#his dialogue was about to completely do a 180

[mishy-mashy]

Midnight fic idea but one could write Morgen as extremely Catholic and reciting Bible verses in his everyday talk. Like that religious girl with the purple hair from Ghost Stories dub

Everything else is the same. Morgen just behaves like this, and people have to just sigh and go "This is his normal."

[directdogman]

Super stoked for the Roger DLC and WILL be playing it on release, but something that’s been bugging me ever since the first few teasers was Peter, his personality feels quite different to me and my Peter obsessed friend, is there a reason for his personality change or was it completely unintentional?

He feels a lot more hot headed now, not completely the same as but similar to Steven, which feels like a complete 180 for Peter, I always remember enjoying him more in DSaF 2 because he was the more relaxed Phoney who when he had geniunely serious moments, it was incredibly impactful and gut wrenching when Peter would yell at me. 😔

Also, will Steven ever be real in dialtown please sir I miss my wif-

The comparison just always bothered me slightly.

Different universes. I should note that while Peter IS chiller in DSaF 2, if the restaurant goes under, the main consequence is that the company will get mortally wounded and he might die. The other employees will (for the most part) be fine. Peter cares. He cares if you hurt employees, he cares if you fuck up but is also willing to look the other way a few times if the fuckup isn't bad enough (without letting it slide, because he still cares what you do at work too.) I'd say his attitude at work namely stems from that, rather than the other way around. Steven does NOT care. He is literally willing to throw you under the bus to save himself and his sole goal is keeping the place open specifically so he can save his own hide, and his hot-headedness comes from that.

In DT, Peter is at the end of his rope and has had to deal with a LOT up until this point, arguably even more than his DSaF counterpart in terms of his day to day job, as shocking as that may sound. There's also WAY more on the line this time. He isn't the one that's going to face the worst of what'll happen if things continue at their current trajectory (unlike Peter or Steven in their original games.) He explains this pretty early into the DLC, which may explain why he's testier than you remember him, namely what's on the line. He's trying his damndest to fix it but is failing. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place with Roger, recognizing his bad leadership is sinking the plant but caring too much about the guy to effectively deal with it until this point.

His guard is up because it has to be, but he does have a few nice moments where it's clear how much he cares and if you listen to Roger's dialogue carefully, you'll see just how much Peter has put up with that would've made any sane person walk away. He's also noticeably nicer to Gingi if you don't waste his time and seem to actually care about Roger, and he acts closer to how he does in the DSaF 2 screenshot you showed off, though perhaps with slightly less energy (since he is, like I said, at the end of his rope.) There's even a scene in the evil route where you can identify this and use it against him in a pretty sinister way.

To mention another thing that even Gingi sees as far back as his original scene in DT: He's a natural manager who's playing second-fiddle to someone who clearly doesn't know what he's doing.

I didn't just wanna do more of the same, so I played with the dynamics a lil. Peter is in a very different role here, one that he's not exactly suited to. He's out of his element. He's inundated with work and in this scene, is thinking about the lives of the employees who are going to be laid-off in a week or so time if things don't change FAST, and while this is happening, his boss is bantering with a weird cryptid on the street and talking about random garbage.

There are times in DSaF 2, like you said, where you do see him get like this. It's not as much that his character is different in my eyes, but that the context is. This is a version of Peter who is one bad day away from having to make a difficult decision. Literally. I'll gladly talk more about it when the DLC's out (namely I could compare + contrast certain decisions he makes!) For now, I don't wanna spoil anything that isn't explicitly stated in the first major scene he has.

[meanbossart]

I appreciate how you write Astarion so, SO much. I feel like way too many fic writers infantilize him to a point where I honestly start wondering if I'm the one who misinterpreted him so badly.

I'd love to know more about what you think of his character and his arc. Personally I saw him and immediately went "oh god this guy is gonna be the irritating tumblr sexyman of the year🙄" and it took me until Araj basically to warm up to him. What were your initial thoughts and did they change much while playing the game?

OH thank you so much!!! That's a shame if it's the case, and a little surprising to me, to be honest! While he's definitely written be an aloof jerk a lot of the time, I always found him to be surprisingly mature and introspective whenever he's not dishing out witty remarks. He comes off to me as the kind of person who learned to benefit from seeming dumber than he actually is, overall.

HAHA I had a VERY similar experience, not just towards Astarion but all the characters, really (I really disliked Shadowheart at the beginning, too). I had only seen pictures of him and pretty much expected a vapid character that was being carried to stardom because of a talented VA - and because people go nuts for anne rice style vampires lol.

While I was definitely enjoying his voice lines from the start (Again kudos to Neil) I definitely wasn't expecting much else. He piqued my interest after so devastatingly turning my character down at the tiefling party without me even having inquired, and that's when I, the gamer, was like "well, alright, I GOTTA fuck this guy now" (this is also where DU drow's personality began to come out as you can probably guess)

Obviously, if you have two neurons to rub together you can gather pretty quickly that he's not trying to woo you because you're so interesting and wonderful, so I started getting curious! With that dynamic being so different from what you usually expect of romances in these types of games, plus the charming way in which he is written, I started being won over.

I think what really did it was how gradually his attitude changed when responding to new, mostly trivial dialogue options and doing his greetings as you earned his trust, and ESPECIALLY with how he responds to your tav when you express any kind of fear or insecurity during his romance - which was with a lot of sincerity and confidence in his resolve to support you, and in you as a person, a complete 180 from his usual front - Which, again, makes me all the more surprised to hear that he's often painted with such an immature brush.

And obviously he has a DEEPLY ugly side to him (if you've read ANE, hopefully it's clear that I know this, and that I like to explore it just as much as anything else lmao) but it's very interesting to me how it seem to always come in the form of outbursts, rather than a constant evil-streak, usually followed by a glimpse of self-awareness. It feels very much in line with someone who's actually making a great deal of effort to manage their RAMPANT emotions and going through a lot of internal conflict in the process.

GAH. Yeah if you can't tell by this friggin' thesis I just wrote, I love the way they wrote this character a lot and I was definitely proven PROFOUNDLY wrong in my first impression of him - which, if that's not irony at it's finest I don't know what is.

And as an aside! I also very much appreciate that he's a "queer" coded character who's effeminate (in the Old Homo kind of way, but I digress) and flamboyant, but taken Dead Fucking Seriously. With as much progress as we've made in LGBT rep in media, I still often feel like gay men will only get that kind of treatment for as long as they "Aren't That Gay" (I know Astarion doesn't have a set sexuality - But lets not mince words: stereotypes exist, and he fits into most of them) and as a thin-wristed gay guy who's a little too found of linen shirts, I can honestly say that experiencing a character like that helped me with my own confidence.

