#i'd love to see schools do this too - as there's structured time to actually do this (team building activities and empathy building)

[mejomonster]

the more i listen to behind the bastards podcast history stories, the more i'm like 'wow rich people really will do endless horrible stuff in pursuit of ever more wealth (even if they're already comfortable and could remain comfortable simply NOT doing more horrible stuff to others)' and also 'wow lack of empathy is a huge problem'

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Lily is making throwaways to talk to herself now cause she's too afraid to turn anons back on.

[Lily's post]

There are so many golden nuggets in here. Since these are both most likely Lily lets look at a few!

Lily's media takes are beyond just bad, she asserts that the creators of children's cartoons are dangerous extremists for perceived bad messaging in their works that Lily just makes up.

Even without that Lily's takes on symbolism, metaphor, and just basic narrative structure are worth examining because they are some of the most bizarre and ignorant many of us have ever encountered.

But no one "orients their life around you", Lily. It just feels that way because you sit in your subsidized apartment on the internet all day ordering Door Dash from a Subway you could easily walk to. I'd say get some sun but you'd probably turn to ash like a vampire.

As for me? I do something you're incapable of: putting on a show.

No one cares you're trans, Lily. Get over it. Plenty of trans people exist in online nerd culture. You can't hide from the consequences of your own words and actions by using your demographic as shield.

Pfft. They could try. Go ahead. Make videos about me. Hell, Lily, unlike you I don't even hold or delete comments. The little anklebiters who like to lecture me in my comment section don't seem to realize I'm the one allowing them to be there expressing their stupid ignorant opinions because that aligns with my principles.

Lily doesn't make a video about me because she knows I'd just react to and laugh at it. And with any luck YouTube has taken her ability to copyright strike away because she's used it maliciously 9 times.

Also retard. Just say retard, Lily. Not "tradigrade" not "child left behind" not "fetal alcohol syndrome". Just say retard.

You clearly want to. And are bitter you can't because of the insular audience you've cultivated.

This is how I know it's you because only Lily Orchard could be upset I criticized the bland Antarctica anime for being a bland Antarctica anime the sole focus of which is to get 4 teenage moeblobs on a big technical ship. Which is written by a middle aged man who does nothing but moeblob shows and directed by a woman who does nothing but moeblob shows. They both worked on No Game No Life, Lily. You know. This:

The one with the 11 year old loli in love with her step brother. Actually Lily it sounds right up your alley. You should watch it next.

Antarctica show is so full of so many plot contrivances. Why does Shirase just carry her wad of Antarctica cash everywhere and dropped it so carelessly? It's sure convenient that her and Kimari just happen to go to the same school and Kimari happens to hear her loudly wailing about the money in the bathroom. How does Hinata, a 16 year old high school drop out who works in a convenience store think she can even hope to afford this trip? Where are her parents in this anyway? We never see them.

The girls only get on the trip in the first place because another girl who is a child star vlogger just happens to be also going and just happens to contact them wanting them to go in her stead. And after making friends with them she tells her mother that she won't go without the other 3 girls but... the rest of the expedition that adamantly refused to let them on before just suddenly agrees to take them? Because this one minor celebrity and her manager mom who isn't even going said so? Takako only wanted to go to Antarctica because it just sounded neat, she's not an artic researcher, or engineer, or anything that would justify her being out there (a woman in STEM? Perish the thought says 50 year old Jukki Hanada I guess) and she died out in a blizzard trying to get a laptop to email her daughter who she has now left motherless for no good reason. And this is only ever treated as heartwarming and not idiotic.

Face it Lily. The entire show exists just to get 4 teenage girls on a big ship so otaku men can enjoy both brainless moeblobs and technical ship porn. The show sure likes to emphasize over and over how the girls are joshi kosei too. Why couldn't the show have been about the trip of the adult women (who incidentally also act like brainless teenage girls in the show)?

Yeah you guys aren't winning against me on Utena lol. Here, have my post where I have the video walking people through the episode itself. If you want to ignore the actual text of the series in order to appear morally forthright that's your own problem:

And everyone on the bus clapped, and that Asian woman's name? Albert Einstein. What does this have to do with anything except poisoning the well by linking this unsourced incident in peoples' minds to Ant and I?

Also it's Twitter. So Twitter is bad and unreasonable here, but they're not bad and unreasonable when they're squawking at me over a classic anime they've never even watched. Or squawking at Ant cause "L-L-Lily is totes a Native trans woman?? So you can't criticize any of the batshittery that spews constantly from her face hole??"

Ah now we're on to Lily's response to herself.

Oh look out Ant, Lily's got damning screenshots she just can't show anybody right now.

Probably similar to when she happily accepted a screenshot from Poppy of Poppy being creepy to Courtney and tried to blame Courtney for it.

Lily you attract attention when people talk about you because the wider nerdy internet knows your takes are insanely bad. And they know your takes are all tangled up in your personal dramas and heinous actions. They can tell. You're not as subtle as you think you are.

I cut together my response to your bad Utena takes in your 2023 Steven Universe video on a whim and slapped it on my completely unestablished personal YouTube account. It got 5k views in a few days. That's how disliked you are.

Nobody knows who I am but you sure copyright struck 4 of my livestream VODs trying to take my channel down. The 4 VODs where I most talk about your blatantly obvious incest fetish at that. Nobody knows who I am but I've gained 10k subs in 6 months primarily from dunking on you. Because I'm better at YouTube than you are.

And people do bitch at me for saying retard constantly. And you know why I keep doing it? Because the ones who most often tell me not to are some of the most annoying, entitled, self-righteous, puritanical control freaks and it's an easy way to weed them out.

By the way have fun trying to find a lawyer within 10 days who will tell you "Why yes, Lily, you can absolutely copyright these videos of yours full of footage that belong to Viacom, Netflix, Amazon, Toei Animation, Dreamworks, Activision-Blizzard, and many more!"

[sidekickjoey]

Rewatching Boy Meets World from S5-S7 is a wild time, because for all the emphasis this show places on the characters getting into college, we only end up finding out what one of them actually majors in once they're there. So, here's my ideas/thoughts that no one's asked for on everyone's eventual majors, from what I'm surest of to pure speculation:

Jack - Journalism & Engineering: First off, it's WILD to me that this is the only confirmed major we have from anyone on the show. Second, I have mixed feelings about it. Engineering makes total sense given his future career deals in the business of building pipelines/structures that could impact the environment but also make one very rich. However, why not make his second major be business then??? Even if the writers didn't know his future career then, they showed Jack has a propensity for entrepreneurship and is money motivated. It would've made way more sense for him to double in business or finance rather than a major we never saw him care for, as great as the journalism rep is. Or, if not business, do architecture! He mentioned wanting to be an architect and Eric said he'd be great at it! He had a highly technical and grand scheme kind of mind! Let him construct big things!

