#i know they are literally in universe being ‘kept alive’ but also it’s specifically for the reason of in universe narrative control

[kalmeria]

the horror of the narrative not allowing a character to die <3

[toaskello]

Ok, so people on Bionicle Discords are talking about Creeping in My Soul and Bring Me to Life. I think it's a common sentiment that the former is almost certainly based on the latter (though is a definite improvement IMO). But what if I told you that Bring Me to Life is actually way more relevant to Bionicle than its "copycat"? Specifically, it's a conversation between Mata Nui and Matoro at the end of 2007.

Going to need to go line by line for this

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?

Starting off a bit weak, but Mata Nui's eyes are quite literally doors. BA6 shows that Naho Bay is where the Toa Metru first arrived on the island above, and that's directly above one of the GSR's eyeholes.

Leading you down into my core

Matoro is being led to Karda Nui, which is often referred to as the core of the universe, by the return of Voya Nui.

where I've become so numb

The core is numb, the energy storms have stopped.

Without a soul, my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold

It's essential to the conclusion of 2008 that Mata Nui's spirit temporarily left his body.

Until you find it there and lead it back home

Pretty self explanatory, Mata Nui wants Matoro to use the mask to return his spirit to his body before he dies.

Wake me up inside

Again self explanatory, Mata Nui telling the beings inside him to wake him up.

Call my name and save me from the dark

Three guesses as to what the dark represents.

Bid my blood to run before I come undone

Either referring to the repopulation of Metru Nui (Matoran are often likened to red blood cells) or reactivation of the energy storms (Karda Nui is the heart).

Save me from the nothing I've become

A bit of foreshadowing for the twist ending of 2008. Mata Nui has realized that Makuta, who is often referred to as "nothing", has become the Great Spirit.

Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me

Mata Nui's character arc is about recognizing how he completely ignored his inhabitants. He took them for granted, and he recognizes that here.

Breathe into me and make me real

Ok yeah I got nothing

Bring me to life

Self explanatory.

Frozen inside without your touch, without your love

Another reference to ice, Matoro's element. This is starting to get into the importance of Matoro specifically, elaborated on in the next line.

Darling, only you are the life among the dead

Matoro is the Ignika's chosen bearer. Only he can hold it without being cursed. He's also about to be very much not alive, but Mata Nui reassures him that his spirit will live on. It's also a nod to the Kanohi Tryna that was given to him as a test of character. He would resurrect the dead, being the only life among them.

All this time I can't believe I couldn't see

Alright, Matoro lines. What has he realized?

Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me

Ah, he's realized the true identity of Mata Nui! The Great Spirit has been in front of him all along, just not in a form he recognized. Canon materials often used the phrase of toiling "in the dark" when describing the Matoran creating the GSR as a euphemism for being unaware that their home was the body of the Great Spirit.

I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems, got to open my eyes to everything

lol

Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul

Matoro is transforming into energy. He's beginning to lose his corporeal form.

Don't let me die here, there must be something more

Matoro regrets his decision to don the mask. This is something that explicitly doesn't happen in canon, but this isn't actually a Bionicle song and I'm doing my best here ok

Bring me to life

I've been living a lie

Matoro grappling with the revelation that Mata Nui is the MU.

There's nothing inside

Again an oblique reference to Makuta taking control of Mata Nui's body.

so there you have it, incontrovertible proof that this popular mainstream song that was released in 2003 was written about the plotline of a 2007 toy. i will not be taking questions at this time.

[yourlocalnameless]

ok so I think ima actually explain all my pjmasks gacha remakes so yeah LESSGOO

first up carlyyy!!

-She has headphones as you notice. I added them since I thought "Hey if cartoka wanted to tell Carly something from the other room bro can just talk into bros mic and Carly would hear it" besides that I also think shed listen to music while driving around for fun. (These headphones are also used when Carly and cartoka troll kids in roblox)

-I'd like to think when Carly found out abt race car drivers on earth she saw that for some reason a bunch of them wore scarfs (pretty sure they dominated scarfs its a universal rule that all racers must have atleast 1 scarf at this point) so she stole one for herself (Pop off I guess!!??!!???!)

-the glasses were a gift from octobella for her birthday. (She wears them to sleep too)

-AS YOU CAN SEE SHE HAS AN EYEBROW PEIRCING. YOU CANNOT EVER CONVINCE ME THAT HER CANNON SELF WOULDNT WANT PEIRCINGS. I STAND BY THIS.

-that bandage on her leg is not just for fasion purposes but also protection for a recent injury that she got while driving and accidentally crashing (Cartoka tried getting her to put the damn bandage on but she was kicking, screaming, fighting for her life since she didn't want to put it on. Cartoka was so tired he just tied the bandage over her pants 😭)

And that's it for Carly! If u got any questions for her design just ask

Next up is the icon, the legend, the moment, the queen herself. Octobella 😍😍

-I gave her double ears cuz HELLOOOO she's literally a fish (well she's an octopus but still) HER EARS LOOKING LIKE FINS IS SUCH A VIBE.

-Id like to think she's really crafty (POP OFF QUEEN 🥰🥰😍😍) SO all her clothes are made from stuff she found while searching around in her moat or stuff she stole.

-OK SO U SEE THE BACK PART OF HER HAIR?? My headcannon is she has hydrokenisis!! This is a useful skill when it comes to fighting but alsooo she uses it to make her hair (Or tentacles) to look more fluffy and fuller (MERFOLK BEAUTY HACK FR 🥰🥰😍😍‼️‼️🙏🙏)

-"WHY DOES SHE HAVE LEGS??" Glad u asked. Remember that episode where octobella changed herself into gekko? Yeah I'd like to think she has multiple forms she uses to make her life easier. This is one of them!! This is her half human half octopus form!!

-The stars on her hair?? Dead star fishes 🥰

-that yellow thing on her head?? Coral she kept alive w magic

-the crown??? Thats a necklace she made that she kinda didn't like as a necklace so she's wearing it as a drooping crown.

And that's it for my girl bells!! If u have any questions let me know.

MY NEWEST CREATION GEKKO!! OK LESSGO

-First off the clips in his hair all have a specific reason of being like that

-the sun flower is bc he likes gardening

-the cat one was a gift from catboy

-and the pumpkin is to remind him of the pumpkins he raised that orticia took 🥰

-as a dancer myself (I'm a ballet dancer) we wear legwarmers so our legs don't get cramps AND LOOK AT THAT GEKKO IS ALSO A DANCER SO THAT GIVES ME AN EXCUSE TO ADD LEGWARMERS.

-he got sick of only the color green so he dyed some parts of his hero costume (He kinda regrets it)

He has a hood to cover his identity instead of a mask now!! (This is bc I genuinely start tweaking when I can't give a character eyebags and adding a mask would equal no eyebags so ☠️)

AND THATS IT FOR GEKKO IF U HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABT HIS DESIGN ASK AWAYY

[derekscorner]

Witchy Timed Ramblings Part 3

Multiverse of Meh

Of the things Bayonetta 3 did I actually found the multiverse interesting until they ruined it with the Bayonetta 1 & 2 separation at the end. This games lore isn’t that deep but it is fascinating to me.

If you never bothered I’ll run down for you and explain why I think the multiverse makes sense. In layman’s terms:

The universe was originally a singular thing.

An event escalated into what the games call the “first armageddon” which split that reality into three.

Heaven, Hell, the Chaos between were born.

Jubileus, the supposed creator of the original reality, was put into an eternal slumber but ultimately remains the ruler of Heaven.

Those who rebelled resided in Hell which was born during the split. It’s ruler, queen sheba, was born alongside Hell and rules it even now.

The Chaos between was eventually given to the charge of a supernatural being named Aesir. It was Aesir’s power that gave the world of chaos shape.

Eventually Aesir pities humanity and divides his power among them to grant them free will.

The “left eye” and “right eye” were given to two human clans who eventually become the Lumen Sages and the Umbra Witches.

Once bequeathed Aesir’s soul splits in two and he disappears.

What Bayonetta 3 adds is that the World of Chaos specifically is made up a multiverse. A near infinite reflection of choices, causality, and timelines born from time travel manipulation which makes sense upon consideration.

It is the “world of chaos” for a reason. While Heaven & Hell (and their denizens) predate everything and thus exist in singularity the world of man does not. There is no true order to it all with Aesir gone so there exist as many reflections of Earth as there are humans to shape it’s future.

There’s also other pocket dimensions and spaces between all these multiverse, heaven, and hell. Purgatory is the most notable and is used often in Bayo 1 & 2.

Multi-Issues

The issue Bayo 3 brought after introducing the multiverse was two fold I think. I did not expect them to spend much time in the ones we visited nor give much time to the Cereza’s inside them. There’s only so much you can cover in that regard.

The issues it did bring up with splitting Bayonetta 1 & 2 into separate worlds. 2 references from 1 heavily to the point that we see Jubileus’ failed vessel next to Balder when he dies quite literally as the second game starts.