[empyreanwizard]

about miquella's kidnapping, you know the charm only works if miq gets really close in your face (see heart stolen + freyja's account of being healed) and it doesn't do a 180° in your personality (the npcs in the shadow realm are there to show us how it affects them and we can see it didn't change their personality) what the charm does is: make you non-violent (see heart stolen) makes you forget bad things (see leda and ansbach remembering "cascading sheets of blood" after the charm is broken)

if anything, I'd say the charm would've made him more sane, take thioller for example he's completely obsessed with trina after the charm is broken, to the point where he tries to kill you after she talks to you

compare thioller's dialogue:

"i am her chosen, not you. only I can doze off in the sea of st. trina"

and

"only i am allowed to know. of your velvety sleep. its sweetly gentle embrace. so please, smile—for me, and only me." (st. trina's smile)

to mohg's dialogue:

"miquella is mine and mine alone"

both are possessive and obsessed. miquella's charm nullified thioller's obsession, and I have no reason to believe miquella can just pick and choose the side effects his charm will have.

my points on why miquella did not want to be kidnapped

1 - he wouldn't have cocooned himself for a long ass time like he did otherwise. and you know he was there for a long time because he's all skinny and covered in cocoon liquid stuff. and mohg wouldn't need to break open his cocoon like he did, he would just take it back to his palace

2 - miquella couldn't have known mohg even existed. he lived in the sewers his whole life, and miquella never went to the sewers. also, even if he did, he couldn't have charmed him there bc otherwise ansbach would never know to differentiate a non-charmed mohg from a charmed mohg .

3 - mohg is already a established kidnapper. from the "war surgeon gown":

"Bloodstained white gown of the war surgeons who were effectively mercy killers. Of the surgeons that were abducted by the Lord of Blood, none were able to tame the accursed blood. None but Varré, that is; though he was an exception."

4 - mohg had his own reasons to kidnap miquella. he wanted to build his blood dynasty and to become a lord, as ansbach says he was seeking lordship, and the consort of an empyrean is a lord by right (see dark moon ring description). miquella is the only empyrean available, as ranni is presumed dead and malenia already has a god inside of her (and he could never kidnap her), leaving only miquella who apparently doesn't have an outer god meddling inside of him, so perfect vessel for the formless mother

now, you're probably wondering "well if the mohg thing wasn't planned, who would be used as a vessel for his consort??" to answer that, miquella probably didn't know he needed a vessel in the first place, as the ">>>secret<<< rite scroll" is only found in the shadow realm, he couldn't have known about that thing while living in the lands between.

verdict: miquella was forced to switch plans after the kidnapping (can't complete anything he starts curse yadda yadda), mohg did not beat the allegations, and miquella got his revenge for being used (mohg was living/sleeping inside his corpse how do yall forget this???) by using mohg's corpse to house his promised consort's soul somehow (which is awful too, but that goes without saying)

remember, the story in the dlc is there to parallel his ascension to marika's ascension. in this case, the hornsent killed and tortured marika's people, and she responds by genociding and terrorizing the hornsent people. mohg used and abused miquella's corpse, and he responded by using mohg's corpse.

marika = miquella

hornsent = omen

I just think it's weird that so many people are running off with the assumption that miquella, who the dlc all but confirm has the body AND mentality of a child, was charming mohg out of malicious intent rather than self-defense. remember he was probably never trained to fight nor does he have the strength to do it, the charm is basically his self-defense mechanism.

I think the main issue is that if you disagree on even the littlest thing here, the whole narrative shifts, and that's why there's so many different interpretations and confused people.

this is all subjective and there's no reason to claim my interpretation is the correct one ofc but I do think I make a good argument.

[noxiatoxia]

What’s the worst cause of a bad translation in danganronpa? I just saw your posts about it and was wondering how it it was

I didn't answer this right away because I spent some time thinking on it.

If you want my honest opinion, I don't think there's necessarily one "worst" translation. To me, it's more of a series of small translation errors / willfully removing character quirks that add up overtime to the bigger picture.

However, there are some specific egregious examples. I highly suggest this article on DR1's translation, as it paints a clear picture for the rest of the series (which abide by similar translation errors/choices).

In said article, however, I think is the worst translation I can think of in Danganronpa off the top of my head.

This is pretty bad for several reasons. Firstly, the official TL completely flipped the meaning of Naegi's sentence. I've seen bad translations in Danganronpa, but to completely 180 the meaning of a sentence is pretty bad. Furthermore, I think a joke was lost here. Naegi claims he is not a "Stand User", which is a JoJo reference. This being changed to a generic "I'm not psychic" I think ruins the joke that Naegi, who claims to have no hobbies, is making a reference to a manga - something many consider reading to be a hobby.

Plus, considering this is your first introduction to the character, and this is your foundation for understanding them...yeah. Not good.

SDR2 has a similarly bad introduction for Hinata, though not quite as egregious.

Left is the official translation, right is my fan translation patch.

This is pretty bad considering this is the crux of Hinata's motivations as a character. He does not think the people who attend Hope's Peak are marvelous. He thinks Hope's Peak itself is amazing. That's the whole point of his story, after all. He idolizes Hope's Peak. Never in the game do we see him idolize the students themselves beyond a simple "Wow, you sure are skilled, I can see why you got in". In fact, he routinely is pretty judgemental of them.

There's other things here and there. Komaeda's love confession in his final free time event was botched, as well as Saionji and Koizumi's love confessions in Island Mode.

Mioda's talent was messed up, too. She is not the Ultimate Musician. She is the Ultimate K-On Club Member. This is a pretty Japanese thing, hence the change, but if it were me, I would have gone with "Ultimate Pop Rock Musician" because that's what K-On music basically is, in terms of English genres. This is why the screamo music joke falls flat in my opinion. Of course she likes/plays metal, she's the Ultimate Musician. Except it was supposed to be more shocking since you're told she makes upbeat pop rock music.

Danganronpa also has just...a lot of clunky-sounding dialogue. Maizono's freetime event about the crane is very painful to read, as it is littered with references to Japanese folk lore which is not handled well in English, making it sound very unnatural.

Plus, this line:

was changed. Usually, when given your multiple choice in freetime events, you're supposed to guess what the other character is referring to. Notably, that isn't the case here. You're simply supposed to guess which of these birds are the biggest.

In the Japanese version, Maizono says, "It appears often in Japanese folklore. You know, that bird lives for a thousand years, a tortoise ten thousand years..."

To which Naegi thinks, "She must be talking about..."

Maizono is using a Japanese proverb (a crane lives for a thousand years, a tortoise ten thousand years), which strangely even the wiki seems to miss and mistakenly attributes it to her referencing Urashima Tarō. It's basically her saying "fill in the blanks, you know how this saying goes"...but since that saying is not known among English players, this part is poorly reworked.

