#half of this post is just the two Narrators arguing

[henryloverman]

[ Part 3 of RealParable Au ]

"Stanley left the office, not knowing the Narrator couldn't go with him... because the Narrator was actually the one stuck inside the Parable"

"Now the Narrator was left all alone...in this lonely office...only by himself"

*Sighs*

"...You never deserved to be stuck here, you deserve to be in reality, its where you truly belong, not in this endless dream"

"I'm sorry, I lied to you, Stanley, I had no choice, you wouldn't have listened to me otherwise, this is for your own good"

The Narrator looked at the exit, that was the last time he would see Stanley, he would never see Stanley's stubborn face, he would never hold Stanley's hand again, Stanley would never hear him narrate again.

What is he without his protagonist? He was a Narrator who had nothing to narrate, no one would ever listen to him again, that realization struck him.

"...The end is never the end"

There was no point in staying in his physical body anymore, so the Narrator became a voice once more, he was stuck with his own thoughts, alone.

...

*Boom*

The Narrator was startled up by a loud sound on the floor, as if something heavy was dropped off, what he saw shocked him.

Is that Stanley...and him?! How in the world is that possible? Is he hallucinating? Or did they somehow get inside the Parable? Their clothes are different though, not only that they look like a mess, did they ran away from something?

[ Who the hell are you two supposed to be? ]

The other version of himself looked in total disbelief while other Stanley suddenly fainted, fortunately his other self was able to catch Stanley on time before he fell on the floor, his other self was currently holding Stanley by the shoulder.

[ Hello? Are you not going to say anything? ]

"...WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!"

[ I could say the same, how did you guys get ] here in the first place?

"WE DON'T KNOW!? SOME RANDOM WEIRDO DECIDED TO TELEPORT US HERE!"

[ Would you stop screaming, it's hurting ] my ears, you know?

"WHY SHOULD I?! IMAGINE YOUR REALITY CHANGING INTO SOMETHING DEMONIC! AND NOW YOUR TELEPORTED TO A PLACE AND A VOICE WHO SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE YOU SPOKE UP OUT OF NOWHERE!"

[ I DON'T KNOW! Why are you getting mad ] at me for?! I don't even know you!

"AND I DON'T KNOW YOU AS WELL! THEY JUST TOLD US ABOUT A MISSION OF SORTS, AND IF WE DO IT, THEY WILL GIVE US ANSWERS!"

[ And who told you that? ]

"I DON'T KNOW! THE SAME RANDOM WEIRDO I TOLD YOU EARLIER!"

[ There's no point in arguing right now, we ]

should discuss about this when your in a proper condition

*Sighs* "Fine, for now, don't disturb us"

[ I will leave you two alone. ]

"Thank you."

The Narrator watches the two go inside the lounge room and sat on the couch, his other self looked tired and looks like he was on verge of falling asleep, he was still holding the unconscious Stanley close to him, he seemed to be on guard for any potential danger.

And then his other self fell asleep, probably his fatigue got the best of him. So here he was, still stuck inside the Parable with his other version of himself and Stanley, what is he going to do now? He wondered if the exist is still there, but he has a feeling it disappeared along with his Stanley.

[ The end is never the end. ]

Editor's Note: The Narrator will have a bigger role in the future, but for now he still has to deal with the current situation. Since the Parable has it own weird logic, The other Stanley and Narrator won't need to eat or drink, basically all the necessities of being a human being, that's just how the Parable work.

I know the 90's Stanley and Narrator didn't have a proper instruction yet, it doesn't make sense for the Narrator to protect Stanley, but it will make sense in the future, I still haven't properly developed their personalities yet, since the story is still at the beginning, I'm planning on making this a series.

Reminder that there will be indeed plot holes in the future, because I can't remember shit, but anyways, I won't be able post often due to being busy at school, so maybe one or two post a week? It will depend though.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE 130 FOLLOWERS!!!! I will be honest that I can't exactly say that I love you since I'm a stranger but, I appreciate you guys :)

Thank you for being here with me, I want to entertain you with ideas and stories of the same fandom, I want to share my ideas so more people could use it, your support makes me happy, so I want to you to be happy as well, but I'm not forcing you to ^^

Thank you for reading, I wish you a nice day 💛🖤💛🖤💛

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

a certain type of (typically white lower support needs speaking) autistic people: autism is not a disorder because there’s nothing wrong with me and a disorder implies there’s something wrong with me that needs to be cured😫😫people treat me bad because they see it as a disorder instead of the correct thing of difference or a neurotype!!!

half of this type of people: autism is not a disability because there’s nothing wrong with autism i’m not disabled i can do everything just like a nondisabled person and disability is Bad and i’m not bad

(which. disability is not a bad word and all but i at least applaud you for the consistency??)

other half of this group, somehow: autism is a disability because autism is disabling and there’s nothing wrong with disability! disability isn’t inherently bad it’s how society treat us that disables us!!! —but autism is still not a disorder! it’s not a disorder it’s a disability and a neurotype!

(disability isn’t bad but this group also perpetuated a lot of misinformation about the social model. i only have to fight them on one subject (autism as disorder) instead of two (autism as disability and disorder) but somehow this group is even more frustrating to deal with because the sheer cognitive dissonance is going to explode my brains. like so you can separate disability from societal ableism but you can’t separate disorder from societal ableism???)

bonus. all of them: *will come onto the post of a higher support needs autistic person talking about why autism is a disability AND a disorder and half complain half dissecting why some (lower support needs) autistic people are so fucking keen on speaking over higher support needs autistic experience. and then have the fucking audacity to say “well i don’t think autism is a disorder because” and then performatively say “if i misunderstand you’re welcome to educate me” as if the entire fucking original post isn’t an education and as if i owe explaining my entire experience to you*

for the record and for the last fucking time (narrator: it would not be the last time). disorder is not a bad word it’s not an inherently wrong thing it’s not a bad thing and if you think it is please for the love of god work on your internalized ableism instead of externalizing it to a more marginalized person. yes the construction of disorders especially in the realm of psychiatry is shit and a mess but that doesn’t mean what you think it means please. a disability a disorder an impairment is limiting by definition it’s a fact it can be neutral it doesn’t have to inherently mean the societal stigma associated with it is true. a disorder and how society and ableist people treat that disorder is heavily intertwined but the second is not inherent to the first.

if you don’t see your autism as a disorder i’m not going to argue over your own experience but stop fucking implying or straight up saying all autism is not a disorder. stop trying to erase the disorder part of autism spectrum disorder. please get out of your tunnel vision and actually shut up and listen to higher support needs / nonspeaking autistics for once in your life without adding any of your comments please.

disability is not an inherently bad thing. disorder is not an inherently bad thing. impairment is not an inherently bad thing.

[joys-of-everyday]

MXTX's women

Let's do ✨discourse™✨

Addendum: I checked out twitter (x now?) for the first time in ages and... um... maybe this isn't a good time for discourse. But hey, I love mxtx so I'm just going to do a Shen Yuan and pretend absolutely everything is fine.

I feel like a lot of the discourse around MXTX and sexism don't hit the mark? Things like 'there are few female characters', 'the female characters die', 'the female characters don't hold positions of power' are not indications as to whether a piece of work standing on its own is sexist. For example, you could write an entire novel about a sexless robot (which miserably fails the Bechdel test because there is only one character) and that says nothing about whether the work itself is sexist. This is an caricature of an example and of course, overall trends give a very different picture to individual works, so its not to take such works off the hook either. Similarly, including sexist troupes isn't inherently sexist, but equally arguing something is a 'critique' isn't a shield against criticism. Critique can be done badly, critique can become outdated, critique itself can be critiqued.

But equally the counterargument to this can't entirely be 'but look at x, y, and z - aren't they great female characters?'. Look, I love mxtx's women. I can write essays (plural) about mxtx's women. Many people already have. Then again, Eowyn from lotr is arguably a pretty deep character, but I would have problems if lotr was the best example of female representation we could come up with. The point being, the existence (or lack thereof) of strong female characters isn't (entirely) the point, even though it's often made out to be. Don't get me wrong, good female representation without strong female characters is... erm... hard. But if it was the crux of the argument, the discourse could be killed in three tumblr posts.

The bigger question(s) (possibly) is: What is its intent? How is that intent received?

SVSSS, MDZS, and TGCF are all extremely different pieces of work. SVSSS in particular stands out, because at its heart, it is satire. While debates around what kind of comedy is and isn't good exist independently of SVSSS, needless to say, judging satire in the same way you would say a murder mystery or a romantic fantasy is not advisable. Sha Hualing is a sexy demon lady whose clothes rip off in the middle of a battle. Why? Because that's saying something about a particular trope of a particular genre.

(Side note: I have opinions on how we shove different BLs together when they really shouldn't be under the same umbrella and how this muddies the discourse unnecessarily. I'm talking about Killing Stalking btw)

For SVSSS, if you get it, you get it (it's impossible to read without understanding this). While some loose threads exist about how female characters could have been more developed... man, do you know how much development my boy Mu Qingfang got? You're not sexist if you punch everyone (only half ironic here). (In terms of character development I also think this might be a fandom thing as well as a SVSSS thing.) But I think more relevantly, SVSSS tells you something about the way MXTX writes critique.

If you didn't notice, SVSSS is critique on two levels. First is the blatant critique of the harem genre, and the second is more subtle critique on BL, on fandoms, on webnovels, on literature. But while we get Shen Qingqiu's commentary guiding us through the first bit, this drops during the second bit. It takes Shen Qingqiu so long to realise that what he's living through is a crazy mishmash of BL tropes that the only narration you get on this is Pure Confusion. To realise Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's early interactions is commentary on the 'dark and obsessive love' trope, you need to immediately realise that Shen Qingqiu telling you Luo Binghe is trying to kill him is just... Wrong. So (possibly, ofc I've no idea what's going on in the author's head) the intent is critique. But intent is meaningless without it being conveyed to the reader. So how are we meant to 'realise' what is going on?

Firstly, MXTX tells you. Shen Qingqiu goes: 'damn Luo Binghe isn't acting like in those weird danmei novels' and you're meant to go 'oh weird danmei novels I know about those'. Second is her very obvious use of tropes (even flagged!). 'Clothes rip/disappear in the middle of a serious situation, isn't this weird? Where have we seen that before?'. And thirdly, by introducing a sense of absurdity. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu's relationship is presented in such an unconventional way (the master-disciple pair which generated a famous porno!) that it forces you to engage with it critically.

