she has difficulties with reading the emotions of others and understanding social expectations. Her entire story may be about making friends with you through the medium of battling, but it’s also a story about how she’s struggled in the past to connect with others because of her love of that medium.

I truely do feel like she’s a lovely depiction to be in a children’s game, because she is a very positive depiction of something that a lot of kids go through, and in the end, she gets to be herself and she gets to be happy by being true to that self. She is never forced to change to make friends, and instead befriends you and the other characters simply by remaining as she is.

[grigori77]

Reasons to LOVE Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves

It's brand new in cinemas, so there are still plenty who ain't seen it, so if you're among 'em best skip this and just GO SEE IT, it's SO well worth it, genuinely it's one of the best new movies I've seen so far this year. Hope you love it as much as I did!

So, yeah, there you go - SPOILER WARNING, FOLKS!!! If you don't wanna get spoiled, RUN!!!

Still here? Okay, here we go then ...

This really is, UNAPOLOGETICALLY, a comedy. I mean yeah, this is a classic fantasy action adventure in the Willow, Krull or Ladyhawke mold, but it is also very enthusiastically POKING FUN at the classic conventions of the genre ... albeit CLEARLY done with great affection and love for the material, as only the best lampoons can be. So this is more The Princess Bride or Galaxy Quest than Your Highness or Spaceballs ...

Chris Pine is ALWAYS at his best when he's being FUNNY, so he is PERFECT here. Edgin is most definitely a bit of a douchebag, but he's the sweetest, most lovable douchebag you'll ever encounter.

Holga. Literally just EVERYTHING about Holga. She's my favourite character in this, this REALLY IS the best role that Michelle Rodriguez has EVER HAD, if you ask me. She's a total badass, a truly AMAZING FIGHTER, but I love that despite her dour demeanour she's actually quite sweet, gentle and really a great innocent in many ways. She's an absolute cinammon roll and must be protected at all costs.

OH MY GODS!!! All the easter eggs, SO MANY easter eggs ... FAR too many to count throughout, all the references and nods and winks to the game itself, all the spells and races and creatures and stuff ... but I love how the movie NEVER beats you over the head pointing any of it out, it just lets you enjoy it. So the proper fans will get a huge kick out of spotting it all, but casual viewers will just enjoy it as rich worldbuilding colour and flavour.

Seriously though, it's a D&D fan's DREAM!!! Not just the mimic, or the owlbear, or the gelatinous cube! SO MUCH to spot ...

Justice Smith's Simon gets THE CLEVEREST and best introduction in the film, I love the theatre scene, he's SO BAD at this while also simulataneously being really great. Totally sums up this gloriously clunky hot mess of a sorcerer ...

the opening is GENIUS, totally sets the movie up as it means to go on - the parole hearing is a brilliant comedic take on the scene-setting infodump which is brilliantly carried through in the way the movie delivers exposition in a fun way or just lets you absorb it through what's happening in each scene. This is the perfect, TEXTBOOK way to do it.

"That is one pudgy dragon!" LOL

Doric. Just EVERYTHING about Doric. Sophia Lillis' tiefling druid is a wonderful diminutive little action hero, so fiesty and capable. I love her. It's just a shame she's not primary coloured, I'd have loved it even more if she'd been blue, or red ...

The Wildshape Escape! XD Yeah, I love that, that's THE BEST set-piece in the whole movie, definitely, when Doric gets cught out spying and has to shapeshift on the fly to get away, and it all plays out in one immersive single shot that just leaves your heart in your mouth ...

Oh, the Speak With The Dead montage, that is comedy GOLD. Funniest scene in the whole movie. And with added payoff at the end! XD

Rege-Jean Page's Xenk Yendar. Oh boy, that paladin is something else. I love how LITERAL he is, he's like Drax in GOTG but much more intelligent. Y'know when Holga says: "You're not a lot of fun, are you?" to him? She's so wrong. I just wish there was more of him in this ...

The heist! Oh, the heist! So good ... the portal trick, it's great, love the way they did that, and then that HILARIOUS bard illusion distraction - Pine skipping the song like a broken record was just chef's kiss!

That wonderful wibbly-wobbly illusory reality thing whenever Simon tries to atune to the Helm ... wow, that is some spectacularly trippy shit. Granted, twice is fine for terms of pacing, but I could've done with a few more scenes of that, it's fascinating.

Hugh Grant really has just become a MASTER at playing smarmy, slimy duplicitous gits now, hasn't he? Forge is a reprehensible prick and I love it.

I love how they made Bradley Cooper a halfling for his cameo. They're never gonna let him live down the fact that he's now probably best known for playing a two-foot-tall talking racoon so forever after he will be a Short King.

Wow, Daisy Head's Sofina is a CRACKING villain, she's just SO CREEPY!!! I love how coolly menacing she is, a brilliant dark necromantic wizard that just makes your skin crawl. Especially at the end ... IS SHE a lich? Is that what they were doing there?

That whole big action climax, the showdown in the city centre is FIRE!!! It's so amazing, so brilliantly dynamic, with EVEN MORE great easter eggs! Simon and Sofina having an insanely awesome "arm wrestling" bout with Mage Hand versus Earthen Grasp (I think that's the spell, couldn't be sure), oh my gods! So cool ... and then the way they neutralised the threat! Brilliant.

Chloe Coleman's Kira is an absolutely adorable delight, and I think she's ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED in how pissed she is at Edgin for abandoning her. It makes the payoff when they finally make up so much better.

And that resurrection scene at the end? Yeah, sure, I saw that coming a mile off, but it was so well done, and they played it so well, that it was still SUCH a powerful scene even so. Just perfect.

Seriously, they just did this whole thing SO PERFECTLY. It's visually STUNNING, really it just looks AMAZING, and the action sequences are BRILLIANT but always feel entirely necessary for the story, which is how you want to do it. Best of all, though, is THE PACING!!! This is such a quick, breezy film, it just barrels along at a spectacular clip, so it never drags. Mark Kermode is right, even though this is two and a quarter hours long it doesn't FEEL LIKE IT, it feels like a super-trim 90-minute movie.