This is an issue because Jubileus, like Rodin, predates the multiverse. There is only one. 2 treats itself like a true sequel to 1 and the Cereza in 2 is treated as the same Cereza from Bayonetta 1.

Claiming they’re different cheapens how well 2 fixed and improved 1′s story but you could normally chalk it up to similar universes. Just a hair’s width in change happened there...except Jubileus happened.

Jubileus can’t exist in both worlds. This point is broken even further if the Bayonetta anime is canon. The only way I know to rectify that writing error is to claim that Jubileus is still alive.

Balder attempted to revive her using a statue as a physical vessel with the ‘eyes of the world’. So if you ignore Sheba punching the literal soul of Jubileus into the sun you can just say the revival failed and her true form yet slumbers in Heaven.

The second issue is the Eyes of the World themselves.

Eyes and Eves

While they offered the World of Chaos stability they also left it open. Balder nearly revived god using the eyes which would’ve destroyed the Trinity of Realities and Loptr nearly regained his lost powers as the god Aesir to enslave the Multiverse.

If you possessed the eyes you were godlike and this left the world at risk so Loki chose to gamble on humanities free will and used his power as Lord Aesir’s “good half” to erase them. This proved to work as humanities will kept the world turning.

Bayonetta 3 then spits on this I feel. Before the eyes were the worlds cornerstone but now the “Arch-Eve” is which is an even worse situation if you think about it.

Kill a Bayonetta (or Rosa or Jeanne) of a world and it just collapses. No rhythm or reason to it at all. It just fucking shatters and disappears into the void. Singularity only got as far as he did due to how messed up that system is.

It also ruins the free will notion of Bayonetta 2. The world shouldn’t need such pillars anymore. It is what it is now so to throw that out for an even weaker, if not completely undefined, concept as an individual that anchors reality feels insulting....or perhaps lazy.

They couldn’t think of a real reason for universes to be collapsing so they made one but didn’t bother to explain it. It irks me on a core level and now I have to live with it...I think?

I hate it yet the worlds seem fine once Singularity is dead alongside all the Cereza’s. First the world collapses if Bayonetta dies but now it’s okay so long as she and singularity are both dead?

Its such a headache...

==========

For the rest of the Witchy Timez Ramblings go here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/Witchy-Timed

[thatonebirdwrites]

6 & 15 :)

6. Show us a bit of a WIP! The Rojarias fic:

“What do you read?” Sam pulled up the LIDAR program and keyed a command to send to the drone. She needed a few test runs before she plugged in trajectories for the drones to focus upon. Lena had drilled that into her. Best to find mechanical issues before the arduous mapping project started. A fault like that could ruin a scan easily.

Andrea shrugged with one shoulder and settled in the dirt next to Sam's makeshift desk. A waft of her fruity perfume drifted between them.

“Likely far beyond your reading level.” When Sam shot her a glare, Andrea smirked. “Archeology and biographies. What did you think I read?”

“I don’t know, historical romance?” Sam said, her nose wrinkled in irrritation. “Or the Great Gasby or something.”

“Boring.” Andrea flicked her fingers. “Prefer a good shooter to that.”

“What do you have against romance?” Sam didn’t mind reading it. If she was honest, she was a bit of a romantic herself. Dreaming of meeting her soulmate, where they’d live happily ever after. She'd written many a poem about it, ones that will never see the light of day.

“Fools fall in love,” Andrea said with a disdainful sniff. “And the pointless tropes. A dog could write better fiction.”

Sam turned back to her drone and keyed in another command. It flew higher and began to move along Sam’s ordered trajectories. How could someone dislike romance? Sam thought of Lena and how she fell in love with Kara. Lena definitely wasn't a fool, but it didn't seem worth contesting Andrea's wild claim.

“I happen to like all sorts of books,” Sam said as calmly as she could. “Even romance. Love, unlike most emotions, requires work to keep it alive and healthy. Sharing that tale? Dwelling in such vulnerability? That's gorgeous." Sam smiled as she thought of what it'd be like to have that bond with someone. "Everyone has a story, you know? And that’s beautiful in a way.”

Andrea stared at her for a long moment.

Sam kept her gaze on her laptop, though she did check her periphery when the seconds changed to minutes. Seemed her tactic was working. Killing her with kindness.

“What are we looking at?” she said finally, while gesturing to Sam’s work.

15. Have you noticed your style change over time?

I suppose it has after decades. When I wrote my first novels in high school, my prose was riddled with adverbs and far too much purple prose. I was pulling a Tolkien, but my descriptions didn't hold enough of the five senses.

I learned that trick when I was in college. It was the one good thing I got out of the creative writing course I took. Though I never continued in the writing program at my university because they had a vendetta against science fiction, and that was literally all I wrote (well, I did dabble in pure fantasy sometimes).

So then I found some writing communities online (one I remember fondly was LookingGlass, but after it died in 2009, I found Legendfire, and the admins/mods there became my chosen family. We still game together every Thursday). They taught me how to properly critique a work, but with kindness and encouragement while digging into the meat of it. This helped me better understand how to edit my own works. I suspect that also influenced my style.

So although I still write novels -- my Korrasami fanfiction is over a million words spread out over several "books" and my Supercorp fanfic is already past 200,000 words -- I have found a better way to immerse the reader. Engaging all the senses when appropriate, digging into specific POVs, being consistent on whose POVs I detail, and doing intense research became more my approach.

That's filtered into my style I think. I've had people say they are impressed with my immersion and world-building, which is a lovely compliment and makes me feel like I'm on the right track.

Perhaps someday my original fiction will be published, but until then, I'll keep experimenting and growing through the fanfiction I write.

Thanks for asking! :D

[camaro-and-smokes]

Eve

Chapter 3: Into the Belly of the Beast

Chapter summary: Eve—still toying with Billy—seemed to be open to collaborate with him in order to find Eddie and Steve. Okay, mostly Eddie, probably. Because she and Eddie...well, they have a complex relationship.

MIND THE TAGS - S E R I O U S L Y. This is a horror/scifi/creature movie crossover and loyal to the film. If the image below makes you queezy, this is not for you. Unless you like that queezy feeling, then, happy reading :)

Warnings for this chapter: Graphic descriptions of the gory and disturbing process how Eve was created. Human & alien bloodrelation and unnatural, potentially disturbing parent & offspring dynamics mentioned. Tags: Aliens (1986), Alternate Universe - Aliens, Horror, Body Horror, Blood and Gore, Xenomorphs (Aliens), Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Crossover, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, unnatural parent & offspring dynamics, alien & human relationships

Read on AO3 >> Other chapters on tumblr >>

::::::::::

Eve raised herself on her hind legs, reaching up to her full height. With her crown raised up and spread open, she easily hit twenty. Thankfully to Billy, her tail still swished calmly behind her, and the crown still remained closed, calmly rippling behind her head.

However, she kept her maw pointed at him for a while, as if measuring him, then turned it to follow the rest of her body as she turned towards the habitat door.

Billy hoped she would remain calm. At least until they got out of the ship. He didn’t oppose her killing xeno drones or unfriendlies, but he himself wanted very much to stay alive.

The only one who really didn’t have that much to worry with her was Eddie. Because of course he had a strange—no, a totally fucked up relationship with the Eve.

Everyone knew xenos were intelligent, and the queens even more so. Including that they had zero desire to please anyone, they were pure hatred from eggs to face huggers and to their very source.

But Eve…She was something else.

No, she wouldn’t do anything that she didn’t want to do. In fact, if anyone except one of them three—Eddie, Billy or Steve—got on her way, she just bit their head off. Literally and without hesitation.

From the start, they could see that she was exceptionally intelligent, even for a xeno. It was Eddie’s modifications of her DNA speaking. Even so, what she was agreeable in doing first and foremost was what only benefited her. If it benefited anyone else while at it, so be it.

Then at some point she’d started—albeit begrudgingly—doing also things that were mostly beneficial to others. Okay, well, one specific other, that is: Eddie. Which meant that she was getting something in return and Eddie sure as hell didn’t feed her treats after a trick.

So, it was a fairly valid assumption that Eve felt good when Eddie praised her. Which truly was both amazing and fucking scary, if you’d ask Billy. Eddie, a mere mortal given the kind of power Eve granted him just for a figurative pat on her crown?

And the first time she had cooed at Eddie—yeah, actually cooed in this odd purring kinda sound—the man had come back to the living quarters at their base shaking all over and his jeans wet because he’d been sure that she’d used the sound to locate him and kill him.

Maybe it was that Eddie had made sure his own blood and cloned guts were used to feed the embryo inside the fake womb. So, biologically, the queen was his offspring as much as a xenomorph could be—and she clearly considered Eddie as her…father.

Which was twisted, but not as twisted as Eddie being affectionate towards her. Like a father to a daughter, of course, in all healthy way, you know. Not that anything about Eddie’s and Eve’s relationship was healthy, mind you.

But yet, Eve definitely wasn’t always safe to be around, even for Eddie.

