#i get too much enjoyment out of non canon things i'm sorry

[yunmeng-jiang]

ok it's time for my Official Jiang Cheng Ship Opinions Post. buckle in this is gonna take a bit

Xicheng: I like it in 1 extremely specific circumstance (bonding over very similar experiences post-canon) but I've only seen that done well like. twice. NEEDS to have good characterization (also rare unfortunately) and take into account what they can and can't do as their own sect leaders with regards to courtship/marriage.

Chengqing: perfect in every way. that's it that's all I need to say.

Sangcheng: ehhhhh? Cute in Cloud Recesses summer camp era, not feasible post-canon due to irreconcilable differences in worldview and how much danger it's acceptable to put Jin Ling in.

Zhancheng: honestly I prefer this to be platonic. Hatefucking is not my jam and LWJ is Wei-Ying-sexual in canon anyway. Give Jiang Cheng a friend who is as weirdly obsessed with Wei Wuxian as he is but in a slightly different way. I want to see them coming to terms with that.

Ningcheng: again, someone just as weirdly obsessed with Wei Wuxian, but a little to the left. I don't think either one of them is ever going to look at the other and not see "the guy WWX likes better than me." Maybe someday they'll form a relationship that isn't based entirely around Wei Wuxian, but it seems kind of unlikely.

Chengyao: I'm actually coming around to this a bit recently? Again, it really needs to keep good characterization at the forefront and consider their positions as individual sect leaders, and remember that their "divorced couple energy" is part of the Guanyin Temple shitshow and not the way they would usually behave, especially for Jin Ling's sake. I want to see more fics where Meng Yao grows up with the Jiang sect so that Jiang Cheng is attached to him from the very beginning.

Mingcheng: meh. I don't really think about this ship that much because it honestly doesn't compel me at all. sorry to the mingcheng enjoyers it there I simply do not get it

Chengxuan: same as above, I don't really get this one. Their dynamic is just not that interesting to me.

Chengyi: that is a child. hard no on this one.

Miancheng: kinda cute? I like it when Jiang Cheng recruits her into the Jiang after she gives up on the Jin, it's a fun idea, but I think I like them better as friends.

Ruocheng: no. just no.

Zhucheng (chengliu? Wen Zhuliu and JC): also no.

Chengsu: I could get behind the idea of JGY desperately contacting Jiang Cheng and being like "help I just found out my fiancee is my sister can you please pretend you've been in love with her all this time and get married to her instead??? I'll negotiate to get you more Jin Ling rights if you do." she fits JC's list of desirable qualities in a wife. unfortunately she gets like 6 seconds of screen time and then dies so we really don't know very much about her, which makes it a bit hard to form a strong opinion on the ship

Other Chengsu? Sucheng/Mincheng/Chengshan/whatever this is: I actually think it's interesting that Su She and Jiang Cheng share the trait of "treat them nicely within this narrow window of time in their life in order to get them to become loyal to you forever, otherwise fuck you." It's possible that if Su She had grown up with the Jiang the two of them would have found some common ground and maybe become friends. I'm more interested in non-romantic interactions here

Cheng...yang? what do you call the Xue Yang/Jiang Cheng ship? Xuecheng? idk. again, not really my jam.

Chengjiao. Lingcheng? Jiang Cheng/Wang Lingjiao. Do people even ship this? I could see it as character development for her I guess. At this point I'm just fishing for possible pairings.

and finally, saved for last...

Xiancheng: this isn't romantic or sexual or platonic, it's all three and also a secret fourth thing that's more intense than all of them put together. As a ship, I don't prefer it, because it's too easy to flatten it out into either a boring cutesy fluffy cliche or a boring jealous/possessive boyfriend type thing. I need to see them being weird about each other in a way that no one can possibly identify, especially themselves. They'll die for each other. They'll live for each other. They'll destroy themselves and be happy about it as long as they believe that the other is going to be okay. You really can't make it as simple as "yeah these two want to fuck."

[kerubimcrepin]

Exploring dofus-le-film.com and talking about movie-related events. [PART 1]

This will not go into the goldmine that is the interview Tot and Xa give about Joris. This is just a little, self-indulgent post. I hope you will enjoy it nevertheless.

The first silly action I took was extracting the site's icon and enlarging it in Aseprite, so here's your daily dose of cute official Joris pixel art. Anyway.

I love how the movie blurb literally lies about Khan being Joris's life-long idol.

CHARACTER BIOS.

Most of them include the information we already know, so I will only be pointing out things I personally find interesting.

For example - this art here depicts Joris's bald head under the hood as very round. Very useful info for us joris enjoyers. Reblog to slap his bald head, like to slap his bald head.

(Hacks up blood) Deeply caring in nature... papa poule... It is the second time, when Kerubim is called that, in his character bios, and I would like you to remember are these different explanations of this word combo:

I'm insane. I love him a lot.

Bakara is a pleasure to have in class :)

Anyway, I love how non-specific and non-alarming these character bios are. We can't scare the hoes by saying that beneath her cool exterior she wants to kill people around her and also drink 20 gallons of vodka, so "shy and stuck up" it shall be.

Again, it's hilarious how non-threatening these character bios are, considering Lilotte's whole parent thing is basically: (substitute "women" with "kids with families")

Coloring pages + Crayon Contest

A part of me wanted to be "haha, I colored all these coloring pages, for the Full Understanding of The Experience of this movie."

Then I realized that, as a person who is making a Joris painted music video, and had drawn at least 1:07 minutes worth of artwork of him and some other characters of this movie, I would rather-- [remembers that suicide jokes are bad] take cactus for a wife, than draw him for this blog too. I'm sorry.

Not much to be said about the contest, though this is epic:

This little Joris can be found at the bottom of the "win some crayons" page. It's cute.

BLOGPOSTS

This image was drawn for MIFA.

I want to unpack what is occurring here:

Goultard is holding his dragon boyfriend rather gayly on the shoulder. Interesting.

One of the candles landed in Nox's face?

Atcham, Joris, and Lilotte were holding the cake together. Lilotte is sitting on Yugo's shoulder, while Joris is standing on Kerubim's arms. It is reasonable to assume that Yugo turned to the camera, which made Lilotte turn as well, which made Atcham fall, which made Kerubim step away, and the only people carrying the cake who are still even a bit happy are Joris and Yugo.

Adamai is getting ready to catch Joris when in like 5 seconds all of them are going to be tumblring down Atcham-style.

Incredible. But this illustration is not the only gem that Annecy has brought us!

It also brought us more of Atcham being cool and awesome.

I'm insane.

There's more rare art here: these t-shirts featuring designs from a fan contest.

They were made in limited numbers. I'm including them here because we don't exactly have copies of the artwork, and I am insane about preserving art. It might be somewhere — but that somewhere is probably 2016 french facebook, so as far as I'm concerned, trying to seek these out is a lost cause.

Exclusive Merch

There were playing cards, and I am happy to report we DO have artwork for them in HD:

And also, here's a slightly higher definition little game sprite esque Joris:

This is the future crepinjurgenites want.

Kerubim VS Atcham Rigged Pet Contest

I am sad to report that Atchamheads have lost again, in this rigged contest. Imagine asking:

Would you like a fluffy guy you have watched an entire series about, or this bald guy who appears twice in the franchise?

At the very least, this gives us a canonical kitten Atcham design.

(Also, both of them were added, jsyk... Still salty though.)

Maliki Art

Maliki is a webcomic not made by Ankama, but with a long relationship and connection to Ankama due to being published by them in the past.

It's cute, really.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Could you possibly write about slenderman's ghost s/o trying to make the mansion festive for Halloween bc they're really excited for the holiday and never experienced it before? They have a list and everything as soon as they learn about the custom-

For instance, every room is decked out in decor totally not stolen, they make loads of themed treats, and try to engage the him and the proxies into doing multiple festive activities as well?

-slender anon <3 (sorry if this is too much exposition, tysm for all the cool writing)

Celebrating Halloween w/ Slenderman!

so so sorry for taking a a bit to get to this !! I meant to get this out tomorrow but I got distracted </3 still torn on if i want the mansion to exist in my au but for all intents and purposes we'll say it does for this >:) i might make the mansion like, some abandoned creepy haunted house in universe, like the house from IT or Nightmare on Elm Street (i actually... dont remember if it gets abandoned or not in the later movies, its been a while since i watched the series..) or something something yeah i think ill go with that for the mansion anyways enough rambling

Cue curious head tilts and questions from slenderman, he knows OF Halloween but he doesnt know all the ins and outs and intricacies when it comes to how its celebrated; best he knows is costumes and candy

initially watches you try to hang up all the decorations by yourself but eventually steps in to give you a hand

probably consults in you what basic Halloween traditions are, and probably also tries to ask the proxies if they know anything about it

i think outside of toby, the proxies don't really. remember much of their lives before becoming proxies, but that's because I'm basing my take on them off of the original MH where like, there's brain fog and the proxy/person are internally separate, but that's where inspiration from the original stuff ends; merging two fandoms together is. hard when the canon and fanon are so different

anyways

but also i never really like the creepypasta interpretation of masky and hoodie, at least from when i was in the fandom years back where they were shy and soft, but thats likely changed now- admittedly i dont interact with the fandom outside of creating

im rambling again, but i think masky and hoodie would also be a little lost but ready to do whatever they're told to do in regards to helping deck out the mansion

good news is that the mansion already looks like a spooky haunted house! especially on the outside since it's not as well kept as the inside

the inside is like what comes to mind when someone says old ass house; creaky wooden floors, shitty heating system, crawl spaces and compartments, that sort of thing. old enough that it would definitely have mold and rot, and be falling apart, if slenderman didnt come and keep it in tact

again, it already looks spooky enough as is, but decorations can really tie in the look

fake cobwebs, skeletons, spiders

oh those are real spiders

the mansion probably has spiders, slenderman cant do anything about the spiders sorry

okay anyways

treats! totally not stolen from some store by a teleporting entity that naturally distorts electronics! definitely not

he would make them with you, i think

i sometimes think about how slenderman would probably like calm and quiet activities, domestic ones included, so i think this is something he would actually end up loving especially with you around

learns he hates working with melted marshmallow, that shit is not banned from the mansion as well as marshmallow creme

he even gets those cute little halloween themed goodie bags so you can give them out

unfortunately he's going to have to pass, on account that he can't really eat any non-human meat food, but rest assured if he could safely eat your treats he would

