#if you're interest which line it is its in the introduction

[venelona-turtle-den]

Hi there! I was looking at some of the files for Ghost Leonardo (trying to learn more to potentially make my own ghost!) and I noticed that the readme file warns you “some things can’t be completely erased”…I’m intensely curious what isn’t reset! I don’t want to reset my peepaw, but finding that in the files made me very curious.

Oh, be forewarned that Leon is not a great ghost for reference lol Since he's my first ghost, he's littered with sloppy code and plethora of background mistakes

If you're interested in making a ghost please check @ukagakadreamteam, the ukagaka dream team wiki, or the discord server where people will tell you how one does things properly and not like I did™

As for the question... It's just ominous for the sake of drama and immersion XD I think that's my Undertale roots showing. The concept of a reset leaving behind traces of memories...

There is ONE line of dialogue that changes, I believe if you reinstall him, but I'm not sure that was programmed properly so don't mind that

[flowersforchoso]

—Bi-han courting you ᥫ᭡

it's hard to imagine this blizzard of a man ever falling for someone, but he does, and he falls pretty hard when it happens although it's like, an extremely rare occurrence.

it's the classic love-at-first-sight scenario. you're at the restaurant, conversing with madame bo from a distance, when you catch his attention. he likes what he sees, and like the typical man, he discreetly stares until you're out of sight

he doesn't think much about you afterwards, but the seed of attraction has already been planted and soon grows.

somehow, coincidentally, he meets you again at the same place (fate perhaps?) but this time, it's different—you're both face-to-face and introductions ensue.

since the lin kuei trio occasionally unwind at the establishment after a mission, and you're a healer who madame bo often consults, it's no surprise your paths cross

bi-han is laser focused on you as the said woman introduces you to the group, observing you like a specimen: your physicality, mannerisms, demeanour, and finds himself magnetized by your graceful aura

but he doesn't speak to you at all while pleasantries are exchanged, making him the odd one out. however, his assessment of you is positive indicating a romantic interest.

despite the brief interaction, you leave a lasting impression on him and have begun to take up permanent residence in his mind.

but it doesn't end there; he sees you quite often due to your affiliation with the old woman, and each time he does, his heart skips a beat; he's emotionally incapacitated, rendered powerless (proximity to him is the only way anything can happen tbh)

he represses this newfound emotion until he's unable to resist, ultimately surrendering to it. and believe it or not, he makes the first move. surprisingly

i know the consensus is that he's pretty much inexperienced in romantic relationships and hence wouldn't approach, but for a man of his calibre, there's no way he hasn't been in a committed relationship, even if short-lived. moreover, he goes after what he wants, romantic matters are no different; the only issue is it'll take him forever to get to it.

he has to first wrestle with himself over his feelings towards you. and once he overcomes this internal struggle, it'll take your sustained absence to propel him to finally pursue you out of fear that you might slip away from his grasp.

while he won't directly approach you, he communicates his interest via subordinates, which leads to unexpected appearances—a blue-clad ninja at your doorstep bearing gifts

you're very confused, but they explain they've been sent by their grandmaster. it is then you come to the realization that the standoffish, intimidating man you encountered at the restaurant has taken a liking to you! but wait- how does he know where you live? (he's gathered bits of information about you)

in his quest to conquer your heart and claim it as his, he first aims to impress. expect to be bombarded by gifts or flowers every fortnight. he also does this for ego reasons, to flaunt his status before eventually requesting a date—through a mouthpiece, of course.

the occasion is quite awkward, overly formal, with you doing most of the talking because he wants to know all about you like the back of his hand

if you attempt to redirect focus on him to satisfy any curiosity you may have, he basically shuts it down by saying something along the lines of, "i lead a formidable warrior clan, that is sufficient enough." you can't tell if he's just reserved or severely lacking in social skills, but if you peer hard enough, the lines are blurred.

he is actually very mindful of his words and respectful towards you. he is aware of how blunt and abrasive he can come across and doesn't want to scare you away; that would undo all his efforts and bring them to naught, and he isn't going to self-sabotage, not after coming this far

he's gentlemanly, and its obvious from his body language and actions he's infatuated with you. but being a conversationalist and showing affection aren't his strong suits, so this is where you come in. the ball is in your court to steer the budding relationship forward otherwise it'll stagnate

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Our perfect Addition | Platonic Yandere Mei Mei and Ui Ui

When you were recruited into Jujutsu Tech, you could not settle in. Given an ultimatum about joining or your family suffering from unknown consequences. It doesn’t give you an all too positive relationship with the school. Often having to be reminded of your life and family’s lives on the line. You're eventually placed in the first year's class under the supposed strongest Gojo Satoru. Not that it mattered to you. 

