#i miss absolutely losing myself in obsession to characters

[redrocketpanda]

Had a wonderful call with one of my best pals @parad0xymoron tonight and Socket reminded me how important it is for our wellbeing to feral post about our OC's, which is the ammunition I needed to start turning them about in the mental microwave

So now I am absolutely vibrating once again over my collection of weird little guys and being reminded that I can absolutely post about them on my little corner of the Internet

So I have been continuing to cackle over the (re)introduction to the term Sintendo Gayboy Advanced and how utterly perfect it is for my poor Aasimar Cleric Clem, who is deeply conflicted over his Twinkness and Paladin devoutness

And deriving great joy from picturing Vico once again bringing Astarion onto his knees, pulling the lead taut around his neck as he simpers pathetically on the ground

And imagining my pretty Barbarian Temerity post Dungeon of the Mad Mage, grounded in her room in Avernus by her gay dads in punishment for their precious little princess being killed as she attempted to avenge her dead brother (and for falling in love with her half-orc himbo bard boyfriend)

And fondly remembering how much I love my twink boy! Nova and his array of Stardew Valley boyfriends

And thinking about how much I want to play with my Fearnesque girl Cami who is all sweet smiles and a cute face until a man feels entitled to help himself to her body, which results in him discovering that his body is now full of paralysing venom that will leave him catatonic on the floor, absolutely helpless as she Dread forms into a horrifying vision - complete with bleeding scalp from the thorny crown that emerges atop her head and black eyes - to torture and devour them

And goddddd how much I can't wait to play my MMA style Monk-Druid Casey who is all about punching people in the face first and asking absolutely no questions later, and the sheer joyful chaos its going to be to throw her into Strixhaven with a bunch of pathetic nerds

And how nice it is to finally unleash Arilan from his watery box to play with him again as he attempts to navigate the very confusing dry world of Landwalkers and struggles to know how to engage with the very Labrador companion he's found in big lady barbarian Katja

And lets not forget beloved boy of my heart, Clay, curious little halfling roaming about Barovia and, thus far, escaping every single danger with nothing apart from a collection of bizarre friends in tow

[sdwolfpup]

I just finished reading HFoG and oh. Oh. My. God. I need to rant (you can totally ignore this if you'd like).

First of all, the scenario you've created fits them so well. Brienne as a mechanic is an amazing idea. She's still doing something stereotipically male (and kicking ass) at best unnoticed and at worst cast aside as no one takes her seriously or they outright mock her. You've kept her under patriarchy's thumb, and also as a powerful, simmering force waiting for someone to turn up that heat!! What an excellent mirror to her situation in the books.

Second: the extremely high risks + high adrenaline + mightily physically demanding + high rewards of F1 is another excellent transposition of their survival/quest situation in the books. I feel like that, as a setting, is what makes it feel very genuine to them as characters. Your characterization is great too! They're slightly different to the books but still familiar (they would probably act like this in this more modern, more subtle flavour of a patriarchal society). I mean. just. Man. MAN.

Also, turning a bit more to Jaime: The way all the events unfold was incredible. We go steady, quite calm but with an undercurrent of stress and anxiety, building, some doubts, triumphs, more building, more triumphs and then BAM. The dreaded doldrums where we pick up the pieces of a horrible shipwreck. Jaime never getting to that P-1 absolutely broke me. I literally held my breath reading those paragraphs, where time stops for the whole circuit after the crash, and the heavy moment of silence before Brienne hears him over the radio... MAN. I thought you were going to give him at least one P-1 before he lost his hand, making it bitersweet already at that point, and when you didn't I was SCHOCKED. You held back on that element and it worked WONDERFULLY towards the end. JB'S P-1 felt so earned, so fought for. Talk about good storytelling. AAAAHHH!!!!!

I ate it up between yesterday night and all of today. I slept at most, like, four hours. I couldn't stop reading. Congratulations, honestly. I usually don't read fics this long (or leave reviews this crazy under anonimity lol) because authors tend to meander (not a bad thing necessarily but it does get tedious at this scale) but this was SO not the case. Every. single. paragraph. mattered. MAN!!!!! (man counter: IIII)

I know you're probably quite done with it (and what a fucking project you did, my god), but if you ever want to write about JB in that universe again I see myself forced to BEG YOU ON MY KNEES to do more of their radio banter in your missing scenes section. I absolutely love it, the subtle flirting, the encouragement, and the oopsies (Jaime forgetting to turn the radio off and accidentally exposing himself as a I LOVE MY CAR MY CAR IS MY GF guy is soooooo funny). Ugh. Swooning. It has started an itch I need to scratch so bad (I feel like im going crazy a bit ngl. Give yourself a big smacking pat in the back.) that I'm just going to start re-reading it for those parts and also to get that thrill that is there between them at the beginning which is also so good! And so yummy!!!!!

Ok im done now i think.

TLDR: xoxo mwah mwah mwah i loved HFoG i worship and kiss the ground you walk on, etc etc etc. im obsessed, great job!!

"ignore this"?! Are you kidding, anon -- I'm gonna print this out and wallpaper my bedroom with it. 😂💕

I have been re-reading this ask off and on all day, wanting to respond appropriately to make sure you know how much I so sincerely appreciate you taking the time to leave this for me, and I just don't know if it's possible. I'm just... man, I'm grateful. (Man count for this post going up!!!) Seriously though: thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm gonna be riding this high all week.

(Also, I fought with myself about allowing Jaime to win the World Driver Championship and then lose his hand, so I'm always glad to hear that that choice worked for others. It was the right thing to do, but wow did that hurt to put him through it, heh. And pacing of long fics is a thing I take very personally, so I am ALSO pleased to know that worked for you, too!)

Anyway. THANK YOU. I'm gonna go back to re-reading this comment, hee.

[cowardlybean]

Hey. The Times They Are A Changin’ by @bandtrees and @tigsbitties amiright (muffled face down on the floor)

more (some unsettling things) beneath the cut :3

(Image 3 is my favorite sequence from an animation for TTTAAAC I’ve been working on, so here it is just in case I never finish </3, image 4 is me thinking about Mob’s house. If. That makes sense.)

OH MAN. OH MAN OH MAN. this fic has altered my brain chemistry in a way that has doctors baffled and leaves tragedy in its wake!!!!!!!!! Absolutely a masterpiece I’ve reread it 3 times now and every time I notice a new detail, there’s just SO MUCH CARE put into it. I think I could write an essay about every page of this fic LMAO it honestly blows me away, huge kudos to everyone who was a part of the project!!!!

Especially the multimedia aspects, they were so much fun to find and in some cases decode (Scared the SHIT outta myself with Breathe I think it’s one of my favorites). the youtube videos were so cool as well

Realizing a third of the way in that things will never get better was such a gut wrenching experience, and by the time I realized just how deep the hole Mob dug himself into was it was absolutely too late for anything to happen (the end of act 1 was horrific in the most amazing way. So many things stuck with me: the state Reigen was left in compared to how he was, Ritsu’s “surgery”, Dimple losing his best friend, Shou’s report to the police, Minori’s conversation (if you can call it that) with Mob?? Bone. Chilling.

One of the parts that has been sitting in my gut is Reigen’s fall, where he starts to ramble through fragments of old times. I genuinely thought he was calling out to Mob until just as the same time Mob did I recognized the words and it hit me like a HAMMER. I don’t know how to put it into words but Reigen rambling on like a broken record tore me apart, and then it gets WORSE. I only realized on my second read that the intro of the fic. (Correct me if I’m wrong) IS REIGENS PERSPECTIVE OF MOB SEVERING HIS TENDONS???? Holy fuck. Holy FUCK. The vague semblance of consciousness written there is so deeply unsettling I’m absolutely OBSESSED with it. ESPECIALLY THE FACT THAT EVEN IN THAT STATE HE STILL WANTS MOB TO BE HAPPY (the cheer ^^ mob bit) and idk if I’m interpreting right (this is gonna be so embarrassing if I’m not) but him recognizing the filthy jacket as well. Taking me OUT. AND. AND THE FACT REIGEN NEVER SPEAKS AGAIN AFTER THAT?????? (I could be wrong oops)

The mental states of every character in the fic are written so chillingly well. I can understand how Mob spirals, the anger and grief Tome feels, Shou's spite and anger, Teruki's conflict, Dimple's loss of his best friend, Serizawa's waning optimism, I can't name every character in this fic but they are ALL characterized so well. There's no needless conflict that make them OOC, there's a reason behind every little tragedy building upon themselves and creating a giant disaster that deeply affects the entire cast. Not to mention how its not just the loss of Reigen and Ritsu, but the loss of Mob too. If they were to have died on impact, its unsettling to think that things may have turned out better than this.