That was then again why Eddie had created the artificial intelligence named Little Sister, or Sis for short. The AI’s sole purpose was to help control Eve and keep her calmer and less unpredictable. Eddie had implanted a biological circuit for Sis in Eve’s brain when she was still developing in the fake womb. As Eve grew, so did the circuit, allowing Sis to take over certain areas of Eve’s brain.

It didn’t mean Eve was under the AI’s control in full and that she couldn’t play tricks around Sis. In fact, she did it frequently, coming up with new creative ways to try to slither away from the AI’s control.

Because what does any caged creature with a high intelligence want more than anything? Get out of the cage.

And that was why Sis was an AI and not just another piece of rigid code, but something that could rewrite itself, add to it and grow. Sis could do the math on all possible outcomes in a nanosecond and outsmart the queen before she could take her plan into action. Eve had still managed to get close to escaping her habitat a few times. Because she, too, was creative.

Even Eddie didn’t question the fact that she would find a way to outsmart Sis one day—it was just a matter of time. But he also trusted the fact that Eve didn’t want to leave him, so there was that.

Billy, though, had never felt confident about Eve or around her. Her plain existence was terrifying for everyone with half a mind and if Billy didn’t play together well with most humans, trying to do that with an intelligent alien species was pretty much an impossible equation.

Which was why Billy had loudly resigned from having anything to do with the xeno. He wouldn’t go alone to her habitat at their base or to the cargo hold when she was there, no matter how much sedated or calmed by Sis she was.

Being left in charge of her while they were docked on this fucking piece-of-shit of a station was such a shitty move from Eddie and Steve. Billy knew Eddie was not the most attentive guy, and he needed someone to go with him to the station or he would’ve gotten lost for sure, or at minimum, forgotten the number of the space dock they were docked in. Billy would’ve liked it to be him Eddie would’ve asked, but Steve got dibs this time.

Whatever.

No matter the reasons or how little Billy wanted this, he was the one who was here. He was the one who had to take Eve out and make her understand he needed her help in locating Eddie and Steve. Billy steeled himself. At least the alien killing machine and he shared affection towards one human being, which would have to be enough for them to play together, for now.

He took a deep breath and told Sis to open the habitat door.

It opened with a quiet whoosh. Eve walked out with heavy footsteps, her maw pointing at Billy as if glued, as her skeletal body moved to match the maw’s position.

Billy fixed his posture and stood unflinching in front of the monster that had stopped to measure him.

She could just step on me and I’d be done with, Billy thought to himself.

Eve leaned down on Billy’s level with a swift move and opened her lips, drool spilling from the both corners of her mouth.

Billy went even more rigid, trying to will even his eyelids to blink calmly at a fairly normal pace. Trust Eddie, trust Eddie, he repeated in his mind. Do not fucking let her see your fear.

Eve leaned closer to Billy, her maw slowly moving around as if she was sniffing.

Billy didn’t think she’d spend time on something like sniffing, though.

Then she opened her horrid mouth in full, displaying the length and sharpness of her first set of teeth. The smaller mouth came out slowly, closing in on the visor of Billy’s helmet.

Billy stood in place, trying to calm his breath and keep himself from shaking, when the tool that so easily crushed a man’s head with one quick hit stopped an inch away from his visor. She moved her maw just a little so that when the small mouth closed the distance, it slowly nudged his shoulder instead of his head.

Did she just...fist bump me? Billy steadied his breathing. He was just this far from shitting his pants.

Eve closed her mouths and stood back up, cocking her head as if asking, ‘okay, what now?’

Billy swallowed and showed Eddie’s shirt to her. He opened his external speakers to talk to her. “See? The shirt is empty. It should have someone in it. I was wondering if you could help?”

As if she could understand my words, he thought. But maybe she understood the lone shirt. Billy trusted Sis to help the monster to understand.

She cocked her head to the other side.

Then, after a while, Sis spoke to him, “Let’s go find father.”

So, yeah. Eve could speak through Sis. If she chose to. The implant at work and all that.

Not terrifying at all.

They walked into the airlock where Spot was already waiting. It could hold a lot of cargo, but with Eve so close it suddenly felt very much smaller than it was. She had to crouch down on all fours to fit the spikes in her back in and her maw was way too close to Billy—yes, still directly aimed at him—as he waited for her to curl her tail around herself.

Once she was all in he glanced at her. “Okay, big girl,” he said, trying to convey confidence he didn't quite feel, “Let’s go find father.”

He pushed the button that opened the outer airlock doors and walked out behind Spot, all the while Sis was keeping an eye for him on Eve who crawled out the doorway and followed close on his tail. He tapped a lock command to his wrist computer to make sure the doors to the ship were sealed. There was no chance in hell he’d risk having another xeno slipping on his ship. One was way more than enough.

His boots connected with the cold metal floor of the station with a hushed thud that seemed far too loud in the silence. Eve stood next to him, now in full hight, her steps eerily quiet considering her size and weight. It sent a shiver through his spine. She could bolt off and he wouldn't know a thing before she was gone. “Sis, let me know if...”

“I will,” the AI replied, clearly knowing what Billy meant.

Another reason that made Billy sometimes uncomfortable was Eddie's skills to create stuff straight from his worst nightmares. An AI that behaved like humans, an seemingly lifelike entity that could control their lives—or help control a beast, one Eddie also created—and yet be only seen in the shape of code.

Maybe the one he should fear wasn't the giant killing machine next to him or the AI that controls her but the creator of both.

His gaze swept over the dock in the light from his helmet and from the one attached on top of his plasma riffle, the light slicing through the darkness. Mutilated bodies here and there, and blood and gore everywhere. Poor bastards who’d been on the dock had been slaughtered before they even knew what hit them.

He kneeled next to one of the bloody heaps and touched the part that—based on hair that still was there—used to be a head. There was something stuck in the hair and as he pulled his fingers back from it, a string of transparent goo followed. The slaughter on the dock was analysis enough for Billy to guess what was going on, but this confirmed it.

This part of the station had definitely been overrun by xenos. They were right inside the belly of a beast—not a mere metaphorical expression this time.

The only wish Billy had right then was that there would be just a few xeno drones around. Sure, he could work with a lot of xenos with Eve. But he only hoped that there wouldn’t be a hive. Because if there was…

He didn’t really want to think about it. But maybe that was exactly why the thought forced itself through.

If there were enough xenos, one of them would inevitably turn into a queen. The xenos were funny like that. Of course, unless one egg carried an actual queen embryo and some poor fucker was impregnated by it.

And if there was a queen on board, Eve might have other things to think about than finding Eddie. Because she was a xeno, too.

No matter what, Billy just wanted to find Eddie and Steve and return to the ship—with or without Eve—as soon as possible and get the fuck away from here.

He looked for the signs that pointed the direction to the commercial part of the station and they followed them to the corridor that Eddie and Steve had vanished to earlier.

“Lead the way, girl,” Billy said and waited Sis to communicate the prompt to the beast.

Eve leaned down and entered the corridor, her strong, bony tail with the deadly stinger in the end curved over her shoulder, ready to strike anyone she didn't reach with her teeth.

The flicker of overhead lights cast erratic shadows all around, making the walls pulse as if breathing. Even though Billy was on this side of the xeno queen and not in the receiving end—one definite show of trust from Eve to turn her back to him freewillingly—his breath hitched at each stuttering blink of the fluorescents as he scanned and cleared the surroundings and each junction of corridors, half-expecting some chitinous horror to emerge from the strobe-like effect. But there was nothing—nothing but the echo of their own movements and a distant, rhythmic scuttling that played tricks on his ears.

“I am losing my edge,” he muttered to himself. “I do this stuff for living.”

But the truth was that he wasn't usually doing this stuff alone. He always had Steve to cover his six. A team mate, someone he could trust, someone he could strategise with on the run. While he now had far more lethal tools with him, none of them replaced Steve. Nothing ever would, in any of the ways Steve was important to him. Which made his heart clench. He needed to find both of them and bring the safe back to the ship. He could never forgive himself if he couldn't do that.

He glanced to Eve. Her sleek exoskeleton reflected the artificial light in eerie ways, blinking on and off on it, and in the dark still shining in the bleak light cast by the lights he and Spot had.

The maw now pointed straight ahead. She was in operating mode. Ready to kill anything that came her way.

Billy was a little sorry if that anything happened to be any other human than his lovers. Not much though. Everyone on this station was already doomed, even him, unless they could get out of here. The people here would never have the chance he and his team had.

“Stay sharp,” he reminded himself, eyes darting to the motion tracker on his HUD. It remained a calm green, but he knew better than to trust calm. Calm was merely the prelude to chaos.

[bestworstcase]

Your thoughts on the Lost Fable and interpretation of Salem and Ozma's relation to the narrative also ended up making me think of one other little detail:

It's called the Lost FABLE. Not the lost History, or lost Truth.

FABLE. As in a FANTASY. A FAIRY TALE.

It was right there all along.