And it ties everything off nice and neat, too. Sure, there are definitely possibilities for the future, going forward if they make more, but if the movie DOES tank then it's fine, because this really does do a great job about feeling self-contained and telling its own complete story, so if we DON'T get more it won't be too big a disappointment ...

[orionsangel86]

Mary & George

So we finally have the show we have been asking for since 2016 (I went back and checked my old posts to make sure and it was indeed 2016 where the "British King Can't Stop Promoting His Boyfriend" post did the rounds).

How did it fair in reality? Well, its hardly Tumblr friendly fanfiction - though it was certainly raunchy - at least at the start. This show was scandalous, sexy, rather filthy at times (in a good way), and absolutely stunning in terms of its production and costume design for sure. It falls very much in line with the expectations of modern period dramas in a post Game of Thrones world where we have shows like The Great, and movies like The Favourite gracing our screens far more regularly than endless fucking retellings of Henry the Eighth which are so fucking common I have even been in one of them myself (sorry - my bitter hatred for stories about Henry VIII and his bloody wives is difficult to restrain).

So FINALLY getting a show set during the reign of James I and VI of England and Scotland and his love affair with the Duke of Buckingham is definitely a breath of fresh air.

But its definitely not the beautiful queer love story tumblr might have hoped for when we all first saw that post.

Nope. If you're looking for a happy tale of queer love overcoming adversity, stick with Red, White, and Royal Blue. Mary & George is not a love story. Its a story of scheming manipulative people who will do anything to get money and power. It's a story that uses sex as a weapon and a tool for personal gain. There is no fluffy romance to be found here, no sweet queer love story and no happy ever after.

I mean, this IS the British monarchy we're talking about, during an extremely dark and horrific period of our history only a short time before the country was plunged into Civil War and a King lost his head. But you've been warned anyway. All you'll find here is brutality, betrayal and eventual death.

Regardless of that, this show was fucking brilliant. The first three episodes in particular are quick witted and hilarious and refuse to shy away from treating queer sex scenes any differently to straight ones. The full frontal male nudity that crops up was also a pleasant surprise - I'm happy that cinema has generally accepted a more balanced approach to nudity nowadays - also a surprise was the lesbian romance which was probably the only genuine romance in the entire show. It leaves you wondering throughout but by the final few episodes its clear that if any love is "true" in this show, its the love between Mary and Sandie.

I absolutely adored Julianne Moore in this as Mary Villiers, who ruthlessly claws her way into power and money through schemes, seductions, betrayals, murders, and anything else you can think of. But even with all of this, I can't help but root for her. Who doesn't want to root for a scheming lesbian and her lover as they manipulate everyone around them and ensure they always get the better of the horrible men that make up King James' court? In this house we support Womens Wrongs.

As far as George goes, Nicholas Galitzine is brilliant as a beautiful but dim mummy's boy in the first few episodes, throwing tantrums and pouting with perfection. He shines in the later episodes as the arrogant and powerful Duke who believes he is practically untouchable due to his hold over the King, whilst still showing through the vulnerability underneath where that relationship remains precarious. The underlying joke of the show is that everyone wants George, and George wants everyone. He's a slutty slutty man.

You know how tumblr has a tendency to split queer stories into one of two camps - either pure sweet romantic love stories or very bad evil messy queer stories? (a gross simplification but you get what I mean) Well Mary and George falls firmly in the second camp. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I was a bit dissapointed that the general approach and belief of the storytellers here is that George used the King for personal gain, that the King was nothing more than a hedonistic fool who let his favourites manipulate him, and that any actual love between them was shallow and fleeting. Its all extremely cynical.

Especially since we know its not true. the surviving letters we have between King James and George paint a much more romantic picture, one where love was definitely a significant factor in their affair. Yes, historians love to play down queer history as best they can, but I don't believe that George Villiers was quite the manipulative little slut this show makes him out to be.

And yeah, sure, we can laugh and dismiss any true history involved. Its just a story after all? It was a bloody good story and one I enjoyed, but was it a fair portrayal of the actual men involved? Probably not - then again, the actual men involved weren't very nice anyway, and the show glossed over a lot of King James' more infamous sins. His obsession with witches and demons leading to the horrifying witch trials throughout the country were completely left out. There was also no mention of the famous King James Bible - the one that heavily emphasised any passages alluding to homosexuality being a sin which is used so frequently even today by religious zealots to persecute gay men. The Sodomy laws during King James' reign were enforced with such brutality that they brought us the slur "f*gg*t" (which I'm not explaining here). Yet the show displays acts of sodomy as such a normal part of court life that you'd almost think it wasn't totally punishable by death.

I shouldn't complain. Especially not about the lack of homophobia. Its a great show. You should watch it. But take it with a pinch of salt. The true story of James and George was probably one with a lot more secrecy involved, a lot more sneaking about in the night (after all, why build a secret passage between their bedrooms if they weren't trying to hide it?) and therefore a lot more hypocrisy on the part of the King.

There are some very touching scenes between King James and George, and I feel the show attempted to portray the relationship between them as complex and multilayered, but I'm not sure it succeeds as well as I would have hoped. But perhaps I am just a silly tumblr romantic who likes her queer love stories to actually include genuine love within them, and I always hoped that any story about King James and George would focus on how that love grew over time. Because whilst George obviously went along with things initially for personal gain, I think the evidence we have at least gives an indication that he did love the King, and the King clearly loved George, and I am interested in a story about how they navigated that love at a period of time where it did need to be kept secret, even if it was a fairly open secret, where things such as the King James Bible and the Witch Trials would have affected them, and where George's rise to power would have caused so much conflict and anger within the court.

But regardless of all that, I still loved the show. Its still worth the watch. The gays deserve more messy sexy dramas where they get to be ruthless and powerful and slutty and murderous. Its excellent viewing for all.

Ultimately though, I may have came for the gay duke and his love affair with the King, but I stayed for the lesbians. The lesbians were awesome.