Topanga - Pre Law: Political-Science(?): We eventually find out in GMW that Topanga earns her Master's Degree in Political Science and ends up going to NYU law, but there's zero clue during BMW about her concentration while she's pre-law. Like...at all. I suppose she did political science given her later degree, but...maybe also not!

Shawn - English/Literature or Journalism: Shawn takes a lot of literature and writing courses in college (ignore that everyone else does as well), and he ends up working as a professional writer/photographer. I'd say he's an English major or something of the sort. Either that, or journalism adjacent. Very sure of this despite it not being mentioned directly.

Eric - Psychology: This is my strongest not-super-confirmed hunch. Not only do we see Eric take a ton of psych courses (ignore that everyone else does as well), but we're shown/told multiple times that the one thing he gets, even post-grad, is people. $20 what happened is he chose psych because, ah yes, I know people! I can study their minds!, only to reach graduation and realize he had no idea what to actually do with it. Panicked, he threw himself into community service/volunteering for a while as a way to still contribute to society/be helpful while buying himself time to figure things out. That built a solid rep for him with people -> people elected him mayor because he's great with people/the community -> people/the community elected him as senator because they trusted he cared about them/would work to advocate for their needs and what's right. Still think he should've been Feeny 2.0 or just studied meteorology like he wanted to from the start (screams), but I see the vision.

Cory - Education? History? Both?: Cory's college experience confuses me. He ends up a teacher, but we never received even a hint that that's what he was studying. I mean, you're telling me Mr. George Feeny, greatest teacher of all time, saw one of his favorite students majoring in education and didn't absolutely snag that boy aside to coach him in his image 24/7??? There's only two explanations I can think of here. 1) Cory majored in history (we see him take a few history classes) and went back to school to study as a teacher (since he later is a history teacher). 2) Cory switched majors to education after the show ended. I'm still mad he didn't just go into video journalism.

Angela - African American Studies/Literature(?): Angela mentions a few times doing papers regarding social justice/African American studies, but it's never really specified what it's all going toward. She also has a known love for poetry and literature (she owns lots of books/is seen writing and reading a lot), so she very well could've been doing something with that, too. I kind of like the idea of her becoming a prolific author writing on her feelings/experiences/thoughts on society/etc. It would be cool too if she ended up writing anything about her dad, especially in his honor once he passes.

Rachel - Social Work? Environmental Science? I think she mentions law at some point(?), but Rachel is kind of all over the place future-wise. We see her super unsure of what she wants to do in life, even right before graduation (ngl I giggled at the writers having her want to be so many things that require specific undergrad tracks & post-grad programs to even be considered for, be so fr you bunch). Given the fact she goes off to the Peace Corps, I'd like to think she was in the general realm of social work/sustainability/etc. and just went on to execute what she learned about that through the Peace Corps.

[justanotherhh]

hold up wdym fizz is word of god demi? did a cast/crew member confirm it?👀

hey hello howdy!

before i get into anything i need to disclaim, for my own health, so bear with me:

first of all, i want to stress that word-of-god is fundamentally meaningless in the sense of actual canon (being a teenager under the reign of that book series about a magic school written by a bigot + the whole 2010s fondness of declaring characters to be gay maybe if you keep watching *wink wink* only to turn around and call queer fans deranged for caring too much... ive got no time for that nonsense)

on the other hand, i think there's also something to say for a show that's about 99.999% canonically queer characters and that sometimes narrative is showing not telling... that is to say... even if there hadn't been any kind of word of god, especially in a verse in which relationship structures are built along fundamentally non-heteronormative dominant lines, one gets to analyse different forms of queerness with far more deliberation than one might in a Very Straight Show In Which We Are Aware That This Was Not Intentional

on the... third? hand. specifically aspec identities, still very underrepresented, still very disputed, still very hard-done by, even when the visuals really do lean into a show-don't-tell obviousness (see: all that marketing for alastor being very aromantic and supported by his narrative in the canon, and it's still not "enough," often simply because many people haven't even heard of ace, never mind aro... i digress, but i think, for relevant reasons), so fizzie being read as demi by people who know

what the heck demi even means

have the ability to engage with an aspec-analysis lens

is probably still the vast vast minority!

all this to say. it's not canon, in the way that, say, his being gay is canon, or blitzø being pan is... more canon (in the sense that the word "pan" may not occur to everyone, but it's more obvious within the queer community and those without may at least land on "bi" and be in the correct ballpark) and moxxie being bisexual is 100% indesputably-stated-out-loud canon

in order for it to be canon, it would have to imo:

either be stated out loud in canon (and even then, we get the word "ace" on hazbin and it's StiLl DiSPuTeD okok im calm...)

fizz would have to have a narrative or speech or some kind of important Beat explicitly dedicated to the fact that he Does Not Feel Sexual Attraction unless he's in love (which... honestly... if that were in connection with some kinda beat in blitzø's narrative about feeling like he's unworthy of love... im just sayin.... + it would lean very neatly into exploring fizzmodeus' being an in-universe very non-normative relationship)

in this case, i do think it's a neat little easter egg, without being pandering or *pat pat on the head,* that is supported by the text, and so yeah. fun. if they backtracked on that and in some way decided fizzarolli has had tons of casual sex that he's enjoyed/pursued... i mean, honestly without the word of god, i'd think that was kinda out of character, which leads me back to "yeah, fun easter egg, only canon insofar as it's not disputed by canon!"

disclaimer over:

this tweet stating the creator said these words, liked by the creator, this was my original reblog of it (although I do note the original poster seems to have taken it down since then)

[pilferingapples]

Since you've read most of Victor Hugo's books, how would you rank them from best to worst, and why? I really want to know your thoughts. Always love to hear it <3

!!! THANK YOU THIS IS SO SWEET and also so hard but here we go!