Similarly, Twogami's final freetime event was written oddly.

I get what's trying to be achieved here, but it still sounds...not great. The point of the scene is that Togami from DR1 uses "omae" when referring to people, which is a very masculine/rude way to say "you". Twogami drops the act in this sentence and uses "kimi", which is a much softer ways to say "you". Hinata acknowledges this, but since there's only one "you" in English, they tried to word it as best as they could. Personally, I would have just reworded the scene entirely to make Twogami's sentence much softer in general, and then have Hinata comment, "It's weird hearing you speak so politely. The Togami I know is constantly looking down on others."

So, when it comes to the official Danganronpa translation, you're basically contending with 1) a lot of mistranslations, 2) removal of nuances in speech and 3) a lot of clunky, poorly naturalized dialogue. As the article I linked pointed out, even in Japanese, Danganronpa isn't some masterpiece of writing, but undoubtedly a lot is lost from these decisions.

Keep in mind these are just the ones off the top of my head I found worth pointing out in this post. There's probably way worse ones I didn't even think of, since I don't have either the English or Japanese text line for line memorized.

IMO, the best Danganronpa game in terms of text is Another Episode, 100% only because nearly every line in that game is read aloud. I find that trials in Danganronpa typically have marginally less clunky-sounding dialogue in English, and that I believe is entirely due to the fact they have people actually reading this stuff out loud. They can catch if it sounds weird out loud and then change it. So Another Episode, which is basically entirely voice acted, has the most natural-sounding dialogue in the whole series.

V3 I know very little about as I am not a fan of that game...but from what I've seen/heard, it's not much better despite coming out quite some time after SDR2. Gokuhara's speech patterns were entirely rewritten in English to sound like Tarzan...I guess to match his design? If I had to make him speak like any of the existing characters, I'd say he's more in line with Sonia's English translation. Just strange all around.

[recycledraccoon]

I think my thoughts on the penultimate episode can be summoned up as disappointment over a potential we didn't get to see, and why that's ok. (This got long, 1.4k oops lol)

Am I a fan of The Rat Grinders? ABSOLUTELY. I think I started liking them even more when they were full-on confirmed villains. As fan's of the edited show, watching with a week between each episode to theorize and think, I loved seeing and theorizing over these 6 fucked up kids. We know Kipperlily prior to the second half of sophomore year, while she obviously still had her anger and jealousy over TBK's it wasn't ENTIRELY unjustified and completely out of control (although some aspects were utterly and absolutely unfounded and ridiculous). Jawbones file mentions her language being "I think Aguefort likes them more", "The school takes it easy on them", and "Half of them don't even go to classes." All of these are true things people in this world would notice. It's not until AFTER their Mountain of Chaos chaperoned trip, at the end of the year, that KLCK switches to "I hate them." The Bad Kids further briefly discuss if Jace would have asked Jawbone/looked for "students with rage disorders." I think specifically mention it being a disorder is important. Acknowledging its there, KLCK WAS trying to get help for an issue she had. They didn't talk to Jawbone about it, but did decide Jace must have given he went on that quest with TRG's. They further briefly talk about students getting randomly mad, and yes they specifically joked about Fabian shitting in class, but WE also remember the Soil club student getting so mad after having gotten that tainted soil. With the 30 Riz rolled, Jawbone's file ALSO specifically talks about Kipperlily loving her adventuring party. We know things weren't perfect, its obvious from when talking about their name change, but its still there and canon. Kipperlily loved her adventuring party. This is all just Kipperlily, mostly with our information from the first part of ep.16. It is not touching on the rest of the members, especially Ruben and his dreamscape we saw, or of his distinct 180 musical tastes POST Sophomore Year Spring Break. The implications of something happening to them during that time is pretty evident and acknowledged. So we're fans, watching a show, spending so much time thinking about not only our infamous protagonists, but also our villains. Many of us adults, getting older, thinking on the tragedy befalling kids and feeling empathy. So yeah. It's a disappointment over an unseen potential. Specifically tho? Its the potential we could have gotten on The Rat Grinder's thoughts and motivations that could have been revealed through dialogue. Dialogue that we got very little of in what could be considered a significant exchange of dialogue and not bits. I always have high narrative expectations from this show, due to its long standing history of SETTING those standards each and every season. This one episode just fell short emotionally while watching, comparatively.

AND THAT'S OK AND ABSOLUTELY NOT THE BAD KIDS/INTREPID HEROES FAULT

On the narrative side of things, The Bad Kids have had an incredibly stressful past 3 years. From day one, they have been involved in life or death stakes situations. It's always been do or die, and they've died, sometimes more than once. They've lost people and faced traumas that go often unaddressed. TBK's ENTIRE highschool experiences have been a revolving door of violence and unhinged situations. They've also always kinda been assholes, insular and more than a little mean especially to those pegged as enemies. We know them, know they have good hearts and intentions, and love and side with them constantly throughout because The Bad Kid's are our heroes. They are still teenage assholes sometimes, but that is something we love and forgive them for. The thing about this recent battle is that they are very used to the situation they are in by now. TBK's have to prioritize, move fast and hard, and get a job done so countless people don't die while something evil rises in their world. Emotions have been high for them all season, rage especially which is absolutely unsurprising on multiple fronts, and it's absolutely showing in what few dialogue exchanges we have. The Bad Kid's entered that gym for the singular purpose of stopping the situation, saving lives, and making sure something evil didn't arise to power in their fucked up world. Nothing new. They hid, already knowing where the final confrontation was going to be FORCED to happen in due to the nature of the ritual, and prepped. On point and smart of them. Then they entered the battlefield, very quickly getting to business. They know their skills, their friends and how to work together as a devastatingly effective team making heavy hits and masterfully controlling a battlefield despite the chaos. This is what The Bad Kid's Do. They got Ivy and Oisin out of combat as fast as possible, Oisin didn't even get a turn. They took out a high-damage long range attacker and the enemy wizard. They know how powerful and important Adaine is on the field, and they knew Oisin would have been the same. They crippled the enemy with the slow spell, effectively taking Mary Ann out of the running until it gets dispelled later on. Fig saw Ruben's high damage level 9 spell and dropped her ploy to get him out of combat as soon as she could. It was too dangerous to have him up, and while the hell bit was uncomfortable in the moment, it is absolutely on brand. This is what they have to do, if they want to stop Porter, who is our real main big-bad. Remove as many obstacles from the battle so more of them can focus on the fight that really matters.

This combat wasn't ever gonna go any other way, unless the dice gods decided otherwise.

