#i dont even particularly think that the stories are grounded as much as they are... boring and trying to be flashy vs goofy

[murdoc]

despite being burned by every single koike movie outside of goemon's film, im still a little excited to see what the new movie will look like at the very least..

i just have to remember the story is likely gonna piss me off a little 😭

[hazerun3]

I just saw your post about the difference between passive and swan. I'd like to ask the difference between young swad and dream?

shittier doodle this time cuz Im getting tired but the ramblings are probably more unhinged

I dont have particularly strong feelings on dream so this is gonna be mostly younger swad and comparisons to dream when needed

-Views social interaction as inherently transactional and as a game that he can learn to play (he doesnt realise that in the village he was never going to be a player on equal ground, this is why after his ascension his persona is more deity ified rather than a king or smth like nm cuz he wants to be Above it all and in control.)

-Been obsessed with swan even as passives (His Duty to help people got drilled into him, the village feels entitled to his help and swad slowly grows tired of them, but his little brother is always kind to him and doing things for him feels so much more rewarding [tho eventually the village tries to stifle any attempts swad does to get something nice for his brother which frustrates swad so much and swan not asking for anything and just being happy to see him and trying so hard just to make swad happy, even as hes hurt fuels this.] so the mix of the sense of duty, him being the older brother so self imposing a sense of responsibility and swan being nice to him leads him to adopt a mentality where Swan is the only one whos special and actually cares about him not just what he can do for him, but with the way hes raised by the village he tries desperately to try and do something for swan in return cuz he still feels like hes failing in his part of the social bargain)

-Also the cult village placed sooooo much value on stuff like never being angry, always being happy :), youre not allowed to be mean, you Must be hardworking all the time, visibly showing that youre sad is Evil. And swad seethes constantly cuz no one in this fucking village follows that and the one person who embodies all these values the most is swan (who everyone still hates for reasons inexplicable to swad, who believes theres still a way to get swan out of his outcast status if the village just realises that swan is the kindest soul in this rotten place.)

-Dream maintains a more "child" status in the village even as hes older than when swad fights to "adult" status, seeing it as a way to get more social power cuz he picked up that Adults have more power than Children but lol not for him, he just gets to have more responsibilites, the expectation to cut off swan and no money OR gifts for his work cuz gifts are for children doing chores not working adults and since its both swads duty and the fact that he doesnt have anything to spend it on that wouldnt be spending it unwisely they just dont pay him at all! and also hes an object not an adult to them so rushing to try and be an adult backfired miserably

-Swad loves listening to swan read stories to him, reallly wants to be the Prince who saves the damsel and sets his enemies on fire and he projects that persona

-Both he and dream were taken hunting I think, but dream didnt take to it (he had a knack for archery but as soon as he was told to turn that arrow on an innocent bunny he couldnt do it, his more "child" status helps him get out of it) swad was also aprehensive at first but since he places a lot of importance in being the Older Brother and being responsible (also he wants to kill people) so he shoots the bunny, he feels bad and cries about it to swan but he cant let go of the feeling, the smell of blood, the idea of that being someone who hurt swan

-in my head he killed people already lol (used the hunting trips as cover but his hit list is soooooo long and he gets less and less opportunity...)

-he loves shiny things so much but being materialistic and greedy is one of the sins, swan cant get him anything but he does press little flower ornaments for his brother and so much flower jewlery so that swad can roleplay being a prince.

-he hates everyone soooooooo much <3

[b0r3dtod3ath]

hi! Can you write a Ben Shelton fic where you are like a tennis player and that's how yall meet? And it's kinda like a friends to lover type? Thanks!

a/n: i dont think he's into nba but yea, i hope you like it (:

You were what Ben wanted to be - feared by others and great at tennis. Bryan knew about his son’s admiration towards you so he was more than happy to break the news to him. Many stories were told about you. Some said you were unbeatable, others whispered about your intense focus and the cold, intimidating look you gave your opponents. Ben had seen you play a few times, and each time he was mesmerized by your precision and power. 

Ben’s dad was talking to your coach when the three of you stood on one of the courts. Ben was furious for letting himself oversleep, he didn’t know how it happened, how could he show up late while meeting you for the first time. The truth is he wasn’t late, you were just early but it didn’t calm his mind. He saw you - listening to your coach, wearing a dark outfit - your fashion staple. Ben’s stomach tightened. He walked over, his heart pounding in sync with his footsteps. 

“Oh! Ben, this is Y/N. Y/N, meet Ben,” your coach introduced with a warm smile. You turned to face Ben, your eyes meeting his with warmth that he didn’t expect. A genuine smile spread across your face as you extended a hand. “Hi, Ben. Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard great things”. He shook your hand and stood speechless, he looked like a starstruck teenager but quickly got back to reality. “Oh, uh, nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you as well”. 

The news spread like wildfire. The combination of your skills and personalities created a buzz that was hard to ignore. As the tournament began, the two of you quickly proved to be amongst the best duos. Your synergy on court was captivating to watch. Small gestures - smirks, whispers and even touches between you two made your fans go feral. But you were just teammates, at that point even friends was still a bit of a big word. 

Over the course of time, Ben became more and more comfortable. One of the advantages of playing together was the time spent with each other. As you two figured out your strengths, weaknesses and tactics on court, Ben also got to know you, the real you. Behind powerful moves, intimidating aura and urban legends stood one of the nicest people he had ever met.  

After a particularly exhausting match, where both of you fought hard and won by a narrow margin, Ben suggested grabbing dinner. "There's this great Italian place nearby. Want to check it out?" he asked, hopeful. You nodded without a second thought. "Sure, why not”. 

Dinner turned into a regular thing. Initially, the conversations revolved around tennis strategies and upcoming matches. But as the nights grew longer and the dinners more frequent, the topics started to change. You two started talking about your plans for the future, childhood memories, favorite films, and even guilty pleasures. You found yourself laughing more than you had in a long time, Ben's humor and genuine interest were key to getting closer to you.

You two spent all the time together - morning coffee runs, pre-match pep talks, and late-night strategy sessions. It wasn’t annoying, it was nice to have someone to keep you grounded. You always said that “it’s crucial to have a good relationship with your teammate” but deep down you knew that you just liked Ben a lot and wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. 

"You know, I really value our relationship. It's been a long time since I've felt this close to someone.” he suddenly said while you were in your hotel room watching a movie as a way to relax after a match. "Me too, Ben. You've become really important to me” you said and wrapped yourself around his arm, snuggling closer. 

Quickly, the lines between friends and something more began to blur. There were moments when a simple touch lingered a bit too long or a glance conveyed more than words ever could. Despite these subtle shifts, neither of you rushed to label what was happening. You both seemed to enjoy the slow, natural progression of your relationship.

It was a late summer night, the air thick with the scent of freshly cut grass and the distant hum of crickets. The tennis courts were deserted except for the two of you, the lights casting long shadows across the empty courts.

You and Ben had stayed late to squeeze in some extra practice, both of you determined to perfect your game for the upcoming tournament. After what seemed like hours of intense rallies and drills, you called for a break. You collapsed onto the court, laughing and gasping for air, the adrenaline still coursing through your veins. Ben quickly joined you, laying on the grass. "That was intense," Ben remarked between breaths, a grin spreading across his face. You chuckled softly, nodding in agreement. "Definitely. But I feel good about us”. Ben turned to look at you, his eyes sparkling with admiration. "You're incredible out there, you know that?" You felt a warm flush of pride at his words, but there was something more in his gaze - a depth of emotion that went beyond the game. It was a look that made your heart skip a beat as you quickly shifted your gaze to the stars above you. 