Toby would be fucking that shit up, especially if you make those popcorn ball things. i feel like toby would love those. masky to me seems like a butterscotch haystack enjoyer to me (based), while hoodie fucks up those chocolate dipped pretzels, you know the ones that get decorated to look like mummies? those. he demolishes those (also based)

i kinda miss the popcorn balls tbh i havent had those in years but they were good from what i remember- i think i might make some this evening

moving on once more

if there's any extras slenderman may offer to take you around to give them to others

im still deciding character dynamics and relationships and who knows who in this funky au, but i feel like slenderman knows at least a handful of the other character. at least on a first name basis

so thats fun! you also get to share the joy with characters such as splendor and trender, and perhaps even jeff. i hc that eyeless jack and slender are both in the same forest but not like. buddy buddy. but he can get goodies too. ignore the fact jack is in the same boat as slender in terms of what he can and cant eat- he appreciates the gesture

now activities! i gotta admit i never really did halloween stuff outside of trick or treating; so im a little stumped on ideas

theres the obvious, pumpkin carving (the pumpkin insides get used to make more treats!), apple bobbing, and a few others

while not really a halloween game, you guys probably play a few games in the woods

thats

wait no thats terrifying, do not play hide and seek/tag with them in the woods regardless of if its night time and regardless of if youre a ghost, that shit actually sounds terrifying esp since i think slenderman and hoodie would get WAY TOO competitive

oh scary stories

definately

you insist on summoning ghosts and demons to fit the vibe

" but Dear, you're a gho-" "hush"

you guys accidentally summon one of the ghost creepypastas or something/j

you guys accidentally summon zalgo and halloween gets cancelled'j

idk if this is just a me thing but whenever me and my friends sit down to read creepypasta stories we get derailed and somehow end up reading fanfics and acting them out but i can see this happening as well; though this one also isnt a halloween exclusive activity

overall its a learning experience for most of you guys, and slenderman is totally up to humoring you again next year!

oh oh oh halloween costumes, how could i forget?

good luck trying to find something for slenderman, even if he could fit in anything he probably wouldnt dress up no matter how you try to word it

actually now that i think of it, do you think his suit is just part of his body? like ive seen loads of interpretations where it is; the shitty slenderman movie included. like is it a removeable suit? is it something that looks like a suit but its part of him? is it like a scp 049 situation where it is a suit but its attached to him?

im not getting into that today

masky and toby both dress up as classic slasher icons

hoodie probably would too but i got flashed with a vision of him dressed as pumpkin so im rolling with it

i think thats about everything! i hope you like this! this ended up way longer than i thought it would be but i fully blame that on me still being in my ramble mindset </3 ive been cooking up some major hcs for my au/interpretation as well as smaller stuff so my brain just wants to dump it TToTT

anyways

runs off to go draw spooky stuff (cough cough creepypastas dressed up in costumes)

[blorboazula]

Thank you got calling out the bullshit about w@nd@ and the gargoyle that's supposedly her son. I haaate that the show and fandom is getting overtaken by them. Like we have QWOC and older queer women and yall want to drool over the whitewashed abuser and her white boy mini me? People once again gushing for m/m crap with that twerp and his bf when we might not even get a kiss from the canon f/f couple due to censorship? Ugh. Not even touching people villainixong Agatha immediately again.

So, I try to not be as vocal as I can be about how much I don't like Wanda and her stans, but here we go. I won't even tag her and such so don't come at me (or come, if you want). Little rant:

Yeah, like, I really, really don't like the way I'm seeing way too many people talking about him as if he's the main character of the show.

Like, yeah, sure, be excited about a character you like. I was jumping in joy when Carol showed up in the post credit scene of Ms. Marvel. I was talking about it on Twitter a lot but I also talked about the other stuff. I used to have a MCU side-blog and the majority of my posts weren't about that one thing. (Even if lots of my theories involved her since 1. The Marvels a movie I've been waiting and 2. she was one of the main characters in the direct sequel to Ms. Marvel). I still enjoyed the show for who the show was about even if my favorite character of the 'verse showed up + the series was very much connected to it.

(In the same vein, you don't need to consume every media with characters you like. I didn't watch WandaVision even if Monica was there.)

Agatha is the main character of the show, it's in the fucking name of the show. Sure, it's a trilogy and whatever (or so I heard), this part isn't about fucking Wanda, for fucks sake. It's Agatha All Along, not Wanda & Her Spontaneous Creations All Along.

But I knew it was going to happen. I've seen people tearing apart every non-Teen-is-Billy theory to shreds as if those were personally offensive. I'm sorry some people liked the theory that Teen was, somehow, the protagonist's kid. You know, because the protagonist is the character in which the story revolves around and the protagonist is the most important character because she's the FUCKING PROTAGONIST.

Queer representation is important, yup, and they fucked it up before (Loki anyone?). And the one in Eternals is almost a blink and you'll miss. But even if I'm not a lesbian/sapphic myself, I'm here like "come on, let the lesbians have this for ONCE". It was going so well, the jokes about lesbian witches and their emotional support emo twink, it was going so well.

I knew the moment that we had the identity reveal, the Wanda stans would be even louder and ruin the enjoyment of the others. I genuinely liked Teen and I still think that he was a pretty nice character before that fucking episode end – even if I wouldn't be surprised that he was manipulating them all this time, an evil little bitch like his mom (and that would be fun if it wasn't 1. for the twisted morals & 2. the fact that I ended up really liking Agatha).

About how they talk about Agatha: only Wanda is allowed to be mean, bitchy, evil, cruel and blame it all on her trauma. Every other villain? They're just evil. It's the kind of thing Ms. Volunteer-to-be-Experimented-on-by-HYDRA believes, considering her bullshit line to Strange.

Like, Wanda stans are really the fucking worse.

[alcego]

please i need an explanation of nathan wesninski not being a serial killer. his character in canon is so interesting and i’d love to hear your analysis.

to preface this i'm legitimately a little sick right now, so sorry in advance if i'm not the most coherent. this got a little long, so readmore has been put in place.

Nathan works for the Moriyamas. linds, who is incredible at finding quotes/excerpts from the novels, pulled this last night, which gives a clearer idea of what Nathan was doing. it's irrelevant to the books what the Moriyamas were doing, but Nathan was tasked with holding Baltimore as Moriyama territory. this would involve "dealing with" people who interfered with their trade, whether that be drugs, trafficking, smuggling, or a combination of those. this could range anywhere from chasing them off, bribing officials, or killing people. given Nathan's proclivities, i would not be surprised if he was also used to extract information from competitors or threats to the empire. Neil says that Lola was responsible for disappearing bodies; apparently her MO was cutting them into tiny pieces and disposing of them. while unclear, i suspect Romero/Malcom were grunts: responsible for grabbing people, transporting them, and doing the pre-torture torture for Nathan. this is explicitly what they do with Neil, and all of this tracks with a hierarchy one would expect out of organized crime, NOT from a serial killer.

however, their structure indicated him as the fall guy: they are doing organized crime; it is inevitable the feds are going to come sniffing, and the Moriyamas planned for this and decided that Nathan would be the one to take the fall. based on the organized crime, being paid by the Moriyamas, and having $5 million hanging around for Mary to steal, it seems fairly straightforward to assume he was laundering money. this would be necessary to hide the trail that would lead that money back to the Moriyamas, and would be a necessary component of setting him up as the fall guy. lots of little hidey holes for her to sneak it out of, that would not be noticed immediately. this leads me to the next VERY important point: Nathan is in jail for tax evasion.

you know, the thing Al Capone, infamous gangster, got prosecuted for? the IRS doesn't fuck around, and it's easier to hide bodies than it is to skip out on taxes. if you think i'm kidding, i'm really not.

now, i've also seen people point to Nathan's enjoyment of killing people as a sign he's a serial killer. i counter this by saying who better to put in a "torture and kill people" job than a guy who likes to torture and kill people? in a majorly fucked up way, this is a great way to keep this sort of person loyal to the family; he gets to do something he likes with a fair bit of resources and protection. (that protection is limited, obviously, but isn't non-existent; he has money, which means he has lawyers, and he has bribes, and he can make a lot of awkward things go away.)

this may be an example people don't like, but we don't call active duty soldiers who kill people in the line of duty serial killers because they are doing a job, even if they seem to enjoy it WAY too much. for that same reason, you can't say Nathan getting a kick out of murder is a surefire sign he's a serial killer. it means you have grounds for an AU, if you'd like it, but not that he is one. killing people comes with the territory with organized crime. he's just doing his job.

but what about Neil? that's serial killer stuff, right? no. it's not. it's personal, yes, but having a personal vendetta against the kid who was never anything but an object and the woman who stole $5 million of your scary boss's money (and also embarrassed you in a supremely emasculating way--he got robbed by his wife and kid, which would have major repercussions on his reputation and power in the family) isn't really. pointing toward serial killer. it's pointing toward an obsession, and murderous intent, but that does not a serial killer make. it's a different MO entirely. he's still employing his people to find the kid and torment him. he's mixing business and pleasure, if you will, while hunting down Mary and Neil.

further, Neil never considers him a serial killer. this is ALSO important; the narrative does give you a pretty clear-cut idea of how to feel about him. even in Neil's obfuscations, Nathan was a gangster who they stole money from and ran away from because he was an abusive sack of shit. at no point does Neil suggest that Nathan was going out and hunting people down to sate an urge. there is no indication that Nathan had a profile, or a favorite type of victim, or even that he hunted for personal pleasure. Nathan enjoys his work, but it's still work. he's not snatching people out of dark alleys and killing them. he's not doing it to fulfill a lust for power or to sate sexual urges or anything of that nature that would point toward serial killer; he's killing people who interfere with the business. Neil interfered with the business. he made Nathan look stupid and weak. hunting Neil down would be a "justified" vendetta for him to have. a pet project, if you want to call it that.

basically, Nathan works for the mob. his jail time is a direct allusion to Capone, another gangster. he kills for entirely different reasons than a serial killer would. you can argue that he's a serial killer in the sense he's killed people over time, but that would be incorrect for the same reason we don't consider hitmen or active duty soldiers serial killers. different motives, different executions. even if they like it.

[hxhhasmysoul]

What will you do, when a stranger send you a rude dm that basically said I don't have any understanding because I ship non canon couples? For me, because my blog mostly about KilluGon, SatoSugu, and SukuIta.... I know, you really dislike my second ship, and you're anti Gojo and anti Geto (they're in my top 5 fav JJK characters). But I love your blog and metas, thanks for sharing your posts.

Even if you dislike them (stsg), but your reasons are make sense, and you never specifically said rude and mean things to those who ship them...

And I also thankful for your KilluGon & SukuIta fics recs (love them).

I just think it's so weird that for the first time in my life, someone wish me dead just because I love fictional ships.....

P.s

You open a new door to me, thanks to you, I get to know and fall in love with SukuIta ship 🌻

Sorry for replying late. I'd block them. Whoever speaks to you in an overtly violent language should be immediately blocked. I wouldn't even go into any discussion with them. Because the person who doesn't understand some basic things is them.

First of all wishing death or violence on someone is inexcusable.

Secondly your blog is for you, it's not a fucking a public service. If strangers derive some enjoyment from your blog that's good for them. But it's not your duty to provide that do them or cater to their specific tastes or sensibilities. If they don't like you indulging in shipping they can go to the thousands of other blogs on this website that don't ship anything. You don't owe them anything and if they just come out of nowhere to insult you, block them.

Lastly they seem to confuse shipping with meta.

Shipping is a fun fandom activity that's about thinking that two or more characters (sometimes canon and also ocs) would have a nice dynamic together, be it sexual or romantic or queer platonic. It essentially has nothing to do with canon. I mean it can be done with overtly canon ships like, or implied/subtextual canon ships. But people also do it between characters from completely different stories and media, or as I mentioned above, with original characters they come up with. Shipping happens in canon settings and in alternative universe settings. It's an exercise of the imagination and a pleasurable pastime.

