#good stories have no need for them bc they dont exist in real life

[natandacat]

Again, what I've seen of trigun so far is asking us to take a huge moral stance: do we, as readers, believe that the well-being, autonomy and life of plants matter as much as humans'?

You can only see naï as a black-and-white villain if you answer no to that question. And the narrative is not encouraging you to feel good about yourself for that answer.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Oh god now that toh ends with luz being able to travel between worlds ppl are using that to dunk on amphibia. And now that belos died ppl are using that to dunk on su.

They are different shows people! They have different themes! Amphibia is a classic take on isekai as escapism! Marcy went to amphibia to avoid her real life and while she had fun she didnt mature until after she accepted she needed to embrace change in her life! Anne matured in amphibia bc she always recognized that she has her own life to get back to! Sasha matured after realizing that too! Leaving amphibia for good means to embrace the step out of childhood! Something thats inevitable for everyone!

The owl house is about finding a community in midst of ostracization! Luz stayed in the boiling isles because she found people who accepted her quirks! The boiling isles was in danger from a bigot and luz helps her new community defeat him! Its a very queer story! Community is the center of the story so it makes sense for luz to be able to go back to the boiling isles since shes maintaining her place in the community!

Steven universe is about choosing to be kind! Its that everyone has their own specific traumas that they can overcome with the right support! Its about surviving in a world of bigots at any cost, even if it you have to work with the bigots to carve out a space for the people you love! Because people like you exist and theres nothing anyone in power can do about it! Its also a very queer story! The diamonds can never stamp out the off colors because they will always be there! Steven works with the diamonds not because he likes them but because they can improve the world for his family if only he could get through to them! Hes rewarded for choosing to be kind with success because the theme of the show is hope! Hope that anyone can change! But even though the diamonds stop being fascist steven still doesnt like them because its not about forgiveness! Its about fixing things! Stevens just polite about it!

The owl house starts off with the assumption that everyone can change but its not about the potential its about the willingness to change! The focus is on belos, whos had every chance to turn his life around but will never admit that hes wrong! And the show posits that if someone isnt willing to change theyre not worth helping! Its not about whether or not the character is fascist its about if theyre willing to stop being fascist! Several characters stop being fascist and are welcomed by the characters with open arms belos just wasnt one of them! Several characters clean up their acts but dont adequately address the previous harm they did and are STILL fully forgiven eventually! For toh forgiveness is paired with fixing things you just need to give it time!

And theres an argument that some of these shows didnt do their themes well. If you wanted to portray amphibia as an escapism world that the girls need to leave behind to get to their richer futures then having them get such caring found families go against that by giving them a potential of a good life in the isekai world. Steven universe uses the diamonds as metaphors for mental illness and relationships but its hard to stick with that when you also need to consider the countless other gems they hurt. I think its also fair if people prefer one theme over another.

But a lot of stuff i see comparing these shows just go over surface similarities? Like oh shit! These two shows have the same character archetypes! They have the same inciting incident! This must mean that theyre exactly the same in everything but names and artstyle and are trying to say the exact same things! Like. No. Sometimes,,,,,two stories,,,,,,can talk about two different things,,,,,,,

[suffarustuffaru]

i need to share my very horrible idea to combine the reinhard/julius/otto/subaru boy drama into one julius-centric fic

ok so a little while ago ive made all kinds of ottojuli and reinjuli posts and while i havent finished all my major julisuba posts Yet i am quite fond of julisuba also and i think itd be incredibly funny if you just dumped all of these ships into one story. just go ALL IN on that boy drama!!!! go big or go home amirite!!!! the worlds WORST love trapezoid youve ever seen!!!!

this post is just me rambling fic ideas bc i sadly dont have time for Every Fic Idea and also i just. i just think itd be funny putting multiple ships with the same person in them into one fic. on a serious level its like mimicking real life relationships where sometimes people come and go and you have different dynamics with each person!! on another level i just think this is also very funny so!! here we go. under the cut:

anyway so my idea for this is that you know, julius of course meets reinhard when hes ten and reinhard is eight and then it alters julius's brain chemistry. at first he's in complete awe of reinhard. and then over time the shame starts setting in. that julius isnt as strong as reinhard. and the jealousy sets in a bit too, so julius's got this chip in his shoulder trying to carry his family's legacy and trying to carry the weight of knighthood to be as perfect as possible. to be as close to reinhard as he can. they meet again in their teens and julius shows reinhard the ropes of like basic knight stuff bc reinhard just joined the knights. and of course reinjuli become friends but julius has spent his whole life quietly watching reinhard from afar and now julius still has that distance with reinhard even as theyre supposedly friends now. reinhard is a God, you know? his powers and his leash from the kingdom and his family keep him distant and the two of them are ignoring that. classic homoerotic "do i want him or want to be him" friendship where both of you are too scared to get any closer for various reasons with a Twist (reinhard's very real monster complex that keeps getting validated bc Everyone Around Him thinks hes a monster).

anyway but then julius remembers that you know, shit between reinhard and him wont work out for many reasons, like reinhards family deciding to torment julius at various points in his life (heinkel, whos julius's boss, and reid, who went from julius's childhood idol to. you know.), and also reinhard needs to have kids because hes the sword saint, and also homophobia exists in rezero. and also even if those werent all obstacles julius still has his Complexes connected to reinhard and they got that distance between them so. no go. (repression gets in the way of relationships :((( )

also quick side note is that ex 4 happens and julius reinhard ferris go to vollachia and julius interrupts a meeting with vincent vollachia himself to go "I UNDERSTOOD THAT LITERARY REFERENCE YOU JUST MADE. THATS A REALLY GOOD REFERENCE I LIKED IT A LOT" bc hes a massive nerd and ig this is slightly-more-of-a-disaster-gay julius au so julius is like ............................. vincent was kinda cool for that.

AND THEN SUBARU CRASHES INTO JULIUS'S LIFE and julius is like seeing this guy who's also got a chip in his shoulder and then he insults the knights and says the knights are all depending on their dads (nepotism) and julius is like .......the chip in my shoulder was bad enough and also youre kinda like me fr. and you are clearly a fucking misguided kid so now i have to save your ass. i cant NOT save your ass. and reinhards like "julius and subaru nooo you dont have to do this :((((" and julius cant admit atm that hes also doing this to save subarus life so julius is just like "he disrespected the knights >:(((("

but yes we all know what happened there. julius saves subarus life. julius has to slice subarus throat in that one failed loop. they become friends across several timelines. they also homoerotically share souls, you know, typical bromance things, rivals to lovers except subarus the one going YOURE MY RIVAL and julius is like he is SUCH an upstart. hes really grown on me like a fungus but thats the appeal. and julius i think sees subaru as like a kindred spirit (or at least thats how i interpret julisuba) except subaru is like way more freer than julius is. same desire to prove yourself but subarus not restraining himself constantly like julius. its sometimes to the point of recklessness and general stupidity and what have you, but his boldness and bravery and determination and heart really is admirable.........................

yeah so anyway julius falls for ANOTHER guy again, you know how it is sometimes. the heart wants what it wants and julius is cursed to always have the worst meetings with his closest friends. and of course julius gets heartbroken bc wtf i have to kill my new friend :((( noo!!!! but in the finished loop its like. oh subaru...... hes really improved himself. hes grown so much already. hes kind of. inspirational really. idk how he does it. except subarus you know got that Mystery to him the same way reinhard does (theyre traumatized and Cant Take About It Normally so they just randomly lore drop what they can) and also subarus SUPER into emilia. and julius is like .................... well. subarus taken. haha. and reinhards. taken. fuck me. fuck. and like somethings going on with subaru and rem and emilia right. fuck. and subarus got his whole toxic masculinity / gender crisis..... and he doesnt know hes Bisexual yet...... man. what a loss for julius amirite haha.

and also subarus busy after arc 3........... and julius has no idea whats happening there but that seems Real serious :(( and julius's got other things to attend to so he hopes subaru reaches out to him eventually..... or that they cross paths again since subarus in the emilia camp and julius is in ana camp (and of course reinhard is in felt camp and like that was a whole debacle bc wtf. reinhard, u do know thatd be a big deal to our mutual friend felix?). so. julius pines from afar ONCE AGAIN HAHA.

(also of course subarus still attracted to reinhard here. its um. well julisuba can bond now over pining over reinhard but thats for later also!!)

anyway of course during arc 3 julius briefly runs into some gray haired merchant twink thats being dragged around by subaru bc ana camp rescued this guy from a cave somewhere??? and this new guy and subaru made a deal or whatever so he was just helping out in the background of the fight against sloth??

and whaddya know................ julius goes to drink at a bar bc you know he probably tastes wine for fun in his free time (hes definitely Fond of wine anyway iirc) and now hes Sad over the Ones That Got Away so. bar it is. and gray haired merchant twink is there!! no way. they start talking a bit casually while drinking you know and julius's taste is Unfortunately either the graceful ones (anastasia, because julius has great taste in women) or the cringe fail ones (all the twinks - except for felix - that julius keeps having the wildest first meetings with, because julius has slightly shit taste in men) so julius is like huh this otto guys kinda funny lol. endearing in a weird way!! and -

oops they both end up being a little. they make a little bit of a move on each other. bc they were drinking and got a Bit tipsy. ottos Also not over the one that got away (subaru) (again) and hey. the finest knight truly is. Fine. objectively fine. totally. so you know. things get a little out of hand, maybe they do a bit of cringe fail flirting hidden underneath five million layers of repression and the Horrors of Being Known but ultimately they both embarrass themselves somehow (read: how far they went with each other while under the influence is up to you) and agree to Never Speak of This Again bc oopsies they were both technically each other's first time being Straightforwardly Not Straight with another man. oops. anyway julius has to go back to his camp and otto fucking bolts but he bolts right into subaru and gets his ass dragged into sanctuary drama.

