#if anyone potentially has similar issues would be interesting to hear on that

[natasha-in-space]

Deadass didn't eat anything in over 10+ hours, and I have the nerve to lay there and think 'hmmm, I feel kind of very weak, shaky and unmotivated.... I wonder what could have possibly caused this 🤔'

[tornoleander]

Jay’s been through it

CW: Sexual assault Implications brief discussion of sexual predators + lotta swearing

(Please let me know if I missed any content warnings and Check if you are ok to hear this theory before reading. This type content has potential to help or hurt you depending on who you are as is the nature of problematic themes. Safety over curiosity.)

This is cannon compliment. Uhh kids show?! Yeah I know shouldn’t really have these themes but they’re there hear me out. Spoilers for season 6/8 I guess.

I’m bothered by this scene and how It connect to certain events so I’ll cautiously share

Sons of Garmadon Episode 7:

Here is the clip

Kelo asks “Where’s the green Ninja”

WHAT THE FUCK! Dude the double take I had when first watching this.

So he looked at Kelo’s… lower half and basically said ‘Cole shut up that man’s crotch is too close’. And not in Jay joking tone, he’s like dead serious and stressed. (The scene just cuts away after)

Jay you ok? Why is it implied some guy might have tried something?! Why else would he say that?! Who the FUCK touched my boi? What even is this scene?!

The fact it’s Jay that said it out of everyone is bad because it’s been implied to him before.

So let’s talk about the darkest Ninjago theory that’s been quietly circulating for a while in fan content. For simplicity I’ll call it captains quarters theory, If you’re unfamiliar I’ll explain.

Basically some speculation happened because of a certain villain that displayed subtle ongoing predatory behavior. And a part when Jay was his prisoner that caused people to worry what happened before the scene started.

As some of you have caught on It’s the scene where Cole rescues Jay from Misfortunes Keep.

He didn’t find Jay in his cell where he should have.

Cole found him beaten as ninjago has ever depicted except when literally dying.

Alone

no explanation given.

In the corner of Captains Quarters.

Nadakhan’s room.

Dude :(

And his concern afterwards.

And thinking he didn’t deserve saving.

“Thank you for trying to save me,-

It’s Just a lot.

Doing awful things to make Jay wish it all away is terrifyingly in Nadakhan’s character. Not just the sadistic torture part.

Nadakhan has many behaviors similar to a sexual predator. I’ll go over it briefly but see my last post for a detailed analysis.

He Seeks out vulnerable people for victims. The Ninja are teens and he waits till or makes them emotionally vulnerable. The way he talks about gifting his wishes and giving his victims anything they desire can be read as grooming behavior. His secrecy in getting all the ninja alone and doesn’t even talk to his crew about his plans. Manipulative and Controlling obviously.

And the most glaring issues he’s WAY tooo fucking touchy all the time. Like watch his body language during Skybound and see how uncomfortable it is

“Too slow junkyard boy”

Not to mention how explicitly he doesn’t care about consent….

And “If you don’t come willingly Nya, I will take you regardless” followed by a forced marriage.

Side note he doesn’t refers to Jay with his name and the things he calls him…uggh “What lies is our little canary whistling now, hmm?”

So… It’s cannon compliant that something was attempted or happened to Jay. Bruh wtf.

Well if you feel like you resonate with this or it may help there a few great fanworks that explore this I can recommend if interested. Mmm comfort angst.

(Note don’t bother anyone for enjoying Nadakhan as a character. It’s fiction and it hurts no one)

[ridiasfangirlings]

The Kusanagi and Munakata dynamic is so fun to me because nothing they ever say to each other is sincere and they are so similar and yet unalike. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about their dynamic! Love your analysis of all the characters

I absolutely love their dynamic, they hate each other so hard and express it through constantly being passive aggressive to each other, it’s beautiful. They both do have a lot in common all things considered, they’re both basically the ‘brains’ of their respective clans and fairly sharp in general, and both probably more aware than anyone about what Mikoto is headed towards. However they obviously have different feelings regarding Mikoto and how to handle him, Munakata doesn’t care for Kusanagi’s way of allowing Mikoto to do as he likes while Kusanagi presumably would rather Munakata keep out of things entirely. They’re also both pretty aware of Fushimi’s skills and abilities too, while Fushimi was clearly an outsider in Homra Kusanagi had plans for Fushimi to be his successor, and wasn’t pleased when Munakata saw that they had this kid with so much potential and just snatched him away. I really like how their dynamic goes in general, like how Munakata has no problem being openly scornful to Mikoto but when he’s dealing with Kusanagi he always puts on a veneer of politeness and Kusanagi generally responds in kind, like they both absolutely know what they’re dealing with regarding the other but still choose to fake politeness rather than being openly rude. And in a way that’s almost worse than how Munakata deals with Mikoto, like rather than just straightforwardly throwing punches at each other they’re being quietly catty and it’s glorious.

At the same time these two are I think in the most interesting place post-series and there’s a lot of parallels there too. As I said above, Munakata and Kusanagi are two of the most aware regarding Mikoto’s state and eventual fate, they’re both inextricably wrapped up in how it happens, both are affected by it, and both have to continue to move forward regardless. Especially when we get to the post-ROK era where Munakata isn’t a King anymore and has had to deal with the same issues Mikoto did regarding his Sword becoming unstable but in his case he survived, and now he and Kusanagi have kind of a weird bond even if they still don’t really like each other. I like the idea that this is sorta something they can commiserate on post-ROK — their respective relationships with Mikoto are different than the way the other members of the clan had a relationship with him, even for Anna, and in that way the two of them can understand a certain part of each other that others really can’t. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they like each other any more than they did before, but at least they have an understanding about it.

[soulfulazrael]

Who am I and what I write. The tale of a weird as all Hell fanfic I put too much time into about an odd ship.

So... If anyone here cares I am a Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss fanfic writer (and I am 23/24 year old. Depressing isn't it?). Although I can't exactly call myself the biggest fan anymore. I do love the potential those series have and the ideas in them, but I am not a nut over the execution. In fact I say it is pretty bad in many respects and I think Viv and her writing team do not utilize the full potential of what they have on their hands.

What I want to do is well... Do something I would prefer this world they created to be. So I make several odd as hell Fics. Or at least one now. As you can see from the image about Stella and Moxxie (art btw is made by talented @Caffe1neW1tch on twitter). Now I know, I KNOW how she is in the show... I can explain my case. I do change her character quite significantly from what she is in canon show (as I do so with MANY other things). To something I would prefer her to be. Something while still deeply flawed being more dignified than what she is in Helluva Boss season 2 as I think the direction they took her character was severely disappointing. I can't say they retconned her, but I have to say they went overboard with the direction she was taken. Way too far into just pure Hate Sink. Something I would prefer if it wasn't done at all with a character tied to such a potentially interesting conflict.

Not to mention the direction Vivienne took the world of Hell and it's characters... I must say. I do not enjoy how easy it is to say who is good and bad in both of her shows and how similar Hell is to Earth. It honestly robs the setting of it's potential as it is perfect place to explore some deeply disturbing characters with interesting alien mindsets and their own unique conflicts as it is hard to grasp who are you supposed to root for in the end. But both Hazbin and Helluva greatly miss the mark on that front as every character is either without a shadow of a doubt a good guy (that at most cries, swears and likes to tell sex jokes because I guess that's enough to say character has depth these days) or are so cartoonishly evil and stupid they make Team Rocket look competent and make Micah from RDR2 and Erebus from 40k say "THAT'S NOT SUBTLE ENOUGH!". Not to mention how similar so many of her characters are and how limited their interactions are, the treatment of Heaven, the confusing character arcs... You know what. Issues with both Hazbin and Helluva are too many to count, too many for this post, but I also say they are not TERRIBLE shows, they are just shows that disappoint me at every step for the last few years.