#JusticeForSandie

[vampireistic]

chapter 44 nb spoilers ♪(´ε｀ )

i sincerely loved this chapter despite it feeling a little short — it’s always comforting to see the brothers genuinely happy when it comes to being together as a family; no demeaning digs at one another, just pure and unadulterated “bliss” (we’ll ignore the mammon bullying for now…)

here are some of my fave lil moments and my rants about certain aspects of the story because solomon is brainrotting me at the moment with all his mystery.

leviathan’s bliss is him sharing his interests with his family and then indulging his delulu behaviour feels like solmare is pulling an aristotle and trying to put a mirror up to society; man, i get it, we’re losers. he’s my fave little freak sometimes (also is this one of the longest rambles he’s given in game….)

favourite screenshot. this man is the definition of burning down the world for one person. also i adore the dynamic between him and the mc where they just prefer to tease him and act dumb/oblivious so he actually has to verbalise how much he loves them LMAO

satan doesn’t deny being in bliss BOTH because he’s surrounded by his beloved cats and his beloved family. he CAN’T even say anything because he knows the truth will come out anyway so he wants to save himself the embarrassment…despite it being very evident on his face as pointed out by leviathan.

i think i’m just little too in love with the idea of a heavily morbid MC, because my initial thoughts behind this falling off the railing scene was that mc’s idea of “bliss” is the adrenaline before death — i mean…it’s not really too far fetched, is it? our silly sheep basically knocks on death’s door while holding a freshly baked pie.

it’s been drilled into memory at this point that a writer chooses to add certain seemingly insignificant scenes to a story for a reason. they could’ve easily not had this, could’ve been replaced by something much more lighthearted and dumber, kept the same available brother interactions and moved on — but there’s certainly a reason why MC is being presented as vulnerable and in need of “saving.”

hey, solomon.

what have you done.

what do you MEEEAANN if you COULD you WOULD have come with us?? just what or WHO are you afraid of — or worse, what being did you offend to get you potentially banned??? this whole thing about solomon and babel has been gnawing at me.

so he’s the only human right now aside from the MC that knows of it’s existence and the general history despite it being only known by the royal family and high ranking angels — yeah okay, a bit weird but this man started a whole war with the devildom by himself and won mind you, so far nothing too bad i suppose. he then takes us to the location, admits he’s actually never even been there himself despite lying to us that he’s a practical expert (another okay…moment, solomon is known for being rather elusive) but then he just disappears soon as we enter babel?

hey buddy, what.

solomon’s entire situation has been so…iffy and weird ever since we “returned” to the “original timeline/present”. i refuse to believe this man upon return to the present day, decided to sneak off into the human world to find “special ingredients for experiments”. SOMETHING is wrong.

[a-moth-called-mof]

Me rambling about the fandom atmosphere during November 16th:

With November 16th hitting the corner, I thought now would be a good time to finally post this post that's been in my drafts forever

I genuinely am of the personal belief that November 16th is one of those things where you had to have been there to fully appreciate and experience it at least in my opinion. I feel like the tense atmosphere leading up to the actual event is something that is not widely talked about in the fandom. A brief reminder for the fans that are new here or that missed the stream where the November 16th War was announced: during stream C! Dream revealed that there was a traitor hiding amongst Pogtopia and said it was someone that you wouldn't expect. This one line lead to multiple fan theories going around the fandom ranging from plausible to very far fetched. The fandom turned into one big game of Among Us and EVERYONE was a suspect.

Here's an old post of my mine that I think does a good job showing the mentality of most fans going into November 16th:

There were so many theories and speculations leading up to it and you genuinely had to be there to see everyone's different theories about who the traitor would be and the couple aus I saw come out of it. It made it so that when the event did happen, no one in the fandom knew who trust and NEITHER DID THE CHARACTERS. It was amazing watching characters debate whether or not to trust eachother live. It made it feel like any discoveries or possible leads that were made were realised by the character and the fandom at the same time, especially love that one scene where C! Tubbo and C! Quackity decide they sort of trust eachother and talk about who they don't trust. I distinctly remembering switching between povs and watching the dashboard lose their shit and how current character mains would be like "OH [CHARACTER] IS ACTING SO SUSPICIOUS :0" or just liveblog whatever characters were doing and it was a really fun way of keeping up with most of the characters even if I couldn't physically watch all their povs at once

This is less about the atmosphere but more something I feel like people don't talk about enough: Phil wasn't on the Dream SMP before November 16th and we had no concrete indication he would be there. There were a lot of fan theories and headcanons about him joining and I remember seeing all the art of him joining on November 16th and at the time thinking "Oh that's really cool but I doubt they'll actually do it" SO I CAN'T DESCRIBE THE SHEER EMOTIONS I FELT WHEN HE JOINED?

I honestly still don't think I'll ever forget watching C! Wilbur press the button and watching everything go to shit at once after such a tense buildup. Whenever I tell my irl friends I once stayed up till 5am on a school night to watch a live minecraft roleplay event, most of them joke or express (VERY UNDERSTANDABLE) concern but I honestly don't regret a thing. I'd do it 30 times over just to experience that again and watch my dashboard go apeshit. November 16th will always be one of my favourite events in any media ever.

[chaotic-toby]

Reasons why I kin Ashley Graves!

... well, I wouldn't say kin, but here is a compilation of relatable moments with explanations!

1.

I felt this in my bones when I first watched a playthrough of the game. There is this girl at school who I despise with a burning passion. It seems like everyone likes her, and in my eyes, she stole my friend. My friend barely even notices me anymore; given, I did start distancing myself, but that is because I noticed that every time she was around, my friend would pay attention to the girl that I hate instead of me. Now, I'm not saying that my friends cannot have other friends, but I basically became the friend that you hang out with when your main friend wasn't around. That is exactly what happened.

Everyone likes the girl more than me...

Now I know in this scene, Ashley was being manipulative, but I like to believe that she was voicing her genuine thoughts, or at least something similar to how she actually feels about Nina. And I have definitely thought something similar to this about the girl I mentioned earlier.

2.

Again, I know she is being manipulative, but as I said before, I think she is being slightly genuine, and I've had similar thoughts. I know people do like me-- my family and the few friends and acquaintances I have-- but it feels like they are putting up with me out of pity or because they feel like they have to.

I cannot fathom people genuinely liking me for the person I am, especially since I am an awful friend who can't even be bothered to check up on their friends.

