#her eyes are HUGE. she is like tbh irl

[vanibear]

HIIIII I HAVE A CAT NOW

[kozachenko]

I swear to god, Zanmu has just been on my mind recently, she's taking over my fucking brain please send help

Artist's Note:

Why is it that everytime I do a drawing of Zanmu I always make the canvas size fucking huge and it ends up being a living nightmare to fucking export. I swear to god I had to go from 1200 DPI to 600 to 350.

Exporting hell aside, I loved working on this piece. With Zanmu's design, I wanted to combine all the design details that I love and have seen in other people's drawings of Zanmu and give them my own personal touches. First of all, her sleeves were inspired by @amemenojaku's design for Zanmu, and I absolutley love that detail because not only does it make her feel more regal, it also can be a callback to Satori and old hell, and also gives me the idea that Satori's fashion sense was inspired by Zanmu because IRL a lot of historical fashion was inspired by what the nobles were wearing at the time, and since Satori was around since when Old Hell used to be Hell, she probably took some wardrobe inspo from her (or it could be my headcanon that Satori could've been Zanmu's royal advisor or she was in her court or something but that theory is kinda grasping at strings from other headcanons I have, but that's for a different post). Also, the eye makeup she has was inspired by @jothelion's drawings of Zanmu, and like, I fucking love that detail because it just adds so much like omg I just love it sm.

And now for the design details I put in. I gave Zanmu tassel earrings because I think they'd look great on her. I also really like to exaggerate her hair and really try to make it look wild, as well as having little grey hairs here and there. I also try to add some wrinkles to the corners of her eyes, but TBH I don't know how visible that detail is, since the image is pretty fucking big. I also really exaggerated the tassles/strings on her outfit, since I really wanted to play around with the potential flow they could have. Also, big fan of giving Zanmu longer sleeves and pants. IDK why but I just like how it flows better. Also big fan of making her taller, idk why a lot of fanart makes her short. Also, I placed her horns closer to the front of her head as I just think placing horns in that position looks cool.

Also, if you're wondering about the halo, I took some inspiration from a few of Caravaggio's paintings where he often depicts saints with this very thin halo around the top of their heads. I just liked that detail a lot so I thought I'd include it.

Fun fact, I was originally gonna make the four skeletons Chiyari, Biten, Enoko, and Hisami but I didn't like the prospect of having to draw four more characters, so I chose to replace them with skeletons (if you wanna get silly with it, Zanmu got Hisami to kidnap Aya, set up some skeletons with bones from her bone collection and told her to take a picture of her).

I kinda gave up on Zanmu's feet and the one skeleton's hands (as if drawing hands normally is hard enough but NOPE, HAD TO MAKE IT LIVING HELL FOR MYSELF BY MAKING IT A SKELETON) and the quality of the image may suffer because of how much I had to fucking compress it (Zanmu's presence alone was enough to make the computer lose all of it's desire and motivation to export the drawing of her lmao), but I have been hacking at this piece for a while now, plus I need to learn when to call it quits when it comes to drawings). Also as I was fixing up the hands there was one spot where I forgot to clean up with the sketch and I can't fucking unsee that now and it's going to fucking bother me until I fix it but fixing it requires going back and putting my computer through hell so yeah.

So yeah, that's about all I have to say with this drawing, it was fun but also a nightmare lol

[oacest]

My thoughts on the audio are that I genuinely cannot come up with a sane explanation. I don't think Liam was necessarily in the studio but he has to be talking about him, right? Like IDK there was some visual effect or whatever, literally who else could be the cunt Noel doesn't want to see. Beyond which I am not a proper scholar so please let me know if I'm way off base but I have an extended divorce theory that goes:

2009: Breakup, they're both big mad for a minute

201?-2012: They are texting and like, sending their kids to the same school. possibly the most normal they've ever been.

2013-2015: Liam blows his entire life up and is extremely sad about the consequences of his own actions. I saw actual video footage of Noel saying that he's shocked beady eye broke up and he's actually sweet about it and tells Liam not to give up? who is this man. anyway while Liam will later claim Noel wasn't there for him during the divorce but as a general rule they're much nicer about each other when they're divorcing other people. this is where I become extremely conspiratorial because at some point they had to get the documentary off the ground and a second, more personal breakup is clearly going down around this time. I believe in their ability to deeply wound each other by playing cryptic telephone through the press but I think it genuinely makes more sense if they were actually talking, perhaps about a potential reunion.

2016-2020: supersonic documentary and also (coincidentally?) the apocalypse. Liam launches his solo career, Noel hates it and is pretty relentlessly mean about it and about Liam more generally. we are gearing up for the kind of tweeting/podcast commenting where you call your brother your ex-wife. I think this is also when Noel decides to drag Molly into it for some reason. Liam says publicly that he thinks Noel was waiting for him to hit rock bottom so he could be magnanimous about saving him. whether he thinks this because of something concrete noel did or said or because he's liam is a mystery. the Anais incident goes down, the vogue article comes out. we are never ever getting back together for real this time. noel says a bunch of normal and well adjusted stuff about how he wants Liam to die in a self driving car crash with Donald Trump and seeing his face makes him want to shoot up a MacDonalds.

2020-2022: the pandemic saves oasis. I'm serious. they're both stuck sitting at home with nothing to distract them from themselves and think of brighter days. apparently being trapped in a house with noel is genuinely so unbearable that Sara calls it quits (in the matter of Sara v. Noel I'm on her side). presumably this was cause for at least some self reflection. divorce is a lonely and difficult experience, sara and liam seem to legit hate each other in a way that would be a barrier to reconciliation (in the matter of Sara v. Liam I am also on her side but less so bcs she didn't get trapped in a house with him). at the same time Liam pulls off Knebworth 2022, demonstrating he can handle big events without headcasing (and without noel, and he will be doing those big events solo or otherwise). at this point I genuinely think it was just a matter of time before we were back, baybeee! let's hope they can keep it together.

bro your brain is so huge and deeply wrinkled, profoundly agree with all of this. why you on anon when your opinions are so correct and you could be sharing them with us directly tbh 👀.

but yeah, 100% covid saved oasis lmao. noel's divorce saved oasis. noel's miserable midlife crisis (ongoing) saved oasis 🥰🥰🥰. and it juuuuuust really seems like all those insane highs and lows that went on publicly in the media between them over the years probably, or at least quite possibly, had irl personal catalysts rather than just a general holdover of ill will from the 2000s. there are so many random little times one or both of them casually mentioned they were in contact, and any one of those instances can be disregarded, but when considered in retrospect from a collective standpoint..... AWFULLY DAMNING!!!

