#i dont like first person POV but thats the only way this was gonna work lol

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

I finished acotar a while ago and I was gonna write a review right away but then christmas happened and I was pretty busy and wanted to enjoy myself so youre getting like two weeks late

It was fine, I really didnt have any strong feelings about the book itself. Like, my main complaints are that it was pretty boring and directionless for most of it and stuff thats mainly related to the next books, if I just look at it as a standalone I would describe it as "not for me, but not that bad"

That is, until we get to Under The Mountain, where everything just gets really stupid and convoluted. That whole section, which is a solid fourth or fifth of the whole book, severely clashes with the sweet fairytale romance that came before it. It reminds me of how all those twilight-knockoff trilogies in the 2010s would have two pretty low-stakes books worth of basically only romance with some weird magic sprinkled on top, and then in the last book it would turn out that the protagonist and her beloved need to Go To War or the world will end except even worse (also now that I think about it, the first three acotar books also seem to be structed like that, so youre getting two shitty plot structures in one. yayyyyyyy)

There was literally no reason for all of that happen, it was honestly just unpleasant reading about Feyre, who had spent the book recovering from her trauma in a way that was genuinely pretty nice to read about, being tortured for three months until she was feeling worse than she ever had before. And some people might say "oh, thats the point, its meant to be tragic" but it didnt feel like tragedy, it just felt tonally dissonant. Also, the entire ending was so weird and dragged out, like that bit where she and Tamlin are staying one last night UTM for some reason and then she talks to Rhysand before they finally leave and its like, BRO dont stay in the Palace of Torments for any longer than you have to, just leave through that portal-tunnel thing

Speaking of Rhysand, he wasnt that bad in this book but Im sure my opinion on him will change. The main thing that sticks out about him is how sjm simply could not resist ALREADY explaining all of his motivations and portraying him as someone whos obviously so noble, despite all the obviously horrific and completely unecessary shit hes doing. Like, theres that scene where Rhysand crushes that guy's brain when Amarantha ordered him to crush his mind and the narration goes "that was actually an act of mercy from Rhysand" ??? that mightve worked better in third person limited where youre working without the implication that the prose is the pov character's actual thoughts, but since its first person and meant to be Feyre's thoughts I was just like "why is she thinking that when she should be thinking 'holy fucking shit, i just signed my life over to a guy who could squish my mind like a grape if he wanted to?!?!?!!'"

Also, theres that scene where Rhysand comes into Feyres cell to "escape from it all" or whatever and he basically monologues to her about his sympathetic motivations and I just. sarah, girlie, you shouldve saved this shit for the second book. Like, rewrite the scene so that he just comes in eithout a word, hes totally unresponsive to Feyre insulting him or trying to ask him what hes doing here, he just sits down in the corner, knees pulled to his chest, he mutters something vague about just wanting to be left alone, maybe he's even got tears in his idk. I think that would be a far more effective way to have him be sympathetic in a more subtle way than just having him monologue his tragic circumstances and noble intentions at Feyre

Thats about it so far, I'll probably start reading ACOMAF in january when winter break is over and I can read it on the bus and in class again

[stiffyck]

i cant stop thinking about tumble times so i have an AU to share (mostly a rundown of said au, but i sprinkled in some headcanons and stuff) basically tcd but scar and jimmy were a duo for a really long time?? i dont know how it would really collide with Jimmys evo smp lore and all of that, but for now im just gonna say during a portal jump jimmy got transported elsewhere. aka TCD when jimmy arrives hes unprepared, unaware of whats happened and only knowing that hes the only person alive, similar to how scar mustve felt when the apocalypse first happened. so, with how dangerously clumsy he may be at times, he manages to get himself geared up and find some good supplies to start building his own shelter. thats when he meets Scar, and unknowingly Jimmy has been taking his stuff, and Scar only started to realise when he was taking his food. somehow they never crossed paths, but once Scar actually realised it was another kid like him he was overjoyed. someone alive!! someone breathing and talking!! sure he may be a clutz and kinda new to this stuff, but surely scar can teach him!!! of courseee they bond, every night they stay huddled in the same room to stay warm and they share everything they can, they learn more about each other over time, and jimmy learns that scars name isnt actually scar. from jimmys pov it seems a bit odd to be named after a weapon, but from scars pov he thinks it makes him look super cool, jimmy totally thinks hes badass and strong when scars health starts taking a noticeable downgrade jimmy is the first (and only) person to help him, offering him support while walking and even trying to find wheelchair or some sort of mobility aid for him to help him out when they travel far for supplies. in short, they were there for each other since they were the only people around. scar still remembers giving Jimmy his favourite coat when it got chilly outside, he still remembers how jimmy never got used to the sound of zombies, he still remembers how he raved about his life back at home. it gave him hope in some way. maybe they could get out alive by some otherworldly miracle. of course, thats not how it works in this world. on a very risky supply run at night, jimmy and scar found themselves surrounded by zombies near their own base, and the first thing jimmy thinks to do is boost up scar so he can get inside the base. not noting that he wouldnt be able to make it in time before the zombies overwhelmed him. maybe he did know that. maybe not. its not like scar would ever know. scar didnt even get his coat back after that. it stayed on jimmys rotted corpse, and scar refused to shoot him, letting him wander around the base for much longer then he should have. and maybe that zombie was the first one to get to scar when he let the zombies kill him in the last episode. maybbbeeeee... BUT THEN THE LIFE SERIES HAPPENED!!! (i dont have many ideas for that part, still working on ittt.. but this was such a long post so ill cut it off here!! I HOPE U ENJOY!)

OUGHHHH THATS SO GOOD.... I NEED AN EMOTIONAL REUNION WHERE THEYY CRY AND HUG EACH OTHER REALLY TIGHTLY BECAUSE THEY CANT BELIEVE THE OTHER IS ALIVE AND HERE....

MAN.

[melancholiaenthroned]

ok its been a few hours here r my absolute batman thoughts...

starting off with what immediately stood out: that man is not blond. we have spent weeks either bemoaning or defending blond bruce wayne, only for him to appear, not blond. when was the choice to unblond him made? neither of his parents are blond, perhaps then? he also doesnt appear to have his gay little dog, but he havent seen much of his home life so im still holding out hope.

the first thing i will say that jumped out to me, and something ive already commented on, is how much of a scott snyder batman book this feels like. which it is, but god i missed this feeling. snyder writes batman a bit more lone wolfy than other writers, but with a very well defined ensemble cast when the need arises. snyders alfred is one of the only ones ive ever actually had, like, any opinions or feelings on, and so having him (even a very different version of him) star in the opening issue feels right. speaking of snyders alfred -- julia! julia mention, julia graduation photo! julia:-) seeing alfred call her in one of the first pages was my first sigh of relief like oh were gonna be okay... theyre estranged, which makes sense considering any alfred but especially this one, but i do wonder why/for how long considering alfred does appear to have been at her college graduation, and i assume shes around the same age as bruce.

bruce who, speaking of, is 24 and born in... 2004. setting this comic in 2028 but also! thats fucked up! what do you mean batman is the same age as me? that gives me four years to bulk up and learn how to do. whatever bruce did with that massive gun to make it "non lethal" (comic books....). its very weird to have a gen z batman but also makes sense considering snyder said this book represents more his thoughts on the mindsets of his children rather than his own (as was the case for his original batman run). bruce is an idealistic young person now! with young person friends... also weird to think that in this universe, killer croc, the penguin, two face, and catwoman were probably also born in the 2003-2005 range (they appear to have been childhood friends, i assume they went to the same school and were maybe also at the zoo that day?).

this is disorganized and i dont have a transition into this section but: the main "twist" of the issue, which i was not expecting at all. martha is alive. bruce lost his father, but he never lost his mother. it makes sense why he seems a little more idealistic (or maybe thats just Alfred's pov skewing events), he really does have like. a whole life. he has friends and a mother and a job, hes not a sad boy left alone in a manor. really not much to say about this considering its only the first issue, but im really excited to see where it goes. it does make this batman feel a little like superman in an interesting way. hes a lot more ingrained in the city by working a job that actually touches its core, hes a mamas boy, he (or at least his social circle) is involved enough in local politics to be going to town hall meetings. and of course. his main villain appears to be this weird ultra rich guy...

which leads me to other main snyder-ism of the issue: we gotta get the joker in here, and he is NOT funny. in classic snyder fashion the joker is SERIOUS now. he wears muted colors and never laughs and is a brunette (which could all change when/if he gets dumped in acid).i really wasnt sure if he was gonna do it, after all snyder has already pretty extensively covered the joker in his old run, and while i think hes literally the best joker writer ever, i wasnt sure if hed been interested in tackling the character in what is essentially a new batman origin. but here he is! and the tables are turned -- bruce is friends with all the jokers old compatriots, and the joker is alone and insanely rich. i honestly really have no idea what to expect from this plot going forward, obviously the current focus is black mask and his gang, but its clear the joker is going to have some part to play. im excited about it, im not one of the people who dislikes joker stories on principle and i was really hoping for snyder to introduce him into this world so its a win for me if nothing else.

anyway! not sure how to conclude this, but these are my thoughts! its been a while since ive been this excited for a bat run, and this will probably be the only thing keeping me going for a while considering weve got tom taylor on tec now. but god. im just so happy. remember being excited about batman comics? if any of u guys read absolute batman plsss lmk what u thought...

[dangopango00]

COLLEGE BAND AU HEADCANONS

Legato x gn reader

It was pretty rude of me to just randomly put an au fic without explanation so heres the explanation bye still self indulgent; always will be i fear

more utc

- OK FIRST ABOUT HIM. He works for knives still but in this au his job is to cause vash suffering by 😭😭… outselling him??? Ridonkulous ik but go with it

- Knives wants him to outsell vash so vash realizes that art and human creativity is obsolete and instead help him run his tech/AI company that also focuses on helping global warming (humans suck they should die. robots go!)

