#i love all these characters and without spoilers

[thewhalelord]

I consider one of Laudna’s darkest moments to be something she said during the rooftop conversation she had with Imogen after she sucked in the dagger. In which she explicitly says that it would be better to let herself die for the end of the mission, because at least she would’ve served her purpose. That “maybe it should” kill her—that she was always a dead end for Imogen.

And in the epilogue of this story — where her mission is done — she expressly chooses and wants life, simply and happily. She makes the choice to age and grow “old and pruny” with the woman she loves and who she knows loves her. She chose a future.

A character that openly struggled so deeply with mental illness and addiction, a character who thought her only way out was to die, chose life and got to live it in happily and that is so more important to me than I have the words to express.

[gnomeantics]

as is customary for me now i made notes on the space baby talkback! obviously space baby spoilers below so read at your own risk. but once more i present:

NOTES FROM THE SPACE BABY LIVESTREAM

8th February 2025, 8pm (my time, GMT) / 3pm (ET) / 12pm (PT)

Section 1: Preshow

I only caught what I assume to be the end of the preshow as I joined about 5 minutes before the show began! But this is what I got from that.

Space Baby is learning about the world through episodes with themes - Jaime described this as being like Sesame Street.

Each creator based their minisode on a "show bible" given to them by Jaime, which included the tone, aesthetics, and prompt; the creators didn't see each other's minisodes, and this was their first time seeing the finished product too

The format is a singular episode made of many minisodes which all have the same theme. On youtube these minisodes will be released separately.

Section 2: Space Baby

no notes here i was too locked in watching it

Section 3: Talkback

Jaime described the theme song as "Duck Tales and Gummy Bear with farts", and went on to discuss the "baby liquid noises" in it

We are all Space Baby (learning about the world/seeing the episodes from his perspective, through his eyes)

Minisode 1: Missed Connections (discussed with James Tolbert and Matt Dahan)

This episode was a Plan B - the first idea was scrapped as it wasn't in keeping with the theme of ennui, but it will hopefully be used later

Concept: what do we do when we are without our phones? (Phones being seen as a solution to ennui, so what happens when we don’t have that.) Matt said “the connections we make when we allow ourselves”.

Music: starts off quite disjointed and disconnected much like the people on their phones, then as the phones are discarded the drums, shaker, guitar, etc are added (described as puzzle pieces fitting together). When the phones come back it reverts to the disjointedness.

Dance: each person ends their phrase where the next begins

Use of colour: only red when the phones are there, full range of colour can be seen when the people connect

Creating a dialogue without speaking

Network Notes (discussed with Leigh Lahav)

Concept: “a helpless, lonely creator who succumbs to the whims of people who don’t speak his language”

The voice could be anything – aliens, inner voice…

For the voice, a “unique but familiar” sound was used with the theremin. Associated with spooky 50s horror B-movies (also Severance incidentally)

Leigh noted the use of VHS rewind throughout the show – 90s feeling of eras being mashed together, using example of 1920s-30s Looney Tunes and 1950s Hanna Barbera cartoons on VHS tapes in an increasingly digital era. Influenced style of the minisode with the Hanna Barbera type style, VHS rewind, theremin, PNG background.

Song is a take on Sugar by the Archies

Theme for all the minisodes – “what would Jaime like?”

Ruthy at Bat (discussed with Curt Mega and Angela Parrish)

This was shot 4 times as they were unhappy with the first 3 versions

The song devolves from cheesy and positive to scary and creepy. “What are the grossest things I can think of?” - Angela (thus HAD to include 2 girls 1 cup reference)

Jaime talked about the ability to take the grotesque and make it palatable and friendy

The guy who invented the WWW is called Tim Berners-Lee and I did message someone about that during the minisode because I knew who they were on about. And now they’re confirming it. (not integral to the notes but I wrote it down so it’s going here)

We’re hopefully getting a soundtrack release!!! And maybe a less abrupt ending (though to this James said “this is what they deserve” so maybe that’s a no on the ending)

Hey Baby (discussed with Denise Donovan)

What makes Space Baby so beautiful is the range of effort. Denise shot her piece in about ten minutes

She loved dating shows as a child e.g. The Dating Game so this helped inspire it

The inspiration for her character, Celeste, came from an inside joke with Lauren Lopez where they both call each other Celeste and act as independently wealthy women from the 90s

Celeste is a divorced corporate woman. Her ex-husband, Tom, couldn’t hack it. She played team sports competitively in high school and “took everything she learned in team sports and now the board room is her court”.

She’s the kind of relaxed mother who would plan something if she had the kids that weekend, but wouldn’t feel guilty about having a little Pinot Grigio too

Despite Denise saying that she put very little effort into her part Celeste in fact has a very fleshed out backstory and we would love to explore this further.

Hey Baby came together as they wanted as many people as possible in one sketch, and this could be filmed all over the country. Jaime sent everyone a purple rose so there was a more unified design, and gave them all one minute to make a character for a dating video. The time limit and improv of it all made it more low stakes.

Only Jaime knew what everyone else had done – the coherency of it was purely coincidental (“my sausage…” “not very long though!”)

The little PSA thing James did (did this have a name? I didn’t catch one) (discussed with James Tolbert)

Based on these shitty kids’ PSAs from the 90s with really famous celebrities, about how to be a better person.

The children in this (and Tim in Ruthy at Bat) were Curt’s students.

Pixie’s Playhouse (discussed with Tessa Netting)

Curt gave the overall vibe and Tessa ran with it

Took inspiration from Big Comfy Couch

Pixie is played very bubbly but also with a lot of sadness, lots of subtext. “Something is not right with Pixie” – Jaime

We need a Pixie deep dive a la Celeste!

Kim was not informed about Mann E Kim before its arrival. Curt did not tell Kim about it right away even when it was in their house. Mann E Kim was returned to Amazon.

Mann E Kim wears one of the Beautiful Blond Boys wigs from NMT2!

New Starkid merch needed: Starkid Skin Mask! (apparently it is VERY skinlike.)