"Yeah, well, you're not so bad yourself," you replied playfully, trying to lighten the mood. Ben felt a burst of confidence when suddenly he propped himself up on his hands, hovering over you with a mischievous look in his eyes. It was your time to feel like a stupid teenager. 

“Yeah?” he said with a smirk. “Yea” you replied with a smile, silently letting him know you are comfortable. His close proximity sent a wave of electricity through you, the playful banter fading into an unspoken tension. His gaze softened and he leaned in slowly, his lips brushing against yours with a gentle, tender warmth. Time seemed to stand still as you responded, your hand instinctively reaching up to touch his cheek. "Sorry if that was too forward," Ben murmured when you finally broke the kiss, his voice slightly husky. You shook your head, feeling a surge of happiness. "No, it was perfect”. 

Weeks passed, and your relationship deepened. Despite your growing affection, you decided to keep it private. It was easier to focus on tennis without the media circus that would inevitably follow.

You two started attending NBA games, it was a nice form of date and opportunity to relax without worrying too much. Taking your minds off tennis to watch something else did great for both of you. You were spotted a few times, sitting close, but to others you looked just like good friends. 

It was a Friday night when you and Ben blended effortlessly in with the crowd. As the game progressed, you cheered and groaned, completely absorbed in the thrilling atmosphere. During a break, the large screens above the court suddenly switched to the infamous Kiss Cam segment. The crowd erupted in cheers and laughter as the camera panned to different pairs in the audience, capturing their reactions.

Then, the camera focused on you both. Ben grinned and leaned towards you, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "I think we're on. What do we do now?". Before he could react you grabbed him by his chin and planted a soft kiss on his lips. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause just before the camera found another couple.

As you pulled back, cheeks flushed with a hint of embarrassment, Ben flashed you a reassuring smile. It was a spontaneous and public declaration, that neither of you regretted.

July 11, 2024

[radiation]

Video games talk dont even mind me

Bro video games as a whole are so far behind movies in terms of storytelling and pacing that it’s kind of baffling. Which of course is obvious and makes sense for plenty of reasons but like, just think about it — watching movies a lot can’t help but train a certain muscle that gives you a strong instinct for structure. I find that people who watch movies very casually, without too much artistic consideration, and don’t really know the language associated with it are still very often irked by specific issues with a movie’s pacing, dialogue, etc and are relatively capable of putting it into words. Likewise, for many movies out there, regardless of your opinions on any specific directorial choices, you do feel as if the movie is essentially cohesive and creatives involved reasonably knew what they were doing and were acting very intentionally, and there weren’t any major oversights. This includes independent films as well. Meanwhile I think both players and developers much more commonly lack the instinct for narrative cohesion when it comes to video games. Definitely a fair amount of exceptions to this, but in general I find it’s difficult to find video games that are very narrative heavy & aspire to great artistic heights that don’t suffer from inherent structural problems, pedantic dialogue, tons of dead air, etc in a way that wouldn’t slide as easily in a movie. A lot these flaws certainly have to be due to the presence of gameplay elements and having to balance that with story when the two are almost always, at least in some small respect, inherently at odds. As for the inability for devs and players to pick up on / fix these flaws…is it because gameplay can distract from it and make up for it? With longer games that have runtimes closer to the experience of a television series, is there a similar reaction where if it’s long enough you will sit thru smaller, momentary issues because you enjoy the bigger picture? Yet games are a lot more engaging than a show as a audio, visual, and tactile experience, you can’t multitask and tune the information out as easily as with a boring episode of a show, so you’d think people would be more picky? But maybe because it’s so attention-demanding people are more immersed, and believe in the experience enough to more easily accept the story? Books demand the same kind of active attention to experience though, and the bar for story in books is a lot higher, so what gives? Well a lot of these have kind of obvious answers but still Interesting questions to ask that lead to Damn , That Is Still Crazy How Much This Shit Is In Its Infancy like sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy with how many writing issues are present in games, particularly in indie games that are Trying To Be Good At Writing that feel excessively obvious and yet I often struggle to find my sentiment mirrored by others. IDK. And back to movies the thing is I feel like if the same people trying to write these kind of games had pursued movies instead then they would’ve ended up making well structured movies that avoided all of these pitfalls. WHAT IS IT WITH GAMES? Well we know what it is with games and we could spend all day discussing a million more reasons this is the way it is but no matter what I think we should just be super conscientious of these pitfalls when making narrative focused games and aspire to a greater level of intentionality that is absolutely possible . Build that muscle by really understanding the quality of storytelling long-present in other mediums.Well the other issue with indie devs is that everyone believes they are totally breaking new ground story wise that they don’t take a step back, humble themselves a bit, and cross-reference what they’re doing with the tons of other stories that have already achieved similar things But thats a conversation for another day .

[moonlit-escape]

⋆⛧°. ⋆ Sasha Mystreet headcanons !!

i have a tummy ache rn from eating too much. anyway here's sasha i lobe her

half russian, half korean

demisexual (this is me projecting not just bc of her color palette i promise dont LOOK at me like that)

still pretty closed off, cold, and stoic. but, once in a blue moon, gene and zenix get her to genuinely laugh or mouth off and get angry and they absolutely relish in it

they're best friends :(

the only one of the three who can currently legally drive.

breakcore / hyperpop-punk Queen !! (crystal castles, quinn, swrslvt/cynthoni, laura les, snafu, charli xcx, xn88ax. yknow, shit i added to her playlist)

PIERCINGS!! honestly w all these headcanons, if they are/were a punk, they have piercings. she has double eyebrow piercings, a bellybutton piercing, and a tongue piercing

got deeper into and still practices witchcraft, just not potions or spells. she prefers her palm-reading, tarot, herbal mixtures and remedies, and crystal charges

im planning on making her patron saint someone from MCD that didn't get to mystreet, but first i have to actually Watch MCD.

loves scented candles and incense. she has pretty incense holders all around the house

favourite video game is luigi's mansion

always plays luigi during mario party and always loses. but it's fine bc she always wins mario kart (zenix is always princess peach and gene always plays one of the fuckin monster goons: dry bones, shy guy, goomba, one of the koopa kids)

had a crush on gene at one point, and they even tried out a relationship in uni, but then realized they were just doing the same exact things they did as friends and weren't really going anywhere, so they stayed besties

uses potion bottles as water bottles because they're just more practical

runs a vampire fanfic tumblr blog. she makes really fuckin good vampire au fanfics of really popular fandoms

has a butterfly knife and switchblade collection. they're all really pretty

zenix made her match phone charms with him, but he tells everyone she forced him (nobody believes him)

her and gene used to be skater buddies (zenix couldnt figure out how to skate for the life of him), but she's the only one who still skates around sometimes

i don't know how to explain this to anyone and it is honestly just my own delusion but oh my God did sasha have a mini crush on katelyn in high school

like it wasn't anything super. but she cannot lie to herself and say she didn't have fun during gym getting to see katelyn

typical "goth gf" reads classic literature and edgar allen poe poems and short stories. but also she has to work, so she listens to audiobooks

it's not that she doesn't feel her emotions or anything, but more-so she's just not used to expressing them, and doesn't know how to properly. and now, she feels like it's too late and would be too awkward to learn how

so, she expresses herself in other ways. like through her loud music, or her witchcraft, or through pen sketches and painting

she likes to go on walks every once in a while in completely random or strange places. yknow, ones where it feels like you shouldn't really be going. and sometimes she sketches whatever she finds there and thinks about

whenever she has a particularly.. excruciatingly stressful day, she likes to lay on the floor with her astral projector light, listen to music, and take an edible. it helps her calm down, and feel like she's in a different world for a while

it has backfired before though, because her mind went to the wrong place, and she ended up having a panic attack. so, she makes sure she only does it when both of the guys are home to check on her and ground her if she does start spiraling