- Hes apart of a band to rival Vash’s and ofc its the Gung Ho Guns; he hired them to play for him

- Tbh i think their genre isnt set in stone bc theyre purely doing this to outsell vash so I think theyd keep the core of it rock or indie but it has a lot of shifting gears, doing wtv gets the most traction

- Legato is the bassist but he knows keyboard if their keyboardist is absent

- I think legato writes most of the songs himself (to impress knives ofc this is still HIS mission afterall) and gets a lil sad and defensive if it flops LMFAO even if its just his first album; considering how Knives talked down on music Legato thought it’d be somewhat easy

- It DEFINITELY took him a while to write things that had some semblance of humanity in it tbh he had to have either another less emotionally stunted member write it or a ghost writer but he did still practice writing in his spare time since he had nothing better to do

- NOW ABOUT YALL. Ur roommates in a college dorm; if it were up to him he’d have an apartment but knives wanted him to keep an eye on vash and vash lives on campus

- He only has like one or two official rules as roommates but if ur pissing him off with sth thats not on the list he WILL let u lnow LOL

- The only rules established off rip are:

1. MYOB

2. Do not touch him (no tolerance rule if u touch him without permission he WILL be out of there asap even if its a lot of trouble and will probably even idk push u or sth ignore u forever, hope and pray on ur downfall idk its hard to translate his violent tendencies to modern society without getting him arrested ok)

- You often eat together when he isnt busy tbh usually in silence but its ok its comfortable silence (to him at least)

- Ok im gonna try to say this in the least creepy way possible but like. He likes to observe you for inspiration HEAR ME OUT. Just seeing u go about ur day and since hes always in first person POV seeing someone else just… live gives him immense inspiration on what to write

- He also gets inspo from other artists and heres where u come in hehe. You are a solo artist who doesn’t show your face and your speaking voice is pretty much completely different from ur singing voice (Not like insanely different but if you heard the two separately you wouldnt really connect the dots unless ur one of those people who connect voices easily + depending on ur genre u could be using a completely different tone of voice than usual)

- Your genre is a little similar to Legato’s in the fact that although you keep your core component (Love theme IMO but hey i dont make the rules yes i doo) you change around the other moving parts such as the instruments or wtv so he listens to your music often though he never really thought it would be you; just never really thought about the possibility

- Im not gonna say hes like obsessed with your artist persona or anything but he does (as much as he would rather khs than admit it since according to Knives music is the bane of this world) greatly enjoy your music and often finds himself getting your songs stuck in his head

- Hes def a gatekeeper i mean this is the guy who can name every song in ur discography (Not saying much though since you dont post too often)

- ANYWAY u have no idea this is going on since hes prone to just listening to music in his headphones rather than showing you or blasting it for the world to hear so ur relationship is developing as normal roommates

- You often get him stuff from the college snack shack and in return he often gives u whatever he doesnt want from the dining hall (that sounds crappy but its usually good stuff like ur fave fruit or cheese and crackers or sth)

- After u become a bit closer going on trips together becomes common not like vacation but like a little drive to a department store or him taking you with him to practice/performances

- SPEAKING OF PRACTICE U work part time at a coffee shop and it has a practice room which is where he usually brings his band it sounds random but I’ve encountered a coffee place like this before ok

- Killing two birds with one stone, he gets to see you on his way in and out and he gets a quiet place to practice + Vash often brings his band here too so ig killing two birds and one afterthought with one stone

- Other GHGs (NOT greenhouse gasses. Gung ho guns) think that ur another one of his groupies probably 💀 he def has tons i fear

- He def writes songs about you or rather than about you, references how u make him feel but he is in denial and thinks feelings are embarrassing so hes just like no they just gave me inspiration

- Its ok though the only one he has to justify himself to is himself bc hes like. The only one who knows its about u since his songs are never rlly about romance and in the rare cases that they are its very subtle

- When, if ever, he feels ready for touch he frames it like hes doing u a favor lmao “I will allow you to (blank)” he is tbh

Random Misc:

- Hes majoring in Ecology or Conservation Biology prob minoring in sth like computer science (his entire life surrounds Knives what did u expect)

- Sleeps in his daytime clothes and ur always like ???? Esp bc he wears jeans often… U two went to the department store one time and u convinced him to let u buy him pajamas so he could wash the day clothes overnight

- Hes a big ass fan of vinyls and cds and just physical ways of owning things like music or games but wont admit to himself he likes it its just for the aesthetic ok even though he has a record and cd player

- Wants to cut ur hair and feels like its one of the most intimate things u could do without having to touch too much (forever subscribed to knives cut his hair hc)

- If u have a lot of accessories and generally just a lot of stuff he gets annoyed if it isnt properly organized and will organize it for u wnv hes having writers block

- If ur an artist he has u make his merch designs n stuff 😍😍 he pays very generously he rlly dgaf abt money tbh + Knives sponsoring him

A/N: irrelevant but idk whether to imagine him as tristamp or trigun design like both are so good but Ok im done yapping ty

[carmenized-onions]

SIGH you got me good with this one I fear

Okay so the chap is still fresher in my mind this time since I read yesterday!! Itemized yap sheet incoming below based mostly on the order they happened

1) Yoooooo

That just cracked me up okay. Had to add. But also like. I love them. I love that Tony is so nervous to catch up with Richie bc it means talking abt mikey, but also relieved and excited ish to talk to richie bc it means talking abt mikey does that makes ykwim

2) AAAAAAA listen the way that Carmy thinks about Tony to calm down?? Like hes having a panic attack and he thinks about Tony and is calmed slightly by smelling her shampoo in his hair literally makes me ILL

2b) kinda related but also like not ?? But Anyway Like. Carmy like unsure whether or not he is actually scared/believes Richie when he says he could end his relationship with tony got me like on my knees in my workplace when I read that bc UGH he has absolutely zero confidence and i just want to kiss his face okay. Also him not really wanting to share tony with Richie is so real of him actually. Like he wants Tony to just be his and that's so sweet.

3) if we dont find out the chip storyline ill riot if only for Carmy's sake cause like Carm, im also now very intrigued that Richie didn't immediately blab when prompted but also go richie thats very cute

4)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Scream break mb

5) last one but like the painting??? The way that it starts with the beef and has like pictures of before and stuff and the mid point is mikey and then it has pictures from like the building process and ends with the The Bear sign? IM DECEASED YOU KILLED ME THATS SO GOOD WHAT LITERALLY WHAT

6)okay im i liar whatever could i edit the post yes will i no. I digress. Last one fr. So the way both their lil povs end with them saying on friday they'll do right by each other??? Im so gone actually wtf

Anyways as always i adore you and your writing RAAAA

HEHEHEH GOTCHU!!! GOT YOUR ASS!!!

yoooooooo -- The next convos are really some of my favourite to write, i get to amp up the funny and math out what their texting styles would probably be, it's fun!!

Also yes, it's very much that part of grief where it's like a knife to talk about them, but it's also nice, it's weird when in the grief process, everyone around you acts like that person just simply Never Happened in fear of being triggering-- It's nice for Tony and Richie to get to talk raw!! Even if it's anxiety inducing to lead with it!!

2. Hehehhehe, he does it a LOT, When he called her before, trying and failing to get her voicemail, when he was having an episode in the diner and then Tony came back and he became Normal mostly. Grounding Tool but it's a Person

3. listen baby, I don't put a gun in the first act just to not fire it. I've had this backstory since chapter two. And honestly, I was extremely nervous that someone was gonna guess it and I was being too obvious. Thank God, no one has, yet-- But also no one's guessed, so like, feel free to throw in your guesses, love to hear em.

4. AHHHHHHHH!!!! Here let's see, during this scream break what can I give you...

This is what I'm screaming over, personally. This is Chapter 10 alone, LMAO. AND I'M NOT EVEN DONE LMAOOOO. The goal for me is to get it out this Friday, so it's like, timely and on theme. But we'll see how tired I am, this work week. Might've just gotten a commission (that I honestly don't want to take lmaoo) so we'll see. Fingers crossed. It's definitely gonna need me to take my eyes off it for a day and come back to, so keep your fingers crossed, for me.

5. OH GOOD! I was worried I described it poorly; there's always that fear, when you have to make the thing that's like the thing of the story, and if it's not good then what the FUCK WAS IT FOR!!!!!????

I'm vv happy to hear it killed you, is what I'm trying to say. I also thought the idea was very sweet. Hehhehe

6. You're always free to yap on end, never fear such a thing. Yes!! Their POVs start and end the same way, which is just like, a cute lil touch, yknow. Two anxious mfs. In the club tnnnnn, trying to do right by each other if it fuckin' KILLS them

thank you thank you thank u as always i love to hear this and i hope u enjoy Friday whenever the FUCK it comes out.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

A

PSYCHIC DAMAGE LMFAOOOP omg…now I’m shaking just thinking of the wc HAHAHA I’ll start mentally preparing…

OK DID YOU READ THE CH???? ANOTHER MANIFESTATION OFF THE LIST?? I’m strike throughing this to make it harder to read at first glance in case you haven’t read yet We literally said tabieita best duo because they’re mature enough and confident enough alone which allows them to duo without dependence THAT WAS LITERALLY LIKE HALF THE CH????

Yuki third wheel friend…yuki the “walk behind the duo on the sidewalk” third friend….tbh I think the person I’ve seen him with the most is actually Isagi??? From his little tantrum/rivalry moment….no ykw you’re so right we claim yuki!!

LMAOOOOOOO I’m crying this is so true to their dynamic and I love it sm….barou nagi honestly another iconic duo I can imagine Barou being like “you better stand six feet away from my ball at all times”…

STOP WAIT THATS GENIUS Barou one of the girls HAHAHA that’s so real though!! It kinda reminds me about how Kunigami was canonically like that before bllk because he hung around his sisters a lot!! IM GONNA SHIT MYSELF LAUGHING “y/n l/n is a lovely girl who can really keep a house clean. any man would be lucky to have her” GOODBYE the duo wingman plus imposter wingman dynamic im so living for this….

OOOH NICE!! Except for the knocked out part LOL I feel like I’ve heard that they have that effect…but fr!!! I have no idea how it’d work exactly but you could also maybe consider taking a smaller dosage to see if it’s enough to keep the nausea under control without glueing your eyes shut….that’s sometimes what I do with allergy meds LOL

PARAGLIDING omgggg HAVE FUN!!!! I can def imagine how it’d seem intimidating but I bet you’ll have a lot of fun once you’re in the air!! Just channel your inner crow HAHA THE EMO MOMENT LMAOO BUT DONT LOOK OUT THE WINDOW /hj I feel like seeing the scenery and other cars move from the side perspective makes that dizzy feeling worse…..could be different for you though but that’s what I’ve noticed!

REAL lowk I wonder if it’s maybe more of a he doesn’t actually know what loneliness is because he’s been left alone all his life kind of thing….but anyways…..