There’s a lot of things I wanna say that would basically be restating the fic (dimple losing his best friend, teru shaving, and the irony of ritsu’s powers being taken away by mob) so instead of writing 20 more paragraphs I’ll ask some questions I’ve been mulling over (ofc yall don’t have to answer if it’s revealing too much or smth)

Does Mob actually end up getting investigated or arrested? The formatting of the social media posts and texts makes them seem as if they're evidence and so does the ongoing "interview?" with Shou throughout the fic

In the party, is Reigen saying he doesn't like citrus a reference to the lemon sour :eyes:

I'm probably missing something but im curious about the metaphor around Reigen and a stray cat (hair clinging to Mob's clothes, comparing him to a stray cat finding a place to die, comparing him to a cat outside Serizawa's door)

If I'm not wrong and the "glitchy" sections at the beginning and end of the fic are Reigen and Ritsu's povs respectively, is their mind constantly like that or is it just in the specific circumstances where they have a small burst of consciousness?

last (thats a lie im definitely drawing more fanart in the future) but not least, some notes from when I was re-reading

[gyllenhaalstories]

presumed innocent episode 3 word vomit <3

when rusty's face went 🥺 my heart went 💔

THE GLASSES THE CLOTHES THE GLASSES THE ASS THE GLASSES

the moment during which rusty fell in love. "carolyn has kindness" no she doesn't hope that helps.

the softness. the cuddliness. the nuzzling against her face. he is a soft man. i can't hate him anymore. oh my god poor rusty.

raymond i love you. if raymond has 0 fan i am dead and he's probably dead too he's so old. poor raymond. you need to learn how to make better friends. rusty is putting you on the highway to a heart attack.

CAROLYN IS A FUCKING CREEP. I HATE HER. I WILL NEVER SUPPORT YOU CAROLYN.

ass ass ass ass back back back back ass ass ass ass

mya is hot as fuck i'm so sorry i cannot act normal around her i love her already and usually that's a bad sign because characters i like are not good people

GLASSES glasses glasses glasses GLASSES

the judge calling nico 'delay guardia' is so funny yes miss judge <3

carolyn was never in love with rusty. you cannot fucking control falling in love with someone. that's creepy. how she pushed rusty back is so heartbreaking. she broke rusty's heart and yet he came back begging and obsessing over a chance at being with her. i just know he would have left his family to build one with carolyn and she would have abandoned him and their child without remorse.

fucking in missionary right on the spot on the carpet where she was tied up... rusty you will rust in jail you're so doomed

tommy........... tommy............ tommy you are hot. i hate you.

also tommy??? if peter and jake weren't brothers in law i'd fully believe in the theory i had since their first interaction that tommy was in love with rusty and he knew about the affair and he was extremely jealous that the affair was not with him. that will forever remain canon in my heart <3

lorraine is freaky like okayyy that was spicy i can only imagine her telling raymond that barbara is having an affair and raymond would die bye poor raymond

the bartender is hot if i didn't want barbara all to myself i'd allow it teehee

barbara losing her job is so NO I LOVE YOU I WILL CALL YOU MOMMY AND TAKE CARE OF YOU SO SO GOOD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. the scene in the train bus tramway idk? oof that was so fucking hot. barbara is so beautiful. she is so pretty. she is so magnificent. rusty you are a dumb man.

i'm the worst person for whodunnit media, i fall into EVERY. SINGLE. TRAP. i thought it was carolyn's son. then KYLE? KYLE WHAT THE FUCK. could kyle have done it. was he just following his father around and found his car parked in front of carolyn's house. is this a kyle and barbara project. IS THE EMO SON IN ON IT. what the hell.

KYLE. KYLE WHAT THE FUCK KYLE. what the fuck was that. the theory daphne and i are thinking of makes so much sense and we're so right and we should be defending rusty in court like we are absolutely brilliant the world has never seen genius like ours @sizzlingcloudmentality

RUSTY I LOVE YOU YOU'RE SO PATHETIC BUT YOU'RE ALSO PATHETICALLY IN LOVE AND I LOVE YOU.

also the way i guessed SO MANY THINGS from this episode in a fic i'm writing right now (and started like last week) is actually wild. you guys will see when i post it but i guessed so many elements that it's actually trippy. wow i did that i'm so smart this is the smartest thing i've ever done. thank you presumed innocent for supporting my narrative <3

[blurryfangirlansuke]

Now you maybe wondering that about me being absent one of them is college I can't control that it depends on my degree and planning what I want to do in my adult life. Also I want to get this out of my chest. I'm perfectly fine when people tell my obsession with Duke goes too far causing me to lose friends or just being all over a character that doesn't exist. I understand and I do apologize if I make feel people uncomfortable and when ask people if they can draw myself and Duke together they don't have to I make it very optional and I have plenty of other characters to simp for but Duke is #1 he'll always be. He's the reason why I'm being stable from being lonely and stress between reality and trying to become independent. It's not easy when your autistic and have social anxiety and learning different ways of how to do things. Duke is a comfort and I believe everyone should have a comfort character if not then perhaps your best friend or family .

Whenever I see a picture of Duke or art heck even gifts people draw for me it makes me touched and happy because I love this vampire and yes he's fictional but it's fun to simp and also appreciate the creator who put there heart and soul making characters to adore and even be interested with there stories and series.

Another thing I get so happy is when I commission the creator of the series Duke's plays the lead one along with Missi the vampire who tolerates him. The creator absolutely knows me so well and always spoils me with amazing commissions of me and Duke also she's close and appreciates fans like me for liking character such as Duke . Also buying loads of merchandise from the creator's store and main do I go buck while on everything worse then going to a barns and noble xD.

I am a busy person who gets free time and sometimes not so much. I'm working on my degree, learning the good and bad things in life even if I don't understand. I attend to also write my fanfics whenever I get the chance to take a break on drawing nonstop art of Duke. It also gives me ideas for myself if I ever want to make a character of my own and I know one day the character is going to be inspired by many artists I admire if you see what I usual post xD.

I have dreams of being with Duke in real life like he stays with me in my campus, we go for nightwalks, I lay in his coffin or king size bed and talk for hours. I wake up and he's not there with me. I know this feeling is loneliness which I'm use to since I have a hard time reaching out to people and the art I do might probably not spark interest. I miss my sister who's in college we have a great bond, I love my parents always support me, I have friends and fans online here that support me.

However I really wish I didn't feel this way. I know I attend to seek help with my advisors or talk to my sister it does help. I'm not normal and then okay because hey we all special and unique in our ways. Duke is fictional but he's my happiness and true comfort and I'll always love him even if I want to strangle him.

Yes I've been a little depressed and overwhelmed but that's life we have our good days and bad days. Crying does help me let everything out and start a better day. Eventually this blog will also get more hearts soon and also I have to be present for that to happen which I try. I appreciate you listening to me and I don't want end things sad especially since this is me and Duke's month so I made a healing art piece and color it about us. I really appreciate the support and love you all give me. This helps me to stay motivated and keep going. Don't worry I'll post more things and happy stuff. Letting this vent things pass.