lots more to say about all of this actually, every point you've made is legit af and could be expounded upon for a hundred years, but it's midnight and im coming down with a flu (punishment for some kind of hubris im sure), so. thank you for all of this and goodnight 🙏

[alluraaaa]

transgender voltron thoughts. separated by character. voltrans thoughts

this got long so the rest is under the cut

shiro

trans man. he/him. realized it as a tween. like 11

already had the “shiro” nickname from his surname but chose takashi because it’s the name his mom planned to use. his momma was his best friend growing up so takashi is a special secret name only certain people can casually use for him <3

has a model minority complex and thinks he has to be a perfect person and a perfect role model and perfect everything else. he doesn’t think everyone needs to be like this but he does you don’t get it he needs to be perfect in order to gain basic respect

(he has anxiety) (went thru a frat boy phase tho where he let loose a little)

he’s a bear. when he started t and gained weight and started growing thicker body hair he was like “FUCK YEAH”

wanted top and bottom surgery. irl modern phalloplasty can take skin grafts from the arm and for sillies shiro did that. but on the arm he lost. can’t even show off his cool graft scar 🙄 stupid galra

him and adam are t4t. he picked the name adam because his deadname is eve and he’s the funniest ever

keith

trans man. he/him. realized at like 6

randomly walked up to his dad and said “pops i wanna be a boy” and his dad went “okay son :^)” and helped him with picking a new name and pronouns. that’s why he ended up with keith of all names

his dad planned on helping him with puberty blockers and hrt because keith said he wanted it but. he died before keith got to that age :^(

so unfortunately keith had to go thru one puberty and then another. and THEN he gets a weird galra puberty in his 20s. puberties gerog

shiro was the one to help him get access to testosterone and top surgery <3 yay trans brotherhood ^_^

keith doesn’t care about his junk enough to get bottom surgery tho. he really only got top surgery to get cool ass scars on his chest. he doesn’t give a shit about gender essentialism and isn’t afraid to stab a transphobe ❤️

pidge

trans girl. she/her. also realized when she was real young

same as keith she was just one day like “i wanna be a girl” and her parents were the same and immediately accepted her and helped her with transitioning (she had a bit more social transitioning tho because she wasn’t in the middle of bum fuck nowhere)

unlike keith tho she got to do puberty blockers and start e as a tween and stuff. good for her!

she picked the name katie but it’s not short for anything. she gets the question all the time and she always rolls her eyes

detransitioning for the garrison sucked like ass and she hated it but she did it for her family. coming out to the team was a huge weight off her shoulders

she has a love/hate relationship with femininity but i already went through all that in another post so i’m linking it here. smiles 😁

lance

bigender man/woman. she/he. realizes it while with team voltron

THEE most obvious egg ever. also very obvious bisexual but hasn’t realized that either. it’s painful to watch sometimes (send help to hunk because you know he immediately clocked lance)

he likes women so much because he’s straight!!!! and a lady’s man!!!!!!!!! he doesn’t wanna be a girl and even if he did that’s a universal unspoken secret that all boys have but agree to never talk about!!!!!!!!!!!!

once pidge comes out the rest of the team have more casual talks about being trans and lance is so tbh creature at them. hunk definitely gossips about how clear the closet is behind lance’s back #messy

lance never realizes on her own what happens is keith tells her despite hunk saying that that’s rude. he blatantly tells lance that she obviously wants to be a girl and that she can do that if she wants to. and when she says she likes being a guy keith says she can be both if she wants. she can do whatever she wants forever

after that she thinks about it for like a day and then is like “yayyyyy i’m a boy and a girl and i like boys and girls ^_^”

she has soooo much fun with femininity she plays dress up and is so pretty ❤️ she is indeed a lady’s man but also very clearly wanted to be beautiful like ladies are. and she is ladies!! yayyyyy

didn’t change her name because she loves being leandro alvarez-núñez-cuesta-espinosa so so much ❤️❤️

hunk

agender. any pronouns. realized as a teen

just fully doesn’t care about gender. obviously will respect people’s genders but like. gender as a concept is irrelevant to him and he opted out of gender. he’s too autistic for it tbh

use whatever pronouns you want. make up funny pronouns. fuck it we ball

“this is hunk bong’s my best friend i love bong so much” “lance oh my god”

hunk is a childhood nickname and only family (and lance) know his birthname. didn’t care enough to change it when coming out. he likes his name!! why change it!!

he’s a genius mechanic with access to super advanced alien technology so for funsies he invents a machine that can do instant top and/or bottom surgery with no problem. he can mess around with it for funsies or fashion or whatever. and ofc the team has free access to it as well <3 the only one to use it often tho is lance #besties

allura

trans girl. she/her. realized not long before the events of the show

the post about trans allura that inspired this whole post here

was able to use her shapeshifting powers to her transvantage (trans advantage)

her being out for not long before the war is why she was so excited that pidge is a girl. she’s a girl making friends with other girls!!!!!! and that excitement doubles when learning that pidge is earth’s equivalent of trans yayyyyy

in my mind the notion of people fitting into gender roles on altea is the same vibe as the notion of women wearing skirts not pants irl. like that’s an outdated idea but not that outdated unfortunately :^/

i don’t think there was major misogyny or transphobia on altea tho. not sure if it makes sense to anyone else but it makes sense in my mind ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

coran

nonbinary. any pronouns

when allura came out she sat down with her parents and coran (honorary third parent) and talked about her feelings and thoughts on gender as a whole. coran went “oh. is that not how cis people think?”

he’s not a man or a woman but he’s not sure what he is exactly. he’s coran!

he’d make homemade hrt. may or may not have weird side effects

[quiet-saint]

sᴛʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ!ɴᴇʀᴏ ʜᴄs

✮

With just a splash of Nero/gn!reader

Cw: slight nsfw/suggestive. Nothing serious just a toy is mentioned near the end.

A/n: Might be ooc as this is the first time I'm writing anything for Nero. Purely self-indulgent ngl. Already working on a pt 2 ft more nero/reader tbh, I just really like this idea. +18 pls.

✮

• Not a huge streamer but still pretty popular. Has been streaming on and off for like, four years before he got popular.