Les Miserables yes it's my favorite but I also do think it's the best! The most ambitious of his works story-structure and character/theme density and frankly? He absolutely lands it. I have been arguing with and about this book for over a decade now and I expect I will be doing so for the rest of my life, because it's worth it. I probably don't have to argue hard for it in top spot on the Les Miserables Webbed Site, though, so moving on:

Ninety Three /Quatre-vingt treize Not my second favorite but honestly probably just as good as LM but in a different way? Much more compact and focused, and feels every bit of the influence of more recent political events in France at the time, but just as ambitious in terms of the arguments and themes it's trying to cover. The ending is something you can have eighty feelings about in an afternoon but it is always unforgettable. Deserves to be so much better known. Toilers of the Sea /Les Travailleurs de la mer  My actual second favorite Hugo novel! A big Romanticist nature-focused love letter to the Channel Islands and to the sea! A mix of delightfully unreliable Nature Facts and Hugo's own observations about the place, that Nature-focus is always convincing either way with Hugo's descriptions. It's so very different from most of Hugo's later novels, but also *so* good, if you're willing to just sit back and enjoy the view . Gilliatt is a Forever Fave. Please more people read Toilers, it's a delight. And it has an Octopus Fight! The Man Who Laughs /L'homme qui rit Victor Hugo's Revenge on English History! I could feel my knowledge of actual English History Facts peeling away as I read this. Incredibly described scenes, iconic central characters, Ursus is one of the best-written characters of all time (though I have learned that some people have apparently never met a guy like this?? he is such a Type though!) . There's a wolf and the wolf is named Homo. After Les Mis, some old Hugo fans were lamenting about how far he'd strayed since the days of Notre Dame , and I think The Man Who Laughs feels a lot like a return to that old , over-the-top Goth style of Hugo's,but stronger, in keeping with the way his writing had grown over time-- until the end, when everything kind of feels like it wraps up too abruptly. Which makes sense! Hugo was finishing it up while his wife Adéle was in her final illness, and it makes sense that it would show--but I think it does show, and keeps the novel from being quite all it could be. Notre Dame de Paris I know it's either Hugo's most famous or second-most famous novel, but I really do think it's not as solid as the others! Which isn't a roast on him, it's a good thing for an author to get better over time--but it still leaves this novel feeling kinda messy. I can see Hugo trying to do his signature move of pulling together multiple separate plot/themes into a triumphant grand finale, but he hasn't quite got the knack yet. Plus there's still a lot of elements here that feel like Hugo relying on tropes a bit (and horrible tropes at that, too) instead of entirely speaking with his own voice quite yet. (also ohman. the Issues. but I'm trying to keep this post from being nine million screens long) All of the above range from "absolute masterpiece" to "not an entire masterpiece but still iconic", and then there's Hugo's Early Stuff, so: Bug Jargal - honestly it's not fair of me to even include this, it was a novel he wrote as a very young person, on a time-dare. If I'd written a Nano novel in high school it would have been SO bad. And this is bad! It's SO bad!! But you can still definitely tell it's Hugo by the way he makes sure to tell us, AFTER the story is over, that EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE BOOK DIED, EVERYONE, EVEN THE PETS. Stunning. Peak Romanticism XD (again though. THE ISSUES. whooof.)

Han d'Islande: Í have not even read this one. HUGO was down on this one later in life. I Dare Not XD (I probably will someday). But it has a polar bear and drinking seawater from skulls and inspired some very questionable behavior from the fans (attempting to drink seawater from skulls!) so I gotta acknowledge it!

Honorable Mention: the novelas

Not quite in the same group as the novels, but I think both Last Day of a Condemned Man and Claude Geaux are excellent, super-focused stories about the injustice of the prison system and the issue of capital punishment. Obviously they can't have the range of his novels, but that's not the point--they are much more direct statements on a single issue and they're really intense and effective in that!

This was fun! thank you for asking! And I'd love to hear your own thoughts on this , if you ever feel like writing them up:D

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

Hi! This is my first time sending you an ask. I just wanted to say how much I love your writing especially in your HOTD fics. The AU's that you set the characters in are really well-planned and well-thought out. Your writing could easily be worth publishing for a novel 🔥

I wanted to ask what your writer's journey is and if you have writing advice you can share. You can answer it in this ask or in a separate post.

Looking forward to your next story/stories 🥹💜

Awww Purple Skies, my beloved!!! Thank you so much for sending this ask, I absolutely love getting messages like this and they totally make my day 🥹🥰💜

I never wanted to be a writer, as a kid my dream jobs were veterinarian and then (when I realized I could not do math) history teacher. But I always read a LOT, I was super poor growing up and a lot of the time reading was the only hobby available to me, so I was reading 1,000-page Stephen King books in middle school. One day when I was 15, I was reading The Regulators (which I didn't like and never finished) when I had a really vivid scene pop into my head for the first time. I felt compelled to write it down and finish the story, so over the next 9 months I wrote a novel-length dystopian drama/thriller. Now I must tell you, it was NOT GOOD 😂, but it was the first real writing I'd ever done outside of school assignments, and ever since then I have identified as a writer and been constantly assailed by story ideas. I wrote sporadically in college and then discovered fanfiction about 5.5 years ago, which gave me an outlet to share some of these ideas, and I was soooooo shocked, thrilled, and grateful to realize other people would enjoy them too!!! 🥰

My advice is super unoriginal, but I think it's accurate. You have to read a lot, because that's how you build vocabulary and learn the rhythm of sentence structures.

You also have to write a lot, and it will take a long, long time before you get good at it. But that's okay!!! Your first story will be cringey in retrospect (just like mine was), but that's how you get better.

You can write about whatever you want, which is the good news; when an idea seizes you, hold onto it and write it as freely as you can, even if some of the content seems weird/scandalous/intimidating for you to accurately convey.

Finish every story you start even if no one else reads it, because that's how you learn to see things through and not get bogged down in old ideas, which will prevent you from committing fully to new ones.

Ignore most criticism; 90% of it is sent by jealous trolls. 10% might actually be thoughtful and useful, but it's not worth getting worked up over or discouraged about. You will learn the most by reading and writing, so don't let anyone distract you from either. Everyone makes mistakes and feels they could have done certain things better. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Just keep writing!!!!!! 😁

[welcometololaland]

Hello Lola! This your nice ask week ask! I want to know the origin story of you as a fic writer! What was it that drove you into this life? And I'd also love to know: A someone who collaborates with other writers, what is it like to develop a story and work on it with someone else? How is that organised and scheduled? Not to get too col and corporate about it, but I was to know the strategy lol

hey cig, you know there's nothing i like more than corporate catch phrases, so i couldn't help but circle back to this ask 💜

i started writing fic when i was about 14, although none of those stories exist on the internet anymore (thankfully). truthfully, i've dabbled in creative writing my entire life - i remember sitting out the front of my parents' campervan on holiday and scribbling stories as a six or seven year old - so fic writing was a natural extension of that.

as for co-writing fic - i'd encourage everyone to give it a go if you haven't already. imo it's an incredibly rewarding experience (way better than group projects at school or team building games on corporate retreats). i think the number one thing to remember is that co-writing requires more flexibility - you have to give up any timing expectations and some creative control. but if it works, if the vibe is good, you'll end up with something even better than you could have written yourself.