3.

Whenever something bad happens, I think I compartmentalize. I push it away and try to focus on other stuff, acting like the bad thing doesn't bother me or doesn't affect me. Which is probably why my family isn't as worried about me as they should be.

4.

Me to myself every day. What is wrong with me? I mean, there has to be something that pushes people away, that makes it so that everyone I know prefers to hang out with other people over hanging out with me. I am no one's favourite person, and I never will be.

Why can't I just be normal?

5.

Ahaha, my sister once gave me a ring that costed her 50 cents, and I wear it everywhere I go. I love the ring so much. Also, a week ago, my mom bought me a stuffed dog because it reminded her of me and because I was upset the day prior. She didn't have to buy me anything, but she did. So now, I cherish that stuff dog just as much as I do when it comes to my favourite stuffed animal.

I named the stuff dog William.

6.

This is just the same as the earlier examples. She is mostly being manipulative or something, but this is relatable so I'm adding it

(There was another image I wanted to add to this reason but then I wouldn't have been able to add the image for reason seven)

7.

Now this image-- this moment at least in Ashley's mind-- is super duper relatable to me. I cannot remember the last time I felt like I was a part of my family. My family has barely done anything to make me feel ostracized, but for some reason, I just do. I remember numerous times where my family were talking about this and that, and I would just sit there, not chiming in at all, just watching them have so much fun without me.

I remember one time, I was in my room folding laundry, and I could hear my family laughing in the living room. They were having so much. I couldn't see them since I was in my room, but in my mind, I imagined a happy family (though my family has been far from happy).

Another moment that happened months ago was when my sister and her husband visited to eat with me and my mother. My sister and mother were talking about the houses my sister was looking at (she and her husband were planning on moving from the house they were living in at the time). At first, I tried to chime in, but they kept... I wouldn't say ignore me, but I couldn't really keep up with the conversation, so I just sat back and scrolled through Pinterest for God-knows-how-long.

My family looked happy. To me, it was like I was watching them on a t.v. That I wasn't actually there.

So yeah, in Ashley's mind, no matter how hard she tries to sit the Pink bunny at the dinner table, it won't sit up. She doesn't fit in with the family of bunnies, which is relatable and how I feel half the time I'm around my own family.

[nanatsuyu]

I feel like it’s not talked about enough that early in the books Kevin is the only person we see Andrew initiating any type of physical closeness/touch with at all … also thinking about how they’re described physically with each other in Son of Nefes like. so much tenderness (@ your tags about how Andrew carries himself around Kevin and Neil)

I definitely think their closeness in the beginning gets overshadowed a lot by how close Andrew and Neil get later in the series. And that's not a diss on andreil! I think it's important to Andrew's character to see that while Neil played a very large part in letting Andrew explore his boundaries and grow comfortable with physical affections, there were others that helped in that healing along the way too.

One of my favourite scenes is the one where Kevin takes his glove off for Andrew to inspect his hand for any damages. It's written in such a way that implies they weren't paying any attention to the rest of the world around them. Matt had been carded, the play was over and a fight had broken out, and during that sliver of time, either Andrew had hailed Kevin over or he'd gone of his own volition to the goal for Andrew to give his injuries a one over. Kevin knew he was going to get swapped out, and they both turned somewhat surprised when Dan called out to Kevin, as if the game being in play was an afterthought. (Which, considering it's Kevin, seems somewhat ooc since he always knows what's going on on court).

And, although we don't have the exact words regarding Andrew's deal with Kevin, it was implied in the most basic terms that Andrew would protect Kevin from Riko. (There's obviously nuance here given Andrew's bodyguard tendencies when Kevin gets into later spats with people, but for the sake of how vague most of Andrew's deals are spoken aloud, I think it's safe to assume he promised to protect Kevin from his big bad not sibling in the same way he promised to have Neil's back). All that just to say... It wasn't really in their deal for Andrew to protect or look after Kevin outside of his affiliations with the Ravens. And yet, even after threatening to break his own hand before all this, because Kevin annoyed the piss out of him so much, here he was, inspecting Kevin's hand and putting the game on hold to do so.

This injury has nothing to do with Riko or the Ravens. So, in terms of their deal, he didn't really need to dote on Kevin like that. And yet.

And yet.

And this is really only one instance of them being glued at the hip. Andrew does a lot of redirecting of Kevin's person in the same way we see him do later with Neil. Like you said as well, Kevin's the only one for some pages that we see Andrew physical with that isn't necessarily reactionary or defensive. I know Andrew was still on his meds at the time, but this line came across to me as him literally shoving Andrew down court who didn't seem to take much issue with the it:

He doesn't make much mention of it, but if I had to wager a guess, these moments of familiar contact are not a new thing upon Neil's arrival.

(Also it's been a hot minute since I skimmed through son nefes (the ec and I are on cherry picking terms most days) but I know Renee saw it too.)

Like it makes me insane to think about how their deal didn't have to incorporate all that closeness. It didn't require Andrew to become intertwined with the rest of Kevin's life and daily going on's. He could have agreed to keep him on a leash from getting dragged out of the fox den by the Ravens and called it a day, but we can see clear as day that Andrew treats his relationship with Kevin far more delicately than that. In terms of canon, the best friend (platonic soul bond or whatever title floats your fancy) behaviour jumped out of Andrew so fast, I'm shocked how anyone could overlook it.