Okay, so what does that have to do with sexism? Take MDZS. We have a set of very tropey characters - 'the older sister', 'the scary mother', 'the strong independent woman', 'the damsel in distress'. We have explorations and subversions that go beyond tropes: Jiang Yanli's character shaped by her experiences in an abuse household, Yu Ziyuan's pride and loyalty, Wen Qing's well... everything, and Mianmian needs no explanation. We have flags to tell us we are meant to care about these issues: most obviously Mianmian experiencing gendered harassment for speaking up. All the women die! Yeah, isn't that a problem. Because it's the women sacrificing themselves, women silently taking on burdens, women chained by the circumstances of the world around them and still making choices about what is important to them (and it's often not themselves). The women aren't in positions of power/aren't shown to be as competent as the men! They're literally put down when they speak up, and don't the wives have a great time with their husbands. MDZS is critique of society. MDZS's women too are a critique of the society they (we) live in.

But not all critique is good critique! The first way that critique can fail is if it just isn't registered as critique by the reader. And this isn't always on the reader. If the author isn't clear enough on this, then they have failed to execute the intent of their work. And to this extent, I've heard enough people say that MDZS is maybe sexist as a first reaction (myself included) to think that yeah, maybe this wasn't well done. The flags are scarce. The subversions of tropes are subtle enough to be missed in it's entirety. Then again, MDZS often ends up as people's gateway piece into danmei, when it is probably better understood with more context - for me, coming back to MDZS after a big BL reading spree was exceptionally enlightening. As to whether it could have been better done in the bounds of the genre, without detracting from the banging story it was... I honestly don't know.

One way to go about it is, well... TGCF. Here everything is laid out to you to an almost bizarre degree. 'Look, isn't this a Hard Question' the narrative stops to tell you at multiple points, from Bai Wuxiang and Xie Lian's back and forths, to 'I don't know if what I did was right' speeches on a regular basis (maybe not regular but it was enough to notice). The troupes are still there but their twists are far more obvious. Xuan Ji is the 'deranged woman' who is (we are told multiple times) surprisingly normal and competent when she isn't around Pei Ming. Yushi Huang and Banyue are just obviously strong, competent, and in positions of power. Shi Qingxuan shines in all of her wonder, kindness, and unfortune. The flags are more glaring as well: Just Pei Ming's Existence, Ling Wen's whole backstory, Jian Lan's tragedy... And it probably worked? Since people seem to complain significantly less about any supposed sexism of TGCF.

Do I like it? I like elements of it. Ling Wen is honestly great.

But I love the subtlety with which MDZS weaves its themes and tbh I think some of the magic was lost there. (I love TGCF to bits for different reasons but yeah)

Does MXTX's writing of women merit discussion? Of course, everything merits discussion. Particularly MXTX's works which rely so heavily on genre tropes to craft themes. Is MXTX's work sexist? Idk, I would say no, but these things are Hard Questions.

But my feeling? My true feeling? At the very least, it is So. Much. Better. than a huge amount of work that tries to be feminist and pitifully fails.

My current pet peeve is the 'strong independent woman'. Depicting a sexist society then including a 'strong independent women' with no true appreciation of the realistic struggles she would face, as if the only barriers that we face within these societies is to stop being a loser... is worse in my books than not including any women at all. Or 'strong independent women' who turn out to be utterly pathetic and in constant need of saving. Or 'strong independent women' who have no other personality than being the 'strong independent woman'. The intent here is to come across as feminist and progressive without critically engaging in anything. It's paper thin.

Ultimately, the core theme of MDZS and TGCF isn't about women's experiences (whereas SVSSS is, I would argue, right into the nooks and crannies). Do these works explore such themes to the extent it explore privilege, conflict, and oppression? Not really. But you can't do everything - the role of an author is inherently about choosing what to prioritise. And given what it does do, I think it does some pretty neat things.

[ashweather]

Daily RPG Readings

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, Part 5

If you want to read along with me, you can get the demo copy for free on A.N.I.M.'s official site or head over to their Patreon to get a copy of the latest playtest draft for $5. I'm reading the most recent playtest draft and there are significant differences from the demo copy, just as a heads up.

For part 5, I've stopped lying to myself that I'm ever going to be able to keep up a daily schedule. Today, we'll be going over Pages 94-104, finishing chapter 1. This is a short post, but next time I'll be covering the entirety of character creation, and that's definitely going to be a lot to cover.

Today is all about Traits! Traits, features, powers, perks, whatever you want to call them, they're little mechanical bells and whistles that make a character stand out and really pop off the page. In many TTRPGs they're the most fun part of making a character, and I would argue that holds true for Eureka as well. Investigators get three to six of them initially (but usually three). Traits are sometimes purely beneficial, but especially powerful Traits usually have an attached drawback. These are one of my favorite parts of game design, so let's get granular and cover some highlights!

Bumbling Detective lets characters take after Inspector Clouseau (the book might not be able to mention copyrighted characters, but I sure can!) and be a bumbling fool who completely botches the investigation but then saves the day in the nick of time! Mechanically, the character is more likely to fail Knowledge rolls but more quickly accrues valuable Eureka! Points.

Elementary! is a trait that emulates the famous "biography-at-a-glance" of Sherlock Holmes... or, at least, the character thinks they're that good. An investigator with this this trait can have the Narrator make a hidden Social Cues roll (essentially the skill for reading people), and learn two facts about a person - but the investigator has no idea which of these facts is correct or incorrect.

Final Girl gives a small bonus to Physical Skill rolls when facing off alone against supernatural threats, and also allows the character to spend Eureka! Points to hinder a supernatural threat's rolls rather than just boosting their own. Its a very fun survivor's trait, taking after the time-honored tradition of "final girls" in horror movies. Of course, the character taking the trait need not actually be a girl.

Just One More Thing... is similar to the Bumbling Detective Trait, but for Interpersonal Skills instead of Knowledge. If you somehow didn't pick up from the name, its the Columbo Trait. You know, Columbo? You agree. Reblog.

My Glasses! gives a flat +1 bonus to all investigation rolls, but gives a possibility of the character's glasses getting knocked off in any combat encounter. As long as their glasses are off, they become pretty useless but also blind to the stresses of the situation with a +2 to all Composure rolls. A must have for the Velma Dinkley fans out there.

Not Finished Yet is for a bloodied and beaten investigator dragging their body through the dirt to see a case through. The character has double HP, but if they have less than half of that at any point in the story, they succumb to their injuries and die as soon as the story ends. This one's a personal favorite, as I'm a sucker for stories about the irrepressible human spirit.

Unpredictable is a fun one - add a +1 to all non-investigation rolls. However, all rolls are made with a 1d12 instead of a 2d6, making both Full Successes and total Failures far more likely.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 41 - Into The Riverlands by Nghi Vo

This is the third novella I’ve read because it got a Hugo nomination, and the first that I’d probably have eventually gotten around to reading anyway. I’m generally a fan of Vo’s work, and the first two volumes of the Singing Hill Cycle have been great bite-sized comfort reads. This one basically continues that tradition; I’m frankly not super sure it deserves a nomination to the most prestigious award in the genre? But it was a really fun read to spread out over a couple days, and it’s hardly the worst offender in that regard anyway.

The book’s the third in the series, but they’re episodic enough that you could probably read them in any order with no real loss. The story follows Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant, their talking bird with an eidetic memory, as the pair journeys across the Riverlands. Which are basically wuxia-land, a region of steep hills and river values full of monsters, bandit clans, and marital sects whose practitioners have superhuman powers. Chih, a cleric of the Singing Hills monastery, has a holy duty to collect the stories and histories of wherever they travel, and the novella follows them travelling alongside some of those marital practitioners and listening to (and living through) their stories.

The previous two books were mostly built around Chih learning a specific story, with the circumstances of them learning it being more of a framing device and way to introduce some fun unreliable narration. Into the Riverlands feels like it reverses that. You see it even just looking at the titles of the series – The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain refer to the stories Chih is hearing, Into the Riverlands is what they’re doing. Not that they don’t still spend quite a lot of time listening to stories, but they’re digressions in or parts of the present narrative, not the reason for it.

Having multiple shorter stories relayed by different tellers lets the book lean much harder into having fun with unreliably narrators, even more than Tiger did (though, being entirely honest, on an aesthetic level I kind of have more fun with the different people arguing over how to tell the same story in Tiger). Different folktales which turn out to be about the same people, or the same tale with a different cast depending on whose telling, or someone with a half dozen different names and personalities depending on just how they appear. It’s a fun trick, honestly. And having fun with how reputations and legends mutate and change is just about the only sort of story about stories and the power of narrative I can easily stomach these days.

It’s never really explored or made a point of, but as a worldbuilding note I do rather love how ‘Clerics’ (vaguely Buddhist monks, aesthetically) as a class are socially agender? I saw a post a bit back describing another series’ setting as ‘playing with genders like lego blocks’ and like, yes, good. I love books with gender systems that aren’t just points on a scale between ‘ultraviolent gigapatriarchy’ and ‘suspiciously identical to consensus 2020s feminism’. Have some fun with it.

I’m not sure how much of it was the change in setting and how much of it was just that I came into this off reading some actual literature, but it does definitely feel like the setting is getting more sort of exaggerated and fantastical with each book? Salt and Fortune had magic and mammoths and ghosts, but the drama was all court intrigue and conspiracies. Tiger introduced, well, tigers, and generally monsters and heroes that operate on a superhuman scale and getting into mythic hero bloodbaths over their passions. And now Riverlands has a whole region where wandering superheroes are a load bearing part of society. Not really a complaint, but it’s an interesting change over time.

Relatedly – look, I know it is fifty percent the name ‘the riverlands’ and fifty percent the game being my first exposure to anything like the whole genre and trope-bundle, but I will admit that when the Riverlands’ whole deal became clear my first thought was 100% ‘oh, like Exalted!’.

It is kind of interesting to compare the Singing Hills stories to Vo’s other work (thinking here specifically of her 20th century urban fantasy stuff: Chosen and the Beautiful and Siren Queen). Not even with regard to theme or subject or genre or anything – just in terms of prose. Her urban fantasy stuff’s just very fond of poetic flourishes and very imagery/metaphor-heavy narration, which I personally usually quite enjoy but have heard mixed reviews from others (and does get a bit purple even for me at points). The Singing Hills stuff by contrast is, well, certainly not minimalist or anything, but the prose is a much less striking part of the reading experience.

Probably just a matter of being epic versus urban fantasy, but the role of the supernatural elements in the two sets of stories is also kind of interesting. By which I mean – in Riverlands, there are martial adepts with superhuman abilities and talking birds because it’s the kind of setting with stuff like that, and Chih’s interactions with them are, basically, a person interacting with things that exist. In Siren and Chosen the devils and fae and sorcery are much more weighed down with symbolism and thematic meaning. They are literalized metaphors as much as anything else, and affect the world accordingly. (If that makes any sense at all.)