“Do you think we killed him?” - Tessa, discussing David Lynch

Box (discussed with Sinead Persaud)

“Sean, who is here in spirit, much like David Lynch- EXCEPT SEAN IS ALIVE. GOD” – Jaime

I Saw The TV Glow / Zoom vibe

The idea for this came pre-Space Baby!

It’s about getting so lost in routine that you don’t see evils creeping up (usually evils from within, like mental health), and how things often have to be very upsetting/perilous for someone in order to be enjoyable to audiences

Jon arrived to the talkback and said that his partner studied mime, but he only showed the minisode to her after it was finished. He plays a mime

This was the second time Jon was cast as a mime in about four months, he says that these things come in threes so waiting for the next Jon mime

General talkback resumed! We all want to see more Celeste. Jon said “I yield my time to Celeste”

The next prompt may be decided by other people – maybe the audience? The chat seemed hooked on “whimsy”

James has secret projects. He mentioned also a musical miniseries based on Space Baby!!!

Space Baby is purple because this is Starkid’s unofficial colour.

Jon also has secret projects.

& this is where my notes end!

[starvingnarcissistmusic]

I've had this drafted forever and I'm not entirely sure why I didn't post it. Oh well, better late than never!

MAL DU PAYS (the song) fun facts:

(Like the original post, spoilers for Act 5 ((and also 2hats)))

- Originally, after finishing the game, I wanted to write a song about Loop. They're one of my favorite parts of the game and I really loved their character, but I ended up scrapping that idea very early on, as I couldn’t really find a personal tie to anchor the song to me. While I did want to write a song about the game, I didn’t want to write something that didn’t resonate with me and my musical “mythos” in some way. It's a fan song, but it's also a Starving Narcissist song, and I felt it was important to strike that balance. MAL DU PAYS (Monophobia) only got released because I felt that it was something that fit into the larger body of my works even without the context of the game. So in the end, I chose to write about Siffrin, as I found them a lot more personally relatable. The final version, lyrically, is almost like I’m using Siffrin as a vehicle to write about my own feelings. Some lyrics are his, some are mine, a few are both of us, it’s a weird sort of style I’ve never really written in before.

I do have some leftover lyrics from the scrapped Loop version, though!

“There’s a you you’ll never be, across the cosmic sea / Who has everything you wanted, now it’s everything you need; is it over yet?”

- I think originally the song had a lot more of an exhausted vibe, but with most of the stuff I write, the tempo usually gets faster the more I play it. At some point in the writing process the song channeled more of a manic energy than I had originally intended it to. Loud and shouty is kinda just my default lol.

(The first ever demo for the song, recorded September 15, 2024. Features some slightly altered lyrics!)

- The title was also subject to change! I think for a while I was going back and forth on just calling it Homesickness, mostly because I was a little nervous that my song’s name was technically a late game spoiler. Half the reason I wanted to even write the song was because I thought MAL DU PAYS would make a great song title though, so in the end I just sucked it up and went with my gut. The alternate title was also not set in stone, I think originally I was considering just calling it Mania or Paranoia, but I thought those would be a bit generic. Eventually, I settled on Monophobia, because I felt it was apt in describing the song as a whole. I write a lot about loneliness, and Siffrin is afraid of being alone, so it felt fitting to name the song after the fear of it. (And also, a bit more superficially, I thought Monophobia made a better song title.)

- The song is the only Starving Narcissist song on a nylon string guitar, and it's also the second song in a completely non-standard tuning (third if you count ITWYW?, but that's just a half step down from standard). MAL DU PAYS (Monophobia) in DADF#BD, with a capo on 1.

- THIS SONG HAD SO MANY REVISIONS. I don't think I've ever had this many versions to a song ever. It got so bad that I made a specific folder just to hold all the different variations I had for the song. They're not all too different from each other, and they're all built on the same take of the song, but I was playing around with mixing and structuring and vocal layering and its a whole mess. Honestly, the fact that it's a song about a timeloop makes it probably the funniest song this could have happened to.

- And that's about it! To end off this little fun fact post, here's a little something I wrote for Genius (where lyrics for this song and all my others are posted! plus annotations I write! <3) about the song. The response to MAL DU PAYS (Monophobia) has been pretty wild, and I'm glad it managed to resonate with people, even some who don't even know the game it's about.

That's all. While I guarantee this year will probably be slower for Starving Narcissist, rest assured that I am working on stuff, just very slowly. There's a very low chance I'll ever do something as flagrantly self indulgent as this song, but whatever I do end up doing, I hope you're around to see it.

In the meantime, stream the song on spotify! or buy it on bandcamp! or even just go watch the lyric video i made for it (please i spent like a week on this)!

Thanks for everything, see you later <333

Happy one year anniversary to In Stars And Time! tldr; i wrote a song about it. if you wanna skip all the gushing and just listen to it, click here. (spoilers for act 5) If not, behold this big rambly mess of a thing i wrote:

So funny story, I kind of wasn’t planning on releasing anything for the rest of the year. The album wore me out, and the only other idea I had sort of fell through, so I was content on just letting the album be the only thing of note I would make in 2024.

… and then, in September, I played a little RPG called In Stars And Time. beat the whole thing over the course of three days, then spent the next couple weeks ravenously consuming all the fan content I could get my hands on. my friends have been forced to stare at my siffrin pfp every day for two months straight at this point and frankly i think they are tired of me talking about it.

i love the art, i love the story, i love the music, i love the characters, i love the world. siffrin sort of immediately became one of my favorite protagonists like,, ever. and it definitely did not help that i am also a scrawny forgetful person who has to regularly fight off the part of my brain that convinces myself that All My Friends Secretly Hate Me.

I’ve never really been so called out by a character before. The spiraling, the deflection, and the agony of being a stranger to yourself. the yearning for something you cant even name, because how could you? you cant even find the words on your tongue. not being able to tell anyone how you feel because its just easier to live with it, easier to let it eat you from the inside out then to bother anybody else. its easier to keep the mask on, stick to your lines, let the show go on.

all that hit just a bit too close to home. so i did what I usually do When Things Hit and wrote about it.