And I haven't even touched on how Wymack views their relationship, or Kathy's show, or the role Andrew plays as Kevin's other half post Evermore, or the first genuine smiles are the ones they give each other, or the pseudo threat of the butter knife scene, or whatever they had going on here:

Like, there are certainly motions that can be considered varying levels of tender, but I do think it's important to remember that Andrew's gestures should not be measured with the same scale as say someone like Renee. We can obviously see in later chapters that Andrew can be incredibly gentle (ie the hip kiss that ruined my life), but I think it's a disservice to Andrew's character to understate how close he and Kevin are through the series, both physically and emotionally.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Just started Medjed arc of P5R; here are my current thoughts on the characters I know so far:

Joker: Look, I know people say he's a "self-insert" but I really, really see a few very distinct personality traits in him. He's lost in thought a lot. He zones out. He's really goal-driven. He's clever. He's a risk-taker. He's wary of consequences. He takes a little while to trust people, especially adults. He's suspicious and easily annoyed. He's on your side. He wants to help. He's a snarky little shit. His compassion is as much his defiance as his bitter disdain. He's hesitant. He's confident. He's bluffing. His respect is earned. His assistance isn't. He's free. He's chained. He's larger than life. He's a dumbass dork of a teenager. Incredibly fun character to play as, 10/10. I love that you can actually see him becoming more confident as time goes on. His dialogue options also become sillier/snarkier/more teasing as he becomes closer with people. It's just fun. I have a lot more thoughts on him but I'm going to stop here. I'd love to do a bit of an analysis on him once I finish the game - I'd like to go back through his main story dialogue options and his idle and specific scene animations. Plus, they seriously popped off with his character design. There's so much I could say about that alone.

Ryuji: Ryuji, my beloved. I wish you were less horny in uncomfortable ways in some scenes - I think, as well as Atlus not knowing what teenage girls are like, they also have not... spoken to people raised by single mothers, or mothers who got out of an abusive relationship... but anyways, asides from that, I love Ryuji. I think his desire for popularity makes a lot of sense - he's only ever stood out in a bad way. He just wants to be liked, you know? And he doesn't think he's enough the way he is. He's trying his best. I need him to shut up so bad but also I hope he never shuts up, you know. He's genuinely so funny, and he's the most ride or die of anyone. Ryuji gets angry on everyone's behalf when they can't muster up their own anger yet. Everyone say thank you, Ryuji.

Morgana: I do not get the hate for this not-cat; he's so funny to me. He's becoming a little more aligned to the thieves' morality, which is probably for the best since at the beginning he was definitely down with accidental murder and totally open about his pragmatism. He actually encourages this in Joker. It's just funny. I love my emotional support not-cat bestie who sits in my desk at school then tells me to go strike shady deals with random people in back alleys. You can definitely see a change in Morgana though; he's becoming more excited about helping people for the sake of it (like Joker, he too has gained purpose), but he's also becoming more insecure.

Ann: She remains my favourite of the Thieves. If Ryuji is the original drive and Morgana the original method, then she is the original conviction. The strength to stand with victims. The desire to force those who hurt others to understand the feelings of said victims. She has the rawest fucking lines at the end of the Kamoshida arc. She loves Shiho so much, and I really feel like her and Joker are on the same page when it comes to things deeper than their surface level interests. Get you a friend like Ann fr. It's a shame that later scenes have her mostly just getting mad at the guys when they uhhh... act like horny guys towards her. Feels bad man, especially because I love the aspect of her character that wants to be more comfortable with her sexuality and have that be on her terms. <- That's really cool, actually! Why couldn't we do more with that...? As a note though, I seriously love her admiration towards female cartoon villains and that one mean girl model. I think that's so funny and also such a mood. I do not believe for one second that Ann is straight. I hope she becomes the sexy and confidant morally-ambiguous thief of her dreams, and also that she gets a girlfriend. It's what she deserves.

Yusuke: He's so dramatic. Do you expect me not to love him? I really loved his conflict during Madarame's arc - those revelations were absolutely brutal, and Yusuke really handled things well, all things considered. Again, like Ann, there were some raw lines in there. But then, of course, the slump on the other end, when the adrenaline wears off. That Yusuke's painting only showed the dark side of desire tells me that he is still grappling with the effects of all these reveals. He has a lot to process.

Makoto: I just think she's so cute. Her design is adorable. She's such a sweetheart. On the flip side though, while I don't find her as intimidating as the game seems to, I definitely would not want her mad at me. While, as I mentioned before, I found the lead up to her joining the thieves to be a little janky, the actual moment was great. I love that she has a support system now. She really needed that. I hope there are more scenes with her in group settings tbh. While I'm enjoying her one-on-one dynamics with Ryuji and Ann, I do feel like she doesn't really... gel with the group as well as, say, Yusuke did. I think they need to drag her out to more activities lol.

Sojiro: I still don't know yet? He seems like the tough love sort. I do enjoy getting to learn random coffee trivia from him, and it seems like he cares in a kind of gruff way. He also gets a lot of suspicious people coming by. Guess I'll find out more later.

Maruki: Again, I don't know much still. He's endearing and dorky. That salt bae thing still lives rent-free in my head. I feel his frustration with not being able to help more. I get it man. I will say though, the fact that we get to see scenes with the thieves and Maruki, with no Joker present, is... odd.

Kasumi: I... I don't know how to feel. She's too nice. She's too polite. All of her scenes are so weirdly convenient. I like her just fine, but there's something seriously off. I almost feel like she's an outlier on purpose, like she doesn't blend into the world. Unlike Maruki, who is new to Royal but blends into the story quite nicely, Kasumi really stands out, to the point it kind of feels like that was the intention. She is adorable, though, I won't deny that, and I do want her to succeed and all, I just... hm. I don't know how to feel about her.

Akechi: I could fix him (smack him upside the head). <- okay but seriously, he is so obviously suspicious, he so obviously knows about Joker, he's such a smarmy little shit. I would despise him irl, but he's absolutely the funniest character in the game right now. Everything he says has me either cackling or my jaw dropping at the fucking audacity. He's also really interesting to me. Love a character whose every line means three things rolled into one. He feels dangerous and weirdly endearing at the same time. What the hell is his problem (affectionate + derogatory).

Yoshida: YOSHIDA MY ABSOLUTE BELOVED. I love him so far. He's my favourite confidant right now. He just makes me so happy man I love him so much. Yoshida takes the hard road and he's got the conviction, but you need support from people to really turn your life around. Hey, that's kind of what the game is about, yeah?

Takemi: Oh I love her confidant so far. I don't know that she's one of my favourites, character-wise, but I was especially taken with her dedication to that medicine, and Joker's response to her saying that she doesn't suit everyone coming to her for medical help by countering her with an "it suits you". Very sweet. I'm getting close to finishing her confidant; I just need to level up charm.