And now I get to the crux of this elongated point. Again. I'm writing fics and one of them is Song for the Quiet Bird. A fic I say is best to read on a site AO3 (but it is also on Fanfic site if it's up to your speed) where I try to explore hell in more meaningful ways and make their culture more unique while telling a story of a very strange ship which is Stella and Moxxie. And do not worry, I am not going on any "Millie is dead" kind of cop out. I am into doing things in an easy way. And here is the link to it:

I also make another fic called Torments of Sinners and Imps which you may find on my profile as well which delves more into Angel and Moxxie, but that one for now is on a break. In a way Song is too, but I do hope I'll post a chapter for that one soon (personal issues and family issues).

Alright, if anyone is interested or sees this post I hope that you will enjoy my take on this series. Will post something more here? I dunno. Maybe? But anyway I just want more people to see it and maybe give their opinion on it which is what I always want to hear.

And I may post more things about what I do not enjoy in those shows and how I think they could be fixed. Talking about several things in both shows that irk me the wrong way.

Also given how deeply I go into the worldbuilding in my fics I may also post some stuff about how I made some things work there and things about culture of Hell I came up with and mythology there... Or maybe just talk about some philosophical mumbo jumbo that I sometimes think of. But whether or not I do it, especially consistently will be another story. If anyone sees this, thanks for sticking around. If anyone is interested in my works or opinions share your thoughts. If anyone hates my guts for the things I write about and my opinions of these series... Can't say I am surprised some people do hate those. You are free to share your discontent too. I welcome all voices. At least until they make my head hurt, then I just take a nap.

Anyway. I rambled for long enough. Again check out the fic if you are interested. Wont force you. If you do so leave a comment which is the most important thing for me when I write something. Hearing what people like and don't like. Have a good one and I hope you enjoy yourself. If not with my story then in your life whoever you are (as long as you are not a total POS).

[andypantsx3]

Ok Andy this had been on my mind for a while now and I really want to hear your thoughts on this!

So we all know that Shouto is pure husband material, the kinda guy you'd be proud to introduce to your parents! But yk all those years of abuse and trauma (our poor bby ;-;) would definitely take a big toll on anyone, right?! So I was reminiscing about the earlier episodes where he is all closed off and cold to everyone, and that really got me thinking... what would dating Shouto REALLY be like.

How much of his behavior in a relationship really be affected by his past? Obviously nobody is perfect and even though our princess man comes close what do you think his shortcomings are as a person/partner? What do you think his toxic traits would be? What could be some of his bad habits? How would he react during an argument? I used to hc that he would be really calm and passive but then I remembered this scene

Ofc us being his partner would change things, but he DOES lash out at times. The police officer hadn't yelled at them, he was just explaining what they did was wrong according to the law (which could be unfair but thats his job) and he straight up called him a slur 💀 (well yk in this society where so many ppl have animal related quirks it probably is a slur? Idk tho). He was sorry later but still. I was so shocked when I internalized the fact that Shouto does infact have quite a temper, even when he's not rude/ aggressive about it. It doesn't make him bad or anything because 9/10 times it's well warranted and I am just a pussy who doesn't handle other's anger well but yk...

WHO WOULD EXPECT A TEMPER FROM THIS LIL FACE?!

I am really wanna take his character and study him under a microscope and I am really interested to see your pov on this. Also don't feel inclined to agree with anything I said if you dont, I asked you precisely cuz I wanted a different way of looking at him from mine.

Btw none of this is to paint him as a bad person or partner because of a few shortcomings or his trauma. We all know he's too precious for that and that would be hypocritical of me especially since I have many of my habits and unhealthy ways of dealing with stuff that I dislike, but I also feel like he has so much angst potential in issues that aren't necessarily rooted in his family but moreso his own personality. Healing is often a "one step forward and three step back journey" and while I hate to watch him struggle, his perseverance gives me a lot of strength. Also obviously people change over the course of time and character development and all that, but we see even after the MASSIVE amounts of character development Bakugo has he still retains a lot of his previous qualities and obviously still struggles with a few things. I wonder if it's similar for Shouto. I wonder what he struggles with 🤔 (idk why I am scared but I don't want ppl to take these dumb sleepy thoughts of mine the wrong way yk lol)

I support my mans rights, his wrongs and everything in between :>

(p.s. I am so sleepy rn I don't even know if any of this is coherent cuz the points are flying all over the place but I hope you get a gist of what I am trying to ask. I love myself some sweet angst when it comes to all my blorbos but when I think of Shouto nothing obvious comes to mind. Also whenever I write even an ask or question like this my respect for writers keeps increasing tenfold! How do you guys write fics at like 4 am and it's still a masterpiece and I can barely string my thoughts together... )

Yes!!! I have so many thoughts about this, particularly as someone who also has daddy issues and a hot temper but actively works to be better as well lol.

I do think for the most part we've really seen Shouto move past who he was in those earlier episodes. That is not to say he still doesn't have those feelings, but he arguably manages them in a more regulated way. He has the temper but now he also has the tools and the perspective to better articulate himself.

I think generally Shouto would work hard to be calm and patient during an argument, but as with any human being, mistakes will be made and tempers will spike. I think during particularly bad arguments he'd get more closed off, like in those earlier episodes, would try to go off by himself so that he doesn't explode with that white-hot rage.

I do think, thankfully, that Shouto's ability to show empathy and compassion even in the middle of what we know are the most emotionally trying times of his life (the fights with Dabi), bodes well for his future ability to communicate and regulate himself on the whole. I do not see him as the kind of man who would yell or break things; I see him as the kind of man who now does everything in his power not to be like that.

And also with a face like that, would we not just let him win any argument anyway?? LOL

[omegapheromone]

Hi! :D I’m really interested in hearing more about the (c)ptsd omegaverse hcs you have. I think one thing that I wonder about particularly is how therapy would change? Like, how would the perspective on mental health change and/or how would therapy techniques change, if at all?

I realize that may be a degree of separation too far from the initial post. Really, I’d be happy to hear any of your thoughts on the topic

Auughh sorry it took me a while to get to this I've been feeling out of it but hmm! Here's some of my thoughts!

• Perspectives on Mental Health:

I think it would depend a lot on the decade and the specific culture as well. I'll assume a mostly modern omegaverse setting for a more in-depth response though.

I think awareness of mental health in general would be on the rise among especially younger generations, while older ones might still hold on to a lot of preconceived notions such as "depression/anxiety means that you're just mentally weak" and "only veterans can experience ptsd", and would likely assume that any mental disorder that affects one's perception of reality, such as any psychotic disorders, mean that the person must also be intellectually delayed as well. Just very outdated ideas on mental health, much like how a lot of older folks irl see it. Younger generations would likely understand it better, at least anyone with a decent education would. I'd imagine it as a class issue in general, both in terms of awareness and access to resources.

• Omegaverse and how it affects/complicates mental health issues we already are familiar with

My thoughts have always been that given that we already know really well that mental stuff can affect physical wellbeing (for example: Adverse Childhood Experiences scale, getting physical symptoms as a result of mental health issues, etc) this would likely be amplified a lot in omegaverse specifically because of pheromones and similar.

We already know chronic stress leads not only to physical symptoms like digestive issues and increased risk for cardiovascular disease, but also can affect fertility because it's. Well, hormones.