• There's definitely a compilation out there of his funniest gamer rage moments. The majority of the time Nero isn't even mad at the game, Nico purposefully annoys him whenever they play together. People love their dynamic.

• Has kicked her from the group but then she'll just watch the stream and irritate him in the chat. It's pretty pointless to kick Nico from the group though because she can and has come down to his room just to pop up in his live irl. Anytime this happens chat starts a 'Nico Nation' chain and Nero jokingly threatens to end the stream.

• People bring up his "pretty boy phase" constantly in which Nero's hair was longer and he wore jewelery, saying they miss it and he should bring it back. Nero's a little shy/embarrassed when people bring up his early streaming days but he is in the process of growing his hair out. You were the one to fully convince him.

• Loves interacting with his audience even though they're a little outta pocket sometimes. "Chat who the hell said they only watch my streams for Nico? Dude your name is literally–" squints his eyes in confusion and disbelief "Nerofeetpicswhen oh my gOD!"

• Plays more light-hearted, easy games most of the time. Plays fortnite but not often. Teams up on overwatch with Nico, V, and You (Nero gives mercy main energy don't ask me why)

• Will play horror games but gets jumpscared super easy. Curses a lot during those streams. Damn near shatters eardrums with his shouting.

• His favorite streams are when he has one of his friends there with him at home. Especially if it's you.

• Will do a stream as an excuse to have you over. "Dude I spent the weekend at your house just last week?" "Aw c'mon it'll be fun!" As if you really needed any persuading. It's nice to hear him beg though, isn't it?

• Gets so excited to tweet about it too. Lowkey giddy about it.

• Will be the type to say "can't end on a loss guys." Even though his rank is dropping.

• Everyone loves his wii-sports streams. Nero once broke his tv on live because he didn't use the wii strap while playing baseball. People still bring it up and he gets embarrassed because just moments before it happened chat was warning him.

• Had V over for the weekend once and they were playing wii tennis in his room but there wasn't enough space. As a result Nero ended up swinging hard and clocking V in the face, giving him a bloody nose. He still feels so bad for it. Especially because Nero gets tagged in videos titled "Nero hits V on stream NOT CLICKBAIT" V thinks it's funny.

• Nero gets so happy to do fanmail livestreams. Loves opening all the things fans send him. Displays art proudly on his walls as well as all the plushies and figures people send. By the end of the fanmail streams Nero is wearing a different, clashing outfit because of the clothing he receives.

• Although sometimes the packages are a little inappropriate.

• Nico once went through the trouble of ordering and sending a ridiculously huge dildo. He felt the weight and shape through the packaging and, due to the note left with the gift, Nero knew it was her immediately. It's still sitting in his closet in the corner because he doesn't know how to get rid of it.

✮ random bonus hc ✮

Nero drinks Monster. His top two choices are Pipeline punch or Ultra blue. If he drinks one on stream he'll say "monster sponsor me" lmfao

[schro4444]

Ohh the idea of them pooling their skills together to create better disguises together is brilliant! the mimicking voices was probably Chikage (I imagine you'd have to have been training your voice constantly for a looooooong time to get the huge vocal range needed for that...I wonder how she became a thief actually, iirc she targeted corrupt corporations) but I bet it was Toichi who could do all kinds of interesting things with it - throwing his voice so it seems he's speaking from somewhere he isn't, making it seem as though it's far away or right behind you or simply making it carry (to his audience!), and yeah the acting through body language and reading ppl bc he needs to act like it was all part of the plan if a trick goes wrong and needed to improvise, and be able to read his audience to control where their attention goes and pull off misdirection. Also he probably does have very good spatial awareness, I cannot beLIEVE he went through LASER NET with a CAPE AND TOP HAT, he's RIDICULOUS

"as long as you're feeling agile enough" Chikage is, in fact, the one who was good at acrobatics while Toichi did a lame little side shuffle, she probably knew parkour too. Also ik it's not realistic but I was suddenly assaulted w the image of Chikage teaching Kaito and Toichi parkour and acrobatics together at the same time and Kaito being better at it than Toichi jhdgjsgf. bby Kaito probably used his parents as a jungle gym tbh, imagine talking to THE Kuroba Toichi, best magician in Japan (best magician in the WORLD Kaito corrects vehemently), all the while a 6 yo is doing a handstand on his shoulders or smth

Also I'm not surprised in the least that talking his way out was his plan, his advice to Kaito was "turn your critics into your fans" and THESE critics were out to ARREST THEM yet it STILL WORKED. absolute madlads

YESSSS perfect!! the ultimate combination of skills!!! I wonder how she became a thief too. like. was she raised in it? was it circumstances? revenge turned vigilantism? IDK!!! clearly she was tired of it by the end, but she also clearly was having fun. pls I need the prequel so bad

I think about the hat a lot actually. it’s so tall. between the hat & cape and the bandages OVER THE EYES you have to admire the kurobas’ commitment to the aesthetic

LAME LITTLE SIDE SHUFFLE SHFHDHD poor man. but you’re absolutely right. LISTEN I’m absolutely certain that chikage taught kaito parkour by pretending it was gymnastics practice or obstacle courses or something similar, so it’s not a huge stretch At All to include toichi in those lessons. that stuff is so hard to learn as an adult, too… cue 6yo kaito doing full trapeze acrobat moves with chikage while toichi does his absolute BEST to learn a back handspring before his next heist

toichi turned “fake it til you make it” into a successful international phantom thief career, it’s a magician’s Greatest ability. now kaito can do it too but Also with the help of Actual Crime Skills (everyone say thank you chikage)

ventriloquism TOTALLY has practical use in magic. okok I’ve actually thought abt this before—for toichi to be the best magician ever, his shows would need to be WILD. bc irl magicians can do some insane things. I think he totally just did the most bamboozling acts where he’d make himself disappear and then have his voice appear from 5 directions at once, or use ventriloquism + magic to convince people that inanimate objects were alive and talking, stuff like that. worldwide magic sensation kuroba toichi disguises himself as you in real time and then he calls your mom using your voice while escaping from a straightjacket. etc.