Don't do drugs, kids. And if you REALLY have to try it because you're stupid, don't do it Stupidly. have a babysitter. a Trusted babysitter. and don't start with edibles. Be safe, or fuck up and die

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Ok so i dont particularly care about what monsantos have to say about vld especially after it ended but i still think about LM saying Allura only brought back those who died during Haggar's tantrum and "planets which died before their time and not the life on it" (or along those lines. I think it was in the interview after the show ended? Someone made a post detailing it). Like i dont know about you all, but i found the idea absolutely fascinating in a morbid way.

Cause like maybe they come back as completely empty. The planets and their landmasses come back intact, rejuvinated, but not even a whisper of the lives that once lived. The planets are back but they lay bare, even the memory of life upon it now long dead. They have potential to nourish life, but what is the point? When there is no life, no beings to be nourished. These planets came back empty shells, with their children long dead and forgotten.

Or maybe they come back as they died. Maybe their soil is deep and rich, only in the way forest soil can be, maybe there are islands made up of what used to be bones of corals. Maybe there are well trodden paths, leveled lands, diverted rivers, and mined grounds. Maybe there are empty buildings, unused roads, abandoned items of every day use, each telling a story of life that once lived but the pages are long torn and the pictures have faded. Planets which were scarred and loved by the unique life that lived on it, but the beings that did that have long since been dead. These planets come back as ruins, still haunted by its inhabitants.

Or maybe (and i am going full SCP 2935 here) the life does come back, but dead. They had been dead for thousands of years but now there are bodies here waiting to be buried. They do not rot, because decay itself needs life and everything on that planet is dead and has been dead for a long time. Frozen in time, to see them is to come face to face with the devastation brought, because it is much harder to deny personhood of a fresh corpse, than of stories and ruins and fossils. No one is left to mourn them, to remember them, to hold a funereal because everyone that could died with them. These planets come back as graveyards and memorials, holding the grim proof of what was taken from them.

[sunny-reis]

hi! can i request akito shinonome x reader where they get into an argument? maybe it takes them a few days to make up because akito is stubborn and reader is a bit shy and overthinks like "what if he doesnt want me anymore" or whatever. oneshot please..! thank you, and have a nice day!! dont write if you dont wanna :)

oneshot - post-argument tension w/ akito

i wish i never ever told you all about it, but i just had to let you know; never meant to hurt you, tho

notes: pjsk req woohoo 🤠 i'm not sure if you wanted them to make up after the whump so ,.,,.,. we ball lmao

tags: gender-neutral reader, you're friends with ena, an, and kohane

word count: 1,987

thirteen hours and twenty-six minutes.

that’s how long you’ve gone without hearing the familiar ding! of a message from akito. it’s almost half past nine now, you note, double-checking the small alarm clock on the side table by your bed. it's been more than half a day since you’ve talked to the redheaded idiot you call a boyfriend, and you can't help but be pissed (and worried sick, but you're too angry to think about that right now. he doesn't deserve my worry, you think).

it all started late yesterday, when he was supposed to come over to your place after his afternoon dance practice – the two of you had made plans to visit a cute new bakery opening on main street. needless to say, he completely ignored your texts and calls, replying hours later with a simple “sorry, i forgot. catch up with you later.” being human, you replied with a series of passive-aggressive texts, inevitably leading to an explosive argument. you sat on the couch for what felt like hours after, kicking around the stupid cow plushie he won you at a summer fair now on the ground. how hard is it to call ahead? or keep a stupid promise?

and so, here you are, listening to music in bed and staring emptily at the ceiling. a single thought floats around in your head: what the hell’s up with akito? he’s never been the type to be dry, not even on the numerous times when he's been frustrated out of his mind with schoolwork, or fed up with family politics and his dad. the night goes by slowly, and after far too much moping, you huff and sit up against the headboard. pausing your music, you open the messages app to (wishfully) check for a text from akito, only to be met with the same “hey aki, call me when you're free” you sent hours ago. sighing, you text the one person you think would know where he is: ena.

you - 10:32

hey ena !

is aki home? he won't reply to me

minutes later, a message bubble pops up.

enanan - 10:37

umm yeah

but he looked pretty tired when he came home an hour ago

you bite your nail, a force of habit; akito’s dance practice ends at 3:20 at the very latest. what on earth has he been doing for the past six hours?

you - 10:38

oh okay ;-;

ena - 10:38

did he say something to you?

i’ll kick his ass if he did something stupid

just say the word !!

you let out a small laugh, wrapping the covers tighter around yourself. count it on ena to keep him straight.

you - 10:39

nonono i was just overthinking !

poor guy’s probably exhausted :(

ena - 10:40

probably

get some rest though !! no man’s worth losing sleep over

you - 10:40

yeahhh i probably should

you too !!

ena - 10:41

eh i’ll try

night y/n :)

you - 10:41

nighttt

unfaithful to your words, you do not get some rest. instead, you spend far more time than you should mindlessly scrolling through anything and everything you can find on your phone to distract yourself from your thoughts, somehow ending up playing through a particularly spicy story on episode at two am. looking up from the dim screen, you sigh. ena’s right - no man’s worth losing sleep over. tapping furiously through the rest of the episode, you toss your phone under the pillow next to you and shut your eyes, trying to sleep.

although you managed to get a good six hours of sleep, you find your eyes shooting awake at 8:37 am. although it's the weekend, a sunday, you've become accustomed to waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to get ready. sitting up and stretching, you quietly pad down to the bathroom to fix yourself, being rid of last night's woes.

after a small breakfast of cereal and orange juice, you make a list of everything you plan to do today; an, a member of akito’s dance group and one of your closest friends, proposed you, ena, and kohane go out for lunch at one of the numerous cafes on main street. going outside definitely sounds better than sitting at home and sulking, so you set off to the cafe an send the address to at noon.

a little bell chimes as you open the door, instantly hit by the sweet aroma of various pastries on display. you see everything, from blueberry muffins to finely decorated cakes; your wallet feels lighter at the sight of them. making your way over to a table in the secluded corner where an waves at you, signature smile plastered on your face, you sit down on the booth. next to you sits ena, and across, an and kohane.

“hey, y/n, good to see you!” says ena, followed by a small wave from kohane.

“hello hello! i haven't seen you in a while, kohane, how’s everything going?” you ask, setting your bag down next to you.

“sorry,” she replies sheepishly, “we've been so busy with practice and school, i barely get the energy to catch up!”

“aw,” you frown, once again thinking about akito, “don't tire yourself out too much.”

“ah, it's only for a little bit! once we finish nail last routine, we’ll be done with practice and ready to perform!” an laughs; kohane only sighs.

“yeah, but it's so hard…toya and akito have been cooped up at the studio for ages, now. if it’s hard for them, imagine how hard it is for me!”