And frankly recalling how Ozma's original question that drove him to despair was "How can I destroy Salem?", and how we all speculated that it meant that there was a different way to beat her...

But in truth, it was also arguably showing us one of the core rules of the Relic Djinn:

You only get what you SPECIFICALLY asked for.

And that only reinforces the possibility that what we saw of the Lost Fable was being filtered through the perspective of what Ruby asked:

"What is Ozpin hiding?" -> "What details did he hide, from HIS perspective with all of HIS biases and expectations?"

And Jinn can't give the full details because that wasn't specified in the questions she was asked.

...I kinda wonder if things would have been different if the question was "What is the Truth about Salem?"

precisely. she literally begins with “once upon a time.”

and of course—think about how ozpin thinks, in general. how he perceives the world and processes the things that happen to him. he is consumed by fairytales and deeply preoccupied with archetype and symbolism and narrative. when he invites pyrrha into his conspiracy he leads by asking “what’s your favorite fairytale?” and guiding her toward the one he intends to use to ease her into the (partial) truth; when qrow fills RNJR in on the reality of the situation as he understands it, he does the same thing, and when he tells ruby about the magic in her silver eyes he starts by talking about legends of silver-eyed warriors. the conflation of real history with fairytale is the ideological bedrock of the huntsmen cult because ozma relies on fairytales to make sense of his own existence.

“the girl in the tower” is an actual in-universe fairytale that ozma wrote at some point to immortalize the tiny sliver of the past when he got to be truly happy.

and if ozpin had decided to share his true past with team rwby, he would have started with the girl in the tower—same as he started with the story of the seasons when he revealed the maidens to pyrrha—so when ruby asks “what is ozpin hiding from us?”, jinn starts with the girl in the tower too.

it’s notable, too, that ozpin doesn’t learn any new information in the lost fable. because there are certainly things he doesn’t know—salem has been alive in the neighborhood of a couple hundred million years, it simply isn’t POSSIBLE that she could have told ozma every important thing she experienced in that time even if she wanted to—so if jinn had really shown them everything, ozpin would have doubtless had a revelation or two himself (especially since she kept going after the murderdivorce—at which point salem herself vanishes from the narrative, leaving only ozma’s assumptions about her behind; that would…not have happened if jinn were telling the whole story). but he didn’t. because jinn showed the kids everything he knew and believed and chose to keep secret.

(you know how mockingly she asks oscar if he has a question for her in V8…? there is absolutely something jinn knows that ozma doesn’t and i bet she’s been trying to goad him into asking for centuries.)

[polaesims]

Get to know you - Sims Style

Thank you @puffkins2000 for the tag! 💕

What’s your favorite Sims death?

Tbh I'm not big on killing my sims (boring, boooo) so I'd say good ol' old age, especially cause bitches be dying at the wildest moments. But if you want me to be more fancy, I love drowning specifically in floor.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

Maxis Match all the way!!! I only use alpha or alpha-ish cc when I can't find MM alternative.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Nah, never and frankly I never had to... like my sims just stay one weight their entire life unless I play with a gym freak.

Do you move objects?

Always. The grid is my enemy, moo is my saviour.

Favorite Mod?

Consort Age Mod, cause I love generational gameplay and seeing my sims slowly go gray is so nostalgic to me, and Zodiac Sings Mod, cause I was tired of twins getting different zodiac signs...

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

For TS2 I got a lot of them at once cause they were hand-me-downs from my mum's friend's daughter. For TS3 it was Late Night, I remember it vividly cause my dad thought the lady in a bikini on the cover was inappropriate.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

Neither, cause I play in my native language (it's way more memable), but if I had to choose LIVing speaks to me more.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Long story, strap in. So when I was still in highschool, I created a joke save to share with my friends and I made this elderly man whom I named Andrzej and he was a menace. He was a womaniser alchemist, who had like 20 children (5 of which I kept in household, and they were as chaotic as their father) and then became a kung fu master, married a werewolf and finally impersonated a Goth family member and stole their fortune. I love him. Andrzej forever in my heart.

Have you made a simself?

Yep!! I posted her!! She's way prettier though cause girlie's symmetrical. I usually just drop myself and my bf into my world and see what story progression does with me. (as of now I have 3 kids as a kids hater ;-;)

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

The black one I guess... I rarely use the presets cause they're ugly af.

Favorite EA hair?

The one from Island Paradise, the updo with strands framing the face.

Favorite life stage?

Young Adult or teens. I like teens more when I make mischievous bastards.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I can't build to save my life, but I love to decorate!! I'm mostly for the gameplay though (and making sims).

Are you a CC creator?

Yep! I'm new to this but I hope I'll keep getting better.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

Not yet, I'm still figuring out Tumblr in general, but I have some mutuals, I hope to become friends with 😊!

Do you have any sims merch?

Nah, I never found anything subtle enough, cause I don't do on the nose merch very often (except band tees).

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I used to use an UNGODLY amount of cheats...mostly cause I was a kid, but I would make a pretty sim with loads of CC, then play for a few months with that one sim (mostly being a hoe) and get bored eventually. Nowadays I'm a big generational player and I can play with one family for several years. Just a couple months ago I finally finished playing with a family I started 4 years ago.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@sim-songs, @twinsimming, @pixelfrogslegs, @aroundthesims, @bioniczombie, @nectar-cellar, @nightospheresims, @rollo-rolls, @faerielandsims.

How long have you had Simblr?

Literally not even a month, but I felt instantly welcomed to this amazing community!!

How do you edit your pictures?

I use Procreate and then PicsArt on my iPad.

What expansion/gamepack is your favorite?

I just play TS3 nowadays so for that I will say Generations for sure!! I also can't live without University and Seasons. They are my big three.

I don’t know who to tag tbh... I feel like most of my mutuals already did that plus I'm new here so I'm kinda shy but let's say that I tag anyone that is interested in doing this and hadn't been tagged. Like you can say I tagged you!!

[azol-otl]

So I was rewatching season two of Young Justice (because I only kept up with the show while it was on television and it not existing for years meant I didn’t bother going back to it) and it seems like I still share my opinion from way back then.

Why did they use Tim and Cassie?

Like, don’t get me wrong it makes sense that a show called Young Justice would have them, but the show was already nothing like the comic. YJ!Superboy is nothing like comics!Superboy and he’s the only core member of the actual Young Justice comics to have been in season one. The show’s core cast has two gen one sidekicks, a gen three sidekick, a gen four (??? things get muddled as hell in the 2000s), a gen five sidekick, and a bit villainess. They are literally an elseworld.

Not only that, but Tim and Cassie were...pretty much non-characters during the season. Despite the time given to them, they weren’t very important to the overall arc and were wasted potential.

But you know who wouldn’t have been? Jason and Donna.

We already know the characters exist in universe. We see Jason’s memorial.

This is an unnecessary aside, but I am so sick of Jason’s death being the only thing we see of him in elseworlds. Even the ones where he’s alive they’re always like “And he’s evil because he was poor!” Like bitch do you not understand how to create a tragedy? You don’t just give us sad events you have to get us attached to the character first. This is a cartoon! It has a much wider audience than a comic! They won’t know major comic references because they are not informed! Why would the grotto scene work if we never met these people! Get us attached and then kill them off!

 But there is no point in knowing these characters exist if you don’t use them (or at least cameo them if they’re really niche), but with these two specifically they could have done something really interesting.

 They could have been Red Herrings.

Jason and Donna have both died in the comics. Their deaths were majorly important events to their respective IP’s (Batman and Titans). Not only that, but we already have Bart coming back in time to save a third person who had famously died, Barry Allen.

We know that Bart came back in time to stop the apocalypse. We know something happens to Jaime that turns him evil. We’re led to believe that Artemis dies (something that rocks Bart to the core because she didn’t die in his timeline). So we would suspect that Jason and Donna would be the first in line to die.

The Young Justice writers could even play into their reputations with what’s already present. They could have made Jason and Jaime (who are the same age in this universe) close friends. This could be used to give Bart anxiety because Jason, again, famously gets murdered as Robin and Jaime is supposed to become evil.

Hell if they made Jason take Tim’s place during the infiltration there would have been some serious investment when original Roy purposefully explodes shit and they fight Black Beetle because one of these characters has a history of being murdered. 

I would also like to push my YJ crackship of BlueJay (Jaime/Jason) because I am trash and will forever push Jason being queer.

Or with Mongul (who Jason has a major story with) you can push Jason almost dying again. And it would be through betrayal from someone who’s supposed to love you, just like in DitF. (Imagine the scene where Nightwing finds the batarang when you know that there’s a real possibility that this is how Jason dies in this universe).

On Donna’s end you can have her take more and more responsibilities after Artemis dies and she starts becoming more of Dick’s second in command with a penchant of shoving herself in front of attacks because she can survive things that others cannot (because Artemis “died” via stabbing and if you had Donna there, whoo boy that’s some guilt). So when the Bialya mission occurs and it’s the all-girls team (the all-girls team with two very squishy humans Barbara and Karen), they could just bring in a larger threat than the henchmen that are there then hey there’s more conflict and fear for comic fans. And again in Warworld where she can be fighting against Mongul and guess what there’s another squishy human there, Roy. Instead of being immediately knocked out she could have taken a blow for Roy.