I'd imagine this could show up as things such as irregular or completely missing heats/ruts, or even stress-triggered heats/ruts, where an overwhelming/stressful situation could trigger a sort of "forced heat", especially when it has to do with the presence/pheromones of other dynamics, and could happen to anyone- for example, an Alpha's rut could easily be caused by for example, a toxic/abusive omega partner or family member, just as a stressed out omega's heat could potentially be triggered by an intimidating/abusive Alpha- and this would apply to betas and any other dynamics as well depending on the canon, of course. Whether these heats/ruts cause any sexual symptoms like a mating cycle type heat would have, is up to the author methinks, and the level of pheromone involvement probably too. As much as this is a bit of an angst/whump topic, I actually like the thought because it creates an opportunity for Omegas to be just as shitty and abusive as alphas, instead of the very tired trope of only alphas being abusive and honestly? Makes it all the more realistic. While it's probably true that an omega in heat is a slightly easier target than an alpha in a rut might be, it doesn't mean omegas aren't capable of abuse, manipulation, and things like sexual assault.

Childhood trauma on the other hand would probably delay dynamic presentation and cause all sorts of hormonal issues later in life, such as the previously mentioned unstable and irregular heat cycles. Childhood trauma can cause all sorts of emotional problems as well, and I think in omegaverse that would show up as uncontrollable/unstable pheromones (such as, being unable to control them when feeling strong emotions and as a result ending up making other people viscerally uncomfortable because idk, someone feels annoyed but the pheromones are so strong and oppressive it feels like they're trying to suffocate you with pheromones alone), and in some cases, literally missing pheromones;

I have a headcanon of someone going through something incredibly traumatic around the time they have their first heat or when their pheromones start to go from "pup/child" to "young (insert dynamic here)", and this could cause said person to just. Completely lose the ability to produce any pheromones. I also imagine that it could cause some sort of health issues on account of, since the body isn't releasing any pheromones and instead holds on to them, the unreleased pheromones would probably wreak havoc on the body both in terms of just. Causing all sorts of physical symptoms, but probably also really messing with the cycle where maybe they don't have a cycle at all except for when the pheromones pile up so much that the body can't handle it anymore and it's almost like an explosive, unusually intense heat/rut that's completely unpredictable since there normally isn't one to begin with. A bad enough one that it's genuinely more like a severe illness than a cycle, and would most likely lead to being hospitalized and possibly put into a medically induced coma because of the sheer intensity. It's something I've been thinking of writing about, actually.

• Therapy?

For me, with trauma stuff, the most helpful form of trauma therapy hasn't been endlessly bringing my traumatic experiences up to a therapist to process them. Rather, what I really benefited from was therapy that was oriented at understanding HOW trauma affects me and the symptoms and emotions it causes me to experience in daily life, and developing skills to reduce them, cope with them and learn to live with trauma. I think similar approaches would be used in omegaverse cases as well.

I think in terms of some cases, for example if someone has a phobia of a specific dynamic, or even severe social anxiety about pheromones, pheromone exposure therapy could be utilized, but that could be a somewhat controversial form of therapy that doesn't always work out for everyone. In some cases, that could even make things worse.

Therapists and other professionals would also probably have to go through extra training to have a good control over their own pheromones, because if they respond with, for example, a distressed scent at hearing someone's traumatic life story, that would likely just cause the person to not want to work on it out of fear that they'll just upset the people who are meant to be helping them.

• Other thoughts

I'm not qualified to talk about it much myself, but I wonder if the hormonal changes of a heat cycle would cause people with psychosis and related disorders to experience a worsening of their symptoms as well?

[away-ward]

This isn’t a request more of a suggestion bc I know your writing doesn’t work like that but imagine a fic with Emmy talking to Will about her escapades with men over their time apart, or an ex of hers popping up idk I’m just so used to hearing about Will and his whore tendency’s I just want to hear about Emmy’s bc I know she was not celibate over the years, especially when he asked her if she ever had man in her mouth and she said she never had him in her mouth. I’d love to here even your thoughts on the matter. Ik that in one of your fics you wrote about Emmy being with her co worker in the past and Will was jealous about it.

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. To be honest, a request almost exactly like this is how I ended up with No Apologies. If you go back far enough, you’ll see I struggled with it back then. I’d probably struggle with it now, too.

I’ve recieved many requests/suggestions like this and I can understand why it’s popular. I really hope a fic writer comes into the fandom who is interested in this kind of plot, because I can see it doing really well.

I think part of the problem is that I’m just not interested in Emory trying to make Will jealous or upset. And this might be a controversial take, but I also don’t think Emory would try to do that. She has a tough shell, but inside she’s sweet and soft, and not interested in hurting others just because she can. If I were to make an honest attempt at a fic where they’re talking about it, it would be emotional and full of regret (on Will’s end; Emory doesn’t have anything to regret, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t also feel it.)

However, I can talk about why I don’t see what other people see when it comes to Emory’s potential body count being any kind of issue.

In Nightfall, Will says that he doesn’t care if anyone else touched her, she was his girl and that’s all that mattered.

Now, I know I just put up a large case for Will being a liar, but this is one moment where I think he was being truthful. He has a moment of clarity, where he’s able to tell what really matters and what doesn’t. While that moment might have passed, and he could find himself being jealous again, I think by the time they’re married, he settled with the things that have happened in the past and is ready to look forward. I don’t think he’s blind to the fact that nine years have passed, during which she could have done anything with anyone. What mattered is that they were finally in the right place and the right time, determined to see it through.

Maybe another hot take of mine, but Emory doesn’t have that high of a body count. I wouldn’t estimate more than five, and that’s stretching it.

I’ve discussed this briefly before. I feel Emory overestimated what college was going to be like for her. Maybe she thought that getting away from Martin would allow her to open up, but I see her still struggling to do that. A mixture of that’s simply who she is, trauma, and being heartbroken over Will leads to her not making strong connections. This is also confirmed in Nightfall when she’s able to make calls and realizes she has no one waiting on her. No one is missing her, which his a sad thought, but makes sense in a way.

It's totally possible that she’s attempted to have a “normal” life, going on dates or trying her hand at hook-up cultural, probably thinking similar to a lot of readers, “if Will can do it, so can I.” But there is a difference between her and Will, and I think she wouldn’t "enjoy" herself the same way he does.

The quote you mentioned, I didn’t take as confirmation, but instead as deflection. She doesn’t answer his question, only reminds him he never got that far.

A lot people point to that as proof she has more experience but I like to point to Rika, Banks, and Winter in return.

Rika’s body count was one before being with Michael. Banks’ was zero, and it’s unlikely Winter had sex with a man other than Damon, though we know she’s at least kissed others. None of them experienced any kind of learning curve where they had to improve their technique.

I’m not entirely sure if PD’s aim was to show that when it’s with the person “you’re made for” then everything will feel right and it’ll all fall into place. Or if they just didn’t want to write about women learning things or sex between a couple getting better with time or what. Regardless, I don’t see that quote or anything that Emory did with Will as proof she’s had a lot of experiences away from him.  

The way PD writes Will’s addictions lends to the idea that Women are grouped up with Drugs and Alcohol.

Since external relationships, or Will’s whoring around, seem to be linked with his drug use and drinking, it kind of points to that being a problem; one Will isn’t exactly proud of. I don’t see a scenario where Emory feels the need to bring up his past in a way to make him feel bad, or give him a taste of what he did to her by reminding him she had other people too. It would be the equivalent of reminding a recovering alcoholic of the horrible things they did when they were drunk. If you love someone, you don't just throw that in their face.

Emory accepted Will for who he was the day she asked him to marry her, his past included. It would be a shame if she were to keep this in her back pocket as a way get one over on him in the event of a fight.

And maybe my most controversial take: Emory doesn’t even think of those hypothetical men. Will does more than enough to satisfy her.