Now meta concerns itself with what is in the text. And you can also have meta kinda about shipping. This happens mostly when people think that the subtext of the work implies a relationship between some characters but doesn't overtly confirm it. And here there is some space for arguing, if one has the patience and desire for it, about what is in the text and what isn't. And possibly accusing someone of not understanding something or projecting their imagination onto the text.

Thank you for your very kind words. I'm glad you are not discouraged by my occasional SatoSugu hate but you give me too much credit, I've said questionable things about the fans of this ship. I can be mean, life is stressful and I sometimes vent in fandom, it's not great but it is what it is.

I guess I'm glad I lured you into SukuIta, it has some very good writers :D

Stay safe, block on sight anyone who's behaving like an asshole online.

[thesilverlady]

(a bit of rant) the Hypocrisy is truly the only thing that destroyed my enjoyment of hotd/f&b people take the whole team thing waaay to seriously as if we're rooting for footballs teams and not an interesting story that could be analyzed and interpret in many ways . not to talk about the moral police who attack you for enjoying problematic characters\ships but also go in their way to enjoy other problematic characters\ships. like the asoiaf fandom was become waaay worse than it used to be after GOT s7\s8 for some reason

I completely get it and I'm sorry they sucked the enjoyment out of you.

I'll admit I used to get frustrated over some people who would say "it's just color wars" or "they all suck so pick a fav criminal and move on" 'cause in my mind that meant they didn't understand or appreciate the story told from the book but after taking some time offline and touching some grass, I came to the conclusion that while I can't and shouldn't push my interpretations onto others I also don't have to put up with terrible takes I see.

I'll admit the fandom has become an extremely unwelcoming space: side 1: are the book purists who while I 100% can sympathize with wanting a faithful adaptation, I've often see them treating others like shit over crackships and toxic pairs, as if the entirely of asoiaf isn't built on that. The truth is they don't really care about "problematism" they just hate seeing a character they like being (what they consider to be) misinterpreted by others in fan content like fics, headcanon and arts etc.

Again I sympathize because I used to feel the same for another fandom (the grisha trilogy) but holding onto these feelings can only make you feel miserable. The two healthy solutions I've found are: either move on or create content you want to see - because I guarantee there will be others who want to see the same thing you do

side 2: show viewers who don't care about the book (which is valid. you can't force someone to read or becoming invested in the lore) but will also lose their mind over canon discussions because it doesn't match up with the version that exist in the showverse so that leads them to interpret the rest of the fandom as whining and lacking joy because "it's not that deep" and "why can't you just enjoy this"

side 3: is a mixed of both, which i consider the worst bunch because there's no victory with them. You show too much love for the book? Then you automatically hate the cast and you're -ist -obic. You love the show? Have you written 10 think pieces a day and support what is commonly accepted for the characters by the fandom? Because if you haven't you're a fake. You like a single green character despite not supporting their side of the war? You're obviously a misogynist. You ship non-canon ships? you're deranged. You ship canon ships? you're problematic and an apologist.

See?

the way I've come to treat asoiaf as a whole (including f&b/hotd side) is how I treat the star wars fandom (which consists of a similiar toxic fanbase):

a) don't. enter. discourses.

you'll never change anyone's mind and they'll never change yours. Only enter an argument if the person gives normal sanity vibes or is a friend and won't have a problem if you two have different opinions on something

b) treat it as a solo thing.

The way I view this account is basically. I throw a ball at a wall and maybe someone will hear the noise and come play with me. Can it lonely? Sure. But it pays off when someone sees the earning signs I've left on this account and still decides to interact on their own

c) Be the person you want to interact with

This one can be hard because emotions always have a way to get in the way, but try to be someone you'd want to hang out in a fandom. In the past, I've gotten asks that say even though they don't agree with some of my interpretations about the characters they feel welcome here in regards of "teams". That's something I've been aiming for myself.

Anyways as to recent fandoms have become a bit of a nightmare with hypocrisy obsessive need for censorship and morality lessons as well as the quest of ending "romanticization" of anything, it has become a struggle for many. Try to combat it if you're willing because there are definitely other people other there who feel exactly the way you do.

Otherwise, a pause for personal space and to take care of yourself is never bad. In the end, I hope you can re-find some enjoyment for this fandom and if you ever need to vent more about it my asks & dms are open and judgement-free ♥

[undeniablycandycane]

Watched NATM:KRA. Here are my thoughts.

Heads up: there will be spoilers, and a considerable level of negativity, so if you're not up for that I recommend scrolling past.

Off the bat, the animation is really smooth and looks nice. Doesn't look at all what I expected it to before the trailer hit.

Honestly a lot of things really were not what I expected, so it really threw me for a loop.

They did not include Ahkmenrah AT ALL. That's just offensive to me. His tablet is literally the whole point for these movies. They included his evil brother as the main villain, though.

I really like Seth. He's my second favorite addition. He and Kah didn't flirt enough for me. I expected more flirting. I do think Seth likes Kah though...

They could have done without the fart jokes. It's not too out of character for the movies, considering all the times monkey piss was involved in the franchise. I'm glad they acknowledged that everybody toots, even gods. That's a question answered right there, that I probably never would have thought to ask lmao.

Jed and Tavi? Their designs were cute, and they've legitimately grown on me. They're so so different from their live action looks (I know probably to avoid paying to use the old actors' likeness) and I wish we could have had more of them (including the classic running gag of them screaming). Plus, there wasn't much flirting going on? Octavius being annoyed by Jed was cute, but I consider it very OOC.

Joan of Arc is a great addition and my favorite new character. I love her so much!! And it seems her and Sacagawea could have had something going on. Just sayin'.

Some of the jokes I legitimately laughed at (more often the ones with Jed and Tavi) but some just didn't get me at all. Hit-or-miss, no laughapalooza but had some of the awkward charm of the previous films.

There are several inconsistencies with the main films that make it impossible for me to consider this film as canon. It's a cute off-canon project, but it just doesn't fit in with the other movies to me.

Nick has the cutest crush on a girl, it's honestly adorable. His jazz DJ thing was really creative and cool, and I loved how that was incorporated in such a neat way.

I'm glad the writers at least acknowledged that it wouldn't be a Night At The Museum without a dance party at the end. The music was really cool and I enjoyed the sequence a lot. It was a great way to end the movie.

OVERALL: I'm honestly,, underwhelmed. There's just too many things I don't like/ inconsistencies/ etc. for me to love this movie right off. There is a not-insignificant chance my feelings will change, but fresh after the first viewing, I don't see myself rewatching as much as I did the first three films. Like I said, I'll consider this as a non-canon offshoot of the main franchise, but it doesn't hit enough marks for me. I may make an update after some time or a second viewing if my feelings change, but more than anything it just makes me want to rewatch the other three films.

Sorry if my response was a little disappointing to some of you, but I want to be honest about how I feel. I just don't think it's for me that much. I was more "that's not right/that's not how it works" when watching the film which made it a less positive experience for me. My expectations almost certainly affected my response which is why I'm going to give it a grace period before going all in on the details, because there's a decent chance I'll feel different about it as time goes on. I just don't feel great about the whole thing right now. I'm sorry.

I still respect people who found it enjoyable, and I like to see that some people really really liked it. I'm happy for them, and pretty jealous lmao. generic outro that I can't come up with right now cause I'm tired and have depression.

[villainwannabe]

!Welcome to the Jayden's✨Horny Lair✨!

What to expect here? Shitposting/thirsting at it's FINEST form. And art. And smuts. And hate. On the world. I guess. LMAO.

Here, uhh, have some user boxes ig.

Also, check out my main while you're at it: @tireddovahkiin

>> My Ultimate F/O list!!! <<

My two main F/O's are Sephiroth (from Final Fantasy VII) and Hanami (from Jujutsu Kaisen!). I love them both so much I'm insane about them <3

(Dni if we share a f/o that I'm not comfortable with sharing.)

Minors, do not fucking read below this point. (Srsly, just shoo away ty)

Some of my personal fave kinks uwu:

vanilla (Naw im actually scared of non-loving sex/rough n animalistc fucking...💀)

size kink (just thinking about a big beefy man or a massive woman or a humongous monster standing beside me will make me faint-)

body worship (*faints* [both giving and receiving])

pampering (i just wan sum lov😢)

praise kink (*bats eye lashes cutely and explodes*)

voice kink (SEPHIROTH IM LOOKING AT YOU)

hand kink (big veiny arms holding me in a tight headlock... ZOOWEEWOO-)

mommy kink (ONLY FOR WOMEN THO daddy kink is iffy to me ngl)

cockwarming (Dudeee don't get me even STARTED. I just love the thought of such a way of being connected to your beloved without the need to do something more and intense, we just basking in each other and chilling🥴)

foreplay (no foreplay NO SEX IDFC /hj)

bondage (BOTH SIDES- GIVING AND RECEIVING [although not so hardcore like shibari, but yes to hand restains uwu])

dry humping (the thought of being vulnerable while riding someones thigh and being praised for my good job makes me so DAMN WET-)

breeding (.... oui🙊🙈)

dacryphillia (NOT IN ANY DEGRADING sense. Just making me cry innocent tears from either frustration or overwhelming emotions, and pampering and soothing me and wiping them away and mmmnndhshhsd~🙈)

manhandling (again, not hardcore, and in NO degrading sense way. Degradation is a BIG BIG no for me. But GENTLE, safe manhandling like a bear taking care of me🥺)

> WARNINGS AND DNIs!! <

⚠ PROSHIPPERS /COMSHIPPERS /RACISTS /LGBTPHOBICS /HATERS /ZOOPHILES /PEDOPHILES /FURRIES (SORRY) /TOXIC PPL /SEXISTS /NAZIS /TERFS /ZIONISTS /AI ART USERS DO NOT INTERACT!!!

⚠ THE SAME GOES FOR THOSE WHO LOVE FREAKY KINKS (R4PE/AG3PLAY/SC4T/V0RE/3METO/PR1MAL/P4IN ENJOYERS) (Sorry guys, I'm just not vibing with ya. I'm too sensitive for that scary/disgusting shit. For my own comfort stay a goooooood distance away from me.)

⚠ I have age regress, so I may act brash and not so 'adultey' as I'm expected! the tone I use may be a bit too energetic, so, if you find it annoying or uncomfortable, feel free to block me! But just to make sure other age regressors know, it is not safe for littles!!!

⚠ I cuss a lot!

⚠ For those who already know me, just so you know, I'll be a lot more open here with my misanthropic/pessimistic nature. So yeah, dark Jayden it is.

⚠ I can be quite forgettable (ADHD things)! If I happen to ghost you/forget to answer/don't remember some of the things you said, I'm really sorry, it was never my intention🙏

⚠ My OC and S/I lore is very... Unrealistic, which means, they are usually non-human and/or immortal beings with a bit of overemphasized powers and such. They're not really a Mary Sue OC, though. If that bothers you, feel free to block me!

⚠ It is a safe space for any LGBTQ+/Neurodivergent person, and any Race/Ethnicity/Age!

⚠ There will be a LOT of sin here!!! Art or one-shots, or just rants I post in general (sometimes)! If OC x Canon/Canon x Canon art bothers you, no hate, just block please!