-Karasu anon

YOU SHOULD BE SCARED 😈 or alternatively grateful HAHA looking back at that 6-9k word count estimate is cracking me up because this one is making the otoya version look short 😭

I DID READ IT FINALLY AND OMG WHEN NAGI CALLED THEM A MATURE PARTNERSHIP I WAS LIKE ??? why is bro reading the tumblr convos that’s word for word what we said in the past 😟 also wait this is cracking me up…

CANNOT believe we have a canon panel of hollyhock sengoku era otoya now ⁉️ pov bro on his way to chill in y/n’s room instead of actually trying to find and kill reiji hiiragi as he was hired to 🤫

i do think i’ve seen him with isagi the most also because of the mancity match but tbh isagi has so many more relevant duos (rin, bachira, barou, even hiori and nagi) that it feels very very one sided?? i wish yuki and kuni or yuki and reo would become a duo because i think he would work w either of them really well!! technically reo and nagi are already a thing but it could be a way to break them up and let them find new friends and partners that push them more!! and kunigami + chigiri is also a thing but chigiri is so chill w everyone that i could see kuni and yuki being like a secondary duo the way isagi and hiori are

BAROUNAGI MY FAVS IN EVERY WAY!! truly they have the relationship rin and sae could have if they were just a tiny bit more normal abt things/their rivalry (but you didn’t hear that from me 😶‍🌫️) and LMAOO omg wait lowkey if only kunigami wasn’t busy in wildcard he would also be a hilarious prospect for that kind of thing 😭 barou gives me such one of the girls vibes though like i bet he’d let his gf braid his hair and whatnot…the SECOND one of the bllk boys says smth he tweaks heavy but he won’t take them out even if they’re shit because like his girl worked hard on them 🙁 LMAOOO the yuki barou team up would be wild especially when karasu is actively working against them 😰 and nagi is also just there for some reason too??? i think it would be funny if he gets dragged into things as a repeated bystander and eventually he gets super invested because it’s like an episode of a drama for him but irl 😭 so he somehow knows everything going on but refuses to intervene on either side (which pisses barou off) because he exclusively wants the tea and doesn’t really care how things end up 😩 he’ll randomly drop hints to move the plot along when it’s getting boring though but they’re cryptic enough that they end up causing more chaos than anything…like “karasu i heard y/n likes tall dark haired soccer players” “SHE LIKES ARYU???”

unfortunately i was knocked out on just half of a pill 😩 and paragliding was super super cool + not scary at all but i DID throw up into a little plastic baggie like 5 or 6 times and was nauseous/dizzy soooo would not repeat that experience 😓 but honestly i’m still glad i did it because it was so fun besides the vomiting and such a unique experience!! truly felt like a little bird hahaha…apparently nausea and motion sickness are a symptom of my birth control so once i’m back home i’m going to call the doctor and see if they have any tips!! for now we must endure i suppose 😔

truly i don’t think nagi understands human connection or loneliness or anything like that too well so he’s fine living without actual relationships because you can’t miss what you don’t know 🙁💔 but honestly he seems like he would’ve been very loving if he was raised normally?? like despite what everyone thinks he’s pretty loyal to reo and treats choki so nicely that if he had had a proper upbringing he probably would’ve been such a good friend/significant other 😪 that’s just my headcanon though until we get his actual backstory (like his childhood not just right before bllk) and see what things were like…adding this to the manifestation circle because i NEED to see baby nagi!! i bet he was soooo cute (and also i need to know if he escaped the bowl cut allegations 😭 his hair is wavyish so i think he must be safe?? but you never know)

[literalite]

asks

these r all the asks i got last night about the whole aesthetic discussion i'll answer in order of when i got them :p

truth b told if i started simblr like. today and knew nothing about photoshop then i'd probably be pretty demoralised too but also thats exactly how it was starting simblr anyway i just worked on it until i was happy w my skills... no one gave me a cheat code i just put time and effort into it

i agree with u im ngl like i do sincerely wish everyone had the opportunity to put hours and hours of their lives into learning how everything about this works if thats what they truly wanted. also if anything doing it solely by urself will make the process all the more time consuming but if u ask around for help people (including me! im down to help fr) will usually give it to u and that'll speed up the process more. being mad at me for having that is pointless what am i gna do go back in time and unlearn it all and for what? dsfghjk

okay i did see this being said a lot and uhhhh i was trying to understand it but like. i also don't. like ok with cluttered aesthetic build shots or yknow the odd landscape with heavy bloom shader on it i guess if ur looking at it completely from that pov yeah i guess it looks like some posts that "blow up" r just sort of the same shit. but the fact remains that its also it's good shit like anyone can clutter a room and take a photo of it what really counts here in my opinion anyhow is shot composition. and there's literally preestablished rules for this sort of thing u can google cinematography basics and get it for free... there's a whole field of study looking into what draws the human eye. like maybe the core concepts behind what makes a popular post popular is the same but thats because it just works. if u wanna shy away from that entirely but then complain about ur posts not being as popular then that's very much a u problem it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of us

amen these are my ocs wdym these are "sims" LOLLL these are the real people living in my head if i bust my ass making them look good then thats a choice i made

u can call this an empathy problem and try explain it to me more but i dont see how other people feeling insecure about what their current ability scales up to is any fault of mine or my problem to bend backwards to try fix... or even how i could. like is the standard high now yeah honestly it is. the learning curve was steep as hell when i first started as well. no disagreements here. but what am i supposed to do about it LMAO like i didn't create the human proclivity to be drawn to beauty i just ride off of it.

idk why i'm the bad guy for being honest for my reasoning behind what i do and don't reblog? lots of other people have been saying they dont really care about aesthetics which is great but if i said that i'd literally just be lying to you. i'm not gonna apologise for not lying... i like being able to see the passion and energy poured into the same video game we're all playing it's only natural to appreciate that- if that reads as passive aggression and u don't understand my stance that's fine by me

i would say for me personally try watch visual media that u can recognise as "beautiful" and not to shit on like. cw shows but i mean stuff that is marked by its cinematography being truly excellent. and just really examine how those set and lighting designers use angles and lighting and how the people filming and editing choose to frame their shots to achieve what works. hell looking at art helps with this too. look at other people's stuff on simblr analytically try to seriously work out why it appeals to people the way it does. ik u asked for editing tips but i think it really starts ingame you can have the most incredible editing style but it doesn't work if ur shot comp doesn't work then it'll won't hit as hard

take time to learn what most of the adjustment layers do on photoshop, and what all the blending layers look like, download other people's psds and play with them on top of ur shots to see what works! what u personally think looks good will be different from what i personally think looks good, i like dramatic lighting and muted colours and mid level contrast so not too strong but i can't speak for whether you will too. ALSO im a religious user of @/simmerstesia's psd set here i think a well chosen shot can be really elevated by using something like this to really give it that final polish

additionally if u have any like really specific questions or need some advice u can ask me on discord my dms are open like i can talk u thru it. promise it's not as daunting as it can look

[tiktaaliker]

AND THE AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS CONTINUE:

The Lost Hero (heroes of olympus book 1): ok so i think this worked out better for me than the lightning thief because i havent read this one as many times AND its been longer since i last read it so i wasnt as familiar with the story beats. kept me entertained enough, ending kinda dragged a bit. Overall pretty good, kept me entertained for a shift or two

Exit Strategy (murderbot book 4): very good time as they always are. I do feel like i have to mention that this is probably one of my least favorite of the murderbot books in that for a really long time i thought that the events of this book was actually the ending of book 3. Dont get me wrong tho i still like it a lot. Still way better than a lot of the other things ive listened to during work, and i even enjoyed it more than i expected to lol

Watership Down: see ok. I like watership down. I like it a LOT. but its just not a listen to during work sort of book. I think i stopped right after the "when they catch you they will kill you but first they must catch you" part because i was like. you know what im not actually in the mood to listen about rabbit politics rn and was just in it for the El-ahrairah part

The Hidden Oracle (trials of apollo book 1): i havent actually read this one before, and had only grabbed it because son of neptune was still on hold, but it ended up being my favorite of the rick riordan audiobooks ive tried so far. Ive found that i like first person a lot for audiobooks- im not always a fan of it normally but it just WORKS in this format really well as long as the narrator can pull it off. This one was definitely a good one, and i could totally believe the voice for "greek god forced to live as a sad pathetic teenager"

Fugitive Telemetry (murderbot book 6): fun fact this is actually the one i had read most revently because i hadnt realized i had skipped over the book in my first read through of the series lol. Anyways this one is REALLY good, turns out murderbot lends itself EXTREMELY well for a murder mystery, and knowing the twist didnt make the story any less entertaining. Excellent narration as always. Also once again affirming my belief that first person pov lends itself EXTREMELY well for audiobooks. i also have to mention that yes i did skip book 5 but thats because for SOME reason 5 was on hold for WAAAAAAY longer than any other book in this series. no fucking clue why

System Collapse (murderbot book 7): i mean. its really fucking good. need i say more

Gideon the Ninth: honestly was a bit wary of the narration/voices at first but they grew on me very quickly. i thiiink i mightve been rushing through my original read through because there was a TON of details i missed the first time through i caught onto a lot easier with the audiobook. Also i found it way easier to keep track of whos who with the distinct voices than it was in the book. im really bad with names so having big casts in books sometimes makes me really confused lol. VERY good adaptation of the book, very entertaining while also long enough to last like 3 shifts which is definitely a bonus

Eragon: mannn i wanted to like this one SO badly. this series wouldve been GREAT because its so fucking long and i REALLY love some of the later books. but jesus fucking christ i hate the voice the narrator gave saphira so bad its not even funny. i dropped the book as soon as i realized they were gonna stick with it for the entire series

The son of neptune (heroes of olympus book 2): ok i didnt really remember all that much from this book and i just couldnt get into it. i think if i want to go through this series again it just has to be while im Not At Work. it doesnt help that i started it pretty late into a shift so the next day i just decided id rather find something else to listen to. Thats always a big part of wether or not i listen to an audiobook im only kinda into- its always a Big Hassle to switch books mid-shift if i dont already have something lined up but i can always find something else while at home for the following shift

Wayside school books 1-3: grouped together because they were in one audiofile together as a collection. I fucking LOVED these books as a kid and tbh they held up really well even today. Tbh i think this was probably baby me's earliest forray into surrealist horror. Theres some wack shit in these books. It was narrated by the author, and it was done really well! Felt like a storytime at the library. Nice to listen to while working!

The Song of Achilles: do you have any idea how hard it was sometimes to have conversations with my coworkers while this was playing. It was really fucking good and a FANTASTIC narration it was just really funny sometimes when i was having a conversation about how our new courier company sucks and how our osmo analyzer was completely borked while having ancient greek gay sex narrated into one ear. Also a few times where i had to keep a straight face when internally i was just

my thoughts on the stuff ive listened to during work; note that im not basing my reviews on how good the actual book is, its based on how my personal experience was to listen to the audiobook while working in the lab

Animorphs books 1-3: i read this series as a kid but only once, so i was familiar with the story enough to not get distracted but i had forgotten enough of the details to be kept engaged. Voice acting was fine, tolerable to listen to, character voices distinct enough to differentiate without being annoying (albiet with at least one exception). Biggest issue is length- since my shifts are 8 hours, i got through the first 3 books in a single shift, and the specific version i was listening to was split up into a handful of short parts each book so i kept having to switch to the next video, which was way too much of a momentum-stopper (and work interruption) to stick with this series specifically.

The Witcher books 1+2: eh. was fine enough. once again this was something i was familiar enough with to follow without having to worry too much about missing details, while also being somewhat entertaining. i think i liked it a lot better to read than to listen to. voice acting was fine. biggest issue was that i had finally gotten used to the narrator pronouncing dandelion as dan-DIL-leon for the first book but in the second book he switched to pronouncing it as DAN-dee-lion and i had to stop partway through because of it

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: i remember enjoying reading it a lot more than listening. Ill be the first to admit that im kind of picky about audiobook narration and this one just didnt hit right, but was overall a good experience. Voice acting was fine, and the actual story was very entertaining as expected. Perfectly acceptable.