Mishima: I'm almost done his confidant too! I actually enjoy Mishima's character. I feel like his downward spiral made a lot of sense, and I like that he's both helpful and made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I especially like that he's pulling himself out of that fame mentality by himself, without his heart being changed. We just gave his shadow something to think on.

Kawakami: Idk how I feel about this, but the perks are good. I'm curious about her though.

Sae: She seems dedicated to her job. Forming a confidant with her during the interrogation was something I did not expect and had me going "ohohoho". But man, some of the stuff she says to Makoto is way out of line... I'm glad she's at least aware as soon as it leaves her mouth, and I cannot imagine the constant stress and scrutiny she's under but... still. Girl. :/

Iwai: I'm going to properly start his confidant soon. He's cool. I feel like he's not nearly as scary as he makes himself out to be.

Ohya: Don't know much about her so far, but she's a disaster, and I will always enjoy a good disaster woman.

Lala: SHE'S PERFECT. I wish there was a mechanic where you could get advice from Lala-chan. She's looking out for everybody. She's good. :)

Chihaya: She told me I'm gonna die... :(

[distant-screaming]

By far my favorite part of episode one has been the bathroom scenes, and by that I mean. Bathrooms are often shown as being private spaces or a place to show a person's honest emotions (often things like secret conversations or breakdowns). As a show that starts off in a bar, I'm not at all surprised to see a couple of bathroom moments, and I'm just going to lay out what I think about it!

We're introduced to Ray in the bathroom, clearly drunk enough to feel sick - and this choice makes me think that while he's full of bluster and ego, Ray is pretty transparent with his emotions. With the glaring exception of his feelings for Mew, he's been straightforward with everyone and tends to not beat around the bush - instead choosing to be blunt and often rude.

The next bathroom scene is the one in Sand's house, where he helps our favourite pathetic disaster throw up and then fall asleep. It's an interesting scene because despite not liking Ray much, if at all, Sand rubs his back and helps him comfortably fall asleep (even going so far as to change his clothes). I think it's an interesting look at his character and how he treats others.

Then we have This Scene, which was intriguing to me for many different reasons, one of which is that both Boston and Top here are honest. Boston is clear about how he's jealous, about how he wants to (at least) sleep with Top again - through his actions and words both - whereas Top is clear about how he sees Mew as a... game, almost, but he's genuinely interested in the game. And isn't that fun - that Top and Boston are the two characters that have been the most honest with each other this episode?

[emeraldhazeart]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much for the tag @hikamaus 💚 This looks really fun.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

At this moment, I have 32 works on Ao3 (most of them oneshots)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

At the time of posting this, it's 146,576, but I'm very close to posting the next chapter of Solace

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Undertale right now, but I also occasionally write for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and Sonic the Hedgehog

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Leaving a Mark

2. Robin's Nest

3. Solace

4. In Your Corner

5. Riding Therapy

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I love responding to comments! Even if it's just an emoji, I try to say thank you in reply, so they know I appreciate them taking the time to leave a comment.

I know there are some comments that I haven't gotten round to responding to, and those haunt me. Please know that it's either because I don't have the spoons at this moment, or because it's been so long that I'm shy about replying. But I genuinely do appreciate each and every comment I receive. 💚

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably No Man's Land (which also happened to be my first Undertale fic)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've got to say Photograph for that one. It still brings tears to my eyes rereading it, but they're happy tears.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No one has said anything directly to me, but I did stumble upon a comment someone left elsewhere saying that one of my fics wasn't their thing because they "[didn't] like how the story is being told".

That really hurt at the time, especially as there was no other context as to why they felt that way. But my friends gave me encouragement and support.

Please be aware that anything you say online can eventually find it's way to the author, so please be kind.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't, sorry.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not really. I've written crossovers featuring characters from separate games in the same franchise before, but nothing that spans entirely different franchises

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I would be delighted if anyone enjoyed my work enough to want to translate it

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would love to 💚

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Do Canon Character x Reader stories count? No?

Hmm... I can't think of any that would be my OTP. I generally prefer familial/platonic relationships, tbh

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None of my WIPs are abandoned. But probably most of the original stories I've started and then never finished over the years. It's just much harder for me to maintain motivation when I don't have anyone reading my work and cheering me on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've always loved painting a scene or an emotion with words.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oof, so many 😅 one thing I struggle with is wanting to post what I've written straight away. Sometimes that can work, like freshly baked bread. But most of the time it's like a plain cake: it needs time to cool, and then be assembled/decorated/finished in order to get the best experience from it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'd only do it if I was totally confident that I'd gotten it right. A common or short phrase would be my limit otherwise. If I really wanted to write dialogue in another language, I'd ask someone fluent in the language to help me with the translation and proof read my work.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think it was actually Legend of Zelda. I was about 12, and my brother, his friend and I made ourselves LoZ Ocarina of Time OCs. We started writing a fic of them, but never got very far.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Probably Photograph. I'm a sucker for a moving reunion scene, and that fic genuinely brought tears to my eyes as I was writing it.

No pressure tags (I'm going to try to avoid tagging anyone that @/hikamaus already tagged 😅) : @sneakyfox55 @hannah-heartstrings @lizzie-tempest @robanilla @thebeckster and anyone else that would like to have a go 💚

[sitp-recs]

Hi I looooooooooove your rec lists you have helped me through SO much by making it available to read any kind of fic I need at that time!!

I was hoping for any recommendations for angsty & ptsd drarry fics with nightmares and anxiety/ panic attacks. But Draco and Harry help eachother through it and use sex/BDSM as a coping mechanism / to help each other heal. My all time favourite is Scenes of Surrender by Rasborealis, but I've never found anything like it.

Hi there friend, so happy to know you enjoy the recs! Scenes of Surrender is fantastic and while I don’t read a lot of BDSM in general, I do love me some fics exploring mental health issues and sex as a coping mechanism. I hope you enjoy these, btw I haven’t read Freedom to be but from what I’ve heard it might be a good fit :)

Begin As You Mean To Go On by @doubleappled (E, 2.8k)

The first time, it was an accident. The second time, Harry’s going to have to ask.

A Pain of Our Choosing by @lqtraintracks (E, 6k)

It’s 8th year and everyone’s still a bit messed up. Harry and Draco fall into being messed up together.