Thank you for listening and much love you all Spooklings 🥰

[jellytamalies]

Netflix Live-Action ATLA Review

episode 1: Aang

Parts I like:

The costumes and sets

I really like them they look awsome

Like I gasped at the southern air temple it’s beautiful

Extra world building of the comet festival

Look it makes like a lot of sense

It also makes me hate sozin even more

Like they were Celebrating! This was supposed to be a time of happiness 

Zukos conspiracy wall and journal

It’s fucking hilarious 

Like the first thing he does is draw a picture of aang after losing him? A+ characterization I love him already

Gyatso 

Look I’m sad we didn’t get the pie scene but I also like this one a lot

“I will always be your friend” excuse me while I go drown myself in the shower

The side characters

It’s neat to see side characters getting some love

(Aka Captain jee, that water tribe boy, and the little kids who threw fucking rocks at the soldiers like Jesus Christ man)

Parts I did not like:

Extreme exposition (especially at the beginning)

I get that you’re trying to get new viewers up to speed with old fans while not boring old fans but still

I just- don’t really like it :/

The bending

Ough no

It feels weird and robotic?

It’s missing something? Like it doesn’t feel as grounded as bending from the original series

in the original you could see the martial art styles in it, this just feel like empty punches and kicks

The CG animals

Why

The fight scenes

Partly the same issue with bending

But also a lot of the time they feel unnecessary

(Not that the scenes themself are unnecessary, but that they’re putting in extra violence just for the sake of making a fight scene)

Also, the airbending fight scenes

A) airbender don’t like fighting, I get it in some contexts but the fact that it was the first thing they went to felt wrong

B) Airbenders evade and avoid. Monk gyatso and that other tornado lady were very much Not evading or avoiding. 

zukos scar

Stop being cowards!

make the scar obvious and horrifying to see

a 13 year old got his face burned off by his dad!! That is supremly fucked up

make the scar reflect the cruelty of ozai (and in some extension the war)

Things I noticed but am mostly neutral about for now:

They changed the characterizations a lot

It feels like they sanded the characters down by taking away their more extreme traits

Zuko’s anger issues

Katara’s anger issues

Sokka being a huge loser

Aang avoiding all his problems

But I’m willing to wait and see if they give them different characterizations instead

(Like zuko still being an obsessive freak, just not in a “fuck all of you I must capture the avatar to regain my honor” way but instead a “I have a conspiracy wall about the avatar”

I like sokka

Not as much as the original, but he’s still fun :)

The southern water tribe

It seems a lot more populated

Which (like zukos scar) seems to detract for how horrible the consequences of the war

Like it’s supposed to be: look at how small and pathetic this village is! It used to be giant and full of life but now everyone is gone (lost to war but not all through death)

But it’s still neat ig

“The northern water tribe still fights strong” GIRL the FUCK YOU MEAN-

kataang is 100% not happening lol

like absolutely not happening

im not even sure if I would Want it to happen in this situation

aang is too baby

(honestly I’m mostly neutral on this ship anyway so whatever I guess)

[faiell]

hello, nice to meet you!

i'm back at the top after rambeling about how i got into drarry, and so here is the fic rec: "genesis (you don't know what it means to win)" by crossourbridges on ao3. you don't have to read the rest if you don't want to.

i also got into drarry 20 years late, but let me tell you another secret: i've never read a page of a harry potter book in my life.

all my knowledge about it is from a friend that i like to listen to her obseasions and pick the ones i wanna get into (while i still enjoy hearing about the ones i don't). one time though she sat me down and we watched the movies, like 1-5 and i got bored at some point so we left it, but one thing that stayed with me was the character of draco.

i saw a sad, hhhhorney loser who just craves attention from EVERYONE, every gender, every house, the poor dude just needs to get layed, but without knowing the canon i'm pretty sure he never will.

that was a couple of years ago, and recently i suddenly remembered him bc i noticed i enjoy ships that are "a harmless prick loser and the misfourtunate everyman that the prick fell in love with, who is actually just insane enough himself to slowly but surly love the prick back".

and so i was like "i'm sure draco and harry are a ship. i wonder what their fanfics are like" and now for weeks i've been in this rabbithole of PROFOUND SHIT THAT MADE ME BELIEVE IN LOVE FOR A HOT SECOND, so yea. this is the reason i'm reccomending you this one. it's one of those stories that are the perfect length and much too short at the same time.

i hope you enjoy :)

first off, thank you so much for the fic rec! i will definitely check it out.

the journey of you becoming a drarry fan is a hilarious read, i'm so happy you shared it with me! hats off to you for being that friend who enjoys hearing about others' obsessions. we need more like you in the world. it's amazing that you absorbed just enough from her all those years ago to have the instinct to say AHA!! i bet people love making these two losers kiss! and u were right.

my turn! let me ramble (for even longer than you did) abt how i happened to the same drarry pit of "profound shit that made me believe in love for a hot second" with you. so on the contrary, i've always been a big HP fan, in the sense that i grew up with the book series and watched the movies. the books are why i became a big reader when i was a kid. i've always been a shipper, i always knew drarry existed, and many of my close friends were obsessed with it throughout the years--like losing weight because they were reading so much fic in bed their muscles atrophied kind of obsessiveness. for some reason, i never engaged. i was like yeah, obviously there's good stuff there, but i'm just not going to dip in.

then one day a few months ago (oct 2023 to be exact), i was bored at work and saw a thread on my home page titled something along the lines of 'absolute favourite fic regardless of fandom'. i was curious and maybe just itching for something fun to read so i clicked in and a highly upvoted reply caught my eye. the user's fav fic was the HP rewrite Mirror of Ecidyrue series by starbrigid. i was honestly really bored, and a draco POV retelling sounded fun, so i dove straight in.

i loved it, and holy shit it was long. i think the entire fic is longer than the og books? but yeah basically i rly enjoyed it, and i read it fast, finishing in only a week or so. i think ever since the transphobia bs happened i distanced myself from everything related to the franchise--i used to reread the books every few years, and i had stopped doing that. reading that fic made me realize how much i missed the world and characters, and how i could have it all again without shame by reading fic! i mean, starbrigid had basically rewritten the entire series and added their own interesting lore and worldbuilding, and that was even better than going back to reread the books like i used to. i also really enjoyed draco pov… i knew i definitely wanted more of that.

and so i went into the ao3 drarry tag to find more content, because i'd heard years ago from my obsessed friends that there was a goldmine of good HP fic there, and i never resurfaced lol. i feel like once u go in u can't ever get out cause it's a good ship and the writers are so talented, and there's YEARS, decades of content to catch up on. i remember also thinking that i'd be satisfied just reading and eating it all up (whereas i'm usually pretty active in making fanart when i join a fandom), but um, a few weeks ago i was like kinda like hmm i wanna see what MY brand of drarry looks like. so now im here posting art of it!

they are thankfully super fun to draw. i'm just having fun here, but i do have a small goal - i wanna draw fic fanart to sort of… give back some joy and show gratitude towards my fav writers. other than that, i'm here to chill and look at pictures and words of them making out.

[fromiftowhen]

I've just re-read YHBOTHL for the hundredth time and even now, several years later, I just cannot get enough. I've been a fan of PD since S1 but only really got into fandom around S6/7, but I distinctly remember this being the very first fanfic I'd ever read - during the pandemic, at a time when I think a lot of us used fanfic as some sort of escape from the reality of what was going on the world.

When I tell you that this fic healed my soul! It feels like a warm hug. Every single chapter is a masterpiece that I fall in love with more and more each time. The banter, the flirting, the smuttiness, the softness, the emotion, the little details describing the scene, the dialog, them. It doesn't stray from who they are as characters. The way your writing makes me feel everything they feel. It's all just perfect. 

'Home isn't Chicago, or the district, or deep-dish pizza or the wind. Home is Jay' 😭 - This line absolutely melts me every damn time. It just cleanses the soul. And the fact that myself and the majority of the Upstead fandom lose their minds and obsess over this one line in particular and immediately know the context and where it's from just proves how good a writer you are.

It's such a beautiful story! It has the absolute perfect ending, & I'll forever regard it as one of the best PD/Upstead fanfics out there. 