WHICH OF COURSE leads DIRECTLY to kaito using this nonsense to become the most chaotic little nightmare child EVER (beloved). he is a terror to his classmates and his parents are actively part of the problem. aoko comes into the house like “kaito where are you” and she hears “I’m coming!” from upstairs and then he appears directly behind her. she screams and goes to tell on him to toichi but toichi does the same thing to her. chikage apologizes for both of them using their own voices. this is just what it’s like in the kuroba household. when kaito gets in trouble at school they’re 100% the kind of parents to be more disappointed that he got caught, not about the fact that he was building a confetti cannon at his desk

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon

Wow...somehow this one just completely fell off my radar, otherwise I would have watched it a long time ago lol. I seriously thought I was all caught up with pre-Tamers anime until I saw this on the 02 TV Tropes and was like "oop..." It was a good surprise though, I can never get enough of these Mamoru Hosoda style shorts! (Looks like he didn't actually work on this one though).

I watched this dubbed first to take screenshots and then subbed. It's hard to find a non-crunchy version of the subbed short. The OG Japanese was a lot stronger imo because, as usual, the dub ruined some stuff with it's jokey tone and music choices. Still decently faithful though. Full thoughts below.

Notes:

So this is like a midquel, I guess. I don't know if there's an exact place within 02 I was supposed to watch this, but I didn't feel like my immersion was wrecked or anything haha.

While the aesthetic of the short was great, I felt the story was pretty redundant and eye-roll worthy. "Oh Omegamon/Omnimon is back for some contrived reason and the OG chosen children's digimon can't defeat him like they did last time...for some contrived reason. This looks like a job for the 02 protagonists!" Whatever, it doesn't have to be deep to be fun.

The early 2000s CG looked pretty good actually. I thought it added a fun otherworldliness to the Kuramon.

Kuramon look a lot like Takodachi (Hololive fans know what's up). I wonder if there was some inspiration there on a subliminal level.

I wonder if Daisuke's character designer intended him to be from a southern part of Japan. His tan skin sticks out more in this art style.

I feel like Diaboromon got uglier somehow compared to Our War Game lol. Armagemon's design was deliciously creepy though. He looked like something out of an Alien movie. His entrance was epic and probably would have freaked me out a lot as a kid. Weirdly, they never actually said Armagemon's name so I just assumed it was Diaboromon until I googled it just now lol

Sora and Mimi were like two sides of the same coin in this. Mimi was useless, but in a delightful way. Sora was useless, but in a boring way lol. Seriously, she didn't need to come all the way home from her tennis club trip to just go "I'm here!" and then do nothing. I'm not saying there was much she could do anyway, but I get really pissed that they never gave her character a real point aside from "bland love interest" in any Digimon show/movie.

Loved Mimi's interactions with Koushiro. Their awkward "we're in the same friend group but have nothing in common" chemistry is so fun.

Yamato seemed extra cool with his rings and stoicism. I do kind of wish he and Taichi got a little more dialogue though.

Really didn't like the direction of the fights inside the internet. They were either animated too up close or too distant so I felt like I couldn't really follow what was going on half the time. Also, the choreography wasn't that inspired. The IRL fight at least had a cool Evangelion vibe going for it. The harbor was a really aesthetic setting for a final fight.

I've started shipping DaiKen for funsies (there's some really cute fanart) so it was nice seeing them together in the elevated art style hehe.

Daisuke has a Yamato phone strap! So cute and supportive

It's funny how the digimon sizing suddenly changes when we're in movie-mode. Angemon and Angewomon were huge in this! I was excited to see the 02 digimon, but they mostly looked the same as they looked in the show tbh.

The Shibuya vibes, complete with Hachiko statue, were fun. Was 02 set in Tokyo? I honestly don't remember...

Seeing all those children running around at night without any worries about safety...must be nice, Japan.

When Omegamon "ran out of energy," I had the thought of like "can a jogress digimon die in the real world or would they always just de-digivolve??" I guess they'd never go that far for plot reasons anyways

Imperialdramon gets a new mode! Paladin mode, according to Google. Were these names in the credits or did they just decide things later for the TCG or something...?

We got the 02 theme inserted towards the end and even the OG show's theme as a ring tone. Really cute touch. (I was a little triggered to hear Bolero again for the millionth time though).

All in all I'm glad the 02 kids got their due in this style. Was it groundbreaking? No. Was it worth 30 minutes of my time? Absolutely!

[psychoticwillgraham]

Is there any way you can hide somewhere safe, like a bathroom or closet? How long till your next dose?

maybe the bathroom in the back of the building, since really only I use it. the back in general is super big and I could easily curl up into a corner or against a stack of coolers on the wall. next dose isn’t until 8:30pm :( mom definitely wouldn’t let me hide in the back and lock myself in the bathroom because it would ‘embarrass’ her because she’s always been embarrassed of how my mental illnesses manifest, and she’s too concerned with how her coworkers view her. I’d say she’s downright ashamed of me tbh. normally this all happens in the privacy of home, but this is semi public and she would scream at me as soon as I got home telling me that I need to ‘control it’ better even tho I explain to her every time that I can’t control it, it’s just how my brain is.

once I got dx’ed with a schizospectrum disorder at 18 (they don’t know the exact one because I fit so many and mine’s extra bad), she definitely became ashamed of me. she’s been horrible about my past self harm and suicidal tendencies, but me being schizospec just. pissed her off I guess. she doesn’t know how to help me so whenever I ‘frustrate’ her with my symptoms, she just chooses to scream at me and tell me I’m crazy and that I can control it, and that she ‘doesn’t know what to do’ with me. she acts like cares and says it’s for the good of my wellbeing if I live with her for the rest of my life and be her caregiver because ‘kids are obligated to do that’ and doesn’t want to accept that I’m just fucked up and extremely mentally ill. after two decades of this, she still thinks I’m faking it for attention. sis does too. nobody believes me about jack shit and they like to act like I just don’t exist in public. like I’m a burden to them and they want to hide me away and act like I don’t exist.

sorry this turned into a huge rambling post, but I can’t say this to anybody irl who knows her because they tell me that she ‘doesn’t seem like that kind of person.’ she can do no wrong in everyone’s eyes and nobody believes me because i’m crazy and ‘probably lying’ just to smear her good name.

i’m tired, man. i’m just tired

[bookishfeylin]

Anon who brought up Rhys needing be added in here: I know, I know. I’m just frustrated that there are so few receipts because most of the surviving ones are ones that are more pro-SJM being a “literary genius” than the ones where she implicates herself… which ironically should have more proof since it’s quite literally in every single thing she’s involved in. So thank you for wanting and finding receipts! 🥹 It makes me feel crazy because I know I remember this stuff, but since I don’t have the things to back it up no one ever believes me. 🥲