This is what The Bad Kid's Do. In regards to the IH's, it is VERY important to acknowledge that while I've mentioned having high narrative expectations, this is still primarily an improve comedy show around a group of real people's DnD game. It's also a show they have a tight filming schedule for, with back to back days and long hours which we KNOW from the talk-backs leave them very tired. Like any tv show they also have a limit on how many episodes per season they can even produce. I think it was a real and genuine benefit to Sophomore year that they were doing it live, because it gave more time between sessions for the IH's to mull over information and whats been happening in-game. This is also a very well developed campaign world they haven't played in several years, which I certainly know would effect me in how I played. We still have one more episode, the Finale, and so much always happens there. I have incredible faith in Brennan as a DM and storyteller, for all that his players have a huge say in how any story he tells unfolds. There is a VERY real chance that what happens in the finale completely changes my mind on episode 19, and I will go back to rewatch with absolute glee because I know of the coming emotional catharsis in relation to The Rat Grinders. There is also a very real chance we don't get that in the way we want it, but that will be ok too. I will still love this season, rewatch it and laugh and have fun. The best part of having a fandom, is watching us take canon apart to fuel endless au's, fix-it's, character studies, ect. Taking crumbs and going wild with it is par the course, especially when something in a show has left us wanting in the moment of watching it. I think more than anything, I would be and am more upset from infighting and genuine anger directed to each other and especially towards our Intrepid Heroes. It is not wrong to be upset with an episode of a show, but it is to take those feelings out on others, be in in defense from Rat Grinder's fans or justification from Rat Grinder haters. So yes! I was disappointed with this particular episode emotionally. I still think it was funny, I think the combat was brilliant and fun to watch. I still love this show and this cast, and could never dream of being mad at them for how they played a game, and for the fun they were finding within the act of playing it as the well-known unhinged improv comedians we know and love.

I'm excited for next week, buuut I am absolutely consuming fan-content to help deal with my emotions, both the highs and lows.

[mattoidmeerkat]

This is me working through my main issues with Bathena in 7x01. If you have no issues with the transition from 6x18 to 7x01, I'm happy for you and there's nothing to see here. If you'd do see some issues and/or are willing to help me work through some of them, please continue reading after the cut.

Disclaimer: The long hiatus and my recent cold definitely did not positively influence my experience. I'm aware of this.

Man, I'm so conflicted about Bathena's story in 7x01. I mean, the acting was top notch. The scenes and dialogue? Instant classics. The dancing? Swoooon. And we finally get to explore the foundation of their relationship? What's not to love?

Well, this really feels like the perfect follow up to Season 4. They had just addressed their communications issues and still had topics to work through. They would soon be empty nesters and didn't know how that would impact them.

But this isn't the beginning of Season 5. This is Season 7. Since then we have seen Athena and Bobby go through so much separately and together. They have grown closer and have developed their communication skills and the foundation of their relationship.

They struggled together and supported each other through the Hudson ordeal and the fallout around Harry in 5A. We've seen them make time to focus on their intimate relationship (5x09, 6x13) and to sharing personal history (5x15, 6x02, 6x03, 6x13) and support each other through oh so much personal trauma (5A, 5x14, 5x16, 5x17, 6x02, 6x03, 6x09, 6x12, 6x17). They've put the other's happiness before their own without a moment's hesitation (5x05) and developed a deep and easy intimacy with each other (5x08, 5x09, 5x11, 5x15, 5x17, 6x02, 6x08, 6x12, 6x13, 6x17) without ever losing their individuality in the process. Athena built a relationship with Bobby's sponsor and Bobby shared his AA world with her. Athena allowed herself to be vulnerable with him by admitting fears while she developed a deep understanding of how Bobby worked on a fundamental level (6x14).

And then Tim came back and decided nope, none of this. Gonna reset Athena to Season 4 (when he left as showrunner) and leave Bobby as confused as me.

I love me some good angst and conflict to explore characters and their dynamics. But what explanation were we given for this drastic change in Athena's personality? She is afraid to find out who they are when it's just the two of them? Which we have just seen again and again in Season 5 but much more so in Season 6?

Characters being flawed and acting irrationally is not bad writing. On the contrary, it can be excellent writing because flawless characters are boring and bland. And Athena and Bobby are so deliciously flawed. Have been from the very beginning.

So why not provide us with an explanation for how 6x18 Athena went from happy and confident in her marriage after settling into her empty nest with Bobby for a year, to the neurotic mess we see in 7x01? (A highly entertaining and cute mess, but still a completely different Athena than literally one episode before.)

How did 6x18 Athena, after recently celebrating her fourth wedding anniversary with Bobby and saving him from a bridge collapse, from one moment to the other decide to go to therapy (something she canonically avoids like the plague - see Seasons 3, 4, and 5) and do a 180 on cruises (despite copious discussions of cruises her fear did not come up with Bobby in 5x18, 6x01 or 6x18, with May in 6x01, or with Hen in 6x01, or in the conversation about cruises with her parents in 6x01 despite those two apparently being responsible for that fear)? How did that Athena then board the cruise with Bobby at the end of 6x18 full of joy and happy anticipation after a last minute cancellation? And how did Athena then manage to have a therapist appointment about the last-minute cruise two months in advance somehow?

I'd love to find some explanations for this beyond sloppy writing at best and blatant disregard for the prior story lines at worst.

At this point my only hope is that the next two episodes will shed some light onto what exactly triggered Athena's abrupt change in personality from one episode to the other. (actually retroactively within the previous episode somehow) But I won't get my hopes up too much because so many of Athena's, Bobby's and Bathena's story lines have been left to fizzle out without any kind of explanation or resolutions over the years (under both Tim and Kirsten).

So what's my takeaway here? I desperately want to love this episode. It has so many amazing scenes. But the retconning is making it really difficult for me to process as a coherent story line. And that's on me. Shows do this all the time. THIS show has done it plenty of times in the past.

But I feel so sad that I seem to care more about Season 5 and 6 Bathena than the show itself. It feels dismissive of the growth those two have gone through. And it makes me fearful of what kind of disregard the show might display towards these characters, their arcs, and their growth journeys in the future.

Thoughts? Helpful ideas? Number of a good therapist? 😅️ (One that doesn't just say "I'm sure you'll be fine.")