You're so talented! Thank you for sharing this absolute masterpiece with us. It really is something so special 🥰❤️

Hi!

I saw your anon message and it made me realize I hadn't checked tumblr in several days - so your message DID go through, I'm just bad about remembering to check tumblr lol.

Thank you so, so much for this. It was such a lovely message to read and I really needed this bit of warmth and support 🩷

I came into PD around that time (after 7 ended and during the extended hiatus) too, and writing that fic was exactly what I needed then - it was amazing leaping into the fandom right at that time.

Reading this really, really makes me miss those days (at least the fic aspect) and Upstead in general.

[wild-grinders]

Wild Grinders: The Fan Analysis (Pt.3)

First Previous

if anyone has finals, consider this as a gift for making it through

Alright, it’s time for the third part of the analysis. It took awhile to actually begin writing this because I don’t want to dive into my self-indulgent yuri-beam reboot. And we shouldn’t nitpick to make the series ‘better.’ However, there’s a lot for Wild Grinders to improve on that that leaves you thinking, ‘Actually, we should rework it entirely.’ And that’s what this is. The best way was to organize it into 3 categories: Theme, Plot, and Characters. Most of this analysis is going to focus on the writing because animation is not always in our control. (And we kinda covered animation in the last part and said it needed a whole renovation).

That being said, this part of the analysis is primarily focused on keeping the structure of the TV series and the original vision that Rob Dyrdek has. (To the best of my ability).

[Part A]

Let’s assume that the script is taken seriously. Wild Grinders need to have a better overall theme because the wacky skate tricks didn’t do enough to draw in attention.

The current theme of Wild Grinders doesn’t exactly work. As mentioned in the second of my analysis, the writers were trying their best to appeal to the Gen Z audience. Usually by means of implementing modern pop culture references and putting social media in the spotlight in the latest episodes. While the writers aren’t wrong about the technology/socmed obsession amongst children, they missed out on an extremely alarming picture. They didn’t notice why children were becoming gravitated to this era of internet.

Recently, I have been learning about the way that society treats children and teenagers. (Awkward sentence, sorry). But I find myself learning more and more about the ways that society puts control on what kids can and cannot do. Many adults make the decisions to remove places to hang out such as parks and even skate parks (reason: to prevent drug dealers). In the age of our digital era, theaters and physical media are diminishing in favor of online subscriptions. Basically, kids are losing public spaces where they can hang out safely.

And it does NOT stop there. Cops are constantly being funded to ‘handle’ teens who are loitering (Why? Because they don’t have places to hang out). I don’t want to go on an off-topic rant in this analysis, but this post sums up what I’m trying to talk about. It really makes your brain think about the ways that society fails to let kids… be kids. Society uses harmful tactics to remove teenagers for ‘the greater safety’ of property. And I doubt that adults will listen to younger people who speak up about it. Instead, society would rather complain about raising a generation of phone-addicted youths. Older children and teenagers will be threatened and put into dangerous just by being outside because cops have control on where they can be. And by having ‘suspicion’ on teenagers is absolutely allowed in their rulebook to put a kid in a police station.

This is what Wild Grinders should have focused on as the whole theme if you consider the setting it takes place in (2010ish). If the writers wanted to talk about the phone-addicted kids, then they should have questioned why it was happening in the first place. Not only that, but it’s just a perfect theme for Wild Grinders. Reason one, it’s completely different from Rocket Power (their main theme was the history and safety of extreme sports). Reason two, it fits for the main cast. Lil’ Rob is literally the embodiment of ‘screw your authority!’ Jay Jay and Spitball are literally POC characters that the police often go after and the series could have delved into this. In Ketterville-canon, Jack Knife is homeless and lives under a highway, he’s 100% anti-cop. Emo Crys could have went to Linkin Park territory and his archetype was meant to be an intensely rebellious soul. And Goggles? He has the camera to capture video evidence of everything they go through.

Is it possible to air an anti-cop TV series? Nope. But it’s very possible to write and utilize it for what Wild Grinders is. A group of preteens who want to just hang out and skate. In fact, a few of the episodes featured the Wild Grinders being turn away by security and cops when they wanted to find a place to skate. However, they just obeyed in favor of ‘sending a good message to kids about obeying the rules.’ And the script writers didn’t think to push it further than this. But man, they could have done something else entirely if they went to the territory of police brutality used on adolescents. The Monster High Movie, Ghouls Rule! actually did something like this! The movie managed to present a family-friendly version of what ‘police brutality on teenagers’ feels like. To be specific, it wasn’t until 2020 when MH fans became aware of this hidden message and began openly talking about it on Tumblr and TikTok. But to keep it brief, Monster High movies were able to explain police brutality and racism incredibly well. And it’s possible for Wild Grinders to use this a whole theme for a series about kids who want to skateboard in an anti-children and anti-loitering system.

But anti-cops won’t be the only theme in Wild Grinders, there’s another theme that I would love to see; a coalition of diverse skaters. Rob Dyrdek’s vision when creating the Wild Grinders’ characters was to have a diverse cast who were brought together by their love of skating. The idea of diversity has always been intentional for Wild Grinders, but the writers did NOT utilize it enough! They attempted to make the cast be diverse in personality, but they made all of their backgrounds vague and look like they were all normal American kids by hiding their families. Not only that, but they missed out on multiple opportunities to create other skaters outside of the Wild Grinders skate crew. (We’ll talk about this later). In the second season, they were close to introducing the ‘Street Rats’, the crew that Squeaks was apart of. But 2015 happened and Rob Dyrdek packed up his TV series because he didn’t have the motivation to continue Wild Grinders. But we can’t really blame Dyrdek, he was going through a rough patch at the time and the studio screwed Wild Grinders over (in animation and the writing). And that’s why I’m here to talk about what should have been done. And most of it is to improve the writing! The writers were adults who didn’t bother to understand what kids wanted more of at the time and began to parody off of other kids’ TV series.

But yeah. If the writers weren’t bent to the idea of kids-being-incapable-of-thought-processing, then we could see more effort being put into the theme. And not just that, but some of the writers just weren’t here to write for kids and wanted to write Adult Swim jokes. Do I have a passive-aggressive voice about these adult writers? Definitely. Children deserve to consume media that has good writing about meaningful messages in the world.

[Part B]

Next step, Wild Grinders needs to use these two main themes for the plot.

We know for a fact that Rob Dyrdek never planned for a real plot in Wild Grinders. If we were to take his route, Wild Grinders will eventually become boring because a good plot draws people more than the quirkiness. In order to draw people through quirkiness, the visuals need to exceed expectations (clearly something that Wild Grinders failed to do in animation). Therefore, we need to think about a plot for Wild Grinders because it does NOT have the budget for a Kyoto Animation or BONES Studio anime. The plot is compensation here!! It needs to be worked on well!!

Let’s diverge from Rob Dyrdek’s ideas. He wants to make an amazing, cool, and crazy series. But in order to do something like this, you do need some sort of plot. Conflict in writing can lead to all sorts of situations that causes to the characters to be cool, crazy, and amazing.

There is some plot in the writing of Wild Grinders, each episode being 13 minutes long and trying its best to implement one. Most of the episodes have decent plots, but these plots didn’t grab the audiences’ attention, unless you actually liked Wild Grinders as a whole. I don’t know the most professional way to explain this, but Wild Grinders needs a build-up to a greater plot, it needs an actual ‘Big Bad’. Or it just needs a longer run time to build it up better. Some of my favorite small, plot-driven episodes were ‘Midas Touch’ and ‘Skater Who Cried Wolf’ because it didn’t rely on wacky quips to make it entertaining. ‘Skater Who Cried Wolf’ made the animation put extra effort in enhancing the setting, by having Lil’ Rob and his friends watch a horror movie on a school night and then making a ghost-hunting green-filtered screen chase around in the woods. It was just a cool episode compared to the rest. But ‘Midas Touch’? That episode will always be my weakness in Wild Grinders. It focused on a character other than Lil’ Rob, but the plot would be rushed because of the runtime. I wanted to see deeper into Goggles’s character when he decided to become popular. Hell, I wanted to see him be mean to his friends and let the popularity get into his head. (Well, we did see this in ‘Going Hollyweird’, but even that was short). But the resolution to ‘Midas Touch’ was simplified where Goggles’s just cries about not being able to nerd out. No. I want more inner conflict on his side and his to feel deeper regrets other than rejecting a movie screening. While these episodes are both quick and easy plots, ‘Midas Touch’ contributed to the greater idea that is known as character development. Something that is essential for a greater plot. Can I elaborate why this is? Not really, but you just have trust me that it does work.