“hey, don't sell yourself short, kohane! i’ve seen the way you dance, you make it look so easy!” says ena, taking a sip of the her coffee. you nod in agreement.

“trust me, whatever you're doing is working! aki’s tried teaching me some moves – let's just say it didn't end well.” the four of you chatter away giddily until a waiter brings over a fancy rack of desserts to sample, courtesy of an. there are a humble few slices of cake, and far too many small treats you don't know the name of.

“wow, an, you sure have a keen eye for desserts!” says ena, happily finishing her coffee with a cat-shaped cookie.

“of course i do, i haven't been working at a cafe for nothing!”

“oh, you!”

a little while after you all finish, you say your goodbyes to an and kohane, leaving you an ena at scramble crossing.

“so…do you wanna walk around, or go back home? i have some time to kill.” she asks, the two of you crossing the road as the cars come to a halt.

“i’m fine with walking, i don't really have anything to do at home.” you shrug, checking your watch. it’s only 2:45 and the only thing waiting for you at home is a full washing machine, so you opt to wander around the city with ena.

somewhere around the local playground, the two of you have a heart-to-heart on the far-too-small swings.

“has everything been okay with you and akito?” she asks, leaning against the chain, “i feel like something’s up. you can talk to me about it if you want.” you sigh.

“well…kind of? i think he's been ignoring me and i’m really worried. i don't think i did anything to upset him, and he’s been really exhausted lately.”

“oh, yeah, he's been coming home later too. i don't blame him, really. i guess perfectionism is a family disease.”

“definitely,” you shake your head, “i'm not angry at him at all, but i feel…hurt.” she sits up alertly.

“why? did he say something?”

“no, no, that's the problem! he missed our date the other day, but he said sorry and we fought over text. i feel so bad, but i know i’m not being irrational, and he's ghosting me! we’ve fought before, but what if this is it?” ena mumbles under her breath, something about a “stupid kid”.

“you both really are perfect for each other, you know that?” you tilt your head in confusion.

“how so?”

“you're both so hard-headed,” she laughs, “and stupid, sometimes. although that's more him than you.”

“i guess so.”

“but seriously, let me talk to him at home. maybe then he’ll get the balls to apologize and it’ll all be okay again.”

“you don't need to get tangled up in this mess, ena, don't worry-”

“oh, shut up! no man is worth lowering your standards for, that applies to him, too! maybe it’ll do you both some good, too.”

“you're the best, really.” you say, squeezing her hand.

“oh, i know.” ena flounces; you laugh, getting off the swing and brushing the sand off your lap. the walk to your house is short, or so you assure ena, but she walks back with you anyways.

“don't worry about akito, okay? i’ll handle him.” she says, walking down the steps to your house. you nod, waving at her as she leaves. deep down, the two of you know that won't be happening – worrying about akito is a part of the package, so you’ve come to realize.

you decide to spend the rest of the day lazing around on the couch, snacking on popcorn as you binge chick flicks. as you subconsciously replay the events of the past two days in the back of your mind, the guilt settles in. you sit up, checking your phone for any messages and signs of life from akito, and flinching at the sudden brightness. looking around, the state of the living room is as pathetic as you feel. there are popcorn kernels where you tried (and failed) to throw them in the small trash can, pillows strewn all over the floor, blankets folded messily, each mess driving you crazier by the minute. pausing the movie, you sigh, getting up to clean whatever you see. although you still feel like garbage mentally, seeing the room decently clean makes you feel slightly better.

before you realize it, you're yawning and no longer paying attention to mean girls playing on the laptop in bed. sitting up and stretching, you set it on the nightstand, wrap yourself up in a blanket cocoon, and begin to fall asleep.

you're woken out of your peaceful slumber by the abrupt ring of the doorbell. rubbing your eyes, you pad to the front door, opening it to see none other than-

“aki? what are you doing here, it’s the middle of the night?” he’s drenched, clearly having walked here in the ongoing downpour behind him. how cliché. you let him in, helping him feel off his jacket and fetching him a towel.

“so, are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?” you ask, sitting down next to him on the couch. he looks down at his feet.

“yeah, we probably should.”

“speak your peace, then, i’m listening.”

“well…i’m sorry i've been an ass,” akiro sighs, “everything’s been so overwhelming lately.”

“i’m sorry, too. i shouldn’t have been so passive-aggressive, it clearly only made things worse.” he shakes his head.

“no, i get it. i was in the wrong and i lashed out at you for no reason. i missed our date, too! i’ve been really shitty to you, you don't deserve any of that.”

“i understand why it happened, aki,” you say, giving him a small smile and grasping his hand in yours, “you can talk to me when things get rough, though, you know what.”

“i know, i know, and i'm sorry.”

“no use dwelling on the past now, i guess, yeah?”

akito nods, laying down on your lap; you play with his hair absentmindedly, listening to him mumble about his week. the weight on your chest is lifted just by the sight of him opening up to you again, and you feel much better.

“hey, aki, promise me something.”

“hm?”

“don't ghost me again, or i’ll kick your ass.”

[anghraine]

Hope you dont mind me asking, but what's your take on the idea that Eowyn and Faramirs arc in the steward and the king happening too quickly and doesnt make sense for her character arc? Personally i think the timing of it all is a function of the timeline he set himself up with more than anything else, but as for the second I'm not so sure because I see multiple sides to it. I'm always curious to hear your thoughts!

I don't mind, though it takes me some time to get to things!

I think it mostly makes very good sense for Éowyn's character arc and is far preferable to the other ideas Tolkien considered for her (iirc, marriage to Aragorn or death in battle).

It is very fast, and I think that's a fair criticism of the narrative development in itself. The in-story speed doesn't bother me, but it's basically wedged into one chapter of a long book and reads very quickly. I do think it's abbreviated mostly because there's so much going on in ROTK and so much ground to cover in the later phase. But I do think it's a bit overly abbreviated, yes.

For me, one of the spots that feels the most underwritten is the development of Faramir and Éowyn's friendship. I can believe that they would rapidly become friends! It fits thematically and all. Their interactions after that point are lovely. But it has to be taken almost entirely on faith and it's the most fundamental development in their arc IMO, so I'd have liked to see more of that transition, at least a little.

The other spot that's a little dubious for me is Éowyn's declaration that she'll stop vying with warriors and become a healer, something she has shown no interest in up to that point. If it were foreshadowed in her character, it would be a little easier to buy for some people, I think.

Also, yes, it fits Tolkien's value for healing and peace, as seen in characters like Aragorn and Elrond—but they aren't required to give up warfare altogether. Éomer isn't. Éowyn is her own person and you could argue that it fits her specific arc, but mediating that through the only female warrior (and female major character) in the entire book is always going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.

But to me, Éowyn finding happiness with someone both gentle and iron-willed, and who gets her in a way that nobody else (even Aragorn and perhaps Gandalf) really does, seems very appropriate. Nobody else fully grasped what she was going through. Something else was always more important. So someone who is willing to reach out to her where she's at and really focus on her, while also bridging the way to a life of vitality and healing and growth coupled with significant work to be done, seems very suitable to me.

It also helps for me that, while not a king, Faramir is a Númenórean prince and viceroy/chief counselor/leading minister of the king with a lot of family power and prestige—more than the kings of Rohan, according to Gandalf. And as an individual person, he's singled out from nearly all other men of his time as particularly unique and special. So while Éowyn does have to grow beyond her crush on Aragorn, it's not like she's railroaded into choosing a random ordinary guy or humbled in status or something, or that it's even Tolkien's usual woman marrying down/man marrying up dynamic.