Anyways, it’s probably just the fact that it’s my brains central case for ‘self contained episodic stories with a single recurring protagonist’, but even more than the rest of the series I was really struck reading this how well the pacing would work as an episode of a 40-minute or so animated tv serial. (animated because being able to change styles in the story-within-a-story section and stylize depending on the narrator would be a vital part). Which is, I suppose, another way of saying that I want another 12-19 of these things.

[somany-fandoms-solittle-time]

In A Sentimental Mood: A Ruggie/Yuu Oneshot

Some quick Housekeeping! This was originally meant to be a song-fic but the only time I remembered to/felt inspired to write was nearly the middle of the night (as writers do lol) so I didn’t have enough mental energy to splice the lyrics together into the story. Instead, I listened to the song on repeat while writing, like, HALF of the fic but I thought it was cute enough to fit the vibes. The narrator's voice and descriptions were hard to keep consistent as well as concise, but whatever. I don’t think I properly matched Ruggie’s speech pattern but I think it’s close enough to ‘random, working class teenager’ for now.

Also! It’s an X Yuu but I’m pretty sure I used all GN! Pronouns so please feel free to read it as an X Reader (who’s the Ramshackle Perfect). It felt kinda awkward to not describe the character or use open descriptors (like Y/N, HC, etc.) but feel free to add any notes or styles to try out for an open reader audience. Honestly feel free to comment or message any feedback lol! I don’t have a beta reader atm (I might ask either my gf or my IRL friend who’s also into TWST) but it could be fun to have a random stranger react to my writing so they’re disconnected from personal feelings and whatnot.

 I have a fic introducing my oc a little interacting with the Pop Music Club, but it’s making out to be longer than expected so between writing for my own AU/ocs story I’ll be posting cute lil song-fics as well as crackhead interactions lol! Maybe a few headcanons as well. I’m not sure if I would have ever actually started writing fanfics (or writing in general) instead of simply daydreaming about it if it wasn’t for @twst-beam and @krenenbaker , so a quick dedication for them for lowkey lighting a fire under my ass. Not only have you opened the creative floodgates, but actually gave me the motivation to actually TRY and put it into action. Anyway…. ON TO THE STORY BITCHES!!! ENJOY THE THE SWEET HYENA BOY (who weirdly looks exactly like my Boyfriend, lol) AND COME REALISH IN THE CHAOS~

In A Sentimental Mood:

A Ruggie/Yuu one-shot

It had been a long day. Scratch that–it had been the longest year of Ruggie Bucchi and Yuu’s life! However, there was something especially trying these last 24 hours. Maybe it had something to do with how this was the first day off the both had (that lined up) in w e e k s and they STILL BOTH got called in to run some nonsensical errand. Or maybe it’s because when the First Year Squad were supposed to be babysitting Grim the entire first floor of Ramshackle got absolutely trashed. 

Something about stupid bets, idiotic magic competition, and a prolonged chase. Afterwards, Rugs and Yuu had to help clean up! The aftermath of the wreckage was too much for the Hodge Podge group of freshmen.

What really topped the day off was the mission impossible scheme the couple failed to pull off. Originally, the two were simply planning to “borrow” on one Leonas (numerous) credit cards while the latter was passed out for an all-expenses-paid date out. It’s not like they were about to rob the second prince blind! Just a few trips to their usual thrifting stops, maybe hassle with a local boutique and then some semi-fancy free grub. 

Instead they got caught two shops in when they decided to grab some food before being totally weighed down by paper shopping bags. Since they had a later start, Yuu suggested getting dinner to the new uppity wine-and-dine.

“C’mon Rugs~ When are we gonna have another chance to dine like Kings? And on a Royal Dime at that!” they foolishly (but successfully) tempted the poor Hyena into a little more Mischievous than the two realized.

Too bad their Dinner Date got cut short from one of the waiters recognizing the Sunset Savannah Royal Seal on Leona’s card. It took an hour and a half of being corralled into a backroom, 3 ominous threats of calling the police, snarky back talk and just general arguing before Leona strutted into the Restaurant and vouched for his underclassmen. Seeing the lazy Lion not only WAKE UP, but come off campus was a bit of a surprise for the thief couple. 

What wasn’t as surprising was his smug, diva face while declaring that they would need to pay him back for disturbing his nap. After hasty, and admittedly sheepish, promises to the Prince, he collected his missing card and strutted back to campus. Luckily, he was secretly a bit of a softy towards his unofficial Vice and the magicless Perfect that saved his life (and probably his status for not ratting him out to his older brother). It’s safe to say while making the switch a decent stack of Thaumarks was placed in Ruggie’s wallet.

So yeah, in a word, the day had been a bit of a shitshow. A clusterfuck of misfortunate events (and if it weren’t for Leona, Yuu and Ruggie would not only be in some kind of jail but also flat broke). 

But finally–finally–this hardworking hyena Beastman and the Ramshackle Perfect were about to have some peace and quiet! A moment for just the two of them. A small, precious moment late at night. After the longest night of their collective lives, the two were able to cuddle up and appreciate what they had. Even if all they had was encompassed by long, tiring days and horrendous luck… and having the bend to the whims of some of the brattiest Divas of NRC.

Regardless, this time isn’t about them. It’s about Ruggie Bucchi and Yuu enjoying what left they had of their day off, Damnnit!  

“Ya’ know,” Yuu hummed into where their face was buried for max comfort; Ruggie’s chest. “Today wasn’t a total bust.”

Ruggie snickered sarcastically as his left hand paused its petting motion through his significant other’s hair. He was clearly only humoring his lover's thought process, yet paying attention all the same.

“I’m just saying it wasn’t a total loss,” they began to half-jokingly argue, “I still got to spend the day with you. Besides, you gotta admit it was pretty funny watching that stupid manager’s annoying face drop when Prince Grumpy strutted in all pissy!”

“Shee Shee Shee! Fair enough, Sugar! Good thing he didn’t realize Leona’s always cranky… or that His Majesty~ was mostly just pissed he had to wake up.” Ruggie answered playfully.

“It was kinda sweet of him for letting us, mostly, off the hook though. He even let us keep our goodies along with that sneaky bonus,” Yuu mentioned while lazily motioning towards the small mound of shopping bags and the miscellaneous items inside.

“Pleeeease~ He probably spends more on a single earring than we did with his card and cash combined,” Rugs pouted enviously. To emphasize his pout, he completely encircled Yuu with his arms and clutched them tightly. He was hanging onto them tighter than a swiped snack from the cafeteria on Doughnut day.

“I don’t know,” his partner giggled in response, “Leona’s been such a softy lately… but his whole dark and brooding reputation gets in the way a bit.”

“Dark and brooding?” Ruggie snorted, “Dunno if Leona’s habits of lyin’ around counts as dark and brooding.”

Yuu tried to suppress their elated smirk at feeling the slight tremor of quiet laughter. “True, that’s more of Mal’s stick isn’t it? Angsty and depressed?”

“Nahhh, that’s Idia’s thing! Also, I still can’t wrap my head ‘round you calling Malleus by some nickname.” His laughter died down as he scrunched his nose at the thought of his partner so buddy-buddy with one of Twisted Wonderland’s most powerful mages. And a crown Prince… with servants and castles and-

“You do realize that Malleus is like a GIANT kid right? I mean, yeah he’s some super powerful wizard-”

“Mage!”

“...whatever. He’s an absolute beast when it comes to magic and whatnot, but he’s got this whole ‘homeschooled only child’ vibe going on and honestly? It’s a little pathetic, in a cute stray way.”

Ruggie didn’t really know how to feel about his partner’s revelation. On one hand, he knew they were just friends and had befriended each other longer before Yuu realized Malleus’ status. That didn’t necessarily make it any easier to cover up the inherent inferiority or the slight unsettling fear. Good thing they didn’t feel the usual pressure of this world’s social ladder… but that doesn’t mean they won’t start worrying if he stayed lost in thought for too long.

“.......what was your world like for you to turn out so weird?” 

“Hey!”

Ruggie continued to laugh, but it came out a little bit strained. Yuu finally glanced up in order to catch a glimpse of their boyfriend’s adorable pout.  His lightly scrunched eyebrows and the way his ears seemed to fold-in on themselves made him look like a grumpy puppy. Absurdly cute, but clearly bothered, and they both had had such a long day t wouldn’t be right not to cheer him back up!

“Oh, c’mere!” the Perfect said through teasing giggles as they flipped Ruggie over to switch positions.

Rugs was currently (and quite contently) snuggled face first into his lover's chest; enjoying the sound of their heartbeat along with the comfortable extra cushioning. His arms reached slightly down to wrap around their waist snuggly as the two pairs of legs naturally crisscrossed at the joints. The moment he fully relaxed was when Yuu started to softly pet his bushy hair and scratch along the base of his ears.

Pure Heaven.

“Were you getting grumpy because I kept mentioning Leona and Malleus?” the Perfect lovingly taunted now that he was trapped and attacked (with euphoric head scratches) in his weak spot. Truly, an idiots mirage of paradise.

“C’mon Sweet Cheeks! Ya Couldn’t’ve least let me keep my pride?” Rugs whined, quickly going back to frowning deeply but unable to hold it for long. There was no chance in all of Twisted Wonderland he could stay “upset” while his precious Dandelion Fluff’s fingers softly caressed his sensitive ears. At least he could cover-up the way he melted, burying himself further into their figure. Luckily, Yuu was already squeezing him closure with a burst of affection,

“Don’t worry, my silly Hyena, the only one I was focused on today was you. The only one I wanted to spend time with was you. And the only person I think of from dawn till dusk, and dream about the whole night through, will always be you, Ruggie Bucchi.” Yuu declared playfully, then slowly breathlessly serious with a sappy amount of affection as they watched Ruggie's tail wave faster and faster.

“Shee shee shee,” Rugs bashfully replied, “where did all that come from outta nowhere?”

Yuu wistfully sighed, “I guess I’m just in a sentimental mood.”

The two shared some playful hushed whispers until Ruggie had to turn his head to hide a yawn. His attempt was futile however, as Yuu caught it–but instead of teasing him over it they simply snuggled him closer and quietly sang an old, sweet crooner love song from their home world. Despite the long day, it felt blissfully short as the two peacefully drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms. 