Anyways, let’s get into the real idea here. Using the themes of diversity and cops abusing their authority on the youth. The main plot will have to involve a large-scale conflict against the police force that bans skateboarding. That’s it. That’s the plot. But it will need to developed throughout the series, carefully placed in different episodes until it becomes a more blatant problem. Think about it for a moment. The first episode makes an off-hand reference to the way that police ‘warn’ skateboarding kids to stay away from the mall. Then it leads to episodes where characters are being arrested for ‘loitering’ in an outdoor public space. Finally, there’s an entire ban on skateboarding in the whole city and you’ve got a group of kids who are willing to challenge it. This is what the writers completely missed out on because they didn’t put themselves in the same shoes of Gen Z youth.

And we can add more to this mix. We need to add in a diversity of skateboarders, they all come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, but they share their love of skateboarding and do their best to protect each other in a world where adults rule over them. Wild Grinders needs LGBTQ kids, teens who want justice for their POC friends, and young adults who are willing to listen to them. They all love skateboarding and they’re sick of adults who want to take their skating spaces away from them.

Wild Grinders was able to make this a plot, but they didn’t.

[Part C]

We need to talk about the characters. We’ve got a lot and we’ve got nothing going on for the cast. As stated before, Rob Dyrdek wanted to create a diverse cast of skateboarders. But he didn’t do the best job at balancing them as characters. Obviously, Lil’ Rob was the main character and got all the attention, but it got to the point that he was considered a Gary Stu because of it. There’s such an imbalance between him and his friends. The TV series didn’t do ALL of the Wild Grinders any justice. They were all watered down to adore Lil’ Rob and when they never got any real development. There was an attempt to balance the characters, but they were lacking. They were always reduced to their conventional personalities and felt static and sterile. Lil’ Rob clearly has the majority of episodes that focus on him.

It’s shocking that Emo Crys has the least amount of episodes considering his popularity and the fact that Rob Dyrdek always hyped him during the first wave of toys. But it’s important to note that the rest of the cast often got their spotlight stolen by Lil’ Rob when they were meant to have an episode dedicated to them. ‘Wild BFFs’ is an oddball on here because it didn’t really contribute to Jack Knife’s characters, but it was an episode where Lil’ Rob didn’t take it away from him. Either way, these were the episodes where the writers tried to put some spotlight on the rest of the main cast, but these episodes fell short. Jay Jay and Emo Crys had the most lukewarm episodes where Lil’ Rob usually has to solve the problem. ‘Wild Grinder with Two Heads’ was the only episode where Lil’ Rob was actually cut off, but both Jay Jay and Emo Crys had to share this episode. Honestly, it wasn’t exactly the best episode because it was one of the ‘wacky’ ones and it’s just brings secondhand embarrassment to watch it. It’s great to see 2 different characters (one of them not being Lil’ Rob) have to work out their problem together, but I would rather have it be a handcuffs situation where they were forced to work out their differences. Spitball is clearly the quiet character and that makes some excuse for his lack of episodes. To keep him mysterious. Goggles had the best development out of everyone in most of his episodes, but it still feels underwhelming until ‘Midas Touch’. While it looks like Jack Knife has a lot of episodes, there’s something that pisses me off about them all. It’s his Sprawl City-canon personality. He was reduced to being the dumb, uneducated American with a southern accent. This funny persona basically demolishes him from having a meaningful character arc. I want the Ketterville-canon Jack Knife for a lot of reasons, but mostly because the whole point of his character was being the kindest out of all the Wild Grinders despite the fact that he was poor and made to always be the joke. Before the production of the TV series, all the Grinders had expression sheets drawn by Tracey, only Emo Crys’s sheet being released. However, there was a tweet that revealed a glimpse of Jack Knife’s sheet where he was like full-on, pissed-the-hell-off.

The only reason why they could never let Jack Knife be angry in the series was to probably avoid him from looking like an angry redneck due to his strong southern accent being permanent later on. If they stuck to the Ketterville-canon and original voice actor for Jack Knife, we could have had an episode where he finally snaps after being docile for long enough. My boy was meant to slash tires and defend his friends when they are mistreated!!

Speaking of Ketterville-canon, it was very fleshed-out and made the characters unique and interesting. You want to know why Spitball got his nickname? He used his spit on people because he thought it would heal wounds from a story he heard. The writers should have made Emo Crys way more moodier and Jay Jay deserves more screen time of his hobbies. The rest of the cast needs to have conflicts (both internal and outside) of their lives and be able to resolve them. The writers avoided anything that would truly challenge the characters in favor of keeping a conventional typecast. And we aren’t done yet. Another improvement on characters we need is: less antagonists and adults that appear for an episode. There’s too many one-time villains in the TV series than like, actual kids who are the same age the Wild Grinders. No, this doesn’t mean we need a girl skate crew to play as girlfriends. Absolutely not. We need different kids who love to skateboard. We need gay and trans kids. We need to see black and brown skateboarding kids. We need to see new designs for characters and skate crews who can make challenges and befriend the Wild Grinders. If kids are going to watch the TV series, they deserve to feel seen because Wild Grinders make more celebrities and adults in the cast where they don’t do a lot. (Unless it’s Lil’ Rob’s mom. She contributes more to the story than the actual antagonists).

Anyways, we need better development for the main and reoccurring cast. But we need to see a diversity of skateboarders as well to create unique plots and encourage character development by having them interact with the Wild Grinders. I’m tired from writing all of this in one shot, but it’s sincerely tiring that the script writers wrote everything the way it is in the TV series.

Apologies if any part of this analysis feels rushed or incomplete, it’s the week of finals and my brain isn’t working (and threw off everything I was supposed to write about the analysis). To the few people reading this, thank you and hope that this enhances the brainrot. Feedback is very appreciated on my end.

[bandofchimeras]

thinking about NPD acceptance/positivity tonight. i still feel uneasy with identifying too hard with personality disorders but here's a thought:

a road block to healing mental & emotional wounding is often inability to accept due to toxic shame, that goes to the core of a person. like a huge part of NPD and other personality disorders is believing "I am X" and "X is evil/wrong/inhuman" and the logical conclusion "I am inherently evil/wrong/inhuman." therefore overinvesting in crafting an image of the self that becomes bloated and obscures actual self awareness. maintaining this image is exhausting and often impossible. especially when it is linked to moral obsessions. nothing is more disconnecting with other human beings than having intense internal pressure to maintain a delusional image of the self as good/perfect.

some folks end up "solving" this issue by inverting it and being fully honest about their shame-based image instead. it's a kind of relief, but it doesn't actually allow you to connect with people. it's Bojack Horseman. he leads with how much of a POS he is, and guess what? self fulfilling prophecy.

he's a bit more tolerable than Mr. Peanutbutter in that show but still - both characters miss out on the full truth of their humanity. Or dog-manity? horsemanity?

The shadow side and the basic fundamentals goodness of being a Being on this Earth, in everyone. In fact life is simply complicated and good/bad a somewhat arbitrary, community defined distinction.

So what does that have to do with NPD?