But I’ll say this as someone who has been here since her debut and was a hardcore stan with a fan page dedicated to her. (Deleted now, unfortunately. 😩) The thing about SJM is that she is a pathological liar. (I’m pretty sure she even admitted to being a huge liar when she was younger once in an interview, along with the fact that she was a “weird” kid because she was into fantasy and nerdy stuff (sounds a lot like not like other girls syndrome that’s trickled to her characters oop.) You can’t read/watch/listen to one interview by her, you have to read/watch/listen to them all. You have to go through her twitter (which she wasn’t active on for long) and her instagram (which she isn’t active on for long) and her tumblr and her livejournal (all or most of which aren’t even up anymore I think. It’s been a while since I checked). Because she would throw in random facts that she later tried to hide (irl retcon anyone?). This is why newer readers are at a disadvantage. They don’t know all of this because it’s pretty much scrubbed from the internet (…suspiciously) with few saved screenshots or transcripts. (Though tbh, I highly doubt they would care even if it was all still out there. They’d probably still be like damn, that’s crazy.. so anyway!)

SJM in the beginning of her career was a lot more loud mouthed than she is today. She revealed a lot during those days, including but not limited to her stating that she doesn’t plan, that she changes the stories’ endings even as they were being published, etc. She started getting more quiet when she started getting more criticism for her harmful work and then when dick soap gate dropped, and she fully started being called out for having adult content in YA, and more and more authors and booksellers and fans started alluding to her horrendous behavior behind the scenes (calling Bardugo fat and making fun of her disability, her whole toxic relationship with Dennard, her disregard for her fans when they asked her basic questions like if TOG would have a lesbian couple endgame because of the way their relationship was written in the fourth book and she rolled her eyes or hustling a fan along when she saw that she had scars on her face like she was embarrassed to be seen speaking to that fan, etc), that was her nail in the coffin for her social media presence. That was when she all but left the internet, started charging extra for her signings, pretty much stopped the book signings in favor of pre-signing books, started having what questions she could be asked moderated and even those are limited to how many are asked to the point where now every single one of her interviews ask the same questions with the same (mostly scripted) answers, etc.

Also pro tip: Whenever SJM says her books keep getting longer, it’s not because she following a story. It’s because she’s changed it and now has to write retcons to fit it. See: TOG originally being a trilogy like the original version she wrote on ficpress… and then it expanding by three more when she decided to change the endgame and having to change the rest of the story to put them together and then expanding it by one more book after she received backlash for cutting out the pov o a character who was a main character in the first four books and was then character assassinated in favor of said endgame love interest (which was also supposed to be a novella, not a full length book that you had to read in order to continue on with the series, but as she introduced a character literally not one single person heard of in the first three books as part of the character assassination, she had to do something with her too) (All my TOG girlies, listen I love Nesryn but you can’t sit here and tell me she serves anything to the plot other than being a romantic plot device to try to get Chaolaena shippers who still had hope to jump ship and since people weren’t buying that (because Nesryn literally didn’t exist until that fourth book), she set him up with Yrene instead). See ACOTAR originally being a trilogy. I’m pretty sure Crescent City was also supposed to only be a trilogy, but somewhere it expanded to more books. The only difference with Crescent City is that it seems like she figured that out before it was published, not after, although with the second book it does seem like she, again, scrapped whatever she set up in the first book in favor of creating a story where she could converge CC and ACOTAR. 🤷🏼‍♀️

TLDR: SJM is a bad author on and off page.

Oh yeah! And in her most recent ACOSF interview she also said she rewrote the second book from the original version (though she was trying to say she was setting up what she had planned in acosf since then which is bull lmao it’s more like she reread acomaf and decided to play around with something because we know from acofas she’d planned an illyrian rebellion for nesta’s book and that was scrapped)

Well that's disappointing. :/ Definitely a white feminist then.

The funny thing is, I have receipts that show Throne of Glass was changed (the wiki acknowledges the original Queen of Glass fanfiction Sarah wrote, and a booktuber made a video on it after reading the fanfiction. Apparently it was, as you said, originally a trilogy, and it ended up with Dorian x Celaena, not Rowan x Aelin, and changing the endgame ship meant she had to add more books and plot to the original to fit Rowan in), but ACOTAR receipts are harder to come by (probably because it was never a fanfiction.)

And now I almost want to go to that ACOSF interview just to find her saying she rewrote ACOMAF, because boy would that send this fandom into a tizzy. ACOMAF is ~the sacred book~ and heaven forbid Sarah change it for any reason.

But we do know a few things that also point to ACOTAR 2 being... very very different from ACOMAF:

-First and foremost, her newsletter where she admits to scrapping ACOTAR two and keeping the romantic arcs (interesting she said romantic arcs and not love interest. Hmmmmm) but "starting over" which caused the plot to "explode in ways she hadn't imagined." (and stans are already being testy in the notes there. Hooooo boy. I'm sorry, OP!!!).

-Her old comment saying Nesta and Lucien were the og ship and that she changed it to Elain and Lucien (if Elucien DOESN'T happen, then, that's just one more receipt for you and me :) ) and that Nessian were not a thing until Nesta and Cassian met at that dinner table. This suggests that most of the plot of ACOTAR 2 was not Night Court centric, given Nesta wouldn't be interacting with anyone in the Night Court and therefore wouldn't have a chance to meet and fall in love with Cassian.

As it is, we'll never truly know what the original plot was. We don't even know how many times she's changed ACOSF! Until more interviews and newsletters are found/dug up where she admits to changes, we're just going to have to guess at what the original plot was. But hints here and there suggest the ACOTAR series was originally very, very different, and given Sarah's track record with her other series, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire plot was changed to make her endgame ship sail.