So Éowyn's romance with Faramir doesn't even require her to give up much of what she was after in the first place—she gets a healthier (and more romantic!) happily-ever-after than she could have envisioned and she gets to escape her life in Rohan while gaining status. So she kind of gets it all, rather than being reduced to Faramir's reward, and I do find that satisfying.

(If anything, I feel like Faramir is a reward for her and it's his narrative that is cut short to enable the romance more than hers.)

[doodlegirl1998]

Hi. So I was thinking about Izu and his love interests and how some ladies (plus Shig) fit the bill.

Mei? Cool design. Has passion for her craft and has show to care for Izu (she is the one to upgrade his costume)

Melissa? Cool design too. Quirkless and badass and have great chemistry with Izu, love the clips of them together.

Shig?😏 the canon (forehead kiss and skimo kiss)

Nejire? Great design. They had a cute moment (Zuzu is not a perv. He is a real gentleman) and while it was one scene and many HCs her as gay or queer...this ship has potential(or had to) she is a strong student who has a powerful quirk and she and Izu could bond over this( I know how we dont know much about her life but still...I think they could be a cute ship)

Toga? Great design, srsly I love her design. She did ask him out ....in the middle of the war and has almost to no interaction to him but I feel this ship could work in aus.

Also Toga now knows what he considers a dream date...and while the internet mocks him. I found sweet.

So yeah those ladies (plus Shig😏) are winning against Ochako. Hell, Lady Nagant (yes too old for him) has a more positive interaction with him and Fox Lady too.

Ochako...not winning here. 😞😔

Hi @mikeellee 👋

To be honest all those ships could work, as you noted, Hori even added Shigadeku crumbs, both in their parallels and in the artwork with how close he draws them. (Just like he did with Togachacko.) Shig has gotten closer to getting a kiss from Izu than Ochaco! Who is the love interest here? If I didn't read the series, with how Hori draws them together, I would think it's Shig. Come on Hori!

Now to address the other ships you mentioned:

IzuMei - It would be a cute ship as you mentioned. She's quirky and unafraid to express it. I feel like being with Mei would help Izu gain confidence. Whereas I think being with Izuku would help Mei socialise with others.

IzuMelissa - It's been a while since I've seen the movie but I also thought they were cute together. Plus her being quirkless as well gives them a common ground.

IzuNejire - Not a ship I had thought of for Izuku but I respect your opinion there.

IzuToga - A ship that has a tonne of potential and under a different writer (who fleshed Toga out more as a tragic villain battling her blood urges rather than flip flopping between this and blood yandere) this could have really flourished.

The shame is IzuOcha had a tonne of potential to be awesome but Hori squanders it. Here's what I would change;

1) Have her inspire Izuku's hero name 'Dekiru' - It would be the beginning of a sweet deep moment between them.

2) Don't have her call Izuku plain. I found this to be a strange thing for Hori to have Izu's future love interest say particularly as her character design is more 'ordinary' and Izuku's appearance hasn't changed between now and then so why does she suddenly find him physically attractive?

3) Give her story focus rather than all the ungodly focus on Bkg. As well as build up her parallels with Toga. Build on why she thinks she can't express her feelings; a fear of losing his friendship? Something inspired by Aizawa's poor teaching? Just give this girl anything, Hori.

4) Have her stand up against Bkg's plan to have 1A vs Izuku. I hated this moment in MHA so much. If Ochaco needed to have a BAMF moment where she stood up to someone for Izuku it should have been against Bkg not the civilians rightfully worried about their safety but Hori wastes her and this ships potential...

[violet-moonstone]

got lost in a daydream today about my httyd oc (who im thinking of naming Amani? I have a list of names I typically go with for self insert characters in fantasy and that's one of them. let's go with that for now)

anyway i really wanted to write down the full scene but i lacked the energy so now i just have a vague recollection of it. i could turn these scenes into a multichapter fic but honestly idc how interested people are in reading a story thats essentially a self ship with dagur and sometimes hiccup

the scene takes place in the midpoint of the story, where dagur has just gotten himself locked up in outcast prison and the council on berserker island has just found out. amani (his wife) is freaking out because they dont have any heirs (yet - shes believes she's pregnant but pretty much no one knows yet) and she has a growing suspicion that some of the more powerful berserkers are going to try to get rid of her so that they can rule.

more below the cut that gets increasingly stream of consciousness

during the meeting she's trying her best to make herself look like a strong candidate without just outright making it clear that she knows most of them arent behind her. she announces the pregnancy and dispels any worries about how sure it is that the baby will make it to adulthood.

one particularly unpleasant member of the council makes a comment about barbaric archipelago winters being harsh - perhaps it is easy to survive in whatever sunny part of the world she's from, but in the north, babes must be hearty and strong to survive past infancy and childhood.

she demands if he's questioning the strength of dagur and oswalds bloodline and that makes him back down to a certain extent - but the reality she has to face is that dagur's gone and she really has no guarantee that the pregnancy will go well. and even if it does, just one heir with a mother most view as an outsider is still shaky ground

when council members question who will lead in dagurs absense, she says the council will lead until the situation with dagur is figured out - she has a plan to petition alvin about his imprisonment, but this is shot down because "berserkers dont ask for things - they take what they want" - this of course coming from someone she suspects has no real interest in dagur's freedom. if they were loyal to him, they might form a rescue team or even declare war - but she doubts that that will happen.

as the meeting goes on she can feel herself losing a good portion of the room. she also feels increasingly sick and she cant tell if its from worry or the pregnancy.

finally when the meetings finished she goes back to her house. and theennn there are some details i dont have figured out - theres an attempt on her life thats interrupted by a loyal guard or council member who then helps her find safe passage to an island somewhere further away (but still in or near the archipelago? idk. she doesnt go back to her homeland...perhaps because she doesnt want to risk travelling long distances and especially not while pregnant...but also...i kinda want her to be relatively nearby for the story)

uhh yeah i need a name for this story. realistically i wont have time to type it out in prose any time soon but i might make summaries of the most important moments and post those. maybe with some art? idk. i just really really like it

[daedalusdavinci]

spell homestuck

GOD. THIS IS SO MUCH LONGER THAN TWO FACE. i typed too much and theres too many qs so under the cut it goes

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or....... i guess comics, these days, but i HATE READING COMICS they juST HAVE MORE COMPELLING FANDOMS. book fandoms are PUNY nad everyone is STUPID. youd think actual literary fandoms would have reading comprehension and understanding of literary critique but no!!!!!!!!!!!!! its literally my eternal fuckign struggle. somehow comic fandoms hit the perfect medium between compelling, readable content and the enthusiasm of cartoon fans without the childishness of cartoon fans

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

this isnt really a thing i do. the only time i associate characters w songs is my own ocs. barbies theme is miltons tower from the what remains of edith finch soundtrack!

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

i have also never really been one to project myself into stories. its just not how i consume media. i think sollux and rose already closely resemble the kinds of friends i make, so maybe them?