julius is totally not a little bit envious about that.................... about otto getting to accompany subaru to sanctuary... but dont worry julius!! youll get to make up for it later!! bc eventually arc 5 stuff happens. and julius is Glad to see reinhard and subaru again. even with all the Baggage. and subaru is of course Weird about julius but eventually subaru reassures julius after they both confide in each other about the astrea drama (theyre honorary astreas via being dragged into the astrea family mess). and subarus reassuring to julius in a whole new way okay. subaru, whos unrestrained and incapable of being on the down low about anything, and julius, whos always holding himself back with a gazillion layers of repression, starts learning to let go a bit...

but also juliotto meet again. its terribly awkward and they both agreed to never speak of their awkward encounters again. subaru is going ??? and reinhard is clueless. otto then also goes to save reinhard and felt from heinkel trying to take felt hostage, which was also terribly awkward but reinhard and felt are grateful about it (but lbr if reinhard and otto knew each other deeper reinhard would maybe be a little. Apprehensive. around otto while otto would be sympathetic with reinhard bc hes like male emilia). but then while otto manages not to get erased by gluttony....... julius gets erased. of course. which you know results in being forgotten by reinhard in julius's THIRD first meeting ever with reinhard. and subarus the only one who remembers him of course.

then arc 6 happens :,))))) and julius of course has to confront his ideas of knighthood, his identity, his self esteem, and who he is outside of His Name. and also julius gets his ass beat by reid. his childhood idol. who reinhard KNEW was a shitty person but never ever told julius (whether this is because reinhard wanted to spare julius's hero worship or because reinhard never got the chance to tell julius is hard to say lajdsf). but julius does get to triumphantly win in the end!! grow as a person!!! learn to undo a bit of that repression and not hold himself to impossible standards all the time!! hes growing still!!! hes finally solidified his friendships with people like subaru and emilia!! hes remaking his relationship with anastasia!! hes asserted himself, hes planning on going to meet reinhard again one day and duel him!! things are looking up even if its still bittersweet that he doesnt have his name back yet!! does this mean?? perhaps?? a HAPPY ENDING?? julius can have the two men (reinhard and subaru) he admires the most in his life?????? as friends???? or as boyfriends?????? slowburn mutual pining????????????????????????????????????????

and then comes. arc 8 otto. that piece of shit.

julius is very much someone who has to grapple with the weight of the expectations that people throw at him. and also reinhard is someone who May envy julius a bit, but there's also you know, joshua and subaru with the Explicit Envy and (past) resentment because theyre placing heavy expectations on julius!! theyre pointing blame at julius!! julius is trying to find himself outside of stuff like that, especially after arc 6, but he's still got stuff to work on you know? he still has duties to fulfill!! loyalty that he has to act on bc hes gotta help subaru and co in arc 8!! and then in comes otto.

otto is also someone with expectation placed on him, but its Different. ottos mostly a nobody and when hes Not a nobody, his reputation tends to be Derogatory. hes a menace. hes a bad luck charm. hes grappling with the fact that he has to keep being left behind - post-arc 5 bc he was injured, but also repeatedly during arcs 7 and 8 because hes too physically weak to be on the same playing field as emilia or garfiel or subaru on the battlefield. he feels Useless after placing his identity on the expectation that hes Dependable and Useful.

julius is a bit more on even ground with otto now that julius is. also mostly a nobody bc his name is still gone. and also julius had to deal with having that part of his identity crushed. julius tried to be useful over and over in arc 6 only to get his ass repeatedly curb stomped by reid in the beginning. he was a nobody. he wasnt dependable anymore. and also otto is that one guy he had a Passing Fling with over having The Ones Who Got Away and julius was still vaguely hopeful about maybe being pals at least but ottos brushed him off a bit since arc 5. theyre like each others secrets you know? and now otto doesnt know that shit - julius is the only one who Knows - and otto also hates julius's fucking guts now. over SUBARU. and julius has been through this whole rodeo clown circus with arc 3 subaru so this is an absolutely terrible ride through memory lane.

and this is julius's THIRD twink that hates him for terribly unfair reasons. julius is very tired and a bit heartbroken in this au trying to pretend it doesnt bother him. on one level it doesnt. bc ottos pathetic and clearly Overcompensating for Something. on another level it kinda does bc julius had a Thing going with otto. and otto is the complete opposite of julius. like hes different from the other guys julius has liked.

julisuba is about complimentary opposites - they appear Extremely Different at first glance but theyre very similar. theyre people who try to look and act bigger than they are, people who keep reaching to be The Best, to be Perfect, because theyre overcompensating. theyre worried their entire identity is only built off of trying to be bigger than the shadow that other people in their lives (like their families) cast. but they cant reach perfection. and julius is like subaru but if subaru tried to really make himself "refined" - if he tried to stop putting his heart on his sleeve all the time. reinsuba are very similar too. theyre very refined knights who try to keep themselves in check at all times while the weight of the world is on their shoulders. they cant have a hair out of place. except julius is like the "smaller" version of reinhard. julius is less powerful. its like comparing a human and a "god" - reinhard, whos untouchable. but its a double edged sword, because julius gets to be a normal person, because half the expectation placed on him is also purely from himself, while reinhard isnt. reinhard isnt Free. hes on a leash by the kingdom and his family. julius even gets his kind of "celebrity" status stolen from him via the loss of his name. hes truly kind of Normal now - julius is like if reinhard didnt have his crazy abilities and had a little more of a chance to be free.

otto? yeah otto is. very very far from all of that. hes so obviously imperfect that most of his reputation, when its brought up, is just him being known as a mess who's caused various forms of chaos everywhere he goes. either that or hes just. There. Invisible. very very average. and otto is someone who wants a nice comfortable life, someone who wants to fit in - julius and subaru arent Exactly like that, and while reinhard also wants to be normal, ottos the one who has more of an opportunity. but he doesnt. because otto Dooms Himself by being recklessly cutthroat. otto is like if subaru was just. More of an asshole, so ottojuli would just be a rather Extreme Challenge for julius to have to deal with HAH. and normally otto is someone who repays how people treat him - a very "you treat me like this, i'll treat you the same way in turn" kind of deal, except ottos developed a vendetta against julius and its basically like if subaru never let go of his arc 3 julius vendetta.

yes so anyway. etc etc stuff probably happens but i ran out of ideas lajdlfjasdf i just think combining ALL the boy drama and recontextualizing + adding to canon would be. batshit crazy. and terribly entertaining. im so sorry julius but i want to see you crack a bit under the pressure. reinjuli as a ship is like tragic gay yearning that never goes anywhere past being friends with quiet homoerotic tension, then julisuba is. you know. extreme rivals to lovers, starts out Rough but then ends up being super super sweet and theyre Trying their best underneath the self esteem issues. and then ottojuli is. toxic yaoi at its finest (pun intended). you get Every flavor of mlm possible!!

ok so you may be asking "ok what would you even name this fic then" and to that i say that this would be called To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

anyway i really wanna write this idea someday ill inform you guys (if youre reading this and are Interested) if it ever happens :< so. in conclusion this is just julius the entire time throughout all of these events:

[edsheerankinnie]

favourite less common mlp ship? also if you want to rant about them please do!!!!

ooh this is a tuff one bc i dont have a FAVORITE favorite per say. but there are a couple i do enjoy!

soarburn: ok so i actually wrote a fic on this! Ik theres absolutely no basis for this in or outside of the show, but part of what makes it so fun is imagining all the interactions they COULD have. I mean, think about it, Braeburn's super extroverted, charming, and hospitable; Soarin's an accomplished athlete, plus hes friendly and simplistic--kind of reminds me of their female counterpart (appledash). Like guys imagine Soarin in his suit and Braeburn ~flirting~ w him.. ouhhh imagine their banter !!

lunajack: ok ive actually seen some rlly good takes that got me on this ship! If i didnt hc Luna as aroace it'd 1000% be one of my top ships of all time. They could have such a good princess x pauper dynamic, a high society royal x simpleton farmer union. Plus like others have said, Applejack is one of the most people ponies ever and has this inherent, idk kindness?? and Luna meanwhile has this huge distance from others because of her years of exile, her particular role as a princess, and all of the walls shes built up from the guilt of nightmare moon. She was one of the first ponies to try and connect to luna in the most welcoming way possible despite her aura that one time she visited ponyville. Hell even luna called her "fair Applejack" at some point😭 like u cannot tell me aj's heart didnt at LEAST skip a beat😭. imagine being a farmgirl just hangin out in a scarecrow fit on nightmare night and the literal goddess of the moon calls you "fair" in return for some of your help, im weakkhjghfhgjfg

sugarmacbra: So actually im (sort of) writing a fic on this. The only reason it exists is bc i recently found out big mac is canonically bi and polyamorous (at least according to his VA), and im a sucker for a good polycule. That added with sugarmac (which i adore) and the fact that King Sombra is literally also bi, i was like, hey, what if we combined these elements, right?? Anyways, im not so much a fan of the dynamic that exists so far as i am of the idea of big mac in the most bisexual polycule ever, but who knows? maybe ill continue the fic and create the most life-changing heart-wrenching three-way pony love story

Cadance x Shining Armor x King Sombra (their ship names suck😭): Speaking of polycules, this one has a lot of potential. Sure, shining Armor is the straightest guy alive, but if we could pretend hes bisexual for a minute, i think him and Sombra in particular could have a LOT of chemistry. Plus given how hes basically smitten w his wife, i love the idea of him being in love w BOTH of them, like, more love for the golden retriever himbo !! Ik its not a super fleshed out especially on cadance's end, but the potential is there. Also, this ship has nothing to do w *that* ao3 fic (and if u dont know what im talking about i promise u dont need to see it. its gross).

somburn: I think we can all agree on braeburn giving massive fruit vibes, plus his overall personality. I was actually really inspired by this one post. I kind of need this to be real now. I love the idea of this evil fuckin guy having a sweet spot for plain ol Braeburn, who in contrast chooses not to see sombra as an evil threat but instead a smexy hot hunk. And to top it off, he "tames" Sombra/Sombra sort of changes for the better to be w him? Honestly its so cute.

anddd thats all i can think of atm lol. this took me way longer than i expected to answer

[eerna]

I think the big problem witht the fan service in TPT was that it was to throw in your face.Fan service is good when you fell natural but simultaneously you could tell that is fan service.I rolled my eyes at taryn divine punishment it felt like she gave the fans what they wanted since qon(the whole taryn didnt got a punishment was always funny to me they were acting like having locke as a husband wasnt one)

I understand why HB tried to please as much people she could with it since from what i saw even people who enjoyed her other faerie books weren't big fans of TSH.I agree with J and C don't make good mcs anymore thei arcs endet and most of their problems were solved in a good note.