“OKAY! This is your new classmate! Introduce yourself, newbie.”

“Nice to meet you all.”

“So so (Y/n)-chan! Tell us something about yourself!”

“I didn’t want to enroll but was forced to. Otherwise, my family will be-”

He slaps a hand on your mouth and then pushes you toward the trio. 

“Awesome introduction! Welcome to the team!”

Despite your disgruntled disposition you tend to hold your own quite well. Able to come out mostly unscathed thanks to your technique. Speaking of your technique one of its functions allows attacks against you to become diamonds and minerals that you can maneuver throughout the battle. When you’re not using them to fight, you aren’t afraid to fashion them into jewelry or, after meeting Maki, weapons. Needless to say, it’s helpful when it comes to anyone you’re fighting against cursed users or curses themselves.

Which is perfect for defending your friend in the Kyoto School Exchange. Their attacks both physical and cursed are thwarted by your own until the violent interruption. Before then though the professors watched with anticipation.

“Gojo Satoru, how much for the gem maker?”

The Kyoto School Exchange is where she sees you in action. She’s heard the whispers that Gojo’s been given a treasure-making curse-user for a student. She doubts it's as weird as they speak of but someone so money-driven is bound to be curious. 

The crow that returns from the forest is clutching a nugget of gold. Mei Mei gets it appraised and true enough it is a bonafide mineral. One selected among others you carry away or leave behind from your violent battle with the intruders.

“Not for sale.”

Gojo’s warning is ignored as Mei Mei is constantly sending crows to follow. She watches how you pay for your family’s expenses and spend time with them when you’re not scheduled for a mission. She notes how big you smile when they greet you and how hard you laugh. She finds it endearing. 

So endearing she devotes more of her energy to watching you do anything and everything. Where you go with your friends, where you eat, how you sleep. If it weren’t for Gojo she’d have a more concrete copy of your schedule by now but having the general ideas of your life is a good start.

“Nee-Sama! Don’t you want me by your side?”

“ I need you to watch someone for me.”

“Only for you, Nee-Sama!”

She kicks herself for asking Gojo about you. Since then he’s been hard-pressed to keep you far from her as you go on different missions. He’s strong but he can’t control everything. Sooner than he can threaten the council, Ui Ui is assigned to accompany you as you take on a grade 2 curse. 

“Uhm hope we can work together well, Ui Ui.”

“Hmph! I’m not going to speak to you, money bag.”

He quite obviously was jealous of his sister’s interest in you. Constantly degrading you or insulting you as you both learn how to work together and handle the curse. Despite his prickly beginnings with you, he finds himself in awe of you…

“Ui Ui! Teleport me onto the debris it consumes. I don’t care which one just do it.”

“But if you do that your gems won’t be able to manage your fall!”

“Don’t worry about it! Just do it.”

From what he’s heard from his sister you were forced into this. Unable to choose this life you’re still so willing to put yourself at risk. With the way the battle had been going, you could easily abandon the mission claiming it was too advanced. But you stayed and devoted your limited gems to protecting him.

With a pout and a blush, he found himself accepting the hug you gave him in achieving your victory. He cheekily praises you on the plan you came up with, still insulting you enough to keep you from noticing.

“You’re not nearly as powerful as my beloved Nee-Sama! She would have handled this in minutes.”

“Didn’t you say she was a special-grade sorcerer?”

“Yes…and by that standard we were decent.”

“Yeah, 30 minutes is pretty good.”

“Your standards need to be raised–” “Hey!” “-I think it’s important we keep contact for when that day comes.”

“Is this you’re roundabout way to ask for my number so we can hang out?”

“Think what you want! My Nee-Sama is the only one I bother planning to meet…I’ll text you.”

He’s lucky you don’t have a technique like Mei Mei’s otherwise you’d tease him to no end about how he kicks his feet when he texts you. With a blush and a chuckle, he’ll happily let his sister come in close as they watch your snap stories or a video you took.

“They seem perfect for us Nee-sama.”

“I agree. Now all that’s left is to take them for ourselves. Now to get past the famous Gojo Satoru.”

“You could beat him. Nee-Sama!”

“Hmmm, if only.”

The Shibuya incident couldn’t come any sooner. Having been paired up with Nobara, the siblings are all too keen on your proximity to them. When you casually respond to a text Ui Ui sends at the beginning of the mission, you couldn’t possibly be aware of the gears turning in their heads.

“Ara Yuji-kun, the gem user is also training to be a special grade, correct?”