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

(freddy fazbear vc) vanessa.... ive done things, im not proud of.

i dont even know if i want to answer this question bc its so fucking humiliating LKJSNDLFSDNFSDF the truth is yes. i am solely responsible for. a lot. particularly in the pjo fandom. i created several crackships ground up all on my own way back in 2014 and developed a following for them and i. dont wantto tell you what those ships were. LSKJDFNSLDJNSDFSDDF ive also pioneered many ship tags for other fandoms and i ship a lot of rarepairs and stuff but i dont think im RESPONSIBLE for them?? in that some ppl already were into them/talking abotu them or tht theyre still not popular (augh. to the ones that became popular) but i AM liTERALLY responsible for some crack shit in the pjo fandom and its. it haunts me sometimes. i dont want to talk about it. IF YOU REMEMBER WHAT I DID NO YOU DONT

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

this is so vague. my headcanons are shifting and nebulous and aus are my constant companion in everything, but uhhhhhhghhusjkdjnsdg i think. roxy writes the same way dave draws comics. its extremely memey and meta and self aware and largely just for the personal lolz, and were all doing her a disservice by pretending her writing looks like roses, when in reality dirk is probably the one whod make comics the way rose makes books (which is probably why he doesnt make comics). its more of that thing where roxy and dave are the same and rose and dirk are the same ykwim. well YOU dont corvus but im sure someone else does

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

jason takes after bruce in terms of like. adopting entirely too many kids. he broods

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

harvey is a heartwrenching character when written well, with a complicated view of morality, heartbreaking ties to our main hero, and a lot of internal conflict. something about such a hopeful character deadset on making a different in the system becoming a victim of it, and the potential he has as a vehicle for critiquing the law.

percy is my favorite character from pjo bc it was the very first time in my life i ever read a book and saw myself in it. hes aggressive, impulsive, and rebellious, he fidgets and has a hard time standing still, he acts on emotion without always thinking it through, he gets in trouble in school and hands his mom a murder weapon to kill his stepdad, hes just... hes a lot of the things ive always gotten in trouble for, things i couldnt help being, and hes a hero. he means everything to me.

vriska, i will maintain until the day i die, is one of the best homestuck characters- maybe just characters?- ever written. shes dramatic, shes impulsive, shes manipulative and mean and creative, and shes just so messy about it. shes a mean girl in a way that feels real, where her trauma impacts and shapes her as a person, and shes complex, with warring wants, and people she cares about, and dreams, and shes so messy. shes rough and rude and shes doing what SHE wants to, being a version of herself that feels right to HER, rather than some caricature of the hot badass evil lady. shes thirteen!! and she FEELS thirteen. shes a thirteen year old weird girl who is kind of an asshole, and she means literally fucking everything to me. shes a pirate!!!!! shes a swashbuckling badass dressing up in her larping outfit and yelling at her friends on the playground to swab the deck and she is the bestest ever, the end.

i didnt mean for each one of these to be longer than the last but here we are.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

i hate jdedave peace and love it just feels weird as hell to me. dave, for the most part, is hyper respectful of other peoples choices and boundaries but when it comes to jade hes always trying to mke choices for her, to protect her, and it gets to the point where even jade points out how much it bugs her. jades crush on dave also seems to come from a place of misunderstanding to me, admiring a lot of the parts of himself that he exaggerates and pretends to care about as a result of trauma. it always felt like a kid crush that they shouldve grown out of with time. dave also just sort of seems to... go along with whatever romantic relationships people push him into at that age, rolling with whoever flirts with him jsut bc hes trying to maintain the image of a player, so its really hard to take him seriously any time he hits on someone?

that is just my interpretation of it tho

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

well. i havent finished my reread of homestuck, so that feels difficult to comment on just yet, bc im sure ill have a different opinion when i do finish it. no one in dc gets character arc bc theyre all just undone immediately, so thats like. yeah. and in pjo the arcs are pretty weak bc 1) kids books and 2) RICK UNDOES THEM ALL. AUGH. regardless of all of this, i am going to say jason grace. he had a lot of development in like the last two hoo books, or maybe just like.... hints of how he couldve developed? promise? which rick immediately set fire to in toa when he killed him, but fUCKING WHATEVER. UGH.

anyway actually tho eleanor from the good place. bisexual icon. queen. probably one of the best character arcs of all time. the episode w her mom has some of the most powerful fucking dialogue ever and i think about it. all the time. i should rewatch the good place.....

[lucysarah-c]

*deep breath*

Hello.

I dont think there are words in the English vocabulary to explain how much I love holy ground so I wont even try.

But but, I just wanted you to know that I started this series yesterday and I finished it today. I LITERALLY HAVE EXAMS GOING AND I CANNOT BRING MYSELF TO GIVE A FUCK BECAUSE WOWOWIWEOSJSGHD YOU WRITE SO GOOD I AM CRYING LAUGHING I LOVE YOU SMSM PLS DONT EVER STOP WRITING PLS WRITE MORE AND MORE BECAUSE YOU ARE AMAXING EXTRAORDINARY SUPER COOL AND HOLY SHIT SO POETIC SO BEAUTIFUL THIS IS THE BEST LONGFIC I'VE EVER READ THANK YOU SM FOR WRITING THIS.

okay, I'm sorry, I'm normal now.

But literally I love you so much. Not only can you write so well but you can also draw?? Wtf?? Can you step on me please? So maybe I could have some shred of your talent?

Literally love your sense of humor. Can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. The banters between levi/mike and levi/reader was hilarious. I also cried a hell lot because i relate a lot to how you wrote reader and I think so reading the story kind of healed me because Levi is the type of person I need in my life.

I'm sorry I rant a lot.

Byt thank you.

And I love you.

<3

Ok… I… I simply have no words to thank you enough for this, for your sweet words, your enthusiasm, your support, everything! I wanted to take my time to reply to you properly, but since I read your message in my inbox, it made my day, my night, my week, haha. I was almost in tears-

100% no fake picture of me reading your message:

Don't ever apologize for ranting! This was amazing! Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart <3

Hahaha, honestly, nobody has asked me to step on them before; it was hilarious. I bet you're extremely talented on your own, and there must be a bunch of people who admire you <3 You truly don't need me to be talented <3 But thank you! I always say that writing and drawing are both a blessing and a curse. When I'm writing, I think I should be drawing, and when I'm drawing, I think I should be writing. Haha, the stress never stops.

Ahaha, I'm so glad you find my sense of humor funny. Sometimes I have a blast while writing certain chapters, particularly the "guys" hangouts (Erwin, Hange, Mike, and Levi). I think, "Does anything that I write ever make someone laugh?" Sometimes, I reread old chapters, laugh, and then say, "I'm hilarious." So thank you! Thank you for making me feel I'm not laughing alone, lol.

BTW, a little spoiler for you! In the next chapter, the boys' hangout is back. Mike, Hange, Levi, and Erwin will have a blast, so I hope you have a good fun time reading about them again <3

About the reader, I'm happy and also sad you relate to her. Happy that I was able to write an MC that made you feel seen and understood, but also sad because I wish no girl in this world should feel the way she feels. So I'm sending you the TIGHTEST hug in the world, smooches with a lot of love, and, obviously, my best successful wishes for your ongoing exams! I'm not wishing you luck because I'm so sure you've got this; you're already succeeding <3

Don't thank me; thank you for reading, coming here, leaving this beautiful message, and supporting me and my art <3

I love you too from the moon and back!

Stay safe!