(like i said, spoilers for Act 5; It’s pretty devoid of context but they’re spoilers nonetheless)

MAL DU PAYS (Monophobia) is a song about cyclical burnout, self-estrangement, and homesickness. It’s half about Siffrin, half about me, but mostly it’s a rumination on loneliness and the hell that is the self.

Out now wherever you listen to music.

“How can you be homesick if nowhere is home?"

[beedreamscape]

This has to be the last thing I say on C3 finale because otherwise, I will not stop, it simply baffles me in its mediocrity. And obviously, this will be negative, if you loved it, good for you, this is my takeaway as someone who loved this campaign and was severely let down.

This finale changes everything that came before and not for good, better yet, it emphasizes all the faults in the structure of what c3 tried to be, it made most of the campaign feel like a true exercise in futility — How far can we go in a campaign that is meandering and unsatisfying? How long can we have the same discussion over and over and over again despite everyone knowing how this will end? How long can we drag out characters that don't change without anyone noticing? (spoiler everyone noticed)

Can't say I was emotionally invested in the finale because I tapped out back in the 70s, came back for Aeor/Downfall shenanigans, and left again. But in experiencing the finale something became clear to me:

THIS STORY NEEDED TO BE SHORTER.

WITH ANOTHER PARTY AT THE HELM.

If the objective from the very conception of C3 was to wipe out the gods, that had to be clear from the very start. And it wasn't clear, at all — not in the characters, not in the starting city, not in theme. This was a completely different campaign at the start! That clarity was what made Calamity so great, it was short and precise, and every pc SERVICED THE THEME, filled with hubris and contempt, not to mention the setting.

Even Ludinus went in circles for convenience of the campaign length and became a weaker opponent for it, more of a nuisance than a villain. The threat he posed at episode 50 was much stronger than now at 120 something. The battle against Otohan was more nail-biting and emotionally engaging than fighting Ludinus and Predathos, a god eater!!!!

This campaign would've benefited from three to four acts instead of one overarching objective like the past campaigns because urgency is the name of the game and we can't carry urgency for 70 episodes straight (and they didn't).

The constant inclusion of the other parties made it clear how easy it was to detach BH from the story, how easy and fun it was for them to tell it through another party's eyes (one of the main reasons why I walked away back when I did, but that's more of a personal preference).

Which is not to say Bells Hell's didn't deserve a long story! They could very well have existed in a more intimate campaign which these characters were clearly built for! Their premises begged for closer looks in slow moments, something tragicomical, exploration of the inner world while developing MARQUET and its microcosm of injustice and politics which was left in the dust mid-campaign (pun intended).

And I'm not suggesting this just for our enjoyment, I know it's them playing and their enjoyment comes first blah blah, though this is a multi-million company therefore their jobs but this would contribute to their enjoyment! You could see several moments in the campaign how tapped out they felt and acted. I doubt it was "fun" discussing the gods situation ad naseaum, trudging through landscapes they barely cared about, with empty arcs.

I could nitpick every fault I see in the finale but it would be pointless, these issues have been dragged from ages ago and poor character matching, and now this is a culmination of everything and it barely fazes me anymore.

(And yeah it's their game and it's "free", but that doesn't undermine its weight as a story, stories were made be analyzed, and it was a poorly structured one no matter how much I still like and admire them as people.)

WHICH is not to say I had no fun at all ever, I did! several times! and that's what makes me upset, it could've been great instead is just meh.

[flyingwargle]

january fanfic recs!

the first round of recs are now here! i'm eager to find more life-changing bangers this year and share with everyone my favorites for each month <3 (also, i accept recs any time!)

all previous monthly recs are tagged with fanfic recs! check them out if you'd like more!

some of these fics are rated e!

sakuatsu

i would write ya a love letter t. 3k. sakusa is helping atsumu move when he finds an old love letter under the bed addressed to kita. love the premise and eventual getting together, as well as the comfort <3

i don't want you like a best friend e. 3.6k. atsumu is pining and everyone can tell except for sakusa. also, body worship, one of my favorite tropes.

particular e. 4.7k. mid-timeskip sakuatsu trying kink for the first time. always love rinpanna and winterwaltz's explicit works and this one doesn't disappoint.

parallax error: line of sight t. 11.6k. 2/2. i read atsumu's pov (parallax error: angle of inclination) last month and this one is sakusa's pov. it's really lovely to see how both sides fall for each other and both are beautifully written.

runner, runner t. 14.7k. atsumu, sakusa, and bokuto lose hinata during a night out in tokyo and try to look for him. amazing shenanigans, friendship, and feelings realization.

crypsis g. 16.1k. "what do you want, miya?" is the best quote to encapsulate this fic, with self-destructing atsumu afraid of taking the next step forward. beautiful prose and character dynamics.

On Love and Onigiri m. 20.5k. atsumu is a bestselling author and sakusa is a book critic who has never given his works 5 stars. atsumu is determined to change that. you'll also have to pry the trope of trying to impress your love interest from my cold, dead hands. i'll eat it up every time.

draw the line, and i'm losing my mind t. 26.1k. sakusa has his memory of atsumu wiped and atsumu, in petty revenge, does the same. this broke my heart and reduced me to my knees. it's angst with a hopeful ending, just in case you can't handle angst without a good ending.

NOT CLICKBAIT: Watch As Osaka Man Nearly Destroys Brother's Relationship t. side sunaosa. 27.9k. sakusa is accidentally roped into atsumu's scheme of helping both osamu and suna propose to each other separately. extremely funny and endearing. my favorite this month <3

sunaosa

touched down m. 20.5k. i have never read such a flavor of depressed osamu like this before, complemented with angst, introspection, and a hopeful ending. the prose will sink its teeth into you until you finish it all in one sitting.

sakuatsu & sunaosa

Sundays at Onigiri Miya t. 6.4k. the miya4 are always the best group to read, and this fic of sakusa and osamu trying to propose to their significant others doesn't disappoint.

iwaoi

please be a good man, please say you won't tell e. 21.9k. iwa accidentally sends a nude to the wrong person and now all of the jnt (read: atsumu) is trying to figure out who iwa's boyfriend is. also, he and oikawa keep getting sexiled. funny and heartwarming.

bokuaka

Catching Up e. 11.1k. akaashi finally realizes he may have feelings for bokuto but tries to quash them because surely bokuto won't reciprocate (spoilers: he does). great plot and spice!