Discworld books 1-2: extremely good listens. Voice acting was great, character voices were fun and fit the characters really well, only skirted the line of being annoying. fantastic story, but not too complicated or unfamiliar, so i could still follow and be entertained while still focusing on work. Will probably continue the series at some point, but giving myself a buffer period before i start up again to avoid series burnout

Malevolent parts 41-44 (catching up with the podcast lol): man. theres just something about listening to a guy getting gutted and filled with maggots while working in the lab of a hospital. like broooo you are going to get sepsis!!! Very good listen, as expected, just kinda funny trying to keep a straight face while talking to coworkers and simultaneously listening to arthur's no good very bad day

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: probably the best one so far for what im using these for. The length meant i was able to spend like 4 whole shifts on the one audiobook. Footnotes were incorporated fantastically, narrator and voice acting was phenomenal, and its also pretty much my favorite book of all time. Ive read this SEVERAL times, but because of how fucking huge this thing is theres a lot of details i forgot about or misremembered. Only issue is that it was split up into several audio tracks, so i had to switch to the next one a few times per shift. They were each around 2 hours long however, so it wasnt too inconvenient. Also at one point i fucked up and accidentally skipped like 8 whole hours without realizing until after an hour in where they referenced an event i KNEW i hadnt gotten to yet lol

Catch-22: man they really went all fucking OUT on the voice acting here. All characters are EXTREMELY distinct, so im very easily able to tell who's talking even without speaking tags. One of my pet peeves in audiobooks is when the narrator whisper-yells when a character is meant to be screaming. That does not happen here. Narrator fucking COMMITS. Yelling, sobbing, laughing, all of it. Fucking fantastic. Phenomenal as an audiobook, i think i mightve even enjoyed it even better than actually reading it.

Slaughterhouse-five: man. this one is ALSO an audiobook that is fucking PHENOMENAL. biggest problem is that i got WAYYY too into it. I really needed to just sit down and soak it in, which was not very condusive to a workplace environment. I now have a self-imposed limit where im not going to be listening to any more vonnegut books from now on because i KNOW itll have a similar affect

His majesty's dragon: this one couldve been good, but the recording i found was not. The guy reading it did a big spiel at the beginning of each chapter and kept adding unneeded commentary like it was a middle school read along. Im going to be getting a library card today so i can use libby, so i might come back to this once i get access to an actual official audiobook lol

murder on the orient express: nope. barely lasted three minutes into this one

percy jackson and the lightning thief: see this is an example of something ive actually read too many times as a kid so i know the book too well for an audiobook to be entertaining. Dropped it after less than a chapter.

the kane chronicles: had potential, i remember liking the story a lot as a kid but i hadnt read it nearly as much as the pjo series, and i think it wouldve been at least vaguely entertaining. However, half the book has one of the narrator sdoing a really bad british accent for his sister's voicelines and i just couldnt do it. i didnt have the strength. Dropped after maybe 4 chapters.

Camp Damascus: the only audiobook of the lot that i actually bought, and the first one i got through that i hadnt read the physical book before. Interesting story, ok voice acting. Solid choice to listen to. Not quite what i was expecting, but pretty good story! Had some EXTREMELY gnarly descriptions of body horror thrown in at like. two points of the story maybe. Didnt really affect me personally but kinda threw me off in a 'this feels like a different story entirely' sort of way. Dont have much else to say here since these reviews are more talking about my experience with these as audiobooks specifically, and i havent read the book itself to be able to compare this one.

[artbyfuji]

R,,,Reincarnation AU; Summer and Raven keep meeting each other (and falling in love ofc lmao) everytime. 🏃

I think my ass just wrote a whole fic up in here lol:

1341

You were the heir to the throne. I was assigned as your personal guard. You hated this life, your family formed you into the perfect being. The smartest. The wisest. The best fighter. But you hated it. They saw you as an object. Just like the subjects of their kingdom. They cared only for status, willing to sacrifice them all in a moments notice. You said I was the first person to view you as something more than a name. More than just the heir to the Rose Kingdom. One day in the royal library, you suggested it. “Let’s run away.” You showed me an old map of the castle, secret tunnels leading outside of the kingdom. 

I was loyal to the kingdom that gave me a chance to be something. But my loyalty to them couldn’t compare to my loyalty to you. We ran away. Crept through the tunnels and fled as far as our legs would take us. We were free, just the two of us, and in that moment, we shared a kiss. It was just us for maybe a year, but forces beyond our control wanted to break us apart. Enemy kingdoms were on the hunt for us, if you were killed it would benefit them immensely. They found us in the cottage we built by the river, it was two assassins intent to slaughter us. We fought but you were always stronger than me, I never understood why they would make me your guard if you could so easily defend yourself. Perhaps it was so I could take the fall in your stead. Maybe that’s what your family viewed me as, not a person, just a shield.

I was over powered, laying by the river bed bleeding out, wouldn’t make it much farther. The assassin grinned as he scraped his blade along the ground. He charged to stab me, but instead of hitting me…. the blade pierced right through your abdomen. I never noticed that you killed the assassins partner, never noticed you jumping into his path. Until it was too late. He pulled the blade from you, and the sound you made hurt me more than these wounds ever could have. But with the last of your strength you killed him, sliced his throat while he was mid swing. You then limped over and laid down beside me. We stared up at the sky, stars were visible and the dusk began to slip away. The sound of the river flowing drowned out our weak breaths.

Your bloodied hand grabbed for mine squeezing it as tight you could manage. Then we turned to look at each other, your lone silver eye piercing me to my core. Your smile barely masked the pained emotions creeping under the surface. I wanted to be angry with you. for taking the blade for me. But some reason, I felt nothing…. I was just lost in your presence. You looked me in the eyes and said it “we’ll find each other again.” It was a statement like you were positive this wouldn’t be the end of our story. I smiled… because I believed you. We both looked at the sky again. Watched the stars shine in the dark blue night sky.

Until it was black that consumed us both.

1674

Seeing you again shocked me to my core. We lived in the same town, I worked as a carpenter with my brother. You were an apprentice to a tailor. You wandered into our shop in hopes of getting a stool repaired. We looked each other in the eyes and just knew… knew of our past lives, of our struggles. Of our promise. We were finally together again. “I didn’t want to lose you again,” I said as we held each other in a tight embrace. “I didn’t want to lose you again,” I said as our lips pressed together for the first time, under that oak tree outside of town. “I didn’t want lose you again,” I said as we laid in the same bed, clothes long abandoned on the floor. “I wouldn’t lose you again,” I said as knelt in front of you holding a ring up. You laughed, and confusion flooded my mind, until you knelt down and showed me the ring you were hiding….. it made our love grow that much more.

We were set to be wed. We decided on late spring, the ceremony would be held on that cliff side you loved so much. The way the sky looked at sunset was a true marvel, with brilliant hues of orange and purple that would dance across the sky. Was this the happiness we deserved in our past lives? I remember regretting asking myself that. Because two months before our wedding, I fell ill. double pneumonia, they said i should cherish the days I have left because it wouldn’t be many. 

It was the eve of our would-be wedding when my body lost its battle. You sat beside the bed everyday soothing my pain. But this day was different, I could barely keep my eyes open, I knew the end was coming, and maybe you did too. Because you reached for my hand and squeezed it tight. You delicately brushed hair away from my eyes and through ragged breaths, I parted them as best I could. your lone silver eye piercing me to my core. It felt familiar. You smiled, leaned down and pressed a kiss against my forehead.

I spoke one final request. “Lay beside me.” I knew you wouldn’t deny it. You got up and walked around the bed, it dipped to my right. You lifted my head and placed it against your chest. Your shirt was soft against my sallow skin. You cradled my weak form. That’s when you whispered it. “We’ll find each other again.” I believed you. I closed my eyes and listened to your heartbeat.

Until i didn’t have the strength to even do that.

1856

Maybe the frustration of how unfairly my life played out in my last incarnation is what caused me to pick such a violent path in the new one. My brother and I were bandits. Robbing train cars and stage coaches to make a living in this cruel world. When we met again I never expected to be looking down the barrel of your gun. It seems you too chose a dangerous path in your new life. You were the leader of a group of train robbers Ivory Rose, and we both had the same idea of robbing a train delivering gold. 

My brother and I joined your group. We took on whatever the world threw at us guns blazing. It was such a thrill, the rush of adrenaline as we dodged bullets together. I remember every close call we had, how the thrill of survival would sometimes turn to lust, how our bodies would meld together whenever we shared a bed in a heady mix of sweat and arousal. This life wasn’t going to end in a happily ever after. But we didn’t really care. We were just happy to find each other again.

Our dangerous life caught up to us. Wanted posters plastered in every town. wanted dead or alive. We stole from one too many of the wrong people and the Pinkertons we encountered chose “dead”. They trapped us in an abandoned lumber factory. They wouldn’t leave until they knew we were dead. You laughed as you reloaded your guns counted how many bullets you had left. I did the same, we both knew we wouldn’t make it far, but we weren’t ones to cower in fear. Everyone outside ceased fire for a moment, and if felt like the world ceased spinning for a moment, maybe giving us one last chance to say goodbye. We used that time to look each other in the eyes, your lone silver eye piercing my very core. We shared a kiss. Your lips burned like fire against mine. You said those words again. “We’ll find each other again.” I believed you. We ran out into gun fire. I can’t say I remember much after that.

But i’m sure you lasted just a bit longer than me.

1915

Our time together lasted long this time. It was the turn of the century when we met, we were just children, I was 5 you were 6. And we became close friends. “Inseparable,” as everyone in town liked to call it. I remember all the days we spent under that weeping willow just outside of town. Picking flowers, or blowing dandelions in the wind. Sometimes I wished for simple things. Money to buy a pastry from the bakery, or a pair of shoes I saw the shoemaker putting on display. But in my teenage years I almost always found myself asking the same question. “Please let her love me back.” 

I sometimes wondered if you wished the same thing. A few years later, my wish came true and we chose to be more than friends. I was 20 and you were 21 when we shared a kiss. I would never forget how soft your lips felt against mine. But things were soon going to test our love.

In 1914 the great war began. In 1915 it was right outside our town.

Our love was strong even as air crafts flew over our town dropping bombs. Our love was strong even as we stood in the middle of destruction. Our love was so strong when enemy soldiers grabbed us and forced us to kneel down with other survivors. They shot down the line killing everyone until it was just the two of us left. It was so easy to see what we meant to each other so the leader of the group played a game. A fucking game. “Eenie” the barrel of his gun pointed to you. “Meenie” it pointed to me. “Miney” back to you. He stretched it on and on and ON until he said the final “moe” and the barrel landed on you. 

I remember screaming. Remember him tell the other soldiers to hold me down. I was scared but you just smiled. You looked towards me and just smiled. Your lone silver eye piercing my very core. That gaze, that beautiful gaze, it always had a way of erasing my fears. That’s when you said it “we’ll find each other again.” I believed you. I had to believe you. I would always believe you.