⚠ I will be blocking minors/ageless blogs who follow me, since this blog ain't safe for kids that much!!! And yes, this blog is 18+!

[Ty for reading! I hope you enjoy your stay ^^]

[askaniritual]

So I've seen the sollux karkat Dave thoughts, but do you have Sollux Karkat Gamzee thoughts? Like what does Sollux think of Gamzee and vice versa and their respective relationships to Karkat? And do you think it's at all less complex than it is with Dave cause they are all Alternian? And like how does Terezi fit into all of this? Sorry if it's rambly, it just seems you kinda like these characters and I'm only just now noticing how interconnected and complicated they all are to each other, I tend to think of these characters in dyads a lot and it's interesting to think how homestuck plays with that concept a bit.

this is the kind of thing i fantasize ppl asking me about tbh so thank you for allowing me to give voice to the stuff i usually save for muttering to myself as i wander around my apt! lets get into it:

i get the feeling that the sum total of sollux and gamzee's opinions about the other person would be like "oh yeah that guy karkat is obsessed with". I have kind of a hard time seeing them as a triad even tho I prefer gamkar pale and solkat more red (but also kind of smeary) simply because I view karkat's relationship w both of them as so ultimate and all-consuming that I have a hard time imagining how the other person fits into the picture. Like for me davesolkat is more about the fact that dave/karkat is endgame (or whatever) so if you want to put sollux in there in a canonverse it has to deal w dave Somehow*. When I think abt gamkar or solkat I tend to think abt them more in the context of non-sgrub relationships, and then like with a focus on one or the other.

All this to say that I do not think that gamsolkat would be less complicated than davesolkat because I think dave and sollux would manage to more or less peacefully ignore each other and i think gamzee and sollux would genuinely actually for real try to kill each other. Might be fun to watch though!

As far as terezi goes. So cancellable take perhaps but I feel that pitch gamrezi is kind of fun, actually. I think a lot of the time even gamzee-sympathetic stories tend to brush off the darker, sharper parts of him but i think its interesting to have that be something that is just as much a part of him as the gentler, friendlier bits. all this to say I like when gamzee can be soft with karkat and sharp with terezi. also! this is truly just my imo but i really cannot see karkat/terezi as anything other than a high school relationship where they really should have broken up before college but are for some reason determined to stick it out. like i think they're fine together, its not toxic or anything but its like for sure the worlds most passionless relationship. and thats because karkat should be with sollux

this may sound hypocritical because again, i am a solrezi enjoyer but! for me karsolrezi is like terezi and sollux are semidisfunctional moirails and karkat is there when they get soooo dysfunctional that it requires third party intervention of the only reasonable person either of them know who will still put up with their shit. i think in general in the fandom (and canon i guess) karkat's role is that of The Great Mediator which is hard to escape.

So i guess if I were to lay all this out:

GamKarSol -> apocalyptic level hurt feelings that ends in actual bloodshed. the only time sollux and gamzee can be in the same room together is when they're both too high to function

GamKarRezi -> 2/3 possible pairings in this relationship r having fun. Karkat and Terezi have really bad sex on the first tuesday of every month and if one of them needs to miss it, they have to make a note about it on the calendar

KarSolRezi -> karkat has to convince both of them to take a shower because they both forgot they were moirails and got into some kind of weird dick measuring contest about how long they could go without bathing

GamKarSolRezi -> i think in this arrangement sollux would have to be pale w terezi and pitch w karkat, karkat would have to be red w terezi and pale with gamzee and i guess gamzee and sollux would be matesprits! wow!

*canonverse post-canon gamkar is like. technically theoretically possible but i genuinely think it would take like 100k words of plot to even get to a point where it could be like. reasonable for anybody. sollux you can just kind of drop in there but gamzee unfortunately it is not that simple i fear

[mysticdragon3md3]

There's nothing sadder than seeing someone falling out of love with your ship...and actually relating so hard to their reasons.😥

Aw, I'm sorry. But I do understand. Honestly, I agree with (https://www.tumblr.com/hydrangeatattoo/707009111255040000/ive-fallen-so-hard-out-of-love-with-dimiclaude). I'd say something supportive to them, but they turned off Reblogs and Replies. I don't blame them. FE3H fandom in general has taught me to hide all my thoughts on the series. To that end, I love those new Tumblr features, and I never tag my own fandom thoughts #FE3H or #dimiclaude anymore. Anyway, I'm too dumb to know what condolences to say.😔

Most of the dimiclaude posts, that I see, are from people who love Dimitri more than Claude, and it shows. I recently got so fed up with all the posts about people being entertained with teasing and bringing Claude down, that I had to call for different Dimiclaude shippers to Follow, who love Claude more than Dimitri, since apparently most Dimiclaude shippers are the reverse. (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/705072918993977344/if-any-dimiclaude-shippers-out-there-have-a-lean) Even the Dimiclaude fanfics I read and love, demean Claude and get a lot of "humor" from humiliating him. How does Claude get portrayed coming out of ANY conversation, not at an advantage, when he is canonically CHARACTERIZED by his silver tongue? Especially against FELIX of all people! Why do half the side characters' interactions with Claude seem to be just about teasing him and making him look stupid? Yes, he's "ha-ha meme lord" and can take a joke. But what makes Claude amazing is how masterfully he can roll with even insults and ATTEMPTS to humiliate him, and turn even those to his advantage. Just look at his canonical FE3H Support with Lorenz! Regardless, I love Claude too much to get enjoyment from watching him being demeaned or other characters frequently trying to take him down a notch.

I'm becoming fed up with headcanon posts favoring the ship dynamic of "eternally annoying each other". Honestly, I don't like Dimiclaude being annoyed with each other, nor bullying each other. I was already shocked, months ago, back in July 2022 (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/691033633004322816/feel-kind-of-bad-for-the-algorithm-it-finally) and December 2022, when I found so many people had that "eternally annoying each other" interpretation of Dimiclaude. Them just being constantly biting and bullying to each other, as if annoying each other was peak "affection". But I don't like that type of "romantic tension". Now I understand that they didn't mean that antagonistic ship dynamic as a portrayal of "ideal affection", but as "entertainment". But it's not MY idea of "entertaining"…maybe for a second or 2, for a laugh, but it's not the headcanon posts that I constantly want to see and the portrayals I want in the fanfics I read.

I like couples whose affections express through kindness for each other. Not the grade school "tug on the pigtails of the girl you like" immaturity. That always felt mean to me. I think I'm the type who would much rather watch things to admire, rather than things that entertain through conflict, melodrama, and artificial antagonism. To me, Dimiclaude were just sweet to each other, and that was my favorite ship dynamic to watch. What happened to their canon portrayal in FE3H, where Dimitri was always ready to believe the best in Claude, while Claude kept trying to poke holes in Dimitri, only to find Dimitri actually lived up to Claude's ideals? THAT'S the Dimiclaude I want to see more of. Not necessarily whatever they degenerated into in 3Hopes and Engage. That was just some silly AU. I want to have faith that their FE3H dynamic is still underneath all that 3Hopes/GoldenWildfire and Engage irritation with each other. I want the FE3H Dimitri who readily recognizes Claude hiding his own non-malicious and benign intentions, and shifts instead into admiring Claude's cleverness. I want the FE3H Claude who keeps trying to test Dimitri (trying to ruffle up Dimitri with words during mock battles, joking about poisoning opponents in order to win the Battle of Eagle & Lion, etc.), only to be pleasantly surprised that Dimitri really is that good and dependable of a person (Dimitri admiring Claude's unserious words during the mock battle as distraction strategy, Dimitri praising Claude after mock battles, Dimitri saying he looks forward to Claude's cleverness, Dimitri just being very quick to move past Claude's self-deprecating, suspicious bait, and instead moving to believe the best about Claude instead). I want Azure Moon FE3H Claude who sees that Dimitri could be a piece towards bringing about the type of ideal world that Claude dreams of (Claude drops the games and speaks to Dimitri as someone who could help bring about Claude's dream of a more compassionate world, by advising Dimitri with Strength to move past his own demons, and literally arming Dimitri with symbols of trust to help his future struggles).

But I suppose I stayed in denial, so I could stay in the fandom and its communal enjoyment of Dimiclaude. I initially tried to convince myself that Dimiclaude could have some light teasing. Dimitri, is, after all, pretty rigid and it is fun to make him blush or startled out of his box. And Claude can be silly and can canonically take a joke. So when everyone fangirled over 3Hopes turning Dimiclaude against each other then having antagonistic banter, and when Engage portrayed Dimitri as simply annoyed and exasperated with Claude---even suspicious of the worst intentions from Claude's frequent interrupting of his stories (very different from FE3H Dimitri)---I just smiled along, "They're not actually THAT annoyed with each other. They're just being funny in this instance." And admittedly, communally laughing with the fandom about that was fun. I even posted these to join in on fangirling: (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/707133028252680192/3-flavors-of-fe-dimiclaude-1-fe-engage-dimitri) (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/707149650395840512/3-types-of-dimiclaude-1-fe-engage-dimiclaude) As more time passes in this fandom, I've found myself just giving too much leeway and hoping too much that most Dimiclaude shippers aren't actually frequently spitting out headcanons that portray Dimitri as annoyed with Claude, while they laugh about headcanons demeaning Claude. I wanted a sense of community to fangirl with. But I don't think I can with this side of the fandom anymore. That's why I finally started unFollowing people in December 2022, even though they were also Dimiclaude shippers. (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/705072918993977344/if-any-dimiclaude-shippers-out-there-have-a-lean)

I know that we can all have different interpretations of a ship. (I remember shipping AkiRyu as having a cool sapiosexual/sweetheart dynamic, whereas most of the fandom portrayed the as 2 idiots being stupid together.) But when the majority of posts THAT I SEE from other people in this same ship, seem to a be an opposing portrayal, that ALSO happens to coincide with one of my pet peeves (Bullying), then I not only lose my patience, but my place in the fandom. I begin to feel like me and my increasingly seemingly niche interpretation of Dimiclaude don't belong here. I look back at my posts from July 2022 (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/691033633004322816/feel-kind-of-bad-for-the-algorithm-it-finally) and (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/691036504488902656/half-the-time-i-go-to-the-dimiclaude-tag-it-makes), and I begin to really feel like my interpretation of Dimiclaude finds no comradery in the fandom. ;_; Now I see that we have completely different interpretations of the same ship, and my preferred headcanons for Dimiclaude's relationship dynamic may even be niche. The longer this goes on, the more this ship fandom makes me feel isolated, because I can't connect to a community like this, unless I continue lying to myself about agreeing with what's fun about this ship.

I have to ether abandon this ship and this FE3H fandom, OR abandon communal Dimiclaude fangirling, to instead enjoy Dimiclaude through my own interpretations alone. Unless of course, I can find other Dimiclaude shippers who love Claude and supportive affection dynamics as much as I do. But if hydrangeatattoo's post is any indication, relatable Dimiclaude shippers are choosing to abandon the ship. So I find myself echoing my previous post (https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/705072918993977344/if-any-dimiclaude-shippers-out-there-have-a-lean): I just want to Follow people who want to adore Claude on a pedestal, vs teasing and bringing him down constantly. I just want to Follow more people who adore Claude the way that Claudeleth shippers adore Claude. I wish Dimiclaude shippers adored Claude the way that Claudeleth shippers adore Claude.