Well, honesty is a good first policy. But the intense self focus of the disorder, is disabling, and can lead to hurtful actions due to lack of awareness or understanding. I don't see personality disorders as value neutral due to the fact they are disturbances in the balance of human relationship. It's not the pwNPD's fault, but the way they've learned to exist causes issues. It just does. I don't think it's positive although many narcissistic people have positive traits still. They simply tend to be incapable or struggle to do the simple relational repair work of apology, sincerity and investment in others well-being. These are skills that can be learned, as the core wound of toxic shame is also addressed. It is possible to crawl out of the prison of your own mind into the sunlight.

But it is really, really hard work. And that's where personality disorder acceptance or at least just "lots of people are fucked up and it's possible for them to still learn and grow" as a movement is important.

I believe personality disorders need the same destigmatization as, for example, meth and crack. Not because yay they're great! or because everyone will and Should recover or else be deemed Inhuman and Irrdeemable, but because everyone deserves to be seen in their full humanity, and have access to what it takes to recover, even if in the end they can't beat the habit.

Because narcissism is a deep, wormy habit. For most of us, a survival habit gone awry. And for some of us, autistic people especially, we might never be able to survive without focusing a lot on ourselves and getting called narcissistic for it.

A friend talked with me about my inability to show up for them recently. I kept coming back to my intent and they told me this was hurtful too because regardless I still impacted them. And the old habit of anger and denial and splitting came up to the surface. But under it I felt a inkling of empathy, like really being able to sit and imagine what their pain felt like. That inkling gets shoved down because it brings up pain with it - pain of toxic shame and guilt, of frustration that I feel at my absolute limit and can't live up to expectations, anger with myself, fear of those selfish parts of me that don't actually give a fuck.

It challenged me to be honest.

Addicts say you know you're in trouble when you realize you have stopped caring.

So with these personality coping traits, it is similar. I'm losing my battle when I stop caring about others. And I can't care about others without caring for myself enough to at least not be in empathy burnout.

I would really like to be a person who carries extensive knowledge of machinery or plants or languages or myths or even just my friends and community. To give myself over to that and feel how good it is to let go of self image and be in passionate mutual relationship with life. Instead of cramped anxious and stuck within myself like a tangled labyrinth. Or my only area of expertise being psychology I have learned to save myself.

However at this point in life habits are setting in. I know the old cracks and quirks of my traumagenic beliefs like "reaching out to people is a nuisance" or "if I do not pretend to be perfect some terrible thing will happen" or "being liked is more important than anything" they're very well worn. but I am not sure they can be beat until I am secure enough to let go a bit, and get into some deep therapy or creative work.

it's very annoying to be run on old programming and feel unable to do anything concrete about it yet.

So yes, personality disorder neutrality is helpful. Recovery is a life long process. It upset me a lot when I first read that in a forum somewhere. I wanted so badly to be fixed and have this horrible fear and shame in my soul removed. But it's a long dirty process that you have to learn to enjoy or at least feel deeply. just like addiction recovery. Stigma only cements people in their shame and keeps them isolated.

Those are my thoughts for now. And Yes, I've been reading Gabor Mate's In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts .

[autopotion]

I'm playing a slightly modified version of the challenge run I wanted to do in fall '22, i.e. I have to recruit almost all of my units with Invitation and I can't change them out of the job I recruited them with, and it's an absolutely fascinating way to play FFT for a couple of reasons.

It might not seem like it, but switching just one unit to your side can turn the tide of battle in a major way. I invited the most useless character in the Slums of Dorter fight (the archer who is not equipped with any weapons at all) and was kicking myself for it, except he instantly drew most enemy fire away from my more important units (Ramza & Tia, my mediator). Life-saving.

I'm actually paying attention to Zodiac compatibility so I have higher success rates, meaning I don't waste as much time with misses (for the most part). The downside of this is my roster is going to be filled with fire signs LMAO.

The times I pay less attention to Zodiac compatibility are when there are female generics on the field, which is a noticeably rare occurrence. Like, it was always a fun treat to face them in battle in the average playthrough, but now that my options are limited & the naturally occurring women are so few, I find I'm planning battles around recruiting a particular female generic. I failed to nab one of Miluda's priests, but I grabbed her time mage in the second fight. I've started compiling a list of every battle which features female generics and in which Jobs.

Some units start to feel kind of... expendable. Example: I recruited a Bomb in Sweegy Woods and promptly remembered that Bombs suck. I used that Bomb in Dorter as bait and didn't bother to waste a turn resurrecting it when it died. This is a perma-loss run as well (save for Ramza & Tia), so I can't restart when I lose a unit, but I found I cared much less about keeping the Bomb alive vs. the linchpins of my playthrough. I'm also not quite as cavalier about units with rare jobs, especially if they're women (like that time mage), but male knights you can practically pick up off the ground. Like my dude knight, Stone. There's definitely a hierarchy of unit worth (not the least because I only have sixteen slots, thanks PSX). Which is HILARIOUS considering Ramza's arc is about the inherent worth of all life, not just the ones society deem important. It seems more merciful to recruit units in battle instead of just killing them all, but the fate of a recruited unit is less certain--will I strip them of their equipment and kick them out on the street? Will I use them as a diversion to draw fire away from my central characters, or as bait to capture a more valuable unit? I feel kind of evil lol.

The circumstances under which I invite units into my party also create interesting little stories. Like that time mage I yoinked from Miluda, Silky (which is SUCH a cute name, half the reason I went for her). Silky was the only other unit left alive, my mediator cornered her until she agreed to join us, and then we killed Miluda. How would Miluda have felt in that moment, watching her last ally betray simultaneously her and their cause, by crossing the floor and joining up with this snot-nosed noble boy? That's crazy dude. I'm kind of obsessed with Silky now.

[vivithefolle]

Hi,

I was reading one of the metas about Dumbledore saying in The King's Cross chapters that he relied on Hermione to slow Harry down regarding the Deathly Hallows, and I can't help but agree that Ron was missing in the line. It should have been relied on Hermione and Ron to slow Harry down, because I have a feeling that Hermione can't fully rein Harry in, and she would need Ron's help to do so. I would like your thoughts on this.

OH MAH GAWD AS USUAL I HAVE OPINIONS ON THIS.

Honestly the whole "oh Harry you brave brave man" was already pretty annoying to me who is completely frigid to Harry's character but okay, why not, he's the hero and protagonist, we absolutely need him to be flooded in compliments so we know what to praise him for.

But then.

But then.

Of course JKR couldn't resist having her actual author's mouthpiece compliment her literal self-insert. When you realize this is JKR throwing herself flowers you just... lose any appreciation for that scene.

Dumbledore patted Harry’s hand, and Harry looked up at the old man and smiled; he could not help himself. How could he remain angry with Dumbledore now? ‘Why did you have to make it so difficult?’ Dumbledore’s smile was tremulous. ‘I am afraid I counted on Miss Granger to slow you up, Harry. I was afraid that your hot head might dominate your good heart. I was scared that, if presented outright with the facts about those tempting objects, you might seize the Hallows as I did, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. If you laid hands on them, I wanted you to possess them safely. You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.’ - Deathly Hallows

(also notice how Rowling makes such a big deal about how there are things so much worse than death, but she's ok with Harry torturing someone while going through ridiculous loops to ensure Harry never has to actually kill Voldemort. Because killing a murderous maniac in self-defense is worse than literal torture according to Rowling. Thanks for this lesson in morality... I guess???)

Ok, so Hermione was supposed to slow Harry down, ok why not...

...

Except... that's absolutely not what happened.

Remember what happened instead?