In Hideaway, Banks and Alex peek in on Will with another woman. Alex mentions that Will puts in the work in making his partner feel good.

In Nightfall, after Emory breaks Will out of prison and they’re in the back seat of the SUV, Damon parks and then, as he’s watching, says “Um…Wow. Okay.”

Damon.

Damon, who has watched Will with women many times before and has engaged with Will himself, sees the way Will goes after Emory, and this causes him to pause.

The first part I mention because it goes to the idea that Will might be the best lay of all the guys. It seems that he actually views the pleasure of his partner as a goal to achieve, as opposed to Michael or Damon who might view it as a curtsey on their part (except for with Rika and Winter, of course). Kai calls himself a “gentleman” but what does that even mean.

Point is, Will knows how to make people feel good. And now his focus and efforts are all towards Emory. Girl is livin' just fine.

I don’t think she would ever need a reason to conquer him this way.

I say all of this because whenever I get a request or an ask similar to this, it always comes across as if the goal is to make Will feel as bad as Emory did, to make him jealous of what she’s done. But I don’t see Emory going that low, and I don’t see a reason why she would. So writing something like that is a little difficult for me.

But like I said, if I were to take an honest crack at it, it would probably go something like

- The group is playing one of those truth or drink games (Will is sober so he always picks truth, but likes to all make it interesting by mixing it with like two lies and a truth).

-Emory pulls a card that is like “Reveal Your Body Count” or something and she immediately opts to take the shot. The group laughs it off, thinking it’s just Emory being private.

-Will senses the sudden shift in her mood, though she hides it well. He wonders if it’s the same thing that sting his heart. The reminder of the time they spent apart. The time they wasted not being together.

-It’s quiet on the way home. Will drives without seeing the road, lost in thought.

-Emmy, thinking he’s trying not to obsess over it, quietly whispers, “It’s probably not what you’re thinking.”

-Will looks over, seeing how she’s not making eye contact. He pulls the car over, coming to an abrupt stop that causes Emory to cry out.

-He turns to her and tells her that it doesn’t matter.

-Whatever she did to ease her pain or to enjoy her life, it wouldn’t change anything. Even if it were 50 or 100 or 500 men.  He’ll accept it because he loves who she is, and whatever she had to do to make her who she is.

-Whether she wants him to know, that’s her decision to make. He wants to know everything about her, but he’ll never force her to admit to anything she doesn’t want to. Never again will he put her in that spot.

-He'd tell her every time he remembers all the different women he used trying to forget her, he hates himself more, especially when he knows she’s aware of it. That he ever gave her the idea that someone else could have him the way she has him, causes him so much disgust sometimes he can’t look at himself. That she ever walked into a room and wondered, not if but how many women he’d been with…

-The number doesn’t matter; there isn’t a number high enough to make him hate himself less and there isn’t a number low enough that’ll make him love her more.

-Emory nods, because she didn’t know he still felt that way and maybe that’s for the best. She doesn’t know if telling him the right thing, but they did promise no more secrets between them and maybe it would make things better if he knew.

And because this is my head canon

-She tells him there were a few. She tried, at various times in her life, to see if she could the “normal” college experience, and get over it and move on, but it didn’t work that way. She wasn’t connecting the way she should; like she was there, feeling and seeing everything, but the experience belonged to someone else.

To me, this makes sense for her character; that she’d want a connection to make the moment real. It’s why Aydin went for her head before her heart. Emory connects with her mind, not her body. I think it would probably hurt Will more if he found out she had a close friend she’d been vulnerable with, revealed everything to, who’d been there when she graduated college and got a job and when her grandmother died. All those experiences that he’d never get because he was being stupid. He’s too familiar with the idea that sex can be meaningless, why would her having meaningless sex with some nameless fellows bother him? But anyway –

-She tells him and he’s quiet. Then he nods. Then he puts the car back in Drive, intending to pull away.

-Emory says wait. He looks at her, open and wondering, but not angry. She asks if he has any questions before the topic is closed.

-He pauses, considering. Finally, he looks at her again and says, “The only thing that matters is if they hurt you.”

-Emory’s heart swells, because of course that’s what he’s concerned with.

-“No,” she tells him. “The only thing they did wrong was not being you.”

And that’s how it would go for me. No jealousy, no rage. In my head, Will is already aware of just how much better Emory is than him, he doesn’t need to be reminded.

I also don’t think of his exploits nearly as much as some of the readers seem to. I just don’t care, because he wasn’t committed to Emory. He wasn’t doing anything that he didn’t have the right to do. If he had developed a romantic bond with someone and then Emory came back into his life and he tried to play one or the other, than would be an issue for me. But the way I see it now, Emory connects through her mind. Her developing that type of bond outside of Will would hurt him more. And Will is so causal with sex that him developing a romance outside of Emory would hurt her more. Neither one did that, so this isn’t a sticking point for me.

But I know it is for a lot of people and I don’t feel that my view is any righter than someone else’s. I do hope that a fic writer who wants to undertake that plot point comes in to give the readers what they want. It just won’t be me.

I’m sorry I can’t deliver. I still appreciate you coming to me and asking. Thank you.

-KO

[chonidale]

choni truly has the best relationship arc this season, and I love how even though this memoryless version of them is a redo of their relationship, their story is about them falling for eachother again showing us their true feelings -especially in toni's case- while avoiding past mistakes. I wish we could have seen them as adults together but idk there is something so special with them this season that makes their story feel full circle

no, exactly. like, i always understood the potential of the 50s for choni, thinking they'd fall in love again and toni would be unable to fall out of love when they got back to the present and she'd have to confront the feelings for her she's been trying to ignore, but was annoyed at the possibility of them being there past midseason because i REALLY wanted to see choni together as adults for a solid handful of episodes. but once it became clear we were staying there for much longer, i accepted it, and now i love it. i do wish we could have a few episodes in the present, but alas. by now it's too late, and even if they did get back a couple eps sooner than 19 (which is when i expect it), they'd probably drag the reunion out until the finale at that point anyway.

but when you think about it, not only are we getting a redo of their early story and seeing the writers fix their mistakes, but it really adds such an extra layer of depth to their relationship and story that a simple straight forward reunion in the present wouldn't. like, yeah, i would love to hear present toni tell cheryl that she never stopped loving her and it was always her, but this storyline PROVES it, you know? she fell for cheryl in that very first episode and hasn't stopped, and not only has she not looked twice at fangs, but she hasn't shown interest in a single other person, in a season where all the other characters have been playing musical partners and feeling drawn to people they've had feelings for at some point. that says SO much, about both choni and t*ngs, it proves that toni never stopped loving cheryl and that she never loved fangs (and fangs never loved her), that without anthony's existence, they would have never even thought about it. which anyone with a brain already knew, but again, this is such a good way to prove it, both to the audience and the characters.

i also think that the way it's being written works well as a reunion arc substitution, the way they're giving them similar issues and dynamic so they can do it right. it gives them a chance to show to the audience how their relationship would work better the second time around, with their characters more grown and mature; not only are the writers not making the same mistakes with them again, the characters aren't making them either. like, their communication this last episode was amazing, especially compared to the mess in 3b, which will be important for adult choni when they get back together.

also, given what tabitha said in the present, i really do think they'll end up getting back to a present that's different than the one we left, and there's a decent chance some things regarding fangs and anthony might be rewritten, like if midge ends up being alive in the present (which i have to assume will be the case, because surely they aren't gonna have fangs lose a wife, fiancee and kid all at the same time lmao), which count me in! but if that's the case, i would like them to get their memories back in the 50s and have toni end things with him and tell cheryl it was always her, so i can have the best of all worlds.

lastly, it's just so nice to finally be the shipper group most satisfied. for once, we've finally got it the best and have the best storyline, with the most care being put into it. i waited years for this moment!