TPT tried to be a lot of things at once:

1.Fan service

2.the conclusion of the story

3.a bridge for her undersea book

4.Romantasy( marketed like this)

And fails at being a good structured story.(for a book marketed like a romantasy the romance was so little and rushed at the end)

From what i saw a lot of people started hating wren after TPT wich i understand in a measure since she was so little and most of her scene were not in a favorable light.(shes still my fav Tsh character and i love her but her arc was practically non-existent)

I enjoyed oak a lot maybe bc im a sucker for his type of character but i think it could have been done more with his character.

I don't know how a undersea book in jurdan pov will be but i dont think it would be a good one since what they will narate especially in the undersea!

Yeah, you laid it out very well. I am NOT above fanservice. I friggin love the stuff. Case in point: the way I was SO INSANELY HYPED for TPT because they promoted it with Madoc household content which are words to my heart. But the issue is when the fanservice overshadows everything else. Case in point: Wren becoming a side character in her own duology so that Oak's main storyline can happen with Jude. I legit can't blame anyone who hates her after TPT because oh my god her writing was SO BAD in that second book. You can't just have your character do the vilest cruelest thing in the world to her love interest and then remove her from page and later say that she was just manipulated and blackmailed into being mean and is ready for love now. Imagine if the everapple scene happened and then Balekin convinced Cardan to give him an oath of allegiance that kept Cardan on Madoc's side for the rest of the plot except for romance scenes and then in the end he and Jude still got together. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO WREN. Well not exactly because she had a POV book first BUT YOU GET WHAT I MEAN.

Even the Oak-Jude storyline was not all it could have been. HB tried to give them a similar dynamic that Madoc and Jude had, where Oak isn't sure if Jude truly loves him and if she would sacrifice him if she suspected he worked against her. But there is no real tension because we KNOW Jude would never do that because like. That's the entire point of TFotA. I think that Oak slowly growing to resent his family was a fantastic concept, but the book barely gave it any screentime before it was solved. It's like HB didn't want to do anything too uncomfortable because this time around she would have to make Jude and Cardan his problematic parental figures, and that goes against every single rule of fanservice. So we get the worst of both worlds: Oak is a messed up kid doing very self destructive things that Jude is responsible for, but we can't explore them or treat them as very bad because that would make Jude look bad, and who wants to read a book about their fave girlboss accidentally ruining her baby brother's life? (Me I do oh my god I was looking forward to it so much I am still heartbroken)

There's still hope that the Undersea book won't be Jurdan POV, and I am manifesting it so much, because you're so right I have 0 confidence that I would like it.

(Marrying Locke was all the punishment Taryn needed fr. Rest in pepperoni loser)

[ev1lmorty]

the thing is ultimately idc what ppl do. u can do whatever u want. nobody can stop u from doing what u want. fictional characters ARE just fictional characters. ur not doing anything illegal aside from technicalities that we can argue abt all day. all of this ultimately IS debating based on ur personal morals n frameworks n none of this tangibly affects reality. there are sliding scales of acceptable for like everything in these discussions etc etc dark media has its place. i dont like that u will get, like, 'anti' spaces for lack of a better word that refuse to have anything troubling in fanwork or leave room for nuance. i think these spaces are very kid-orientated n we as adults need to actually argue w each other not 15yos who just learned the concept of fandom but im getting off topic.

my points onwards are that fiction is ALWAYS grounded in reality in some way - the characters exist for a reason, the story exists for a reason, fanwork exists for a reason. asking urself why you enjoy xyz n how you enjoy it is like a thing everyone should be asking themselves and your feelings from that also exist for a reason. nothing exists out of nothing. my feelings on this subject don't exist out of nothing - your feelings on this subject don't exist out of nothing.

and the second point that hasnt been talked to death is that, okay, yeah, fandom politics do not affect real life. but if they don't matter, if ppl upset dont matter, then why do YOU need them to matter? why is it just vacum sealed fiction when someone complains but when you talk about it, its suddenly important queer media? it clearly matters to you. it clearly has an impact on you. why can't it have an equally negative impact on others as the positive impact it had on you? why does fandom only matter when it helps? besides that something not touching the real world can be true while it very much effecting the niche space you inhabit, which is important in this context.

i respect that ppl get defensive of their interests and the things that bring them comfort, letting go of coping mechanisms or simply happy interests is difficult. i generally dont think ppl on the 'opposite side' are some kind of inhumane monsters. we r all just ppl trying to find something to make ourselves feel better abt our world. what makes you feel safe isn't inherently a good thing tho just bc it makes u fuzzy. this goes for like. everything ever but *post context*. ig my whole point is less ppl have no media literacy but that ppl deliberately have none bc ppl want to stay comfortable in the niches theyve created.

[cerealmonster15]

okay but when you aren't at practice i would Love to hear your thoughts on riddle/floyd though

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEE thank u i love an excuse to talk excessively about Characters

i COULD link to some other post i could probs find where i talked about them a lot already. HOWEVER. i also love to repeat myself. i want excuses to do it AGAIN!!! sorry it is Long. teehee.

ok anyway. riddle/floyd, love those funny little guys. initially? like 2+ years ago? wasn't a fan, but i also did not like the octavinelle boys At All in the early days fklsdjfkldj but i warmed up to them by the end of book 4 bc they were Silly 😌

as for riddle and floyd together, my initial thought at first glance was "what da heck, floyd's just mean to riddle, that wouldnt work, i dont like it 😤

BUT through the power of obsessively rewatching scenes over and over again and getting a closer look at character vibes and motives [and also fun fanart lol], i have CHANGED MY MIND. mostly. i mean floyd is still floyd LOL but we'll get to that.

so my main thoughts for them could be one of two things: floyd having a one sided obnoxious crush on riddle and poking at him for attention/cuz it's funny, OR <- that but with the added layer of floyd picking on him half bc he thinks it's funny and half with some sincerity behind it [ill get to that] + floyds loose chaos way of existing is a good contrast to riddle who was forced to be Perfect and Proper and Rigid his whole life; he needs people to shake him loose a bit and teach him to learn to have fun and be a goofy lil guy!!! with time and growth they could balance each other out real well i think.

SO. yes on one hand riddle gets Upset with floyd and there are def times where it's like "uhuh floyds just bein mean for his own enjoyment and riddle's got the right to be upset here imo" like i think of i thhhiiiink floyd's regular uniform R vignette of an example of floyd picking on riddle for fun and riddle getting understandably upset, maybe getting a lil personal with his reaction but still i get him being like "why the fuck are you so awful to me get away" like. not off to a great start LOL but i actually really like that story. ive read it several times bc i feel like floyd and riddle's reactions to each other are interesting. the ambiguity [at least, i think it's ambiguous, im really not sure dklfjd] of floyd being like "....im bored now. bye." <- being either "was he upset when riddle compared him to jade/bit back at him, or did he really just have his regular mood swing and get bored? what was he feeling there???" also i just think it's funny how riddles like "huh, did i go too far and upset him...? oh well i dont care 🚶‍♂️" jsklfjdsl

ok ANYWAY. theyre complex and that's fun to me. i think however there are SEVERAL instances where floyd picking on riddle doubles as looking out for him - though im unsure if that's coincidence or intentional on floyd's part.

i can think of at least three off the top of my head: vargas camp 1 event, halloween 1, and the very start of book 4 when you're saying bye to everyone before they go home for the holidays.