one of my favourite parts of the experience is bouncing ideas back and forth and getting increasingly ridiculous. seeing the original aquarium rock disaster idea come to life in the rainbow fish was one in a long line of incredibly fun moments writing with jen (@strandnreyes). similarly, the owen strand fire safety agenda in (un)professional services was something that rae (@rmd-writes) and i laughed over for DAYS and kept bringing back in as we wrote successive parts. i also count all my rosie (@dustratcentral) fics as co-writes even though she will fight me (cursed is a state of mind, the ring-in, phonography, the morning (part 2), carlos and the baby c- omg sorry, spoiler) because writing someone else's brilliant idea is a task in itself and i'm so lucky that she lets me do that from time to time 💜

i think the easiest way to do it is to each pick a pov and go from there. a structure/outline will definitely help you, which is most commonly established by dumping all of the ridiculous messages from a chat into a google doc. then it's a matter of writing, reading what the other person has written and constantly checking in to make sure that you understand where the fic is going.

to be honest, every finished co-write i've done (and some are fleeting and don't quite get off the ground and you have to be okay with that) has been very, very easy. i actually think that they're easier to write than solo fics (but that might just be me). something about the shared experience really gets me going!

if anyone else has any experience, please feel free to jump in!

thanks for the ask, cig 💜

[mundanemoongirl]

WIP Questionnaire

Thanks for tagging me @owlsandwich! This is such a cool tag. I'm tagging @poethill @spideronthesun @cssnder and I'll leave an open tag but no pressure as always!

I'll do this for both of my wips as well.

Spiritwalker

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

I actually created a lot before I started writing because I never thought I'd accomplish writing a book. It's murky since I didn't document anything for around a year, but I'm pretty sure I created the clans first.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I made a post about this not too long ago. It'd definitely be Daughter by Beyonce

3. Who are your favorite characters you've made? Why?

I have two different answers. My favorite in terms of craft is Daron. I think she's a really unique character and I'm impressed that I'm managing to pull off her personality. My favorite in terms of likability is Aria. She's sassy and really fun.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

I hate to say this but My Little Pony.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Making it make sense. I have a lot of different concepts and sometimes I forget them or struggle trying not to overstuff my work.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Yes! Aria has a wolf. It follows her everywhere and terrorizes people at her command. Daron also forms a bond with a horse.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Horse

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

I'm editing chapter 20.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

Maybe magic schools and found family.

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

I hope it'll get people talking. I'd love to see discourse about theories or little details I included the way I see for books like ACOTAR.

We Faceless Folk

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

I started from the beginning of the first chapter.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Where I Sleep by Emeli Sande.

3. Who are your favorite characters you've made? Why?

Yejin is my favorite. It's so fun to write and read her passive aggressiveness, even if she is insane.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

Probably The Hate U Give.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Honestly, just writing it. I work so much on my other wip that I haven't had time to write much for this one.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Sadly, there are no animals.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

My main character drives.

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

I don't even know. After I started at the beginning, I started writing random scenes from all over the story. I don't have chapters yet or any other sort of structure. I'm somewhere within the first draft, if you can call it that at this point.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

The useless police.

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

I hope it'll create a change. I bring up several different types of racism and show their impacts. I hope reading about it will make people acknowledge its existence and try to change the system.

[queermuslimrevert]

15 18 and 19 for Muslim ask game?

15. Do you have experiences with other religions? How does Islam differ for you?

I was born and raised Catholic and had 12 years of Catholic schooling. I had all the answers given to me before I could consider the questions. For me, Islam let's me question everything and accept what I believe to be true. I have my own concept of beliefs that may be slightly different than the mainstream. I also was a Hellenic pagan for a few years and got into Buddhism as well, so I know a little about that. I'd say that I like the structure Islam provides and the concept of worshiping a God that has power over everything.

18. Do you hold any non-canonical beliefs about any Qur'anic figures?

I'm having such a hard time learning/reading the Quran. If anyone has any recommendations for books about the stories and figures in the Quran that is an easier read that would be much appreciated.

19. What role does community play in your faith?

Community is the main reason I decided to revert. I love Buddhist philosophy and still apply it to my life. However, the lack of community was very hard. I love going to the masjid and seeing other hijabis at the grocery store. There's this sense of belonging that I absolutely love. I also love how everyone is so eager and willing to help and support each other. There are even queer community online that I've found. I've been too shy to actually get into them, but I appreciate that they exist.

Thanks for the ask!

[chipped-chimera]

So, I'm a Lesbian I guess.

So uh, life update. I came out to my Mum, so I figured I'd do so here too.

I've done a bunch of self reflection, healing. I reached out to my ex and we had a good conversation and I think that just made everything even clearer for me.

So yeah, this is me saying I'm not bisexual. I'm lesbian. And I probably always was.

More context below the cut if you want it (it's long). But anyway, here's to finally feeling like I'm finding the real 'me' in all this rubble.

❤️🧡🤍💖💜

I thought I was bisexual for ages. The fact I even got to think that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for my ex, who identified that way and I felt in a safe enough environment to express it. In the past two months I went through some self reflection, and talked to my ex for the first time in 2 years. It was good, and it's too complicated to explain easily but at least on my end I was getting a double dosage of the comphet juice between just regular expectations and the undiagnosed autism (also jesus christ, being a teenager in 2005-2010 that environment was just fucked up for anyone who might be trying to come to terms with not being straight). Kids in my school were more accepting, but also in the same breath using 'Gay' as an insult).

We were both undiagnosed neurodiverse people and maybe it was just the first time we'd encountered someone who just actually understood for once. Who saw who we were and were okay with that. The 10 year relationship, put in that context makes a lot of sense. So I don't blame him for how it ended. If anything I thanked him for breaking it off, because I was in such a goddamn state after being used by the Australian government (see Robodebt) there was no way in hell I had the mental tools or even brain space to realise anything about myself because I was too busy just trying to fucking survive. I would have lived and died in that relationship simply because at least it was safe, and stable. But it wasn't genuine.

Past two years since that relationship ended were fucking rough. For most of this year I kind of just turned into myself I guess, but I was letting it happen because after finding out about the high comorbidity of chronic health conditions with Autism and how it's likely related to long-term compound stress from masking for so long, I really asked myself when was the last time I just let myself 'rest'? Didn't do anything I didn't want to do or feel compelled to do because of some social contract or guilt?

I couldn't come up with an answer.