[chambers003]

home alone so i watched venom instead of doing anything useful . watched venom because of malevolent . yes i was comparing the two the whole time but also i can recognise them as separate things with separate themes. a rare win for media literacy. might watch let there be carnage next. tonight? maybe. idk. it’s only 8:43 pm (now 9:07pm by finishing the post) . ivegot thoughts about similarities and differences. might drop them first. yeah theres up to date malevolent spoilers in here oopsie

venom is very much an action movie. venom the character has more autonomy than john to fit. venom and eddie speedrun their trust like literally they beat up some guys in their shitty apartment and then immediately go on the SICKEST car chase ever and eddie trusts venom to do all sorts of crazy shit even though hes only known him for like 3 seconds. he’s very open and accepting the fact theres an alien sharing his body he literally only freaks out about the aliens on the lift with that poor doctor who deserved way better. like someone who would remember her name. so not me. eddie’s like “ha this might as well happen ellemayo” because he’s got nothing to lose.

then again it could be argued that arthur also has nothing to lose but his approach to the whole “theres a spooky eldritch horror sharing my body” is far more sensible. investigative reporter vs private investigator is really not that different so it must be something else . arthur is a mostly sensible guy where eddie has been kicked out of several jobs before so maybe thats it the point is this is what happened. but . john isnt really sharing arthur’s body. he’s taking it. but as a trade, he’s much more passive, has much less autonomy. a lot of this is balanced out with him being their eyes; arthur is the one doing all the action, john’s basically just a narrator with a character arc.

but malevolent isn’t an action podcast, it’s about choices, and hope, and humanity. venom is about cool guys having a fight. and looking awesome. so that all makes sense. john is NOT the heavy hitter, the action-taker (with exceptions in part 40 and 43), this is due to the fact no one can hear him apart from arthur. arthur is the one throwing basically all of the punches. whereas in venom, venom is the more action-heavy half. eddie is more than capable of taking care of himself too, but he would be so so so dead without venom be fr.

but the format of venom as a film is that you cant fit a character arc like malevolent’s in an hour and 20 minutes. or whatever however long it was idk. so eddie had to be cool with venom from early on. or they wouldve had to make that the plot of the whole movie, which you just cant do, because thats not visually interesting and this is marvel we’re on about. it all comes down to format and themes. limitations.

malevolent is a podcast. you cant do action scenes in podcasts. not like you can in movies at least. and in movies you cant really have heartfelt moments because we’re here for cool explosions not the spooky and the freak talking to each other with emotional maturity for extended periods of time. you couldnt turn malevolent 43 into a movie. arthur is dead and mostly unmoving on the table the whole time. theres like one thing that could happen in that movie that would be interesting to watch and then john gets trolled about it anyway. and if you turned venom into a podcast it’d just be unreadable noise.

[clovermarigold]

Daggers and Daffodils Chap.17

Dagur x Reader

In the time it took me to write this chapter I've gone through two separate chargers, since the one I shipped in broke withing the first half of the chapter. So that was disappointing.

But on another note, it's been a year since I posted the first few chapters! Thank you all for the support and interest in my cringy fanfic, and I apologize that in the span of a year I've only made this many chapters for Ya'll.                                   -Clover

Narrator POV

"Hiccup" Dagur greeted with a twisted smile. "I thought we could settle this like real Vikings" Hiccup said from atop Toothless. Dagur grit his teeth and quickly gripped the Skrill's ropes, "Me and my Skrill vs you and your night fury? I like those odds".  You yelled for him so stop as he pulled the reigns causing the Skrill to narrowly miss Hiccup. He swiftly dodged and flew away, making Dagur and the Skrill follow him.

A familiar roar graced your ears at Dagur's disappearance. With a smile you hauled towards the side of the ship, jumping onto Silver Tongue's back as in a fly by. "Good to see you boy" you chided, "did you miss me?". He huffed steam from his nose. A low growl eliminated from him as he caught a glimpse of Dagur, who was currently standing in a puddle of water as Hiccup goaded him. With a flash Dagur was launched into the water leaving the Skrill free to chase Hiccup.

Silver Tongue dove to catch up with Hiccup, and you were both flying side by side. "Thanks, it was getting really awkward in there". "I bet" Hiccup said, "But don't thank me yet" the two of you dodged a lightning bolt. "I'll lead the Skrill away, you get home". "I'm not leaving you alone with that thing!" you argued. "Don't worry, I'm not alone" he looked down at Toothless fondly who in turn gave a purr like agreement. Silver Tongue gave a sneeze to voice his disgust, "Allright then, seems like this one's ready to go home anyways. Stay safe" he nodded. You were just glad it was all finally over.

Some weeks later

...You don't tend to think of yourself as a superstitious person, as you don't believe in luck or curses. But this year has got you thinking. After all, how in Odins name is it possible for one singular person to be THIS unfortunate. Currently, you are hanging upside down by your feet. While training with Astrid and the others, Snotlout (not listening as always) had launched into Silver Tongue's side and sent the two of you crashing down, after he had already caused a chain reaction that launched a boulder towards Astrid. You sighed, closing your eyes as you contemplated your life choices. Your attention refocused as you felt the branch you were on bend and a familiar chuff sounded to your left. turning your head, you were met with Silver Tongue, comfortable in his usual sleeping position upside down. "You gonna help me or what?". He let out a light huff from his nostrils and opted to turn his head in a 180° away from you. Today was going to be a long day.

After the hassle of pulling both yourself and Silver Tongue out from the tree (him being a stubborn baby who was throwing a tantrum) you joined the others on the ground rushing to help the hurt Astrid. "Wh-what?" Astrid asked dazed and confused. "She has a possible slight concussion, but thankfully nothing seems broken. But she could have been seriously hurt" you said, giving Astrid a once over inspection. Despite your urging for her to sit and rest she used your side to help stand.

"You have no idea what you did?! Do you?!" Hiccup yelled at Snotlout.

"Yeah, Hookfang and I made the coolest trick shot ever".

"You almost got Astrid killed!".

"Oh, come on she's fine, look at her". Astrid was slightly curled clutching her left side which most likely took the blunt of the fall. "Yeah, no thanks to you" Astrid threw herself off of you and lunged at Snotlout, only barely being caught by Hiccup first.

Rushing over to the three you hoisted Astrid to her side and led her towards Stormfly so she could sit.

"Thats it I'm tired of this" Hiccup said.

"I'm tired of this!... What are you tired of?" Snotlout asked.

"You always have to do things your way. How can we rely on you if you don't do what we ask?" Hiccup reasoned, you and the others silently watching the conversation that was months overdue.

"So! What are you saying Hiccup" Snotlout taunted with his arms crossed.

"I'm saying until further notice, you're suspended from the academy". A gasp erupted from the others and Snotlout stood mouth agape for a second before falling back into his stubborn childish snark. "You can't ground me! You're not my dad!" he said puffing his chest out. Hiccup leaned in, apparently wanting all of the smoke, "oh yes I can".

"Boys!  Thats enough, we need to get Astrid home now" you interrupted their standoff. "Hmmf. Watch!" Snotlout yelled indignantly, mounting Hookfang and taking off. "Ground this dragon boy" he yelled as he flew away. "Um, am I wrong in thinking that grounding means staying on the ground? Cause that looks a lot like- ugh- skying" Tuffnut said flapping his hands.

"You didn't have to do that for me Hiccup" Astrid said. "If we can't count on him in practice, how can we possibly count on him the next time we run into Dagur".

"Easy" said Tuffnut, "We throw Y/N in the opposite direction, so Dagur follows her, and we can catch him by himself, then tell Snotlout that somewhere on one of Dagur's ships is his father's approval". You shot him a glare. "What, just being honest".

_______________________________________________

"Hello Mr. Nightfury, how are we doing today?" Dagur asked the picture against the wall. "Happy? Feeling Hiccupy good? It's just a big wuv fest over on Berk, isn't it?" Dagur continued to talk to the picture as his men stared awkwardly, too scared to interrupt one of his delusions fueled rants with inanimate objects.  

"Dagur" Savage called entering the room, "I have news regarding our latest dragon root tests". "What did you call me" Dagur's eyes narrowed dangerously on the thin man, promising death if he didn't backpedal immediately.  "R-right, sorry. Your derangedness".

"Ah, rolls right of the tongue, doesn't it?" his sarcastic smile returned. "Ugh, yes. Anyways, the test worked exactly as you thought it would, the wild dragons starve for it like, well, wild dragons".

"excellent" he laughed, "What shall we do next, so many options".  Savage thought for a moment, "What if we kept an eye on Berk for the right time to plant it".  Dagur fiddled with his axe deep in thought, "So simple, yet so, deranged. I like it! When the time is right, we will put my plan into motion and both the Nightfury and Y/N will finally be mine!". Dagur quickly broke into loud maniacal laughter before a thought entered his mind. "Oh, should I get Y/N some flowers" Savage and the rest of Dagur's men stood on edge, scared and surprised by yet another 180 in Dagur's mood. "Purple brings out her eyes, I'll get her a wreath".

"SAVAGE!" He screamed making the pathetic excuse of a Berserker scamper over quickly. "Make my love a wreath". "Right away your derangedness" He watched as Dagur exited the room, dying on the inside at the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to make one.

_______________________________________________

Today was academy cleaning day, Astrid was busy polishing Stormfly's saddle while the twins planned to expand theirs into Snotlout's. You on the other hand were busy reinforcing the beam on Silver Tongues pen due to his weight straining the wood when he slept hanging. Your attention was drawn to the sound of Hiccup and the twins. "No one is knocking down anything. I will talk to Snotlout when he comes back" Hiccup stormed out of the academy towards what you would guess was the house.

Cleaning has been rather therapeutic as of late, sure your bad luck was continuing it's streak this morning, but now you could relax and finally enjoy some peace and quie- "OW". You pressed the wrapped block of ice harder on Snotlouts head before rooting through your bag of herbs. A barely awake Snotlout had arrived with none other than Alvine the treacherous, who was currently standing trial in the great hall. "Any idea when he'll wake up?" Fishlegs asked. "Considering he was semi-conscious when he showed up, any damage should be minimal, but that leaves a large window for how long he'll be asleep. As if to mock you once again, the universe chose now to be when the idiot would open his mouth. "Ah! Big! Nasty!".

"Slow down," said Astrid "What's going on?".

"The island. There was a wrecked outcast ship, and Alvin was on it". "We know that already," said Astrid.

"No! That wasn't all, the Screaming Death, it was there". The rest of you exchanged glances.

"We need to tell Hiccup" You nodded.

Once you had told Hiccup about the approaching screaming death he had gone into protective overdrive and began to have you all run closed space drills withing the academy nonstop. With the exception of Snotlout who despite his protests was still under suspension. "You can't take away my dragon. Hookfang!" The sadness and desperation in his voice as he watched his dragon get locked in his pen made your heart twist. It wasn't as if he was the only one being locked up. All the others were too (minus toothless and Meatlug) but it left you disappointed in both Snotlout and your brother.