Vargas Camp 1 scene [spoilers obviously lol]: the scene where people have gone MISSING and everyone's FREAKED OUT and they're by the fireplace. poor sweet lil riddle is shivering and very cold!!! floyd makes fun of him ldsfjds he's like "goldfishie, your lips are turning blue! if your hair turns blue too, i'll have to think of something else to call you lol" and riddle Gets Mad and is all "FLOYD why are you messing around RIGHT NOW OF ALL TIMES!!! TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!!!" all red faced and 😡 so angy!!! floyd just laughs and is like "hehe glad you're all red and warm now 😌" <- so this is what i mean by it's POSSIBLE he did that on purpose, knowing it would make riddle mad and by extension make him all warm and toasty lol. it also could just be that he wanted to pick on him and it happened to also help djfkldsj. ALSO! right after that when riddle gets SNATCHED, floyd makes a comment about how the shadow beast must be strong because "even goldfishie's gone". just cute that he acknowledges riddle's skills there 😌

halloween 1: around the very end of the event when the second years are having their post party talking time, there's a scene where jade's still running around being Helpful and floyd + riddle are both like "hey man relax, come eat something" but the SECOND riddle says something to jade, floyd IMMEDIATELY turns around and is like "hahaha you're such a hypocrite, youve barely been eating anything yourself you tiny tiny cranky goldfishie" and riddle's all I Eat The Daily Recommended Calorie Intake. bjkldfjdsg. anyway floyd makes him mad but then hes all 👀 when silver mentions CAKE but then pretends hes too full. floyds like "uhuh well there's always room for dessert so let's go" and tugs riddle along with him and the others to go find cake lol. now on one hand you could look at that as Not Listening to Riddle and Doing Whatever, which i think is a totally valid interpretation too. BUT the way i see it is more of floyd being like "you're not fooling anyone here, we can all see you want to do this thing but you will not allow yourself to indulge, you need that push to enjoy yourself bc you havent learned to give in to indulgences so im going to give you that push". it's a cute scene of second years partying lol.

book 4 mirror scene: when riddle shows up to go home, he's distracted and low energy. he's gotta go home and wants to Face His Mother. having the dread of facing an overbearing parent, not wanting to go home for the holidays, i get it, it's a mood dampener. the other heartslabyul boys are all like 😔bc ya, sore topic, rough and heavy. then floyd shows up fdsklfdsklfjlk and he's like "what's the matter? dont wanna go home? then dont 😌 stay here with us! we can keep a tiny goldfishy as a pet hehehehehe" or something like that lol. the SECOND floyd shows up riddle is SCOWLING and COMPLAINING jfkldjsfl. even jade is like 😐floyd do not pry into his personal family life 😐 <- as if he's not a nosy bitch himself LOL. anyway!!!!! floyd's comment about riddle being a teeny goldfish makes him all mad and 😡 again and trey/cater gotta diffuse the situation like the mvp besties they are lfjsd. riddle's like "well anyway i do NOT wanna hang out with octavinelle for the holidays good BYE!!! 😤" and trey comments about how at least he seems like he's back to his regular self. i think again, you could see this as floyd just picking on riddle bc he likes picking on riddle, which i think is very true here lol, BUT if you read between the lines i do think it's a valid thought to look at it as like, floyd saw riddle down in the dumps and gave him something to get riled up about to distract him from his gloominess. i mean he made him mad jfldksjf but it was still more of the riddle theyre Used To and he was no longer sulking?? lol, that one may be a little more of a stretch but i stand by it as a possibility!!!

because!!! i wont get into it too much but it has been shown on several accounts that like, floyd's a smart dude when he wants to be. i fully believe he understands people decently well if he cares to, and has his own way of how he chooses to navigate it. like this part isnt about riddle but in one of the beans events, i think beans 2? when they spot malleus and lilia sparring, i think epel or someone's like "oh we could gang up on lilia and help malleus defeat him!!" but floyd stops them and is more or less like "nah they're havin fun over there doin their thing. we should leave them. if i were riled up havin fun like that i wouldnt want someone comin along to spoil it" or something like that. so like i think he's got compassion for other people at times and will act accordingly if he wants to. he's a very interesting multifaceted character!!

also heehee funny fish boy pokes fun at funny tiny red boy. opposites attract is just a fun dynamic i always like 😌

some other misc things i like with them:

in halloween 2, when they're initially gonna go in the mirror, floyd and riddle BOTH wanna just charge headfirst into it without a second thought fksdjflkd. it's SO cute seeing riddle on the same level as floyd with impulsiveness

also in halloween 2, when they find possessed jade and he's acting like floyd, riddle's like That's Not Floyd 😤 immediately, which i mean leads to a convo about the twins' hair lol BUT i like to think it also just shows how much riddle's around the twins

riddle has a lot of similarities to azul. floyd and jade like to pick on azul a lot. despite being weird about how they talk about it kfdjdlsdfjkl floyd jade and azul are all friends and i think they care about each other a lot. floyd also loves to tease riddle. i think it's both bc riddle and azul have entertaining reactions when theyre Being Teased, but also i think that's part of how floyd shows his affection. like he's having fun, he's playing!!! when he's not interested in something or someone hes got No Energy and is like im outta here 🚶‍♂️ but with riddle he's always like hehehehehe funny little goldfishie heheheheehehe

these two separate bits from the first twst anthology manga [fan translated by turtlesoupscans]:

^i think the anthology mangas are considered like semi canon or something but i think this is kinda cute lol, like floyd thrilled to hang out with riddle and riddle apparently spending time with floyd for five straight hours lol

and then this part, i think about it all the time:

thats just a very potent section of a small bit of floyd in general bothering riddle bc he's bored and wants to hang out!! but like. hi. hello. whoever wrote/illustrated this part? they had an agenda. a florid agenda. and i See It lolololol. and then floyd wants to play tag with him right after 😌 also i just like the way he greets him at the start lol-

YO~ 🤗 f l o y d ... 😔

ALSO it's said somewhere, i think a few places but idr where, that during the second years' orientation, floyd and riddle got into a chaotic fight with each other like how grim disrupted the first years'/game's opening orientation. enemies to lovers on sight or something LOL

anyway. there are probably more scenes i cant remember but ive been typing for like an hour [i had to go into the event archives i needed to fact check myself for ACCURACY] and i have to cut myself off or i will Never Stop sljkfjdsj THANKS for indulging me SORRY i talked for 500 years. i can and will do it again tho any time anyone asks me how i feel about anything twst related. im constantly locked and loaded with SO Many feelings.

[kuiperror]

TELL ME ABOUT THE CHIPMUNKS LORE. pretty please.

1st thank you for indulging me (even tho i asked lol) 2nd.maybe dont open this unless you want to get blasted with useless information + unimportant yet dearly held opinions + offtopic addendums + true sincerity. i tried to hold back guys im sorry. hold onto your hats im getting fucking crazy in here

firstly ill summarize and say that my "version" of the story of aatc [1] is basically just an idealized version of the "lore" the 1960s version gave us (i say "lore" in quotations bc there was. none lol).

now a lot of my ideas concerning the "lore" of story are interconnected to my opinions about the actual application of aatc media in real life . for instance, the story is set, vaguely, around the late 1950s - early to mid 1960s, like the irl "run" of the original chipmunks records. i personally believe that, as a real media franchise, aatc really has no reason to exist within our modern world with the technology we have today [2] so aatc as a fictional story is affected similarly. along with that, when the story is played out in the context of 1960s america it creates a richer thematical experience as the themes are compounded and expanded on. [3] a lot of the themes that i consider Essencial to the story deal with acceptance of differences and familial love and questioning of ones own humanity and sense of belonging, both within oneself and within the family unit and within larger society, and conservative 1960s suburban america is just a rlly good backdrop to place all of that. so basically i believe in the Contextuality of 1960s aatc and i love to allude to those contexts within the story.

another thing about my version is that i allow it to be inconsistent both with itself or with real life, just cuz it doesn't really have to be. for instance, this story has a floating timeline and i consider the chipmunk's ages to range from 8 - 10 years old— theodore is 8, alvin is 9, simon is 10. (simon is the oldest in the 1960s era idc who says what, i will die on this hill) however at the same time i think it would make the most sense for them to come from the same litter, which would make them all the same age. so i consider the chipmunks to be different ages while also considering they were born at the same time. i do have an in-world resolution for this discrepancy [4] but you get what im saying: my version of events is a little fictional story for me and me only so inconsistencies like that can be brushed over . mainly so i don't think too deeply about the logistics of things (cuz i tend to do that to avoid any possible criticism cuz i am Afraid of flaw) . like i'll catch myself being like "but how does the development of a real 8yo match theodore's behavior? 🤨" and i have to tell myself "bro.. this is a fictional cartoon world ur literally talking about a talking chipmunk its Not That Serious it doesn't have to be that realistic dude" so i just say its my own little play place and i get to do what i want :)

my version of the backstory of the chipmunks is not really all there in terms of external and internal consistency, but it mostly resembles the 1980s series' backstory where dave finds the chipmunks on his doorstep. (see [4] for entire story) i think that the months after dave took them in were honestly a p dark period for the family. i don't imagine dave had good support system and i think the mental struggle of suddenly caring for 3 incredibly strange children all the while fearing societal reactions to them (which restricted him from getting the help he needed) [5] definitely aged him. ithink hes like, early 30s when the chipmunks arrive, late 30s when the timeline "starts floating"... not as young as most (?) fans/iterations interpret him to be. i think that, before "the chipmunk song" was created, dave had raised the chipmunks for like.. 3-5ish years. what i'm saying is that dave definitely took in the chipmunks out of the kindness of his own heart and not cuz he wanted to capitalize on their singing prowess (aHEM looking at a certain movie 🤨)

also, i like to accentuate the animal-ness of the boys by taking real world information about chipmunks and applying it to them :) in general its a little bit of a pet peeve of mine when ppl just completely disregard the animal part of funny animal characters... esp with alvin and the chipmunks bc thats like. Their Whole Thing . they are chipmunks ? why do you just ignore that 😭

now i have talked a LOT about angsty stuff but i do want to make it clear that legit all this stuff is the subtext and background for interactions shown within the 1960s chipmunk media. the chipmunks are still happy kids who have fun and goof around and piss off david !! its just that they have fears and their own Issues like any real person.

so yeah! thats my chipmunk lore!! ^^ i have a whole document about my version so im definitely. fucking insane about the chipmunks. if any other aatc fans are reading this please be nice to me 😦 i feel as though i am very much a weirdo in my sandbox all alone soo dont h8 me plz :)

and just to send it off with some silly lore here are some random headcanons for each character that i have taken straight from my lore document ^^

alvin: would 100% be a leash kid . just sayin (as a former leash kid myself)

alvin: takes after david musically— when he writes his own music and makes up little songs to himself it sounds very similar to the songs dave writes. alvin doesn't recognize this but dave definitely does :,)

alvin: insecure about his height and constantly reassures himself that he will have a growth spurt when hes older

simon: loves loves LOVEs non-conventional and instrumental music! especially those set in different modes

simon: astronaut kid he loves space and wants to b an astronaut . born at just the right time B)

simon: knows better than to follow along with alvin's troublemaking + rebelliousness, occasionally tries to push back, but often is just like. fuck it we ball and goes along with it, especially if its fun ^^

theodore: LOVES the technical aspect of music + the recording process . he will tell you all about the science behind how vinyl records work unprompted.

theodore: doesnt like to sing solos as much as his brothers do bc of past childhood asthma at age 3 and also because he can not stop himself from giggling when hes singing hes just so happy :)! (THIS ONE IS CANON 💥💥💥 SOURCE: UP ON THE HOUSETOP CHRISTMAS W THE CHIPMUNKS VOL 1 ‼️)

theodore: although he is the most naive of the bunch, he is not dumb . hes just a little kid who likes being silly !

dave: before taking the chipmunks in in his early 30s he was the world's most regular guy . wrote hits for other people, continues to do that occasionally into the boys's careers

dave: literally has a song for everything . he will do everything to a beat .

dave: embroiders and cross-stitches to regulate his anger + knows how to sew really well since he has 2 make all of the boys' clothes. (CANON ⁉️😍) also it was his decision to color-code and embroider their initials onto everything they wear lmfao

FOOTNOTES (color coded for your convenience!)