Wicked Game by Cassiopeias_shadow (E, 20k)

Harry and Draco fall into a spring that allows them to enter into each other’s dreams - but Harry doesn’t quite understand what’s happening, not at first. Why does he keep seeing Draco having kinky sex with a dream version of Harry? And furthermore, why does he like it?

Inside Your Mind by @lazywonderlvnd (E, 36k)

Goyle's taken it upon himself to act as Malfoy's personal, one-man guard and Harry can't help but feel like it's only making the bullying worse.

He Who Must Not Be Normal by lettered (E, 41k)

Potter has fame and fortune and posh clothes and all he wants is a simple life. Draco has a flat and a cat and a steady job and all he wants is a complicated life. Which makes you think this story has something exciting like body-swapping, but it doesn’t.

The Waiting by @oknowkiss and @babooshkart (E, 43k)

It’s been almost ten years since Draco Malfoy disappeared during a routine Curse Breaker training exercise. Harry, his partner in more ways than one, is determined to figure out why. As the past resurfaces and the present fades into confusion, Harry discovers the only thing more unreliable than memory is love.

What Shall Not Be Unearthed by @iero0 (E, 49k)

At the northernmost point of Shetland, surrounded by pointed cliffs, towers the Ootsta Lighthouse on a small isle in the middle of the open sea. Little does Harry know that he's not the only new lighthouse keeper. Draco Malfoy is as obnoxious as he always was, with his posh tone of voice and his luxury yacht jumpers. Harry tries his best to avoid the git—who knows what he's up to anyway?

Chocolate and Pastry by agentmoppet, anemonen (E, 50k)

When Pansy bets Draco that there is no chance he and Harry could carry out a genuine romantic relationship, he and Harry form a plan. But as their fake relationship progresses, Draco sees a side of Harry he never expected. Harry is struggling with something, pushing it far down inside him where he doesn't have to acknowledge its existence.

I Am Not Who I Became by mab_di (E, 93k)

Draco left England after the trials and has travelled the world meeting wizards and Muggles from different cultures and with vastly different relationships to magic, each other, and the natural world. Now he's a fisherman in Finland on commercial vessels. Harry has been struggling since the war and has become a recluse while trying to write his autobiography.

[sebadztian]

Thanks for answering my ask. If you don't mind me asking (again), can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Black Butler? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Hello! Thanks again for the ask. No, nobody has ever asked me that, so I had to think about it. But here it is...

My 5 most favourite characters in BB & why:

1. Sebastian. I love how he's grown from the arrogant and sarcastic demon to 'Sebastian'. I love how surpirsed he is at his own growth and I also love that instead of fighting it, he's actually enjoying the ride? He's certainly aware of these changes, to a certain degree, but he just takes it in stride. I think being as old as he is, he must've been so bored, but with Ciel, he's having fun again (when not facing UT, that is). And of course, I love how possessive and protective he is towards Ciel, even beyond the contract sometimes.

2. Ciel. He's so messed up. He's only 13, but he's committed more crimes than all of England combined 😝 All jokes aside, I love how smart and resourceful he is, how determined he is in achieving his goals. One example is the cricket game. Those bruises all over his hand show just how determined he is and how hard he's practised for this game. He might have other end-goals, but it doesn't change the fact that he's led the Sapphire Owl house to victory. Also, we share similar interests. Just like Ciel, I also like chocolate and Sherlock Holmes.

3. Finny. He's just the sweetest! He's genuinely loyal to o!Ciel and he takes care of him that time in Germany. He always tried his best in taking care of the garden, even though he often gets scolded. I love his cheerful despoition and how he always tried his best - regardless of the result.

4. Charles Phipps. A rather unusual choice, I know. Unlike his partner, Phipps is so calm and collected, but beneath all that, he's a very capable butler and he's actually quite sweet in his own rights, such as fixing the hole on Fin's strawhat and raising the chicken.

5. Tanaka. I don't know where he stands and/or whose side he's on, but I just love how badass he is (slicing a bullet with a sword in the dark of the night), his chibi form, and how wise he is. I think he's one of the very few individuals whom Seb respected (as much as a demon could respect a human, that is). Seb even took his advice to heart, such as when he told Wolf (Gelzer) what Tanaka told him abot how a butler shouldn't die before his master. I think he did play some role in shaping Sebastian into the demon he was today.

Top 5 favourite moments (in the order they appear in the manga):

1. When Seb & Ciel revealed their tricks to Arthur Doyle. It's when we can see how they did everything, how they've calculated every move and how well they work together as a team. I think it's very cleverly done!

2. When Undertaker first revealed his Death Scythe. I think this moment is so cool, especially in the BoA movie with the animation and the sound effects and everything!

3. Sebastian's cinematic record. I love to watch them learn together to be the earl and his butler. I most especially love how far they've gotten since those early days, how much they both have changed. Bonus: the song 'I'm the Butler, You're the Earl' from the Tango on Campania musical is one of my favourites!

4. The scene when Seb wanted to eat Ciel in Green Witch arc. I think this is a very important moment in their relationship. I love that instead of succumbing to the gas, Ciel rose above it and run after Seb. I still don't know for sure what's happening and how much influence Seb has in Ciel's 'dream sequence', but Ciel chose Sebastian.

5. To follow up on #4, I love everything about these panels.

From how relaxed they are around each other, the string that seems to connect them, how they tease each other like old married couple, and repeated each other's words. Everything about this part is so lovely!

There are many other parts/moments that Iove throughout the series, but those are my top five.

Thanks again for the ask!

[the-malfunctioning-somnambulist]

Okay, my own Tedward Lobo boohoo post incoming, thanks to the deleted scenes. Sorry for retelling the plot ig.

As a rule, the most horrible stuff in a movie happens to comic relief characters (looking at Kevin, the "he can control rats with his mind" guy). And "Renfield" is a horror (!) comedy (!!), which makes things worse.