[crazypossumman]

I’ve been working with kids for about two months now…

And, honestly, I have learned so much from this experience. I took this job because I needed a job, and I had connections at the school that almost ensured I would be hired. My job is primarily helping kids with learning disabilities and/or behavioral issues, primarily in grades K through 3. A large chunk of them are children with autism or similar conditions, with some more severely disabled kids mixed in.

Up until this point, I have wondered why anyone in their right mind would work with children. Now, I know why.

When I watch a kid take a fall playing football at recess and all of his friends pick him up and brush the grass off of him before getting him back in the game, I am reminded that all people start good.

When I see kids working so hard to include their “different” classmates, I realize how far we have come as a society. When I was in elementary school just over a decade ago, we rarely interacted with our disabled classmates. They were almost always in a different room. But these teachers not only include their disabled students, but they also make a point to teach the class that being different doesn’t make someone “wrong.” They explain that different students have different needs, and the kids understand and accept that.

When my students smile and give me a hug upon seeing me, I know that I’m making an impact on their lives. As hard as I may push them some days, they still appreciate me. I am a friend as much as I am a teacher.

When students approach me to talk about difficult experiences in their lives, I realize that I am a trusted adult. I am someone they can tell about their experiences and feelings. I am someone who they trust to help them through things that may be difficult.

When I find a common interest with a student (usually when they find out I like art), I can tell I am inspiring them to continue. When they ask me how to draw things and I encourage them through the process, I know that I am inspiring someone who may grow up to be an amazing artist. I might be the reason, when some of them look back on their lives, that they devoted time and effort to hone their skills.

When difficult concepts like racism are brought up (typically not directly as they are kindergartners, but the injustices of the past certainly come up when talking about topics like Thanksgiving), I see children respond with things along the lines of, “That is so sad.” And I know that these kids will think twice when they hear racist rhetoric. I know they will be able to empathize with people who gave faced injustices.

When we teachers use rhetoric like, “I know it is hard, but you can do hard things,” I can see that we are inspiring these young people to push themselves. To work toward their goals. To believe they can accomplish things they may see as impossible.

Sure, when they yell and scream and bicker and tattle and throw things, they are SUPER annoying. I won’t deny that. But when I see them chose to take a deep breath and calm down rather than argue with a classmate, I can see we are helping to raise emotionally mature children who will become emotionally mature adults.

And in the society we live in, that is so important to me. It has in many ways given me hope that future generations may just be able to do what we are seeking to do.

They just might raise further emotionally healthy children.

They just might work to correct the injustices of the past.

They just might save the world.

And I may not see the day that that happens. But I am content in being part of that ripple effect and its unlimited potential. And I can see so clearly why people choose to work with children.

[pepper-salt]

Re: book concept, randomly saw your post and wanted to give my completely honest opinion and unprofessional advice as a fantasy reader in the hopes that this book will be completed!

The characters certainly could have potential but I'd be more interested in hearing what the plot of this story is? How do the characters motivations relate to each other and the world?

I'd also say that less is more and it might be worth combining the princess and the prince since all there is for the prince are the body issues and if you combined them there could be a more complex and interesting interplay of traits. Maybe showing how a character's desire to help people relates to their body issues? Or how they help others when they cannot help themselves? Especially if this is a medieval setting and (i'm assuming) a trans story, in a time when there wasn't much of an outlet for those feelings, showing how this character might've found other ways to cope. The motivations of the princess and the oracle are also pretty similar, so it could even be worth combining the prince, princess, and oracle, and having the crux of the story be centered around really developing the one relationship between that character and the god.

On the note of setting, I'd be curious how this medieval feudal monarchy functions and recommend exploring the implications of such a thing critically. Maybe making the oracle and god the two main characters and giving the oracle the traits of the princess and prince. You don't have to make the royalty outright villains but I think a story from an outsider perspective is more personally interesting to me. It presents more conflict to focus on an oracle who might not necessarily be from nobility and has to work harder to convince their regents.

Final thought, definitely not saying an overly defined magic system is necessary But I'm interested in at least how magic and gods are viewed in this world? Is the oracle a peasant born with unusual powers? Are their powers derived from the god or from the same source as theirs? Or is the oracle not magical at all? A well meaning fraud or a genuinely deluded royal fortune teller?

I'm sure you already have answers to many of these questions, just a little bit of food for thought. Coming up with a cast of characters is fun but I find that diving into a few specific ideas is where you'll find the meat of the book.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I honestly didn't expect to hear from anyone for at least a few days! Yes, I did make a mistake by not putting a plot in my description. I haven't fully made a comprehensible plot yet, but I have one pretty figured out. My plot is mostly about taking down the corrupt political and nobility system from the inside. It follows the story of the seige of a country. Two of my main characters are from this country and the other two are from the opposing country. The oracle is from the opposing country. Their motivations mostly relate to their experiences within the inner council of their country and during the siege of the other country. Their desire to change things is brought up from seeing the people in their country struggle through they tyrany of the royals. The prince and the princess are both nobles of the same country that is taken down in the beginning of the plot. This country is a lot better in terms of political systems, but it is very secluded and behind the other countries of its time. The princess's motivations stem from seeing the rise of homelessness and poverty due to her country being behind its time and being prone to natural disasters quite often. The god is from the same country as the oracle. He was originally the patron of a now destroyed small city. After his lover was killed by the citizens of the city, he destroyed it and killed most of its citizens. After that, he created a new country that turned very corrupt over the years. He would like to help the oracle in destroying this country in order to undo his past wrongs.

I also talk a lot about the curses of immortality in my book. Some chapters, mainly the ones told from the point of view of the god, go into detail about the experiences of the earlier times before the world the mortals live in. I also go into depth more towards the end of my book about the gifts and curses of godhood.

I loved your idea of combining the prince and the princess. You have assumed right, I do want to make the prince's story a trans story. I had originally thought of making the two minor characters, but never combining them. Your feedback has really helped me because I was having a hard time figuring out how to make them their own fully fledged characters. I might take your advice and also make this new character a minor character in the oracle's story. I had thought at one point about making the book just about the oracle and the god. They are my two most developed characters, despite being the newest of the four. It would leave more room for the many months of development I have had with them.

The feudal monarchy in my book is mainly inspired by medieval Europe. This hierarchy of feudalism with the upper class ruling over is what mainly inspires the country the oracle and the god are from. This country is very corrupt, as I have said multiple times. (Sorry! I'm a bit repetitive.) It is a country that doesn't have a lot of modern laws that the other countries in this world do. It endorses forced and child marriages, meaningless execution and punishment, heavy immigration laws, and lots of prejudice towards the impoverished. The Oracle being royal is a very important part to my story as it helps me to write about taking down this system from the inside, however, I would like to make my book multi-POV and I would like to include perspectives from some of the commoners that they interact with to include that outsider perspective that you talked about. For example, in the book, the Oracle teams up with a crew of sea explorers to smuggle immigrants out of the country in an attempt to help the people affected by its corruption. A majority of these excerpts that I have already written are from the perspective of different members of this crew. The oracle does already share a lot of the values of the prince and princess, as you have said. I might take your feedback and combine the princess's need to make a home for her people with the oracle's need to change their country when talking about this story of immigrants.