[1] - in this post i refer to the media franchise as "aatc" (alvin and the chipmunks) and refer to the actual trio of characters as "the chipmunks" to avoid confusion. i just want it to be said that i personally dont like to call the media franchise "alvin & the chipmunks" on account of the whole "uuu if alvins a chipmunk why is it called alvin & the chipmunks" joke, i personally prefer to call the franchise just "the chipmunks" as it is shorter and includes the 1960s era as for most of it the franchise went by several different iterations (if we lived in a perfect world the franchise would still be called "david seville and the chipmunks" . just saying)

[2] - back in the early 60s, combining pitch-shifted vocals and character-acting was an innovative technique that took real time, effort, knowledge and skill to achieve. but nowadays not only is the concept no longer fresh but literally anyone can create their own "chipmunk" vocals in a matter of minutes. the story & characters (also nostalgia) are really the only thing keeping the aatc franchise going, esp since that's what more modern iterations of aatc focus on rather than the actual music.

[3] - in the media outside of their albums (the alvin show & the dell comics, specifically) there is always an underlying theme of comparison between david and the boys and the 1960s concept of a nuclear american family. its not exactly an "Intentional" theme, it more or less comes with the (irl) time-period the original aatc media was created in. the seville household is, inherently, a subversion of the ideal of the "perfect family" that households were compared against and strived to be, even at the expense of their own comfort, ideals, safety, etc. this subversion can be played into for drama and angst in a richer, more plausible way than it would be if the story were set in a more modern time period, u know? but yeah i believe that, as a fictional story, aatc shouldn't be divorced from the context of the attitudes and values of what mainstream society thought a family should be in the 1960s.

[4] - essentially in my version of events, dave was given no information about the boys and he basically made up their ages. when david found them in his backyard, they were oversized chipmunks as large as your average cat. they all sort of acted like young human children, but they were a lot more... chipmunk than child. they could only babble— but the sounds were recognizable as human speech. dave was obviously freaked out and resolved to keep an eye on them whenever they were in his backyard. he really only resolved to take them in due to the fact that he could literally see them change throughout a single week. how i imagine the chipmunks' biology is that they are a mixture of human and chipmunk (not literally, mind you, more as a physiological, figurative thing) so they have the intelligence and development of a human while still doing certain things like undertaking hibernation, wanting to forage and stockpile and burrow, things like that. however their growth rate is incredibly fucked up, going from the actual size of a newborn baby chipmunk to the size of a human toddler within like, a year. with this rapid growth also comes more human-like intelligence. once they were actually living in his house, dave knew there was something human about them with these creatures so he couldn't just let them return to the wild, especially since they were becoming more and more dependent on him and more and more human-like as days passed... i definitely think there was a moment of pure clarity for dave where he realized like. wow, that's a child. these things are children. and they are relying on me to provide for them. they are absolutely attached to me by now. and i think i might actually be attached to them too. and thats when he decided to name them and truly care for them like any other human child. overtime the chipmunks slowed their growth rate and matched their developing rate with the same as an average human. the chipmunks don't remember much of their early childhood and nothing can really be disputed so davids word of what happened is gospel. And yeah thats their backstory basically. if you want more on dave's view point on the chipmunks and their fucked up growth process, you can read this post here :)

[5] - he overcame this, of course. he did not want the boys to think that he was ashamed of them. public school was a different story, however, and the boys were more-or-less in a state of homeschooling before the release of "the chipmunk song." knowing that most of their peers would actually look up to them rather than down upon them extremely reassured him.

[alinktoana]

local elderly girl sells stickers at a japanese food festival

not gonna lie, the entire experience is very emotional to me and it's been a month but moon channel's vid essay about cool japan, and the release of smt5 vengeance (lol) inspired me

tldr: i made some stickers, got real existential about it, will keep making more c: if youd like to check them out, here's a link

ive always wanted to draw, i used to say i was gonna become a painter or a fashion designer when i grew up. none of that happened, but i did go to film school. my final project was a script for an animated short highly inspired by nbc hannibal, majora's mask (i know, it was 2016, it makes sense to me lol) and a huge loss in my life from which i havent fully recovered, 10 years later.

the point is, ive always been art adjacent but i never really drew, until i got inspired by_hannibal itself_, noel fielding, kylux (LOL) and a roommate who was who was really inspired by art youtubers like frannerd and drew around the house, so i picked up a pencil and started drawing hannigram fanart bc i was so insanely in love with that show lol i remember who i was before i drew. i spent my days reading and watching tv, bc i love stories and stuff, but i was a consumer. and once i got a job after college i felt so incredibly isolated and directionless. do i have a direction now, as i work as a """"designer""" for a company that sells a mental health app? no. but like demifiend was force fed a magatama and got demon powers (LMAO BEAR WITH ME I JUST BOUGHT SMT3 HD REMASTER), i caught the art demon (like steven zapata says). and i caught it bad. i spend my day to day rushing through my work and chores and everything so i can have enough time to draw in the evening, to do whatever, and sometimes the need is so immense i cant do anything bc im not good enough, my skills are fading, im worthless, what's the meaning of all this? so i took a chance and showed my work at an arts alley on a japanese food festival i was helping organize. mind you, i was juggling that with my 9/5, promoting the event, finishing drawings from years ago. and when i got there, nobody got it. people looked at the stickers and didnt recognize the characters, and went on to buy the stickers my friends had that were more current. it was all japanese fanart. we were there with the single purpose of baiting weebs like us lol

ive always dealt with clients, im used to this. but im used to business to business, bc sigh i am a corporate girly. and im a beginner in the demon arts of arting. i felt so ashamed people were preferring other people, that i had the audacity to think i was worth anything. but i stood there, standing still with my brain boucing off my skull wanting to leave but also enjoying the experience and hoping someone, anyone would get it. and some people did. to my surprise, jack frost was my best selling sticker, lol. jack frost, from the smt franchise, a franchise im so new to but i love so dearly. im 100% a poser, ive never finished a megaten game. but… it just speaks to me. and thats where my cool japan feelings come from bc, like i said, i was selling at a japanese food festival. people my age, from the country i come from, were exposed to dragon ball and cardcaptor sakura from birth. and learning about history and the atrocities of the japanese empire is just. who can you trust. but ive aways resonated with one thing from japan, and it's the way they portray sadness in their works. it's become a ritual since last year that i will listen to smtv's ost when im on my period bc it literally brings me back to life. no one but i know how many times ive drawn goro majima and taiga saejima bc their mere existance and their sorrow resonates with me so immensily and i dont wanna see them being sad, nor do i wanna see me being sad. it's. it's really difficult to be to admit that im from brazil, bc our country sells happiness as an export but for many, many years the most popular genre is butthurt country music, and it makes sense, you know? people dont wanna admit they're sad. and i can only imagine what it's like for regular japanese people, bc we (i) get to see their big exports of bittersweetness… i dont know, maybe other people get to see that from brazil too, i dont know. the arts in brazil, or specially where i live, it's just isnt in the cards for us. but ill keep trying, you know. and i know fanart is a hack. but im trying. despite everything and everyone wanting us (me) to work for mining/metal/oil companies, make the most money, have the least health, drink all the alcohol (but call an uber), consume, reproduce and die, i. i just wanna draw tiny people, you know. it's. not that big a deal. all this to say that yes im gonna keep drawing and making stickers and, who knows, you know. these are stickers that i wont ever find near me, or that im too broke to get them from artists/official stores, so if youre like me, here's some pdfs in case you wanna print them and stick them wherever c: ty if you got this far, this is a big ramble… but it's been years in the making and despite everything im happy about it c:

[trickstarbrave]

How is Norse Mythology incompatible with the Elder Scrolls?

the elder scrolls cosmology is fundamentally one focused on life after death. afterlives, honor in death, great cosmic wars at the end of time. a lot of faiths, including norse faiths, share similar stories. but the fundamental difference is the elder scrolls cosmology is built upon stuff like gnosticism. there IS a higher power--even above gods--called the godhead and nothing else is REAL. or rather its just about as real as the godhead and all really interconnected (also kinda hinduism but im not as well versed in that and kirkbride who developed a lot of the deep lore is a self admitted gnostic. bigger difference is gnostism is most often christian so that will factor in more but he was also inspired by hinduism and other faiths).

that might not mean fucking much in the way i am explaining it bc i am sleep deprived. esp given dominant western culture is very christian focused which also puts heaven emphasis on the afterlife and moral rules and regulations to get into a good one or everlasting torment. and a lot of people assume norse faiths follow this formula--they have vahalla! surely that must be viking heaven, the ultimate paradise (and is what sovngarde is based on) but uhhhh no.