‘Dumbledore usually let me find out stuff for myself. He let me try my strength, take risks. This feels like the kind of thing he’d do.’ ‘Harry, this isn’t a game, this isn’t practice! This is the real thing, and Dumbledore left you very clear instructions: find and destroy the Horcruxes! That symbol doesn’t mean anything, forget the Deathly Hallows, we can’t afford to get sidetracked –’ Harry was barely listening to her. He was turning the Snitch over and over in his hands, half expecting it to break open, to reveal the Resurrection Stone, to prove to Hermione that he was right, that the Deathly Hallows were real. [...] They packed up the tent next morning and moved on through a dreary shower of rain. The downpour pursued them to the coast, where they pitched the tent that night, and persisted through the whole week, through sodden landscapes which Harry found bleak and depressing. He could think only of the Deathly Hallows. It was as though a flame had been lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione’s flat disbelief nor Ron’s persistent doubts, could extinguish. And yet the fiercer the longing for the Hallows burned inside him, the less joyful it made him. He blamed Ron and Hermione: their determined indifference was as bad as the relentless rain for dampening his spirits, but neither could erode his certainty, which remained absolute. Harry’s belief in and longing for the Hallows consumed him so much that he felt quite isolated from the other two and their obsession with the Horcruxes. [...] As the weeks crept on, Harry could not help but notice, even through his new self-absorption, that Ron seemed to be taking charge. Perhaps because he was determined to make up for having walked out on them: perhaps because Harry’s descent into listlessness galvanised his dormant leadership qualities, Ron was the one now encouraging and exhorting the other two into action. [...] But not until March did luck favour Ron at last. Harry was sitting in the tent entrance, on guard duty, staring idly at a clump of grape hyacinths that had forced their way through the chilly ground, when Ron shouted excitedly from inside the tent. [...] Harry could feel Ron shaking. [...] ‘HERMIONE!’ Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered. ‘HERMIONE!’ [...] ‘Dobby, no, don’t die, don’t die –’ The elf’s eyes found him, and his lips trembled with the effort to form words. ‘Harry … Potter …’ And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great, glassy orbs sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see. [...] ‘I want to do it properly,’ were the first words which Harry was fully conscious of speaking. ‘Not by magic. Have you got a spade?’ And shortly afterwards he had set to work, alone, digging the grave in the place that Bill had shown him at the end of the garden, between bushes. He dug with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives. [...] The steady rhythm of his arms beat time with his thoughts. Hallows… Horcruxes… Hallows… Horcruxes… yet he no longer burned with that weird, obsessive longing. Loss and fear had snuffed it out: he felt as though he had been slapped awake again. - Deathly Hallows

Yeah... it wasn't Hermione's saintly good heart and patience that got Harry to stop being an idiot. It was Dobby.

More specifically, Dobby dying.

If every time I was obsessed with something it took someone dying to snap out of it I'd have the police on my ass.

But, of course - we ABSOLUTELY had to wedge one compliment to Hermione in Dumbledore's last appearance. I mean, poor Hermione, that's a whole chapter without her being told she's clever/smart/astute, can you imagine? Our readers could forget she's supposed to be smart if they're not constantly being beaten over the head with it!!

[fayoftheforest]

I posted 2,276 times in 2022

That's 715 more posts than 2021!

97 posts created (4%)

2,179 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@croissants-andcoffee

@plugnuts

@jmax523

@whatdoessunshinetastelike

@fishtish

I tagged 1,260 of my posts in 2022

Only 45% of my posts had no tags

#south park - 57 posts

#ask - 43 posts

#fave - 27 posts

#ask game - 17 posts

#birthfay 🎂 - 14 posts

#sp kyle - 12 posts

#sp k2 - 11 posts

#writing - 10 posts

#headcanons - 10 posts

#south park fic - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also just realised the blurb i pasted here was from an old draft where the soulmate tag was on their arm not their chest 😳how embarrassing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

man, it kind of bums me out how the majority of the time that kyle's jewishness is a focal point in fan content, it's for a negative reason. if kyle's contemplating the fact that he's jewish, it's because he's being bullied or harassed, because he's feeling insecure about his appearance or self worth, because he's feeling lonely and isolated, because he's having a crisis of faith, etc etc. these are all totally valid themes and character arcs to explore, of course! i think many jews like myself may be able to relate to these themes, thanks to living in a society where antisemitism and other shitty behaviour runs rampant. but i think we're really missing a golden opportunity to explore the complex and compelling positives of being jewish. where's his love for his community? where's his excitement for an upcoming holiday? where's the comfort he might take from prayers? where's his curiosity or knowledge about his family history? where's his passion for debating interpretations of the torah? these are also valid, relatable and in-character directions you could take things!

i know that this trend is probably heavily influenced by the presence of this pattern in the show itself, but it's still a bit sad. or maybe gentiles (non-jews) shy away from celebrating his jewishness because they don't feel confident in commenting on a religious experience that they've never had. to those people, I would ask, why is it you feel comfortable speculating on the hardships of being jewish, but not the joys?

that isn't to say that you're not allowed to write about the former if you're not jewish, of course! regardless of religious background, anyone can empathise with his struggles because, at the end of the day, we're all human, and it's our humanity that unites us. but i'd encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, do a little research and have some fun celebrating and supporting his jewishness once and awhile :)

109 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

#4

today I am thinking about... fat tweek! and fat butters! and fat wendy and heidi! maybe throw a lil fat kyle in there too! I'm sick and tired of fatness being equated with immorality when it comes to south park (and the world in general tbh) and it makes me sad that so many people seem afraid of portraying any of the non-cartman characters as plus-sized. 'fat' is a neutral descriptor and not a dirty word, and displaying body diversity amongst the cast is not only realistic, but a wonderful and beautiful thing! so anyway reblog this and put in the tags which character(s) you've always headcanoned to be fat or not skinny :)

113 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

#3

STOP RIGHT THERE 🔫 THIS IS A STICK-UP 🔫 NOBODY SCROLLS ON UNTIL THEYVE WATCHED @roostertuftart 'S GLORIOUS VIDEO THEN REBLOGGED IT 🔫

142 notes - Posted August 29, 2022

#2

I'M ABSOLUTELY BLOODY LOSING IT OVER THESE VINTAGE SOUTH PARK MUGS I FOUND ONLINE

THE CAPTIONS. THEIR EXPRESSIONS. THE FACT THAT STAN IS KNOWN AS "THE CUTE ONE"?? LIKE?? IS HE?? WACK :D ANYWAY SHOULD I BUY THESE YES/NO

256 notes - Posted November 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

fucking obsessed with this meme that came up on my pinterest feed

what IS up with gay eople liking south park???

1,222 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[tales-from-nocturnaliss]

30 Days of Autism Acceptance 2023 - catching up!

Figured it'd be a fun thing to do this year, since, y'know: this is the year that marked my official diagnosis as autistic. I'll answer several questions at once since I missed the previous days from not knowing this existed (social mishaps ftw!)

If you wanna participate, check out @birdofmay's blog or click through this link!

1 April: The typical introduction question! Tell us something about yourself.

I'm a 42-yo Belgian writer of Dark Fantasy who was diagnosed autistic this past January after a few years of absolute hell trying to figure out wtf was wrong with me. Turns out: likely intense autistic burnout!

On a more positive note though, I also likely have symptoms of ADHD - which is positive because it makes me able to function in the world on a more NT level I'd say, like doing things on a whim, enjoying change and exploring and, in a way, balancing the autism out. Mostly. The conflictual needs and wants have caused me a lot of mental and physical stress that I'm still trying to recover from.

On a fun note now: I have two cats I adore, a husband who's sometimes just as dysfunctional as I am (likely why he sniffed me out when we were still teens << but we only really met when I was 29; he remembered me from seeing me at school though!), currently unemployed because health, love to fangirl my characters (and anime dudes <<), somehow have a wide circle of friends of all nationalities and personalities because individuals are awesome and fascinating (I'm obsessed with psychology and emotions), and... Yeah. If you'd like to know anything else, do simply ask :D I love answering questions.

2 April: When were you diagnosed and when did you know that you're autistic? If you're self-diagnosed, when did you first suspect that you're autistic and when were you sure?

So it's both, actually. Last year, a good friend of mine talked to me about how she thought she was autistic, and shared a lot of info on women-specific autism... and that's when I saw that everything I thought I knew about autism was but a tiny fraction of a very wide spectrum. I recognized myself in what I read. I was on a quest for self-understanding to finally know what ailed me. I needed to know (which, let it be said, seems to be an autistic trait unto its own <<)

That was August. In October, I decided I had to be tested. November through December, five tests. Result in January. Diagnosis confirmed. I was ELATED. Because, finally, my whole life made sense. I am still so immensely relieved and happy to know.

