#i dont write actual things very often

[nekioe]

When Dream finally escapes Pandora there's something off about him. Punz doesn't notice it immediately, maybe they first excuse it as the loneliness and trauma showing it's scars. But as time goes on it gets more and more clear that something just isn't right. Something beyond the trauma. They don't know what, but something has changed, something in the core of Dream that made him, well... Dream. Its hard to explain. Escpessially since Punz isn't quite sure if he's actually right or if it could all just be explained by Dreams trauma.

There are two major thing Punz has noticed:

Dream moves in a different way. He has always been very loud and dramatic, big animated gestures. Constantly pacing and moving. Even during the wars, although maybe a little less. Now, Dream stands eerily still. And when he moves, he does it with an inhuman sort of perfect, moves at a constant speed with a supernatrual preciseness.

When he speaks, the words sound unatrual on his tongue. Punz feel like Dream's stuttering through them, forcing them out of his mouth as if he's dragging them from some far away place that might not even be part of him anymore. But Punz has never actually heard Dream stutter. His words flow seamlessly like water, tone, and pronounciation perfect. Always perfect.

It's a paradox Punz can't understand, and it's making them feel more and more insane.

This is just an idea i got for vampire c!dream after watching arcane s2 and the way Victor acted after uhm thing.. (trying not to spoil anything, even tho it's rly minor). I just think that the feeling of something being wrong or other would be nice for v!dream. Before Punz even gets to know what happened to Dream, aka loosing all of his last humanity and becoming vampire, Punz notises something being wrong. It could be explained by trauma, and some of it might be that, but they feel like something else has changed, something to do with Dream's nature. And they're not wrong🤷

[vickitea]

title

ok typing this while the wisdom saga is playing in the livestream

can we just step back and appreciate how far we've come in the epic fandom? like

i know it means nothing to anyone but DAMN im so PROUD of jorge

like he DID IT

hes DOING IT

when "the whole world felt like it was against him" or smth idk if thats exactly what he said

BUT LIKE

LOOK

im cryin just thinking about it dawg

jorge is amazing hes so kind and excited and supportive and a little bit crazy like all of us

and he did NOT give up on his dreams

and now look!

and another thing about tonight

get in the water got superrr popular a while back and people during the release of the ocean saga were like 'why dont you release get in the water right NOW?' and i remember trying to explain it it was lowkey funny

and now its coming out tonight.

i remember i used to scream and jump and kick my feet in delight when i got an epic video on my feed, whether it be jorges or someone elses

and now i get them ALL THE TIME

i remember the frantic struggle to find and understand what epic even WAS

and now im here, and im also chasing my music related dreams, and i have hope and im ALIVE and i believe in myself

literally because of this musical

love the music, all the voice actors, all their passions. i love jorge and how he never quit, and how he helps all of us too.

and i love this community.

from the pancakes to the manwhores and everything outside and inbetween

i love yall.

[icewindandboringhorror]

finally finished all of one character's entire quests/optional dialogue/questions/etc.... 100,000 words... .... aughhh

[metaforth]

Can we just fucking cut it with the anti-therapy shit here? Its not only deeply ignorant, but it's dangerous. Discouraging people from trying things to improve their mental health is a great way to prevent their mental health from improving. If you've been considering trying therapy I would greatly encourage you to give it a chance. Whether it's online, in person, or even over text which I've heard is an option now which is great for people who struggle with face to face communication of any kind.

The response to people claiming everybody needs therapy and therapy will cure all of your problems isn't a hard pivot in the other direction. Therapy works for certain people, because everyone is different. Truth is problems like depression are a vague set of commonly associated behaviors, what's actually going on in different people's brains isn't nearly as easy to map. I personally know people who consider their therapist to have saved their life, and I myself tried therapy multiple times and it's had no effect. I don't blame my therapist, I didn't work for me because it just wasn't for me and that isn't anyone's fault.

And fucking especially don't be actively antagonistic toward your therapist. I hate stories like "my therapist told me to draw what I feel and I decided to just start eating the notebook to see how he'd react and he didn't know what to do lol." If you aren't cooperating then therapy won't fucking work. They aren't wizards who cast magical mental health engoodening spells, they're specialists who's job is to help you figure out what's going on in your head and figure out ways to improve your mental state. They aren't psychics. They can't read your mind. You need to be transparent.

If you can't figure out what to draw, or how to put your feelings into words, or whatever they're asking, just fucking tell them that. The entire point of therapy is having someone to communicate with, many people become licensed therapists because they themselves went through these problems and want to help others find a way through them. I'm sick and tired of Tumblr insisting all therapists are bad because they had a bad experience with therapy 10 years ago and think all therapists act like the paid actors in better help commercials.

Also, just to end, did you go to a mental health professional who specializes in the conditions you're suffering from, or did you type therapy into Google and call the first number you saw? I promise you finding the right therapist may actually make a difference. It might not. As I said, therapy just didn't work for me after I went to multiple different therapists, but I didn't write off the practice. Just like I don't write off anti-depressants, or mediation, or aroma therapy, ECT, the human brain is a complicated puzzle and we all must find a solution that works for us.