in the norse faith there is much more focus on the here and now. the afterlife you will spend doing what you already did on earth. folkvangr and vahalla were most like consolations to grieving families--if you died on a raid, they probably couldn't take your body back home for burial. but the average person did not want to take up the job of being a viking (and it was a job specifically) just to get into vahalla. there were still death rituals and veneration of ancestors but there was no focus on morality or "fighting in the great war of ragnarok" or anything. the gods were also more down to earth and the differences between "spirit", "god", "ancestor", and other categories was uhhhh very blurry to non-existent. for instance there are a lot of pieces of evidence that loki might have been a common hearth spirit before he was a god. or maybe he was always just a very popular one so prolific he is basically a god. maybe several gods or local spirits used to be someone's ancestor. hard to say. there is also no strict hierarchy and rules of practice as it was entirely non-centralized. even saying stuff like "odin is the god of wisdom" isn't accurate as the norse gods don't really have "domains" like we think of in the roman or greek sense.

so its really a bunch of things that make it really incompatible but god does TES lore really try to shove it in there. they take a lot of elements but in the pop-cultural and ultimately christian interpretation of them that does them a disservice. or does things like "well the nords are based on vikings and vikings are raiders obsessed with battle and are brutish uncivilized barbarians so... lets just give them a bunch of "uncivilized" things that don't really make sense interconnected like totems and face paint and unsophisticated leather clothes because they are brutish savages!" which is. all really racist ideas at their core. not even racist to norse ppl just racist against BIPOC who have had these stereotypes built from bastardizations of their cultures by colonizers. which is just. not great.

hence why the adaptation of alduin being based on nidhogg was so. rough. you need a big scary world ending dragon, but he cant JUST be akatosh. bc the ending of oblivion and other established lore. and it would be a cop out to just say "actually the nords were wrong and alduin/akatosh who would be the same person in this case are great" bc then you dont get scary evil world ending dragon like they wanted. so they gotta make alduin his son and don't think through why nidhogg is even a thing in norse mythos bc norse mythos is only being used for aesthetics in TES lore. which sucks bc i wish they would have kept the theme of rebirth and change and renewal which is so prevalent in norse stories. norse mythos is focused on the natural world and cycles after all, but why do that when you want big buff white men with axes wearing furs and killing elves (who are totally not ever going to be repurposed by white supremacists as stand ins for irl minorities. nope. never.)

if you are more interesting in norse mythology bc my explanation makes no sense i recommend @skaldish who has various resources and websites and blog posts that break it down in more understandable ways. without me inevitably butchering it bc i have too many ideas rattling around in my brain

[technicalknockout]

What were some of your favourite pages in the book?

god thats a hard one jsnfjksdk the entire book is so good but i do have my favorites. heres an entire list

silly straws page - i read in 'dipper and mabel's guide to mystery and nonstop fun' that bill likes silly straws and thought it was a silly random tidbit, imagine how surprised i was when i realized there was LORE behind it.. im still figuring out some codes bc i dont wanna look them up and im having so much fun !!

stanford trying to keep me from reading the book page - "you cant hear the disappointed sigh im making rn, but i assure you it's devastating" i mean he failed to stop me from reading the entire thing in one sitting but i was just very happy to see ford's cursive again. It was really funny seeing him trying to guess what the reader would be convinced by (i saw the moth picture and thought 'whats that called, a goth moth?' I laughed out loud when it turned out that was actually its name)

urban legends page - as a long time fan of creepypasta the references in this page absolutely delighted me. Also the art is so realistically horrifying, whoever drew these i love you

the one true intelligence test - idk this page just made me laugh a lot

Entire anti-cipher society part - i love how instead of telling the story in just plain text, they made us follow the story with newspapers and journal pages. What was that called. I swear there was a name for that kind of storytelling if anyone knows pls pls tell me

every page with ford and fiddleford - BEAUTIFUL. SUBLIME. BEST THING TO EVER EXIST IN THE WORLD. I HECKING LOVE FRIENDS BEING WHOLESOME TOGETHER AND I LOVE IT MORE WHEN THEYRE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM MY FAVORITE SHOW. THEY MAD SNOWMEN OF EACH OTHER THATS SO CUTE

"but my aim is getting better" - do i need to explain this one

whatever this page is called;

I hated reading this (i loved reading this). i kinda got spoiled before i bought the book with an analysis post, had to literally put my phone down and think about what id just read. i think this page really puts bill and ford's relationship into perspective. ford's a person and bill's a multidimensional semi-god creature, bill will do and say anything in his power to get ford to do what he wants. this relationship cannot even begin to resemble normal. and also the forgetting your own name part horrified me, thats some good horror right there.. love it when books make me have a visceral reaction to tiny words on paper

call transcript from the police - OH the LORE and CHARACTER ANALYSIS FOOD RIGHT HERE. i could talk for hours about how bill straight up sucks at relationships and he's SO unwilling to admit he was upset about falling out with ford that he's lying to himself MULTIPLE TIMES OVER AND OVER and how a lack of genuine connection with people is eating him up - but if i talked about all that this post would spiral into insanity real quick. Also drunk bill talking into the phone was very very sad and very very on character and i could hear hirsch's bill voice inside my head it was really good aghjgnkhhh

stan's page - I ALMOST CRIED AND I KNOW THATS KIND OF A WEIRD REACTION BUT I SAW THE STAN PAGE IN THISISNOTAWEBSITEDOTCOM OKAY AND IT WAS MAKING ME VERY UNWELL I WAS EXTREMELY RELIEVED TO JUST HEAR THIS MAN SO HAPPY AGAIN STANLEY PINES I LOVE YOU YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING

yee that turned out longer than id anticipated jdndjs

overall this was amazing. an entire book written in my favorite character's voice is something i've only ever dreamed of and it's genuinely a frickin honour to have a copy in my house. my bookshelf is 2% more cursed now and i would not have it any other way.

one of these days im gonna black out and there will be a twenty-pages long essay on bill's social life on your feed. i advise you to gently scroll past it without looking.

[emtmercy]

i think ur take on lestat and louis being written as just being mutually toxic and shit to each other rather than as a case of systematic abuse makes the most sense for how the show ended.. and i see how while lestat also hurt louis readily and often, its not consistent and its perhaps not necessarily abuse. i disagree though that "terrorizing someone for dominance" is the only thing that constitutes abuse. irl ive seen reasons and ways other than "for dominance" where people will abuse a partner or loved one, yes as a pattern of behaviour

also you said jacob had a point when he said what louis did could be seen as abuse. perhaps clarification is needed because this doesnt make sense based on ur definition of abuse. louis has also never "terrorized lestat for dominance" - especially when looking at what the writers had louis apologize to lestat for, which was him being miserable to lestat many nights bc he was suffering and resentful.

also i am trying to wrap my head around how some of the 'they r mutually toxic' arguments r the same ones ive heard with irl relationships -amber heard and johnny depp for example, especially with the recordings of their fights and the trial being so public. how do we clearly tell and argue the difference? u said that the writers clearly dont see loustat as an abusive relationship, and i am beginning to agree, but if for example they also dont see amber and depp as an abusive relationship, could we take the show they wrote at face value anymore.

you made some definite statements about what abuse is based on the show, extrapolated to real life, so I think its only fair to stress test them, but if you don't feel comfortable discussing it further that's fine

Well I do think I have to challenge your understanding of abuse. Abuse is about control. Replace the world dominance with control in your mind if that’s easier to understand. But yes abuse is committed for control. Always. Period. Anyone in the abuse field will tell you this. Suggestion to the contrary is dangerous. Abuse is always always always centered around control. This part isn’t up for debate. That terror can take a thousand forms but the goal is control. That’s a central definitive characteristic of abuse. I’m at work but maybe later I could suggest some writings on this that may help clarify what I mean. Like yes abuse takes many forms but it revolves around the attempt to control another person

And yes I wasn’t listing Jacob’s quote because I think Jacob has a perfect understanding of real life abuse, I listed it to help people understand the very fictional story being told. You’re right that the idea that Louis abused Lestat goes against a real definition of human abuse. I don’t believe Louis nor Lestat abused the other in the human sense. What Jacob was saying was a response to a specific inquiry about the nature of his relationship w Lestat and he was trying to explain that Lestat is not more culpable than Louis and that they’re both hurting each other. Me explaining the intentions and understandings of these people isn’t me saying anything other than that this is what intended and understood by them.

Neither of us know how the writers feel about depp/herd. And whether or not the writers have good opinions on it doesn’t really affect whether or not they’re the people writing this story. Their intentions are their intentions even if you think they should have other intentions. You don’t have to take their politics at face value or respect them. You don’t have to think the show has good politics. You can think the show is offensive. I have no problem with you taking issue with the writers. I am simply explaining their intentions, which exist regardless of whether their intentions are offensive to some or to all. As you’re beginning to agree with, yes the writers clearly didn’t intend to portray a human abuse dynamic with an abuser and victim. That doesn’t mean they did it perfectly. That doesn’t mean they didn’t use tropes they perhaps shouldn’t have. It’s just an explanation of the show as it exists ! I personally have critique of how they handled this. It’s not a deal breaker for me personally because I understand and at heart respect the story they are trying to tell but violence can be really triggering for those of us who have to be in this real world and I totally get if this story is a deal breaker for some

What a writer intends is not chained to what is most politically appropriate in the real world. They can intend and write anything they want. And we can say we think it sucks if we want. But we have to start from a point of understanding the show as written.