Side Note: When Nightwing explains why it’s an all girl’s team being sent to Bialya (way to assume everyone’s straight Dick), Donna can have a snarky line like, “And Robin isn’t here why?”

For extra extra angst you can have both Jason and Donna reacting negatively to Artemis’ “death” and reaching out to Wally because of it. Jason because both he and Artemis are from the same place and have a similar prickliness that comes from how they were raised (we could have had an Artemis-Jason sibling bond and it would have been great), and his fury that someone who “got out” still died a violent death. Donna because of the guilt of Artemis dying but also because she’d be closer in age to Wally and Artemis so making them be friends just makes sense. And by putting more of the focus on their grief and Wally’s guilt the writers could expertly tie Wally into the “could possibly die” camp without making the audience worry about it.

And with everything that happens. With the two obvious targets somehow alive throughout the season, they still “kill” Wally West. All of the foreshadowing about sacrifice. All of the remarks about not being reckless (because this is still DC and they love blaming Jason’s death on himself). All of the near-deaths, it ends up being the person you don’t expect and it hits harder because of it (except for all the people who watched JLU who had pinged Wally dying pretty early on in the season) .

But yeah. If they were going through the trouble of confirming these characters exist, why not use them for the narrative?

[drawnecromancy]

Lumeria

From the coldest part of the continent, basically living in a place that's kept alive through magic and prayers

Analyst of the University of Vano, a university that is quite literally run by the god of Teaching, Writing, Knowledge and so many other little things (Volieda, the Headmaster).

Spider theming : her god of preference is Cenaldir, the Spider God, in Vannean lore the god of Luck, Death, Thievery, Lust, Disasters and to some extent Romantic Love, if you're really desperate for someone to listen to you. She wears spiderwebs at her wedding, specifically because to her knowledge, Cenaldir and the Emperor fucking Hate each other despite being father and son. Or maybe because they're father and son. Apparently when I write her lying, i sprinkle in some good old fashioned spider related words, too.

Has a knack for observing everything around her and trying to figure out what's going on with people, sometimes even without talking to them. Once she becomes acquainted with the Emperor's court, she knows all of the drama without being involved in it, and she knows she could use it against others if she wished.

Good liar, has honed that skill her entire life and keeps using it all the time especially around the Emperor.

She lies to him. To his face. And sometimes does it well enough that he believes her.

Physical appearance : thin and tall, long blond hair with cyan eyes. Yes literally the eye hurty color, cyan. Tendency to wear dresses with many layers, although I haven't yet found a historical aesthetic i want to draw from when thinking of her.

Colors : Gold, silver, blue, green to some extent (that's for Cenaldir).

Elysia

Ice magic that she uses when she needs to hurt or physically restrain others, but also uses for creative expression in her spare time. Incredibly skilled and dangerous in a fight. Extensive ice theming with Vincent, another ice user, who she initially dates because he's from Lonna and she'd like to become that region's Master for reasons.

Shield magic that she uses incredibly regularly, with the ice.

Comes from the Sky City's Academy, the only place where an Anomaly can even hope to have a good future, the only place where Dawn has decided she could make magical soldiers loyal to her and her only, the only place where one may get the training required to become Master of a region, the highest ranked pawn in Dawn's ideal hierarchy. She is a teacher there, for a time.

Speak to animals ability : she knows everything about everyone if they even so much as live near animals, including insects. She uses this to blackmail and force people to obey to her all the time. That's how she figures out secrets, that's how she can get pretty much anyone expelled from the Sky City's Academy if she wishes to. That's how she learns where things are hidden and how to find them.

Incredible liar and manipulator, she bends entire character arcs to her whim using these skills, on top of the general intimidation factor of her fighting prowess. Drives a good portion of the later parts of the plot through the sheer... well. webs she has spun.

She lies to Dawn. To her face. And Dawn believes her.

Physical appearance : thin and tall, long blond hair with cyan eyes. Perfectly tailored shirts and waistcoats with a vest and pants to match.

Colors : Grey, white, ice-blue and gold.

[trikkidetroit]

YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE. YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE, AND HALF-SIBLINGS ARE, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOUR AUNTS AND UNCLES AND COUSINS AND NIECES AND NEPHEWS AND YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOUR CHILDREN ARE AND WHO THEIR MOTHERS ARE IF YOUR MALE AND FATHERS ARE IF YOU'RE FEMALE. YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR FAMILY LINEAGE, YOU GRANDPARENTS, GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS LITERALLY NO ONE CAN BE LEFT OUT/LEFT BEHIND. THEY SPLIT UP FAMILIES, SEPARATING CHILDREN AND ADOPTING THEM OUT TO DIFFERENT FAMILIES WITH DIFFERENT LAST NAMES, & KEPT CHILDREN THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALIVE DEAD WITH LIES ABOUT DISEASE AND INFANT MORTALITY WHICH WOULD NEVER HAPPEN & NO CHILDREN WOULD EVER HAVE TO BE BORN IN A HOSPITAL IF THE DAMNED/EVIL/EARTH INVADERS/INTRUDERS WERE NOT HERE ANYMORE. THEY MURDERED ME WHEN I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WAS PREGNANT. AND TOOK THE BABIES OUT, THE EVIL SOULS THAT DID THIS KNEW THAT I WOULD COME BACK ALIVE SLEEPING IN MY BED WITHOUT EVEN BEING AWARE I WAS KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED AND SO WERE MY CHILDREN. I WOULDN'T EVEN FIND OUT I HAVE CHILDREN UNTIL DECADES AFTER, LITERALLY IN THE PAST FEW YEARS I FIGURED IT ALL OUT, BUT I STILL DON'T HAVE SPECIFIC DETAILS BECAUSE EVIL DAMNED FROM-HELL PARASITE WORTHLESS SOULS THAT ARE NOT HUMAN OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL SPECIES ARE GOING TO HAVE TO COMPLETELY BE REMOVED BY GOD (WHO IS THE GOOD CREATOR OF THIS PLANET AND ALL DIMENSIONS BEYOND THIS UNIVERSE WHICH THIS PLANET EXISTS ON) IF EVERY HUMAN IS TO COME BACK ALIVE OR ELSE WHEN WE DIE OUR SOULS GO BACK INTO ENSLAVEMENT AND OUR SOULS ARE TETHERED TO EVIL AND WE ARE DAMNED FOR ETERNITY. THIS HAS TO HAPPEN NOW. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. IF IT DOESN'T END NOW IT NEVER WILL AND HUMANITY IS DOOMED, SO MANY SPECIES OF ANIMALS ARE EXTINCT AND THE EVIL THAT REPLICATES AND TERMINATES US ARE CONVINCED THEY HAVE OUTSMARTED HUMANITY AND GOD AND WILL DRAG US ALL INTO HELL FOREVER. THIS IS REALLY SERIOUS, WHY DOESN'T ANYONE SAY ANYTHING?

AND YOU CAN BE PREGNANT AND STILL HAVE YOUR PERIOD BECAUSE A PERIOD IS A LIE CAUSED BY A PARASITE JUST LIKE YOUR TONSILS AND THAT THING THAT HANGS IN THE BACK OF YOUR THROAT YOU UVULA.

ALSO YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO YOUR SPOUSE IS IF GOD REALLY HAS A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY THEN THAT IS SACRED INFORMATION THAT CAN NEVER BE TAMPERED WITH AN EVIL SOUL FROM HELL IS NOT ALLOWED TO DETERMINE HUMAN LIFETIMES OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL SPECIES THE ONLY REASON THEY DETERMINE YOUR LIFETIME IS TO KILL YOU AND RE-ENSLAVE YOUR SOUL THERE IS LITERALLY NO CHANCE OF AN ETERNAL/HEAVEN IF WE CAN'T SAVE EARTH FROM HELL.

[seeyouafter]

SYA Ch. 49 Extended Notes

Notes for "See You After" Chapter 49: Aug 10-15: Recent News Articles, Aizawa’s Home Visit Notes

If you follow my main account, it's not a secret that I've been frustrated with a lot of things that have happened in the canon endgame. I'm not going to go into that here, but I did add a few things to this chapter specifically because I wanted to make it very clear where this fic diverges from canon. I made a separate post with the significant points of canon-divergence that are most relevant.

Additional commentary on things in this chapter (Aizawa's home visit notes and the various news articles) below the cut:

Aizawa's texts & home visit notes

This was a nice way to include an external POV, which I thought was important because although Shouto and Katsuki are both getting better, they're definitely not "fine" as they keep insisting.

I wasn't originally going to include Izuku's conference notes, since he's not the main focus of this story. However, after the recent manga chapters, I felt the need to make it clear what happened to him in the universe of this fic, since I previously kept it more ambiguous in case I felt like following canon. This felt like a good way to do it without writing an annoyingly long author's note.

