#i am unironically delighted. this is so fun

[jennycalendar]

Be totally honest: would you like Jenny Calendar at all if she weren’t hot? Throughout her very limited time on the show, she’s either an arrogant, cold bitch or has no personality at all. She never seems to actually love Giles in the slightest and in fact thinks she’s superior to him in every way. Come to think of it, she clearly thinks she’s cooler than and superior to everyone. She’s mean and blunt but not even honest like Cordelia – it turns out she was lying to everyone like entire time about who she is and why she was in Sunnydale. So basically we can add duplicitous liar to her list of flaws. There’s really just not one thing to possibly like about her except her looks! Is it one of those things where you just kind of made up who the character is because she sucks so much in reality? And now it’s even harder to like the character because the actress who plays her is such a horrible person.

OH MY GOD IT’S YOU AGAIN!!!! i wanna believe so bad that you’re that same anon from when i was fourteen? for those who aren’t TOTALLY familiar, there’s a tumblr anon i have seen more than once before when people talk about jenny calendar — has hit up quite a lot of inboxes over the last eight years with talking points and messages exactly like this. of course it’s always so genuinely possible that this is someone else, but i so ardently hope it is not!

because like. okay man i am so serious about this, i know this is probably going to come off as flippant tumblr humor, but the fact that you’re still doing what you’re doing brings me such genuine joy? i honestly had such a really hard year, like just really bad, and felt genuinely so disconnected from jenny as a character and a concept, which was so truly heartbreaking to me! and to see you in my inbox again really makes me feel like you’ve recognized me as someone who really loves her and is moved by her. like a little badge of honor.

and i also like. on a personal level really love this message, because it is such a sweet thing to receive? you and i both care so much about this woman that we’re writing impassioned paragraphs to others who we know care about her, because we want it known that we feel really deeply about her. we want our feelings recognized. i absolutely agree with you, man — jenny is such a special and compelling character. it’s hard not to feel a whole bunch about her when she’s onscreen, and it’s even harder not to want to talk about her with other people who think about her so much. i would genuinely love to talk to you off anon if you’re ever interested. i am seriously so curious about what draws you to her.

(tho ok little editorial note can you mayyybe not use the word bitch? kind of a deeply offensive term to use for women.)

[yuurivoice]

Hello Mr. Yuuri :) I hope you’re having a relaxing weekend!

here’s my question for today:

do you think the community you’ve created have become more in love with your characters and universes more than you do yourself?

if not do you think they will in the future? And how do you feel about it?

Thanks for your time and be sure to drink water and be safe ☺️

I think the question itself has a fundamental misunderstanding of how some creatives interact with their work and what it's like when that work achieves any sort of following.

Before I start yapping, I'm answering in the context of multiple recent questions that were asking for granular character details, fun facts, etc. and I'm assuming that the framework of the question is wondering if people who want to know such details "love" the characters in question more than I do.

The joy I get from writing a character that means something to me is much different from the way I enjoy a good character who means a lot to me. It's a very personal and sometimes magical experience, creating meaningful stories with these characters. The way that BitterSweet unfolded and continues to unfold has surprised and delighted me in ways I don't think you can actually fathom.

Learning about yourself and your world through art you create is something so significant that to boil it down to "loving" a character in the way that hyperfixated fans might want to know ever single shred of information about their favorite is not even an applicable comparison or experience. Both are valid, but are vastly different. Apples to oranges and so on.

Also, I have never engaged with any media the way that many fans have exhibited. I have never desperately wanted clarity, trivia, details, etc. for even my most precious characters I've fallen for. I am so confident in my interpretation and understanding of what I have consumed that I don't feel compelled to want to know more. I don't seek it out. I don't need it. It's not about how much I "love" a character, because that's not the unit of measurement I use.

I measure that with time a character lives in my head. How they rattle around in my daydreams, and inspire me to contemplate an explore. Why do they resonate with me? What themes strike a chord with me and why? Have I ever thought of telling a story with a character like this, but with my own twist? What would that be like?

I've rarely participated in fandom or get really obsessed with a singular character. Which is probably why I have a fundamental bit of friction with the obsession for details that don't matter.

Trying to get me to cook up facts or details about a character of mine is like telling someone to spoil the story for themselves. I am learning just as much about these characters as I write them. The details reveal themselves to me on the page. You are essentially telling me to ruin the exact thing I adore about creating when shaking me to see if I'll dispense goodies. They come when they're ready.

That's the secret sauce. That's why I've created characters people give a shit about and have such a deep connection to. It's also why I've gotten better and better at this over time.

I spend hours upon hours with these characters, not rummaging through their drawers to figure out what type of underwear and socks they prefer, but in their worlds. I'm learning about what makes them tick and how I can shake things up and craft with them. I'm building something meaningful.

I'm glad people enjoy the theme park I've made, and all the rides. Unironic "fan behavior" is great, that means it's working! Getting hooked means I did my job! But also, to attempt to compare the love of a creator with the love of fans is an exercise in futility. We're playing two different games.

Hope that offers some clarity on the subject!

[katyspersonal]

Okay the last post about SoTE progress for today!! (3/3)

1) So, after I defeated Romina, I of course....

came back and finally got to that bridge area that I wanted to get to!!!

Yes, I just wanted to get to that side of the map where I saw a Horned Knight that I just really wanted to murder for some reason XD However, to my surprise, I saw another Dancing Lion boss ;-; That one was a hard battle and I could not have imagined to need to do that AGAIN ;-; But my way layed through that spot, and also I am a perfectionist..

1.1) But surprisingly, at the Stage 2, it summoned several Basylisks and started to use Deathblight! That was significant for me! So yesterday I concluded that Scarlet Rot, Deathblight and Formless Blood (? is this even a correct term) all spawn flies and plants? And whereas Romina of course raised Scarlet Rot here since the buds in Rauh church she brought here were not always rotten, some Hornsent here use same flies swarms as Mohg's people! Seeing how a Dancing Lion here uses Deathblight, but no Deathroot was anywhere on its arena, I felt even more convinced that these three powers are basically Pokemon Eevelutions of the same initial concept, 'stagnation', whereas fly sickness that fell upon Hornsent is its initial unaltered form! + I guess all Hornsent in Rauh are runaways from Belurat particularly, then?

2) I finally killed that poor particular Horned Knight whom I had eyes on as soon as I saw them!!!!! They've dropped the greatsword if I remember correctly? Happy end! XDDD

3) So... Yeah, at last, finally, FINALLY I proceeded and burnt the sealing tree. I got to explore Enir-Ilim! It was already beautiful, with all the pale yellow trees. Took me some time to adjust, though, the place was tangled from the start!

4) Yeah yeah Inquisitors are female feminism wins whatever

Vfggghgjhgv unironically though, I love subversion of the trope xD

5) Something creepy/funny happened along the way though, I was laughing so hard wtfffff gfbfgcbfg

OKAY SO at some point my joy from the new location went down because my focus shifted towards the memory of the final boss, and I just remembered how much I dreaded them.. so, I broke my vow to not fuel the negativity which is already abundant and wrote a rant(ish) post about how much that decision soured otherwise amazing DLC and ranted about Radahn (disliking about his involvement, not the character jfhyggfg). And what do you think? That frankly sour post got eaten by Tumblr!

And yes, I know, Tumblr is a broken website and all that, but listen.. It never made the posts disappear for me. Ever. It could glitch out a post with bad internet and randomly publish it later as I log in, it could glitch an ask response and not have the draft saved thus losing it. It has invisible ask glitch and glitch where same post gets reblogged from 3 to 5 times. It never just made post disappear instead of being posted even with delay or giving me error message. Never. Ever. Ever. Except for now. The one time I spoke unkindly about that choice, not just "mannn weird how it wasn't foreshadowed :("

So since I am infamous amongst my friends for my super bizarre coincidences regarding fictional characters ( @heraldofcrow and @val-of-the-north witnessed so many they can swear I am cursed) me and my friend are joking that Miquella is real and he nuked the post for talking shit about his blorbo LMAOOOOOOO FFGDHTGG WTFFFFF 🤣

6) OK sorry hghgggggf Anyways, to my DELIGHT, I discovered variant of Hornsent Knights that wore smaller variant of Dancing Lions masks and use their powers like lighting and blizzard.... fun... :/

7) *points like in the meme* HEY I KNOW THIS ITEM, IT WAS SWORD OF ABUNDANCE AND DECAY REPRESENTING MALENIA AND MIQUELLA IN BETA VARIANT! XDDD

Kind of ironic how it is called 'Euphoria', because I could not be less happy about that lore being cut, all for...... *looks around in case if Miquella is somewhere in the walls*

8) There were so many nooks.. I found a secret passageway on accident, by trying to run from an old lady spamming so many spells under my feet that I was BARELY able to move! 🤦‍♂️

That eventually led me to a part of Belurat that I didn't get to explore before! Yes, the bridge above that area was where I picked Euphoria in! But below was poisonous swamp (truly a Miyazaki lol) where I got to fight a GREEN variant of Tree Spirit! It just dropped a Horn Charm that boosted poison and Rot resistance!