So I rested. And I think that's basically given me the strength now to finally 'wake up'. I dunno. That's how it feels. I only recently noticed my thoughts about women were structurally very different than the ones about men (and yeah it's goddamn fuckin' embarassing to say but uh thanks Larian specifically for giving me a female love interest tailored to my exact preference which FINALLY connected some dusty neuron in the back of my head or something. It was Karlach. MY GODDAMN GAY AWAKENING WAS KARLACH, ffs) and the more I examined it, the more everything became clear. I was hesitant to remove the bi label from myself, wondering if this was just a really extreme 'bi-cycle' swing but the more and more I thought about it, went through memories in my life, how I could never see myself with someone else it was always characters together and really it was the relationship and intimacy between them, regardless of gender that I was appreciating.

I thought I was grey ace but after going 'huh these thoughts are kind of different' and realising that yeah, I could imagine myself with a woman - it wasn't some weird other shit I'd told myself like it was just visceral self hatred or something, placing myself with a guy it was literally I did not want to be with a guy - it became obvious. So fucking, embarrassingly obvious.

I'm not sure where things will go from here. I am incredibly socially isolated in real life. My best friend is my Mum. I don't have a social circle at all outside of online spaces. I'm 30 and that's a fucking weird age to be thrown out into the world essentially experiencing goddamn delayed idk mental puberty because you suppressed it that hard. I haven't used a dating app in my LIFE. I'm still kind of scared of being hurt by others and I'm aware it's not entirely logical, but I just feel fragile. I'm also still picking up the pieces of my life.

I've confirmed a C-PTSD diagnosis with my psychologist, which explains why all the CBT tools I'd learned over the years just stopped working (CBT doesn't always gel well with PTSD or Autism) so that's probably going to inform treatment going forward. My intense fatigue issues are probably caused by having to carry all this fucking trauma and suppression of myself. As I said to my Mum, it's like I'm just 'Tired from being alive' at this point. I'm really, really fucking hoping it's not Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. The new medication I'm on seems to be keeping me going past the 4hr mark though, so we might be onto the right medication mix (I do not appreciate the 7:30pm crash, like clockwork, where instead of feeling unfocused and tired like before I now feel jacked up as hell like I'm waiting for someone to punch me however :V)

I don't know where this is going. Or where I'm going. All I know is 'I'm going'. When the breakup first happened, when I hauled myself out of the Mental Health ward and back to my parents home where I had to figure out what the fuck to do after any kind of certainty of my future had been completely obliterated - I saw a lot of snakes. I'm kind of vaugely pagan, if I'm honest. I don't know how to put it. I am very scientific but I also don't think we know all the answers.

My ancestors were likely heavily Celtic, likely some Viking and Pictish influence as both family lines go back to Scotland and Ireland. I know through my reading that natural signs were important to them, so I start noticing when I see multiple occurrences, especially in odd places (I'll be real, I just remembered earlier in this relationship when I was more into pagan shit I saw a lot of Moths. Yeah. Yeah I feel like smashing my face into my desk about that. No I never figured it out then EITHER). I know quite a few things about snakes. Snakes are an animal that is both used as a symbol for medicine, but also classed as 'evil', especially in the modern christian context.

They are considered symbols of rejuvenation, of immortality, much like the Phoenix, they are constantly reborn through the shedding of their skin. Shedding is critical to a snake, because if it does not shed it's skin, it will die. This is a legitimate concern for zookeepers with snakes that have scars - they often struggle to shed completely, and they have to soak the snake's skin in water so they can cast off the skin.

So it's shed or die.

I have struggled to let go of things. Of everything that was done to me, but I knew it had to be let go. And today I have shed a lot of that shit. I am crying on and off but this is probably the first time it's easy. It's not physically painful, like knives in my throat, or something I have to shove down and keep contained for fear of being rejected. It's happy crying.

Because that skin being shed - it wasn't mine either. I needed rest, I needed to soak in that goddamn water dish so I could get through all the scar tissue. So it's probably the strongest image I have in my mind of everything. Of who I am. My entire life.

If you're going through difficult shit in life, all I can say is - you're strong. You're strong as fuck. Strength isn't being able to get into a physical fight, or being super confident around people - it's enduring life and the chaos thrown at you. It's being able to be broken down and rebuild, just like the snake casts off skin for their new selves. You will endure things and be stronger for it, than those who have lived all their lives without any pain whatsoever.

But it could be better, I know. It doesn't justify the pain. But please listen to yourself. Listen to your body. If you need to be selfish? Be fucking selfish! Don't want to do that thing? Don't do it! If you know it is costing you, if it is adding to that scar tissue - stop. Take the time you need to reset, to regain your breath. Ask yourself who you are doing this for. Ask what skin you are wearing and whether that is something you want to keep. Shed it. Let go.

It will hurt, but this is just the beginning. Change feels like a broken bone. But it will heal.

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Feeling such a difficult-to-succinctly-describe set of emotions with this. I've been into Love Live for nearly 8 years at this point. It's been a series of ups and downs, can't deny there have been times where my passion for the franchise has wavered, but I hold the franchise as a whole very near and dear to my heart. When I got into Love Live, School Idol Project was already past-tense, Sunshine was awaiting its second season, and the "spinoff" series then known as Perfect Dream Project was in its infancy, but very much still existed.

Superstar, then, was the first part of the project that I got to experience in real-time as it was brand new - to look at that first street visual and pick out which girls had enough of a character design to be part of the group, to hope for some such group names to win and other group names to definitely lose, just to completely invest myself in, really. It was exciting seeing the next main series in the franchise begin, you know? All of this plays out, I latch onto Chisato, I eagerly anticipate their songs and their music videos and most especially their TV anime. And hey, that first season was great! Quintessentially Love Live distilled down to a pretty perfect execution, the only real problem being a surprising lack of ambition and not exploring its cast as thoroughly as it should've. I genuinely appreciate the 5 girl structure - previous groups have definitely had more and less fleshed out girls as some are relegated to gimmick character traits. 5 felt like a refreshing take that would give each girl further time to shine.

And then yeah, we know where the story goes. Season 2 comes out, and I just find it such a painfully mixed bag of a season. The exact fear was realised - it's not just that there are 4 new girls, it's that 2 of them are insanely hardcore gimmick characters, 1 of them is basically a sidegig for one of the gimmick characters, and then Kinako is fine actually. And it doesn't stop there, because new antagonist force Wien Margarete is here too, to just yell and be stubborn and only ever interact with Kanon. The entire season moves at a snail's pace because basically nothing happens except when Kanon and Margarete are on screen together, but that's a minority of the runtime because we need to see Natsumi try to go viral. It was a painful watch, and in a very real way shot down my hopes of Superstar really being all that good when I genuinely don't like nearly half the cast by volume now.