Again, not going too deep into Aizawa/Rooftop squad lore in this fic, but in my head, Shirakumo is alive (in some capacity). Midnight's death was also never properly explored, which is a shame after their interactions in Vigilantes, and I think Aizawa and Present Mic would still be coming to terms with that loss.

The izakaya that Aizawa and Mic visit is a reference to "Midnight Diner" (yes, I know they're there before midnight but shhh...) If you're into slice of life, character-driven shows that feature food, I highly recommend it.

Article Notes:

Article 1: Surge in travel expected for this year's Obon season

Not sure why, but at some point, I got stuck on the idea of what Obon would be like in the aftermath of a war. It's more of a general worldbuilding thing than something that's super important to the plot, but it is a major cultural event, and it does come up in a couple of conversations, so I decided to include an article about it.

Article 2: The failings of foreign aid groups

Yes, this is a jab at that pointless panel of the US President in ch 422 of the manga. But also, there's unfortunately a lot of similarities to the real world, in which foreign aid arrives far too late for the people who need it most. The structure of this article was based off of a real news article I read recently with a similar sentiment.

Article 3: HPSC under criticism for involvement of underage students in the war

I mean...at some point, we have to address the fact that they fought in a war despite being literal children, right? At the same time, that comment at the end of the previous article about how they sort of had to use the hero students because they were out of options, is a valid point (in fiction obviously, not in real life).

Article 4: Has Hawks flown the coop?

Puns aside, I find Hawks' canon storyline fascinating, and I think there are a lot of interesting things to explore with him in regards to hero society. That's all I'll say for now.

Other Daily Mail article titles:

More than it seams? (Untangling the threads of Best Jeanist and Edgeshot’s friendship)

10 popular theories about All Might: Were any of them true?

History’s Greatest Villain or victim of a broken system: Who is Shigaraki Tomura?

Heroes with ‘villainous’ quirks and how they use them for good

Equity or Unfair Advantage: to what extent should support items be allowed in hero training?

Mostly, these were just a way for me to point out some of the "hot topics" in the media and maybe add a little worldbuilding.

I wanted to mention something about Edgeshot, since his death is something that's still on Katsuki's mind with the impending return to Best Jeanist's agency for his work study (also, the bad fabric related puns 😅 sorry, not sorry)

The Shigaraki article is meant to be titled similarly to the one about Toga that was in Ch. 38 (I'd imagine they did some speculation pieces on each of the main villains)

The article about equity and support items ties into the idea of quirkless heroes. Given the real life arguments about equity being unfair that some people with privilege like to make, it's something that would likely come up in regards to support items, which are essentially "accommodations" for heroes.

[nehts]

Thinking .

[writingwithcolor]

Gingerbread man as golem

@yaronata asked:

I would like to write a character who is Jewish and uses a Golem. She's based on the D&D class of the artificer which looks magic but isn't, because they produce all their effects with inventions, like the "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" quote. Her story is that her very Jewish town was under attack from a terrible monster when she was little. Her Rabbis made a Golem to protect the town, and it succeeded but was torn to pieces in the process. She was fascinated by the Golem and as a kid didn't see a big difference between it's sentience and person's so was really thankful for its sacrifice like you would a person's sacrificing their life for you. They thought all the pieces had been devoured by the monster before it died, but she went looking and found the piece used to animate the Golem, which she, kinda misunderstanding called its "heart". She kept the piece and grew up to be an incredibly skilled cook, specialising as a baker in the town. I imagine she would make a lot of really good food for the Jewish holidays, or to break fasts on ones like Yom Kippur or Tish'abav. But she also made a town specific holiday to honour the Golem's sacrifice and the town still being alive, because I feel "we are not dead woo" is a big theme for Jewish holidays from my research, so it could fit, for which she invented ginger bread men to be the golem, and gave them little "hearts" of fruit or honey, and you're meant to eat them limb by limb like the beast did before eating the heart. This would be the inspiration for using the "heart" piece later to make her own giant gingerbread Golem to help her save the world.

These are my questions 1) would it be considered bad or disrespectful for someone who isn't a Rabbi to make a Golem, or is this method of taking an animating piece someone else made disrespectful? 2) Her journey will take her far from her town and her Jewish family and friends and she will likely travel with gentiles. Would it be disrespectful for a Golem to be used to protect a lot of gentiles and one Jew in the course of saving the world? I don't want to fall into the stereotype of someone putting all their effort into valuing and protecting very specifically the group that in real life is oppressive to them. 3) While she is not using magic and is actually mimicking its effects with technology she invents, is this drawing too close to the line of "magical Jew"? 4) I like to "play test" my characters in ttrpgs to really get a feel for them before I write. Would it be disrespectful to play a Jewish character when I am a gentile, and would it be disrespectful to play a Jewish character in a setting where there are demonstrably real gods other than the one of Judaism?

I really like this character idea and I think it's cute and fun and rooted in Jewish culture but I really want to make sure it's respectful and as good as I, a gentile researching on the internet, thinks it is. Thanks so much! Have a nice day!

My answer to this is very complicated because there are things I both like and do not like about this premise. First of all, I love the idea of a cookie golem, and I'm even imagining the magic word that brings him to life (EMET/truth) would be written in icing. And I'm okay with the part about how she found a piece of the old golem and used it to build a new golem, because that makes sense for a golem made from a baked good when you think about how people use sourdough starter to make a new batch of sourdough.

However, here are the thing that make me cock my head to the side like my little sister's German shepherd:

1. re: "magical Jew" - that's not a trope I've ever heard of. Remember, marginalized groups don't receive identical disrespect across the board. It is indeed a trope to use Black people or disabled people as supernatural plot devices who exist only to further the stories of white main characters or able-bodied main characters. But I can't say as I've ever seen anyone using Jewishness that way. Usually if we are someone's one-dimensional plot device it's as someone's lawyer, fixer, "money guy", etc, not a supernatural force. So this isn't something you have to worry about.

2. I have a certain level of discomfort with you playing as a Jewish character just because playacting as a marginalized culture you're not part of strikes me as off, but I understand that that's how you gain insight into a character you're about to write so it's more of a writing exercise than anything else. (I wonder if D&D regulars from marginalized groups have written about this -- I've only played a few times casually with family so if I did run into this type of discussion in my social justice reading I wouldn't have absorbed it. If anyone is curious I played first as Captain Werewolf, and then switched to playing as Cinnamon Blade because lawful good was too hard. :P )

3. I would prefer you omit the detail about eating the cookies piece by piece symbolically, for two reasons: a. it unintentionally evokes Communion by having appreciative people consume a baked good symbolic of an entity who sacrificed his life for theirs, and b. focusing on the details of flesh consumption reminds me too much of Blood Libel (yes, a gingerbread man is in the shape of a person but how many of us actually think about it literally, the way this act would cause?)

As to your first question: I'm fine with her making a golem even though she's just a rando. Second question: I see what you're saying and maybe it could be more okay if it's really clear how well these gentile folks are treating her? And questions three and four are answered above.

I really do love the idea of a giant gingerbread man golem. Cookie golem T_T <3

--Shira

I would like to second Shira’s point about not ripping apart the gingerbread cookies. I honestly would prefer they were used as decoration, and other cookies eaten instead, since that part just feels so not-Jewish to me, but I don’t have golem-specific issues other than that. It seems like you have already been doing a lot of research, which is appreciated.

As far as the ttrpg/DnD aspect… I bounce back and forth on the topic of playing characters that are so very different from our experiences, other than in fantasy-related ways. However, I am aware that a lot of people will play with, and experiment with gender in game, and learn something about themselves in the process (the number of trans players of ttrpgs who tried out their gender in game before they were out is high). It’s different with Judaism, and even more significantly different when it comes to things you can’t convert into, like various actual, real-world races. But because people do sometimes experience growth from experiences like this, I’m hesitant to dissuade players completely. I do urge you to, at a minimum, bring the same care, research, and willingness to learn, that you brought to this question.

--Dierdra

This sounds like a creative storyline that you could have lots of fun with 😊

At first I was confused by this part:

She also made a town specific holiday to honour the Golem's sacrifice

But then you really got me thinking about different types of Jewish holidays and how they come about, so thank you for that!

Because it’s often the little details that either make a story super powerful or kind of nonsensical, I think it would be a good idea to decide what type of holiday is being created here:

A full-blown chag with restrictions on labour and halachic obligations? These are commanded in Torah and new ones can’t be added.

A minor yom tov with halachic obligations but no restrictions? These were instituted by the rabbis prior to the destruction of the Temple, so again new ones can’t be added.

A public holiday or equivalent? This would usually be declared by the Knesset in Israel, and filter to the rest of the Jewish world from there.

A community-based yom tov with specific customs only for people in the know, such as certain Chasidic groups celebrating the birthdays of their deceased leaders? I asked around, but no one can really tell me how these holidays get started, which is probably a good indication that they arise quite organically from a group of people who all just feel that it should be celebrated. Probably not created by a single person, as such.