[yangsharperavery]

I have SO MANY THOUGHTS on the sydcarmy of s2. Like our stocks have never been lower but they’ve also never been higher! I feel like this szn was really explicit and hashed out their relationship/twin flame vibes. Like even romantic potential aside, syd is the only one who is as much of a nerd about this stuff as carmy is. It’s giving soulmatism…..

absolutely. i know there’s a few sydcarmy shippers that are unhappy and i completely get where they’re coming from but to me, their moments solidified their slow burn, soul tie bond even more than anything in s1.

carmy being irresponsible and reckless with his focus and attention in favor of his time spent with his high school crush was the entire point of what led up to him getting stuck in the fridge and essentially missing the ENTIRE first night of his namesake restaurant.

that’s NO small thing.

the heavy handedness of that romance was sooo purposeful and an outright 180 in favor of a huge narrative/arc point for a character who is still deeply fragile, traumatized and riddled with grief.

i would have LOVED more collaborative scenes with the two of them (with the entire cast really) but that would have completely defeated the point that was driven home while he was locked in that freezer.

literally the consequences of his own actions marring him both personally and professionally.

i do wish sydney would have tore into him a bit more about being absent.

like you can have a gf after we fucking open this thing, be serious for a second.

but so much of the languaging of the dialogue they did have was sooooo perfect.

sydney actually feeling so doubtful and scared that she’d tell him “you could do this without me.”

like sis CLEARLY not because he’s running around like a lovestruck teenager and she quite literally did it WITHOUT him.

and him verbalizing that he not only couldn’t do it without her but he wouldn’t want to?!?!????????

i’m sorry what?

all he’s known and done and focused on was being good at this one particular thing for the majority of his life but he wouldn’t want it without HER?!?!?

i’m sorry that’s more of a love and soul declaration than him actually saying he loved some girl from gradeschool that JUST popped back into his life.

his gift to her????????

even the same ways they juxtaposed claire and sydney in the story were SO deliberate.

it was always sydney as a point of entry for the restaurant and his lack of focus and attention to detail.

her reactions? the thinly veiled, light jealousy.

the “who’s claire?” to sugar.

why even include ANY of that if not to drive home the point there is a SPECIFIC undercurrent between sydney and carmy?

and them dating or fucking or loving other people isn’t actually going to erase that.

i’m a sydney and carmy truther for life. this season only strengthened that fact.

[cienie-isengardu]

Mortal Kombat 1 goes out of its way to make Bi-Han as unlikable as possible. We are not meant to think that he had a point at all, and that he is 100% in the wrong, and that's not even going into his betrayal and murder by inaction. Not only that, he is also making a complete 180 from his previous timeline counterparts. Before, he was a traditionalist and technophobe. Now, he is going against tradition, and is embracing technology. Why do you think NRS made these decisions?

In all honest, I don’t have any reasonable idea why NRS would even want to mess up Bi-Han so badly in the first place, especially since

A) the Sub-Zero brotherhood is part of the lore since second game came out (1993) and literally three decades have passed since that day 

B) Mileena, Tanya, Reiko, Baraka, Syzoth, Rain and arguably Sindel get much better treatment despite their previously well established ties to the villainous side of the story while alive Bi-Han was, game-wise, barely explored by narrative

and above everything else, C) Bi-Han’s death is one of the most impactful deaths in MK lore, as it greatly influenced the history and character development of both Kuai Liang and Hanzo Hasashi while also introduced another emotional conflict between younger Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot - and for this to work, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang’s brotherhood needed to be something special in the first place. 

Assassin Bi-Han not necessarily needed to be a good man to be a good brother but there is enough tie-in material to get the point he was not inherently evil (if anything, the pathological upbringing he was forced in is to be blamed). I’m glad MK1!Sub-Zero wasn’t killed yet I still wonder how the hell NRS decided to not take advantage of brotherhood that is one of major foundations of the fan-favorite Kuai Liang’s character and instead twisted not only Bi-Han but also Kuai Liang & Hanzo Hasashi into the new take that is frankly, frustrating at best for a long-time fans of Sub-Zero brothers and Lin Kuei. All NRS needed to do was to give us literally a few minutes of  the Lin Kuei brothers’ close bond, then devastate us with Bi-Han’s death, then devastate Kuai Liang & Smoke’s life by bringing evil Noob Saibot and that would be a solid ground for upcoming games for years, instead of shattered brotherhood that so far lead to nowhere, as Bi-Han was sidelines right away after the supposed “plot twist” and all interesting points about Lin Kuei’s servitude comes mainly from intro dialogues because story mode seems afraid to acknowledge Sub-Zero’s frustration on the main. 

I suspect the studio's choice may be about balancing the events and family drama, as bitter brotherhood vs sweet sisterhood, but really, it feels so unfair and frustrating it was done at such Sub-Zero’s expense, especially as MK1!Bi-Han seems to me like a weird mix of Frost & Noob more than his original character even was. What is ironic, considering the fact that original Bi-Han was a Lin Kuei that wanted (and would do so, if he killed Shang Tsung) to retire from assassin life and the oldest Mortal Kombat comics presented him as pretty honorable man that even saved the Earthrealm at the cost of his own life. 

But sure, let’s fuck up the Lin Kuei, it is not like previous games let them have anything nice for too long anyway.

[nani-nonny]

Another short writing warmup that started as dialogue but I expanded it very slightly hehe :)

I call it “Attached” hehe

Prompt: (set in the rise future during the apocalypse) Leo converses with Donnie and Mikey after returning with a baby Casey Jr in his arms, discussing what to do with the infant that survived due to the Krang in its DNA (842 words)

“No, I just—I can’t leave him. He’s… I found him in Casey’s arms. She’s… this is her’s. I don’t know what to do,” Leo slides down the wall, landing roughly on his behind as he covers his head with his hands. He tries to control his hands, laying them flat against his head but they’re shaking, uncontrollably so.

“But Leo, it’s Krang. There’s Krang in it—,” Donnie argues, an uncertain expression on his face like he doesn’t want to believe his own words. He continues as his expression sours, “And the Krang in it is the only thing keeping it alive. As much as I love our friend Casey, we can’t keep this thing. It will only lead to our downfall.”

Mikey crouches at the baby’s bedside, a crate made with wooden scraps and blankets. He places his hand on the bent railing, staring at the sleeping infant wrapped in dirty cloth. “But he’s just a harmless little baby.”

“Krang baby,” Donnie corrects.

Leo sighs and clenches his shaking hands into tight fists. He rests his head back against the cold concrete, countering Donnie by saying, “He can’t do anything now.”

Donnie frowns, “What about years into the future? When he’s grown up? We don’t know how or when the Krang side of him will show up!”

Leo nods, that’s exactly what he thought. Donnie keeps bringing up his thoughts when he first saw the baby—first saw the flash of green behind the infant’s pupils. He already knows this, but he had hoped Donnie would have something else to say that he hadn’t thought of. He reluctantly admits, “We can’t risk it.”

It seems Donnie is hoping for the same thing as he turns to the mystic warrior crouching on the ground. His tone is near pleading, hoping that the master of mysticism would have an alternative option. “Mikey, can’t you do something about it? Can’t you kill off the Krang infection?”