That was all over 2 years ago by now. There's been a lot of Love Live since then, although the only truly long-form thing was Genjitsu no Yohane, which was like ultra spinoffy such that like what do you want me to say lol. I don't feel like I've engaged with actual serious Love Live in a long time, the wait's been that long. Let alone Superstar, which is the branch of the franchise that's... not quite sure what word to use here. Most relevant? Most interesting? Least predictable? Like it's not the one that's my favourite but I suppose it's the one that feels like it holds all the future potential, or something. Anyway. I don't even know how to reflect on those 2 years anymore. I didn't like seeing people call Superstar shit now or automatically hate the new characters but also I didn't exactly like season 2 and you could axe the entire new cast and I'd be happier for it. I didn't like s3 pessimism but also I wasn't exactly eager for it either. I wanted to, and still want to like Superstar.

And all of that brings us to today. Episode watched, SubsPlease used because I wanted webvideo instead of a TV rip. The OP was genuinely beautiful, I'm really glad I'll get to hear it every week. The ED was comparitively lacking, I'll admit. We've still got Liella no Uta each time though which is always fun. Still looks fantastic, still sounds really nice. No new songs this episode aside from OP and ED but I mean it's Love Live like I'm expecting good shit.

The episode itself... I think at best I'd call it good in spite of itself. There's this whole thing with Love Live antagonists and joining the groups they're antagonising where it can feel artificial because we've seen the OP like we know the full group size, but I mean I'm not that level of petty or plot-brained like I'm happy to see the conflict play out. Margarete is... eh? For a conflict running on from the last season I don't think we've seen enough of her to be sympathetic, she's kind of just a brat. But then Kanon is our perspective character and is trying to understand her, and that's cool, right? I like her justification for moving away from Liella and working with Margarete and her eventual group too - I think that's a good opportunity for growth on both sides and they didn't do it in like a really overdramatic way that results in dumb conflicts where characters aren't just talking it out. Like it works, is the point. It's just that for all that, I'll still see Shiki on screen with her stupid steampunk goggles and get annoyed. I think I can like this season, I'm open to liking it, I have some fondness for what we've had in this first episode anyway. It's just the direction season 2 took is so hard to... I guess reconcile. I don't know. We've got 11 more weeks of this. Let's see what happens, I suppose.

[argentumcor]

@paranorahjones tagged me in this. I'm not usually one for this sort of thing but I've been looking at writing-qua-writing to get some stuff in order so I figured I'd do a little navel-gazing (procrastinating).

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Oh goodness. I think my first fanfic was for KotOR back in…before 2008, before I graduated high school. It’s lost to LiveJournal I believe, or FF.net. Several things are. They were fine, as I recall. Written when I was a lot younger for sure. I had to write them, though.

How many fandoms have you written in?

To go by AO3, 30 that I would consider actual separate fandoms. Many of those are one-shots, sometimes just odd ideas I had about something I watched or read or played, things I needed to get out of my head.

How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Must be around 16, though there were several years-long breaks in there. I am a dried-up old woman. You'll never be actually cool until you're over 30, kids, and then you won't even really care, get over it.

Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Frankly, read. I read very fast, I write not as fast, no one writes as fast as I read. For whatever fandom I’m working in, with exceptions, I will read new things and things I liked to help keep me motivated and inspired. As you can see from how many fandoms I’ve written for, I devour new fiction by nature. Verily, I hunger for it.

What is one way you've improved as a writer?

Pacing, pacing, pacing. I write my own stuff under my real name- I will not dox myself, partly paranoia and partly a sense of personal artistic ethics- and fanfiction has been my training wheels especially with pacing. It is the hardest part of fiction to me, something intuitive you have to have a go at until you find the right sense of it.

What's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Hmm. I’m not a great barometer for weird. In recent memory, I spent a lot of time walking around every stupid alleyway and cranny of Night City in Cyberpunk 2077. I spend a lot of time feeling around in the guts of the fandoms I write- sometimes that’s really what it feels like you are doing.

What's your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

Hard to pick. It’s really nice when someone gets what you’re doing with structure and theme for longer works, but the people who are just struck plan by something I wrote are very special to me. All my commenters are, really. You guys rock. You know what though? The ones who say things like “oh thank God I found this, it feels like it was written by an adult who cares about the characters as people and not some teenager trying to get off”, I like those ones best because I totally understand.

What's the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Hmm. It’s a hard life, being a neo-paleo-counter-reformationist, but somebody’s gotta do it (rosary fics).

What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Crossovers most of the time. I have an X-files/SG-1 crossover I may never come back to because it required me to hold this kind of early aughts sci-fi mentality in my mind for two shows that both sync and do not sync and also isn’t where I, emotionally, am at these days. I don’t like to write crossovers generally because of that kind of thing and, even with reading, most of them are like a food combo only explainable by pregnancy hormones.

What is the easiest type?

Brief character studies where you’re looking at a character’s mindset during events. It’s simple and focused.

What is something that you've been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

I started many moons ago, but never got around to reviving or really doing anything with, a Halo/Firefly crossover based on the end of Halo 3 that would have replaced Serenity. The crew finds some weird, old salvage adrift in the black…also my Firefly continuation since we’re on the subject, another ‘this is where the story is going’. I wonder if those notes are anywhere. No, no, wait, stop…

What made you choose your username?

I liked the sound of it. I’m Silverheart most places and argentumcor on Tumblr because Silverheart was taken so I just put it into Latin because neo-paleo-counter-reformationist and also, importantly, I am lazy.

Huh, I broke the formatting a bit? So it goes. I'll tag @womaninwinter because now she is double-tagged and this amuses me.

[trrenchertrash]

Hi, sorry ik this is really random you don’t know me and all. But I have a question, if you don’t mind.

It’s been a really really long time since I’ve consumed media like arcane. Actually, I don’t think I have ever before. Maybe in books, but it’s been a while since I’ve read a proper book due to personal reasons. Naturally my media literacy has dwindled over time. Now, I know that word is overused but I mean it in a literal sense. It’s not gone but like very weak iygwim.

I was wondering if you could recommend media like that that also doesn’t spoon-feed it’s audience like arcane. I love the series and that love will never go away, but there were so many things that crushed me when I watched S2. So many things I didn’t understand and still don’t. And yes, I do believe that it’s important that your audience understands what you’re trying to say as a creator, not too much metaphors and all that. But that just comes from a personal dislike of indirect communication. I want to modify that belief.

It’s not like I see you as some kind of expert, I don’t want to burden you. But yk, just reading through the tags of some posts I saw yours and wandered if you had any recommendations for media that helped you to see and understand the show as what they were trying to show the audience without explaining.