I thought that was all the venting I wanted to get off my chest, but then I wrote this: https://at.tumblr.com/mysticdragon3md3/a-long-time-ago-i-broke-up-with-my-best-friend/bz3sxi8owfre

[darkwing-ramblings]

Please, don't be worried. (This is Tumblr so I assume people can get worried easily, sorry if I am talking too much here)

Ooh I've figured out indenting! That makes sense, intentions are often notably harder to parse online after all and direct and explicit communication is the most effective method to ensure everyone is on the same page. I understand and read you silent and clear 👍. I also believe my previous check up was openly described as motivated by worry in any case making it relevant to address.

Also, I like to "credit where due" to characters too.

It's the only way to drag and/or celebrate them later after all if that's what the heart desires! Feats diminished in veritable satisfaction if you can't laud or criticise them with, goodness gracious, sufficient accuracy! Why, the shame! (I jest here, but also heartily concur that accuracy where possible is important just like seeing merit where present in characters no matter what else is going on with them, it's a nice exercise in recognising one's one biases and practising that personally disliking something does not fundamentally change its essence)

XD I love this! Also, true. (And disliking M&Ms because they killed Elves.)

I'm flattered! Yes, the silmarils have such non-controversial moral standards it's great as well as personal sensibilities going by all of the examples above! Hence murder=bad, torture=bad, eating me=bad. They may wear out mortals but that's not deliberate, all of their deliberate decisions they do something about (burn it, burn it with treelight-essence-fire!) are very simply motivated!

First, to repeat from another post (I don't expect you to read all my posts, but also, do nor expect me to paraphrase things I can copy):

These are reasonable expectations if I may say so myself!

I don't feel like going into an "omniscience, Providence, free will" debate

I understand as wholly as I find myself intrigued by that summary of the essence of the debate. But never mind that! I have seen the opportunity for a somewhat relevant favoured tangent of mine!

I leap for joy at the opportunity to supply my understanding of how writing a character works! That being if you've set up consistency of history, personality, values, opinions and relationships in a character by placing them in a context the equivalent of multiple choice options that they could take should present yourself to you and it's up to you to pick which one works best for your aims and run with it. So the character need not fundamentally change to react to something one of a few ways but once you're chronologically past that if it properly shapes their development their pattern of choices developing gives you insight into them and creates more streamlined understanding of why exactly that is.

It's a fun part of writing, as sometimes a character will therefore fundamentally stop being the "themself" model your parameters guide you to write if you force an ill-fitting choice onto them for narrative smoothness; therefore, it takes clever manoeuvring of your options originating from them and/or adapting the external factors as required to go the direction of you want that functions as a puzzle built on an in-joke known only to you! Hence outlines are fluid guides that are not hard and fast rules and writing is interactive and interesting and enjoyable and never entirely predictable despite it originating from your own mind! It is understandable that it is as a result not always helpful as a minor point in larger discussions if that's not the point of figuring out an alternate timeline/universe because the detail is a little excessive for wider considerations!

with some characters having foresight (and Providence being a canon-established thing), we cannot do linear (in time) reasoning

It makes for fun considerations that are very text-specific, yes.

Finwë would be grieving for Feanor, but also he was more level headed. So… worst-case scenario you can probably imagine (no Flight, Morgoth Melkor roams free and still has a cool name).

Melkor not be renamed, for shame! Shame on all of the elves who couldn't come up with a suitable name-insult upon such similar circumstances! Feanor's greatest impact on the world made clear: having the audacity to wittingly rename an ainur as an insult that stuck for all of forever. Does Mairon similarly remain Mairon the Not-Sauron/Thauron because of this then? I actually don't know who granted him his clearly more accurate name, but without precedent/Feanor dead it could theoretically also not occur, hmm.

(Joking aside I can indeed imagine this, yes, I am with you)

Finwë promises the Silmarils to the Valar (because Trees), swears a better Oath (we will reclaim the gems and defeat Morgoth to avange my poor son + no blasphemy + no revenge on people who are not Morgoth). Many Noldor follow him, not as many as followed Feanor, but they probably get some Maiar as support.

Ooh that's interesting. Nolofinwe likely accompanies him but probably due to the noldor not having to repick a favourite/most-legitimate royal with the same haste as post Finwe's death has a smaller host too. Arafinwe keeps his remaining status to look after things at home easily enough I imagine here, because someone ought to.

I see we must replace the oath with another oath for without it the story would differ, fair enough, better is still improvement.

The war still isn't as quick as Finwë hoped. Sun and Moon are still made, Men are awaken, but Morgoth is defeated sooner thank in the canon timeline and with less losses. Also, Finwë hangs out with his friend Elwë and convinces him to let his daughter marry a Man with no stupid conditions. ;)

Oh of course there still needs to be plenty of ill-fate going around. I would not blame Elwe for being sceptical of Finwe's family related advice. But I'm sure Melian would keep her stance of that's a bad idea husband whatever he might suggest (possibly pointing out the hypocrisy of banning a never before seen marriage between kindreds, exactly like their own was unprecedented) and perhaps with Finwe and Melian tag-teaming it Elwe would concede?

Regardless, there are plenty of tasks to set Beren if Elwe still insists of him proving his worth/hopefully failing to ever force Elwe to follow through with the "win" condition that need not end up inciting kinslayings in this hypothetical au.

Morgoth (courtesy of whoever stepped up to grant the name in Feanor's place) being defeated earlier is our first tangible improvement that affects the simarils- rescue from the horrible, evil Morgoth and horrible, evil Angband!

Morgoth defeates, Trees maybe restored, maybe not. I can see some people (Maeglin, for example) stealing a Silmaril for weird reasons (to impress Idril), so we can still have the two Silmarils gone if we need it.

Aha, we return to the heart of the matter! For we must forget about everyone else and ask how this changed things for the poor silmarils! Hmm, I don't think the trees being restored is necessarily better for the silmarils in question for they have life as they are and are already perfect. For the elves quite possibly? But, for the silmarils I don't know that gem-plant-light-hybrids being forced into the shape of the original trees to forever be compared to the glow of their forebears is a happy ending? I think they would need to be somewhat more differentiated to have their distinct lives recognised as their own and not imitations of the "better" long-mourned similar but fundamentally different from them trees. If we're leaning into free-range silmarils they also are now even more immobile and not even moved around to see different things by other beings.

But you hit the mark that one silmaril must be retrieved/taken from Morgoth earlier than the other two to not decrease possible silmaril-happiness from the canon timeline and end up somewhere or equivalent or better note condition wise.

Second, I really don't think Thingol had the Feanorians in mind when sending Beren on his quest. It is possible that he didn't know about the Oath at all! Just that the Noldor (in general) want to reclaim the Silmarils (but not that it's such a high priority).

Hmm see this has merit and notably dampens the bettering of a Finwe lives au, for it means that if the oath's absence affects them not at all a kinslaying/violent conflict that accidentally ends in grievous harm is not out of the question yet and the silmarils may meet someone they accordingly do not like! Finwe is Elwe's friend yes but also a leader of a foreign people it's not unthinkable that Elwe feels some need to save face in front of/prove he is still separate and not beholden to.

(Plus there is the languishing in Thingol's vault, not optimal for silmaril happiness, slowly killing Luthien may also make them sad the same way if she ends up with it too but we really don't know about that).

If there was was no Oath of Feanor, there would probably be no mass murder at Alqualonde. And then there would be no closing of Valinor and Earendil wouldn't be necessary.

Well that sorts itself out neatly. There's certainly a pretty equivalent scenario to canon where the first kinslaying happens irregardless of Finwe's best efforts if the offer of the silmarils to the valar isn't enough to convince them endorsing leaving this early is a good idea yet. Given Olwe is not Finwe's best friend and his reasons for denying the ships weren't that related to Feanor as an individual- more the principle of taking them at all/valar disapproval. But it's easily enough handwaved away as it'll work itself out from creasing the song of arda whatever way it needs to probably.

As I said, much of the reason why "Silmarils in a vault" give me a red flag, is metatextual. In the Bible there are some verses about putting a lamp/light under a (bucket? not exactly but I don't know the English word) and that you need to put it up somewhere high instead so it can shine. And I am sure Tolkien knew those lines, because they are some of the more well-known.

It's got a higher possible relevance than where my mind went of the debates surrounding which pets can be kept inside if the conditions are favourably sympathetic to them at least? I also thought of houseplants and standards of care for them. That's a cool titbit to bring in at least that's new to me as a concept put quite that way anywhere. I was more thinking UV light and plants... wait! Wait were the poor trees also deprived as nearly the only light sources with no sun powering them!?! Stars are something maybe... plus they have wider foliage etc giving surface area to get things through than the silmarils have.

I wouldn't be complaining so much about the poor gemsies if not for that. However "poor gemsies" seems to be a reading supported by the book. ;) (But yes, Elves and Men are more important than gemsies)

Gasp! Shock horror! But the poor gemsies!?! How can lives be so easily compared when each is immeasurably of value? The poor gemsies have rights, rights I say! Just because they do not have legs and arms. What is this outrageous mobile-children-of-Eru based discrimination! The poor, poor beleaguered gemsies!

What makes a happy silmaril?

For context we must consider that the silmarils are written as living is not intelligent beings in a way and that they were derived of trees and so are a probable never-before-seen-gem-plant-hybrid-creature-with-opinions-just-no-mobility. Also I am @darkwinganimus by another name, to be clear, and this moves a previous discussion @eri-pl and I were having in the replies of one of their posts over to a format with no restrictively frustrating word limitation.

As @eri-pl puts in their Silmarillion reread part 6: "They loked like diamonds, so canonically white-ish. their fire is made of mixed Treelight, so I would assume warm white is canon.

They shone like stars of Varda but had real life inside — I really need this in English! OK, I googled it.

OH. Something else but: "he pondered how the light of the Trees, the glory of the Blessed Realm, might be preserved imperishable" — It may be me jumping on things + Tolkien's poetical wording, but this seems like a strong suggestion of "Fefe wanted to jump higher than his head" (he was not the first one) and sheds a light (pun intended) on his sttitude towards the Silmarils later.

Anyway back to that part about life: "and yet, as were they indeed living things, they rejoiced in light" So they are living things, not just "like" living things. Silmarills = baby Trees is canon! (OK, somewhat canon? but they *are* alive, and by logic they must be bred not made-in-the-strict-sense by Feanor)

So they glow by themselves with warm white, but also they are iridescent like diamonds. Beautiful indeed."

(Opinions such as disliking Morgoth then Carcaroth enough to burn him when the former wore them in his underground torture fortress Angband and the latter rudely ate them).

Anyway, the discussion points I actually want to raise are below, now that the nature of the silmarils are established as probably-living- beyond the possibility of poetic and figurative language along those veins merely sounding cool- is explained:

@eri-pl Hmm, okay, so per your reply attached to this post "Melkor (to be precise this was his name at that point :D ) wanted to kill Feanor anyway. He thought Feanor would be home too, iirc from the book. And still, Fefe could have worn them to a well-guarded situations, at least. But he was too paranoid." let's imagine Feanor takes the measure of no vault and just wears the silmarils everywhere, because he's pretty sure no one else distrusts Melkor enough to be sufficiently on guard. Melkor now has no reason to attack Formenos during the party so I don't know waits to ambush Feanor travelling on the road back from it, directing Ungoliant at the trees for a distraction etc and stealing the silmarils+killing Feanor as planned. Good for Melkor he achieves all his goals.