But Mikey doesn’t give them the alternative answers they seek. He doesn’t even try to hide it in his expression as he frowns, shaking his head as he says, “This isn’t an infection, this is—it’s a part of him. Incinerating the part that makes him Krang will kill him with it. He’s half Krang.”

Leo winces, tired of hearing that part of the infant that he can’t get rid of—can’t save the child from. He pleads this time, desperately clinging onto an inkling of hope that there’s something. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

Donnie turns away from everyone, looking down toward the crease where the concrete wall meets the ground. He shrugs, but only halfway, still uncomfortable with the topic at hand. He tries to hide his disgust as he replies, “Well, you already know my option.”

Mikey snaps in Donnie’s direction, a snarl of disgust stretched on his face as he speaks clearly enough for Donnie to hear, “We’re not killing him.”

Donnie tries to remain logical, refusing to look in the sleeping infant’s direction. “Why not? He may be a baby now, but it’s not like we can raise the krang out of him. He’s part of the Krang.”

Leo perks suddenly, his hope clinging to this new idea, “Then we’ll learn about him. Gather our intel about the Krang from raising this baby.”

Donnie raises his brow at Leo, crossing his arms over his chest as he asks, “Are you suggesting experimentation on an infant?”

The slider early scoffs at the sudden change in Donnie’s argument, a complete 180 from what the softshell was suggesting before. “So now you care that it’s a baby?”

Donnie raises a finger as he shakes his head, “Not where I’m going at.”

Mikey crouches down again, looking only at the infant as he pokes a finger close to touching the infant’s cheek. He coldly asks Donnie, “Then where are you going with this?”

Donnie remains silent for a few seconds, scrunching his eyebrows as he hesitates to say what’s on his mind. He stares at the ground, barely hugging himself before he finally speaks, “…What if you get attached? What if you start actually liking this baby? What will you do when this baby inevitably turns its back on us for the Krang? Will you be able to pull the plug then?”

“…”

Neither one of the brothers responds in turn. Mikey only stares at the infant, finally garnering the courage to poke the chunky little cheek. But Leo, he finally stops shaking. The slider swallows anxiously, breathes deeply to calm his nerves. Donnie doesn’t fail to speak his thoughts aloud again, voicing the inner turmoil he struggled with from the moment he picked up the infant from the rubble—cradled in his mother’s arms.

Donnie releases an exhausted sigh as he finally voices the one question that lingered in the back of each of their minds. He asks the question despite the bitter taste it leaves on his tongue, “Are you willing to sacrifice hundreds for this tiny baby on the small, small chance that there won’t be any consequences?”

[blenselche]

does finn/fern count as selfcest? I never really thought it did tbh.

I'm gonna hit you with a big fat "it depends" (on which episode).

Pre Do No Harm? Yeah, I think it counts. Fern still (tentatively) believes himself to be Finn, reinforced by Finn's "sure we are."

Post Do No Harm? shaky "no" because Fern is out finding himself until he moves back in to crash on the roof, but he is still conflicted.

Post Three Buckets? def not but people feel weird about it because of the "almost like real brothers" line, discarding the follow up dialogue:

Finn does this with anyone that looks around his age tho (in the comics he does it to Gata-- his own adopted sister ffs, nothing stops this dude), it's an endearing feature of his character but we just haven't had another guy for him to be a clingy weirdo towards-- so it's easy to brush off as an awkward throw away line to play up Fern's detachment/malice in his silence.

Post Come Along With Me? we're back to selfcest because the writers pulled a 180 on the whole point of Fern's character arc of accepting himself/accepting change with the "I'm me again" junk. (I'm still ticked about that btw.) But unless a fic pulls "and then Fern popped out of the ground" or something it's just Finn yapping at a tree/sword that MIGHT be able to hear him.

Is it selfcest? Depends on which Fern we're talking about. Is it ever actually true selfcest? No. The Finn sword itself has had almost two years separated from "Finn" as a concept and humanity as a whole, Finn #2 has grown past himself and into a different, more well adjusted dude. Throw in the grass demon and you've got a completely different person that's struggling with an identity that won't fit despite the Finn face boxing him into it.

Some people will say selfcest = looks the same, disregard everything else. So. Take my opinion with a hefty shoulder toss of salt.

[whence-the-woody]

Not willing to rewatch coz s1 I'm not a huge fan of and s2 is too much emotion for me rn but trying to remember Colin's character through the show. Coz in this season he's definitely all over the place.

Like in s1 I guess you could characterise him as a bit hopeless romantic, quick to fall in love, impulsive, kinda goofy. Definitely a younger brother. You could say easily embarrassed then but honestly the way he acted was hella fucking embarrassing, I'd hide too. Could be a sweet son. Not a bad friend but incredibly oblivious. Held grudges for sure.

Then s2 he was undebatably INSUFFERABLE after his travels. Pretentious and annoying. Not understanding of boundaries or able to let things go (the Maria visits). An experimental drug dude, which yknow good for him. Still v little bro energy, mocking his brothers all the time. Not alot of empathy. Very privileged - I mean they all are but compared to Anthony's level of responsibility he clearly had none. Showed some positive protective instincts, helping out the featheringtons. So in some ways shown to be a better friend but in others WAY worse - talking shit on Pen: unforgivable. So still easily embarrassed. Kind of a little shit but not particularly funny I wouldn't say? That's bendict. Not very opinionated, that's Eloise. Francesca has passion he didn't. Idk just kinda nothing in terms of ways to describe him.

Then s3. Oh boy. Suddenly after yet more travels hes a chronic flirt - no hate just a weird 180. Discovered the joys of group sex at some point - again no hate but tells me nothing about who he is. He doesnt seem to be looking for marriage? Doesnt mention any goals or interests? He says he doesnt care what others think of him but that majorly contradicts everything that came before. Then he says hes been trying to be what society wants - so contradiction again. He considers himself a flirting expert out of nowhere? Okay dude. In a desperate attempt to make them compatible hes suddenly also a gossip? Sure. Also suddenly has a study and is a writer?? Other than writing letter to Pen, where the hell did that come from? Just everyone getting completely sick of hearing his stories? y'all had 2 previous seasons to make them seem compatible, why throw this stuff in now? He's not a romantic, doesnt seem to understand why Pen wants marriage - even though was so quick to get engaged two years ago. He still doesnt have a lot of empathy really. Still easily embarassed. Not much showing him to be a good brother. Still a pretty sweet son and obviously idealised his parents relationship, that's something. Absolutely impulsive - interrupting that dance, good god sir. You could argue he was jealous in s1 so that checks out. The romantic dialogue really paled in comparison to previous seasons but maybe that is in character?

But still I try to think of his personality and Im kinda like ??