Teddy's family and, on a larger scale, the city itself is a rather closed system. And in this environment the only way to prove oneself is the kind of violence Teddy can't stomach. The deleted scene with him and Mandy downstairs makes it clear that Mandy is Bellafrancesca's favourite, the one who will probably inherit the empire because she /is/ ready to go far enough (regardless of if she's been conditioned or if she's just that brand of Weird Little Girl TM). Maybe Teddy has been behind the white curtain too and knows he'd rather not step in there again.

And yes, he tries to prove himself in small ways (like terrifying one specific cop), but the existence of Mandy as viable competition explains why he's always that high, why he brags so much, why he desperately wants to be taken seriously by Rebecca: he knows he's lost the family game. He's smart enough to know he's a failed cause, and he tries to drown that out and be more of a clown than he actually is because that feels safe. Because from this underachiever clown position you can still sometimes surprise people with your Lobo ruthlessness and feel, for a moment, that you're enough.

He can be a decent talker, and he probably thinks it's his strong side, because he constantly uses that as self-defense with his mom, Rebecca, and especially with Dracula to buy some time or soften the blow. That's the behaviour of someone who considers himself bad at /doing/ stuff. He really has internalized it.

But then there's Dracula and Renfield's divorce.

Dracula is historically the kind of villain who draws on the subconscious and brings out the worst in people. Cage's Dracula is less of a symbol and has quite a lot of personality, but everyone around still projects their insecurities onto him: Renfield knows he's not a good person and chooses to blame Dracula for all of that, and Teddy ends up as ""susceptible"" to Dracula's powers not because his mind is actually weaker or whatever (god that whole piece of lore was so antisemitic). Teddy simply gives himself up to Dracula because he already thinks he's worthless.  As in, worthless by himself, only good for someone else's business, a husk that doesn't stop being a husk because it was filled. It's a semi-conscious choice, but not a character flaw like Renfield's commitment issues. Teddy is less in it for the powers of a familiar (but sure, let's just call a visibly Jewish guy "greedy") and more for the security of being and /doing/ enough instead of just crashing and burning and bullshitting his way through life.

And again, Dracula is someone to whom you prove yourself with violence, as Renfield has done over the years while bringing him victims. And again, Teddy fails and gets killed in a pretty horrific way, played for coolness like a fighting game fatality hit. He can't be enough for the system he lives in, and he can't escape it even by giving his loyalty to an outsider (which he was genuinely ready to do because his mom's ally is his ally), and this internal conflict kills Teddy even before Bobby does.

But with all that insecurity going on, Teddy is loved, if in a condescending way - and he KNOWS that he's loved. One deleted scene that hurt to see was the moment when Teddy returns to the Lobo mansion and everyone is overjoyed, not just because of the money he throws around but because, well, he's still part of the family, their lovable doofus and the life and soul of their parties. And he strolls upstairs, confident that his mother will welcome him - and hearing the opposite actually comes as a surprise. He is loved, but not /trusted/ in the way Mandy is. He is not respected. Maybe if there was no love, he'd have a chance at leaving, but to those who love him, Teddy is loyal to the death where Renfield is a cheater trying to make his former family into a sob story for Rebecca.

Teddy's tragedy is that he could thrive and just be a fun dude in a different environment but he cannot see himself in any other context. He desperately affirms, again and again, "I'm Teddy fucking Lobo!" - both claiming he's a valid member of the family and announcing himself as a person. Except even in this case he doesn't use his full name, doesn't own its ridiculousness - he lacks the self-confidence for that. Always a Teddy, never a grown-up Tedward. Always a son, never the head of the household. From Bella to Mandy, the Lobo family might well be turning into a matriarchy anyway.

Tragedy is always about a person in the wrong circumstances, and this is highlighted by the yin yang thing: Teddy wants to inspire fear instead of pity, and Renfield wants to inspire pity instead of fear. Teddy wants to pretend he has more agency than he does, and Renfield wants to pretend he had less agency than he did. Teddy could probably enjoy some normal parties with no bloodshed involved, and Renfield could fit right into the Lobo family with his habit of self-righteously terrifying and dismembering those he kills/brings to Dracula (mind you, Dracula himself never mutilates the bodies that much, he usually does the bare minimun to kill a person).

It's all just kinda sad.

tl;dr Teddy makes himself more obnoxious on purpose because he's the loser older brother in a society he doesn't fit into and he knows it and copes through aggressive clowning but cannot get out except in death.

[autumnwoodsdreamer]

Hello there!!

The characters ask game: Number 25 and 23 for Agent Kallud, my beloved One ♡

PD: I love your works <333

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I had to really think deep on this one.

The first time watching Rebels, I didn’t take much note of ole Kallus. He didn’t feel all that threatening, just a bad-guy-of-the-week. Like, Star Wars villains tend to have a certain presence—unnerving, sinister, vile (ones like Tarkin, Maul, and the Grand Inquisitor embody that)—but he didn’t inspire much revulsion or hatred. I didn’t think he was a weak antagonist (especially not when he kept going on about leading the Lasan massacre and we had no reason not to believe him), but every time the Ghost crew came up against him, I just knew they were gonna send him limping home and grumbling, shaking his fist and vowing to get them next time.

But then.

Oh man.

Still to this day, I don’t know if his redemption was planned from the beginning or something pulled together behind the scenes in between seasons 2 and 3. I honestly cannot tell. Because watching it through and going back to the beginning, it so looks like he could go either way (he puts on a lot of bluster but there’s moments where we see he’s genuinely shocked at the Empire’s tactics, all the way back in the first season, but he believes in it and he has taken part in some truly heinous things).

I was pretty neutral about him until season 3 when he started taking the role of Fulcrum (and he took it far). By Zero Hour, he was cemented as a favourite (and I was so worried they were gonna dispatch him, go with that lame old redemption-through-sacrifice trope which I’m so glad they didn’t, I’m glad they let him join the Rebels and get the chance to work for his atonement).

And I have to say I am endlessly amazed at how he kept his cool especially around Thrawn. He deserves a medal for that kind of courage.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Ooh, I don’t have it on hand, but I’d have to say my favourite picture would be a still of that scene when Ezra Force-flings Kallus into the glass panel (to make it look like they were fighting). The very split second when Kallus is just a surprised starfish in the air cracks me up every time.

Character Ask Game