_______________________________________________

Unknown to you, you were being watched by Dagur atop a hill. "Perfect, the dragons are locked up in the arena. Don't worry my love, we'll be back home soon enough" Dagur cooed as his spyglass singled on you exiting the pens. "By the time Hiccup and his dragon dunderheads get to them, it'll be too late" Dagur devolved into his trademark deranged laughter. "Wait!" Savage flinched at his volume. "Where is her wreath?" Savage swallowed thickly as he handed Dagur the crudely made circles of sticks and- flowers? They were likely from weeds. Cue a blowup from Dagur, "You idiot! You're supposed to trim the stems so there aren't any thorns! And what in Thor's name is this supposed to be?!" he pointed to the wilting leaves. Savage leapt to hide behind the dragon root crate as Dagur threw the wreath at him. His rage swapped for a cavalier dismissal as he turned away "I have to do everything myself. Figures".

_______________________________________________

That night you were awoken by the sound of the warning alarm. Scabbard was quick to crawl onto her spot on your shoulder but was met with hands lifting her back onto the bed. "Not tonight, Scabbard, you need to rest" after two long back-to-back trips between Outcast Island and Berk in a single day she was exhausted. She let out a small chirp of indignation before deciding that the crisp sheets and warm animal hides were too tempting to ignore. You, Hiccup, and Toothless rushed out from the house. Flying above the pens you saw the dragons attacking one another. "Dragon root" Hiccup exclaimed. Landing at the entrance you and the others gathered.

"Dagur put dragon root in the arena so the dragons would attack each other".

"Hiccup" Snotlout came running over, "Listen I need to tell you something".

"Snotlout, not now" Hiccup said.

"It's important I-" "I said not now! Fishlegs, this is all you. Toothless and I can't go in there because he'll be affected by the root. You and Meatlug have to get in there and get the root out, while the others distract their dragons".

At once the gate opened and each of you booked it towards your dragons. Silver Tongue however was nowhere in sight. You used your dragon call only to receive a loud screech from above. Silver Tongue was gripped onto the arena's chains looking at you with savage eyes. To add insult to injury he came down in a way that would leave you with nightmares for months. Instead of leaping down towards you, he opted to slowly scale down the chains while rotating his head in the complete opposite direction of his body, to make his head appear as if it were standing still, as steam puffed out from his nose, and his bloodshot eyes stared at you narrowed and unblinking.

"Silver Tongue, I'm gonna need you to snap out of it, and stop being this creepy right now!" he lounged at you bellowing a roar. As he chased you, you were barely able to avoid his fire by staying in the small pocket in the center of his fire ring. Once Meatlug and Fishlegs grabbed the root you ran as quickly as possible towards the gate. The gate suddenly began to close, and out of instinct you were just able to make it out by sliding on the ground.

"What the?" Fishlegs exclaimed, now trapped inside along with Ruff and Tuff. You, however, were met with two Berserkers trapping you against the gate. You drew your sword, grateful to see Hiccup and Toothless land behind them.

"Open that door right now or-" "Or what?" Dagur asked, a number of Berserkers surrounding you all with crossbows. Hiccup grit his teeth. "Dagur what do you want?".

"What I've always wanted, Y/N, and the Nightfury. Hand 'em over, and we leave peacefully that's your choice. Your dragon and your sister, or your friends". A smile broke out onto his face, "Isn't this exciting! What will be choose ladies and gentlemen?!" He looked to your friends who were beginning to struggle to fend off the dragons. "We can't keep this up much longer!" yelled Fishlegs.

"So, Hiccup. What's your answer". Before Hiccup could get a word in, your father answered for him. "The answer is, we run you through and open the gate ourselves", with a cry him and the other adult Vikings of Berk charged at the Berserkers. Using the distraction, you slammed the hilt of your sword into one of the Berserker's nose and swept the leg of the other.  With the two guarding the gate knocked out, when the gate opened the others were free to escape. However, when flying out with the dragon root, Fishlegs flew too close to the ground, resulting in him accidentally hitting Stoick and knocking him out cold. "Sorry chief!" He called. "Darn it Fishlegs!" you exclaimed running to your father's side. "This is what I get for being the only trained battle physician on Berk".

Dagur surveyed the battle which was no longer in his favor. Savage limped towards him, clutching his side "Our plan has failed, we must retreat". Rage pooled into his body causing him to clutch his head tightly in an effort to quiet his racing thoughts and give himself a cruel sense of comfort "I'M NOT LEAVING BERK EMPTY HANDED!". Looking around once more, some of his anger dissipated into sly joy, as he made out your figure over an incapacitated Stoick. A grin stretched across his face, "follow me" he called.

"My love" you heard the sickeningly sweet yet taunting voice of Dagur behind you. Swiftly you grabbed your sword and turned to face him. "Now now, let's not be hasty" he raised his hands in an attempt to calm you. Without a word you ran at him swinging your sword. Dagur let out a small yelp, genuinely taken aback that you were attacking him.

"This is a bit much, my love" he dodged your attacks with relative ease, before slipping behind you. He wrapped one hand around your sword, prying it from you in favor of intertwining your fingers. His other arm wrapped itself around your waist and other arm, pinning you against him in a sort of mock dance position. Having you up against him brought Dagur endless enjoyment as he forgot that the two of you were supposed to be fighting as he began to slowly sway you both.

"You kidnaped me and threatened my dragon, this is tame" distracted by the smell of your hair, Dagur was caught off guard when threw your head backwards, landing a hit directly into his nose. The arm around your left arm and waist released allowing you to pull yourself apart from him. However, when you tried to run to your fallen sword you were stopped by the firm hold of Dagur's still interlocked fingers. Looking back, you see that Dagur, though still gripping your hand is curled over gripping his face. A quiet almost squeakish laugh escapes him as he shakes his head slightly. Dagur looks up at you smiling like an idiot, his pupils are dilated and focused solely on you, and for a moment you almost thought they were shaped like hearts. As if the universe could already tell your heart rate was exploding (and not out of fear), a stream of blood fell from his nose, trailing over his lips. Despite the smell and taste of iron pooling in his nose and against his teeth Dagur ignored it. No, it didn't matter. What did matter was the absolute look of shock and flustered surprise painted on your face.

This moment, however, was interrupted by a number of Berserkers raising their swords towards Stoick and threatening you to comply. And Dagur watched as that shocked and dare, he says shy look on your face faded. Replaced with a look of rage and contempt. Despite every ounce of his being screaming at him to rip their heads off, his attention refocused. Not the time, not the place. That was ok though, soon he would be able to spend every moment staring at that awe filled face. But for now, he had to get you out of here.

"I suggest you listen to them, my love" your nose scrunched as you looked over to your dazed father with several swords pointed at him. "Fine" you said begrudgingly. Dagur's men tied up your father and took used the both of you as hostages.

"Nobody moves. We'll be leaving now. And if I see one dragon following us, rider or not, you're going to be looking for a new chief" His prideful and cocky grin hadn't left his face once as you escaped Berk without so much as a hand raised to stop him, neither did his hand around yours.

Yup, it's a fact now, you have terrible luck.

_______________________________________________

Thank you so much for reading! Take care!

[livvyofthelake]

well i’ve been rewatching some community and we all know i’m also currently obsessed with some redacted guys and we all know when i’ve got two sets of guys going on at the same time i HAVE to compare them. so i need to make a Post. and this will be made slightly difficult due to the fact that these guys are redacted. but we press on. yes it HAS to stay redacted. 1) it’s embarrassing. 2) i am literally terrified that if i use proper nouns fandom people on here will find my posts. nothing worse than that. i’m keeping my redacteds and i’m about to type up a LONG ASS POST!!!

ok for reference. guy 1 is gonna be my guy from tenth grade spirit week. you know him. you’re an angel i’m a dog or you’re a dog and i’m your man. he’s. he’s the star half :/ basically. ok. guy 2 is the narrating character from my fanfiction i just read. um i don’t think i have a descriptor for him. he’s the other one. i’ve referred to him a few times as my buddy *****. so there’s that. guy 3 is gonna be the one with beth march swag. parabatai swag. original model to one of cassie’s guys. you know him. guy 4. hm. well i simply don’t talk about him so idk what to say. he’s the fifth wheel essentially. i almost sympathize with his actions when i remember he had to be the fifth wheel all the time jesus. guy 5 is my forever girl. you know her she’s the main girl. guy 6 is gonna be. the one who was in that hunger games. we’ll call him timmy that’s what i call him. guy 7 is gonna be my girl who is sooo cool who i simply do not have a descriptor for. mary. guy 8 will be our third girl. the dyke one. again i’m not sure you’d know her but she’s the lesbian basically. ok let’s get started

you might think beth march swag would be jeff because he’s the leader, but i simply don’t see him as jeff. however it IS important that he be assigned the character that is essentially the glue holding the group together, and THAT is abed. and you may want to argue that he’s not abed because he’s cool, he should be troy if he’s not gonna be jeff, but i simply disagree… troy is cool only OUTSIDE the group, abed is cool within the group, and more importantly, remember that abed is the one that brought everyone together…. this is our guy

now. ms forever girl. annie. don’t even have to think about it

my guy from tenth grade spirit week. now this i DO have to think about. hm. my gut instinct is obviously to say jeff. his whore realness and bitchy swag of course. but it almost seems too easy… he might be troy. i’ll get back to you

fifth wheel is pierce because i wouldn’t assign pierce to anyone i actually liked peace and love

i think our lesbian might have to be troy actually. jock swag idc.

mary i think has to be shirley

***** my good friend and pal is getting assigned britta because he just has a little cunt swag. and i totally believe he would mispronounce bagel and insist he’s correct because he lived in new york. or whatever equivalent. the difference is that he’d get away with it. and also these guys could do jeffbritta modern warfare but that’s neither here nor there

and that covers the study group so. timmy can be chang. peace and love on planet earth

[kai-keda]

how do you feel about s4 of lmk having a different showrunner and headwriter? it makes me concerned 😬😬

I’m not surprised because the Embrace Your Destiny specials had such a book-ending to them. Everything from the first season onward was tied up nicely at the end. To be perfectly honest, and friends from Discord can confirm this, I was Lowkey upset that the show was even CONTINUING after I saw that ending.

The series started with Tang having a narration about how “the story is never truly over” and it ends with Tang having a narration about how “the story is never truly over”. It’s beautiful. So it makes sense that the head writer and show runner have stepped down from the project. It’s a perfect point for it to either end or transition to something new.

Honestly, even if it was the same exact crew, my brain would be separating the first three seasons from whatever comes next because no matter what they do, it’s gonna feel disconnected from the previous stories due to that solid opening and ending.

Because that disconnect is already there for me, I’m not too worried about how future content will make me feel. That being said, there are some concerns I have based on previous experiences with fandoms and based on how I’ve seen this fandom act about “being right”.

Worst case scenario is we get another Dragon Ball Super situation. I don’t mean this in regards to the actual quality dropping, but more in how the atmosphere of the greater fandom will shift MASSIVELY.