[blorbologist]

Goliath, changeling, genasi

goliath: who is your favorite campaign 1 character

Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the third. Look at this. he can fit so much ptsd and autism (and/or ADHD) in him. Perfectly blorbo-shaped. His design is chef's kiss. He's so very complicated (but this goes for every CR character tbh I probably shouldn't keep bringing this up KJRTNKHRNTHN). My brain is frying trying to figure out an elevator pitch for him. He's just so fascinating to poke at under a microscope, while also having an incredibly poetic character arc and being deeply flawed and deeply sympathetic at the same time. How he compares and contrasts to the twins is so fun too, and his relationship with Cassandra, and ties to some of the campaign's biggest villains, and his SOFT EPILOGUE! THAT WAS NEVER INTENDED OR EXPECTED! GOD! Also one half of the best romance in the history of Ever which gives him bonus points. I am a huge sucker for 'if you turn evil, it's still cool' type romance, the reckless devotion to who you love even at the cost of the world. is it healthy? fuck no please run if your irl relationships are like this. but they're fake so here I can stan a royal who would do anything for his wife.

changeling: who is your favorite campaign 2 character

OH BEAU, BEAOU, BO, EYES SO BLU. HAIR SO SHORN ON THE SIDES -

Okay but I ADORE Beau. For similar reasons as to why I like Percy. She's an asshole and traumatized and grows so beautifully throughout the campaign. I love her friendship and eventual crush on Jester, and how she lets it go and literally gets swept off her feet by the woman of her dreams. And beyond romantic relationships too - I love the Brjeaus, and Empire Siblings so dearly, and of course her best friendship with Jester earlier in the campaign. I love how she theorycrafts, and pushes back against stupid ideas (except in regards to Jester), how beneath the rough exterior she's a huge fucking nerd. How she bluescreens when Yasha flirts back. How she completely fucking shatters after meeting her dad again and regresses so hard. She's also ridiculously hot. holy shit. what I'd give to be her or kiss someone that looks like her.

genasi: who is your favorite campaign 3 character (so far)

Answered!

Critical Role ask game!

[vicsdeangelis]

if stem anon can rant about her crush i can rant about mine. here goes.

(staying on anon, y'all are gonna have to deal with me sorry)

ok so we met in high school through similar classes/clubs and we didn't really talk that much, i kinda just admired her from afar(too much i think lol, the only reason i even came to terms w/ actually having a crush on her was bc i was way too weirdly obsessed with her for it to be a coincidence lmaoo). i couldn't even tell her though bc unforunately i realized this after she had graduated & moved up the country(also bc i thought she was straight, oh how the turntables). now, i always thought she was cool bc she was super creative and fashionable and wrote her own music but over the past couple of years she has just gotten way cooler and more wild, she dyes her hair crazy colors and wears glittery Euphoria-esque makeup and jaunts off to Europe and works for a club in one of the biggest cities in the country and wears nipple tape like Vic(sidenote: she watched the ESC grand final in 2021 were Må won and didn't fall in love w them?! which i consider a red flag lmaoo), it's actually kinda convenient she's so out of my league though bc there's literally no way i could even date her: 1. she lives across the country, like i said 2. she has a gf 3. we barely know each other & tbh sometimes i don't even know if i actually do like her as much as i say i do or if i've just been holding onto this for so long bc she was my First Irl Sapphic Crush, does that make any sense? idk i think i'm actually just insane lol i need to move on already

but anyway the reason i even thought of her or decided to bring her up is bc i found out she's 1-3 hours from from me rn for the holidays when she's usually like 10 and i'm rly bummed bc i can't even reach out to her :( i wish there was like an alternate universe where we were friends or something but idk, things happen for a reason i guess

also crushed on a boy in high school who i'm just realizing now totally reminds me of Ethan(huge brown eyes, probably Italian, openly queer, androgynous, sweetest person ever) but he also lives across the country, even further than the first girl(different big city). foiled again by geography

damn you geography!!!!

i could tell you to reach out to her anyway, actually become friends, but that would be so hypocritical coming from ME because someone here gave me the same advice when the guy i was crushing on at work quit so really, who am i to give advice uhdsfkjsfhdsk

[mekatrio]

gonna play a little itty bitty tiny bit before i wont be able to play for the next um 3-5 days, but before i do my thoughts on the cast so far (am 12 hours in and about to leave heliord to go to dahngrest)

yuri: okkkk so hes kinda tsundere... OKKKK 🤭... well not rly but a little bit. so his character conflict is his pride.. and his aimlessness... he kinda reminds me of zidane tbh! if zidane was less of a goof.. yuri's lack of sincerity is very inchresting.. well not sincerety but more like.. hes not very emotional, like at all. hes a Cool Guy all the way. his conflict w flynn is very interesting too.. i had more thoughts abt him but im currently hungry so i cant recall them.. woops!

estelle: yuri and rita made me feel dumb as hell for not knowing that she was a princess who doesnt need blastia like heyyyy.. i didnt know that.. anyways i love her and i love that shes a book nerd thats very cute 😁 tho ill admit her character is kinda very stereotypical shut-in princess yknow hmm... so ill be seeing what else comes from her character. and im interested in what reason she'll have to continue staying with us.. and she Better stay with us cuz gawddd i need a healer at all times! cuz i SUCK at this combat 😭

repede: i know ur a dog but i hope you'll stop making dog food.... i #Believe that you can make a salisbury steak. i believe in you

karol: MY FRIEND his introduction was kinda random but hes been nothinggg but the most helpful member so far.. except in battle where im still trying to figure out a good strategy for him (he keeps randomly doing nothing agh). but yeah hes my gps buddy... so knowledgable about the world 😁 hes so cute and sweet and his unemployment story is so sadddd.. and #Relatable... i hope he finds employment again soon!

rita: her and estelle are so CUTEEEE together 🥺 i wish they were closer in age just cuz itd be more fitting but ehh 15 and 18 is alright ig. i love how mages are researchers in this world and they can do some computer thingy on blastias... also sidetracking for a sec but im loving how this game is introducing all the blastia shits and the locations of the world, wayyyy better paced than how abyss just threw me in.. grateful for that! back to rita.. i like her too! i like all my party members tbh. shes opening up to estelle more now too which is AWWWWW so very sweet 😭 oh i remembered a thought i had abt yuri. how basically yuri and estelle AND rita will all just throw themselves into danger for the sake of something.. yuri and estelle to protect others, and rita to protect others too but also for the blastia. theyre all crazily selfless 🧐 which made them scolding each other at the inn so ijbol and interesting cuz theyre all so hypocritical lol... telling one another to look after themselves when they arent doing the same 😭 also i like that rita has this very caring and holistic approach to her passion with blastia, abt how it intertwines with people bla bla bla.. very cool!