A Second Chance e. 76.5k. 15/15. after breaking things off with bokuto four years ago, akaashi reconnects with him after he has to interview him after his match. imagine: mutual pining. hurt/comfort. angst. spice. mixed altogether with slowburn and you get this. an amazing read.

other

daybreak g. kagehina. 6k. kageyama study in the years between high school and when hinata returns from brazil. beautiful prose and feelings realization.

Infinite is Where We Live m. kuroken. 20.3k. glimpses of kuroo and kenma growing up together and all the ways kuroo is there for kenma, until it's kenma's turn to be there for him. you'd think kenma would be the anxious one but it's kuroo in this fic and wow, it's done beautifully.

A Split-Second of Violence g. hinata and karasuno-centric. 122.3k. 38/38. WOW. WAY TO BREAK MY HEART. the incident literally takes a split second and becomes a monster of friendship, hurt/comfort, and trauma. i hugged my hinata plush every night while reading this. we love and respect the karasuno family in this house.

[worth-this-and-more]

[TW: sh mentions, violence] [spoilers for legendborn and bloodmarked, read at your own caution ;)]

so i've been rereading and trying to cover up all the legendborn content that happened while i pufff disappeared, and pardon me it is taking more time than i imagined, however i just wanted to start off with one pet peeve of mine

*rant incoming*

this might just be my unorganised thoughts or maybe just common sense, but sometimes you dont fully understand why a character did something; you have to sometimes to come back and read it again once you have that epiphany. it doesn't matter whatever tf they are doing, it sometimes just doesnt make that effect, especially on first read.

when i first read bree lashing out on greer and sar when they touched her hair, i didnt quite understand it. i thought its a cultural thing and moved on. now something about me, im a little fair, by indian standards. not completely clear skin and shit but im on the lighter side. so if im in my village, if im anywhere else wearing something with a bit of skin showing, i automatically get the comments "you're so fair" "what's your skincare" "so lucky" "you'd marry so soon" all that typa shit. and then come the unwanted touches, touching me on any exposed skin. and by any i genuinely mean any exposed skin. that's when i kind of realised why bree was so irritated when they tocuhed her hair, because people sometimes see our nicer features as free estate. and its annoying. and that is when her reaction fully made sense.

when i first read selwyn mesmered bree, i was so angry. i did not want bree to forgive him without him grovelling, ofc, but i also could not understand why he did that. what was his motive?? and why hide it from bree only?? nobody else?? now i've been in my low times since like years, not a big deal. got a lot of scars, some too visible, some not. i dont bother hiding it if im out in public where there's nobody who knows me or nobody who would care enough to ask. but if im with my friends, close people, i hide them all. and its just like valec said, its not to hide something its because of the fear of judgement. and that's when it kind of made sense why selwyn would hide his descent specifically from bree. she has bad experiences with mesmer, no doubt, but even worse with demons. it was a bad call through and through but one that is not unfamiliar. i dont hide my scars for my safety, i hide them because im ashamed.

and when nick killed max and then promptly disappeared into the woods, that was also somehow so out of character in my eyes from him. during grief and in the moments of crushing hopelessness, doesn't everyone want someone?? isnt the obvious reaction supposed to be him coming to bree, and not running away from her?? but that's not what happens yk. i once had a classmate who was not generally the type of person you'd want to be around. he was the type of person who has "trouble" spelt on him in flashing neon red. but after all, we were young, wanted to keep the peace, so i kept the decent communication. he would constantly invade my personal space, unwanted touches, unsolicited comments, it gets annoying. the last straw was when he tried to touch my best friend's schoolbag. i, in a moment of pure rage, threw him against the wall and actually started choking him. when the class managed to get me off of him, he was unconscious. in that moment my bestfriend came to put a hand on my shoulder, i visibly flinched and ran away from there and stayed in the washroom until school was over. this isnt as bad as beheading someone, but the response is familiar. of course he is going to go away rather than come closer; people whose love language is physical touch often have their hate language as isolation. i didnt hurt him purely because he tried to take my bestie's bag, i hurt him because i wanted to. nick didnt kill max purely because he killed his father, he killed him because he wanted to.

there's more of the events where we just kind of make this internal bias that we know what the character is going through and that we would definitely make better decisions, but can you?? do you really think you can or you're just overestimating yourself or underestimating the actual thing going on with the character??

i have made this mistake too, i know. i have taken some time to reflect back though and now i can say that yes i have made harsh judgements too. i am changing that tho because i've got a lottt of time to sit down and think and yeah i guess we all need it time to time.

what im trying to say is, things are not black and white. its a spectrum, there's dark grey light grey. it's a lot. and until and unless you are capable of putting yourself in that type of situation or closer, it's better to not make concrete opinions. shit happens and people do things, real life people are just that, people.

anyways this was a long rant i probably lost my point halfway through but okay whateva

[abyssalpeach]

in the case of the people vs. bell's hells...

and also the campaign 3 finale overall. disclaimer: this is gonna get long bc of my propensity to yap so i'm gonna simultaneously try to keep it short but also put it under a "read more." spoilers will be referenced throughout.

i wouldn't call these rent-lowering gunshots, but i desperately need some of the folks in this fandom to get a grip. so instead i'm asking: walk with me. hold my hand. i am looking you in the eyes and want this fandom to be a nice place. please forgive me for any attitude but i am tired of being talked down to.

"they never faced any consequences" consequences are the result bad dice rolls. of which they had plenty. if you think their narrative choices should have resulted in more punishment, say that. but i think you missed the part where they have targets on their back from several factions and now-mortal deities and you need to kill the cop in your head.

"it was too confusing and the pacing was bad" i don't even disagree with this takeaway. i will say this was actually the easiest campaign for me to follow. m9 is so fun, but was very narratively scattered at times. however, i think this is just the nature of ttrpg/actual play. it's not scripted. it's messy and sometimes you'll zone out about it. sometimes what the players want isn't what grabs you personally. it doesn't mean they're wrong or bad to play it that way.