The last thing we need to be doing is telling someone not to look where they may find a missing piece.

[sollucets]

hi everyone :’) i havent been on tumblr much lately because i am 1) not watching anything and 2) still dealing with the effects of a bunch of fun medical stuff! i am doing ok but my body hates me so so so much lately. i have the energy and ability(?) to do only a few very specific things right now (play elden ring, let youtube forcefeed me kpop videos, languish) and that does not include watch show or make gif or even write no matter how much i might want to. so. this is how it is haha. miss u guys

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[pagesofkenna]

i wanted to make a post about a thing but the more i think about it the more i want to say and it's just going to end up being a big ramble essay, so instead i'll just give the thesis statement, thusly:

as the #1 Ratgrinders Apologist (self-appointed), of course they're the final boss fight to the death. i expected nothing less and the people trying to make discourse about it are ignoring the entire context of this being a Dungeons and Dragons game

[potatobugz]

i think the majority of the fanfiction ideas i have r always generally "character i like gets a redemption arc" or something similar. i like putting those guys in situations & i like giving them Friens:)

[definitelynotshouting]

Do you have any tips for starting a story? The middle and end is easy (lie) but the beginning SUCKS to write sometimes

oh gods no joke openers are one of the hardest part for me. Theres so many ways a story can start, and it makes me CRAZY because that right there is your hook, thats what convinces people to start reading!!!!! And there are so many unique ways one can start, so it ends up feeling a bit like that one reaction image of the girl being handed so so many pancakes

I think for me, what i try to ask myself when sitting down to write an opener is: "what kind of story is this?"

Because each story needs something different to accomplish its goals. A slower story might want to take its time with setting the scene, while an action-packed one might start in media res and with a bang!!! I guess if i had to give advice i would say, take the time to identify what your story is trying to say, and then look at what different openings can do for you to identify that goal.

For example; this is from my fic when the night cries, which is essentially a ghost story:

This was meant to be an introspective story, with a very gentle pace overall, so i took the time to really set the scene, build up the sense of what we're looking at before we get dropped into the fic proper. I remember my thought process for this was: how can i make this unique??? how can i make it FEEL like one of those old paintings with the beautiful yellows and summery oranges, while giving the reader a sense of whats to come?? Adding in the repetition of "it begins" was a way for me to sorta hammer that home: this is the start. This is where the story originates. And in a technical sense, it hooks your attention, with the question and immediate answer within the narration. The intention here is for the reader to want to know why this is important, and now it's answering that, but still leaving gaps for more questions.

Now compare that to, say.... lost in the dark's opening:

The overall pace of hunger au is slow, but this opener isn't-- partially because it's a rough draft, but also because what i wanted out of this scene was a sense of deep, deep urgency. We're in the middle of action; Grian is physically running while he thinks, and i wanted the reader to feel hunted and uncertain with him. Dropping everyone in with Grian at one of his most frightened, shaken points was the best way i felt i could establish that scene, and throughout it i drop hints as to what's actually going on. He's scared. He thinks he's going to hurt people. He's been on the move for a very, very long time. These are all things that are meant to pique interest and get answered later, when the reader is already invested. And i guess in that regard, its really all about timing.

But yeah!! Rambling aside, i'd say try out a few different ways of opening your fic and see what works. Think of em as thumbnails; write maybe 200 or so words at most and see if something works better than something else. I think theres this secret culture of shame among writers for not putting the perfect start down on the page the very first time you open the doc, but it's super normal to have to workshop things around to your liking!!! There's absolutely nothing wrong with writing a few different openers to see what works best for you and your story, and in fact is something i genuinely recommend. Its good practice, and essentially functions as a warm-up!!! You also get the benefit of exploring new angles in a scene, which can sometimes unlock really cool stuff for your writing

Sorry for how long this is, anon!! Hopefully you find my rambling helpful :D thank you for sending in this ask!!!

[liliallowed]

me being stressed overstimulated and paralysed: I want this to stop

my brain's autocorrect: did you say you want to kys?

me the alexithymic: am I having the bad thoughts?

[dragon-deez-ballz]

graaaa being weird in public sorry (on my own blog) teehee

[acaciapines]

on today's episode of 'acaica's background thoughts for the dess raises kris au': okay but lets be serious do dess and chara actually stay together in the end--

[kohakhearts]

hey that pokemon 2000 gifset + your jn dub analysis made me think about the pokemon 2000 dub - I've only seen it subbed once (compared to the hundred times I watched it dubbed as a child) so I could be misremembering, but didn't the dub completely change the themes of the movie with the chosen one ash thing?

i actually haven’t watched the sub nearly as many as times as the dub either :p but i have read extensively about this topic bc it’s personally my favourite pokemon movie and yes! the first and second pokemon movies are both victim to this (like mewtwo’s epic speech we all love so much at the end of the first movie…being a complete fabrication by the dub team :p you gotta give those writers credit - they were VERY good at what they did), largely i’m guessing due to cultural values and expectations. since they were trying to sell the anime to an american audience, not a japanese one.