^ This find, though, was interesting for me, because it is a variant of a glove that was dropped by an NPC Maddening Hand earlier! That one had eyes and dealt Frenzy and specified to be weapon of Hornsent hunted by their own as heretics, but it was also forged in yearning for revenge! So, it is not even that exceptional; for Hornsent, it is a cultural thing to stitch a weapon of revenge from the skin of the victims! Kind of like giving victims a chance to strike back, albeit in death. Very poetic.

9) There was a lot of running, and a lot of getting lost. Found Spirit Ashes of Horned Knight, too (nothing new about them in description), had to use Rainbow Stones to finally stop running in circles, found Ancient Somber Smithing Stone secret via elevator (good because I ran out of them).. and THIIIIIIS:

I wondered where was the head piece of this set! Pieces of it are scattered and I found all previous three! And, again, isn't it interesting how white birds (death) are here, whereas bird variant of Horned Knights were favored 'gold' birds? Second half of Twin Bird is gold life bird guuuuuyyys-

10) Okay, eventually I've met Leda telling me to step away! I was given the choice to summon Thiollier and Ansbach, presumably because I finished their questlines, so I did! It just felt like it would be more fun.. and it WAS! Holy shit gfgggcbch I did NOT expect the ultimate NPC showdown XD And, again, Freyja and Ansbach had an actual CONVERSATION! Look, this is a breakthrough for Soulsborne games, trust me they just DON'T have characters interact "on screen"!

10.1) HOLY SHIT THOUGH DANE ACTUALLY SAID SOMETHING o_o GDGTHCJBB

10.2) No, seriously, I just wanted to jump on Tumblr and post just this! The best fucking moment

11) Instant interest:

Which Outer God? Is it one we know of, or some random guy? I decided to not think about it too hard, yesterday it ended in an over 3 hours long brainstorming and my brain still short-circuits! But maybe later! ...I am sure at some point I'll find a similar pattern in the game itself and it will all click..

^ They were both picked by a respective final boss personally.. Simon+Brador to Ludwig+Laurence moment and so on

^ *points like in a meme AGAIN* Hey I read about it in a post, she killed all other Needle Knights! And by the way, I never found the seal (?) that revealed that lore! @val-of-the-north help bvbgggvh

12) Ansbach also had a dialogue after that battle to praise Thiollier's poisoning skills! That was lovely!

13) I kind of wondered though: why could not we summon Vengeance-Seeking Hornsent in this battle too, if we did his questline correctly? That would make fair 4 Miquella Simps vs 4 of "us" battle! Like, why just cast away the character to have him die as invader somewhere in Scarlet Rot place? I later realized that it would crash the "balance" of the final boss later, and I guess he was the "safest" to leave behind since he already had his goal (to see Messmer die)! Whereas other two target Miquella in particular!

13.1) This distribution is still a meme material for shitposts about characters doing competitive sport, fighting in an online game etc hfgfggbhcbx 4 vs 4

14) I actually checked and just like I thought, the last painting secret was only accessible after burning the seal!

Yeah no shit man we could tell

15) So.... yeah, finally, I've met the final boss. I never wanted to fight Radahn again; he somehow gave me problems even on Torrent with all the friends summons, and now I have to somehow dodge him in a small arena т.т Or maybe I am dumb and this is just my skill issue idk gfggjhhy

16) I actually got to the second stage first try somehow! It often happens how I play better when I still don't even know what I am doing XD And...

Okay, is this a good time to say that so far I only was spoilered some footage and lore, but not the voicelines? So.. I shared that story already some time, but a few months before the DLC, I was simply one of the people here 101% convinced about Miquella being kind and the good guy and all! I wasn't like aggressive or anything about it unlike some more avid fans (got stabbed by Bewitching Branch, did you? :p), but still also said "they should read something besides Berserk" or "people are reading into 'fearsome empyrean' line too deep". However, as DLC was approaching, at some point I had an extremely vivid dream where Miquella appeared to me, and his vibe was exactly like in the DLC in retrospective! Okay, maybe more sinister; not cold or evil, just... "forceful" in a similar way, "for my sake".

So, back then, not only that dream permanently altered my brain chemistry to accept and become open to "evil/manipulative Miquella" interpretations, but also helped me to Expect Anything which softened the blow regarding the DLC xd I had a shock moment, but far not as bad as other fans from 'this' camp! ...... so now, I found out that his voice is EXACTLY like it was in my dream 2 months ago. 🌛I really am cursed LMAOOOO WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME XDDDD

_____________

Like I said I am a dumb looser with skill issue so I've been trying to beat the boss for next 2+ hours and still didn't.. I will probably get them next time, for now I have to travel for a week and then work again т.т Watching what insane ways YouTube come up maybe will help..

I also one time got a grab attack where Radahn snatches Tarnished and says "I promise you a thousand years voyage of compassion" which got me flustered a little and already made it harder to play, but NOW that I think of it, Ranni also said "a thousand years voyage (under wisdom of stars") 🤔 So that's at least two Demigods hinting at how whatever order (or lack of) they establish won't/can't last forever, but only for 'thousand of years'! Good to know that any system, good or bad, will eventually crumble x) Gwyn: TRIGGERED

All in all, it is a very hard battle and I can't see shit in second phase, everything is too bright. But also oddly enough, I no longer dread new lore/final this much..? Meeting the final boss in person helped to finally accept actual Miquella and get over my prior mental image for good, and I am no longer hung up on Radahn involvement beyond 'some more foreshadowing needs to go in base game via patch now'. I start to wonder whether I simply got caught in the shared disappointment mood and effect of not having the full picture rather than actually dreaded thing from the start? It reminds me of that time when I was clowning agreeing that Malenia was unfair boss but only when I fought her like 70 times myself I realized I exagerrated hfhyggh Not saying Twin Dunces is a good battle, but just saying I don't dread it as much as I thought from spoiler and getting there MYSELF helped

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

MAC HI don't mind me i just finished the genloss founders cut and im putting my ful lreview in ur inbox bc u said u weren't gonna watch it i think but i want 2 share my thoughts with someone who will not rip me to shreds for criticizing it even slightly <3

OK. I'M NOT GONNA LIE. IT KINDA SLAPPED. maybe i just think it was really good in comparison to the original four hours of streams that dragged on. i honestly thought the original streams of genloss were longer but NO all three streams add up to about four hours???? it just felt so much longer when i originally watched it i guess!!! u can understand why i am sure. but the founders cut was like two and a half and oh my goddddd cutting out a lot of it made such a huge difference. holy shit. like i definitely did get bored and skip through a little bit but honestly i didn't skip through much!! every time i got to a part where i was like "oh fuck not THIS bit that goes on for 30-45 minutes god dammit" it ended up being like maybe ten minutes at most which was SUCH A GODSEND. i am delighted to report that they cut the half hour cooking bit in the first episode down to like 7-8 minutes <3 the best surprise ranboo could have given me tbh. like with the way things were cut down and framed differently i actually laughed at a couple points????? WILD. did not think i would find any genuine comedy here. lowkey there were points that were funny. insane

honestly with the unfunny bits being cut down, it actually let the slightly more serious lore bits shine more, and the payoff for when it got to the third episode felt SO much more deserved. like. the original streams i'd probably give a 3/10 collectively and that's being generous but i would unironically say the founder's cut deserves like a 7/10. maybe a 7.5 if i found it in myself to ignore the bad special effects. (there was still plenty of bad comedy ngl i still don't know why charlie slimecicle's face was superimposed on a towel. that scene was nothing. it was literally nothing. they could have removed it and it would change nothing but they kept it in idk why)