The magic system I have created isn't entirely original, but it is different. Most people in this world are born with some kind of magic, with the exception of humans. Magic is widely taught as a life skill in all of the countries. In the human countries, any magic is man-made through experiments and ways of torture. There are some exceptions. The gods in this world are able to create their own magical beings modeled after them. Two of the gods take on a human form, so any magical being they create looks human, but isn't entirely human. The oracle is one of those beings. They look and act human, but they are a being of pure magic. They type of magic is dependent on the god who created them. The Oracle was created by the sun god, who is the god of a new day and the old sunrise, so they have visions of the future and the past. This sun god is my other main character who created the Oracle to take his place in the council. (I know, so original of me to have a godly council.) My council is made of the original gods. They are gods made from the two formidable ones, creators of the universe.

The way the gods are viewed depends entirely on the country. Most countries worship their gods as deities and saints. They never communicate with their gods directly and some countries even worship deceased gods. Other countries, like the country my two main characters are from, see their god as just another authoritarian figure. The god is almost always in the country and mingling with the people as one of their own. There are also minor gods in my book. These are mostly demigods, some mortals, who have appeased the gods and earned nobility.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I have literally never talked to a single person about my ideas, so it feels so good to hear that someone is interested! Sorry it took so long to respond, I not only had school, but it took me a while to think about your advice. You should really consider taking up writing! Your advice was some of the best I have ever heard! Again, thank you so much, and if you are still interested after reading my repetitive nonsense, I have a writing blog, @olive-souris. I will try to post weekly updates there and go more in-depth into my characters and plot!

[bat-besties]

Your lili posts have me thinking a lot about Jade and her similarities with Rose. Both come from countries ravaged by war and colonialism and this shapes their childhood- and yet DC ignores it despite the potential for a poignant and meaningful story there.

Rose grew up in a determent camp. Jade’s father was a french colonialist and she was later sold into slavery(and when she escaped she was trained by a chinese freedom fighter). These are interesting stories not only in the way they uniquely affect cambodian and viet women but in the sense they just… are compelling?? Jade works well with Roy and her daughter DOES make her more interesting but her dynamic with her daughter and with MEN has an extra layer there that they just don’t care about.

Rose HAS this unqiue and formative trauma that’s never discussed. Despite who her mother was or the things she saw she is aggressive to other women constantly, she is centrally relevant for her daddy issues,which yea are important, are not the only thing to explore there! I hope this makes sense and I’m not just very tired

This does make sense!

That's a really interesting parallel - I didn't know about Jade's backstory! I assumed the man she was talking with was a fellow assassin and not someone who had such a formative impact on her life.

Yeah, I think it's very telling that DC does a relatively good job with Mia Dearden as a trafficked white girl (and even that has some misses) but when a women of colour has trafficking in her backstory it's not fully explored or explained. Especially when women of colour are more at risk of human trafficking than white women, but don't receive the same attention/horror at their situations.

In way too many DC comics, human trafficking victims are a blur of undifferentiated nonwhite and/or female characters freed from the back of a van by our hero and never seen again, used to show just how evil an organisation or villain is. So yeah, that makes it especially galling that Jade's escape from slavery isn't factored into her relationship to men and her daughter.

Like Jade, Lili escapes slavery and tries to give her daughter the best life possible, and like her, she's erased from her daughter's personality and life.

Intergenerational trauma specific to Cambodia (which was already being discussed in academia in the 90s!!) and Vietnam is completely ignored. The way both have to deal with their own trauma and break cycles of abuse to raise their daughters is never acknowledged, while any way they act on past traumas is heavily punished. [Lili not wanting Rose to know about Slade to protect her leaving Rose unprepared for him/Jade reacting violently to having her daughter taken away from her being portrayed as her being crazed]

And yeah, the Rose who initially protects a woman from an abusive husband as a fourteen year old and has tea parties with Dolphin and Lian is suddenly turned into a sexist.

(Rose not hearing out Jade about Lian because of her own trauma and need to protect a little girl from the assassin parent coming on the scene was so PAINFUL and I am curious if they've interacted since)

Rose's valid and actually nuanced debate with Cassie about morality, the nature of redemption, etc, is portrayed as a catfight. It devalues both characters' arguments, but the racism of making Rose an oversexed Asian girl who says sexist things is much more egregious.

I also hate any Rose line along the lines of "I was raised in a brothel" because it never leads to a nuanced discussion of sex work but always means "sex isn't a big deal", which (a) I don't think anyone on any side of arguments about sex work thinks and (b) frankly would not be said if her mother and her were white. And of course, I don't even need to mention how horrible the Tim scene was for her character and background.

Similarly, you're so right that Rose's problems with authority are often seen as "daddy issues" which is so offensive because firstly, responding to abuse by a parent by struggling with authority is a genuine trauma response many people have. Secondly, she grew up for five years in an environment where soldiers abused refugees, and then she spent the next nine at risk of police abusing her mother and the other women because they were sex workers, and majority women of colour. She has really valid reasons not to trust people in authority, and when Eddie's being manipulated by the Doom Patrol, she's the first member of the Teen Titans to call bullshit and protect him. It's especially interesting because the manipulated members of the Doom Patrol are strongly disability coded and Caulder mimics ableist rhetoric to control them. Eddie, coded as newly disabled and white, is not used to having someone use bigotry to manipulate and control him, and I find it so interesting that Rose as a woman of colour is the first to worry about him. In the right balance, her distrust of authority is useful and insightful.

I honestly don't know enough Jade yet to have similar insight into her but I want to read more!

Overall, the Asian women in DC are so frequently screwed over, and I really think, being white myself, that white people need to stop discussing treatment of women in comics as shorthand for treatment of white women. For example, it might be overdone to focus on a white woman being a mother, but Asian women like Lili, Jade, Talia and more have their motherhood devalued and relationship to their children discounted. There's way too much reading material out there about treatment of Asian women in media to not work towards intersectional discussions of characters like Rose and Jade. Trying to untangle these characters from DC's racism/sexism and discussing them in their historical and cultural contexts is really rewarding and interesting.

[sinclair-enterprises]

Hearing some credible talk that if Furiosa does in fact do well next year, we could potentially get a full-blown Mad Max TV series afterwards. It appears that this would be based on “The Wasteland,” the as yet unadapted middle chapter of the Fury Road trilogy consisting of Furiosa, The Wasteland, and Fury Road.

The script for this story has had something of a fascinating history: apparently starting its life as a book, then an idea for a TV series in the 90s, becoming a full part of the Fury Road narrative in the 2000s, very likely switching to a video game (on which work began as a collaboration between George Miller and Cory Barlog), transitioning to a full-fledged film adaptation, before finally ending up as a show that is actively being worked on right now. The story will likely center around Max wandering the Wasteland while rebuilding his Interceptor, and I wouldn’t be surprised if bits and pieces of certain scenes depicted in the comics/2015 video game were adapted in it so as to definitively fulfill Miller’s vision for those events.

The Gas Town Thunderdome fight where Max wins a new engine for his rebuilt Interceptor-something we might see in The Wasteland.

Another reason for the story being told within this format is George Miller's age. The man's already 78 and isn't getting any younger, with every time he tackles a new Mad Max project taking an enormous amount of time and effort to see it through. After Furiosa took so long to get off the ground it's becoming increasingly unlikely he'll do another live action film, let alone any other projects of similar size and scope. A series would allow him to retain creative control while letting others work in his playground, so to speak. The previous foundation Miller built on this kind of collaborative approach with the original Furiosa anime and Barlog's video game adaptation should help make things work pretty smoothly in terms of this new show.