You died first. And the last thing I remember was how wrong it felt.

1982

I was far older than you this time. The more decades that passed, the more convinced I was that I would never find you again. I sat in the gardens of the hospital, how curious it is knowing that you’ll die. They gave me three months to live. I craved your presence. What would you look like? Did you dying first in the last life break the chain? Would i never see you again? Would I be born again over and over cursed to never find you? Lost in my thoughts, a ball rolled towards me. Almost didn’t realize it at first but I could never forget that silver gaze. The child that came to retrieve the ball…. was you. Eight years old and just as sick as me. Was the universe laughing at us? Trying to finally separate us for good? For weeks we talked to each other. Right here in the gardens. You had the memories of past lives, but you were so young and you couldn’t understand what they meant. You called them “sad thoughts” memories of how you died in past lives would turn up in your dreams and it scared you. But you said once we met, they stopped. I enjoyed your company, but i hope you could forgive me for wondering what our time together would be like had we been the same age.

I remember always wondering how you died in our second lifetime. But maybe its better that I never asked.

One day you looked nervous. I asked what was wrong. You said you had a surgery in a few days, the doctors told you it would help your heart. I would grab your hand and squeeze, it was about the only thing I could manage to do for you in this lifetime. You looked up to me, your silver eyes pierced my very core, it was the first time I saw you without an eyepatch, there was such an innocence to them. I smiled and told you to everything would be okay…. and you believed me. 

A few days later I asked some nurses about you, about the child in Room 207. The somber looks on their face told me everything I needed to know. You died first again.

And this time you never said that we’ll find each other again.

2004

I sit in these college classes everyday. Lessons these professors teach barely process in my mind. In my philosophy class I always look down at the woman with dark red hair tied in a half bun, her eye patch, her breathtaking silver gaze. We pass each other in the halls, on campus. Her dorm is right next to mine.

Sometime’s when I pull up on my motorcycle at my spot on the campus parking lot, she is there. Talking with a friend. Some guy with blond hair. The first time we met she admired the paint job on my bike. She attempted to introduce herself. “By the way my name is-”

“Summer.” I said. Was I smiling? I think so. But I remember concern clouding my mind when she looked confused.

“How’d you know? Have we met before?”

I remember you. I remember all your past lives. I remember that child with the ball. The woman knelt in front of the barrel of a gun. The train robber that took on gun fire. The tailor’s apprentice. The heir to the Rose Kingdom. 

So why don’t you remember me?

[spaceyflowerswriting]

hi I'm back again, I requested the vin jin study date one and it was the best piece of literature I've read. It was so good that I wanna request another vin jin one cause I'm down so bad. This time could it be a scenario with him but he shows his eyes to the reader?

p.s. dont forget to take care of yourself ❤

connection (vin jin x reader)

details: soft oneshot, gender neutral reader written in 2nd pov, general canon au, you and vin jin are dating

summary: your boyfriend decides to finally reveal what's under his sunglasses to you.

a/n: thank u for requesting anon <33 thats rlly high praise,, im happy u liked that one so much T_T 💘 i hope this works for u, and i hope ur taking care of urself too :]

×

Vin Jin NEVER made plans. Things just happened and he rolled along with it, or he would make things happen, and whatever happened would happen. He just wasn't the careful kind of guy, and often he acted without thinking.

For once, though, he made a plan. A plan revolving around something very important to him, one that needed much consideration and steps to take. He even did it without any help! Yes, maybe some advice from his smarter friend Mary would've been helpful, but he wanted to be as genuine as possible so he chose to do things in his own unique, messy way.

That was part of his charm--according to you, anyway--and he wanted to utilize it specifically because this plan involved revealing a secret to you. What better way to go about it could there be?

~

"Vin Jin, where are we going?"

"It's a secret!" He turned to make sure your eyes were still closed. It was really hard to see with his sunglasses and the darkness of night, but with enough staring, he could kind of see that your eyes were still closed. He smiled triumphantly and faced forward again to continue leading you by hand.

"Why? So secret you can't even show your lover the way to get there?"

"Can't you let me be romantic for once?"

"Pardon?" You wheezed and Vin Jin turned a little red.

He cleared his throat and attempted to defend himself. "Didn't this exact thing happen in the K-drama you were watching with Mary the other day? You were talking about how sweet it was." He turned a little more red when he remembered walking by and almost blurting out about how cringey and cheesy the scene was until you stated your opinion on it.

His response only elicited more laughter out of you. "Vin Jin, you are so cute."

"Man, shut up," he muttered, "I regret doing this."

"And yet you're still walking~"

"Because--" Vin Jin's small annoyance was quickly replaced with excitement at the sight ahead of him. "We're here!" He started sprinting and you yelped.

"Can I open my eyes now?! You're gonna make me trip!"

"Yes, whatever, c'mon!" His hand still held tightly onto yours as he ran until he felt he was at an appropriate distance to the small lake. He took a deep breath of the fresh air in the open space and then looked behind himself at you.

Walking forward to stand by his side, you looked around and asked, "This is where you wanted to bring me?"

You didn't sound as awed as he hoped you would and frowned a little. "Why? Is this place not cool?"

"You brought me here before to have a picnic."

"I did?" Vin Jin scrambled to find a memory of this and turned red once more when he did. "Fuck."

How lame. This was supposed to be a heartwarming moment where you say, "Wow, you brought me to a place personal to you?" and he was supposed to reply, "Yeah, because you're my number one, babe." Actually didn't that happen the first time he did bring you here?

He tried to brush his scenario aside when you started laughing. Again.

"Never change, Vin." He huffed when he felt you press your lips against his cheek.

"You know I won't. Now let's sit." He started to sit down and practically dragged you along.

"What are we doing?" You hurried to sit with your legs crossed.

Vin Jin let go of your hand to snap with both of his fingers. "We're going to stargaze." He grinned at your amused expression.

"Okay, I'm ready when you are."

"But first..." Here comes his plan. "Uh." Vin Jin had never so intensely felt the pain of "easier said than done" until now. "I need to take off my sunglasses, y'know? Can't stargaze if you can't see shit."

He tried to watch your expression to see how he could proceed. All you did was widen your eyes. It seemed like you were going to say something so he waited, but it only resulted in an awkward pause.

"So... uh... yeah, gonna take off my sunglasses," he eventually continued, slowly bringing his hands up to his shades. "Don't mind me."

Yup. This was his plan. Be as casual as possible; because he knew if he tried to take himself seriously, he would only trip over himself and possibly end up clamming up.

This way he could also not pressure you with his anxieties. He knew it wouldn't be right to tell you, "I'm going to show you my fucked up eye and if you scream or make a single disgusted reaction I am going to dig a hole and live in it for the rest of my life," no matter how much he wanted to say it.

If you wanted to break up with him because of his eye, so be it. He didn't want to lose you no matter what, but if you left because of an "ugly" part of him, he knew you wouldn't be worth it anyway. No loving person would leave their partner for something like a physical trait considered unusual.

Well... that's what he was trying to tell himself.

Vin Jin gulped, growing frustrated that he couldn't stop his shaky hands. Your eyes still on him didn't help. At this point, he had his hands on the sides of his sunglasses but was just holding them there.

Nearly a whole uncomfortable minute passed before you spoke. "Sorry, do you... want me to look away?"

The gentleness in your voice combined with the sincere look of concern on your face was the last push Vin Jin needed. He took a steady breath before replying, "Nah, it's good." He didn't let you say anything more in case it would've stopped him from what he was about to do, so he just quickly took his sunglasses off and set them aside.

Immediately he looked away from you out of instinct and cursed at himself before trying to casually lay down on the grassy floor. He glanced at you to see you looking away as well. If only he could see your expression.

He crossed his arms behind his head while you laid down next to him.

It was silent again. The mood was too tense for a peaceful activity like stargazing.

"I walked into this, I better damn finish it."

Vin Jin slowly turned his head towards you. He tried to start a conversation, but only opened his mouth to close it. He knit his brows as he let a few more seconds of silence pass before relaxing his facial features and saying, "It's way easier to stargaze in the countryside."

"Yeah, I'd imagine. All these city lights are ruining stargazing." You replied lightly, chuckling even, but you appeared as tense as the mood. Your eyes were focusing intently on the sky above; as if looking back at Vin Jin would cost you your life. It honestly made him feel bad for how sensitive he had been in the past about trying to hide his eyes, but at the same time was glad you were so respectful of his boundaries.

"Right?" He continued to stare at you, hoping he would not have to prompt you to look at him. "I wanna take you there one day. Not where I'm from, but somewhere in the countryside."

"I'd love that."

A soft smile formed on his lips. "There's also a lot more space in the countryside. Less people plus less streets and places to navigate. I think it'd be nice to run around there with you."

"Mhm. I'm guessing that's why you like this place so much. Does it remind you of the countryside?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the city, but it's nice not having to worry about running into something every five seconds."

"Hm, well, maybe that has to do with the sunglasses you wear?" The way you were easing into the conversation made Vin Jin give himself an internal pat on the back.

"I got you and Mary to help me navigate around, don't I?"

"Can't do that for the rest of our lives, you know," you chuckled again.

"No choice, you're both stuck with me until the day I die."

"Guess I can't complain then. I signed up for this after all."

"Yes, you did."

The talking continued as topics and bantering bounced back and forth between the two of you. A few minutes in, Vin Jin turned away from you to admire the stars with you. He knew he was "chickening out," but tried to convince himself this was part of his plan to be casual. He did say he wouldn't force you to do anything.

~

It finally happened, albeit an accident.

While telling you an embarrassing childhood story about Mary, Vin Jin and you had turned to look at each other as he was saying, "She got all mad and looked at me like this--"

He was pretty sure your eyes widened at the same time as his. He froze up, his brain yelling at him to hurry and put his sunglasses back on, but he did his best to ignore it and tried to finish his story.

"Uh." The words were caught in his throat. "She..."

You were staring. There was no look of disgust. No look of fear. Only simple curiosity and surprise. Dare he say... entranced? As if you were observing an artpiece and trying to figure out its meaning, rather than looking at a freak.

Suddenly the fear Vin Jin was feeling was replaced by him getting flustered. He couldn't stop himself from turning away and that was when you seemed to have realized you were staring.

"I-I'm so sorry!" A waterfall of words spilled from your mouth, but mostly apologies. You tried to explain yourself but could barely form a sentence. It would have been cute if you didn't sound so panicked.

Vin Jin said your name, which got you to become silent, and then, "It's fine."

"It's--it's fine?" you repeated, now sounding confused.

"Yeah." Vin Jin forced himself to turn back to look at you. You were looking away once again. Now that you finally got a look at his eyes, he decided to be less indirect. "What's wrong?" He plastered on his iconic grin, playing dumb. "You never seen someone's eyes before? Weirdo."