Example Hypothetical:

DBK and PIF are shown in Season 4 to having not gotten their act together and continue treating Red Son like garbage which leads to a character arc of Red Son disconnecting himself from them entirely and fully joining the Monkie Kid Team.

Remember, whether this scenario sounds appealing or is well executed or not isn’t the point of this example.

Imagine this happens and you are left with half the fandom being excited because this is exactly what they wanted and have had all of their feelings on the subject validated by this. Meanwhile, the other half feels betrayed. There’s evidence of DBK and PIF doing better so why would they suddenly be so awful, right?

Now the part I’m concerned about is how these two halves would interact going forward.

The Dragon Ball fandom is a god dang WAR ZONE between people who don’t want to acknowledge DBS as a part of their personal canon of the series (cough cough - me) and the people who argue you HAVE to accept it (elitist dumbass assholes).

Now, don’t get me wrong, the Dragon Ball fandom is worse than the Monkie Kid fandom when it comes to forcing personal interpretations, analysis, headcanons and beliefs on other fans. But that doesn’t mean the LMK fandom doesn’t have those problems at all.

The LMK fandom ABSOLUTELY struggles with this.

See also “Wukong is canonically a father figure to MK” and “Red Son is canonically genderfluid” as only two examples. Both statements being objectively false because neither thing has EVER been stated in the canon of the show.

With the understanding that there’s a new show runner and head writer, there are - without a doubt - going to be fans who choose to say “I only go by the first part of the show”. Whether it has to do with relationship dynamics or characterization, there are going to be fans who have their current interpretations challenged by the new material and they’re going to blame the show runner/head writer rather than it just being something that filled in gaps they originally filled on their own.

Here’s my concern of how this is gonna turn out:

Rather than everyone coexisting, there’s going to be a shit show of a war between fans who don’t acknowledge anything post new crew and fans who think everyone HAS to accept everything from the show.

There’s going to be an overwhelming sense of who is “right” and “wrong” and the great LMK Civil Fandom Wank of 2023 - [whatever-year] is gonna pit brother against brother.

With the hypothetical I gave, we would see fans of the newer seasons putting the people who WANTED the Demon Bull Family to heal on blast with a sense of moral superiority via calls out stating “This user thinks you should never run away from abusive households!” (Which would not ACTUALLY be true of said user)

NOW

This isn’t GUARANTEED to happen, but I think it’s worth pointing out the possibility ahead of time. After all, being aware going in that there IS MOST DEFINITELY going to be people who don’t like what the new show runner and head writer have planned will be able to prevent us from going down a nasty path of proving why one side is “morally disgusting.”

If you or someone you know has been a victim of a Civil Fandom Wank of this type, you may be entitled to financial compensation

If you know the term “Fandom Wank” without having to look it up, you may be entitled to financial compensation

[walkawaytall]

Fic anon here! No worries about publishing (or not, ofc). I was in another fandom that involved a lot of very meta+crack minifics shared on anon purely for silly purposes and while we don't do that so much in this corner of the SW fandom, the inspiration just like hit re: your name

While I'm jabbering in your inbox, for your fanfic write asks: 5! 7!

Oh, good, I'm glad I didn't commit a faux pas :). Thank you!

Onward to answers:

5. Is there a tiny detail in one of your fics that you feel goes tragically unnoticed?

This is really just an inside joke with myself (I mean, I did make a Tumblr post about it, but I haven't drawn attention to it on the sites where I post, and no one has mentioned that they noticed), but there's this half-heard argument about something Luke dubs "The Snakebite Incident" in Speak Louder and...okay the thing is, at the time that I wrote Speak Louder, I had written The Short Stick, posted it, and then taken it down a couple of hours later because I was self-conscious about it for some reason, and I had plans to totally overhaul The Short Stick or whatever. I needed something mind-numbingly stupid for Han and Leia to argue about, and The Snakebite Incident argument was in The Short Stick. So, I stole the short bit of dialogue from my own story, dumped it in Speak Louder as this argument that Luke is tired of hearing because they're both unreliable narrators, so he never gets the full story, and every time the situation gets brought up, they fight about it, and everyone is over hearing the same argument.

And then, months later, I reread The Short Stick after letting it chill for awhile and I don't hate it. I'm not self-conscious about it any more. But, crap, I gutted that one argument for a different story, now I have to come up with something equally stupid for them to argue about, right?

Or. Instead...they can have the same argument, almost word-for-word with a few variations. Because the entire point of this argument is that everyone around them only gets some of the details, no one has 100% of the story except Han and Leia themselves, and they keep having it to the annoyance of anyone within hearing distance. (Though, Han does learn a grammatical lesson between Speak Louder and The Short Stick and corrects himself before Leia can get to it the second time around.) So, yeah, I'm probably going to keep including it in things if it fits and doesn't become excessive because I find it funny.

7. Share a line or paragraph you’ve written that you don’t think will ever actually be posted in anything! (Or, if you don’t hoard cut sentences and passages like I do, share anything you want that has yet to see the light of day!)

Here, I'll share the start of a story that I'm pretty sure started with, "Let's do a bottle-episode-style story!" (I think I've started three different stories with this concept and a proper bottle episode has never emerged from these attempts) and not much in way of plot or purpose. I'm not going to resurrect this. It's never going anywhere because it had nowhere to go in the first place, but it's a moment, I guess:

Leia was going to lose her mind or murder Han Solo — though she supposed the two actions weren’t mutually exclusive. They were supposed to meet with the leaders of a small cell of rebels who’d been fighting their own battles against the Empire unaided on Mimban. Leia’s goal was to offer aid in exchange for the group officially joining the Alliance. The entire trip was supposed to be short — land, meet, negotiate whatever terms needed negotiating, leave — but when they arrived in the small, dingy, building where they were supposed to meet their contacts, they were told they needed to wait.

It had been half an hour. Half an hour spent sitting in a small, poorly lit room where the temperature seemed to vary wildly by the minute with only Han for company, and Han was beginning to get antsy. Leia fully understood the struggles of sitting still, of waiting. She’d never been particularly good at it, and had developed several subtle ways over the years to move and fidget without others catching on. She knew the feeling of a spring in her torso coiling ever tighter until she finally had to move. She also knew that Han’s restlessness was excessive in a way that almost seemed calculated.

First had been the leg switching. He’d initially sat with the ankle of one leg crossed over the knee of the other. A few minutes in, he’d switched legs. Leia herself had shifted her weight at least once in that time and, had she not been looking directly at Han at the time, she likely wouldn’t have noticed. Except he kept doing it every minute or so, with the frequency eventually increasing to every twenty seconds.

Every twenty seconds. On the dot. Leia counted.

She sighed, all but shivering as the temperature in the corridor they waited in dropped for the third time. “Shouldn’t have to wait much longer,” she said, a hint of apology in her tone.

Han shrugged. “I got nowhere to be.” He shifted his legs again.

Leia studied him for a moment. “You can go outside for a bit if you want. See the sights.”

He looked at her incredulously. “I’ve seen these sights, Princess. Trust me, I’m good.”

She pursed her lips. “Okay, well, I’m going to need you to stop moving your legs every five seconds because I’m about to lose my mind.”

Thanks!

fanfic writer asks

[torchickentacos]

AG Watchthrough Episode 2: Ruin With a View, AG002.

Business first. The poll on the last watchthrough has fourteen hours left as of me typing this but it seems unanimous enough (92.9% pro-explosion) that I am adding an explosion counter. To retroactively do so, I must inform you all that AG001: Get the Show on the Road! had a total of 3 explosions (counting hypothetical explosions that were shown on screen and animated in but did not actually happen). Updated explosion counter is at three going forwards, which is half as many as I thought the episode had. No worries, it'll go up very soon. For the amount Birch spoke about Pikachu exploding, I recalled more frames about explosions. I might have missed a couple of frames too, I skipped around to look.

Onto AG002: Ruin with a View! Long post. We talk about Ash as a mentor, the really shitty bunk beds I had in a dorm room at jesus camp, inconsistencies/questions I have about petalburg gym, Team Magma, and other things.

The episode opens in a way we will soon grow very accustomed to: With Ash jollily (?) marching forth and May complaining about it. Sometimes it will be the other way around. One person is ahead of the group, the other complains about it. Side note, the narrator calls May an 'aspiring' pokemon trainer. Two things there. One, she is technically already a trainer. She has a pokemon. Two, she does not particularly aspire towards being a trainer, but it's far too early for semantics. Moving on.

We're headed to Oldale town! May and Ash are already arguing on the second day of knowing each other. Ash thinks May is walking too slow. May points out that she'd HAD A BIKE... and Ash slows down, unable to argue with that. (Well, he's able to argue about anything in AG, but chooses to not pick a fight with the random girl he's supposed to be friends with now. Smart choice).

Anyways, May asks about Pikachu being out in the ball and Ash explains. This sets up something that WORKED about AG (when they remembered it): the group dynamic. Borderline nonexistent but VERY FUN WHEN IT WAS EXISTENT. Ash and May specifically have a mentor/mentee relationship for a while that I've always liked. It was a nice change of pace that set Ash as a more mature version of himself. He's abrasive and cocky but he does have genuine skill and experience to back it up now, and May is unsure of herself and... well, incompetent as a trainer as of right now. Ash has a real opportunity to shine here.

Does pokeani TAKE that opportunity...? Not really BUT it's there and we do see glimpses of it, like with Ash patiently explaining that May can use her pokedex to learn more about her new Torchic.

Anyways, they keep walking, May tries and fails to catch an Azurill. She sees it and throws the pokeball immediately. Rather hilariously to me at least, Ash just watches her make the same mistake he did, standing behind her like this.

The Azurill gets away, May forgets all of Torchic's attacks, Ash makes this weird face, and Torchic hits its head on a tree just like May did a single episode before.

Torchic then uses ember!...Which hits Azurill's family, a Marill and an Azumarill. Hey, didn't someone else start their journey by trying and failing to catch a pokemon rather pathetically and then angering other pokemon? Contest/Pallet solidarity isn't relevant yet (do take note I never claimed to be an unbiased narrator here), but Ash and May solidarity IS relevant and beloved. May and Ash are really similar, with May being outwardly a bit softer and, well, nicer usually (though Early AG Girlboss May™ is, if we recall from Ag001, a bit snide which does dwindle off). But we're going to start seeing a lot of similarities, which I don't think are a bad thing at all! I quite like it actually, especially in early episodes since it so nicely mirrors the last brand-new trainer we saw, which was Ash himself at the start of OS. This is Ash's first time not being the underdog, the new guy.

He (usually) takes this role rather well, and is happy to explain to May that Torchic, now-knocked-out-via-Azumarill's-watergun, can be healed at a pokemon center.