ANYWAY. if they had released genloss like this first maybe i would unironically be a fan of it now. tbh. i would still be making fun of the bad comedy and the horror that was barely horror but i think i would actually be like participating in the fandom a lil and i would probably find it in me to find some charm in the bad special effects. all in all Not Bad!! not good, but not like actively bad. ofc im still running on the adrenaline of the ending because episode 3 was objectively the best out of them all so maybe my perception is skewed but. kinda decent. 7/10 👍 anyway i hope ur havin a good day i hope to finish pd season one soon over the next couple days!!!!!

taking the cowards route and putting my thoughts under the cut bc a lot of my mutuals these days really enjoy genloss and i don't want them to be mad at me

(genloss crit/neg/whatever under the cut)

dude this makes me so unironically sad . why the FUCK was genloss what it was the first time around when this was obviously the better route to go from the very beginning. I am still staunchly in my "I don't like genloss" position but. I DID WATCH IT. i sat through ALL of the original streams and it was so miserable for me. im not going 2 watxh the directors cut or whatever bc i dont hate myself enough to sit through all of that again but i trust your opinion!! if only it would've been planned out thought out prerecorded videos from the start I also probably would not hate it as much as I do!!! maybe I even would've liked it !!! (<< not likely bc i do have Other Issues with it than just the fact that it was too long too unfunny too unfocused etc whatever im getting into hater territory sorry. always welcome 2 genloss fans to try to explain to my why its Good Actually so i can recommend them actual horror media)

like . the streams added absolutely NOTHING to it other than that final choice scene or whatever. and even if they wanted to do that still u know what would've been an awesome smart choice??? prerecord and edit the whole thing and then premiere THAT video on twitch- then when it comes time for the final choice you can still have people vote!! then you can have two separate endings prepared based on which way the vote was swaying. like. its that easy. it would've made the whole experience so much more enjoyable . ughhghghg the fucking wasted potential on HOURS of unfunny badly improvved bits is so devastating

personally I still cant excuse the bad effects considering the amount of times ranboo bragged about the genloss budget like. maybe you should've used your resources better and also if it would've just been prerecorded from the start things wouldn't look as rushed as they did but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what do I know !!

anyway I'm so glad this version was better but for me it will always ALWAYS be tainted by the . misery I felt while watching the streams lmaoooo . I wanted to like genloss so bad. I tried so hard. head in hands !!!!!!!!!!!

[do-you-have-a-flag]

it's coming up on the anniversary of the first fanfic i ever posted online, something i wrote when i was 12, lying about being 13, and deeply inspired by

the book it's based on

kids tv sitcom humour

other fanfic

it is not well written and very short and also a song fic making it 65% lyrics and immensely silly

but back then i was having so much fun i would bang out a few hundred words per chapter every couple days and i would get delight from other tweens and a ranging level of polite to scornful criticisms of my piss poor spelling and grammar from some. it never hurt my feelings because it was never personal/threatening and i was very into being annoying as a hobby at the time.

my 2 entire friends and i would write about each other's favourite anime boys for each other, we talked back to characters held captive to our bad fics in authors notes, we were in the deep end of early 2000s random-core humour, we both unironically enjoyed and made fun of poorly written fanfic, everything was fanservice and everything was melodrama

i remember walking to school feeling so powerful because some rando on the other side of the world said i made them laugh with what i had written in probably like an hour and posted without any kind of editing the day before.

but that very first fic i wrote will be 20 years old exactly this month.

when i wrote it the world wide web was only available to use by the general public for about 11 years at the time.

there are adults right now who are younger than this story i wrote when i was 12

i think it's so cool, i don't really write much fanfic lately but it's so wild that i have been online this long having fun with other people because of a shared love of a work of fiction that inspires creativity no matter how casual.

obviously fandom predates the internet but there's something to be said about accounts that are older than adults still floating around, about an active backlog of actual decades of online creativity

let kids have fun making stupid stuff is what i am saying but like with utmost sincerity. and with consideration of all the risks inherent to online connectivity, i don't think the bad negates the good or that the good cancels out the impact of the bad but this post isn't about all that

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

In case you haven’t already been asked, can I please hear the soapbox about Aleksander being a direct take on Edward Cullen?

(Also your meta is astonishingly well written and well thought out and a delight to read!)

Thank you so much! That’s so sweet! Not to be vain, but well I am simply vain and like hearing that lol.

This is a fandom I’ve mostly avoided interacting with people in because I feel like there seems to be a very strong dichotomy between people who absolutely loathe the Darkling and all aspects of the villain ship and judge any engagement with it or conversely people who loooove him but are like “He’s never done anything wrong in his life ever and Alina’s actually evil and ungrateful for running away from him”

So I’ve mostly just been quietly posting fic in my own corner for as long as I’ve been on the periphery of the fandom. The current meta thing happened on accident but it’s been fun and I enjoy getting asks!

Anyway, this took me awhile to get to because I’ve been trying to figure out how to best articulate my thoughts beyond what I already generally said in that other post:

[Shadow and Bone was probably being written] towards the tail end of the post Twilight paranormal, and specifically vampire, romance boom. It was not at all uncommon to see unironic romances focusing on impressionable teenaged protagonists with poor self esteem, getting with 100+ year old love interests who, in singling them out (for their “maturity” and discontent from their peer group) validate their self worth, but also completely isolate and impose their own values on them.

The first half of the very first TGT book follows those same tropes pretty closely, and the initial romance heavy book marketing was basically indistinguishable from that crop of books.

To be clear, I think wish fulfillment stories are fine lol, but it’s really interesting to think of SaB (and the Darkling!) as a deliberate deconstruction in response to those trends.

So that does sum up my thoughts generally. But to get into it in more depth, let’s talk about Twilight.

Stories featuring teen protagonists and immortal love interests are older than Twilight, of course. But I’d argue that Twilight codified and popularized a particular version where the point is validation of self worth through the romance.

Comparing it to 90s versions of similar plotlines, BTVS, Vampire Diaries (the books), and Silver Kiss all have teen/immortal romances but the protagonist is already mostly self actualized or previously singled out as special in some way. It’s not dependent on the love interest noticing the protagonist to signify that she’s deserving of attention? If that makes sense? The romances instead hinge more on the protagonist having some sort of brush with death or other source of morbidity that allows her to feel kinship with the vampire and relate to him.

(I’m using specific pronouns because this is such a gendered and heterosexual genre and story type. I’d argue gender roles are an inherent part of how it functions)

With BTVS it’s Buffy’s entire alter life as a slayer and the violence and loneliness of it that her peers could never understand. Vampire Diaries and Silver Kiss both focus on loss of a parent(s) and the jarring alienation of grief.

Conversely, Twilight opens with Bella as an aggressively ordinary and unassuming girl. The narrative is very explicit about her not feeling very pretty or special in any way. She’s dissatisfied with her life because she constantly puts everyone else in it first, and though she is forever self sacrificing she also isn’t very vocal about it, so she gets no meaningful acknowledgement for how much she tries to do.

It’s also worth noting that Bella being the new addition to a very small town and all attention being on her is also a prominent part of the first book, so it’s really about superficial attention vs someone really Seeing Her. This is reinforced by her coming to Edward’s attention at all because a) he inexplicably can’t read her thoughts and b) her blood smells really good and is testing his morals and self control lmfao. Because again both of these things are superficial forms of attention and specialness and the particularly tasty blood— imo primarily being a very Mormon metaphor for violent sexual desire/impulses in men— is in-universe just overtly negative attention. But they fall in love despite all that, because she is pure enough and nice enough and interesting enough on her own merits that he sees past all that to who she is as a person.

Whether or not these themes are consciously employed, Twilight is inextricable imo from Stephenie Meyer’s Mormonism and that sort of very conservative perspective. In a way, the romance in Twilight becomes a metaphor for an inherently violent man (It’s not his fault though! He’s just cursed with sinful urges!) being faced with how pure and secretly special the protagonist is and being floored enough by it to instead fall in love with her. It’s about seeing her humanity and it being so shockingly unique to him apparently that it eclipses his predisposition to see her simply as one of three existing categories: an NPC, prey, OR despised temptation who exists solely to challenge his morals.

This is further explored by the werewolves as an incredibly racist mirror to this, and Emily as an example of someone whose violent spouse was not able to hold back… perhaps because she simply wasn’t special enough… or honestly perhaps because she didn’t see the value of their relationship and (iirc) didn’t want anything to do with him. Their relationship is apparently idyllic once she’s chosen to stay 😬 but that’s tangential.