I humbly ask how this then might end up in your opinion better for the silmarils in question, aside from more time outside out and about Aman in sun years per your "Feanor wearing them might have ended up better for them anyway. At least he could have worn them to well-defended occasions (like That One Party), but he didn't because he was paranoid about the normal Valar too.". Because without Feanor and with Finwe alive there a question of if the flight of the noldor even happens afterwards- which they were agitating let's assume so and skip the how-that-happens/goes for now- and about the oath.

Now the oath is terrible for most beings involved, yes, but is it terrible for the silmarils themselves? It's a force of dedicated warriors specifically trying to retrieve them from Melkor their evil abductor- a force of dedicated warriors who make their retrieval from Morgoth so fraught a topic Thingol invokes it in an arguably rash and spur of the moment to Beren arguably meaning "I-would-see-you-dead-before-I-give-permission-for-you-to-marry-my-beloved-daughter-go-die-to-Morgoth-and/or-the-feanorians-over-a-silmaril".

It sees one of them get out of Angband in the hands of Beren and Luthien and enjoy free-range-ish years in the open then ultimately make it to Earendil upon Vingilot's prow. Earendil and Elwing's arrival with said stolen silmaril also helps petition aid from the valar in the war of wrath successfully leading to one ending up in the ocean (not terrible for pseudo-plant-gem-creatures as an environment) and a random volcano that maybe also got swallowed by the sea (at least there's no Melkor and it has possible gem-friends in its volcano). If there is no oath all of the latter is in question and whilst things could end better for the silmarils probably (and definitely those who died because of the oath on both sides, but that's not the focus here) they could also end up worse.

Now, Feanor's son's swear the oath of their own initiative when he begins to but on their own with him dead it's not exactly assured say Kanafinwe is going to see to it a very similar one is made.

I understand entirely that it is a lot of words however so won't be offended if you'd rather call it a day/don't actually read this all. Either way putting it together in one place has pleased me greatly whether any response, staggered yay or nay, results.

[fromherlips]

home for christmas - a goffin and king drabble

It only seemed fair that if Jane and Harry got their own holiday drabble that Liam and Jane get theirs too ;) Again, this is not canon, I just like to keep y’all on your toes. <3

“Hey Janey, I’m just waiting to get off the plane now. I’m thinking of stopping by my house first to drop off my luggage and take a nap. Do you still want me to come by your flat tonight? I know you’re probably working right now, I just wanted to leave you a quick voicemail to let you know that I got back into England safely. Alright Janey, I’ll see you soon. Er, later I guess. Bye!”

Jane felt the smile stretch across her lips before she could stop the natural reaction. Liam had just gotten back from his nine-month-long tour just in time for the holidays. He had been home for short stops in between shows, but this was the longest stretch of time she was going to see him since before his tour kicked off.

It was strange, really. Their schedules had always been wonky. They’d see each other for a year or a year and a half while Liam was working on his next album. Then, he’d leave for tour, disappearing for anywhere between six to nine months. And then he’d be back as if nothing had ever happened.

His second tour had ended somewhere in France, maybe. Or was it Portugal? She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about it, her schedule slammed with Christmas parties she and Harry had to attend as representatives of Mode. She knew when Liam was coming back though. She’d, admittedly, put it in the calendar in her phone, the only note on the app aside from the preset holidays and events.

Liam was meant to be home the month before, his tour ending sometime mid-November, but he went back to the United States to do some Jingle Ball dates throughout the month of December. It was great promo for his album, a decision that he had made sometime during the summer. Jane encouraged him to do so, even if it meant delaying his return to London.

He had left the message an hour prior, giving Jane enough time to pack up a small rucksack for herself at her flat. She knew what time Liam was flying in, already planning on surprising him at his house. Harry was fine with taking the day off, especially when he pried and got Jane to admit what she had planned. The car was waiting downstairs for Jane, ready to take her across London to Liam’s Primrose Hill house.

“Come on Charlie,” Jane said, waiting for her dog to leave his comfortable spot on the middle of his bed. Jane got him back in the late spring, a suggestion from Sutton so she had somebody else to be responsible for. Charlie was the first dog that seemed to pay any attention to her, refusing to leave her side at the shelter. Her whole schedule changed to revolve around his, giving her a chance to focus on someone (or something) else for a change.

Jane kept him on his lead, following him down the hall to the lift. Liam’s dogs were still staying with his family down in Birmingham, meaning Charlie didn’t have to stay home with Sutton at Jane’s flat. She’d hoped that Liam wouldn’t be at his house yet, giving her a chance to surprise him for once.

It took a civil conversation with Louis and the cooperation of one of Liam’s drivers to plan it, much to Jane’s displeasure. She and Louis still didn’t see eye-to-eye, though their relationship seemed to improve somewhat in the past few months. Jane didn’t feel like she had anything to prove to him, but being polite with Liam’s manager was ultimately for the best.

Liam’s house was silent when she walked in through the garage door, a good sign that he hadn’t arrived before she did. Then again, he could have been napping like he said he might. She tried to tiptoe down the hall just in case, but Charlie had other plans, tugging on his lead so he could race down the hall. Jane dropped her rucksack down at the foot of the stairs, unhooking Charlie from his lead.

“Sit,” she called out, keeping him in place instead of wreaking havoc in Liam’s house. “Guess who you get to see soon.”

Charlie tilted his head, looking up at Jane. She laughed, leaning down to scratch behind his ears. He turned his head, licking the back of Jane’s hand. She figured she had a few minutes to relax before Liam arrived, leading Charlie into his lounge. She had him sit on the floor while she relaxed on the middle of one of the sofas. Her knees knocked together, a nervous habit she had yet to shake. This would be the first time she and Liam could spend an extended amount of time together since he left for tour. They talked frequently and saw each other every couple of months, but they hadn’t had a chance to be together since they started…whatever they were.

Jane’s eyes widened when she heard the sound of the garage door opening. Charlie perked up, ready to lunge to head back towards the door. Jane placed her hand on his back, trying to hold him steady so he wouldn’t startle Liam. Once Charlie heard the sound of the door to the hallway opening, he bolted, running straight towards where Jane assumed Liam was. She swore under her breath, running after her dog before he could ruin her surprise.

By the time Jane caught up, it was too late. Charlie had run down the long hallway, nudging his head against Liam’s legs.

“Charlie!” Liam said, immediately dropping to his knees. Jane stood back while Charlie licked Liam’s face, both of his big paws pressed against his shoulders. Liam scratched his head behind his ears, riling up the dog even more. “Hi boy! Are you excited to see me? Yeah? I’m excited to see you too! Aw, good boy. You’re such a good boy!”

Jane laughed, bending down so she could pat on her knees. She whistled loud enough to be heard over Liam’s chatter, patting her knees three times. Charlie immediately hopped off of Liam, turning quickly to run back towards Jane. Liam frowned, brushing off the front of his jacket while Jane petted Charlie on the head.

“He loves his mum,” Jane explained with a shrug. “Isn’t that right Char-Char?”

“Char-Char?” Liam asked, quirking a brow.

“He likes nicknames,” Jane replied. “Right Char-Char?”

The dog wagged his tail, licking the back of Jane’s hand until she pet him again. In the meantime, Liam had hung his jacket up on the hooks next to his door, dropping his rucksack on the bench beneath it.

“Charlie, go lay down,” Jane said, using a flick of her wrist to shoo him away. He complied, his paws clomping against the floor as he ran back towards the lounge. Jane and Liam were finally alone, standing face to face in the bare hallway. He must have gotten his hair trimmed before the last set of shows, the long wavy tendrils now gone, replaced with a much neater haircut.

Liam was the first to take a step forward, the space between their bodies swallowed up by his presence. “Hi Janey,” Liam murmured, resting his forehead against hers. “How’ve you been?”

“Busy,” she replied, her hands settling on his shoulders. “What about you?”

“Busy,” he said, mimicking her answer. “Tour was fantastic but...I’m so glad to be home.”

“Yeah?” Jane asked, tilting her head slightly to the right. “Why’s that?”

“Piss off,” he said, leaning in until their lips pressed against each other. Jane immediately took his top lip between hers, her arms instinctively draping around the back of his neck. She’d seen Liam the month prior at a show in Germany, but it was only for a night, not nearly enough time for either of them.

Jane broke away from their kiss when Liam’s hands cupped under her ass, hoisting her up with ease as he walked them down the hall. Jane kept one hand around his neck while the other helped steady them against the wall as Liam walked blindly through his house. They nearly stumbled twice before Liam finally gave up, dropping Jane carefully onto her feet in the foyer.

“We’ll work on that, yeah?” he asked, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Just needs a little tweaking,” she replied. “Won’t take long I reckon.”

“Me either,” Liam agreed. “Um so, you’ve been well?”

Jane nodded, making sure she was looking him in the eyes for her response. “Things have been okay,” she replied honestly. “Better, just not perfect.”

“That’s fine,” he assured her. “Perfect isn’t necessary. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, leaning forward so she could rest her head against his chest. “I can’t believe you’re back.”

“Me either,” he said. “For a while too.”

“It’s too bad you’re going to be spending most of it in the studio and writing,” she sighed.

“I know, if only there was a fit writer that I could work with to making working that much better...oh wait...”

“Fit? That’s the best you can do?”

“Fit, talented, intelligent, strong-willed, a little stubborn, great in bed...the list goes on and on.”

“Shut up,” she said, pushing away from his chest while she laughed. “I hope you don’t think that you’re going to get special treatment now that...”

“Now that what?” he asked, raising his eyebrows curiously. Judging by the smirk on his face, he knew what Jane was getting at, he just wanted to hear her say it out loud.

They had discussed their relationship, sure, but Jane hadn’t been able to utter the words yet. Sutton, Harry, and Niall brought it up, but Jane would merely smile and change the subject, not quite ready yet to say it out loud.

“You’re mean,” she grumbled, immediately pouting.

“And you’re very stubborn,” he replied.

“I feel like a teenager saying it,” she mumbled. “We’re adults, Liam. In a consensual, romantic relationship. That is more than just sex and fighting about said sex.”

Liam snorted. “You honestly have a way with words, Janey,” Liam told her. “Close enough! Then again, haven’t I always had special treatment once you decided you didn’t hate me?”

“Fair enough,” she replied. “Harry fancied you, that’s why.”

“I think you’re confusing Harry with yourself,” he pointed out. “Fuck I’m so happy to see you, Jane.”

“It’s always a pleasure to see me,” Jane replied, smirking against his shoulder. “I’m sorry I surprised you here, I’m sure you’re tired.”

Liam shook his head, lifting Jane’s chin with the tip of his finger. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “Plus, I reckon a nap together would be better than me sleeping alone.”

“Hmm, that’s true,” Jane replied. “I think there’s a really comfortable bed waiting in your room for us.”