Also, explosion count goes up as Pikachu thunderbolts the water types. We're at four now, counting last episode.

Anyways, we find a bunch of rocks that I guess are just chilling in the middle of route 101? Normal Hoenn things, honestly. It'll get weirder, this is perfectly normal and fine. Just wait for the Claydol episode. Or the Gulpin episode. Or WWWWW and the Wynaut wall/rope/slide. Sigh. They're like tiny aqua legos or something. Or Monkeys in a barrel, I guess, which the slide was a reference to. ANYWAYS moving on, that is a discussion for AG113. So. Rocks.

We meet Professor Aldan and his WEIRD LITTLE PONYTAIL and he explains that these are "the Ruins of Oldale". (Not Oldale Ruins, I guess?)

He is researching the ruins and points out the pokemon center for Ash and May. I like this random ass little palm tree.

Look. There he is again below. It took all day for them to cross that single hill, by the way. It is nighttime now. It was a single hill they were on, overlooking Oldale.

Nurse Joy heals Torchic up, and Ash calls Professor Oak! May interrupts this call and gets all up in his personal space, which she tends to do to people on occasion, to which Ash makes this face, which looks like an Aang expression to me. I swear Aang has made this exact face before.

We learn that May has a brother (who "never misses one of your [Oak's] radio lectures!"). Amusingly, Oak seems slightly offput by May's enthusiasm, to which I ask, has Oak not met Ash??? Anyways, we switch over to Team Rocket, who is... here???? Wherever 'here' is???

They're talking to Giovanni, they ask for money, they get no money. BUT Giovanni tells them that if they set a TR branch office in Hoenn, then they can talk money. This, of course, is nothing but a carrot dangle because Giovanni wants them to stop fucking calling him for money. Also, he wants to learn about some MYSTERIOUS NEW TEAMS called Team Aqua and Team Magma.

Don't get your hopes up for that. Yes, TA and TM were in pokeani. Yes, there's a reason nobody remembers this outside of maybe, like, Diane and Butler. ANYWAYS. Oldale's trainer rooms are nicer than when I stayed at (redacted) university for Jesus Camp. You know what? Side tangent. This warrants a side tangent.

This college's dorm rooms had bunk beds that were two regular beds stacked and held together by a single thin wooden peg. Look at this. I had top bunk. I could have died. Also when I was there the elevator broke while people were in it and two girls passed out from the heat. This was in July. We weren't allowed to wear revealing (read: cool and summer safe) clothes. It was a weird two weeks in my life. We had a Jesus Rave. Twice. They played old town road. I have video proof of this.

Back on topic. Again. WAIT NEVERMIND- BACK OFF TOPIC, WHY ARE THERE JUST GUYS IN ROBES IN THE MAIN LOBBY?

Stripey shirt on the left is talking to their friends about Petalburg Gym (May is notably not thrilled about this). Ash is like YO GYM BATTLES! I DO THOSE.

WAIT I JUST FUCKING NOTICED @soulsilversprings tagging you here because of a convo we had. They say NEW GYM LEADER which I guess is what bulbapedia used to assume Pokeani Norman was also from Johto? I still like native-to-Hoenn May but ...there's that, I guess.

But actually, that doesn't make sense, because later we find out that May was 'never allowed to watch any of her father's gym matches' and it's made out to sound like Norman was always busy with the gym as May was growing up in a few offhand lines I'll get to??? So either he was already a gym leader and transferred, OR this line is bullshit and Norman's BEEN the gym leader and stripey shirt and co. are full of tauros shit /lh. Will update with any new information.

We are almost halfway done with the episode.

Interestingly to me at least, May IMMEDIATELY yanks Ash away and we don't learn who the new gym leader is, at her own insistence. Young Taylor certainly didn't imprint on May's direct-and-then-forgotten-by-the-writers avoidance of her father. /sarcastic joke, you can laugh at this LMAO. Moving on again but this does come up again and I'll discuss whatever feels relevant then.

We see Prof. Aldan again! Then we switch to Wobbuffet digging a hole! Then we switch back to Ash staring at a picture of the rocks on the wall! Enthralling, truly. Anyways, Aldan just... lets the random kids into his research base in the pokemon center. He talks about a stone chamber that is "a sort of bridge or portal between our world and the ancient pokemon world", that is so unstable that any attempted entries cause it to begin crumbling. Sounds safe.

May is oddly fascinated by the idea of ancient pokemon. Being a gym leader's daughter (spoilers.) did nothing for her, but hearing about an ancient pokemon in a hole in the ground? Now THAT'S interesting, I guess. And she's in luck, because Aldan shows them that he has the right way to enter the stone chamber!!! He met these children today and is inviting them to his unstable hole in the ground. Hoenn's gonna Hoenn, once again. At least there's no king of pokelantis to possess you in this specific hole in the ground. Don't worry about it <3.

Turns out there's 4 keys needed to enter, though, which he doesn't have. We then see team Magma grunts lining up outside the window, and they turn out the lights to the center, and break down the door and they kidnap Prof. Aldan in front of the kids. Nurse Joy interrupts and is also captured.

Side note that tells me I know way too much about AG but we all knew that: May's hair is animated uniquely here. It flips at the end a lot more, almost curling upwards. Maybe it's just really humid in southern Hoenn.

Anyways they LITERALLY FUCKING THROW MAY and I assume Ash and Nurse Joy too (but we only see May landing???) into a spare room and lock the door. Joy says with the power out, all the pokemon being treated there are in danger WHICH SEEMS LIKE AN OVERSIGHT TO ME but oh no, torchic is being treated there! But there IS reserve power that they can turn on once they escape the room.

Does anyone remember those room escape flash games??? I really liked those as a kid.

Pikachu points out an air vent, Ash says "That's grea-" but the sound engineers done fucked up and Ash is hilariously cut off by the WHO'S THAT POKEMON??? section. Which, note, still has Brock and Misty's voices in it.

It's Crobat. 👍

Team Rocket time. Insert 'posting hole on main' joke. They're in a hole. Get it?

Sigh.

TR picks a fight with Team Magma, who's heading out with Aldan. They get scared off back into their hole. We switch back to Ash and co.

Ash is crawling in the air vent! I guess he fully intended to leave May in the room, because he's suprised when she's crawling right behind him. Again, let's revel in May having a decision that she was able to make, or an order that she was able to defy. We'll run out of those soon enough. She asks, quote, "Why should I miss out on the adventure?". I really do love this characterization of her and wish it had stayed a biiiiiit more consistent, even if I do really like later AG May. But we eventually get someone who pushes her to be annoyed and fiery later, yay rivals, so that's good. Her character needs it to balance out the sweet/dumb/inexperienced aspects. They get a key for the door and switch the power back on and retrieve Nurse Joy.

They then rush off to help Prof. Aldan, who is being bothered by TM (Team Magma) to open the stone chamber. He says they need the keys. TM has the keys, conveniently. For some reason.

They put the keys in the holes, it opens, they go in. This is... a normal ancient chamber. Animation budget running a little low already, huh? /lh.

I think I hear Lisa Ortiz voice one of the magma grunts. I'm getting a migraine, let's speed this up a bit. Not much even happens past here anyways. TM leaves, TR shows up and blast off, explosion counter goes to 5, the sun comes up, they enter the chamber hole and find some Relicanth, and they get Torchic back from the center, and we head to Petalburg City.

What an oddly disjointed but enjoyable episode.

End of episode metrics:

Explosion count: 5.

Height ranking: Ash is arguably like four pixels taller. Ash>>May. Switched from episode 1 already.

[nodominion]

DV and Sunday night (10/23/22)

Even though I’ve been an active member of this fandom since 2014, I often feel like I can’t speak on meta or fandom issues. I have half of a Dune comparison to IWTV (2022) in my drafts that I can’t quite finish. But this is far too big for me to just like posts on.

This Sunday, we saw two episodes released that portray DV on screen. HOTD shows Daemon choking his wife, Rhaenyra. IWTV shows Lestat beating up, smashing through walls, forcibly drinking from, and dropping from an ungodly height his husband, Louis. One of these things is not like the other.

I’ve seen takes on Daemon both ways, but in the end, while I did not enjoy seeing DV portrayed on screen in HOTD, I understand where the character was coming from. He’d been told that his brother kept a secret from him and told Rhaenyra instead. He’s feeling grief from losing that brother, and his stillborn daughter, and trying to plan a war that Rhaenyra doesn’t seem to want yet. He also benefits from the patriarchal system of the ASOIAF universe, and sees no problem hurting his wife to get his way. He does not choke her hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to show her that even though she may be Queen, she should still be subservient to him as his wife. Is that right? No. Is that the point? Yes.

Lestat takes an entirely different approach. Sure, he feels like he isn’t loved. And someone can argue with me that what we saw on screen was an exaggeration, or unreliable narrator, or even a dream. But we as viewers were subjected to see abuse that was nauseating on our screens. The amount of blood and gore was not in service of the plot. Horror should shock, should scare, but not when it is done in a way that mirrors real life abuse. Not when it leaves the audience unprepared for what is coming. I’m glad I was vaguely warned by others that some form of domestic violence was coming, but AMC didn’t give us the ability to brace ourselves. AMC thought this would be received well, I have to assume. 

I’m not saying that DV should never be portrayed in media. And I think the HOTD example on the same night as IWTV proves that. I can see why Daemon lashes out. I don’t see why Lestat does. Nothing that happens to Lestat justifies the level of abuse shown on screen, and nothing in the episode prepares us for the outrageous violence we are shown between lovers. 

AMC has been trying to mollify the fandom for months by saying this is meant to be a more faithful adaptation than the movie. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for three episodes. Episode four I hated, but I gave them one more shot. I am paying money for the godforsaken streaming service that I watch nothing else on because I love this fandom more than any other. No more. I will pirate my episodes from now on, because AMC and Rolin Jones do not respect the work of Anne Rice. 

[lesbiandeerstory]

it’s 4am on a deer dev wednesday and i didn’t make a post for this week cuz i promised one of my best friends that i’d take today off so we mostly just hung out and played video games all day. it was great!

4am is not a great time to be writing a lengthy development update, especially since i should’ve been in bed like an hour ago and i’m too tired to even remember half the things i did this week, HOWEVER! i do have another post in mind i wanna put up

i wanna start doing a new weekly thing on thursdays, the script roundup, where i post bits of the script i’ve posted on twitter over the week and i talk about my thoughts behind them. i had alot of fun making an earlier post where i did just that, and i think i’d enjoy making it a regular thing.

so here’s this week’s script roundup!