And I think your question on how we know the difference speaks to cultural misunderstandings of both abuse and of fiction that people are really grappling with right now

Amber heard experienced real gendered violence within a system of abuse that is very obvious and clear to anyone who has had the opportunity to truly learn the signs of an abuse cycle. It was not unclear or confusing to anyone I know who understands abuse. Depps abuse of her was quite a classic case. His campaign of terror over her in pursuit of total control of her and dominance over her is what makes him the abuser in the situation.

I’m not saying anyone who didn’t understand that case immediately is evil or has no experience of abuse, but I am saying that once you get to have access to the knowledge we’ve amassed on abuse as a greater social pattern and quite specific dynamic then it does become clear.

Louis and Lestat inherently need a different lens than real people because they were WRITTEN. They took no actions not intended to communicate something to the audience. They have no personal will. They are characters who act within a story written by a person with specific intentions. They exist only within this fictional realm. There’s no greater truth than their existence as it is in the fiction because they’re not real.

Louis did not experience a clear abuse cycle and we don’t have to worry there’s something secret we don’t see happening behind closed doors because he’s fictional. The writers have communicated to us what they want us to know. And I think comparisons of Louis to amber are unfortunate given she’s a real person being abused and Louis is an evil vampire doing mutually toxic shit with no One abuser and One victim. Her situation was very classic sadly. The fact that many people rejected the clarity of her situation is due to widespread victim blaming in society and the fact that we don’t educate well on abuse. But there’s a reason all the big domestic violence experts were writing essays. It was very clear. And you don’t see the same markers of abuse in this fictional story because it was written to not be that

I genuinely hope this clarifies some !

[horizon-verizon]

Just because some people like this fictional character doesnt mean they have the same view as them *they were rise as royalty in medieval world that they think they were better than everyone else* if someone else still turn out good, well good for them people should not explaining this, George books is for adult, everyone with working braincells know racism is bad and i don't have to excuse Rhaenyra for that but the way this people thinking that Daemon is better than her is CONCERNING, Daemon also the one who calling baby Baelon as "the heir of the day" wtf did you thing a BABY did to Daemon? Existing? so they dont have the same rage with this because the baby didnt have character to talk about they even makes a joke of it just like Daemon was, he also constantly insulting his wife, the main characters in this story said fucked up thing Alicent also calling Rhaenyra's children "Bastards seeds of war"? Aemond constantly calling rhaenyra "whore" for sleeping with a man she likes and have children with harwin instead rap3 her gay husband or chosing some sex worker who have similar looks with her how dare her! And still want an iron throne?, she should keep her legs closed and lonely on her castle like good obidient women was, people killing children and their own sibling, rapng woman but this people draw the line at racism? Wow even Maegor wish he gets the same hate as her and treat as one of the most hated character in the entire franchise, but he's only a man everyone have excuse for a man's crime (he's just silly boy who decapitating kittens) unlike whore rhaenyra who raise taxes and insultingsomeone by their skin color

did you know celebrating a child death or insulting your wife is not real its only fiction when it was Daemon who did it? See Daemon is not racist at all when he calls women in the vale ugly than the sheeps This is not Racist he just saying truth because women in the vale is white (you could never be racist if they are white according to American logic) and according to people who see them they actually ugly so we didnt hate him for it, why people so hard to except the truth? So how dare people accuse him for racist? I could never! he defintly better than His racist niece, i still dont understand why Rhaenyra even chose man who looks "common" as lover she maybe drunk you know she's racist and Valyrian supremacist unlike Daemon (shakes my head)

I watch a movie called The return of the witch when the main character like Rhaenyra was, and there was a knight who being bothered by this witch thank god someone save his ass from her

Anon's probably responding to this post.

The anon of that posts said [excerpt]:

I am not here for any Rhaenyra’s stan trying to excuse or downplay a white woman’s misogynoir and classism because her sons died. Grief doesn’t make you suddenly racist, or compel you to say racist things. You were always that way. The grief just brought out the racism and supremacism that was always simmering beneath the surface.

You didn't need to move away from Rhaenyra's racism into the misogyny levied against her to argue against that past anon's words. That anon was expressing that they don't respect those who do stan her refusal to acknowledge her misogynoir against Nettles, that it came from Rhaenyra's will even under all those stresses, and that it is as serious as it should be seen.

A)

Anonymous, Daemon says the "heir for a day" in the context of wanting the throne but not actually having the biggest claim to it as the nephew or Rhaenyra would, bc he is not Viserys' child. It is a localized infraction, personal, against Viserys AND it was offhand. However, if someone calls me a racial epithet or does as that writer who almost got published did and tried to leave bad reviews of Black and PoC authors to establish dominance, then they are attempting to promote systematic suffering so they can come out on top. There is an intention to destroy a person's life AND to have socio-political privilege over others based on their socialized identity conditioned to be as immutable as possible. Like many said, you don't get to be racist because you had a bad day, are mentally ill, an alcoholic, your parents died, etc. as that writer tried to reason.

Racism is not this personal moral failing or symptomatic result of a racist facing oppression like hating on babies. It comes from systematic privilege given to the racist that allows them to see the oppressed as lesser than & historical, generational violence against said oppressed group. Hating on babies for one moment out of jealousy does not have that scope, level, depth, etc. racism does and never will. People may say often that "oh, they're being racist bc they have envy", and yes people default to their racism or sexism or classism bc they are envious...but their envy is the kind where they feel that the person they are envious of shouldn't have what they have bc what they have is something the racist/sexist/etc has learned they should have by "default" bc of their social class/race, etc. Key word is "systematic".

This reveals, anon, that you either are white or you are a PoC/Black person with a lot of internalized racism and a lack of understanding of racist history.

B)

You: "See Daemon is not racist at all when he calls women in the vale ugly than the sheeps This is not Racist he just saying truth because women in the vale is white (you could never be racist if they are white according to American logic) and according to people who see them they actually ugly so we didnt hate him for it, why people so hard to except the truth?"

Anon, what are you on about? Who said that Daemon was racist here? Who said anything about the Vale or that his comments to Rhea Royce were racist? Who is it that made Daemons' opinion about Rhea Royce's looks a racial thing? It certainly wasn't the past anon or me and I have never seen someone try until you just did.

You're making large leaps of logic here to justify and derail away from examining Rhaenyra's actions, as I already mentioned, to the point your words are incoherent. You are both trying to run away from race talk and flinging it at another character...

You: "So how dare people accuse him for racist? I could never! he defintly better than His racist niece, i still dont understand why Rhaenyra even chose man who looks "common" as lover she maybe drunk you know she's racist and Valyrian supremacist unlike Daemon (shakes my head)"

?! (incoherent)

[annapostsstuff]

Ok I’m gonna talk about this first, because I’m on vacations so I have time to do it, second, bc as much as I like to ignore some stuff, particularly conflict, it has come to a point where I have to say enough is enough cause honestly this is getting ridiculous…

The amount of hateful and evil messages I've received the last couple of days is honestly embarrassing, and not because I’m embarrassed about my actions, like why should I be embarrassed? I didn't do shit, y’all should be embarrassed about yourselves, acting all high and mighty, talking shit, and going as far as questioning ME and my morals over my love interest in a fucking game? A GAME people, like, it’s not even real it doesn’t even EXIST I am a real living breathing person, I’m no saint or anything but I don’t think I deserve to be called names over posts about a stupid game, I of all people know how to make fun of myself, if you have seen my posts you know I call myself a clown, a dumb bitch, a hoe, like, fuck it, it doesn’t matter it’s all for fun and whatever, but having THE AUDACITY to slip in my messages telling me shit for the choices that I made in a game is not fucking ok…

ITS A FREE WORLD, we can do whatever the fuck we want as long as we stay in our own lane, if you hate certain characters good for you, don’t romance that character, don’t spend any money on them, pretend it doesn’t exist, idk, you do you boo, but seriously DONT rally other people to be bullies, that’s lame and childish af…

I play these games as a distraction from my own reality, from my stressful job, family situation, whatever, bc I can be whoever and whatever the fuck I want, do things I’d never do in my real life, and it’s been incredibly fun to interact with other people on here and Reddit that enjoys these choose your story games but now I’m seriously considering just stop doing that cause I really don’t need to deal with that shit…

[zushimart]

quest spoilers below

quite literally why the hell did they do that. like why did they do that. it felt so unnecessary. like, erasing his existence from the world. i dont know whether it actually altered the timeline, and he genuinely did not do those things, or if everyones memory of the events including his own were removed and replaced with a different story. but either way, it felt like such… a copout to close his story. the most unsatisfying way to tie loose ends.

him learning about what actually happened to niwa… that WAS ENOUGH!!! like it was enough emotional manipulation from dottore to understand why scaramouche went back and killed everyone. ??? like , it felt so unnecessary to do all that.