3 April: How good or bad is your memory for things people say? For example verbal instructions.

My memory's gotten worse over time, likely from years of over-stress. I tend to let a lot of things leave my memory - including things people say. Verbal instructions... Because I know I have a tendency to forget, I prefer them written so I can read them over if/when needed. It's why I do everything official via email, put in appointments in my phone's calendar immediately, etc.

Funnily enough, I still remember a few words from one autism test I did back in November. So there's some logic to what's retained and what not. Repetition of words seems to be key.

4 April: Were/are you in special education? Regular school? Home schooled? A private school? Did it change over time? Did/do you like it?

I was in regular school. I'm 42. When I was a teen, depression wasn't even recognized as a real disease. Autism? Never heard of that. I was just an anxiety-ridden, fragile, naturally heavily bullied young girl who suffered ten years of depression afterwards and intense social anxiety. ... Damn I hated school so much. XD (and myself for just not fitting in :3; )

5 April: Did/do you have accommodations at school/IEP? If not, do you think it would help/have helped you?

I imagine it would have, had we known I was autistic.

6 April: Can you understand what people say when they talk fast, or do you lose track after a while? Was it different when you were younger?

Good question, with 'younger' feeling so far away... I did notice my speech recignition declined these past years, like when watching movies. However, since trying ginkgo and ginseng supplements to alleviate ADHD symptoms, and how magically they also alleviated anxieties and stress overall, I notice my speech recognition improved again.

So, to answer: in general I understand people who talk really fast, best of all in french (my native language). However, I do lose track if people talk in monotones. I think my brain gets bored and nopes out of there.

7 April: Do you have other diagnoses? What are they? Do you think that some could be incorrect?

I don't. Which I think is a mistake in itself, because I relate too intensely and completely to AuDHD perceptions. I was told it might be my higher IQ (officially 119, but I couldn't do the language tests as my brain demanded: in all three languages I know. So it's a bit higher) causing conflicts with the autism. Like, I was told a normal person thinks in a fast, straight line; autistics think in zigzags to get to the same point. They said I take the zigzags like they are a fast, straight line. And I'm like: okay sure I feel your point, but what about my mind always feeling torn in different directions and my inability to focus and how sometimes I adore change and other times not etc etc?

I'm not diagnosed AuDHD, but live that way anyway. Because that's what feels right. And trying to treat a possible ADHD has helped me. So instinct >>> NT experts, tyvm.

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Aaaand tomorrow I'll continue these day by day :D woot to catching up and focussing and getting something done!

[sakurastory]

First Love

There is absolutely no age assigned to feel lost, sometimes you want to wake up in oblivion. You want to disappear, no text from loved ones, no note for school for missing the class, and just nothing in the world affect you. Whenever I want and wanted to disappear I would watch anime, it use to pull me into another universe and by the end of the movie or episode I was also being pushed back to reality and that's why I loved watching anime.

Everything that I am and I have learned is 90% from anime, my values, beliefs even language to some extent. The only time I wanted to read was when I needed to understand Japanese. Imagine you waking up completely tired and miserable and then walking through a door where everything is irrational and majestic, sitting all day in that world, and then being motivated by your beloved character to fight your demons.

I always thought I understood the adults when I was young (which is something I mention often), they use to say never lose the child inside you and trust me there is a reason they stressed it so profoundly. I remember when I was at my lowest, I had stopped watching anime for a long time, like 2 years maybe, I was still very young at that time but I was losing the touch of childhood, as a teenager I was obsessed with growing up and for some stupid reason, I thought I should just stop everything that I did when I was younger. So I stopped watching anime.

My love for anime was introduced to me by a horrible boy who has contributed to a very huge trauma in my life but one thing that I am grateful for that came from him was Anime. Coming back to when I was a teenager and decided to start watching anime again, I felt like I was innocent and free again, it was like a truck of nostalgia hit me, like your mother's cooked meal when you are sick. It took me a long time to navigate my path to things that make me happy and my first love will always be anime.

The point of me sharing this is because I find myself growing up too fast, thinking about my career, love life, and whatnot but among all, there are a few things that take me back and remind me to treat my inner child kindly. So if you have made it to the end of this blog, watch the most nostalgic movie and treat yourself kindly.

P.S- after anime, it was K-pop and K-drama and boy let me tell you, the second time I fell harder.

[snickerdoodlles]

I have finally learned the real reason why I haven't change my username yet...how else would I know my tumblr year in review.....

(jk)

Anyways, only posting the relevant things;

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@/zeldahime

@/rythyme

@/snow-and-saltea

@/likestoimagine16

@/aethersea

^ this makes me laugh, because Emily should actually be the top 4 spots here 🤣 most of my reblogs are from her, except she sends them to me directly. some friends curate tumblr via your dash, other curate them via DMs

*edit: IM SORRY I THOUGHT I REMOVED THE MENTIONS THE FIRST TIME AROUND

I tagged 7,946 of my posts in 2022

#q* - 5,920 posts ← doesn't count, i do almost everything via queue 🙄

#bad buddy - 634 posts ← LISTEN IKIVE SLOWED DOWN BUT ITS STILL GOING STRONG IN MY HEART 😭😭😭😭😭😭 cannot WAIT for my break, im going to bury myself in blankets for 24hrs and watch only THEM there will be SO many tears

#kinnporsche - 561 posts ← hahahahahahahaha hello new obsession, im not letting you go any time soon ❤

#hey yuu - 471 posts ← HEY YUU ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

#the untamed - 242 posts ← lol

#mdzs - 239 posts ← LOLLLL

#writing woes - 187 posts ← ........hahahahahahahaha

#jeff satur - 160 posts ← i feel exposed

#not me - 130 posts ← i found a bunch of unposted meta for them in my drafts, now im wondering if i should've posted those after all...

#kinnporsche cast - 100 posts ← THEY'RE GOOFS I CAN'T HELP IT

Longest Tag: 124 characters

#👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 ← i have no idea what this post is for because tumblr says it doesn't exist but i am 90% sure it's a fucking jeff satur post..... he is my favorite menace ❤

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Chay’s living the Wattpad dream life, Pete’s living the manic AO3 dream

210 notes - Posted October 31, 2022

#4

actually one of my favorite little details in ep12 was pat and pran taking graduation pics with uncle tong and junior. not only because their relationship with those two is absolutely delightful and im so glad they kept their connection to these two strangers from the beach that signified two huge shifts in their relationship, but specifically because we don’t see any graduation pictures with the parents

their parents are still fighting. ming hasn’t apologized, dissaya’s still upset. pat and pran cannot be open about their relationship with them. but this doesn’t change pat and pran--they’re going to keep on loving each other and living together. it’s their parents who will miss out on the milestones. so long as they hold onto their grudge, they will only get the filtered parts of their sons’ lives. until they learn to forgive and move forward, they will lose chances to make memories. but pat and pran? they’re still going to be living their lives to the fullest with their own found family until then

324 notes - Posted January 21, 2022

#3

(x) EMERGENCY EMERGENCY IM ABOUT TO FUCKING D I E

351 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#2

WIꓘ says DON’T DO DRUGS KIDS

- this is an (un)official D.A.R.E. PSA

*Edit: made for from concrete fic

399 notes - Posted November 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

it took a kidnapping, an explosion, a confrontation with his brother, his life getting entirely uprooted, AND a bad breakup with his boyfriend to make Chay cry. the second time he cried still took another home ping pong match, another attempted kidnapping, his brother nearly dying, his mother returned from the dead, AND the emotional equivalent of a cannonball in the form of his ex-he’s-maybe-definitely-not-over soulfully wailing why don’t you STAYYYYYY

Kim broke up with the boy he likes then cried over their date polaroids

they are not the same

1,331 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

👆 i should not find these top 5 posts as funny as i do but i really do

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