This element of violence is something that the biggest and most well known Twilight imitator, Fifty Shades of Grey, definitely picked up on. (Unfortunately I’m also going to talk about Fifty Shades a fair bit to compare and contrast!) Where, its incredibly flawed swapping out of vampirism for perceived sexual deviance in the form of terrible BDSM etiquette lmao and just outright trauma notwithstanding, the main premise is just overtly “What if you were SO pure and sweet that an abusive and overtly sadistic man who is going out of his way to not see your personhood was forced to confront you as a human being and fell in love with you, enough so to change his ways entirely”

All this being said, I don’t think Twilight’s biggest impact on the paranormal romance genre as a touchstone was really as a metaphor for… uh being good enough to not be victimized by a man lmao. At least not all the time. I’d argue the most popularly recycled tropes are just that of an unassuming protagonist with low self esteem, who’s never really acknowledged by her peers, having her worth validated by an immortal creature. This validation comes from a hot immortal love interest being framed as inherently better and cooler than the guys all the other girls are dating, but also because immortality means that this older and more worldly character presumably has a much higher standard to clear! If this character is saying that the protagonist is shockingly special and interesting and worthy of love, next to all of her peers that he doesn’t even notice at all, that must both be true and a good thing. In this way, the love interest’s values, either inadvertently or deliberately, are the only values that matter. And rising to that standard is usually synonymous with isolation from one’s peers and even viewing them as lesser.

Meanwhile, another frequent trope in the genre is controlling behavior. This is typically just there as a way to highlight how much the love interest loves the protagonist, and maybe as a way to introduce some desirable undertones of danger/conflict. In Twilight’s defense, while Edward imposing his own values on Bella entirely, constantly ignoring the very few boundaries she sets, and being all around a controlling creep isn’t treated with a real understanding of its gravity, it’s also not presented wholly uncritically. There is a (very drawn out) arc over the course of the series where she allows her identity to be subsumed into him and existing only in terms of their relationship, but by the last book she does actually push back on plenty of his hard and fast rules— if still in that fundamentally conservative and Mormon way. She keeps the baby he doesn’t want; she gets to turn into a vampire and stay with him forever; her experience with vampirism ISN’T his experience with vampirism ie mindless bloodthirstiness lol; she doesn’t need to fake her death; her family and friends can continue to be a part of her life. But Twilight imitators usually don’t get that far!

So let’s finally circle back around to Shadow and Bone:

First of all let’s talk about its early marketing. Shadow and Bone’s earlier title was the Gathering Dark and iirc the first round of ARCs were even sent out with that title and this cover:

Notice the paranormal romance tagline of “A dark heart. A pure soul. A love that will last forever.”

Meanwhile this was the official blurb it was initially released with:

“Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.”

And this additional very romance novel blurb that was on some other marketing material:

“Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the the world of the kingdom's magical elite - the Grisha. Could she be the key to setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a man of seductive charm and terrifying power. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina's childhood best friend? Why can't she forget him?”

ALSO here is the romance heavy book trailer:

Fans of Darklina as an endgame ship will argue that this was indicative of there being an earlier romance focused version where they were intended to end up together. I… highly doubt that personally.

In all interviews, even the earliest ones, where Leigh Bardugo talks about the story and the characters and how she came up with them, she talks about it from a perspective that sounds in keeping with how the plot played out, as in, the Darkling existing to be a literal villain.

I think all this just places SaB as a Madoka Magica, or Doki Doki Literature Club type deconstruction where deceptive marketing is simply working very hard to preserve the twist.

I think the story itself engages with Twilight pretty directly. Alina, as a youthful ingenue protagonist with low self esteem, a feeling of alienation from her peers, and feeling constantly overlooked by everyone, including her childhood best friend who she’s in love with, fits into the starting point of paranormal romance protagonist really well. The question of superficial attention is even addressed by her being discovered as the Sun Summoner and having so many sudden expectations thrust upon her.

Her gaining the Darkling’s attention specifically is initially framed in a fairly similar way to The Tropes. He is the aloof hot immortal teenager, who for the purposes of the deconstruction, everyone already even knows is at least over a hundred years old. Moreover he’s essentially treated like their (desirable….) school principal lmao to just really hammer home that his opinions matter More but also to make it feel vaguely weird.

There are a lot of moments in early SaB where the Darkling singles Alina out in a way that’s meant to look flattering at face value but that she’s quietly a little unnerved by. Off the top of my head, there’s the bit where the Grisha students are arguing over who Alina will walk with (when presented to the Tsar perhaps?) and the Darkling sweeps in and is like “she will walk with me.” Obviously, when he keeps trying to single her out by allowing her to wear black, which is his personal super special color that no one else gets to wear. When Zoya, as Thee popular girl, gets called into the principal’s office and he reprimands her for shfhff breaking Alina’s ribs (I love Zoya so much), and in the way it is ostensibly a win for Alina— Zoya isn’t the favorite girl anymore— but it’s also so obvious, in a way that’s very accessible to modern teens, that he is NOT their peer. Like, in universe we know that he is their commander and has rank over everyone. But that’s a fantasy element that probably doesn’t mean much to your average teenager. Meanwhile there’s a strong 1:1 analogue for him being like a real adult in their lives, when they are deliberately framed as teenagers. And it’s genuinely unsettling!

(Worth noting that mid 2000s YA also had a fair number of uncritical teacher romances. Because in those again there is the element of the protagonist’s worth and maturity being enforced by this more experienced and cooler adult finding her desirable)

I feel like the grooming in SaB while genuinely the most integral and interesting element of the entire trilogy to me, is also in some ways the most poorly accomplished. Probably some sort of mix of debut clumsiness and what I feel like might be discomfort with the topic preventing Bardugo from really getting into it. But of the successful and subtler moments, something that stands out to me is Alina not feeling like she can talk about the Darkling kissing her by the lake. And then trying to downplay it like “he probably kisses a bunch of Grisha girls”

Like. If he is going around kissing teenaged students under his command that is WEIRD that is a RED FLAG lmao.

But Alina just doesn’t have that frame of reference! While slightly unsettled by his attention she is mostly, genuinely flattered by it. He believes in her! He doesn’t know why he cares about her opinions of him but he does 🥺🥺 She’s somehow, successfully managed to cut through his aloofness by virtue of her specialness, and seeing into his angst about making up for his ancestor’s crimes, and believing in his madcap quest to get an even specialer amplifier necklace (lol) for her so that they can save the world together! The first half of S&B follows the logic of a Twilight imitator paranormal romance very solidly.

I think it’s also really interesting how the Darkling’s scary shadow powers, and the concept of there being an ancestor/dark legacy separate from him that he supposedly wants to prove he’s better than works as an analogue for vampirism. There’s a pretty direct 1:1 of “It looks like he’s dangerous, but don’t worry it’s just a bad reputation. It’s not his fault and he feels really bad about it.” So it’s really clever imo when the reveal is that there is no ancestor, there is no separation, it was all him all along, he did it on purpose and he is not sorry! He is dangerous to her and it’s literally his own choice to be that way.

So if the Edward type is a love interest whose violence/danger is something that is inherent to him, but it’s also not his fault at all, and it’s something that can be overcome by Bella’s personal purity and goodness, the Darkling is completely the opposite.

The threat he poses to Alina is entirely of his own volition. It’s a cold and calculated choice to seduce her, and later to try to magically enslave her. Likewise it’s, in my opinion, absolutely integral to the story that his obsession isn’t with her as a person at all, it’s with what she represents. He can be faced with her, in all her vulnerability and complexity, as a genuine human being and simply not care to stop himself from wanting to hurt her or subjugate her. Her opinions and her personality do not matter.

She cannot simply love him into no longer posing a threat to her! It doesn’t work like that!

Anyway, as promised (threatened?) earlier I have some Fifty Shades of Grey thoughts pertaining to Shadow and Bone too. While Fifty Shades doesn’t have the immortal/magical aspect at all, it’s painfully blatant Twilight fanfic, and so Christian Grey still embodies this love interest type fairly perfectly.

And it’s just really interesting to read with the context of it being a contemporary example of the sort of thing SaB is riffing off of and presenting critically, where those same things here are presented to be desirable.

There is an instance in FSOG where the protagonist’s friend is warning her to be careful about the love interest— while still laughing about how hot he is. And it is simply meant to make him seem thrilling and desirable!