tangentially, i will say i also think that’s the root of this like…subtle distinction some people have between the characters “ash” and “satoshi.” i don’t differentiate them in any big way myself because fundamentally they still are very much the same, but it is true that in japanese, ash has somewhat different mannerisms and responds differently to events at times, especially in the early anime when it was so much easier to get away with making big changes for…a big assortment of reasons haha.

in THIS movie in particular, some of those things are like…well. the prophecy is probably the most obvious change. the dub team rewrote it to include the chosen one reference, which works great because of the word play on ash’s name. in japanese, it just says “an exceptional trainer will appear to help calm the wrath of the gods.” ash’s response to this is more mild trepidation than outright fear. he doesn’t hesitate like he does in the dub. and tbh? both reactions make perfect sense for his character in my opinion.

in japanese, his concern is more "do you really think i can fit that role?" this...tracks pretty well with his character development by this point. like yeah he said he could win the indigo league, but he's also thinking about dropping out after gary loses; it's that little grain of insecurity he has, which he's normally good at covering up with arrogance (a lot of which is also very genuine, don't get me wrong). but he sees the opportunity to help and he takes it. that's just...what ash does.

in english, though, the prophecy is pretty clearly about him. there's no one else it could be. it has to be him. and he...doesn't like that? that scares him. which, fair. anyone would be terrified by being singled out like that. it's also so much...not ash's thing, even at this point in the series. his character development is about embracing having to work hard to do well. to keep trying until you get it right, no matter how many times you get it wrong. the idea of being a "chosen one" completely robs him of his ability to be so single-minded about what he wants his destiny to be that it manifests as pre-determined; it just...pre-determines it for him, if that makes sense. lol.

the thesis of the japanese version of the film is that no one person or pokemon can stand on their own. everyone needs help. it's about harmonizing with each other and with nature. about letting others help you, and helping them in turn. the english version rewrites that into a story about power and destiny. the title alone says it all, right? it's called "the power of one" - no reference to lugia, no reference to the birds. in japan, the title is about the revelation (or "birth") of lugia.

westerners love a good chosen one story, so this was a really good choice by the dub team in that respect. i mean, it's a narrative that's stuck really well. fandom loves chosen one ash! in general, western fanbases are really into this narrative. it's everywhere. and there's a lot that goes into that, culturally, and especially religiously, historically, etc. so at the end of the day, i don't think the change is so much about conflicting ideas about collectivism and individualism. it's more about goals and ideals, on a personal level.

let me say again for the 273456784th time, i love that they resolved ash's story by having him realize that the goal he's really been striving for all this time is to meet and befriend pokemon. to learn from them. to earn their trust. it's like...he did the thing that everyone else thought represented his goal, maybe even himself included, only to realize that his dream was never about the end of it anyway. it was about everything he learnt and everyone he met along the way. (i also suspect nobody writing in 1997 knew that that would be the ultimate resolution, either. but it makes sense in the entire context. it's kind of a nice irony, even. to only figure it out after writing the story :p)

and i think this little distinction is important to that goal! it's his whole character! which is why even though i too love chosen one characters, i don't necessarily think of ash as one. because even if he is, his whole Thing is that he wants to try. a lot of the chosen one narrative is about characters being reluctant to be used for a "greater good," or about them collapsing under that pressure. ash doesn't really have that. he does what he thinks is right because he...thinks it's right. sometimes, sure, others have to push him into it a bit, but usually they're actually pushing the other way - it's too dangerous, you're going to get hurt, etc. and to me, i don't know - thinking of times he's died, or nearly died, and some legendary or mythical pokemon has saved him at the last minute...i don't think that has to mean he's special in a cosmic sort of way. i think it just means he's special to them. that he did something for them, or for someone else they had come to care for (thinking manaphy responding to may's emotions, not just to the fact that ash was drowning, or in mpm ash convincing latios to trust him because of their mutual desire to save latias, etc.), and so they want to help him. which is completely opposite to the typical chosen one narrative, i think? because he doesn't do those things out of obligation...he does them because he thinks he can become a better trainer by doing them, and he wants to do that. and well. he did do that.

anyway my tl;dr here is YES they changed the theme a lot haha, but i find it fun that they also changed the characters’ responses to that theme. funnily that’s…kind of also what fanfiction writers do all the time, lmao, but that’s a whole other conversation.

[angeltrapz]

I know we love he/they/it adam & she/they/it mandy (I certainly do) but have we considered he/they/it lawrence...

[hiddenbeks]

anyway i guess i should finally finish dai. lmao

[scummrevisited]

AFTER 18 YEARS OF EXISTING ON THIS PLANET I FINALLY REALIZE WHY I RESONATE WITH WEREWOLVES SO MUCH.. ITS ABT MY ANGER ISSUES ITS LITERALLY ABOUT MY ANGER ISSUES