"i fell off c3 and everything i've heard about the finale is stupid" fall off, then. totally fine, i'm not here to stop you, sincerely. and not to hurl cliches, but with tabletop it really is more about the journey than the destination. without context, you are missing too many pieces to pass judgement. that's all i'm gonna say on that.

"the other PCs were just so much better" i gotta say this one seems like a skill issue lol. there's not a single party i haven't loved with my whole heart, but they satisfy different purposes or dynamics! vm was destined for greatness. m9 was destined to pull important strings. bh was destined to shake up the order of things. they were supposed to be controversial in-world. they're salt of the earth, rising far beyond their stations ever expected. they became important at work and it very nearly ruined their lives.

"it was like sitting in a philosophy 101 class" praytell what philosophy classes that you've sat in discussed the ethics of magic, direct divine involvement in human* lives, and potential outcomes that would come along with killing all the gods or releasing something called the god-eater. look. i grew weary with the rehashing of these conversations too, really i did. that said, i think it needed to play out this way in order for the finale to go the way it did.

allow me to explain. one of the defining qualities of bell's hells was how different they all were. whether it's their perspectives, life experiences, backgrounds, desires, aspirations... you get it. this was the point. they were bound together by compassion and love for each other. and this extended to those they stood for personally, and those their friends cared about. it was how they approached ruidus, the gods, the people of vasselheim. and they walked the walk and trusted the process, prepared to face anything. including death.

*obviously including all exandrian/ruidian races beyond just human

"the finale cheapened the ending of vox machina" it didn't. i'm sorry but it very fundamentally did not and if that's your takeaway from a change of circumstance ~30 years down the line, i am worried that you are too lost in the sauce due to favoritism. if your takeaway from vax being allowed to return to the material plane is that now his conclusion from 30 years ago was just him going on a work trip, that is a you problem.

the narrative doesn't treat it like that. the characters don't treat it like that. the cast doesn't treat it like that. let me repeat myself: if you think vax's c1 ending is now nothing more than a glorified work trip, that is a you problem.

life goes on. the state of the world is changing constantly, especially in a world with gods and magic and different planes of existence. matt allowed these players to have direct involvement in the ways it changes. if vax was allowed to return in some capacity as a result of those changes, the cast made that happen. it wasn't even on bell's hells priority list! this was a natural change of circumstance. if that's the kind of thing you find upsetting, maybe unpack that elsewhere.

i'm gonna wrap it up here but i hope you keep this in mind: if you don't like a thing anymore, you can absolutely drop it. you don't need anyone's permission. but what i ask is that if you want to engage in thoughtful conversation and criticism about it, you keep these things in mind.

i don't believe this show or cast to be above criticism. i have plenty of critiques of my own. but the campaign three finale was the opposite of bad. it was the most satisfying conclusion we could have possibly gotten. it was the culmination of the last 3 years with almost everyone who encountered bell's hells and honored the last 10 years of their hard work. i am so so proud of matt and the cast and i think you should be too.

[toastyyjams]

TELL US ALL OF YOUR ORV THOUGHTS MY HSY BRAINROT IS SO BAD I LOVE HER SO MUCH

TY FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO RANT ABOUT ORV OMG

if any pjsk followers of mine reading this dont know orv its a series called omniscient reader's viewpoint!

i highly recommend reading the webtoon first for visualization but definitely read the novel starting from the chapter 180s (theres . like 551 chapters it took me months to finish but it took my older sibling like 3 weeks so it depends how insane u are /lh)

def recommend it if youre a huge fan of found family dynamics mweheheh and also mythology . its like a heart wrenching story disguised as a BL

gonna get into spoilers from the novel so heres ur warning !

anyway u said all my thoughts. so here we go

hsy oughhhh i love her sm shes more than just 'girlboss' i think shes more girlfailure cuz how do u manage to plagiarize ur own work smh /j

YOOHANKIM DYNAMIC MAKE ME ILL like the author cant exist without a reader . but the story also cant exist without an author . but you cant read anything if theres no author to create that story yk like THEYRE ALL TIED TOGETHER ITS AGHHH

during the previous ask i mentioned how orv handles platonic love and im still super happy how its portrayed esp kdj and ysa ... ik alot of ppl ship them romantically and/or often make them exes or such

but ive read rly good kdj x ysa platonic soulmate fics and OUGHH MY GOSHHH it made me go crazy cuz they care about e/o sooooso much

like how that one scene where kdj randomly traumadumps on her and as a defense mechanism he goes haha . just kidding XD ! but then ysa just . quietly holds his hand and shuts him up

bc ysa will never understand what hes gone thru but she can and will listen/support him when he needs it yk theres no words that need to be said shes holding his hand as kind of an anchor like 'hey ik u said u were joking but ik ur not and thats ok'

jung heewon too oughhhh when she goes "this is no salvation" I WENT BONKERSSS kdj stop hurting your companions!! u want them happy but u deserve it too!!!!!! shaking his shoulders YOURE KINDER THAN YOU THINK THE STORY YOUVE LOVED FOR YEARS AND KEPT YOU ALIVE LOVES U BACK KDJ AUGHH

i love the fact that 98% of the novel is in first pov of kdj and the fact that hes an EXTREMELY unreliable narrator . like i usually dont like first pov but orv does it well

esp when all of a sudden during the epilogue it started being third pov when kdj split into the 49% and 51% IT GAVE A RLY GOOD SENSE OF "wtf is happening . something is wrong" it rlly gives us readers the same feeling the characters have like uhmmm kdj ur ok now rigjt. right! i remember feeling so confused and uncomfortable at the sudden third pov ITS SO CLEVER

can i just also say i absolutely hate the live action . orv is meant to be consumed as a novel LIKE OF *ALL* POPULAR WEBTOONS TO ADAPT ITS THE ONE THAT WOULDNT WORK AS LIVE cashgrab ass scheme smh

i also hate and admire the fact that anyone who has finished orv is a kdj fragment . i hate how anyone who finished the entire novel kins kdj in some sort of way . like when i kin pjsk characters for example im just like haha i relate #relatable but when it comes to kdj . hes just so uncomfortably relatable for me like i need to put him under a hydraulic press