Something she runs from her bakery, not religion-based, but more like a day of doing special products and deals the way many small businesses do on their anniversary?

Now, if the people of a modern-day town were actually saved by a real live Golem, that would arguably be the most overt miracle for many generations, so there would be a decent chance of options 3 and/or 4 happening. It’s entirely plausible that there could be special foods for this day that become a tradition, including Golem cookies. People who directly benefited might also return to the site where the Golem fought the monster and recite the prayer, ‘Blessed is Hashem, Master of the Universe, Who performed a miracle for me in this place.’

Alternatively, if it’s important that your MC created the holiday, something like option 5 might be the best. Hopefully this will still fulfil what you need: you describe her as incredibly skilled, so I can imagine the day when she goes all out on the Golem cookies being one of the most exciting events of the year for the townspeople, just because her baking is that good. Plus, they already have a personal stake in the Golem’s sacrifice, so I definitely think it could be a thing without being an official holiday. Also, if she is outside of an all-Jewish environment, don’t forget that she would have to decide whether to commemorate the anniversary in the Hebrew calendar or the local one.

Coming back to the cookies, sorry if we’re getting a little repetitive on this point! But I don’t see the cookies being torn limb from limb as part of a celebration. First of all, this doesn’t sound like a very celebratory thing to do, to say the least. Can you imagine explaining that to a three-year-old on their first Yom HaGolem? They would be terrified! (I don’t read this suggestion as accidental anti-Semitism so much as getting carried away with a metaphor, which I’m sure as writers we have all done!)

But also, it’s worth pointing out that our commemorative foods aren’t usually that literal. If you think about hamantaschen, maror, or apple in honey, they’re all symbols. That’s not to say that having Golem-shaped cookies is a problem, as this sounds like just a bit of fun that the MC is having and not something that is directly at odds with Judaism or Jewish culture. But it’s worth bearing in mind that the more literal you go from there in terms of tying the cookies to the event they commemorate, the less culturally aligned your holiday food becomes.

Finally, about the Golem protecting non-Jewish people: I like this idea! There’s a stereotype that we only use whatever is at our disposal to help ourselves and other Jewish people, so a Golem being created by Jews but helping others as well is a big plus for me. Of course, as has already been pointed out, this would be an odd choice if her Saving The World team were anti-Semitic or otherwise disrespectful to her/her community, but I don’t think you were headed that way!

-Shoshi

I have to come back in here just to squee over the phrase “Yom HaGolem.” Well done :D

--Shira

[whoree321]

the bad batch + what romance/rom com movies they watch with you

each of the bad batch x gn!reader

ok first and foremost i really truly believe to the pits of my soul that every single one of these fuckos loves romances and you cannot under any circumstances change my mind

ALSO it’s a gender neutral reader except kinda in echo’s theres like a very brief quote regarding breasts but like i still think even that is pretty gender neutral tbh

so anyway

Hunter: Pretty Woman

this is not the first time that i have publicly declared that i think hunter has a deep rooted connection to the movie pretty woman and it will not be the last

first of all this movie is incredibly soothing to hunters overwhelming savior complex

second of all hunter is literally richard gere (debonaire but emotionally distant gentleman that learns to love) and julia roberts (hooker with a heart of gold) at the same time

he was a little skeptical the first time you put it on but he instantly fell in love with it

the humor, the sensuality, the class divide, the glamour, the unconventional cinderella story of it all. it just really butters his bread

after the first time, when you suggest watching a movie and you pick this one he’ll act very aloof about it (“whatever you want cyar’ika, it doesn’t matter to me”) but secretly he’s really really happy bc it’s one of his favorites (you def know this and def pick it more often)

he absolutely hates the scene when stucky the lawyer hits vivian. like it doesn’t matter how many times he watches it he will fully turn his head away from the screen and say “I don’t like this part” and when it’s over he nuzzles a little closer into you and very tenderly kisses your forehead

he loves the soundtrack too. like he fully exposes how much he likes the movie when you catch him singing or humming “pretty woman” or “it must have been love” absently to himself (you kept it to yourself for a while but eventually you just had to tease him about it. he just smiled a little sheepishly and admitted he liked the songs before promptly changing the subject)

hunter also lowkey definitely wants to recreate the ending where richard gere shows up to her apartment in the white limo with you bc he thinks it’s such a sweet gesture and he wants to treat you like royalty

Crosshair: 10 Things I Hate About You

if there’s one thing about crosshair it’s that he’s a sucker for the enemies to lovers genre

maybe its just him projecting (spoiler alert it most certainly is) but he really enjoys watching the drama conflama of a miserable bastard be tricked into love

and really that’s the true essence of 10 Things I Hate About You

he will grumble and bitch and moan about not wanting to watch a ‘chick flick’ when you put it on, but 15 minutes in and he’s hooked

he has strong negative opinions on literally every single character except for kat and patrick

(crosshair really really wants to think he’s patrick but when it comes down to it he is katarina stratford in every single possible way)

he doesn’t say a word throughout the entire movie but you can tell when he’s annoyed at like bianca or cameron or joey bc he will openly scoff at them

will absolutely hum along in your ear during the “can’t take my eyes off you” scene and make out with you during the paintball scene

(seriously he wants to be patrick verona so bad)

when it’s over and you ask him what he thought he’ll roll his eyes and say “i guess it could have been worse” but his little smirk let’s you know he enjoyed it a lot more than he’s willing to admit

Tech: 50 Shades of Grey

ok hear me out on this one

tech is a huge movie talker. like subtitles are a non-negotiable if you wanna be able to take in any of the movies dialogue bc tech is most likely gonna make commentary over it the whole time

this makes him absolutely indescribably so much fun to watch bad/corny movies with

he will go off about EVERYTHING. the plot, the dialogue, the acting, the costuming, the music, the production quality. nothing and no one is safe. whether you just enjoy letting him talk at you or you join in on the roast, cheesy movies are a hoot between you two

and honey. 50 shades is one of THE cheesiest movies ever

you and tech will literally spend the entire duration of the movie tearing it to shreds

and the thing is tech is a very sarcastic, funny guy when he wants to be (and when it comes to you he definitely wants to be) so by the end of it he will have you in absolute stitches from laughing at the ridiculousness of both the movie and him

with any of the other batchers watching a movie like this either turns into a shy, slightly awkward experience (wrecker, echo) or an incorrigibly horny experience (crosshair, hunter)

but in this context tech literally has no shame or squeamishness about sexual things (why should he it’s a natural biological process?) so to yall the sex stuff is just another thing to roast

literally christian grey could be fully tying dakota johnson down and flogging her and tech will be like “in the last 3 minutes they have panned up to her nipples 4 times. this is criminally shoddy cinematography”

even tho he’s busy giving a detailed play by play critique, he never fails to keep some sort of physical contact with you (wrapping an arm around you and running his hand up and down your skin, playing with your fingers or your hair) so you know he’s enjoying spending this time with you despite his nasty words about the movie

also 1000% after you watch it tech will do extensive research on the ins and outs of bdsm and will have lots of hypotheses he wants to test out (as long as you’re willing and able ofc) ;)))

Wrecker: 13 Going On 30

of all the bad batch members, wrecker is the only one who unabashedly loves any movie that could be considered a chick flick

like he doesn’t even try to hide it or act like he’s too masculine for it. he loves romance and he’s proud of it

this man will have full marathons with you. rom coms, regular roms, tragic roms, hallmark roms, you name it and he’s game

his absolute favorite tho is 13 Going On 30

i feel like he has a huge soft spot for childhood best friends to lovers stories like he finds that type of lifelong partnership so endearing (and he loves to live vicariously through jenna since that type of romance was obviously never an option for him)

wrecker is also very childlike at heart and i think the idea of a 13 year old sweetheart trapped inside the body of a 30 year old cut throat magazine exec is so amusing to him (and maybe makes him feel just a little bit represented in the media)

he is definitely the type to completely engulf you in a cuddle for the entirety of the movie and he DEFINITELY cries into your shoulder at matty’s wedding when jenna is crying on the stoop with her dream house

he wants to try razzles so bad. like so bad. i think if he ever came across them somewhere he would barter at least one of his brothers for them

wrecker really just loves love and watching movies about it just reminds him of how lucky he is to have his own love story with you <3

Echo: The Princess Bride

i feel like it’s glaringly obvious why echo loves this movie

pirates. sword fighting. decades long revenge plots. the value of an honorable, loyal man. true love that never wavers even in the face of devastating tragedy and the darkest of hardships. clever but goofy humor.