But it feels almost like a 1:1 with Genya warning Alina in SaB where the warning is very literal. And compare that to the direct line drawn between Genya being preyed on by the Tsar and Alina being preyed on by the Darkling. They’re very different circumstances, but when there’s the overt and explicitly stated theme of “Be careful of powerful men” I can’t see how these two plot threads existing in the same book and presented in the same breath aren’t meant to be read as in conversation with each other.

There are also similar beats during Ana and Christian’s (stilted! very clumsy!) conversations where she strongly has the vibe of a kid at the principal’s office, unsure if she’s going to be scolded, and getting very flustered every time he makes her feel special in whatever small way.

Which is very similar to early Darklina interactions. Like I said before, the grooming was definitely the weakest part of SaB even though it’s simultaneously (imo) the most interesting/important aspect. But both books being varying degrees of bad just make them even more comparable to me?

It’s just intriguing to see vaguely similar things play out with clearly different awarenesses and intent in terms of what the main takeaway from these beats is meant to be.

Also! Again as yikes as Fifty Shades replacing vampirism with BDSM is, [insert joke about Christian Grey being a shitty dom vs the Darkling’s sexually charged desire to put Alina in a magic collar and fetters, and to get her to submit to him]

Sorry this was kind of all over the place but I hope that answers your question?

[nanoa1foryou]

so sorry to ask . i think i followed u for ur awesome posts in general but i keep seeing this bojan guy! he seems charming but who is he 😭😭

You have just made my day with this one!

Bojan Cvjetićanin is his full name, and he is a Slovenian singer (and actor sometimes). Particularly, he's known for being the front man of the band Joker Out, which is currently experiencing some massive success in Europe.

Notable characteristics include:

He speaks a variety of languages. Slovenian, Serbian, English, Spanish, and has been heard speaking basic Italian, French, Finnish as well. (and maybe something else I'm forgetting). So, languages Georg over here

Writes majority of the lyrics for the band's music

Also writes for other musicians sometimes

Has a hat that reads "Women want me, fish fear me" which he wears unironically and it is panfully fitting

He's also an actor. Latest project was a movie called Kaj pa Ester? that came out late last year in theaters

He met Käärijä during Eurovision and they became best firends and that friendship is still going strong. This boosted Joker Out's popularity in Finland massively during last spring, so they've toured here twice now and they're set to play a major festival, Ruisrock, here in July

He looks even better in person, which seems fake but is just a fact

Hope that clarified that, at least somewhat. And if it didn't, I'm more than sure that my followers are ready to add their own favourite fun facts about this guy in the reblogs!

Anyway, thank you for this absolutely delightful ask! Getting to talk about blorbos from my bands is wonderful and it's always good to know what kinds of things people follow me for! I am surprised to know that not everyone that follows me already knows all of my favourite bands, considering how much I post about them!

[freakartack]

how do you get Inspiration for your art?

love this question. Visually, everything on this list has a chair in the council of my brain.

Spiritually, i am inspired by a lot of things. #1 is my own damn life. Warioware is a series set in 200x, which, as someone who grew up in 200x, makes it easy to apply my own experiences and people i've met to my writing. Donut Disturb was probably the most direct example of this, as was the infamous Wah-kplace Harassment Training (which was actually inspired by me and a friend joking about if wario led our own required training at our job), but all my comics include elements of this to an extent. Obviously, i've never had wario tell me to harass people at my job, but the fun part about doing stuff like this is that I get to meet the source material halfway. We've all gone camping before, but now I get to imagine how a deranged cast of characters would respond to situations i've been in. They're so larger-than-life that sometimes the jokes write themselves.

Speaking of jokes, it would be remiss of me not to list the things that permanently damaged my sense of humor. Once again, jim henson is huge here; I love the character-based humor that the muppets and its ilk excel in. Every character is so genuine and fleshed-out, which makes it all the more delightful when they butt heads with each other. Homestar runner also had an indelible impact on my brain for much the same reason, in addition to its unique brand of absurdity. (I've had people bring up strong bad on many of my comics, which i wholeheartedly embrace.) Also, I grew up on both Peanuts and Garfield, which basically taught me what humor was in my larval state for better or for worse.

Artistically, as distinct from visually, I am both inspired by things that are Really Really Good and Really Really Bad. Some things that really inspire me to create even though my stuff is very different from them are really surreal animations, like the works of sally cruikshank and everything about peewee's playhouse. Unfortunately, I can only dream of being so ingenious as to create something even slightly on the same level as Pee-Wee's Playhouse, but the nexus of electric creativity and love for the art is something that, similarly to the muppets, inspires my very soul. On the other side of the coin, the writing in shittier cartoons also inspires my very soul, because while I unironically enjoy many things that suck, they also kind of make me feel like this:

If "now i know how a meatball feels" can make it on live TV, I can do anything i want. And so can you!!! Free yourself from the shackles of perfectionism, and MAKE BAD JOKES!!

[ritsukakyrielight]

Playing through Agartha, and for the first time I’m really getting a first-hand impression of Astolfo’s characterization free from memey influence. And my god he’s so different than expected and I’m delighted with it.

They’re not the overtly flirty stereotype I thought he was based on memes and fanworks. He’s just outgoing and fun-loving and genuine and really kind. Astolfo is just being true to themself. His flirtatiousness/promiscuity is assumed, even textually by other characters, but he doesn’t dress and behave the way he does to play into those expectations—Astolfo is being himself and that ends up striking others as unusual due to their initial impression of him. ‘Stolfo is aware of this and will play up to it jokingly on occasion, but all in all he’s just happy being his silly campy self and doesn’t need anyone else’s approval.

It’s their kindness and affectionate predisposition that I love the most. Also the fact that he says stuff like “easy peasy lemon squeezy” unironically.

(Yes I am he/theying Astolfo, it feels right)

[jessaerys]

Becoming a mysterious shy shy anon to ask you, my favorite meronia analyst, how you think Mello would react to someone desperately trying to get with Near. They are so so thirsty for the little cotton ball man and they are very loud and obvious about it. How do you think Mello would handle that?

firstables i am very flattered thank you im so very glad acquiring a PhD in 2008 yaoi is yielding results. i want to be modest about it but i am objectively so correct about them so i cannot. second of all this question is so so funny to me because mello insane toxic jealousy is a running joke between me and the bestie @firebuggg who is the resident mello expert and specialist and therefore my source for all of the research here presented. so.

i think it depends on the variables: in-canon timeline wammy’s era i don’t think mello would be able to tell the difference between the usual unhinged lifelong single-white-female-1992 freudian near-obsession repression and the unhinged (etc etc) sublimated near obsession repression: hell and violence on planet earth for seemingly no reason -edition.

so probably he’d find an unrelated excuse to get into a schoolyard fistfight with whoever was possibly paying more attention to near than usual (romantic interest never proven). L understands what is happening but this is far above his fatherbrotherhero paygrade thank you very much. let us all forget about this information and continue with the labyrinthian tests of his subjects i mean protegees 

during the kira-case realistically they were far too busy with life or death stakes and i cannot truly imagine this would take any of their time, considering near very deliberately chose to repress any emotions about mello’s death. (unrealistically: same as wammy’s but this time it includes kidnapping and intimidation. if pre-explosion: cokehead era mello is like: you’re sleeping with the fishes tonight. and they do)

post-kira case (taking into account any "mello survives" approach to canon of your choosing) post-recently established relationship mello would make it his life mission to manic-pixie-dream-boy the hell out of near and take him out to many fun adventures in the city (do not fall in love with people like him he will take you to museums and parks and monuments etc etc etc etc and when he leaves you will finally understand why storms are named after people)(god he would absolutely unironically identify with that quote. but we don’t have time to unpack all of that)

god sorry this is so long already and i have so much more to say. it's readmore time

where was i. right.