Smug. Jealous. Pretty unserious. Privledged. Sometimes protective. A newfound gossip and writer. Self conscious most of the time but other times completely oblivious to peoples social cues. Impulsive for sure. A sweet son. Meh brother. No friends, goals or talents.

I just feel like Daphne and Anthony, by this point in their seasons, were really fleshed out characters and personalities. You knew who they were, their motivations, their histories, their huberis. Its been 3 years and I still feel like we dont know Colin. Maybe because the focus is on Pen? But even then I dont know if they've hugely expanded on her character thus far.

I guess I wonder that for the people who are huge fans of Colin - why? Who do you think he is? What is his character? Do you think its consistent? Does the inconsistency make sense to you somehow? I cant be invested in this dude when I still dont know who he is (also when the actor is okay at best lbr)

[ziptie-bouquet]

Alright. So. The Bioshock Infinite issue.

I haven't completed the game but I doubt it'll do a 180 to completely change its politics at this point. (Long post so I added a cut!)

I went into the game and immediately recognized the "Bioshock tm" lack of subtlety and depth when dealing with serious political issues. It has been plaguing all the games in the series. But still, I had an optimistic mindset. I told myself that even if it lacked nuance, racism is a very important issue to bring awareness to.

Something that bothered me with the shallow takes on chauvinism and racism in this game is that it portrays them as things of the past. It doesn't help that they're so exaggerated. It doesn't have the bite of things you can actually still see today. It's not pervasive, it takes the idea that bigotry is only ever bigotry if it's blatant hatred to the extreme.

I think that, like the two other games, it has a very rich environment and potential. DeWitt's involvement with the Native Americans genocide could have genuinely been an extremely compelling plot point had it not be relegated to some sort of INDIVIDUAL guilt. His native american heritage is just a small detail within the tapes. The pride his old sergent has about killing tribes that he could be a descent of is never fully confronted, and you even get encouraged to treat him with kindness and mercy.

I'm honestly waiting for this to get expanded on, but it's the reason why I was in denial for so long about what had happened with the revolutionaries later in game. He's still a guy who was part of a genocide and has not fully confronted it out loud. He's unreliable and I would not trust his takes on racism.

With that in mind, I make my way to Finkton. As soon as I get there, I start killing every cop I see without even getting told to do so by the game. I think I might have missed a fuck ton of scripted animations and dialogues by doing this. The game very strongly established the people there are slaves, and are constantly under the surveillance of the cops I just killed.

I am hyped as shit as soon as the revolution rolls out, but DeWitt's first comment about how "Fitzroy and Comstock are the same besides the names" worried me at first. No worries, I tell myself, surely the game will be smart about it! Surely it will be about how DeWitt is wrong and Elizabeth is gonna teach him he has internalized racism from genociding indigenous people.

Then both him and Elizabeth make this comment again. The game HAS to give Daisy a completely out of character moment to even make killing the black female revolution leader seem like a sensible thing to do. It HAS to make the revolutionaries you kill almost all white after this to prevent you from seeing the obvious racism of what you're doing (alongside resource minmaxing I imagine). I went from being hopeful this will be a just and nuanced tale about confronting your own biases to seeing the game is going to be the weakest lib shit ever. Genuinely going down the route of "all violence is bad :(". They have the absolute gall to do this after literally breaking time and space to bring a revolutionary back to life because he was a POLITICAL PRISONER and got brutally murdered by white supremacists. (Also its fucking hilarious I can kill cops in the hundreds but when the oppressed minority wants to then its some horrible terrible thing)

I don't know, this was a lot of words to not say a lot but it's 7 am and I'm still in shambles I cannot believe they did this. Did nobody proofread the script?? How did this even get published?? Why is it so critically acclaimed??

I am really hoping it'll do a 180 but god am I doubtful.

( @solsono Je te réponds avec un poste à cause de la limite de caractères + en anglais pour les gens qui passent devant mais merci!)

[bloodbending]

spoilers for bg3 act 2. not a big story spoiler but a great character interaction i had (i know this game has been out for a while but just in case lmao)

i naturally love the astarion character. him being a sultry vampire with a hidden agenda/dark past/self-protective “act” and an amazing VA who is clearly having the time of their life… it was over for me before i even picked up the game.

i’m not romancing him in my first playthrough for many reasons..

1) i’m a goody goody character and i’ve decided to try and play naturally the first time without worrying too much about maintaining my morals and romancing him at the same time

2) karlach is my lawfully wedded wife

so instead, i’ve gone for the next best thing— good-naturedly irritating the absolute fuck out of him, lmao

i’ve enjoyed imagining him and my Tav nurturing a sibling rivalry. it started in Act 1’s grove party, when he insinuated he wanted to have some fun with someone. when my character said “are you saying you want to ‘have fun’ with me??” he turned his nose up at me and said “absolutely not, i have STANDARDS” with his full chest. i swear i could hear that VA smiling. which, oh my god, absolutely SENT me… Astarion set my Tav up so bad LMFAO

i leaned in. in my head, my Tav lowkey understands that Astarion isn’t actually cruel, but guarded, so she doesn’t take his remarks personally and is more invested luring out his bluntness (like i am as a player).

his relationship meter is solidly on “good” tho, so it’s not like he actually hates me, thankfully. every time i switch to him for traps or locks, i love imagining my tav pulling at astarion’s arm and using the most grating voice possible to say “astarioooooon, there’s so many traaaaaps, please won’t you lend me your special standards and help out?” and him being like “🙄 really?” and i love it lol.

in my head Astarion is doing a bit. the “i will not stop complaining to hide the fact that i actually really enjoy being part of this team” bit. love that for him.

it’s important to note that up until yesterday, any time i’d talk to him to add him to my party, he would say the standard “well what can i do for you?” or “… yes?”

now! yesterday, i made it to the blood elf lady in moonrise who wants astarion to bite her. i’m woman enough to admit that i was 1000% mesmerized by her dom energy and was willing to let her drain me to the last drop. both the writers and the VAs deserves one million dollars for that scene

but the second she started treating astarion like a thing, assuming i was his “owner” or whatever, she shattered the vibes! i was instantly defensive 😭

astarion refused to bite her, and when the lady asked me to command him to bite her, i obviously chose the “he’s a person (you fucking dick!) and he said no” option

i had genuinely been moved to drop my own teasing relationship and defend him as my friend. i didn’t even want to chose the dialogue option that would’ve fit how i’d played it so far (something like “you DON’T want to bite her, Astarion? i’m a bit surprised”)

ever since that one interaction, Astarion’s voicelines have changed completely!

i was so taken aback when i chatted with him after and he said “Hello my dear (genuine)” or “How can I help you, my friend?”

i thought maybe it was serendipitous— maybe that approval just so happened to nudge my metered relationship w/ Astarion across a certain threshold— but i’d checked his meter before and it didn’t change significantly at all. definitely not enough to warrant this 180 flip, i don’t think

that was fucking rad! i like to think that from astarion’s POV, my tav had gone out on a limb and showed she does genuinely care for him. and maybe now he can start seeing her as a true ally and friend. even though i am annoying, of course.

i’m struck by what a great character moment that was. honestly kudos to the writers and devs for making that a pivotal beat in the astarion/tav relationship, regardless of it being platonic or romantic. this game is full of moments like that — it makes it so addicting and satisfying!!