BUT LIKE ??? oh my god. i know that it shows how scaramouche was fine with quite literally killing himself to correct his mistakes, and i understand that the quest is ultimately exploring how even if he tried to change the timeline, the events in tatarasuna could not be undone or avoided. but also… it just felt like such a freaking random, convoluted way to express that. i think it also… doesnt work to do that? because if anything, it’s like. “oh, it was going to happen anyway. even without my hand in it, it was going to happen. “ and almost CAN absolve guilt because it didnt matter what scara did or didnt do in that moment. like the evil thing he did… just didnt matter. which is awful, imo, bc the point of a mistake is that if you had not made it, things would have been different. like wtf??? like??? WHATTT ..

like, he couldve just as easily got amnesia or something after the fall. we couldve relived his experiences through him slowly remembering his past. and we couldve extended kindness to him after learning about his past. like idk the whole erase myself from existence thing had me stressed. it reminded me of that horror game soma… where people copied their consciousnesses into computers and things and it was pretty clear that where that consciousness began was a completely new person, even if it was an extension of a past person.

i was like … did we just watch scaramouche *die*. I WAS LIKE DID MY BOYFRIEND JUST DIE IN FRONT OF ME????

i would also love to know how the hell nahida was able to restore his memories. did she ever say?? i know she kept the story of scarameow, but how did she get the minute details of his life. his memories. how did she have them if everything about him was erased by irminsul. why is it even possible for some things to survive irminsul erasure. its so weird to me, like oh this was an exception. cheat code. etc. i don’t get it WREAAARGHHHARGAHRH.

this would have been such a good story of scara learning that he has worth simply by existing nd that he doesnt have to be useful to anyone and that although he may be useful to the fatui and the fatui may be useful to him , that isnt enough to substantiate a real relationship… and a real relationship is what he wants. not the worship of being a god , not the power of a harbinger, bht just to have actual meaningful connections. he did these things because he wanted to b respected, to be valued. he tried to do it through being kind , and then he tried to do it through fear. i just want him to learn to do things not because he feels indebted to you or because he needs to make up for past mistakes. not because of a ledger of give and take in a relationship.. i want him to know that he HAS VALUE SIMPLY BY EXISTING. tbey just BRUSHED PAST THATT. they just TACKED IT ON AT THE END. its literally just nahida being like “ohhh… have you tried simply Not doing that? not thinking that way???”im so f ukign . ….. shit was like cbt. The therapy AND the cock ajd ball torture.

:( childe doesnt even remember him. a kazuha & scara meeting would mean NOTHING bc kazuha doesnt even know who he is. Im sick. what tf was the point of it all. What was the point of anything. not only does he have to shoulder every mistake he made, but he has to do it alone because no one remembers. no one can offer him forgiveness, no one will recognize the change in his character and tell him that theyre proud of him for coming so far… because no one remembers. that is so evil. Im tired yall . What was the point.

[octopodian]

i realized i can just answer the questions. so heres that ask game i reblogged but about aide and i answer them myself. thank you everyone who asked about them here is even more (i copy n pasted the answers i already had).

are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

their color is like a bright blood red! they also are associated with black and bronze bc thats the other colors they are. they only wear like khaki cargo shorts tho so....

what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

in real life? linkin park (numb, faint, papercut), the “let the bodies hit the floor” song, bring me to life by evanescence. they exist in dnd world tho so they dont have bands per se but they like metal! their bud izzy is a metal vocalist and they think him singing is calming. any depressing music with people yelling or really harsh noise is their thing

weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?

they are their own weapon!! they are a monk so they use punches and kicks. they had a sword at first bc its part of the gear dnd characters get lol but sold it once their punches did more damage. they also have a TINY bit of magic (warlock) so they use spells too, but far less. they like to brag about not needing a weapon but also theyre not that good at fighting lol.

how crafty/resourceful are they?

ummmm theyre kinda crafty but theyre not very creative, so i think it depends. working out an ingenious solution to something is Not their thing, but they can do delicate bead work and shit. give em instructions to follow and theyre golden.

how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

they are usually naked because robot, but they do prefer aesthetics kinda. the big ass pants and no shirt tits out sort of look (they dont have tits) is what they r going for. they crave looking goth and such but are too self conscious rn, anything that “should” make them feel confident just makes them miserable

how do they wear their hair? do they care a lot how their hair looks?

it bald

favorite animal? why?

they like anything that’s associated with death and anything with an exoskeleton bc they like to think of their metal as an exoskeleton. so like bugs and vultures and such. honorable mention for crabs (i will be honest i dont even remember why but aide likes crabs) and rabbits (friends pet)

do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it's not derived from their real name, what's the story behind it?

their friend tboy fried to give them “tincan” as a nickname and they held a grudge against him for it. they really really hate nicknames, “aide” is the only name theyre comfortable with. its pronounced like Ay-Dee though! so people call them “aid” or “ed” assuming the e is silent and they get angry about that too.

favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?

they dont HAVE to eat bc theyre a robot. the only thing they have ever, in their life, eaten or drank is whiskey. so... i guess whiskey? they would keep kosher if they ate but again they do not

if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem?

they do!!! their most prized possession is a necklace with a magically frozen real teardrop on it (gnaeus gave it to them). wearing one is a social sign of being in mourning; they never take it off. they make their own jewelry and are proficient with jewelers tools. they prefer bronze over those two and rubies/red shit are their fave but onyx and diamonds cool too.

what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

ohhhhhhh lol they have a LOT of 15 yr old cas in them lol. more than i realized at first. theyre REALLY depressed and angry in a way i can relate to so there's a lot there... i do think they are MORE angry than i am tho and they have very different priorities in life. theyre also pretty actively suicidal and at a low point whereas i am doing very well :). i think *i* would like them but idk if they would like me. we are autism. also i am a gay man and aide is TECHNICALLY attracted to men but not as a man.

how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

theyre coming up on two years i think in terms of when i made them. theyre 6 in canon. their birthday is Eleasias 20th which is 8/20 irl. this is NOT when i made them, i chose it bc its the very end of summer where the light starts dwindling. they never celebrated until their friends made a huge deal out of the 6th one, and theyre fine with it but wont go out of their way to do it themself

what languages do they speak? how fluently?

common, gnomish, elvish, dwarven, and grippli (which is a frog language)! you could sort of say gnomish is their native language (built by gnomes) but they grew up speaking it and common basically the same amount. they also speak common and gnomish sign language. theyre still fluent in dwarven and elvish but they use them FAR more rarely so theyre rusty.

also they have a magical ability to read Any writing (warlock eldritch invocations baby!) but this does not translate to speaking

are they any good with numbers?

theyre like fine with them. not a calculator, but pretty good. their favorites are 80, 18, and 8.

how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?

if you ask them they have No family. No relatives. they consider gnaeus a father and spent their entire life including “childhood” with him, but are angsty and moany about how actually they are nothing to each other and gnaeus has his own family and aide isnt part of it and boo hoo. they sort of have a dad (person who wanted them built) but he’s dead. they have a friend who considers them a sibling, but he told them this and they threw a fit so that didnt go well. and theres a LOT of other “aide” robots (they are aide 80 after all) but aide doesnt consider them or the gnomes that made them “family”

do they have any pets? what do they call their pets?

THEY DONT YET but i kinda want them to find some random possum or something and claim it is their warlock familiar. no one can tell if aide is joking or if aide thinks that a familiar is just any animal you decide to call that.

how did they spend their summers/free time as a child?

um they weren’t ever really a KID but they spent most of their life traveling with gnaeus, staying with rich friends of his and being kinda allowed to do whatever.

their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

lying: good unless you lie to them in which case it is very  mean

stealing: fine*

killing: fine*

*once a person is dead they have really strict morals for how to treat dead people respectfully. they will never ever take something from a corpse (a LOT of dnd is looting corpses. they do not do this.) and they usually leave a small stone by the body or grave as a sign of respect. they will, however, absolutely kill innocent people. they respect the dead almost more than they respect the living.

are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

They are. And Everything Does.

if applicable, can they drive? if they have their own, what color is their vehicle? is the inside neat and tidy, or a mess?

in a universe with cars, probably they can drive but only manual. theyd want red and itd be pretty clean bc they wouldnt use it for anything except driving.

their favorite place to be?

Um idk. They like being near gnaeus but he's a person not a place

do they sleep well at night?

they dont sleep at all, they just enter a “rest mode” where they can still see and are fully conscious but dont move. that said they do NOT sleep well at night LOL. they hate resting bc it means theyre alone with their thoughts for 6 hours so they try to avoid it when possible but people get MAD so they cant rly get away with it and they don't bother trying.

how would you describe their voice? can they sing?

They have a really deep and affectless voice cuz robot. It gets high and screechy when they're mad. They can't sing for shit its utterly toneless

do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

they make jewelery! they briefly sort of got into makeup but they have weird feelings about physical appearences rn and also it made them feel good and they do Not want to feel good rn. no indulgences allowed

how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?

pretty fine! Their hearing is average and they have dark vision but only one eye so their depth perception isnt great.

how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?

they are REALLY fast, but they aren't super dexterous. More of a freight train than anything else. they are a monk so they're very agile but compared to monks with actual good stats they're clumsy as hell

if applicable, do they have a favorite sport? do they play any sports or prefer to watch?

They don't watch sports. Theyd think WWE is "real" tho.

how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

They'd rather die than show they care to be honest. they actually try really really hard to impress people that they care about, I think maybe it comes off as showing off sometimes? they will put their body on the line to defend a friends any day tho. And they show they don't like you by insulting you constantly but they also do this if they "like" you so

are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)?

Not rly! They're more death themed than element themed.

do they smell like anything notable?

A penny

do they like receiving gifts? giving gifts? what is their ideal gift?

They are sort of neutral both ways. except when gnaeus gives them smth they take that really really seriously. they mostly kinda just feel awkward about it from most ppl. If you punched them they'd consider that a really good gift.

do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

I think all their habits are self destructive. OH they refer to people by however they introduce themselves even if other people use nicknames. even to the point of if you have a super super long name they will say the entire thing every single time. This is bc they hate being called nicknames and thus do not call people by them

if applicable, how would your other characters describe them? i mean specifically the people around them.

ahhh idk because the charavters they're around are my friends OCs, they don't interact with any of my other OCs really.

how would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.

not good, not smart, not powerful, not useful, not someone whos perspective is worth listening to or someone who's talents are particularly valuable. they also believe they can't become abt of those things because (TO THEM) you can't become good by wanting to be good, because good people don't have to want it, they just are it. so they're resigned to the fact that they cannot better themself bc their motives aren't pure so anything they do is futile How they'd say it; "I can't just magically make myself a smart or talented or good person. I have to work on it and it would take a while and it wouldn't even matter because I'd only be doing it to try and impress someone. People who are actually important don't have to want it."

do they ever return home?

they don't have one; if they did they've never been