"you who reads this will survive" ITS SOOO CLEVERR its addressing kdj and YOU! the whole theme of the novel is just so . personal lowkey so when the live action got announced and some annoying ass mfs were making fun of orv fans for being upset i wanted to rip my hair out THE STORY IS FOR US kdj himself would be rolling in his grave at the disrespect for a webnovel fr

[myinterestsvary-writes]

@fegafegafega :

Yet, their relationship does feel forced because of the lack of proper buildup to make their relationship have more emotional weight as I said in this post. I don’t like that it feels so casual and less serious given the multiple reasons that I’ve listed. It would’ve served the narrative better if there was more of a follow-up to the upsetting tone set at the end of season 2. I wouldn’t have felt so off with the season’s opening and wasted time being angry about it. I said in multiple other posts that the dialogue (not specifically) between them and about their relationship doesn’t feel earned because they’re telling instead of showing, even if I can feel Mark’s genuine affection for her all throughout the series so far. Eve and their relationship was far too sidelined especially last season for many viewers to truly believe what Amber and Eve talked about in the cafe in 303. There was some tension, I felt it, but it wasn’t enough for me to accept that conversation without question. I did not want to be annoyed watching their scenes the first few times but I was because of these very reasons. I just want their relationship to have more depth and given more room to breathe, and most importantly given MORE CHEMISTRY as you can absolutely write already established characters with an established relationship to have it and my suggestions could aid that specific complaint (character chemistry is described sometimes as the tension, energy, and audience engagement two or more characters have with each other; one is always reacting genuinely to the other, playing off one another).

Also, Mark and Eve are actually entwined not only by the narrative but literally by the universe it seems as even in alternative dimensions, there’s romantic undertones between their counterparts and with the Future Eve scene no matter how much they try to make sense of it and be ashamed and dismiss it, it goes to show how significant their connection is to each other. There’s even more to support my perspective from the comics but that’s spoiler territory.

I honestly appreciate more and more the way they got them together, however the main reason they feel so casual together is because of the lack of exploration of what their dynamic truly entails on many fronts including serious conflict resolution with inevitable struggles between two flawed people, they can’t help but be drawn to each other. That’s what I wanted more of. It doesn’t matter if either of them have been through enough, people will do what they do best which is mess up and underperform despite themselves.

“Your criticism for Eve is kinda like ‘she’s too mature let’s make her more insecure and irrational for the sake of drama.’ Have Eve be wary of Mark not only because of the future Eve dilemma but also because she’s been cheated on before why exactly? There’s no indication that Mark would ever cheat, and Eve has never been written as someone who projects her past onto others. Why should Eve feel guilt for having feelings for Mark? Amber and Mark are done. Amber isn’t in love with him anymore.”

For the sake of drama, yes, and also cohesion to what they already established with the character. I don’t mean projecting her past onto others, I mean making Eve confront her own past experiences with the men in her life up until Mark, that way it’ll be easy to see how she can appreciate the role Mark has in her life even more.

Regardless of whether or not Eve should feel guilt about it, there’s friendships and feelings involved. Mark and Amber had lots of love for each other and a break-up they struggled to come to making a decision on but I can believe them accepting it eventually and being okay moving on from each other, even if three months seem a little too short they can recognize it was for the best. There was time to heal but I didn’t see it all too much and wasn’t allowed to feel it or given more time to emotionally adjust to Eve and Mark being together even as someone who’s been hoping Amber and Mark would break up permanently from season 1.

“But the part I really don’t like that you said was saying, ‘Eve is way too healthy of a communicator…’ It’s so rare to see a female character in a superhero show who actually talks about her emotions and sets boundaries, and somehow you’re like you don’t like it cos it’s not messy enough?? And lastly A love triangle? For what?? A love square? Why?? A love pentagon? WHY?! Again loved the rant!”

It is not rare for a female character to do any of that, it’s rare for it to actually be respected by the narrative, which it has been so far. However, with someone with a tragic childhood and persistent stressors as the one Eve does have, letting her be a little more understandably messy (yet still being the chill Eve we know) would add more charm to her role as the main female lead outside Debbie. I enjoyed her arc in the second season, her having her own struggles that affect primarily her relationship with Mark and the plot (her being the co-protagonist in a way to Mark) would strengthen her writing and make her and their relationship less vulnerable to accusations of being boring and disengaging. It would be more nuanced and compelling, alongside her new goal of becoming an architect/engineer this season. Overall, I just want more quality character work for this powerhouse girly specifically.

eve talks, thinks, and acts too much like a psychology major. thanks, britta perry.

beware: rant below

the teenaged romantic relationships are not messy enough to be interesting. there’s a fine line among annoyingly boring - messy - and annoyingly messy. invincible, write your characters like fucking humans. they talk way too much with each other in a healthy way, there’s a lack of emotion that makes it feel bland. sure, we didn’t need cheating but i need more of an actual portrayal of complicated feelings among the cast. not just telling us, the audience, that it’s complicated. maybe it’s nice to the writers in contrast to amber and mark’s relationship to have a relationship without true obstacles to overcome, who just fit perfectly together. however, mark and amber were compelling with chemistry because their interactions related to one of the central themes and was tense because of external conflicts they had to face head on, and not just talk through. plus, they had chemistry because they got along among other reasons, so you get the sense in another life they’d still be together which hits harder and sits with you better.

another thing, mark and eve don’t just work as a couple because they’re superheroes. this was the perfect time to demonstrate the dynamic the two will have, to sell them as a couple worth screentime and ultimately endgame. it’s obvious as fuck the show is written around the two to be together from eve’s special, to their parallels, similar values and goals, and the fact that the audience could catch onto their chemistry that was apparent from the first season (and shockingly lacking later). mark and amber never felt like endgame to me yet them having more chemistry, tension, and intrigue so far is frustrating. (yes, I know their story is complete but imagine if mark and eve weren’t portrayed as teens just casually trying to date each other like they are in the third season. their feelings for each other do not feel profound at all as i feel it should be and like they’re truly destined and that a force they can’t truly comprehend brings them together blah blah blah. like they’re truly birds of a feather who understands one another on a whole other level. it’s so fucking wack.)