flynn: INSUFFERABLE GOODY TWO SHOES ohhhh my god this is somebody who irritates me not only fictionally, but also irl if this was an actual persons personality... i really cant stand a person who sticks by the rules 😭 but its very intriguing to me that hes aware that nothing has changed since hes became a captain, and that hes like.. kinda? hoping that yuri, who is not bounded by all this knightly shit, will do something more.. at least thats the vibe im getting. very interested in where thatll go.. also maybe this is an insane reach but he kinda really looks like ioder.. what if that means something 🧐 tho ofc this could also just be how tales of artstyle is w their huge ol googly eyes, and anyone w the same hair and eye color will look alike.. but who knows 🤔

[crayonverse]

more of old oc talk. meghan and gina

so meghan was my og persona on animo. she was literally just meant to be me with a different name. she started out simple, her in universe bestie was an insert of my then irl best friend and her fake girlfriend who was a reskinned lego character. (i also think meg and her fake gf had two ugly kids together)

tho i started putting in a "glitchy" character in the bg of images with meghan, of like a girl that looked like her with white eyes . like herobrine basically.

and i literally never posted it on animo, but OFFSCREEN. i resolved this conflict with Gina. now Gina's lore was fairly recent actually, before I didn't have much for her, but ive put more thought into her now.

she was called "Glitch" because she was parallel to Croisson's OG universe, which then collapsed. Glitch/Gina is actually an alternate version of Meghan, who was hellbent on getting revenge for her deceased friends. however, meghan convinced her Not To Kill her and stabilized Gina into who she is now. since the two of them look exactly alike, Meghan and Gina just said to everybody that they were twins. and y know eventually they actually just started being a family <3

more about meg: shes the main cause of literally every problem tbh. her first big huge mistake was when she accidently erased an entire universe (Universe Strange) which caused ripple effects, like Croi being sent to her universe, the tentacle mob boss making her a target, S.R showing up bc her mistake left a rip in the space time continuum, etc. meghan is like very unstable and needs to have a nap

[shinyobservationtree]

I know I said Doc was the principal, but I think her being the principal would make more sense tbh. Scratch is still the director though, and makes a lot of cameos as like, the superintendent or something. But she would DEFINITELY also be a strong black woman stereotype, and a primary villan who hates children and loves shopping. She's trying to find excuses to expell the main cast for one reason or another.

D does make an appearance as a celebrity guest. In this universe hes a middlingly popular white rapper trying to break into the film industry. He shows up as like, a long lost uncle or something, who wants to take Dirk away like that icarly episode with the grandpa. A clip goes viral of the actor who plays dirk meeting him cause hes like, his biggest fan irl and they like, rap in the episode or something.

Oh Feferi is like, the Ariana Grande of the cast after the show ends. Dirk is one of those kid celebrities who fades out of the public eye, but shows up on tiktok to be like, "oh yeah im gay now" before disappearing again. Jake is commedic relief that grows up hot, then comes out as transfem, and it causes a huge uproar.

Sitcom au where Dirk is that little like, 12 year old genius in college trope. He needs to learn to let loose and make friends his age or whatever. Why was that a trope in so many highschool/college sitcoms? Does anyone remember that one where they gave like, a 15 year old a teaching job? Thats like, child labor thats fucked up. Anyway the rest of the cast is like, the betas kids and trolls or something. Daves a stoner. Johns the class clown. Rose's personality is reduced to scary goth like it always is. Jades got the Wacky Best Friend fits. Someone tells Sollux "In english please!".

Um. What else. Doc scratch is the principle played by the director who gets in like, a lot of trouble years after the show ends. Vriska is the "popular girl" but she gets to keep her cool arm. Karkat and Daves slow burn enemies to lovers romance is censored in the last season and they pair him with like,,,, I wanna say either Jade or someone completely outta the blue, like Aradia. Oh speaking of, shes the third mean girl, (Terezi's the second) who falls for sollux and stops being mean in like, the second season cause people liked her character so much they demanded she get a redemtion arc. thats why its so controversial when they break them up to pair her with Dave to cover up the homosexual tension they accidently wrote in. Shes red like karket so like, who cares. Sollux doesn't end up with anyone else btw they just kinda forget about him.

[dannydevitosheight]

The Gang's Specific Brands of Catboy/Catgirl Energy (in my opinion)

Tbh this is more like What the Gang would be like if they were literally cats kind of???? I don't actually know what this post is just take it

Mac: he's actually a puppyboy that imitates cat behavior but in a puppy-like way bc he's only ever been around cat ppl. Will not clean himself but WILL incessantly lick Dennis while wagging tail like a helicopter even tho Dennis is .2 seconds away from scratching, hissing, and bullying Mac into a crate (this actually happens in the show just not literally but yes very literally). Other cat learned behaviors are trying to force himself to fit in somewhere he definitely does not. It doesn't work for him like it does for the rest of the gang (do u get the very obvious metaphor) mostly he just barks loudly and bothers cats who do Not Want to be Bothered. Gives puppy eyes like a pro though. Loves squeak and rope toys. Also loves playing with Charlie bc smol and feisty

Dennis: perpetually pissed off catboy. Does the back arch thing and gets the puffy/bottle brush tail a LOT. Emotes with tail a lot tbh (lots of angry flicking) Sends mixed signals by headbutting and purring only to hiss a second later and walk away pissed off. Also bites immediately after asking for pets. Showing his tummy is a trap. He will bunny kick your hands. Asks to be let into the room but just knocks things over and pulls pictures off your wall cause he doesn't want to be around you. Except he does. He is revolted by your pets and kisses but gets mad and jealous when he sees u giving them to one of the other cats. Scratches puppy Mac bc Mac makes his fur all crusty from his grossing licking. Dennis mostly just stands there and takes it for a shockingly long time though. Hates playing at all. Only likes to stare out the window murderously at squirrels and birds. All other cats can beat him up, but he will still sometimes randomly chase/attack Dee.