--many fun adventures in the City from obscure hole in the wall museums (near is delighted by the museum of interesting things and the new york transit museum [because. trains. mello complains the whole way there but ultimately has to begrudgingly admit it’s really cool.] and tears up in the mmuseumm on cortlandt and franklin because personally i think he would deeply connect with the mundane ephemeral humanity of it. he is learning that he loves being part of the world !!!!) to shopping trips (with L's inheritance. obviosuly) to nightclubs to weird art clubs to seedy comedy bars to sex-clubs (see hotd. s1e4 pleasure house scene)

because he has a huge fetish for watching near have new experiences and being the one who is giving them to him (:

ok are you still with me i promise i am getting somewhere. ok so we have established mello is gonna drag him out, right, and so he eventually will have to experience The Unforeseen Horrors (people hitting on near because he’s cute).

it’s initially hilarious until mello realizes with dawning horror that near has no idea that he is being hit on and is therefore exhibiting the slightlest bit of human interest in the aforementioned person hitting on him and it becomes a full on gevanni situation part two. (we don’t have time to get into the Gevanni Situation)

one day someone gets lucky and hits on near with a special-interest-related pick up line so a conversation with the previous dynamic ensues. kill bill sirens going off in mello’s head. the person in question asks who mello is and near goes “oh! that’s mello” instead of saying that’s his boyfriend and well that’s because they have not at any point discussed labels and this basically, well how do i put it lightly, becomes the equivalent of accidental nuclear warfare (shaking my head so you know i don’t support toxic jealousy. unless it’s funny)

long story short mello throws a hissy fit at the MET that near finds extremely ridiculous so he goes home on his own and mello experiences all nine stages of grief and cries in the sculpture garden and then decides he is going to disappear for an entire week and That Will Teach Near!!! but with no immediately place to go he sits angrily (with his sexy toned arms crossed over his chest and his tear-glowing classically beautiful ruddy face) on a bench just beneath a large greek statue of some greek twunk sitting with crossed arms (this is what we call visual comedy) 

some nyc photographer captures this top three worst moment of his life (first two being L’s death and exploding himself but this is right up there) and posts it online as one of those “life interacts with art” semi-meaningful photographs and it quickly gets picked up by the pinterest girlies much like guy drawing on the floor and subsequently by the tumblr girlies. it is immediately disconnected from the source and gets a 100k notes. 

now mello cannot go on tumblr without being callously reminded of the one time he was wronged by near spending twenty minutes talking about the SETI institute with a witty girl (he is a queer goth 20 year old in the mid 2010s of COURSE mello has an aesthetic n-fw tumblr pre pr-n ban era. you agree)

anyway near doesn’t get either the need for labels nor the jealous outrages because that’s literally Mello. there’s one (1) spot for a mello in his heart and it is mello-shaped. this is the most romantic thing mello has heard in his life. unfortunately that same logic can be used for why near doesn't get why it's a big deal if he wanted to hook up with someone else. it's not like they could take up the mello shaped spot in his heart. it's a big deal because mello will KHS hope that helps (:

ultimately years into their relationship near will break him down when they're older because he is a little learning machine and that includes sex. he needs enrichment. but it's gonna end up being like:

near: wow it was so hot when u were dancing with that girl. can i watch u fuck her :0 ← said like they're talking about dinner because he one hundred percent has voyeur potential. (mello is whipped and helpless to his bratty wiles) 

extremely hot mysterious bisexual guy with a huge dick you just danced with: wanna get outta here. my boyfriend wants to watch us ;) 

the boyfriend in question: looks like a lab rat turned 18 year old boy (near is 22. he will get carded until he’s 30)

sorry what was the question again

[obstinatecondolement]

In my, admittedly limited, experience of Hallmark holiday romances, the Hanukkah ones are head and shoulders above most of the Christmas ones I've seen in terms of the quality of the writing, acting, cinematography and just general production values. If this isn't just my biased opinion based on a lack of data points and there is something to this assessment, then presumably it's because they only make one a year and therefore a lot more time/money/effort goes into them (again: I presume) compared to each individual Christmas movie, which probably each end up with a $25 budget and a week to shoot, given the twelve squillion other Christmas movies they have on the slate every year (which I am also genuinely and unironically very fond of, I hasten to add, so I don't mean any of that as a dig).

Although, I have also heard that Hallmark movies have been getting better In General in the last few years and all the Hanukkah ones I've seen are pretty recent, so that could be part of it?

But anyway, my general vibes-based feeling is that the Hallmark Hanukkah movies are pretty reliably good in a less kitschy way than the Christmas ones, and, with that in mind, I was very excited to see Round and Round, which stars Vic Michaelis (of Dropout's Make Some Noise fame) and involves their character getting caught in a time loop after spinning a magic dreidel that her grandmother gives her at her parents' annual Hanukkah party.

I love Vic, I love time loops, I love cheesy Hallmark holiday movies, and I am biased in favour of the Hanukkah movies, so my expectations were very high. And ... having now seen it, this movie was, in my opinion and without exaggeration, more fun than Barbie 2023. It's possibly the most enjoyable new movie I have seen in the last three years, honestly.

Was some of it very silly? Yes. Did the silliness in any way detract from my enjoyment? On the contrary, it greatly improved it. Like, there's this scene where Vic's character is advised to read two single issues of some comics about time loops to work out the genre conventions she's working with, and she complains that she can't possibly find the time, because she needs to get out of this time loop!

And like. That's the character. Vic 1000% sold that as Rachel just being Like This and it's genuinely fucking delightful. See also: all the times Rachel complains about stuff that keeps happening every loop and then only investigating it further when genteely bullied into it by the love interest and his best friend, who are trying to help her end the time loop.

(Also, just to say, I too would spend multiple loops refusing to listen to a voicemail or open up a box of my old stuff that my dad wanted me to sort through and failing to even consider that they might be important to solving the time loop, Rachel, I get it.)

Anyway, I strongly recommend Round and Round to any fans of time loop stories, holiday movies that skew much more earnest than wry in tone while still being funny, Dropout in general, Vic Michaelis specifically, or romcoms with magic/spec fic elements.

[godtier1]

a good old get to know me meme

Tagged by @bidonica thank you!

I love doing these but forgot about this one in my notifs, Ack!

Three ships you like

1) Otasune! I’ve adored these two since like 2008. Literally baby’s first OTP. Returned to them last November when wifey and I watched a streamer play mgs1. I will never get over how these two just… started a (basically) two-man operation together to save the world? Have a secret handshake? Raise a daughter? Like damn they’re basically married, happy for them :) Also their constant banter is an absolute delight that I enjoy writing so much

2) Touyuki! Essentially baby’s second OTP. Like I was into ccs before mgs but didn’t realize they’re actually CANON until adulthood?? Love how casually intimate they are with each other, lordy. Also they’ve been referring to each other without honorifics since the very beginning which makes me feral

3) DinCobb! First ship I’ve ever written for, and first fandom I’ve ever interacted with. The ship itself is incredibly fun, as both Din and Cobb are very fun individually and they have amazing on-screen chemistry, but my lasting affinity for this ship is largely because of how lovely my fandom experience was 🥰 i adore everyone on that discord server and am so thankful for all the friends I made!!

First ship ever:

Aforementioned Otasune and Touyuki, but before my ride-or-die shipping happened, I really liked Taichi x Sora from Digimon and Joey x Mai from Yugioh!

Last song you heard:

“Theme of King JJ” from the Yuri on Ice soundtrack lmaooo because this song unironically kicks ass

Currently reading:

Re-reading a handful of Otasune fics on a continuous loop. “So much (for) Stardust” by Tox, “Rewind, Redo; Repeat” by devot, “A Secret I Will Keep” by BossToaster, then “Recovery” and “Sixteen White Rabbits,” both by orphan accounts

Currently Watching:

Some streamers playing “Return of the Obra Dinn” and also the anime “Tadaima, Okaeri” because I’m trash :)

Currently consuming:

About to eat breakfast babey :)

Currently craving:

Panera coffee :)

If anyone feels like doing this, consider yourself tagged!! 🥰

[e-vasong]

8 🧐

BLUEEEEE. Are you trying to get me to talk about the box. Too bad if not, cause I am gonna talk about it.

8. A headcanon you have (that you havent seen talked about yet)!

An actual normal headcanon:

I think that Edwin had a sibling growing up! I initially thought a much-older brother, but I now think it's fun to consider that his parents weren't happy with him as heir, so they had another kid and got....the sweetest little girl there ever was. So they reluctantly resigned themselves to Edwin inheriting, only for him to up and die on them. WTF, Edwin. Their daughter inherited by virtue of being the last one standing, then did Crazy and Unbelievable things like getting a college education and becoming a feminist, and the Paines get that as their legacy whether they wanted it or not.

Baby Sister Paine was also more attached to Edwin than he was to her, mostly because she thought he was the only nice person in their damn house. He, on the other hand, was never cruel but was also very aware that she was supposed to be his replacement. He would've warmed up to her if he'd had the time. But. Well, you know.