"I... but... you..."

Turning to lay on his side, Vin Jin put his elbow out so he could prop his head up with his hand. "But what? You can turn back around, I don't care." Despite his confident tone, he was still physically shaking a little but he just hoped you wouldn't notice if you looked back.

"Vin..." Your voice softened. Still, you did not yet turn. "I don't understand. Why are you suddenly okay with showing me your eyes?"

"Ah, fuck." Time to get serious, he supposed.

Vin Jin sighed. "I just think it's about time I show you. I can't imagine never getting to see you properly for the rest of my life 'cause of my darkened shades."

You took a few seconds to process his words. "Aren't they an insecurity of yours, though? I'm just confused about why you're so carefree about them now."

"That's..." Vin Jin swallowed whatever pride he still had at the moment. "Because I figured it was the best way to go about it for me. There was no way in hell I was gonna sit down with you and seriously talk to you about an insecurity." He tried to crack a joke to ease his nerves. "Besides, how awkward would that be, right?"

"Huh." The silence that passed made Vin Jin beg you to say literally anything at all--internally, of course. "Are you absolutely sure it's okay for me to look at your eyes?"

"Yes. I think it's like..." Vin Jin wished he was better with his words. "A sign of trust, you know? And I trust you, a lot."

"I see." He watched as your body tensed up and then finally, you turned back around. The immediate eye contact made him tense up with you.

It happened again.

You had the same look full of love as you always did for him. There was just other emotions tossed in, but nothing bad.

This second time was a confirmation of sorts for Vin Jin that you viewed him the same. He didn't become a monster to you, he was only just your boyfriend. A human with an unordinary eye. And you still loved him.

Relief washed over him.

"May I ask what happened...?" you carefully questioned.

"Polycoria," he said, "is the name of the condition. I, uh, I'll tell you more about it another day. Probably." Nervously smiling, he moved back to lay down on his back and look at the stars. "This was. A lot." He spoke through gritted teeth, cringing at his every word and feeling like he was a sweaty mess. "I don't have anymore... um. Vulnerability to share. I'm done today."

Whatever emotion was running through him was indescribable, but just like how you looked at him, it wasn't bad so that was something.

Thankfully, your melody of laughter came along and soothed his soul. "Alright, that's understandable, Vin." You also turned away, joining him to stargaze. "Thanks for sharing this part of you with me. I'll make sure to take good care of it."

Vin Jin wondered how he ever scored someone as kind as you. If he wasn't overwhelmed with emotions before, he was now. All he felt like he could do was grab your hand and say, "I love you."

You hummed, rubbing his thumb with yours. "I love you, too."

His heart practically exploded. He was also starting to feel a little dumb. How could he have ever doubted you? Why did he take this long to show you his eyes when he knew you would still love him the same?

Ah, it didn't matter. That was done and over with now.

Vin Jin smiled at the sparkly stars above. Until he remembered he should finish his story about Mary, so he turned back to you and continued. He stared at you lovingly as the conversation carried on and felt glad he pushed himself for this moment.

Tomorrow morning would be the first time he would properly get to see you with sunlight shining on your skin, without his sunglasses in the way.

[birdybirdnerd]

Do you have any hcs for your stanarrator? :D In somewhere else and orbiting bodies! I just finished reading both and was curious, I love hearing authors thoughts, no pressure to answer hehe ^^

oh man ive got so many its not even funny holy shit. gonna put these under a cut bc i can talk for days

so im not gonna go super into like. serious headcanons for somewhere else stanarrator because honestly a lot of it is plot relevant and i dont wanna spoil too much about whats upcoming, but ill happily dump a bunch of fluff for them before moving onto orbiting bodies bc honestly theyre two Completely different creatures

idk if im gonna go into it in the story but i consider somewhere else nar to be agender! he chose the body he did just bc it felt right, but has no strong opinions on how hes referred to. in the game hes referred to himself as an 'it' before, and so prior to his humanization that was all he was. might have him play around with gender presentation later on, especially if i can have him and micah bond more since theyre also a flavor of nonbinary, but ive already got enough bonding shit between the boys and the seguras that i might save it for a side-story oneshot thing, idk

stanleys love language is listening and acts of service. narrators is gifts and words of affirmation (if he can ever get over himself and also learn what Feelings (tm) are)

aksdjfs so one of my most popular posts is about nar getting into tabletop games to work on his control issues and not to spoil anything but... that is exactly whats gonna happen at some point. that post was literally me rambling out of context abt story planning, its hilarious to me it escaped containment. but yeah one of his problems is letting a story develop naturally, letting the characters do their own thing and seeing where it goes; he gets so mired in the details of the plot, that he forces the characters into doing actions that would be considered out of character, just to keep things moving along the way he thinks they should. in the parable, where he was god and stanley was the only player, it was easier for him to railroad and thats one area where bitterness cropped up. in the real world, with multiple players playing their own characters and no real power over their fates? itd be good for him to be able to tell a story collaboratively, to indulge in what he loves and was essentially made for, without it messing him up or him messing others up through it

nar is the epitome of britishness at first glance. except. he cannot drink black tea. the tannins give him a headache, he discovers to stanleys endless delight. stanley meanwhile is so immune to tannins he can chug black espresso straight and its horrifying for everyone to witness thank you for coming to my ted talk

alright and now for orbiting bodies :>

first off, im saying this here and now, and im gonna try my damndest to work it into the next installment whenever that comes out but this version of stanarrator isnt romantic and wont be. we need more aros that fuck, and while theyre undoubtedly important to each other, you can be close and intimate without it being romantic in nature. so yeah fuck your best friend go crazy its fun

blame royce for sticking this phrase into my lexicon but these two are absolutely constantly engaged in a rabid switch fight. i mean have you HEARD the countdown monologue? yeah orbiting bodies narrator is sub as fuck but this man Will dominate stanley at some point. very soon ehehehe

also, since nar was the one that made his own body, he has full modding capabilities over it. this means he can make it look and act entirely how he wants to, including messing with the parts of it and swapping them out. this is a surprise tool that will help us later

oh oh and sort of tangentially related to that: while he obviously does feel everything thats done to his vessel and experiences things from it from a first person pov, its not Him. doodlingbot had a similar thing crop up in their blogs canon, but what im talking about boils down to this: if anything were to happen to the body, like, say, it getting pushed off the cargo lift, thats not the end of things lmao. at any point nar can sever his connection to the body, including severing specific things like physical sensation. then its just a matter of loading it back in, good as new and then proceed to smack stanley good for being a little shit lmao

anyways yeah. im not good with headcanons that arent plot relevant but have fun! might add more on later if i think of them :>

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

I have now read the first 4 chapters of acotar, thats right at the point when Tamlin takes Feyre away to Prythian

Its a decent enough start, but I do already have some issues with it. The biggest one is probably the pacing which felt very sluggish, especially in the first chapter. Feyre's thoughts just linger too much on pointless details and it makes certain scenes feel like theyre happening in slow motion when they really shouldnt be, although the scenes where shes interactinv with other characters generally dont have that issue

Next issue I had was how clunky the exposition was. I think thats because its in first person because I remember the exposition 'feeling' a lot better to read in Crescent City if that makes sense, even though I dont actually remember any significant differences in how it was written aside from the pov. Like, with first person youre essentially reading the narrator's thoughts and writing exposition in a way that sounds natural is difficult because when someone is just going about their daily life, they generally dont stop to think about how the world they live in works in detail, they just kinda witness it. But with third person, where the narrator is usually some omnipotent voice divorced from whats actually happening, you can generally go into more detail about how things actually work without it feeling weird from a character standpoint.

Then theres the worldbuilding which is disppointingly generic. I was really reminded of the worldbuilding of Eragon actually, which I found to be pretty generic High Fantasy But For A Young Adult Demographic-stuff when I read it, ACOTAR's world is basically just the ~*°Girls°*~ version of that. Or atleast the human world feels like that, maybe Prythian is gonna be more interesting although to be honest, after reading Crescent City where the world building was incredibly shallow and seeing the map in this book, I dont have the highest hopes

Like

forgive the shit quality of this image but WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THAT WHY ARE THE BORDERS JUST STRAIGHT LINES god im gonna vomit just looking at the border between the summer and autumn court

Also, the stuff about promises being laws is really weird and pointless. The only reason I can think of as to why its in there is that SJM wanted to have the typical Abusive Fantasy Fiction Family Dynamic with the mom who used to be the protagonist's one ray of light in a bleak household but then she died, except she wanted to subvert it by making it so that the mom actually sucked, but then she realized that if that was the case then Feyre would really have no reason to stick around, considering how much she seems to (honestly rightfully imo) resent her family. Also, if I wanted to do a subversion of that family trope, I would just have the father die and make it an all-woman household in this case but I guess that would be a little too feminist for Ms Maas huh

[k-white]

A small essey on my personal opinion on the "soulmate" trope in fiction and how it applies to the portkey sistem in Vice Versa

In my life there was a period where I read a lot of Fanfiction, specifically because the ship that I liked either wheren't canon, one of them died, or both(and in one case they where canon but both died *cries in Falsettos*) so I reverted to fanfiction as many do, and scrolling trough the works I noticed that there where a lot of soulmate stories, I got intrigued at the beguinning cuz I was always fascinated by the concept of soulmates, but as I read some of those works I realized that I don't like this narrative, I like it in real life like the idea of finding that perso that completes you either being platonic or romantic is beautiful but when you apply it to fiction it became an arbitrary choice, like the characters didn't have any choice, and considering that those are all romance the soulmates had to fall in love...

I am well aware that if you read a fanfiction about a specific pair it's mandarory that those character end up together but at least in classic narrative they have the semblance of a choice jn soulmates stories NO and that is what I dont like about it, why can't anybody write a soulmates story where the MC discover who theire soulmate is but fall in love with/is in love with someone else and they understand that theire soulmate is purely platonic? like theire soul twin? wouldn't that be cute...