Charlie: hyper kitten boy. Kitten forever (the kid). A tiny kitty that weighs less than a slice of bread it feels like. Exists only to eat, poop, RUN, and sleep. Eats like he hasn't eaten in days. Very messy in the litter box. Gets incredibly hyper at very random times of day and tears through the house. Attacks you when you try to pet him simply bc he wants to play, not out of malice. Showing tummy is not a trap. U may kiss and pet but with caution bc he may want to play. After exerting all his energy in quick 10 minute bursts he then sleeps for 14 hours straight in the same spot he always sleeps in. Is a chatty kitty when he wants to be. LOVES string toys and cat nip. Likes playing with Mac and views himself as being huge even tho he is extremely tiny by comparison. Could kick Dennis' ass though. Does those little KEH hisses and bottle brushes from time to time

Dee: VERY chatty cat girl. Not a cat girl in the horny anthropomorphic way but in the literal sense. Is a giant bitch to male cats and decimates them with her claws. Also decimates female cats as well. Yowls a lot actually. Mostly likes to lay around flicking her tail bc everyone and everything is annoying. Bullies the boys away from the food bowls but like, innocently. Likes to hang out on top of the fridge and look down on everyone. Actually very affectionate if given the chance but never gets to be anymore. If she did have kittens she would accidentally sit on them a lot. Has lost a claw or two. Hisses at Dennis or meows angrily at him any time he is near or she realizes he's in the room. Sometimes grooms Charlie and then attacks him immediately after. Mac is not even on her radar. Coincidentally shares a name with my irl cat (Deedee) and also shares disdain for male cats. Is also technically a mom tho she is not in her baby's life. Throws up the most. She likes boxes and hiding places.

Frank: obviously a squished face CHONKY catboy. A very lazy cat. He has no interest in fighting or playing very much but always likes hanging around Charlie when he's very hyper and indulges his playfulness with lazy weak battings of the paw. Loves catnip. Loves treats. Walks around and yowls and gurgles a lot for no particular reason. Loves licking plastic all the goddamn time like a weirdo. Will eat anything he finds on the floor. Has a specific spot in the house claimed and gets visibly offended if someone else is on or near it. Though it has never come to this, he could still kick Dennis' ass mostly by sitting on him. Does the bread loaf thing a lot (laying where it looks like he has no legs) would like toys if he could muster the energy to play with him. Prefers cat nip instead. Grunts a lot and breathes heavy (u can actually hear him snore)

[hillchill]

Thoughts on ACS s03e02

Miscellanea in no particular order, there are minor spoilers.

Still not seeing anyone as their “real life” counterparts except Paulson

Nice to include a friend of Monica’s who warned her about not spilling the beans, it shows one can be a 20something and still have more foresight.

The thong episode seems toned down from what I remember from ML’s recounting. Did it happen like it’s shown here or not? We’ll never know

I don’t know what spin they wanted to give here, but even after various iterations trough the years of ML’s description of the events, with variations like framing them trough the lens of metoo and so on, at least here it’s made clear that Monica kinda took the first step (she declared a crush on WJC). I am yet to understand if they kinda conflated two events, because after ML’s declaration of her crush, we’re told they’ve kissed (I kinda seem to remember that in real life the pizza episode was the one when they first met/kissed? I might be wrong and at this point I don’t want to double check)

“Bill” seems a bit too forward in the first one on one meeting with ML, after she declares her crush on him. Idk, doesn’t ring 100% true

Nothing graphic is shown, but you see “ML and WJC” kiss

Betty Currie is some secondary character, when IRL she facilitated the meetings of ML e WJC and definitely knew what was going on. It has not been explored (yet)

The neckties ML gifted WJC are mentioned (as well as Leaves of Grass. Also, there’s a story where WJC says he saw the book two weeks prior to Election Day of 96? So that kinda makes me feel a little sick to my stomach, when it comes to the whole betrayal of trust from WJC towards HRC, because I always thought WJC was trying to leave ML at this point)

A clip of the Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries is shown on TV in universe and has the getty images logo? this is a huge oversight for whomever put the series together!!!

I’ve already said you see ML and WJC kiss (twice), which apart from making me feel queasy, makes kinda clear they’re both into it and there’s no coercion

We’re shown a recreation of the ‘96 reelection fireworks hug between WJC and HRC: this is a clip that has been giffed lots here on tumblr or the piece of videohas been shown on here in its entirety and, let me tell you, in reality it was much more emotional and much more of a moment when WJC and HRC held onto each other in 96, than what’s been depicted in the series. If you remember, HRC had teary eyes. Here she is shown briefly in the background. It should’t surprise you I am not happy with this depiction.

I kinda understand why Paula Jones is pissed tbh: I have never heard her speak in depth, but her character seems kinda like a caricature. Also, she’s described by one of the people as “dumb as a rock”

Did ML really gift WJC a knicknack in the shape of a frog? That’s BAD if true, we know it’s HRC who gave him one, don’t know if he already had a collection in part or she was the one to start him collecting with her gift.

The fact WJC told ML she was like “The Face” on the show “Mike Hammer” because he’d see her everywhere he went, sounds like a subtle dig at ML to me... kinda gives you the impression ML was a bit obsessed and a smudge stalkerish

Did ML and Tripp really jot down an EXCEL SPREADSHEET (which is the most bored bureucrat but in-line-with-their-job thing to do), to document WJC’s and ML’s interactions?!

Edie Falco as Hillary makes me want to barf, especially in the scene that recreates the 1996 inaugural ball. There’s no chemistry as the two actors are dancing: they try to copy the whispering between WJC and HRC, but they didn’t capture their expressions of lovey-dovey bliss at all. Edie Falco’s face/expression in general is way harsher than HRC’s ever was and her whole presentation screams tacky, instead of the classiness that exhuded from Hillary that night. Honestly, so far we haven’t seen her much, but she might have already secured the spot of worst casting decision of this series.

Did Bill really whisper to Monica from the stage of the ‘96 Inaugural Ball that he liked the dress she was in? If so, i kinda feel a little sick, since he was there dancing with HRC and apparently being quite smitten with her. Guess we have to rewatch the ‘96 inaugural ball with a magnifying lens.

Delicate subject, but we need to talk about it: ML had a relationship with a guy when she was at the Pentagon. If I remember well he was in his 40s, she also fell pregnant and had an abortion... look, I don’t want to demonise anyone, but I think that knowing she was seeing someone else, instead of pining for WJC 24/7 when she was at the pentagon would be something to know, especially when the series has framed it like she was just doing the latter. Also, ML’s tendency to date much older guys, should showcase a pattern and therefore should be explored.

I really appreciate any comments, I feel like I am both indifferent to ACS, since it doesn’t seem remotely “them” (WJC, HRC, ML...) with regards to aspet/voice/mannerism, but I am also incredibly invested in knowing what was actually true and what have they toned up or down for the series.