Hi! So first of all I want to say that I honestly don't think I've ever watched anything that's on the level of Arcane either, and that's because there just isn't much that isn't being incredibly oversimplified in order to reach the largest audience possible in a world where media literacy (as overused a word as it might be) is absolutely on the decline. And admittedly I also just don't consume that much media, and a large part of that is due to frustration in having to parse through so much content where the quality just isn't there.

So unfortunately I don't really have any recent recommendations for you, but I can tell you that foundationally, what allows me to engage with media like Arcane the way that I do is simply the literary analysis that I learned in high school, lol. (I do also have a background in narrative art and visual storytelling, but that's not necessary to understand what's going on, even if it does sharpen my eye.) I learned with classic novels, but I know they can be hard for some people to get into so what I think will actually help more is just learning the conventions of story structure and literary elements; familiarizing yourself with concepts like symbolism, theme, and metaphor, because once you can recognize those things and understand how a story comes together, you'll start to notice them while you're watching or reading, and that's what will help you pick up on whatever the narrative is trying to communicate to you. Ultimately media that trusts its audience relies on you being able to read between the lines and understand the implications of what you're being shown or told so that you can make inferences. The more you practice analysis, the more fluent you'll become.

With something like Arcane, so much of the story is communicated through visuals, so you have to really pay attention to what you're being shown. But even beyond that, most of the dialogue in the show is applicable to more than one plot line or character arc, so you have to be able to apply the ideas being presented in more than just the context they're presented in. Nothing in the show is superfluous, so if you blink, you'll miss something important. That's why I always rewatch multiple times as well, and every time I do I notice something that strengthens the storytelling even more. If you want to talk about any of the things you felt like you didn't understand, I'd be happy to talk about them with you!

And, if anyone who sees this has recommendations for quality media that trusts its audience, please let us know!

[bobfloydsbabe]

Helena.......my lovely, dearest, darling Helena, I can't thank you enough for putting up with me in such a short amount of time. I know I send in an ask once a day, but as always, thank you for letting me do so, you, Becca and so many others are the absolute best!!!

I was still thinking about Teacher!Bob x Teacher!Reader doing that joint literary history class on the Vikings and about the poor cat at home having a few sticky notes stuck to her (lol). I'd imagine too that both you and Bob are really big on the immersive learning with your students so when you do read from the Sagas, Beowulf or even from the ones from Finland, Bob will set up one of those little electric campfires that has flickering lights, make the room dark enough for the campfire and absolutely loves it when the snow is falling outside.

Bob's also very big on the visual learning so with the chalkboard in the classroom, he'll do these really impressive chalkboard drawings alongside the notes of the day. He even brings in the old, battered books which your students love the smell of (he swore it got one of the students to quit sniffing Sharpies all day long, lol).

*BONUS*

I did put it in the reblog last night, but I imagine that when the school signs up for the trips abroad to Europe, you, Bob and the other teachers get to take the kids to Norway, Sweden and Denmark. One of Bob's bucket list places was in Norway and is known as "The Troll's Tongue". I'm not sure if you've ever been but it's near Odda and it's in the middle of this giant fjord (I swear to God this place was the inspiration for Anduin in Lord of the Rings) and it's a long, flat topped rock structure on the cliff that juts out over the river and is about 2,000 ft off the ground. Needless to say, you loved it because Bob was there with you, but damn if those heights didn't freak you out (lol).

Okay, I love this so much!!! My ability to string together a coherent sentence is questionable right now (it's after midnight lol), so forgive me if I don't make a lot of sense.

I believe in Bob is a cat person supremacy. It's a black cat that was the runt of the litter and she runs around the house with bright pink post-its attached to her fur. You and Bob set up camp in the library with hot coffee, blankets, the cat, books, the electric fire while wind rustles the windows of your old home and snow falls like blanket on the ground. He's so ridiculously in love with you, and every time he thinks he can't love you more, he looks at you and feels his heart swell. And yes, you do get down and dirty in that home library. I'm not saying your first kid was conceived there, but...

I have not actually heard of Trolltunga, but I looked it up and damn if it isn't the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen. It looks incredible. You and Bob encourage the kids to explore while staying safe, and he sees you with the students and knows he's found the one. He holds your hand, kisses your cheek and even sneaks one to your lips, but the kids catch you start singing the song about kissing in a tree. It's cute and you laugh. His cheeks go red from the cold and you make sure to pull his woolen hat down over his ears to protect them.

I just love this AU so much, and while it's not something I'll write, I do adore talking about it. I have my work cut out for me enough with librarian!Bob and eccentric professor!Bob.

[mdhwrites]

I Wish I'd Found the Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja Fandom

I LOVED that show when it was first coming out. I thought it was just a ton of fun and that characters like Viceroy and Mcfist were genuinely amazing takes on their archtypes. Admittedly, Randy and Howard are entirely classic to me since I grew up with stuff like Danny Phantom and Kim Possible but...

None of you probably know what I'm talking about.

Okay, so a bit over a decade ago now, Disney had a show called Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja. The premise was actually kind of Sailor Moon S1 in with half of its villain group. The Ninja exists to oppose the Sorcerer, trapped below the town. The Sorcerer feeds on misery and can corrupt people who are vulnerable through items and the like that they hold dear, turning them into monsters who are usually beat either by destroying the object or convincing the person to give up their grievance.

The other half of the main villains (it had a lot of side villains too of course) were the duo of McFist and Viceroy. They employed a lot of robots, mutants, etc. because, well, McFist was so rich as to practicallly own the town and be beloved by all (Think Lex Luthor but bad at hiding it and really shouty) and Viceroy was literally his on staff MAD SCIENTIST! He even graduated second in his year from a mad science university. Or first. Can't remember despite it being a plot point for an episode when a skeleton that the science teacher is... Married to I think? Comes back to life and tries to finish his graduation project that would have made him Valedictorian: A Doomsday Device. After all, if you blow the world, you are indeed the greatest evil scientist apparently.

The show was pretty classic in how it was structured and played thing and when I say classic, I mean it. It had a moral of the episode format, usually taught through ancient ninja rhyme through the book that gave Randy, the main character, his powers: The Ninjanomicon which is a great name. It would also be what helped grant him various ninja tools to beat bad guys, though his main weapon was the ever changing length scarf he had and a sick ass sword.

The show also had a good sense of humor about what it was though. Like the first episode's lesson from the book is that the greatest weapon is within the suit. When Randy gets his ass kicked, he believes it must be trying to tell him to believe in himself, draw in deep and OPE NOPE! It means there's a sword in the suit! Time to get to slicing and dicing!