Charles didn't have any siblings, but he DESPERATELY wanted some until he got older and realized what they'd be subjected to, thanks to his dad.

He did, however, get some of that fulfillment via regularly babysitting for his aunties and neighbors. (Aunties in the common immigrant sense, which can sometimes mean his actual aunts, but also friends of his mom so close that they're basically sisters.)

Charles was the kid who would get invited out with his friends and be like "oh, I'm babysitting that day, let me see if I can bring my baby cousin to the park with us" but like....without the slightest hint of bitterness or reluctance. He was always genuinely and unironically delighted to bring any kiddos along, and if anyone was a heel to those kids, he would've thrown hands. And he probably did a few times.

Also, I can't say no one's talked about it, cause I wrote an entire fic where I mention that I think the doll-headed spider had a "toybox" where it stuffed Edwin when it had to go places.

But I will add that (sorry Blue, you already know this) that I regret saying Edwin was only put in the box four times. <3 I think he should've been in there more, actually. I think the Doll-Headed Spider put him in there like once a year or something so it could go run errands. It had a schedule. Edwin looks forward to his annual Designated Box Time.

The body parts are the Doll-Headed Spider's version of putting enrichment in his enclosure. <3

Thanks for playing the ask game!

[erin-gilberts]

Getting to know you asks 🤗....

1. What's your go-to treat/snack (coffee/tea, cake/ muffins/cookies, etc)?

2. Would you rather hang out with friends indoors (shopping, arcade, hanging out at home, etc) or outdoors (goof off at the park, take a hike and chat, go to flea markets, etc)?

3. What are 5 of your favorite movies?

4. What are some artists you can listen to on repeat?

5. What's a fun/interesting fact about you?

Sincerely that drive-in mutual 😌👻🚫🎟

Hello @wanderingnelipot! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to answer your lovely ask. It's been a particularly rough couple of months, but I would still love to chat and get to know you better if you're interested!

1. My go-to treat is an iced latte! I used to have a pretty regular routine that on Fridays, I would always go to a local cafe after spin class and have an iced latte and an avocado toast. Cookies are always a good cozy snack for me, and I'm also partial to niche baked goods...whatever a cafe or restaurant considers their specialty and is really proud to be known for. I'm back in my hometown now and my favorite lil place currently has some phenomenal seven-layer bars.

2. I'm down for all kinds but I definitely love adventures. This week, I had a friend over and we made friendship bracelets while marathoning the Ghostbusters movies, which was lovely but a little more stationary than I usually am on my own. Wandering the woods and chatting, exploring a flea market, or goofing off at the park all provide a great opportunity to leave the house and have new experiences in new settings.

It's why I was delighted to see Frozen Empire for the first time in a place far from home - it felt like an adventure!

3. Ghostbusters Answer the Call

Jurassic Park

Bridesmaids

Titanic

Both of the live-action Scooby Doo movies - I think they're such a spiritual ancestor of Answer the Call 😂 I love them unironically; they are so goofy and were so panned but so much fun.

4. I'd most accurately describe my style of music as "crooning lesbians" lol. MUNA has been a staple in my playlist for years. I also associate a fair lot of Taylor Swift's songs with Erin Gilbert / ATC so she gets replayed often, too!

Best introduction to MUNA: "What I Want," "Home by Now," "Everything"

Most Erin songs by Taylor Swift: "Antihero," "All Too Well," "Cassandra"

5. I'm a pretty bold person who has a storied history of doing super wild things to really meaningful ends.

As a young hate crime survivor, I decided to unlearn my fear of the woods and the violence that happens to women within it by making an emotional trek 15 miles into the mountains to the site where another lesbian hate crime victim was killed.

The next year, I drove 12 hours to Toronto to see a 15 minute short film at its premiere. The short film was about the above woman's ^ story, following her partner who survived the attack, and I gambled that the director would be present. He was - his crew actually found the cairn of stones I left at the site. He was moved as hell that I came so far to see the film, and called me out on stage.

In 2022, Paul Feig was launching his cocktail book in the barely post-pandemic landscape, and on about three weeks notice, I impulsively booked a trip to NYC to attend his talk. Again, it was a gamble I'd get to meet him - they weren't announcing he'd be signing books; I just assumed and took the chance. He was! And I got to emphasize to him exactly how much GB: ATC meant to women and queer people, and he was so absolutely moved and chuffed that I brought a copy of Erin and Abby's book for him to sign.

He's since followed my friends and I as we went on a big trip tracing the footsteps of where all they filmed ATC and now recognizes our wee group by name.

So I'm 100% impulsive as hell, but I think it's always to some pretty incredible ends. 🥰

I'm going to leave you some questions in return xx

[snaitf]

Rathbone Holmes, attempt #2

So I asked @blistering-typhoons about Rathbone Holmes awhile back. I tried getting into it in high school, and couldn’t get past how dirty they did Watson, cause Watson is my absolute favorite. BUT, I had seen their unironic delight at the adaptation and wondered if there was something I had missed. Even Granada Holmes, which is undeniably fabulous in terms of adaptation, had some hit and miss episodes. (The Last Vampyre. Why.) Maybe I had just had a bad, or at least particularly egregious, example.

Typhoons gave me three episodes to try out. I will go over them, and my impressions. I try not to give egregious spoilers in my discussions, but be aware they likely exist in some way.

The Pearl of Death

Okay, this is a fun and solid adaptation of The Six Napoleons. The fact that the thief/killer/monomaniac busted up a bunch of china to obfuscate the fact that they were after the plaster busts is actually a nice double blind that provides an additional hurdle before the picture becomes clear. The inclusion of the Creeper is kind of… weird? Is this a Creeping Man reference?? (looks it up) nooo, but apparently the Creeper had… his own spin-off?? What?? EXPLAIN your reasoning, 1940s Universal Studios.

I simply MUST, very briefly, go off about the knife book trap. It’s… look, it’s objectively silly. It’s an Adam West Batman level of silly trap. But, since we don’t actually see what the asshole is doing with the gift in the hallway before giving it to Watson, it’s set up as an homage to the Dying Detective, which means we get like 30 AGONIZING minutes of Watson just-barely-not springing the trap. (Note - I’ve looked back at the episode and it’s barely 5 minutes. Why am I so obsessed with this scene lmao). If I had realized it was a sproingy dagger rather than poison, I think I actually would’ve been less stressed. Because LISTEN, if there is ANYTHING I LOVE, it is a DYIN AU where Watson accidentally springs the box trap. There are surprisingly few of them out there, at least that I have found. Katie Forsythe did an excellent one. (if you know of any more PLEASE SEND THEM TO MEEE).

So much digression, sorry. All of this to say, Literally up until Holmes walked in the room, I wasn’t completely convinced they weren’t going to turn the tables on us with the music box trap. Like, the tension was absolutely obvious, but I felt it!

And now we get a little bit into my impressions of this Watson.

This Watson is… I can’t read him as dangerous. I have a hard time believing “former army doctor” from this chap. He’s affable, a bit absent-minded, and fiercely devoted to and protective of his Holmes, but when push comes to shove, would he brain a blackmailer with a chair? I dunno. (If there is in fact a later episode where he actually brains Milverton with a chair, PLEASE.  PROVE ME WRONG THAT WOULD BE SO FUNNY). But I think what I like to take away from this Watson, which I’ve seen in a LOT of fanfic and which seems like a touchstone of Sherlock Holmes mythos, is this: it’s nearly impossible not to like Watson. Where Holmes can range from purposefully insufferable to intensely unlikeable, Watson is just. A good man. He’s just a good guy that I’d like to sit down and have tea with. Part of that is the “I’m just the humble narrator” everyman of the original stories, but. I dunno. There IS something about this Watson that’s incredibly likeable.

I think the reason the knife book trap hit ME so well is that the idea of THIS Watson falling victim to a trap set for Holmes is especially galling. This guy?! Who misplaced a paper clipping he was in the middle of gluing into his commonplace book? You’re gonna ACCIDENTALLY murder THIS MAN? The stupid knife book got me where the “You MURDERED my best friend!” bluff at the end of the episode absolutely did not. XD

Anyway, Holmes walks into the room and immediately knows the book is a knife. On to Lestrade.