Jane squealed when Liam picked her up abruptly, putting her over his shoulder with a hand secured around her back. With her limbs dangling on both sides of him, she continued to laugh until he carried her into his bedroom on the first floor, laying her down gently on the comforter. Charlie must have heard Jane, immediately jumping on the foot of the bed to lay next to her.

Liam reached out to rub the dog’s head, earning a few kisses on the back of his hand from Charlie. He waited for Jane to get settled on her side of the bed, not even bothering to peel back the covers to lay under them. Liam sprawled out in the spot next to her, his shoulder lined up perfectly with hers. She shifted her body, lifting her head so her cheek rested against Liam’s shoulder.

“Are you excited to be home for Christmas?” Jane asked, rapping her fingers against Liam’s chest.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “I’m just happy to be back in London, in my house, in my bed, and with you.”

“Li...”

“What?” he asked. “This is the first time since I’ve left for tour that we get to spend time together for longer than a few days.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“And I’m very much looking forward to being able to do this with you, for real this time.”

“Wait what? I’m just here for sex, we must’ve gotten our signals crossed.”

“Janey,” Liam groaned. “You’re going to make me and my mate Charlie upset. Isn’t that right boy?” Charlie’s head perked up at the sound of his name, immediately falling back against the mattress as soon as he realized he wasn’t getting a treat from it.

“This is still new to me,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I...I’m afraid I don’t know how not to fuck it up.”

“I understand,” he replied. “I get it. We can do this at your pace, it’s okay.”

“That’s not fair to you,” I told him. “Once again.”

“Shh, Jane,” Liam said, holding her closer. “This is different. I don’t expect...I’m not looking for you to fawn over me or be head over heels. I just...want you to be Jane.”

“Should I start double-fisting bottles of wine then?” she joked. “I just...I want to be happy. With you. And with myself too, I guess.”

“Then so be it,” he replied. “I know it’s not that easy but I am here for you and will follow your lead on this one, okay?”

“Okay,” Jane whispered. “Thank you.”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “I got to see real, proper snow in America. It made me pretty happy that it doesn’t happen here.”

Jane snorted, shaking her head faintly with her cheek still against Liam’s chest. “Yeah? How was that?” she teased.

“Very Christmassy, if you must know,” he replied. “Felt like I was in a snowglobe or summat. You probably would’ve hated it.”

“Probably, but the idea of chucking a snowball at you is really amusing and now I’d like to make that happen,” Jane said, humming at the devious thought.

“Note to self, we are never going on holiday anywhere that has snow,” Liam said, not seeming to catch himself making future plans. Jane’s first instinct would have been to cringe and pull away. Instead, she smiled against him, letting him twirl his fingers around the ends of her hair.

“This might be the wrong time to tell you I’m not a massive fan of hot temperatures either,” Jane said. “We’ll figure something out.”

“I’ve heard staycations are all the rage now,” Liam joked.

“You can nap, Liam, it’s okay,” Jane assured him, noticing that his eyes were starting to slip closed when she looked up at him. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”

Liam nodded, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Okay Janey,” he murmured, his hand falling limp against the spot on her back between her shoulder blades. She curled closer to his body, letting her eyes slipped closed as she used his chest as her pillow.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

hi! really really sorry if this comes off as weird or if you just wanna move past it, but if you'd like, I'd maybe wanna try and give some...idk...advice? As someone who writes c!primeboys in a way vaguely similar to how you do(I.E focusing on the obsessiveness of c!Dream towards c!Tommy and how he dehumanizes him like a fucking creep, but not That Kind of creep), and who has often dealt with more than just a couple of really nasty, half-assed, fake nice comments on my fics with it.

First of all, I wanna say that there is literally NOTHING wrong(from what I've seen) with how you write them in your fics/drabbles. Literally nothing. Your stuff is horrifying and eerie and makes the skin crawl, but it's done well and very similar to scenes from DSMP canon, and not once in my Basically A Whole Year of lurking before I joined did I ever read your stuff and think it was at all gross or anywhere close to boundry breaking. Like...you'd have to SQUINT and tilt your head a whole bunch. then scoot 5 paces to the left to stand on your head. to get anything /r or heavens forbid NSFW out of your c!primeboys stuff. that's how far off from any boundaries you've been.

like you are Very Good on that front. Please don't ever worry too badly, you're honestly one of the most respectful people I've seen when it comes to the CCs.

Another thing is that I heavily relate to basing c!primeboys stuff off of personal experience. At the risk of being a bit trauma dumpy, I often draw from experiences of both sexual and non-sexual abuse I've suffered when writing c!Dream. Not in the sense that I take the sex stuff and put it up to him god no heaven forbid, but moreso that, as someone who has gone through both "flavors" of how abusers can be predatory towards their victims, I find it very soothing to take the idea of being viewed as just a toy, meat, tool or an object, something to be hurt and consumed for another person's enjoyment, and to take all of that and go "hee hoo evil greem man" in a way that fits the Ccs' boundaries that allows me to vent through whatever I'm writing. oooooften in the "hee hoo evil greem man be evil and then get thrown into the garbage disposal while gold boy get hugged and kissed on the forehead" way, which is a bit different from your horror-centric fics, but hey! the duality of inniter strikes again :D

I get feeling anxious when someone misinterprets your fics. You aren't alone in that. If someone ever tried to accuse me of /r or NSFWing any of my c!primeboys scene, I'd likely have a panic attack and go on lockdown for the next 5 business days. because,,,,,,yikes, ya'know?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you really shouldn't worry as much about coming off a certain way if that's not what you intend in your writing. You tag your stuff very well, you give warnings and are very mindful about everything you create. That anon was being an ass and should go reconsider how they talk to people when they can just curate their own experience. If i had a nickel for everytime I've had someone say some similarly snobby mocking passive aggressive fake-nice shit on my fics, I'd have a lotta nickels and would be a bit less unhappy about reading those things. becuz money. yea....

Sorry this was so long and rambly. I just wanted to try and offer a few assurances <3

thank you, i'm sorry this is causing you anxiety haha. i'm just. i've fucked up with boundaries in the past. i dont get them intuitively like a lot of people do bc i've only just recently allowed myself to start having my own. i worry that fucking up there has made me unfixable. i worry i'm still fucking up and not realising it. its good to know that it's just paranoia.

[askmerriauthor]

Star Wars: Visions thoughts and discussion

Been on a bit of a Star Wars binge lately. Getting ready for the Book of Fett and the return of The Mandalorian soon, just finished playing the Jedi: Fallen Order game, and recently "Star Wars: Visions" dropped on Disney+ (not to be confused with the, like, half-dozen other Star Wars properties that use "Visions" as their title). If you've got the streaming service and haven't watched the series yet, I can honestly suggest you should do so. The whole thing is a series of very short episodes and is entirely non-canon to the setting, so you don't even need a hard understanding of Star Wars to enjoy it.

In fact, it's actually better if you don't know anything about Star Wars going in. Spoilers and brief episode discussion after the jump.

Episode 1: The Duel As soon as I saw a lightsaber umbrella and a R2 droid in a hat, I knew this one was going to be a must-watch.

I REPEAT. LIGHTSABER. UMBRELLA.

Solid kick-off for the short series. Dig the aesthetic, dig the classic samurai vibe (even if it's more of an homage than a direct application of the style), dig the simple story. The particular animation style they chose here was a little wonky but I quickly got used to the visuals and loved a bunch of the design choices too much to care. This one was very action/style-focused and clearly chosen as the leading episode for that reason, which I don't fault them at all for.

Episode 2: Tatooine Rhapsody I'm sorry, I don't recall giving Star Wars permission to be this fucking adorable, how dare you.

The tale of a Padawan survivor of Order 66 who makes a new life for himself not with the power of the Force, but with the power of Rock and Roll and Friendship. Bitchin'. Super adorable, semi-chibi art style that's honestly ringing, like, a dozen different bells in my head for trying to figure out all the different styles it's drawing from. Good fun, if a bit bland in the end. The biggest problem is the music. The story relies on "using music to save the day", which is fine. But when you use that trope you need an absolutely face-melting banger of a performance, which this just doesn't have. An enjoyable entry all the same though. Not bad, not great, cute designs; the quirky story of how Jabba the Hutt got a new slave band to play at his den.

Episode 3: The Twins This entire episode is animated by the team who brought us Kill la Kill and that should really tell you everything you need to know.

You know how if you get a bunch of little kids together, they'll start playing make-believe games where they just invent stories and plot twists and super powers like "I have whatever you can do, but infinity plus 1 better!" shit like that? That's what this short is. It has only the vaguest allusions to the setting proper and immediately hurls every semblance of consistency, logic, and sense out the window with both hands. It is 1,000,000% style over substance.

Okay, y'know what, no, that's not enough to describe the utter insanity this episode is. All I can find online is pictures of the main villain character pulling a General Grievous impression or the protag snaring lightsaber whips on his lightsaber, but that is fucking tiddlywinks compared to where this episode goes.

There is a scene in this short where the protag, who is ghost-riding the hood of his X-Wing upside down in space without a space suit, super-charges his lightsaber into a giant rainbow of FUCK YOU GEORGE LUCAS with the power of familial love and fabulousness, using said rainbow super saber to CUT AN ENTIRE STAR DESTROYER IN HALF WHILE ACCELERATING TO HYPERSPEED, all to save his twin sister's life by making her explode in a somehow non-harmful manner.

This short is utterly nonsensical drivel and yes I would like more right the fuck now, please and thank you.

Episode 4: The Village Bride Wait, we're actually trying to tell a reasonable story in this series? Sorry, I was still on a sugar high from the previous episode. Lemme sit down.

The Village Bride is great. Excellent short that's just dripping with atmosphere and a slow, purposeful pace to its writing. It's short and sweet with little focus on the Force-using characters themselves, which actually serves to its credit. Even in the Star Wars universe, the Ainu people can't catch a fucking break. Easily one of my favorites in the whole run.

Episode 5: The Ninth Jedi The fact that two characters in this short have Sasuke's haircut was extremely distracting. But I actually really enjoyed this entry overall.

Despite playing extremely loose with the established lore around how lightsabers work, this episode over all others really embraces the original setting and tells a slow-burn story about the potential revival of the Jedi Order. A little meandering at times, but it's a solid piece and well worth exploring. Of all the shorts in the series, this one has the greatest potential to actually continue on as a standalone series or be folded into the canon franchise. Main protag is an adorable bean and I love her.

Episode 6: T0-B1 This episode is simultaneously a love letter to Astro Boy and a giant middle finger to Star Wars lore purists.

The tale of an imaginative Droid named T0-B1 who dreams of becoming a hero like the Jedi he's heard so many stories of. This short gets extra credit for being so unyieldingly stylish and charming. On the surface of its presentation and story choices it seems like it doesn't know anything about Star Wars lore, but it's actually packed full of some pretty deep cuts that show the folk behind it do know what they're talking about and just don't fucking care what purists have to say. The entire thing is just "Yeah, I'm ignoring your lore, but I'm doing it in a fun way that makes the setting more interesting, and I'm so genuine about it that you can't be mad at me". I can respect that. Plus the old dude in that screenshot is an armless Jedi who's retired to be a botanist and that's just fucking cool.