The downfall of the show for me was the same thing that makes me actually surprised it didn't stick around longer than it did (besides Disney being honestly pretty stingy with seasons for the past decade for its shows): It being formulaic. Eventually, I did get tired of seeing Randy making similar mistakes or do things that felt like he should have outgrown. Sure, his best friend Howard rarely if ever changed and that could pull him down but it still eventually stopped feeling right. The episode that snapped it for me was when Julian (I can't believe I remember his name), the wanna be magician of the school went full supervillain and got real magical powers. It was a neat turn... Predicated on Howard and Randy being complete assholes to someone they'd at least once or twice called friend.

And that is what the real shame of the show for me was. There was a lot you could actually read into and say about the eb and flow of relationships and sometimes even the show had great fun with it. One episode in particular that I loved was when Howard accidentally gets the ninja powers and people like how he showboats while doing it so Randy questions being the ninja. The two guys are cut from the same cloth, best friends for a reason, but the show REALLY highlighted that eventually, a conflict between Howard and Randy was going to come to the head. Why?

Well... Because Randy is just a dumb teenager who wants to be popular. Howard is an asshole. It's not even the first episode that highlights it but every time it gets highlighted, it's a BIG problem for Randy. In this one, Howard is so cruel to a robot, takes his time to mock it so thoroughly that eventually the robot gets corrupted by the sorcerer and all its weaknesses are now strengths and it's damn near unstoppable. I forget how Randy beats it (besides just being better with the powers) but it always stuck out to me as a reminder that Randy WAS a hero, despite his flaws, and that the ninja before him had made the right call choosing him (not sure if we ever got an answer as to WHY Randy got it, though that was by no means necessary.)

It's just the sort of show that I had enjoyed enough that I wish I'd had more people to share in it while I was enjoying it. I could admittedly try going back now and seeing how it is but well... It's a decade old and had protags all about trying to be cool. Danny Phantom used regular, classic tropes for this while Randy actually tried to embrace the fact that stuff like influencers were starting to exist and become more popular so you can probably imagine its sense of humor by that. I wouldn't call it bad but the last time I tried rewatching the first episode, I remember not finding it nearly as charming as I had the first time, let alone as charming as my brain thought it was.

But on that note, I will say possibly one of the least controversial thing I ever have, just to let fellow fans squeal with me: Holy shit was Randy and Baton girl my absolute OTP of the show and I still get all sorts of happy anytime I'm reminded of the two.

And if you're going "Wait, was she a background charact-" NOPE! THEY LITERALLY CALLED HER BATON GIRL! If she ever got an actual name, I don't know it! And god are elements like that why I've never forgotten that show, for good and for ill. Edit: She was named Theresa in S2. Thank you to the commenter who reminded me!

[cadybear420]

Your ranking (lowest/highest) of hss books??

I'm planning a longer post for this but here's my short version:

6th Place: HSS:CA 2

The election plotline in this one was broken beyond all belief. Like, "trash the whole thing and start over from scratch" broken beyond all belief. It completely shoots itself in the foot with having Rory and Twin preach about how MC shouldn't feel pulled in two directions only for the conflict resolution to rely on MC choosing between the two of them, and the conflict turning point relies entirely on the whole school acting like a hivemind of five-year-olds over Lorenzo "saving" a kitten, which could only be resolved by the Greenhouse Ex Machina.

If there's any redeeming qualities it's that when it wasn't focusing on that stupid election bullshit, it did help the friend group grow on me more after finding them mostly unremarkable in Book 1, most especially so with Ajay.

5th Place: HSS:CA 3

This one should be the higher ranking of the HSS:CA books, as it's the more pleasant, competent, and exciting of the trilogy. Its main storyline actually had some semblance of structure, and it didn't make me annoyed with everyone else. But it's hard to get past how painfully nostalgia-baity the OG HSS characters' cameos were. A plot about the OG and CA gangs putting on a musical together and going to London together is something I want to like! Yet even when the OG characters are a part of the theatre production, they're still useless as all fuck and do nothing more than just tag along. They even admit in the story that they're only joining the musical to go on the London trip.

And what makes it really hurt is that this book is supposed to be the big grand finale to the HSS franchise as a whole. Yet the OG characters get such a cheap soulless sendoff, both in regards to the final chapter and the book as a whole. Yeah, this and LOA 2 have got to be the worst most inconclusive series finales in all of Choices.

4th Place: HSS:CA 1

Even though CA 3 is what I called the more pleasant of the bunch, CA 1 is probably the one that bothered me the least. I mean, Book 2 was just contrived drama for the sake of drama and Book 3's treatment of the OG characters is the equivalent to jangling plastic keys in front of a toddler. Book 1's problems are mainly just how forced Rory was, and how meanspirited the whole sabotage drama felt with the other theatre kids instantly believing that they were the culprit and cruelly ostracizing them for days on end, and then not even apologizing when their name is cleared. It was aggravating, but it wasn't outright insulting I guess.

Other than that, the story is pretty straightforward. Though it was hard to adjust to the new MC and cast, especially with seeing the OG MC around as a NPC. I'll be honest, there wasn't really much purpose for switching MCs this time around.

3rd Place: OG HSS: 3

While still great in its own right, it was definitely the weakest of the OG trilogy. I feel like they made a bit too much of a deal of Max and Kara wanting to be prom king and queen and threatening MC's prom campaign. The LIs don't really have much of a role in this book also and while they did come pretty far from how they were in Book 1, I'd have liked to see more.

That being said, it's still strong in other areas. The general conflict between Berry and Hearst and MC's tryouts felt pretty natural, and I liked that we could make MC a jerk and face consequences for it. It's also really nice being official with your LI and all the little moments such as the promposal, the love confessions, etc.

2nd Place: OG HSS 2

Isa taking over Berry was a great way to up the stakes. We get a bit of mystery and suspense, and all in all it's a pretty solid story. It especially hits hard if you're romancing Aiden, in which case it makes you want to kill Isa even more.

The only thing I didn't like is band and cheer turning against the basketball team. I understand why they did it, but seeing as I generally prefer playing a jock MC, it was very painful seeing them (Aiden included in the next chapter) turn against the wrong enemy.

1st Place: OG HSS 1

It's a pretty simple and straightforward story, but it establishes the exciting and escapist atmosphere really well. The different conflicts you're involved in based on your activity choice, getting to know all the different characters and their struggles, the yearbook photos. It's very iconic and makes its mark as establishing HSS in Choices. And there's very little I'd criticize about it aside from mostly nitpicky things or general Choices problems.