echo considers this an action/adventure movie and NOT a romance movie (even tho it 100% totally is a romance movie) and requests to watch it very frequently

he can quote the whole thing. i’m seriously telling you echo loves the princess bride with his whole chest

even tho he refuses to admit it’s a love story above all else, he really does try to model himself in your relationship after wesley

like especially given what happened at the citadel and all the time you thought he was dead, the cinematic parellels are alive and present in y’alls relationship and he strives to be even half the man to you that wesley is to buttercup

literally in your day to day life he will sometimes respond to your requests with a smooth “as you wish ;)” (it doesn’t matter how many times he does it it still gives you butterflies)

when you watch the movie, he snuggles as close to you as possible and does his best to make youre comfy the whole time (he’s insecure about his prosthetics hurting you no matter how much you reassure him they don’t)

he just loves to be able to feel your heartbeat and your laugh when you giggle at the funny bits

every single time without fail at the part when buttercup is about to stab herself he leans down, ghosts his lips against the shell of your ear, and whispers the line in time with wesley: “there’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. it would be a pity to damage yours”

every single time without fail you wind up making out until he pulls away and tells you to watch the next part when wesley challenges humperdinck to a duel to the pain

echo just loves you to bits and wants you to know he’d endure a thousand fire swamps for you

Omega: Clueless

i have this really specific obsession with omega being a total girly girl and having very traditionally feminine interests as she keeps experiencing the universe and being exposed to a spectrum of gender expression beyond clone (masc and boring) and kaminoan (ugly)

so with that headcanon of her in mind, it’s vital to me that she sees clueless as soon as possible

clueless is an essential piece of media for a girl entering adolescence and i will die on this hill

it has literally everything you want and everything you need to develop into a well-rounded young woman

it’s so deliciously 90s and glamorama and valley girl humor and camp. its got meaningful female friendships and valuable life lessons and paul mf rudd

if there’s one thing you should encourage a burgeoning hetero teen girl to do, it’s to stick to dating guys like paul rudd in clueless. the earlier this message can be broadcast the better

the second you’re able to steal omega away from hunters watchful eyes (“hunter we’re just gonna watch finding nemo i swear!”) you show her this movie

at this point omega is not really a girly girl, but omega also has absolutely zero feminine influence in her life

the first time she sees clueless she is absolutely obsessed. like seriously she is so enamoured with the glitz and glam of cher horowitz

she asks you questions the entire time. she wants to know about EVERYTHING. the makeup, the clothes, the hair, the slang

(she definitely goes around saying stuff like “i’m totally bugging” for long enough afterwards that almost all of the boys have slipped up at least once with some ridiculous valley girl slang. you thought you were gonna die of laughter when you overheard tech say “as if!” to wrecker in the middle of an argument)

it just really introduces her to this whole world of femininity that she didn’t even know existed and she absolutely loves it

she makes you watch clueless with her seriously once a week at minimum. she begs you to style her hair like tai’s and you can’t help yourself when you happen to run across a little yellow plaid dress and buy it for her on sight

(hunter was gonna scold you for recklessly spending credits until he saw how omega almost cried from how happy she was for the gift)

honestly she enjoys the romance of it all and paul rudd is def her first celebrity crush but she enjoys more that you and her now have this special thing of hair and nails and pretty dresses

she loves how confident and beautiful and special you’re able to make her feel, and you love that you get to bring her that small sense of normalcy and happiness

[ladybirdplace]

I honestly relate to a lot of your experiences with feeling weird about being in love with yourself. I'm still trying to come to terms with it, and the fact that I don't know if I'll tell anyone in my life about it. It feels like a well kept secret I'm still learning how to look at... What are some of the ways you reassure yourself that it's alright to feel this way?

I'm glad I'm not the only one, heh.

Well. Probably the most essential part of me feeling comfortable with it has been music. I listen to music everyday, on and off all day. I have several different playlists about my relationship with myself.

I have one that’s just songs that make me feel very confident and assured in myself, in the way people usually think about self love. Whether the song is about self love or not doesn’t really matter. It just makes me feel right within myself.

Here’s some songs on that one:

Pork and Beans by Weezer. (This song has always busted down any doubts I have in my mind. When I listen to it, everything falls into place, and I understand it all.)

When I Grow Up by Garbage. (One of my favorites.)

Life Itself by Glass Animals. (Another favorite.)

Stay by The Score.

I Disagree by Poppy.

Do It All The Time by IDKHBTFM.

Eighth Wonder by Lemon Demon.

Cool Schmool by Bratmobile.

Abbey by Mitski.

The Drunk by Kiltro.

Lemon Boy by Cavetown.

Raise Your Glass by P!nk.

I'm Alive! by Becca.

Lots of Lady Gaga and MCR.

Nobody by Mitski is actually a song that makes me feel incredibly comfortable in my aloneness. Ironic.

I have a lot of songs on there that are kind of self deprecating because a lot of the time, if I’m in a certain mood, embracing my flaws, or just being okay with the idea that MAYBE, I am a regular old fallible human being like anybody else, makes me feel really proud.

If anyone asked, I could give the full list. You could make your own playlist like that, if you wanted.

My other playlist is (romantic) love songs that I feel apply to my relationship with myself, throughout the years and presently. Every single song on it is very personal to me, a lot of them nostalgic or with their own special stories.

I feel like every single one of them is a puzzle piece, and when you put it all together, you get how I really feel about me.

I’m sure there’s some songs you’ve heard that make you go, "Yeah, that’s how I feel about myself."

I have another one that specifically has songs on it to comfort me when I’m having a hard time. Or my one I have for songs that just make me feel beautiful, or sexy, I have quite a few.

Another thing that helped was writing. Writing is how I survive. Since I was younger, I’d write fantasy stories about myself to cope.

I’ve got lots of different characters and universes I write about, and tons of different love interest characters. I like to write about myself from their perspectives.

Looking at myself from the eyes of someone else who loves me actually helped me realize I was gay for myself in the first place.

But it also helps because it takes away some of the awkwardness while allowing you to still safely admire yourself.

Another thing that has really helped is just, love stories and poems. I know it can feel very alienating, because there are literally no stories about autoromanticism out there, but when I read poetry, I can’t ignore that my love is the same way.

I think of my relationship with myself in a million different ways. I think of myself as parent and child, sibling and sibling, friend and friend, obviously lover and lover and spouse and spouse, but there’s a lot of nuance in those separate roles too.

I freely let myself take up different roles during the day. Sometimes, like lately, I have certain negative thoughts about myself that I can’t really stop myself from having.

My brain is still being reprogrammed to not berate me for every single thing that I do, so there are still automatic things I do that I’m trying to gradually stop doing. There are a lot of things my mind does that are self deprecating but it’s so ingrained in my brain that I don’t notice, so I’m trying to really pay attention.

Since we are all stuck in an amatonormative, singlist hell, this between two people would be one partner verbally abusing the other. I highly suspect I have OCD and I have obsessive guilty thoughts about this, and that just makes it worse.

Instead of thinking of it like I am abusing myself, I think of it like a partner who is self deprecating and the other partner who is comforting them instead. It’s all about reframing it.

Just because I still have certain insecurities doesn’t mean I don’t love myself. Trauma, you know, it trains the brain. Just because I love myself and I try to fully embrace it now doesn’t erase all the socio-cultural indoctrination I’ve gone through my entire life since day one that convinced me that I was unlovable and despicable.

I often think of my love for myself as proof of my own inherent drive to survive, to live and to thrive. 

I think of it as my greatest wisdom, my most precious asset, my most powerful weapon, because my love for myself isn’t just romantic and sexual, it’s spiritual and existential.

It is part of my religion. The Gods designed me to recognize and treasure and honor and celebrate the blessings They have engendered within me everyday I draw breath, and after. It is my right, and duty, to praise what They made to be held dear.

It is a poet’s, a philosopher’s, an artist’s love.

And I like to think about too, just how many people in history must have felt the same way that I do.

I think about just how many people have ever lived on earth, how different they all were, and how there’s no way that some really important and/or wonderful people have been auto but we never knew it. Or we could have, if history didn’t look the other way.

And, writing on this blog has really helped. I mean, that’s pretty much (indirectly) the reason I made this blog.

I’m someone who in real life is very open about myself and my art, but I'm a very internet-wary person. Compared to how I am in real life, I’m very secretive on here. I like to lurk instead of making my mark because you know what they say: the internet is forever.

Frankly, doing this is terrifying for me. I’ve been ready to delete this blog at any moment just out of some vague anxiety I have of being acknowledged. But I did this because I wanted to be heard, even if by a small number of people. I wanted to make my mark, no matter how small.

I wanted a few people to see my posts and go, "Hey, that’s kind of cool," or even, "I can relate to that."

And so far, the responses I’ve got are more engaged than I expected, which is a huge surprise and joy to me. It’s a lovely surprise. It makes me feel like this was actually a better idea than I thought it’d be.

I notice that the more I post here, the more assured I get that what I’m saying, and what I’m experiencing, makes sense and is beautiful and valid and just like any other love.

Autosexuromanticism is one of the most important parts of me, certainly the part of me I cherish the most, the part of me that has saved my life time and time again, but it’s still a part that I’m being reserved about for the time being, so it feels good to be open about it in some way.