“relationships”

here we have altaria and rose mallow talking about, well, relationships.

relationships are pretty much the biggest connecting thread in lesbian deer story. i mean it’s in the name; your deer FRIEND. but sometimes friendships fall apart, and it sucks. sometimes ppl u love disappoint u, let u down, break ur heart. and sometimes u carry that heartbreak with u for a long time, and u ask urself alot of dumb questions like “how did i let this happen” or “where did i go wrong” etc.

writing is a funny thing. u put urself and ur demons bare on the page in alot of ways. u dig deep inside urself and put the ugliest, bloodiest parts of u onto the page for potentially the WORLD to see. it’s a weird feeling. and i think for alot of writers we do it this way bcuz it’s the best way we know to express and understand our own selves.

but also, broken relationships and the heartbreak that come with them aren’t isolated to any one artist. most ppl in this world have dealt with this. so by digging deep into one’s own demons, we can also show other ppl struggling with those same demons like, ur not alone. we can express solidarity with ppl this way, and i think that’s nice.

“goblin mode”

and now for something completely different, veronica, verbena and esme talking about goblins. veronica has a new color here different than last time cuz i realized at some point i couldn’t cover all the characters with the default colors of ms paint, so i started color picking from their official art to represent them in these script updates. it’s better this way i think.

there is no deeper meaning to this particular post, i just thought it was a silly exchange and i wanted to post it. i rly do like esme’s little goblin hands.

“say anything (part 1)”

snowdrop rants about some plot bullshit while esme in her narration explains the game being played. u ever argue with ppl online who are so clearly wrong but they just double and triple down on being wrong?? alot of times this is not out of ignorance, it’s just to rile up the opposing side.

this can be EXTREMELY FUNNY if u do it over something that doesn’t matter at all. if u have ever seen that post where the guy argues that sharks have smooth skin, that shit is a laugh riot! i make posts like that on twitter all the time!

but alot of ppl will use this approach to argue about politics that affect ppl’s life and death, which is significantly less funny. and it’s easy to take the bait and try to argue with ppl who are doing this, but it is quite literally a complete waste of ur fucking time, and u need to be able to recognize when the game is being played and when to disengage.

ppl can just SAY anything, even if they don’t believe it. u can’t always assume that ppl are arguing for something in good faith.

snowdrop kinda fumbles the ball here by talking too goddamn much; the best way to make use of this kinda argument is to be short and quippy.

if u look at that “sharks have smooth skin” post, the person arguing that sharks have smooth skin only ever argues in with one or two phrases at a time. usually just enough to say “sharks have smooth skin”, and then add on one absurd detail to rly put the screws on ppl who can’t handle seeing someone be wrong on the internet.

i wonder if snowdrop dropping the ball in this regard is a character thing, or if i’m just bad at being short and quippy myself [thinking emoji]. i think it’s probably both.

“say anything (part 2)”

i posted these two on twitter together and they COMPLETELY FLOPPED lmao. ZERO notes, except one (1) from my girlfriend who is a sweetheart and will like even my most dogshit posts. despite that, i’m still rly proud of how they turned out, especially this second part.

back when trump was running for president the first time, i watched him give a speech where he claimed he would be a “champion” for queer rights. OBVIOUSLY he was full of shit. obviously his track record on any sort of political issue, especially regarding rights for pretty much any minority group, is immediately evident and NOT GOOD. anyone with two braincells to rub together could tell that he was just fucking lying to win over the crowd and anyone who was watching on tv who happened to be ignorant or credulous. i was neither of those things.

AND YET. i distinctly remember watching that and, KNOWING he was full of shit, still wanting to buy into his hype anyway. i snapped out of it pretty quickly, but in that moment i understood the power of two things: charisma, and DESPERATION.

snowdrop’s dialogue here is pretty much verbatim what i remember trump saying, and esme’s narration is a pretty thorough summation of my feelings. u can just SAY anything! and u KNOW the person is lying to ur face, AND YET!!! if u WANT to believe them badly enough, you’ll make urself do it. if u WANT to hear the lie that they’re telling u, if u WANT to believe that it’s true, if ur SO DESPERATE to hear SOMEONE tell u that sweet lie, u will make urself believe it.

this ties back into the relationships thing too. if ur in a relationship that’s falling apart, it’s easy to convince urself that things are fine or that they can be fixed if u just want it bad enough. it’s easy to stay in something that’s bad for u, even something that’s killing you, if ur desperate enough for the comfort the lie provides.

u can just say anything.

[rotten-potatoes-movie-review]

Fight Club

I do not know if I loved this movie or absolutely despised it. From the beginning I was not certain and as it continued I became more confused. The lead up was confusing, I didn't quite get where it was leading until it all hit me in the last 30 minutes. It was violent, sexual, and I should've expected it but I absolutely did not. Maybe if I had read some reviews before hand, maybe then I would have understood what the movie would be. I went in thinking this was a boxing movie if that helps you understand my utter confusion and mixed feelings.

I have a lot of words about this movie. I also have a lot of thoughts, feelings, and things to point out. Despite how much I hated it going in, I have to admit that I weirdly like it and am fascinated by the whole thing. But that isn't what this post is about, it's about getting an assignment done and over with. Let us start.

During the movie I had to chose a scene with a lot of conflict and dissect it piece by piece. I jotted down several scenes and their times stamp during the first half of the movie. Anywhere there was a physical fight, I have the time stamp. However, after watching all the way through, I am pretty sure this assignment is not about the physical fighting but more of the active intense conflict between people. Now the most obvious point in the movie to write about is one of the last scenes. The main character is fighting himself and needs to win to save the day but by winning the fight he also loses. That is the height of the movie, the realization, that is where attention is grabbed and held. So I decided to write about the scene at 1:52:00, one hour and fifty two minutes, a full 13 minutes before the climax I just mentioned. 1:52:00 is the moment our protagonist, 'Cornelius' or the narrator, realized that he is not just our beloved and confused main character but also Tyler Durden. That is the tip of the iceberg, the moment that everything comes crumbling down.

The beginning of the scene starts with the narrator stumbling into his hotel and frantically calling Marla. Our main character calls Marla, distraught and on the verge of realization while Marla responds with annoyance and hostility. That is where the beginning of this scene's 'fight' begins. Quick cuts between Marla and 'Cornelius' (I'm going to keep calling him this because I don't know his name) with close up shots show a visualization of the tension between them. Both characters are confused and angry in different ways, shown through their words and their tones. 'Cornelius' or not quite Tyler's voice is higher pitched and frantic as opposed to Marla who's voice is steady and around its normal range. When not Tyler yells it is when he is asking a question revolving himself as Tyler. His anger is towards himself not realizing, towards Tyler for what he has done. When Marla yells it is in response to 'Cornelius's' questions, it is in annoyance and exasperation. She is angry at 'Cornelius' or as she knows him, Tyler. Both characters can't understand each other because they lack both sides of the story. Stuck with only what they know, which is very conflicting against what the other knows, they argue and set the spark that lights the fuse for the rest of the extreme conflict to begin.

Despite that scene not being as high tension as many of the ones before it or the big ones that come after, I believe that it is just as important.

[bitegore]

never have I ever meme: pure fluff?

I think my flavor of "pure fluff" and everyone else's is a little different, but in terms of, like, no plot no porn only cuddles and/or sweetness I'm going to characterize this as two sections (one exclusively cuddling/other displays of affection labeled 'definitely fluff' and the other where maybe there's some stuff going on but the point is that there are characters who like each other labeled 'dubiously fluff')

Definitely Fluff:

a quiet oasis below the stars - Cyclonus and Tailgate go stargazing, 300 words.

four-car pile up - the stunticons get drunk and all fall asleep on the floor together in a big pile. 1635 words, Drag Strip is the narrator and is predictably weird about it.

gambling and fires and lights and killing people and fuel purity - the car stunticons pitch celebrating Hannukah to Motormaster. 3589 words, there's quite a bit of arguing in there and also a full-on bombing but it's fluff to me.

Reading Night - pre-ship, features a decent amount of pining. Blast Off and Dead End read books together and then have a sleepover, from both POVs. 2975 words.

stop going off into trouble - Astrotrain/OC (Redshift), cuddling. 100 words.

quick tour - Earth Wars Skullsmasher gets a warm welcome to the Terrorcons by Hun-grr. Contains some cannibalism. 100 words.

Old Traditions and New Experiences - Wing takes Drift to a Cybertronian!synagogue. 400 words.

gender jokes at the polycule orgy - interlude in-between rounds of fucking but there's no actual sex on screen, just G1-AU Rodimus, Arcee, and Springer talking about the "egg/chicks" joke. 585 words.

Dubiously Fluff:

A Day in Town, A Night In The Country - only qualifies until I finish the languishing last chapter, at which point it will be half fluff half fluffy porn. 4843 words of the Stunticons at a street fair.

Just A Little Overwhelming - edges into almost-angst territory a little bit. 551 words, Rodimus shows Tailgate how to go meteor-surfing and then forgets that it's really intense the first time around and has to wait a little for Tailgate's initial adrenaline rush to wear off a little so he can go again.

Free-fall - like the above but with less "buddy I promise I'm doing this because I like you" to it. 500 words, Wildrider talks Vortex into dropping him into the ocean over and over & they both enjoy themselves immensely.

Blue Skies - 1358 words. Drag Strip and Hun-grr race and then cuddle. Only dubiously fluff because Hun-grr spends the entire fic openly annoyed with Drag Strip and Drag Strip is also pretty annoyed back even though they clearly like one another.

[ping!] - on the stupider side. Stunticon chatfic where Wildrider hits on the other Stunticons with really bad one-liners. Only not fluff because there's a chunk where Wildrider deliberately needles Drag Strip into fistfighting with him. 1608 words.

Drawing Up Plans - Hook gives Scrapper really bad feedback and Scrapper, who knows him, translates. Dubious because, like in Blue Skies, Scrapper and Hook are annoyed the entire time even though they clearly know and like each other. 430 words.

The Stunticons and their Garden - 6203 words, a series of disconnected snippets of the Stunticons gardening.

we become such strangers now, fading out - 3100 words of Springer and Impactor patching things up in a post-Sins of the Wreckers au where Impactor doesn't die and Springer doesn't go back in time to the beginning of the war. Dubious because... well, Fanlore describes fluff like this:

Fluff is often used in fandom to characterize any pleasant, feel-good work. It is sometimes described as the opposite of angst

This is feel-good but it's not the opposite of angst, it's walking hand in hand with angst. So there's that. Fluff with angst?

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I saw something that needed editing in the meantime and started messing with it and now Ao3 says I've queried too many pages at once and they're temporarily stopping me from digging further as an anti-DDoS measure (alright, w/e) so that's the furthest I'm digging through my archives for this lol. Besides, I had gotten back to stuff from 2019 and I just don't like it very much. Hope you enjoy these XD