However, anyone hoping for Tom Hardy's return as Max Rockatansky is probably set to be disappointed, as it appears he won't be returning to reprise the role. Despite having signed a contract for three films (ostensibly Furiosa, The Wasteland, and Fury Road), his character is unlikely to feature prominently in Furiosa and it can be expected he'll be passed over for this new project. Apparently significant issues with Hardy on the set of Fury Road led George Miller to diminish whatever role Max might've had in the new film (which from my understanding may have been a bit bigger than originally thought). The more visible effects of this decision will almost certainly be felt in The Wasteland, where we'll get another take on Max from a new actor. I've also heard interesting discussion about the potential use of deep fake technology in Furiosa. It's said that this will be used for a Max cameo with Hardy's face superimposed over another cast member's.

In the end, much of the franchise's future-including The Wasteland and any other new productions, depends on the success of Furiosa in 2024. I'm very hopeful it'll do well and we'll continue to receive excellent new Mad Max content the way George Miller wants it to be produced and experienced.

[atopvisenyashill]

hi! i'm the anon who asked for ur aegon and carl analysis. carl's one of my favs in the show and i find aegon an interesting character and most of that has to do with his relationship with alicent! basically thank u sm for taking the time to share ur thoughts! there's actually this one scene between carl and lori in early s2 that i found was similar (or will likely be in s2 of hotd) to aemond and alicent. it's lori being terrified of carl becoming cold (saying he'd also shoot sophia instead of having a normal response to what he's just had to see) i think alicent becomes scared of aemond once she sees he has no remorse for what he's done (killing luke, hurting rhaenyra, starting the full blown-out war) and it'll especially hurt her to reconcile who he is now with the child she loved and defended years before.

thank you for your thoughts!!

and YEAH i was actually thinking of that specific scene between lori & carl in season 2 as well - you can tell lori is disturbed and unsure of what to do but then the entire problem clearly slips from her mind as she’s got shane’s increasingly unhinged behavior to deal with, rick’s own behavior to deal with, and then the issue of not having food or shelter for most of her pregnancy. it’s possible she even thinks maybe carl is feeling better - we see in the opening of season 3 where carl finds dog food and brings it first to his mother to eat. he’s still a sweet, conscientious child who knows his mother needs nutrients and dog food IS packed full of the proteins and vegetables she needs - only for rick to angrily slap it out of their hands and carl to retreat from the situation. i think lori figures that this means carl is “fixed” but a) you can’t fix problems with empathy that easy b) carl not wanting to confront his father makes complete sense c) we don’t know how much (if anything) she’s been told of carl’s involvement with shane’s death OR with dale’s death, which are both weighing on carl heavily. it’s also like,,,, how do you even broach this topic when you never have privacy and you are NOT a child psychologist and have no access to anyone who would understand or help?

then, before lori can ever really figure out how to deal with the problem, her water is breaking and judith is coming out the wrong way and lori has no control over whether carl is the one to kill her or not. i get why maggie lets him do it but i don’t think it was the right decision here (not that maggie even knows what carl is struggling with, and maggie has her own mental health problems going on too) because it clearly has a negative effect on carl’s psyche. i mean this is a trauma he brings up after the prison burns, several seasons and like a full year later.

what’s great about carl is he seems to realize that he has been emotionally neglected by the adults around him - when he’s screaming at rick during season 4 i believe it is (honestly that entire arc post prison but pre terminus where everyone is just missing each other is the best stretch of the series to me, and carl/rick/michonne’s two parter is fantastic, best episodes in the series) he says that rick can’t do anything, rick failed to protect everyone, all of this is rick’s fault. and while there’s a lot of factors carl is purposefully glossing over, i think rick going from his level headed, soft spoken, gentle father to this monster of a man who gets physical with his family & murders uncle shane to the complete insane ghost hearing things makes carl feel god awful. it’s not to say hershel isn’t an excellent guardian but carl doesn’t want an excellent guardian he wants his father. so when all that resentment finally bubbles over when rick is injured and potentially dying, it allows carl the space he needs to a) relearn some fucking boundaries & empathy & emotional maturity and b) explain & understand the problems he and his father have been having connecting.

whereas with aemond, with aegon….they don’t have that clear eyed sight that the people responsible for their emotional dysfunction isn’t rhaenyra, or jace, it’s viserys, it’s otto, it’s (unfortunately, accidentally) alicent. and alicent….like okay i get SO MAD when people say lori wasn’t a good mom or a good wife because i think lori is handed just the worst hand of cards imaginable, and reacts imperfectly, but is trying at the end of the day and then dies before she can fix the problem. i don’t think she’s a bad wife or mother anymore than i think rick is a bad husband or father, they are just imperfect people in a horrific & violent world trying their best to survive it. i think they were ill suited as a couple, and in a normal world they could have just gotten a divorce and been excellent co parents but then rick gets shot and an apocalypse happens and there’s bigger issues than their failing marriage going on lmao. So i don’t want to come in hot being like “ALICENT IS A BAD MOTHER AND WIFE” because a) idc that she’s a bad wife lmao, viserys is a shit husband in both canons too and b) i mean….idk she IS a bad mother in many respects but some of it isn’t her fault and some of it is stuff that is a societal problem and some of it - like lori’s faults - are a human and overblown fear response to a scary situation, or irrational but internally consistent reactions to unique situations. not all or even most of it is her fault.

HOWEVER. i mean it’s right there - lori’s horror at carl saying he would shoot sophia vs alicent telling aegon he can slap aemond around at home if he likes. lori, as a woman in the modern day, recognizes that carl is having a very worrying trauma response to the unending hell of horror he’s been living through and tries, on her deathbed, to remind carl that there is goodness and sweetness inside of him but that it could disappear if he doesn’t nurture it. carl takes this advice to heart, despite his initial backslide. alicent, in a wildly different situation born into a culture that excuses and celebrates the strong harming the weak, just waves off the dangerous warning signs of her children until they’ve escalated in a way she doesn’t understand and can’t rationalize. i think if aegon throws a big party for aemond’s murder of lucerys - seems likely from the snippets we’ve gotten - THIS is her lori moment, her realization that her children don’t value life the way they should. but this realization is coming a decade too late. so while carl’s problems can be fixed much easier, aemond’s and aegon’s can’t and now she’s stuck with these two monsters for children that she just handed unlimited power to and has no idea how she fixes this unfixable situation. it would be like if hershel didn’t say anything about carl killing that kid, so carl got worse and worse until alexandria when someone FINALLY realizes what’s going on. but at that point, it’s all been learned again and again and it’s a lot harder to break the habit.

anyways YEAH i do expect alicent to have a similar story to lori’s motherhood story in season 2 - realizing you’ve done something wrong when it comes to the mental health of your child but not having the tools or language or time to fix the issue. the thing is for alicent, she doesn’t get to die and eject herself from the story, from the consequences; she is stuck watching this cycle repeat itself, watching her children eat themselves alive, until their memory swallows her whole.