[narwhalandchill]

uhhh anyway. so like yesterday was my first time ever doing story day 1 and i have many Thoughts about the AQ. mostly positive unfortunately my major gripes do relate to the childe/narwhal situation which kinda dampens the overall experience more than any other part being underwhelming would given (gestures in general direction of self). like we all know the multitude of diseases i have on the subject 💀

dunno how much of a complete nonsense rambley writeup thisll be i think i might take some time to sort out my overall thoughts and write sth more coherent specifically on childe/narwhal stuff, maybe leave out some other aspects i have more pointed thoughts on as well so this wont get mega long but eh lets see. this just all kinds of thoughts i have for now And its a mess so Beware

anyway. firstly. as scarred as i am by melus and silver. Its also just. holy shit man theyre truly just straight up tapdancing on teppeis grave like THIS is how you write NPC deaths in an actually emotionally impactful way. dunyarzad was a massive glow up already in terms of NPC writing in general but she didnt die so. but like the way their characters and bond to both callas and navia is built up and how the writers actually managed to make them feel like such dynamic people even if their roles are ultimately quite straightforward made their fates just... genuinely heartbreaking like what the fuck 😭😭😭 AND THE WAY THEY STILL SAVED NAVIA FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE AND SAID THEIR FAREWELLS I JUST. I CANT. i just teared up thinking about it again

idk what could be said about navia that hasnt been said a gigabillion times before like. Wow. she is just. Truly the moment. like she fucking blindsided my ass in 4.0 bc i wasnt expecting anything like how dynamic and compelling and complex her arc and characterization has been like. everything about navia her resolve her grit her experiences and her bravery and stubbornness just feels so incredibly human and raw and she is just? a wonderful character i never foresaw falling in love with her this much like truly. and she delivered JUST as hard in 4.2 too like if it werent for navia being the conduit through which we first experience the devastation of poisson i dont think it wouldve ever hit as hard as it did. i just wanna comfort her shes already been thru so much yet i also admire her insistence to keep going and keep living like man 😭😭😭 give her a happy story quest hoyo idgaf if it gets called shallow or some bs she deserves a break!!!!!

i think some ppl are disappointed by arles relative lack of presence in fontaine overall and while i get that i can genuinely say that its been so fucking refreshing to have an AQ centering on a conflict thats not entirely or mostly fatui based. its not like the weight or intimidation factor of arlecchinos presence has been any lesser just bc shes been largely on the same side as us. like personally i just Really enjoyed seeing her characterization throughout. the way shes been just so reasonable thus far makes me extra excited for whenever she might actually snap (at least hopefully she will). like both childe and scara think shes fucking insane?????? but yea. i also really enjoy arles dynamic with the HoH kids too like. i do think she genuinely cares for them in a way but i highly doubt thats all there is to it. and thats really neat. goes for things like her help to spina di rosula and poisson too; theres definitely strings attached to that aid lmao. even if arle has no particularly malicious designs in mind, shes a harbinger. like cmon. and i really like that!!

i dont have like. that extensive thoughts abt what i call the . uhhh. this is mean but extended cast of act 5 JKJKDWJKDJKAJK like HoH gang, clorinde, sigewinne, wrio. tho i do very much appreciate that clorinde dodged the sara allegations for good like. it was looking a little bit unfortunate in 4.0. her role wasnt super major but i love her english VA and this kind of grounded sort of character she ultimately is. also sigewinne jumpscare during furinas trial i love her so much.

mona n nicoles thing was unfortunately mostly a whateverburger for me bc. im sorry im not that interested in hexenzirkel lmao i feel like such an outlier in any lore discussion circles bc im just not that hype about them (gold is an icon however) idk why. it was neat, it happened, didnt bring any mega hype. what i liked the most was honestly just the talk with mona about destiny and fighting against it and all. she really felt like a friend trying to help us navigate our thoughts on this insane horrible situation going on!!

in terms of plot things uhhh i went in mostly blind? as to the actual events. i had spoiled myself a bit on some specific aspects (my own fault) but ultimately most had no effect on how much i enjoyed everything. also lowering my expectations on the. ahem. worries i had abt childe that unfortunately came true so i was less let down on the spot wjjkajkwdjkwd. my biggest issue was actually that i had to progress lyneys story quest TWO FUCKING TIMES by a pretty notable amount bc it was blocking locations. and that dumbass office drama world quest like i was morbing.

a particular standout moment (beyond the Obvious. i need not name it THE LAUGH THE FUCKING THUMBS DOWN also singed FL can kinda lowkey 100% absolutely get it) for me was when i was so invested in our conversation with furina in poisson and in the magic box that i actually fucking forgor about the whole trap scheme thing even existing and then the box fell open and i was like WAIT WHAT THE FUCK and started laughing for like a solid 5 minutes i was caught so off guard. what an incredible moment. bc like. when the thing we were hiding in w furina started shaking i was just hell yeah narwhal modcheck? narwhal modcheck? bc obviously i would. and didnt question for a second that it could be something else. like the trap we were LITERALLY plotting to set up just a bit earlier it actually killed me. altho the fact that one of the cursed lyney quest situations were in between the scheming scene and the poisson segment prolly had to do with it. anyway it was just really funny

i think this post is gonna take me 287382 years to finish if im gonna go into the like furina character arc situation and her trial and focalors and all that shit super in depth (+ narwhal/skirk things) but like. BELIEVE me i fucking loved it so much like its so awful and painful and horrible and just. best written archon easily. zhongli n venti i think r very well written but theyre p static characters bc oldies so its a bit different. raiden is. inazuma moment no comment needed. nahida is good but tbh i never truly reconciled with the way rukkha getting irminsuled sorta just erased the central conflict behind her inferiority complex so it somewhat ruined her character arc for me even if it did make me cry and i do love her chara overall. but furina i think they executed the whole setup and reveals and everything so incredibly well its insane like. god. 500 years........ and like. the way furinas arc just flops everything uve known about her and the interactions uve had with her sideways and turns it upside down realizing the predicament shes been in and what shes been grappling with. its just incredible man. harrowing but incredible like they truly delivered on that one. like that portion of the finale was just really well done

anyway not all thoughts i have by any means but whatever. ive just been Thinking. overall had a great time with the AQ n cutscenes in particular are only getting better and better, i thiiiiink this one tops sumeru for me? but like its sorta unfair bc i was never a scara stan whereas. even a narratively mishandled narwhal is a fucking world-devouring narwhal. unfair advantage. childe being there at all even if i have my gripes is too much points in favor KJWJKWJKDWDJKJK. theres things that make me really hopeful for the future writing but also things that concern me. so its an interesting situation rn. but im glad it went as ambitious as it did even if my fave got arguably sidelined the most. just hoping they actually do sth more with childe sooner than later if they want to leave all those loose ends unaddressed in 4.2. interlude rights PLEASE

[gorematchala]

Playing PLA again I'm reminded of the prerelease era when we were seeing leaks of the new pokemon, particularly the regional starters, and my slow acceptance of what has become one of my favorite pokemon, Hisuian Samurott. Samurott itself being one of my least favorite. A lot of what I love about the Hisuian version is how little they changed, which served to confirm all the problems I had with the original design so I had grounds to tell gen 5 stans I told them so

My problems with Samurott were many. Primarily that its built like a mic stand. It has 4 big chunky legs splayed out at a weird angle, and a long thin neck supporting an obnoxiously huge *thing*. Having not been in on the ground floor of gen 5 I saw the design separate from the Pokémon's name and assumed that the head thing was supposed to be a ship mast or something and that the beard was like an old timey ship captain beard. Realizing that it was meant to be a samurai I had questions like "huh?" And "what?"