explore more of mark’s melancholy that his last relationship ended because he didn’t want his gf to get hurt. show more of mark’s avoidance of eve and him being nervous and reserved around her but also evidently contemplative and wistful. show more of their attraction to each other.

show more of eve’s reasonable understanding of healthy boundaries but also her disappointment in mark avoiding her, feeling insecure about it (because the one who should be insecure about stuff like this should be eve, who has dated a serial cheater as her first love). have eve be wary of mark not only because of the future eve dilemma that wasn’t even that big a deal unfortunately, so wack, such a missed opportunity but also because she’s been cheated on before, and that her dad does not like her so she’s insecure about her taste in men and doesn’t know why mark would like her. have them tiptoe around the other but make the tension palpable, not played almost entirely for comedy and quickly resolved with barely a microcosm of interpersonal conflict. have eve feel guilt when she confronts her feelings for mark, mainly because she’s friends with amber and mark too! show eve is way too healthy of a communicator and it freaks me out. she doesn’t even have to be completely like her comic counterpart, just make her feel young and human like they all were in the first and second season, making mistakes and acting on impulses.

build up the emotion to where when important beats happen, it feels significant and satisfying. like them getting together for the first time, or kissing, dating, making love etc. that way we as an audience connect with them more on an emotional level when something bad happens hint hint and it won’t feel like you’re trying to force it out of me. make us want to root for them and not lazily put them together based on a history the two share that wasn’t even mainly focused on in favour of another love interest. make us understand truly why they want and love each other instead of making it feel as casual as it does.

i would’ve loved a semi-love triangle/square/pentagon with mark, amber, eve, rex, and/or rae. anything to spice things up!

[waterfallofspace]

another non snz post I apologize but uh- just finished reading through the first 151 chapters of J/ujutsu K/aisen... (took me 6 hours of straight reading xD) and I am feeling supremely unwell about these characters/this story. I will be finishing the rest tomorrow once my 100 chapter limit resets. I won't ramble on but just wanted to say that um? I am feeling so many feelings about this! I am even more excited for season 2!! Didn't think that was possible!! And yes anyways just being so unchill about S/atoS/ugu over here <3333

[wanderingibon]

if you thought i'd introduce my rooksona with something epic and cool with immense lore... here's lucanis with cookie rook instead. i hope it captures the energy, and more

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 801: Sugimoto's resolution

Pag 1

3: Ohh, there is a motorcycle support car, too?

Yeah, in road racing the ranks are pretty long, so there are lots of them running at the same time

Pag 2

1: Onoda....!!

2: Did you see the sign board just now, Uchikawa? Hakogaku's Manami took the mountain stage!!

As expected there are so many strong cyclists across the country!!

Right!! Kobayashi-san said it was a fight between last year's finalists.... the Inter High sure is surprising!!

3: But the guy in second place, Onoda, was so close behind, it was a close battle.... he must be feeling so frustrated, Sohoku's Onoda!!

5: I'm so glad, Onoda

Pag 3

1: You said you made a promise

2: Is it okay if I go out for the first day's mountain stage!?

3: With Hakone Academy's Manami, during last year's race....!!

4: Road racing is a chaotic sport

A lot of predictions and tactics come together

It's a world where even one second of delay can destroy your plans

5: Among all this, “keeping a promise” isn't an easy thing by all means

6: It's not an easy thing

Pag 4

1: You really are amazing, Onoda

Do your best!

It's the selected team!

Oh it's complete

Only a little bit more until the finish line

Pag 5

1: Keep running...!

2: Usually, in the school's corridors... you walk like in a daze (haha)

3: Ehi Onoda, what's up, you're spacing out

Ah, Sugimoto-kun... isn't it normal?

4: Hmph, is it!?

5: Actually, now that I'm running here myself I can understand

6: It's not an easy thing to do here

7: Ohh, look over there

It's the mountain gate!

Once we turn now

Pag 6

1: The fact that you were able to make that promise come true...

Well, of course, I know, but still!! Of course, I'm on a different team!!

2: It's!!

3: Inside my heart

4: It's inspiring me!!

Pag 7

1: Even though we, the selected team, don't have the support Sohoku has!!

Pag 8

1: Do your best, Sugimoto!!

Pag 9

1: Huh- what- Radokoro-san!?

2: Wo- oh

3: Take this!!

4: Ye- yes! T-thank you!! Tadokoro-san

5: Wh- why are you here!? Ah, for Onoda? Yeah, I guess it must be for Onoda, to cheer for him!!

Pag 10

1: And for you, too, Sugimoto

3: Just before the start, I saw that the list had changed

And I got a call from Touji-san

4: Isn't that good! You could finally start and run in the Inter High!!

5: But that was literally the “start”

From now on... “what to do”...

Pag 11

1: it's up to you!!

Keep going 'til the end!! Put your whole three years into it!!

2: Experienced cyclist, Sugimoto Terufumi!!

4: Tadokoro-san...

Who was a third year when we joined the club... Tadokoro-san who was so strict... he came to cheer... for me!!

5: It was just around four seconds, but....

Pag 12

1: they were an inspiring four seconds!!

2: Thank you so much!!

Tadokoro-san!!

3: Sugimoto-san, who was that person just now!?

Ah, it's a senpai of mine

4: I'm really so so grateful to him!!

Pag 13

1: Ngh!!

Deep down in my heart, I was probably thinking something like”I'm so jealous of Onoda”!!

2: Ngh!! I'm the one who said I had no support!! But I do!! You're watching me

3: Earnestly!!

4: So I'll try...!! I was losing my way a little, but I'll try, Tadokoro-san!!

5: As much as I can!!

7: The Inter High is a one-shot game

If you fall behind or play it safe, it will end immediately

8: Do it!! Sugimoto

Like running through the mud of a rice field while gritting your teeth, your running....

Pag 14

1: I like it!!

2: Alright, we passed the gate!!! There still a little climb now, then after that's over there's a short tunnel and then a downhill!!

3: Yessir!!

A downhill!!

Yes!

4: These are your orders from now on!!

5: O... orders!?

Sugimoto-san!!