I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow they’ve done Lestrade even dirtier than Watson in this adaptation. Like… yikes. I know the early stories had a lot of contempt for the Yard, but come on!! It’s the SIX NAPOLEONS! Lestrade’s opportunity to say “look, there are no actual hard feelings, we actually LOVE you at the Yard.” You don’t gotta make him… just, the worst. Although, I have to say the sass-off between Lestrade and Watson is very fun. It’s about the only bit of fun Lestrade gets to have.

The House of Fear

I promise this will be shorter than the previous entry. And honestly, I’m kind of bummed about that. I WISH I had more to say. But I have to be honest.

A 1940s-era locked room mystery, in a big isolated house that they can’t leave, where the guests are picked off one-by-one, and two guests have to join forces and wits to stay alive and get to the bottom of it? I’m sorry, but the whole time my brain was going “Ah man, I want to be watching And Then There Were None.”

I am entirely biased in this point, I have to say. When I was a kid, I was sent for several summers in a row on a week-long visit to my grandmother. She had some frankly incredible stories - if she’s to be believed, she potentially met Nikta fucking Kruschev on a vacation abroad. I regret that it was hard for Young Snaitf to really connect with her, except in one topic: mysteries. We had wildly different tastes in a lot of things, but on those week-long visits we both found out that no one in the house would object if an episode of Murder, She Wrote was on the TV, and we both genuinely loved the Rene Clair adaptation of And Then There Were None. If you haven’t watched it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The whole opening sequence establishes every single visitor to the island - their quirks, foibles, and flaw - without a single line of dialogue. It’s masterful.

Against the double barrel shotgun of nostalgia and a genuinely masterful adaptation, I’m afraid House of Fear holds no contest for me. Watching this episode just made me think of Grandmother Marie, and made me want to watch the movie. Sorry, ya’ll.

Pursuit to Algiers

Typhoons called this the “Big Daddy herself” and I can’t say I disagree. I really, REALLY liked this one.

The initial set-up of random street- and pub- people feeding Holmes clues and cryptic warnings was so incredibly effective. It was off-putting, how very blatant it was to both Holmes and the audience. I believe they were trying to use Watson to juxtapose with the innocent reaction, but honestly the fact that he didn’t pick up on the sinister vibes just came off as weird. Unless his “I don’t like fish and chips, sorry” is his way of brushing them off. “No creepy murder pubs for US today, sorry.” Unfortunately for him, they’ve managed to intrigue Holmes.

I like that Watson’s loyalty really gets to shine here. The plot is explained, and it’s one they genuinely can’t turn away from. And then a perfectly reasonable explanation is given as to why they have to separate, and Watson is just Not Having It. When the fish factor is so high that even this Watson calls bullshit, you KNOW it’s bad.

Typhoons referenced a very specific and emotional scene, and I’m so sorry typhoon. I fucked up. I was paying attention to the notice board, where the name of the boat was inscribed, and I ABSOLUTELY LOST MY SHIT about the fact that we’re on the Friesland! WE’RE ON THE DUTCH STEAMSHIP FRIESLAND. (I don’t know how I didn’t put this together until this very moment, forgive my shit listening skills) and I missed at least half of the emotional impact of this scene. I have to agree, though. There is this… weight of “what am I to do now?” that I really wish we’d gotten a little more time to sit in. Maybe a Watson left to his own devices would still befriend the singer lady and find out about the stolen jewels. Alas, Watson is given about five seconds to absorb this development before he’s pulled in another direction.

Anyway, none of these reviews is very comprehensive, and I didn’t take very many notes, so all I have is this last impression that I wrote down: Here we see a Watson that’s a step behind Holmes, because that is where Holmes prefers him to be. They didn’t have to make him stupid to put him there. And he was genuinely part of the plan the whole way through, in a classic (if assholey) Holmesian way: Holmes does not tell him the whole plan, so that Watson’s reactions will be genuine. I feel that this worked particularly well in Pursuit to Algiers, in a way that managed not to irritate me. Well bloody done.

in summation: I think I see the appeal.

[beegswaz]

The beegswaz/RAD1OSILENC3 @kingshovelbug Game Recs Post! Featuring my subpar image designing as seen Above!!

Everything will be Under the cut so I'm not blowing up someones dash with a Text post the length of that One colours of the sky post!!!

CWs will consist of anything that isnt Jumpscares or violence or blood beclaws those are Pretty standard in some of these Games

Hollow Knight

Steam Link | No CWs I can think of? Though, flashing lights Warning for some attacks! I know it was initially suggested en-mass but it's SUCH A SILLY GAME!! GENUINELY SO FUN! I'm no good at most metrovanias and such but I have a blast every time I Play this game :D It's so pretty AND 4! FREE! DLCS!!! And A fanmade one that's Unironically so good! (Pale Court!! It's so good I love what it adds <3)

2. Phasmophobia

Steam Link | No CWs outside of a General feeling of dread :3 And also some flashing lights! I suggested this on stream today when Everyone was discussing horror games but I genuinely have So much fun while playing this with Friends!! Solo runs are also fun but I am too scared to Do solos :( Could also be fun to do subscriber games if You wanna do more sub interactions!

3. ___ of the Killer

Gamejolt Link | No CWs beclaws all of the games in the Series are light-hearted, but just to be Safe there is some mentions of Stalkers and Cults! I love the __ of the Killer series so much!! They're so fun and I played them a Ton on discord streams in the Past! I love the style of them All so much and they Aren't too long of games, so you Can always make a pseudo Marathon out of them! Good games :)

4. The Bunny Graveyard

Steam Link | Flashing lights! Fun game! It's only a demo right Now but its enjoyable! I don't remember how Long the demo is, but you can always play it with Some other short games to make a decently length Stream! Also: very cute style :3

5. Escaped Chasm/Dwellers Empty Path

Itch.io Link | Itch.io Link | First game warns of high-pitched Tones and flashing lights! Second game doesn't warn of Anything :] TEMMIE GAMES!! First one is only around 15-20 Minutes unless you try and Get all endings, second game is About 1-2 hours! They're in the Same universe and would best be played one after the Other :] Escaped Chasm reminds me a Lot of the opening of OneShot, and Dweller's Empty Path is just generally delightful to play! Cute games

6. Rain World

Steam Link | I.... I think minor Flashing lights? Hollow Knight but if it was Harder and more miserable to complete!! Adorable protagonist and beautiful Scenery!! I've only played... a Little bit of Rain World actually, but it's fun! If not difficult!!

7. Inscryption

Steam Link | Bright/Flashing Lights if I remember Correctly? And also it's listed As a psychological Horror Imagine if you had a Deck of pokemon cards but like maybe one of them is Alive and also you can make one Entirely unkillable and get its stats up to 1000+ attack for the vine! And then add a 2d game and Also bosses that are all kind of Assholes!! Excluding Grimora she's a delight :D It's such a fun game with so much lore and a robot whos entire thing is Insulting you at Every turn!

8. Hi-Fi RUSH

Steam Link | Bright/Flashing lights! Only game to fill the void in my Heart that Jet Set Radio left </3 (Not really, I can just go play JSR whenever I want LOL) ITS SO FUN!!! This game is so silly like Actually, I adore the style and the Characters and the Music :heart: My friend has been streaming this game to me and I just Adoreeee it

9. Cry of Fear

Steam Link | Flashing Lights, general disturbing enemy Design, I believe mentions of Suicide? This game actually made me really scared(? Uncomfortable?) both When I played it and When I was watching a Stream of it?? It's so good but god damn dude. I'm really only throwing this on here Beclaws I enjoy its atmosphere and the horror Aspect of it

10. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Steam Link | No CWs(?) Coming out August 18th, I lied when I said that Hi-Fi filled the hole that JSR/JSRF Left in me!! This game is the real void-filler! It's directly inspired by Jet Set in both design, music, and gameplay (WHICH IS DELIGHTFUL!!!! if sega wont do anything with jet set, then the Fans will!!) it just OOZES style and I think itd be fun to Play on stream when its out!!

END OF THE LIST!! BECLAWS IM TIRED ITS 12 AM HERE!!! Other games not listed but I think you should play: Ib, Pocket Mirror, A Hat in Time, Neon White, Slime Rancher, Subway Midnight, No Straight Roads, Angels of Death, The Witches House, Hello Charlotte, IMSCARED, Spookys Jumpscare Mansion, The Bluehills County Collection (Parsnip, The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith, Three Lesbians in a Barrow)