It has swords hidden in its arm guards which protrude at an angle that would be impossible for its three fingered fat fuck flipper hands to reach, and it would have to fight on 3 legs because its back legs arent long or thick enough to support its gigantic upper half, but it has two swords?? It also has weird lines on its chest that I think are supposed to be muscles even though they dont look like muscles. It doesn't look powerful, or sturdy, or agile. I can't envision in my head how it would look in a fight. It's just kind of a mess.

HISUIAN Samurott shows up and says your daughter calls me daddy too. My only criticism of the this design is that the shape of its beard makes no sense, but I can overlook that because this guy is Water EVIL type. Its a ronin. It's a Bad Dude.

What they did is make the whole thing thinner overall, which does a lot on its own. They shrunk the helmet, they made the shape of the armor panels more interesting, they turned its feet backwards which makes it look more like a sea lions rear flipper feet and makes the whole Pokémon look sturdier. The horn and its swords are now wavy flamberge style blades which IS dumber, but dont forget that he is a BAD GUY. And you know he's a bad dude because there's what looks like an arrow stuck in its helmet, which I assume is a reference to a story about a samurai that I'm not familiar with.

They also removed the weird chest muscles and changed its eye shape. A recurring design element I hate in gen 5 is the anime eyes they put on everything. Terrakion, Shamin Sky, Virizion, and original Samurott all have just like anime human eyes and its weird. And I know what youre thinking but theres something different about Voltorb or Shiftry. Gurdurr has gen 1 Pokémon eyes, Terrakion has a human face stamped on a cow body. Hisuian samurott has a more angular cool eye shape, and the bright red accents contrasting with its dark blue and black is much more visually impressive than the originals ocean blue, tan, black, and orange.

Hisuian Samurott looks proud and strong and if it slapped my girls ass at the ancient japanese bar thats his girl now. And you can't fuck with a move called Ceasless Edge. Especially because at the end of the day it is just Samurott plus edge. But the result is a Pokémon I like vs one that I don't

[ursaspecter]

Before I get into it I just want to give a disclaimer: this is not a personal attack on anyone or me trying to gatekeep Danny Phantom. I am simply just airing some frustrations. This is all my opinion based on what I've seen from the current state of the fandom.

Also I'm writing this at 1am.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm really frustrated with the way this fandom acts at times. I've been a fan of this show for around 10 years now and only relatively recently came back to the fandom after being away for a while. It's nothing like what it was when I first got into the show, and I think that comes from the fact that a lot of people in the fandom haven't actually seen the show and have only read fanfics. And that is where I think the problems start to come up.

Now, ok, the show isn't for everyone. It's loud, has flashing colors, and certain parts haven't aged particularly well since its run from 2004-2007, and that's perfectly understandable as to why someone wouldn't be able to watch the show. I'm not faulting anyone for that. I only take issue when someone has a popular headcanon and a majority of the fandom acts like everyone agrees that it's canon and then get all up in arms when someone says they don't like that particular piece of fanon. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal, but it really bothers me whenever I see something like "I love how we all agree that [fanon]" or "so we all know how [fanon]"

Little things like ghost cores, haunts, obsessions are whatever I don't care that much, but when it gets into the territory of replacing fundamental aspects of the source material is where I have a big problem. See, I got back into Danny Phantom because I wanted to explore a darker take on the story that's a little more grounded in reality, but when every other thing is angst or torture or just treating Danny like a punching bag (most of the time written out of character), the idea really started to lose its luster ans made me hesitant to share my ideas.

The biggest issue I have though is with Wes Weston. Gonna be honest: I never liked him. I thought he was unnecessary from the moment I saw him. Then someone (I'm so sorry I forgot who it was) pointed out that Valerie was the perfect character to fill the role of the skeptic that tries to expose Danny, but the fact that the fandom wanted to focus more on an unnamed background character who happens to look like Danny was very telling.

Obviously I'm not saying that if you like using Wes that it automatically means you're racist. There's more nuance than that. I think what Wes does reflect though is just how much of the fandom just rejects the show? How so many people probably didn't even know about Valerie because perhaps she just wasn't in the fanfics they've been reading? Hell, I see more focus put on Dash than Valerie sometimes. Another one-dimensional white boy minor antagonist instead of a complex black girl anti-hero who is probably the best antagonist Danny has in the show AND the best love interest.

Also the overabundance of DC crossovers where Danny gets adopted by Batman are really annoying. I blocked every possible tag that could've gone with the crossover, but still somehow whenever I go through the main tag one sneaks through. Seriously between Frostbite, Clockwork, and now Batman why are y'all so obsessed with giving him a new father figure when you can just give Jack a better personality. Oh right because then you won't be able to write him vivisecting his son if he actually cared about him. Silly me I almost forgot!

Anyway thats why I only follow like 5 dp blogs and like 2 of them dont even post about dp most of the time. And schnuffel-danny my partner in chaos and shitposting. Gonna start a petition for a Danny Phantom reboot on the CW and make it the most edgy cringy shit ever and it'll have blackjack and hookers and Wes Weston is not invited.

[zalrb]

https://www.tumblr.com/zalrb/662039685476024320/i-know-you-dont-watch-queen-sugar-anymore-but?source=share

specifically - but i didn’t quite buy into that narrative and i think it’s because there’s a certain distance to them that the entire show has

Oh. Part of it could be that I think the cast as a whole don't really gel. They're kind of like the Superstore cast except it worked for the Superstore cast because they were coworkers. Like even when I was commending the show for its acting, for its portrayal of complicated sibling/family dynamics, I do mention that sometimes I felt like they're kind of just people who know each other

Queen Sugar is interesting just because the dynamics between the three siblings are so complicated and I don’t know if it’s because they’re so complicated that sometimes I feel like they’re people who know each other instead of, like, siblings but the point of the show is seeing them come together and bond and they do, like they’re very much a family and even looking up these gifs for them, I’m getting emotional because the acting is emotional, the show is emotional, and the relationships between these three siblings are emotional which means it’s a great portrayal of siblings.

so it's really down to the fact that writing-wise I thought it was a great portrayal of siblings but in terms of the chemistry between the cast, they feel like strangers, which extends to the family at large.

I also think it just has the quality that a lot of cerebral shows have as well, that inherent removal and distance, like watching Charley's breakdown at the mill, I'm not in it with her, it's more like an observation

there is emotion in the show and good acting in the show, particularly Bianca and Rutina, but there isn't warmth,

even when there's drama, even when there's mess it feels bloodless

and part of it is the style, which I find very beautiful and very striking but I also find impersonal. It makes sense that the director of photography talks about how they wanted to shoot it like they they're paintings or photographs because that's there

but unlike a movie like Selah and the Spades, for instance, which is vibrant and lush and warm

and the way colour tells a story in the movie

"Color also played a part in the costumes of Selah and her potential heir, Paloma (Celeste O’Connor), to differentiate their positions. “We always tried to have [Selah] in purples and gold,” Fray says. “We wanted her to have a real sense of regalness about her. In many ways she is the king, queen, judge, jury and executioner at Haldwell.” On the other hand, Paloma is dressed in earth tones throughout the movie. “We wanted her character to feel grounded and connected to herself,” Fray says. The neutral color also separates Paloma from the faction-based world of the school"

it actually made the movie feel more personal to me when the characters were lacking, whereas with Queen Sugar it helps with the removal.