Pag 15

1: The two people in the lead, Sohoku, Hakogku, and other strong teams are already ahead of us

On this climb, the distance between them and us has become of approximately eight minutes!!

2: Eight.... minutes....

3: So much.....

Then we're already too late....

4: We're going to close this distance on the downhill

6: Can we really do something like that!?

Close the.... you mean we'll catch up!? Eight minutes!?

Huh!?

In road racing-

Pag 16

1: The ones who are in the lead on a downhill will definitely be cautious

They'll ride safely and avoiding troubles!!

After all there's no point in taking the risk of losing the time difference you already have!!

2: We'll close the gap!! With everyone's cooperation!!

3: In this downhill there are many zigzags one after the other

4: Ten seconds for each of them...

If we work hard

5: and gain 10 seconds for each of them, for all six of them we'll gain one minute!!

Pag 17

1: Ah, the short tunnel

2: Once we pass this....!!

The “downhill”!!

3: But, but wait, Sugimoto-san

We close the gap on the downhill... we catch up... and then... what do we do after that? What's our goal?

5: You want to hear it?

6: I was also thinking...

7: The goal of this selected team for the first day...

Pag 18

1: is to be in the top ten in the race for the first day's finish line!!

Pag 20

1: The- the selected team in the top ten... has something like that ever happened?

The top... ten!?

No!!

2: That means we have to participate in the sprint for the finish line!!

Which one of us!?

Is that even possible!? Something like that

3: But we really fought for the sprint line!!

So I think Sugimoto-san has a good idea!!

4: Right!!

…. yeah, I have

5: After all, I'm an experienced cyclist!!

[thunderstomm]

I like the reasoning behind some of your own choices! I actually think the Wonderbolts thing with the Spoilers could actually work with Axle being an Earth Pony, and tie in to his character arc. Pony genetics can be pretty random, and just because your family is one species doesn’t mean you will be the same. There have been ponies of one species born to two parents of a completely different one, so what’s not to say Axle is an Earth Pony born to Pegasus parents? That combined with his desire to live up to his family’s legacy creates a conflict- he can’t live up to any sort of flying legacy without any wings! Of course, he’d eventually come to learn that his father is proud of his accomplishments with or without wings, earning his cutie mark in the process. As for Brights, my thought process was almost the opposite! Because she has no magic, she’s become more creative and resourceful in the process. While I don’t think she would have chaos magic like Pinkie Pie, her ingenuity would certainly match to an extent.

I’m not sure if the camp would be a talent camp in particular, but I do think the campers would be Dash’s protégés- much like how Twilight is Celestia’s in Friendship is Magic! Of course, not all of them would become alicorns, if any, but the general idea of the training would be to find ponies capable of taking over her duties as an Alicorn. My idea for her title was the Princess of Passion! While ‘friendship’ and ‘love’ are tied to other beings, passion can be seen as something you hold for people, hobbies, places and more! That way, Dash is not only fostering the group’s care for one-another, but also their enthusiasm and love for their special talents.

The idea of the Rearview family being adoptive in this universe is certainly interesting! Makes you wonder, has Cruise been raised by Rearview her whole life, or was she only recently taken in, as The Professor’s response to the success of Dash’s own protégés? As for the Professor’s species, while I could see him being a draconequus, there’s also the matter that he once knew Dash. Perhaps he started off as a regular pony, but his negative emotions and magic potential ended up transforming him into a much more menacing creature- along the lines of Nightmare Moon’s transformation?

HWLR but it’s My Little Pony ✨

[poisonousquinzel]

they deserved better idc 😐

[jackklinemybeloved]

zac’s “less is more” approach to comedy is always golden but it is working PERFECTLY for colin provolone from both a comedic and dramatic standpoint. everyone else I kinda get the vibe of but colin is Just Some Guy which is driving both me and raphaniel up the fucking WALL.

[bandana-enthusiast]

k tanaka is something that can be SO personal.

it hurts to relate to them, it hurts to know that yeah your impulsive actions DO have an effect on others and NO you can't save everyone because not everyone NEEDS to be saved and NO you don't know better. so you try and change and help people but the pressure is just so much and you never really had coping mechanisms because you never thought to take on this kind of work, and you basically grew up on a screen, but no one told you it was all FAKE! so you're disillusioned with reality and trying to do everything while still keeping it fun for yourself and others, only to find out that your behavior is CONCERNING and UNHEALTHY, rather than the norm you believed it to be. and the fun way of keeping yourself happy and sane actually wasn't benefiting anyone, it was only making things more complex. so you're back with your friends you haven't seen in forever (one of whom is your ex) and they're worried about you immediately. and in a way it's almost patronizing because you feel like you've been doing good work, and you feel like this is your norm, and you wonder if this is how your ex felt when you worried about him and tried to fix him. it makes you wonder who's really wrong, if anyone. so you get to do your little magical quest and it's the happiest you've been in FOREVER. you're back with your friends and your fixing magic and you get to lose yourself for just a while, but you shouldn't. things are bad and worse and you learn new things and you find a way to help, but people are worried about you again. except your ex, who thinks it's great that you're now a magic network router, and you don't know how to feel about that because you know what he's like, how "tragic" he is. you honestly wonder if he even likes you as a person after what you've done to him, what you've done to the group, what YOU put them through. and soon enough everything comes crashing down. you can't act like you're the hero, the main character, the badass who's up against the world and winning, because you're not. you don't know the first thing about an uprising because you're not living in reality. you don't know how to do these things, how to navigate life, it's just easier to get lost in the whimsy and the fight and the intensity. like how it's easier to watch a movie than read a book. how the music and the explosions and the action keeps you enthralled, how it makes you feel worthwhile. and yet, you aren't. your ex even says he doesn't know what to do after these adventures, but you're worse off. you get a simple "nice try, but not quite right" and you go back to it. you realize you do want to be surrounded by your friends, but the temptation of being a legend will never stop pulling at the back of your mind, so you're stuck. you do what you can. you live in mediocrity, in small moments, you fight where you can, and you help. you think sacrifice would be easier than solace. martyrdom over mundanity. but you keep trying, because you have to. because no one's with you if you don't.