Now on the topic of Vice Versa(a new thai BL that started in mid July)... Ok so the show is semingly going with the portkey apsect the way I was hoping it would not go, as in Portkey=Soulmates

I am writing this at episode 7, so the show could still surprise me BUT it being written by Jittirain I don't have high hopes unfortunatly, since the start I had the lingering feeling that finding your portkey was gonna be like finding your soulmate and as I said before I don't like this narrative, even in UWMA I was a bit annoyed at our main couple cuz it felt like at the beginning that they fell in love because of theire past lifes, and it was at the beginning but then they don't they developed real feelings regardless of their past lifes wich I apprecieted, but in Vice Versa there is no past life there is different univers and different bodies and the only way to go back is to find that only person that clicks with them to be able to go back, and our couple seems to have come to the conclusion that they are each other portkey, but it's been a year since the switch and Puen have been very certain that taley is his portkey but semingly with no back bene so I tought that it could have been a misdirect and they would go with a different route(as siggested by the mock trailer) but after this episode and the talk they both had with Namtam(don't remember her character name sorry) I am pretty sure they will in fact be eachother portkey and the key to go back it's either gonna be Taley admitting his love for Puen or for the other IDIOT to FINALLY tell Taley his real name after a HOLE YEAR that they know each other... and I am gonna be disappointed in that case cuz it is such basic storitelling the 2 of them be in fact the way to go back, this relay so much on the soulmate trope and it's such an overused trope the 2 main characters are in fact each other "soulmate" and they promise to go back together... I still hold a bit of hope for a possible twist and have one of the 2 be stuck in the other universe by himself(I would hope it to be Puen as a bit of revenge and as a parallel to Taley in the first 2 episodes but if it happens I pretty sure Taley is gonna be the one left behind cuz he is the main POV) and the only way for it to happen at this point is gonna be for either Tess or Tun to find the portkey and go back, but them being the other side of Taley and Puen I don't know anymore, I clung with teeth and nails to the mock trailer but each episode make me loose hope in a sembleance of a new way of telling the same concept...

thats it this are my toughts regarding the soulmate trope and how it apply to Vice Versa

I say Hi to everyone that sit trough all this brain vomit thank you, you are amazing

[one-smuts]

.......ok!

What I can't Have.

Summary: Shinsou falls in love with Denki just in time for Denki to fall out of love with him.

Ships: Denki/Jiro- fluff, Denki/Shinsou- Angst.

Pov: Shinsou

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was happy for him at first. Honestly I was.

It was getting sad for awhile, the way he followed me around like a lost puppy. The lost lovestruck look in his eyes when he looked at me. I felt like a monster, but at the time, I didn't feel that way for Kaminari.

He was my friend, my best friend even. But my lover? I just couldn't phantom it. I remember sitting him down to tell him. He seemed somehow shocked I knew how he felt. The thing about Kaminari is, he wears his emotions on his sleeve. For better or worse.

"So...you know how I feel?" He said, a spark of hope in his voice.

"I do."

"Aaand?..." Christ. He was gonna make me say it.

"I-I'm sorry Kaminari. I just dont feel the same. You're a great guy and all, I just don't feel that way for you. I hope we can stay friends though."

I think I watched his soul shatter that day.

I didn't see Denki for a few weeks after that. Im pretty sure he was avoiding me. Not like I could blame him though. It's hard to get rid of feelings when you see that person everyday. I missed him though. I missed him so much. Looking back, that probably should have been my frist hint.

When he started texting me again, it was a relief. I had my best friend back! And we xkuld actually talk and hang out now. No more lovey eyed guilt trips he didn't even know he was taking me on. Apprently, he'd gotten really into music to process his emotions, and it really helped him heal.

We have Jiro to thank for that.

I don't hate Kyouka. I think she's actually a wonderful girl, and I nothing but thankful for her, for being there for Kaminari when I couldn't be.

That said, the moment he introduced us j saw it. He had that same love struck look in his eyes. It didn't surprise me. Kaminari had the heart of a hopeless romantic, it was made of elastic.

The difference was, she had the same eyes for him. It shocked no one when they started dating. And look, I was happy for them! Denki deserved someone who could love on his level and Jiro fit the bill. She was kind and caring, and they both loved music. I couldn't believe it, but she tought his tone deaf ass to play guitar! They have a small band together now. They make amazing music.

And they really are adorable together. I started inviting Jiro to our hangouts, so she knew she was welcome. At first, I thought I was annoyed at being a third wheel. Watching them curl into eachother on the couch, while I sat on the floor on movie night. How they would get into these feedback loops of just gushing over one another. And don't even get me started on the playlisys.

But, slowly I realized it was more. It was in the way he held her close at all times. They way he talk about her, as if she was some divine gift. It was in the way he looked at her, with those love struck puppy eyes.

Fuck, I missed those eyes being on me.

Leave it to me to only realize I want someone once I couldn't have them. My stomach would turn into knots when's I saw him. My head would feel light, and on the rare occasion it was just us, I'd get damn near giddy. I was a love struck fool.

And, maybe it really was just so I could heal and move on. Maybe it's because I'm selfish. Maybe it was because some tiny part of me hoped he'd leave her for me. But, I told him exactly how I felt.

It started out normal, we were playing Mortal Kombat, but, I guess he noticed my game was off.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You lost."

"I lose all the time."

"Yea, but not with noob!" His laughed was always so adorable. "Noobs your main! So what's going on?"

I got cold feet at the question. I was I was sure I wanted to tell him, but now...

"Im fine, I promise."

"Hitoshi, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yea?"

"So why are you keeping secrets now?" He asked. He was right. It didn't ruin things when I rejected him, why wouldn't work out the same way in reverse? And his smiled was so warm, and inviting.

"I-..I think I love you."

"Aww, I love you too bro!"

"No, Kaminari, I mean I love you."

His smile dropped.

"What?"

"Look, I know that I said I didn't feel the same, and at the time I didn't, but I love you! Seeing you with Jiro made me realize, I-"

"Hitoshi, that's not fair." Denki said, uncharacteristically cold. I could see the tears form in his eyes. But, it wasn't the same as last time I saw them. These weren't tears of heart break.

"I waited a whole year for you. I wanted you, for so long, and you told me you didn't want me. Not the other way around. And now thG I'm happy and everything is good, and, for the first time in forever, I feel like I'm not carrying bricks on my chest, you wanna do this? Hitoshi, do you like seeing me hurt?"

"No! Kaminari, I would never do anything to hurt you!"

"Then why tell me?! What did you expect?! For me to just leave Jiro and come running into your arms? I love Jiro. And I'm pretty sure she loves me. She loves me enough not to try and crash everything I worked so hard to build." He was crying now. I wondered how over me he really was. I wondered if that was selfish to think.

"No, I don't want to break anything you built-up. I just had to get it off my own chest. I don't want you to leave Jiro, I just...I dont know."

"I-..I dont know either man. I'm sorry but, I really don't feel the same anymore. I don't know why I'm so mad about it." He confessed. He refused to make eye contact. "I guess I'm just mad that I spent months miserable over the fact that you'd never love me. And, I guess it all feels like it could have been avoided now."

"Im sorry."

"But, I don't know if I want to have avoided it." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He wasn't crying anymore, but his eyes still had had a sharpness.

"If I avoided it, I wouldn't have gotten so close to Jiro...but...I just.." He cut his own thoughts off with a groan, hiding his face in his hands.

"Im sorry."

"I know you are." He mumbled. He looked over at him. "I loved you Hitoshi. I really truly did."

"Its not too late, I-" that was the wrong thing to say. A scowl came across his face.

"Yes it is. I loved you. Ed. Past tense. My emotions and how I feel don't get pushed to the side because you finally came you your sense and realized how you felt. My relationship isn't going to just end because you want it to."

He grabbed his backpack and stood up. I wanted to reach out for him and make him stay. But, I knew that would be wrong.

"I-I'm sorry Hitoshi. I just dont feel the same. You're a great guy and all, I just don't feel that way for you anymore. I hope we can stay friends though." He mumbled as he walked to the door. He looked back at me.

"I'll see you later man."

"See you later."

And thats where we are now. I've been laying on my bed going over this entire situation in my head for hours. I definitely could have gone about that last interaction diffrent, but, it doesn't matter. I missed my shot.

Stupid late stage crushes.

I can't help but think about how he must have felt just like this all that time ago. And I feel almost worse knowing I put him through it.

But, I know I can't lose him. He's my best friend, I'd be devastated to lose him completely.

So, I guess I gotta just get over it.

_________________________________________

A/N: hope ya like it @firelove151! I haven't ever really written anything like this before so, as always constructive feedback is welcome!

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Okay, you know how I said I wanted to watch all these german minecraft series and then watch 3rd Life SMP? Yea, I actually dont have the attention span to watch a bunch of white bread boys fuck around in minecraft with little to no story, regardless of wether theyre american or european so Im just gonna write this post and them start watching 3rd Life SMP so yeah.

First, I kinda want to discuss what Im hoping for on like, a meta-level I guess. The only other minecraft RP Ive watched that seems similar to this is Dream SMP so expect lots of comparisons.

I like to split dsmp into three major parts: no story/non-rp, story/non-rp and story/rp.

The first part was literally just a live streamed vanilla minecraft let's play and it was boring as shit. It felt exactly like watching a bunch of dudes play minecraft and unless they acknowledged the people in their donations (who could uncomfortably pushy and even shippy at times) you did not at all get the impression they were even aware of the stream. And as much as I appreciate some level of authenticity in this type of content, I also expect to be entertained by it and this did not even meet my bare minimum standard of entertainment. Admittedly, my attention span is very low so that definitely has something to do with it, but still. I personally have never felt anything but boredom and occasionally intense discomfort while watching anything from this 'era' of dsmp.

The second part was the start of the first conflict, and thus the start of some semblance of a story. They were kind of 'roleplaying' already (both in the sense that they obviously have their personas for their content and in sense that they didnt actually have grievances with one another and were just playing it up for the sake of entertainment) but it was more on the fly, even less focused and less serious. However, it was already legues more fun to watch.

And then we had the third part, where, starting with Wilbur Soot joining and deciding to larp Hamilton, they started to plan things out more and have more complex and/or dramatic conflicts. Needless to say, this was/is the best part in my opinion and what made me see the appeal of dsmp.

What Im hoping for 3rd Life SMP is, that they skip atleast the first part. From what I can tell, it was created sometime after dsmp has been in that third part for a bit and it is a minecraft rp, so Im assuming the people behind it wanted to do something similar, just with the story aspect there on purpose and from the get-go, if you know what I mean. And by the way, I dont think thats wrong or even "copying" in the slightest. Dsmp very much seems like a case of "they did it first, not best" and if anything, I think it would be a shame if people didn't want to do their own spin on this basic concept.

What Im personally hoping for in terms of the 'style' of roleplay itself, I really hope that they dont seperate it as rigidly into lore and non-lore as they did in dsmp. Ideally, they would do it like Ranboo (Wilbur when he was playing Ghostbur to an extend too, but he didnt actually stream and have his own POV back then), where he's always kinda 'In-Character' even when there isnt really anything happening in the plot at that moment. Again, I just dont have the attention span for no story in series like this anymore, so I'd appreciate it on a personal level, but I also think that it could humanize the characters more and potentially add additional depth to them. Especially since it looks like 3rd Life is made by the Hermitcraft group and if the stuff Ive read about Hermitcraft (especially in comparison to dsmp) it wont thrive off intense conflicts and wars in quite the same way, so that could also be a way of making a calmer rp interesting.

And now, some actual plot predictions!

So, the way I found 3rd Life SMP was this really neat 'Pitiful Children' animatic by ZylisticArt. I didnt actually 'watch' it because when I look up animatics I just kinda stare at the screen, not processing anything because Im too busy imagining my own OC animatic to the song, but I did read the description and was mildly intrigued, and its the main reason I wanted to watch 3rd Life so Im going to properly watch it now and post my predictions for the plot below.