[futchbrownie]

@laikaflash (tumblr ate your message on desktop! again! despite me emailing several times about the issues i've been having! good times 🙃)

ANYWAY ooh man i have some things to say.

truth be told in all my years of being in the SC fandom i'd never really given much thought to them as a pairing. there's like what, one (1) fic of them on ffnet?

sidebar: when i finally got around to playing SC5 and hearing the special dialogues i immediately hopped on the pyrrha x tira train. i know it's all kinds of sick dysfunctional and twisted and problematic™️ and that's exactly what i love about it, 17/18 year old me went hogwild with writing my first ever fic about them [redacted of course] , and drawing/looking at fanart between dA and tumblr. when i told my brother that i shipped them, he asked me if i thought tira killed jurgis out of possessiveness 😂

but thanks again to the dialogue in SC6, my taste/imagination expanded and Tilde (i'm probably the only person calling it that) has crept up on me. in my heart it's still not above PyTi but it's still a really good ship, and an unquestionably healthier dynamic. hilde is definitely the type to not get pushed around by anyone, so it's interesting to me to see a character that'd stand up to tira without fear. it's also fun for me to think about who would top

it intrigues me to see their similarities: vague Germanic background, closeness in age, same height, having a mole on their face, forced to mature at an early age re: the death of their parental figure. but where hilde has her support system and the privileges of nobility, tira had nothing to fall back on and devoted herself to soul edge; which as we can see from her SC4 story is ultimately a long game suicide taking the world with it. kinda like what i said about tira's commonalities with amy, i'm very interested to see how they could potentially mesh in canon. i don't see tira ever becoming one of The Good Guys but i think if hilde were to deeply interact with her and give a stern talk like she did for siegfried, she could probably shift to a more nuanced/morally gray alignment which would be a lot more rounded than the Anime Henchwoman role she keeps getting pigeonholed into knowing PS i won't get my hopes up but I Can Dream.

for the purpose of my modern au fic i've taken some liberties and looseness in how i'm writing them, so it's probably not a 1:1 of how they would actually act but i just had a mighty need for them to get under each other's skin and eventually grow close enough to show each other's vulnerabilities.

[flockofdoves]

whenever i try to figure out stuff about my specific form of stuttering (and im super interested in connecting my own vague theories about it to stuff other people have said after taking a psycholinguistics class this semester) i feel crazy because like no medical description of types of stuttering i ever see online match my experiences with it even though i feel like whatever is happening with my stuttering feels like it should be a relatively normal issue to happen to some people

like its not really that bad anymore im not looking for treatment for it but i just want to hear about other peoples experiences with similar and also be able to potentially understand whats happening in my body whenever it happens and its just so surprising to me how little i find whenever i look

but yeah. so curious if anyone else can relate to this or has thoughts or anything. trying to summarize my experiences:

started right around puberty when i was 11

it never was all the time just like random days or hours would be worse all of a sudden

mostly trouble with repeating the start of words or elongating the first vowel, makes getting whole sentences out really arduous

went away some time in early high school for the most part, but then randomly reemerged my sophomore year of college

for a while i theorized it just had to do with low blood pressure or low blood sugar from my eating disorder, because it turned out that when it reemerged that was when the worst of my ED started, but i'm well into recovery now and while stuttering can be a sign that i havent eaten enough in a while, and i certainly was stuttering worse at the worst of my ed, i still stutter at many times when i know i have eaten consistently and enough for a while

also feels like sometimes it can correlate with stress or exhaustion, but while of course i cant be sure i'm always recognizing when i'm stressed (having issues with dissociation and fibromyalgia feels relevant to that) it at least doesn't feel in the moment like thats always the case when i start stuttering, and sometimes feels pretty random

it feels like a specific form of brain fog distinct from other forms of brain fog i also experience in that its very actively irritating as if parts of my brain are turning off and on(?? not really accurate but idk how to describe it)

i also have had times of my life where i have had that same feeling while developing body jerks and facial tics (maybe also hand tremors but i think those felt more directly related to what i've later recognized as low blood sugar from my eating disorder)

i also theorized before that those facial tic episodes could have to do with tardive dyskinesia (had really really bad reactions to risperidone and abilify and was on each of them for years, and abilify side effects sometimes felt sorta similar, and my facial tics/tremors etc arent nearly as prominent now that its been years since i last was on those meds) but that doesnt really make sense to me when it feels so similar to my stutter and the stutter started before i ever was on any psychiatric medication

i tend to stutter or have those tics a lot more prominently around people i am comfortable with. sometimes while stuttering/etc it feels like if i really really tried hard and put a lot of energy into it i would be able speak without stuttering even if still a little slow and monotone, but despite the frustration that comes with not being able to fully express what i mean quickly, it still doesnt feel worth it to put in that effort unless i need to perform for strangers (wording it like this is a lot more intellectualized and makes it sound a lot more like an active choice, while in the moment its kind of all just vague instinctual feelings)

honestly i have no idea if any of the stuttering or facial tic stuff do or dont relate at all to other behaviors i exhibit like some of ocd compulsions that are less elaborated and more just 'i wouldn't feel right if i dont touch this in this specific way right now' / my habits of picking up on a random weird exclamation that i subconsciously vocalize whenever i think of something stressful and am in a comfortable environment / my issues with body focused repetitive behavior (especially dermatillomania)

idk!! brains are just interesting im just curious what other peoples thoughts are..

like i guess looking at lists of types of stuttering it could make sense to guess this is psychogenic stuttering but its just like crazy how nonspecific any talk of it has been. ive become kinda interested in neurolinguistics which obviously is still so so full of uncertainties and biases as a field but theres at least some physiological backing for the things it talks about so its just so disappointing when topics that i wish were more explored by it are instead just stuff im finding information about from a psychiatric framework..

[adeadhorse]

I haven’t gotten a chance to watch the Zoey 102 movie until recently. I walked in with really really low expectations. Some people are definitely trashing it because of the whole controversy with Britney (which is complex and more layer than people would like to believe) and not focusing on the actual film.

It was actually not bad at all. I quite enjoyed it and it was pretty fun compared to most reboots of our childhood shows that I’ve seen. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. A solid 6/10. The only issue is that I felt that it was a bit rushed (causing hurried explanations and a bit lack of chemistry between certain characters) A one season reboot show would have actually worked better in this case to build the story more carefully.

I know that the director recently said in an interview that they are think about a sequel movie. I wouldn’t be mad at it if they give it a better pace and give the other characters more screen time (especially scenes with Michael, Logan and Chase)

I’m not sure if you watched the movie yet or intend to but someone like yourself (who based on your writing really knows the depth of these characters and their world) I would love to hear your opinion of the movie if you ever do.

Hello, I am glad you enjoyed it! I agree with you that people solely bashing the show because of what happened with Britney and Alexa gets tiresome, because the original show had some merit despite those issues, and because you can just decide to not watch the movie instead of constantly talking about it (it's not like anyone is really on JL's side anyway).

I have no intention of watching it but @queenlova101 kindly gave me an extremely thorough rundown. To be blunt, I hated it. The downside of writing these characters for thousands of words is you do get to "know" them, so I think it's possible that I would have hated a reboot no matter how good it was because it was different to my version of them. Part of that is circumstance - anything is possible in a fanfic, compared to real life where you have budgets and availabilities. But I've seen other people say it didn't really feel like the original show, and to me they just made some baffling choices that shows they had no idea what the fans actually wanted or even liked about the original show.

Zoey should not be the main character to that extent (or at all really. Also why is she a producer), you should pander to the Quogan fans more, and most of all, you should have Chase and Michael (and Logan, but especially those two) interact as much as possible instead of not at all. I hate What Did Zoey Say with a passion, and Dan could not write for shit in 2015, but even he got that right. It feels like they told ChatGPT to write a script only going off the character names and every rom-com that got released c. 2008-2012.

I agree with you about the one-season reboot. Before I started actually writing fanfic I semi-planned out a season and a movie because I was more interested in screenwriting at the time. So again, I feel like I have potentially thought more about this show than anyone actually involved in the movie, so being disappointed was somewhat inevitable. I am also, at my core, a hater.

I personally hope they don't do a sequel movie or anything else. Neither attempt at an "adult" continuation has worked, it's just fallen into the trap most other reboots have of not having them change since high school and undermining a lot of what people liked about the show (I don't love PCA but that's! The main! Draw! You just shot yourself in the foot!). Frankly I would just like them to put the S3 cast (minus JL) in a new show with similar vibes and call it a day. That I think would actually be fun, and would make more sense than whatever they are doing now.