Episode 7: The Elder I'm Episode 1, but better.

This one. This shit right here. This is the good shit.

I'm sure y'all have heard before that Star Wars is directly inspired by Kurosawa and samurai films in general, but The Elder really digs into that hard. Where Episode 1 styles itself after a samurai tale, Episode 7 is a samurai tale. Subdued, methodical storytelling, slow-burn pace, charming dialogue amid believable characters, and a truly intimidating villain who provokes a brief but striking duel. This is my vibe. I crave more of this. Far and away the best short of the entire series.

Episode 8: Lop and Ocho Oh for fuck's sake, there's going to be so much porn of this bunny girl character, isn't there?

This entry is another that kind of meanders with the story it's trying to tell and plays very loose with the lore. It reimagines a lot of what we know of the Jedi/The Rebels and Sith/The Empire into a feudal faction-based conflict akin to what you'd see in a period samurai drama. Modernization and callous industry crushing the spirit of the people and breaking apart families. A decent work overall, but nothing really all that impressive in the end. It takes too long to get going and then peters out halfway through its pay-off for some reason.

Episode 9: Akakiri The fact that I had to look up this episode's name and scenes online and still could not remember anything about it should tell you a lot.

The series ends on a downer with the dramatic tale of a fallen Jedi who sacrifices himself and succumbs to the Dark Side. Turning evil for... the greater good? Wha? Had some pretty neat visuals, but I genuinely cannot remember a damn thing about this episode or its characters. Big swing and a miss in terms of impact.

[the-lightning-strikes-again]

I was curious if I was the only one who kinda enjoyed the battle between the paladins and Lotor in s6? Well at least at first I did until it was never further explored in later seasons. I honestly thought for sure Lotor would come back after s6 and there'd be more to the colony. But it's all kind of just forgotten about so they can move on to the next thing. Anyway hope I'm not bothering you. Sorry for my rambling. haha

Hi, anon! Thanks for the note! And no, you’re not bothering me at all; I appreciate the chance to chat! For the record, I know you’re not the only one who genuinely enjoyed s6. I even know people who enjoyed s1-s8 entirely, lol. As for myself, the animation and acting involved in the s6 battle was really great, and I loved the Sincline mecha. It is honestly one of my favorite designed mechas out of all the mecha shows I’ve seen. So s6 wasn’t a total loss for me. And I actually would not at all have minded a genuine villain!Lotor if they’d properly set up for that. As it is, though, the reason for the battle in s6 is what bothers me and sours my enjoyment. Ultimately, I think the show had to compromise very important story components to result in this battle, and that kills my enjoyment.

I can try to explain what story components I felt got compromised in s6, if you’re interested. But this could get a lil salty, haha. I’ll put it under a Keep Reading line:

The show had a subtle through-line of showing a duplicitous, distrustful Lotor go from hunting down the paladins and throwing several people under the bus for a personal gain (s3-s4), to being actually scared in s5 when he thought Zarkon was going to kill the paladins, to being willing to share his entire intelligence network and information of unfathomable power with his new allies (s5), to allowing the paladins to actually order him around and actively change his moral priorities (s6, ep1)—which is very, very different than the relationship he had with his own generals. So the show had Lotor on a development arc regarding his distrust—and even a redemption arc regarding a fault in his morals, even though the show very plainly stated (multiple times throughout s3-s5) that he longed to get to the quintessence field to stop the Galran empire’s feasting on planets.

That’s part of what bothers me with s6—it reverses this subtle through-line of development and then punishes Lotor for an understandably disturbing de-valuing of life that…1) likely wasn’t even his worst or most extensive crime, 2) was something he was actively learning to overcome and get away from in the present time, and 3) was based on a moral problem paladins had seen within him and previously still accepted their alliance.

Lotor wasn’t a saint to start in this show, and he had a perspective where it didn’t bother him for some people to die if it meant his larger goal of peace was obtained. The weird thing about s6 is we saw the paladins experience that with him already, well before the s6 colony twist. In S6, Lotor places the value of obtaining unlimited quintessence over the safety of an entire Galran planet, and Allura admonishes him and reminds him of his innocent subjects. In s6 ep1, Lotor is very directly challenged by the morality of Allura, who despite being a victim of Galrans, desires that no one should die. That these innocent subjects and Galran soldiers are still just as valuable as everyone else.

So by this moment in s6, Lotor has identified the paladins as valuable enough to risk his life for them…but he hasn’t assigned that same value to the average Galran soldier or citizen he’s still deemed expendable/not worthy of saving compared to his grand agenda of peace. If he had assigned them such value, he would not have initially tried to argue with Allura on going to save them. It’s the one time that Allura gets huffy with him post-alliance and directly contradicts him. And Lotor looks…almost mournful or ashamed? He submits to her, regardless, allowing for his personal missions to go on hold for the first time in interest of other people.

His submission here shows another switch had been flipped in his character, for the better. Prior to Allura and the paladins, he had no difficulty assassinating Narti or leaving his generals for dead after they realized they were in fact expendable. S6 ep1 shows Lotor submitting to save even Galran soldiers that he likely knew were not Emperor Lotor fans.

So going back to the big colony twist, the paladins actively should have known that Lotor had a slightly bent perspective about the expendability of people, because they’d seen it before in season 6 episode 1 and even back in season 3. Clearly, he’s done not good things in the past at the expense of others “for a greater good,” so I don’t know why it’s such a shocker that he would apply the same perspective to Alteans. They literally saw him de-value his own people before, in real-time.

It gets weird too because we see that Lotor had very quickly changed his tactics for obtaining pure quintessence after he realizes Allura and team Voltron are the path of least resistance and least collateral damage. We see him relenting to protect all of his innocent subjects. So ultimately, he ends up being punished for having a problematic perspective that he was slowly beginning to decouple from at the time of his accusation, which the paladins were also witnessing. As it is, the show punishes Lotor for his past crimes precisely after the paladins had already seen this behavior in him, and also after his perspective had started to change for the better. The narrative then pushes him back down into a behavior where he instead expands the list of people and things he accepts as expendable.

I feel that the subliminal messaging behind this particular construction is a little screwy and disheartening. The colony twist would have been better if the show had presented Lotor in s5 and s6 episode 1 as not being ashamed—not submitting—and even getting irritated that Voltron cared about one labor planet in the face of what Lotor felt was a higher calling for peace. It would have been interesting to show Lotor as inherently unconcerned or even approving that the paladins almost died while he and Allura were out in Oriande. There needed to be a more solid through-line of a very troubling, uncontrollable fault that would undermine the alliance and peace itself.

Next, to even get Lotor to go insane or to have him reliant on harvesting Altean quintessence, the show had to contradict its own worldbuilding in early seasons. Lotor was fully infused with massive amounts of quintessence prior to birth that EPs once stated put him on pretty much the same level as Allura, and that he was immune to quintessence. So…s6 heavily contradicts Lotor’s incredibly dynamic behavior and even his moral interest in not killing planets by making him go insane to nearly kill the entire universe. And canon accomplishes this in a way that canonically shouldn’t have been possible, per his in-utero quintessence exposure.

And then I’m bothered that if all he wanted was pure quintessence, there were canonically several other ways to obtain it, including for example that Balmera planets were known for harboring pure quintessence, even pure quintessence offered by living beings like Alteans, and that Balmeras were capable of offering up such power willingly in exchange for a slight token from the asker—or that Weblums happened to be concentrated quintessence manufacturers just floating around…

And I’m bothered that in various places, the show uplifts Alteans as inherently different in their life force/quintessence from all other living things. It contradicts the basic worldbuilding around what quintessence even is according to earlier seasons and creates some…idk, really squicky master race vibes, in ways that other fantasy space shows like Star Wars desperately have tried to avoid by showing diversity among the Jedi and Sith ranks. In VLD, it’s as if to say that Lotor couldn’t have possibly accomplished his goal without specifically sacrificing the life force of one particular race.  

And while what Lotor did doesn’t by definition count as genocide (he still preserved the race and its culture), this messaging in later seasons about inherent racial reasons to sacrifice people is the same problematic thinking people use to perpetuate genocides in real life. And I just…I have a real problem with that. According to the later seasons, the colony Alteans are victims of Lotor’s experiments for specifically being born Altean. It’s even more squicky that the show could have rejected the bad message of “we must sacrifice a race because of their inherent properties” and fleshed out the minimal cues that other races could be just as powerful and helpful—but didn’t.

(For example, the show presents Keith with Princess Leia-like quintessence sensitivity, Coran and Balmera people with the ability to interface with and accept quintessence storages, the Balmera people themselves infusing the Balmera with their quintessence, the Weblums harboring mass stores of concentrated quintessence in their bellies, the very non-Altean Druids like Macidus manipulating mass quintessence into magic, and even a sea serpent/The Baku in season 2 using quintessence to mind-control an entire species. This show could have very easily pulled a Star Wars and at least fleshed out that hey, Midi-chlorians don’t discriminate and that any species can harbor a great Jedi…or Sith.)

But no—instead of presenting a diverse front of magical capabilities coming together to save the universe, the show champions in s8 its own horrific implications in s6, by having two Alteans sacrifice their lives in the end…because of course no other race could learn or manipulate the deep secrets of the universe? No one else could help share the load so that no one would have to actually die? I get that war means sacrifice, but like...why are we always sacrificing specifically along racial lines? So actually, after that s6 morality tantrum, the show approves of Lotor’s tactics by sacrificing the few Alteans to save the many because those few are somehow inherently different? And isn’t it wild that ultimately the federal figurehead of Alteans, Princess Allura, exonerates Lotor for sacrificing Alteans for their power in the name of larger peace…shortly before pulling a Lotor and sacrificing herself in the name of peace? So even in the final moments, the show is trying to argue with me that sometimes it’s necessary to sacrifice a specific race by virtue of their inherent nature.

So…I guess I’ve rambled. I really wouldn’t have minded a villainous Lotor or a big Voltron vs. Sincline battle. There were things I genuinely did like about s6, and I applaud the animators and VAs for their performance in that season. But I think there were a million and one ways to produce that plot, and the way s6 gets to these points makes me feel disquieted. It feels contradictory to previous worldbuilding and to character arcs, it undermines the morality being argued throughout the show, and it just feels like a cheap bait-and-switch if I think about it too long. Instead of relying on an old crime and a known character fault as a justification for battle, it would have been far better if Lotor had done something to specifically betray Voltron and the newly minted alliance or proved himself incapable of submitting to moral choices. And that’s only if they wanted a truly villainous Lotor. There were ways he could betray Voltron without actually turning into a comic book villain...even ways that he could outwardly play a betrayal while still functioning as an agent for Voltron’s aims to stop a loose Haggar/Honerva...

I guess, in retrospect, s6 is a really good example of a plot-driven season. It presented some really fantastic animation and battles and angst…but what did it cost the show to get there?

I think VLD itself should have taken its own advice—that one cannot place a lesser value on one component in the name of achieving a desired end goal. The season ultimately sacrificed world building and character development to achieve a stunning, angsty, heart-stopping robot fight. And that sacrifice undermined so many other things about the show and tainted my enjoyment. Sort of like mixing poop into a cake, I guess, lol.