***

The description mentions something about the animatic being based on some kinda theory, but I only skimmed it in order to not get spoiled so idk what thats really about. Im mostly intrigued by the fact that the description mentions it being a hardcore SMP (with a twist!), that, combined with the name and the visuals of the animatkc lead me to a couple conclusions;

I dont really know how Hardcore mode works in multiplayer, but in singleplayer you just get permanently kicked out of your world when you die, so Im assuming it works like that on a server too, except on a server, Im pretty sure you have the option of being 'reinvited' onto a server by the admin(s) so you could theoretically have three lives while keeping it a hardcore project where you cant regenerate without potions or golden apples and all that. Again, idk if thats actually how hardcore works but I sure hope it is, because thats what Im basing pretty much all of my predictions on.

In the animatic there were like green people, yellow people and a red guy who was like, the antagonist I guess. I think the green guys still have all their lives, the yellow ones are down to two and the red lads are all down to their last one. Maybe theres gonna be a thing thats like, if you lose a life you lose a part of your soul and that makes you evil or something? Yknow, like the whole "character comes back wrong" thing, except its the conflict of the entire series. Pitiful Children is very much a 'Manipulating Others Into Doing Harmful Shit' kinda song, and I feel like that would be very in-line with a plotline like that, yknow?

Im not expecting there to be wars/conflicts on the scale of dsmp (no blown up countries here bois) but I am expecting to get ridiculously attached to a place that inevitably gets blown up/set on fire by an antagonist.

Speaking of antagonists, theyre definitely also doing the whole multiple POV thing, which means everyone is an antagonist in one way or another and Im a solutely watching every POV from every characters so that I know the full context and story of everything, so I can have the most correct opinions on them, which is both normal to want and possible to achieve.

Since these are the Hermitcraft guys Im expecting some beautiful builds that make me feel insanely untalented and the same thing with redstone shit.

Ghosts. If they havent added some kind of ghost mechanic/lore at the time Im writing this, they will add one in later, mark my words 3rd Life fandom, mark my words...

Thats pretty much it. This is all going under my mcyt tag too, and I dont think I'll be live blogging it, but it really depends on how interesting it is.

Also, if youre a 3rd Life fan who already watched all of it, the only thing youre allowed to respond to this with is a meme that is horribly incomprehensible to anyone who hasnt watched it.

Have a nice day!

[newtedison]

my thoughts on the crank palace

i touched about this a bit on twitter (@newtedison_) but i figured i would Try and touch on my points more here (spoilers obv) again, its sort of lengthy

1. im gonna start with talking about the ending because i need to get it out of the way. either i havent read the books in a while and i forgot some canon (which could very well be true, i literally forgot that Bliss was a thing) or this ending makes no sense and is (somehow) setting up for a tdc sequel? so first off, newt was shot in the Head with a Bullet and somehow didnt immediately die? i know that that can happen in real life but it just seems so unlikely that not only would he not die, but he would survive long enough for someone from WCKD to transport him back to their labs and try to revive him. and who the fuck was he talking to? did thomas get newt’s journal at some point and i just dont remember? like i said, either im forgetting stuff or this ending doesnt make sense and is setting up a sequel which...i’ll get to later

2. why was this written? like, what was the point? i understand that this wasnt going to be all sunshine and rainbows but i feel like i was reading torture porn. like, literally all that happens is newt gets tortured (which is described in detail) by WCKD soldiers, has bouts of insane-fueled rage where he KILLS MULTIPLE PEOPLE, and then he dies. ??? what did this contribute to the canon? what was this trying to accomplish? truthfully, i never really wanted a newt-POV...well, anything except for maybe those little nuggets he wrote some time ago. but even if i HAD wanted a newt-POV novella, this is not what i would have wanted. he KNOWS that newt is almost universally the most loved character in this franchise. you can tell because he constantly uses him as a way to get fans in his good graces again. so why on earth would he take that character that so many people love and write a novella where its torture porn and a descent into madness before death? i am not interested in that At All. i’ve read fics (and even written a drabble) where newt is a Crank, and those were more respectful and easier to read than tcp. the parts where newt is having bouts of the Flare were literally exhausting to read; it was described in such vivid and torturous detail that it made me sick reading it. and it didnt help that newt is a character i care a lot about. i didn’t need to know what becoming a Crank felt like. the way it was described in the other books (and even the movies) told me everything i needed to know. the way thomas and everyone found newt at the crank palace in tdc and hes described as obviously not well, but not knowing what exactly happened to him...thats good enough on its own. the mystery of what exactly newt had to endure is part of what gives his journey more emotional depth. not everything needs to be written out and explained. not every gap needs to be filled in. 

3. me saying “the characterization felt off” is going to make some people roll their eyes because ‘duh, sami, the characterization will be off because he’s going insane’ to which i say...exactly. we weren’t really reading a newt-POV novella, were we? even if he isn’t past the Gone in the beginning, hes clearly not the same person we knew him as. the whole novella felt like an uncanny valley situation; i knew i was supposed to be reading about newt, but it felt like i was reading about someone else who looked like him. and that is part of what made this such a disconnect and made me lose interest at parts. not only that, but the world building and lore is inconsistent. newt makes a comment about how it used to rain in the glade, and apparently (as ive been told) that is simply not true. keisha having somehow working cell phone that magically connects her to her family also doesnt make sense. how would they have each others’ numbers? what are the odds that they BOTH found working cell phones in an apocalypse? i get that its a novella but you cant just throw something that crazy in there as a plot convenience. actually work on your plot and world building in a cohesive way, please. and another thing that doesnt make sense...

4. ...is newt finding out that sonya is his sister. if there was anything i would have wanted from a newt-pov novella, it would have been this. him finding out that not only is sonya his sister, but he already knows her post-WCKD. something that would have made this novella actually captivating, contributing something worthwhile to the canon that i would actually want to read, is if newt found out while in the crank palace that sonya was his sister; the Flare would remove that part of the Slice in his brain, and he would realize it was her. then, knowing that he couldnt go past the Gone before seeing her, he would try to find a way to get back to her. he could learn this after thomas and everyone originally see him, so it could match up with the canon. and then, by the time 250 comes along, hes lost all hope of that actually happening, and lashes out to thomas in a fit of rage. the journey of him trying to find his ACTUAL sister would have meant more to me than the story of keisha and dante. trust me, i love a found family trope as much as the next girl. but this series is FULL of the found family trope. it pretty much is the backbone of the franchise. so to see a blood family dynamic would have been a refreshing change of pace that i actually would have been interested in reading. also, the way that newt DOES find out about sonya is...underwhelming. he just randomly says “you remind me of my sister, sonya” to keisha in the WCKD truck. first of all, sonya is not the name you would actually know her by. you would know her by her birth name (which is lizzy? elizabeth?). second, why does he act like he didnt already meet her in the series? when the WCKD doctor tells him sonya is his sister and is alive, hes so surprised. wouldn’t he have known that already? why is there not more emphasis on the fact he already met her? that would have been a really interesting dynamic to explore, and im sad they didnt

5. the pacing and dialogue of tcp is so dragged out. i remember specifically there was a section where newt goes to talk to keisha after she starts abandoning dante, and i swear to god there was a page and a half of text before anything ACTUALLY happened or anyone ACTUALLY said anything. dashner described a launcher at one point as “the energy dependent electric firing projectile device.” that’s SIX words to describe a stun gun. a fucking stun gun! we know what it is! why did you have to use six words??? it just felt like everything was dragged and stretched to the longest it could possibly be and it added to the exhaustion i felt while reading it

6. okay i cant end it without talking about newtmas. its very obvious by now that newtmas is a VERY large part of this fanbase. its clearly the most popular ship and what keeps a lot of people interested in this series. even the marketing team for the MOVIES used newtmas as a advertising tactic (i.e.; using thomas and newt standing face to face as a thumbnail for the trailer, emphasizing newtmas based questions in interviews, even making a fucking facebook memories video for them. yes that last one is real). not only does dashner use newt as a way to lure fans in; he also uses newtmas. the parts that were sprinkled into this were so obvious that it didnt feel authentic. i cant speak for the original trilogy; i dont know the culture around ships back then, and i dont know how much it influenced his writing at the time. but the scenes in those books felt more genuine than tcp. by genuine i mean; he wrote scenes without a relationship in mind, but the chemistry had noticeable subtext that, while unintentional, was largely agreed upon by the larger audience. the parts of newtmas he added into tcp felt artificial and forced, likely as a way for people to take snippets of and use as a free marketing tool for him. one example you might have already seen; “he had already gotten used to his post-thomas, post-WCKD life.” the fact that dashner SPECIFICALLY used the phrase “post-thomas” rather than “post-his friends” or something similar shows that he is using newtmas as a hook on purpose. not only that, but to make newt’s last thoughts as he died “tommy. tommy will understand...” is...wow. first of all, i never wanted to know what newt’s dying thoughts were, but thanks, i guess? and second, when we all initially thought newt died underneath thomas with a gun to his head, i was pretty much inferred that newts last thoughts would probably be about thomas; they would sort of have to be, given the circumstances. so adding that in gives me the same feeling that “i’m coming for you, newt” at the end of the fever code gave me. not as offensive, but written very much on purpose. and the ending is implying that there will somehow be a sequel where thomas gets newt’s journal from...someone. at this point, i can only think that this sequel will retroactively make newtmas canon somehow. now that newt has been confirmed as gay, it could happen. which brings me to my last point...

7. hearing dashner confirm newt is gay was already mind-boggling before. now that i’ve read the crank palace...im angry. im very angry. i think its safe to say that newt is the character that suffers the most in this series. you can argue with me but hes definitely high on the list, if not #1. so; you take this character. you give him a horribly sad arc in the original trilogy, then decide to expand upon it and tell us, your largely QUEER fanbase, exactly how painful and torturous his last days were, in detail. and then you tell us he’s gay. something that is never mentioned in the canon, only in an offhanded reply to a tweet of someone calling you out. on a base level, i can understand why people would be happy. representation (i guess), seeing themselves in the character, having their headcanons be confirmed. great. but what i see is you telling your largely queer fanbase “hey, you see the only confirmed gay character? im going to literally write torture porn about him before killing him off and offer it to you like im providing a service to your community.” how fucked up is that? “hey, kids, if youre gay, you WILL be violently tortured and become violent and a danger to the ones you love. then you will die and your love will never be reciprocated.” what a message! and if he DOES end up retroactively making newtmas “canon” in some weird sequel...i will start foaming at the mouth. THIS is an example of how not all queer representation is good or genuine.

i’ve definitely forgotten some points but this is long enough already. let me know if you agree or if theres anything else you want to add! im interested in what you guys think

(8. I JUST REMEMBERED!!! if WCKD needed to study newt so bad bc sonya is his sister and is immune while he isnt, why did they let him run around the crank palace in the first place??? you cant test his vitals or anything you’re literally just watching him. what is the point????)