[journeytothewestresearch]

heya! i'm @digitalagepulao and i saw your post from a few days ago about Sun Wukong harnessing a spiritual baby during his cultivation years and, i gotta say i'm intrigued! (also i'm slowly going through your other posts which are, chef's kiss, your work is amazing!! :D)

i do have a few questions about the whole process, though. it's stated that the embryo is harnesses into an "immortal spirit body", yes? i know this is all in the realm of allegory and metaphor, but to put it narrative terms, is this body it's own individual or an extension of the "father"? i assume it only exists on a spirit realm or dimension, or could it be made manifest in some other way? could it possibly have a will of its own a la having an inner conversation with one self, or is that too much of an western view on this?

also i'd love to know if you have any good references and resources i can dig more into this topic, it's fascinating! :D

Thank you for the kind words.

Yes, the spirit embryo grows into the immortal spirit body.

Daoists believed that the immortal spirit body was the cultivator him or herself. It was trained over a three year period to exit through the top of the head and travel further and further afield. Finally, after the human body died, the immortal spirit body was free to enjoy eternity.

(I'm sure you could write an internal dialogue between the cultivator and the embryo/spirit body if you wanted to. It would be like introspection during the cultivation process.)

As I stated in my original post, all of this happens "off screen" in JTTW, [1] for the novel isn't really interested in the process, just the result. The strange thing is that Monkey's practice doesn't result in a spirit body but an adamantine physical one. So, the novel's version of the intended result doesn't exactly match the original Daoist belief.

As for sources on the subject, I only know what I've read in regards to my study of JTTW. I learned about the process from the book Chinese Healing Exercises: The Tradition of Daoyin (2008) by Dr. Livia Kohn. It gives a brief overview of the process on pages 178-180.

I've hosted a PDF of the book for you on my blog.

I highly recommend contacting Dr. Kohn, as well as Dr. Fabrizio Pregadio, in order to learn more about the process.

Note:

1) In fact, the moment that Monkey achieves immortality is completely skipped over. Instead, it's only alluded to in a paragraph shortly after Subodhi reveals the secret of eternal life in chapter two:

Three years went by swiftly, and the Patriarch again mounted his throne to lecture to the multitude. He discussed the scholastic deliberations and parables, and he discoursed on the integument of external conduct. Suddenly he asked, "Where's Wukong?" Wukong drew near and knelt down. "Your pupil's here," he said. "What sort of art have you been practicing lately?" the Patriarch asked. "Recently," Wukong said, "your pupil has begun to apprehend the nature of all things and my foundational knowledge has become firmly established." "If you have penetrated to the dharma nature to apprehend the origin," said the Patriarch, "you have, in fact, entered into the divine substance" (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 121).

Source:

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[racingliners]

HELLO i'm asking two fic asks i hope that's okay!

✑ PROCESSING for The Rules of Strategy and ♡ SMALL THINGS for Slowly And Then All at Once please🥰

it is ALWAYS okay to ask me to yell about more than one of my fics!!!

✑ PROCESSING: pick a fic and I’ll tell you what it was like to write it!

Oh my beloved TRoS... (ao3 link)

So one thing to know about is that because I'm autistic I will research the shit out of anything. And while I watched the 2017 season at the time, there was a lot of Mercedes-centric things I missed out on. So a lot of my research for each race weekend chapter consists of tag surfing here on tumblr for pictures and video clips (mainly to see what Lewis was wearing on a specific day if I need it, and if there was anything notable that happened across the weekend), looking up free practice/quali/race reports, and also watching the Mercedes strategy debrief videos so that when I'm writing Strategist!Seb, I have a really good idea of what I'm talking about. In a couple of instances (Bahrain, China and Spain) I've also watched the full races back just to get a proper feel for when writing the race sections, and for any team radio clips.

Then, I'll get writing. I'd actually planned out the vast majority of the chapters many months ago based on the season results and what I could remember from 2017, as well as the various relationship development points. But I do the above stuff to get my brain into the frame of mind for whichever specific race chapter I'm writing (I like to do a balance of actual racing and mushy romance bc that's just how my brain works, and because in a way they both influence each other in the plot).

Sometimes I'll be going about my day and I'll have an idea drift into my head for a future chapter, or even a bit of dialogue, so I'll write it down in whichever relevant notes doc I have so I have it on hand for later.

Obviously when I actually get to writing things will change a bit in terms of what scenes I do end up including. I have my notes as a guide and just go with the flow in terms of what feels best for the development of the story. The only exception when I've done a complete 180 for what I originally had planned was the Monaco chapter, which I ended up setting post-race at the Mercedes factory and at Seb's house. IRL it was a rough weekend for Mercedes and I felt like I'd already written that to an extent with the Bahrain chapter, so I opted to change it and I'm really happy with how it ended up turning out.

♡ SMALL THINGS: pick a fic and I’ll tell you my favourite minor detail from it!

I am SO happy someone asked me about this fic bc I just love it so so much! (ao3 link)

I'd say I'm definitely a very detail orientated writer, so I just love sprinkling little things in here and there in the hope that someone else notices them and loves them as much as I do.

One of which was definitely in the hotel room confession scene towards the end, where I very specifically had Jenson wear a mint green shirt (what was about to become Team Brackley aka Mercedes colours) to foreshadow him and Shov getting together.

He adjusted the fabric of his shirt, a mint green button down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and slowly walked over towards Shov. The best case scenario of them going to be at different teams in a couple of months’ time meant that if what Jenson was about to say completely blew up in his face, it would be somewhat easy for neither of them to see or speak to each other ever again. As painful a prospect as it was.

Team colours are such a huge identifier, especially in F1 where every team has their own distinct colour scheme, so it's something I love to play around with a lot for the symbolism of it all (I did a very similar thing in Life In the Fast Lane where I had Sophie and Benedikt wearing each others helmet colours, also to foreshadow their romantic relationship). And at this point in 2009, Jenson had already signed his contract to join McLaren in 2010, so it was because of that I had Jenson wear a Mercedes colour (instead of BrawnGP white or yellow) to signify to the reader that they're about to become each other's person as he and Shov only had a very short about of time left at the same team.

fic ask game