“Uh yes, they were sayin’ something about retiring.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah!”

“Don’t respond so casually at Nee-Sama!”

Mei Mei is quick to take advantage when Gojo is sent in to fight. Far too focused on his battle she can devote a crow or two to follow your progress and intervening at close calls. Her plan is only to watch you, it is an unexpected advantage that the sorcerer that’s been guarding you so closely is sealed. 

“Eh? Gojo’s been sealed? What an interesting turn of events…he still owes me.”

After surviving the run-in with Kenjaku, she has no intentions of staying in Shibuya. She needed to change her currency after all. Before she leaves, she makes a point not to leave her gem, swiping you up before you can register. 

“W-what just–”, you call out as you look at your new environment. No longer in the heat of battle, you look amazed at the lush and luxurious hotel room. High above a glowing city, this wasn’t Shibuya…it didn’t even look like Japan.

“(Y/n)!”

Ui Ui hugs you tightly, beginning to worryly obsess over your wounds. When the crow imbued with his technique landed on you mid-fight, you were on the cusp of being greatly injured. A few scars, a broken rib, and muscles that’ll make your body ache for days are what you got away with. You considered yourself better off than some of the seniors you were fighting alongside.

“I have to go back! They need me!”

You struggle against Ui Ui’s tight grip, who took advantage of your injury to hold you still, you can’t properly detach yourself. Mei Mei pays no mind to your determined snarl, not even looking in your direction as she hurriedly types on her computer.

“Gojo Satoru’s been sealed.”

“I know that!”

“Do you though? Your family was promised to be protected as long as you stay in Jujutsu Tech.”

You think for a moment. You deflated, “Gojo….”

Finished typing she comes to your side, not minding her brother as she cradles your head to her chest, “With Gojo no longer around do you think they’d bother to keep them around?”

You floundered,“I- don’t- I–” 

Ui Ui hugs you tight, bringing your attention back to him as he looks up at you. 

“We are your family now.”

“What?!”

Mei Mei’s hands held your chin turning your face towards hers. Her hair was down and she was wearing a hotel’s robe. With a bandaid on her right cheek and the deep red of her lipstick. The look on her face was unreadable, her eyes looked too gleeful in comparison to yours.

“(Y/n), your family is being housed by some friends of mine.”

“But they didn’t tell me they moved.”

She chuckled, “Of course, they haven’t I wouldn’t allow them to.”

When you looked at her suspiciously, she squeezed your cheeks.

“For their safety, of course. I care for those I invest in.”

She let her other hand pet Ui Ui’s head. He blushed intensely muffling a ‘Nee-Sama’ into your clothes. You felt your lip curl in disgust.

“So you want me for the gems I make right?”

She smiled to herself, before beginning to unbutton your school uniform. Ui Ui readjusted his hug, forcing your arms to your sides as Mei Mei undid all your buttons. 

“I might have also decided you were just as valuable as your technique.”

You scoffed, “Yeah I doubt that.”

She laughed at you. “Think what you like but I’m sure your…family would love to hear from you.”

She held a burner phone out to you. It was opened to a contact profile with a group picture of your family. Wriggling your arm out of Ui Ui you reached to snatch it away only for her to easily hold it further away from you. 

“It’d be a shame if I changed my mind about funding their protection. Stay in my care from now on.”

“What are you getting at–”

The phone began to ring. You frantically reached for it, willing to endure Ui Ui’s grip and graze the edge of the phone.

“Promise me, (Y/n).”

“I-I promise! Please!” 

With a nod, the arms holding you released, letting you stumble and wince as you answer the call. With your back to the two of them, they smiled at one another gazing at the uniform shirt that easily slipped off in your struggle for the phone. Mei Mei holds the cloth in her hands caressing the jeweled buttons, she knows you custom-made. 

“Ui Ui.”

“Yes Nee-Sama?” 

“Wash their uniform and give them the change of clothes we brought for them.”

“Of course Nee-Sama!”

She starts to make her way back to the computer, resuming her business with those on the other line. Turning her head over her shoulder she watched the way you fiddled with the plants in the hotel room while chatting excitedly on the phone. She smiled as she watched her brother eye the shirt with a deep blush.

“Oh, Ui Ui.”

“Yes, Nee-Sama?”

“Be sure to breathe in with both your nose and mouth. It’s less likely you’ll pass out that way.”

“Thank you Nee-Sama.”

Looking out at the city Mei Mei felt triumphant. She finally had her gem and with the world ending, it was the perfect time.

[mybutcheredtongue]

I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

harry potter timeline Sirius Black x fem!reader

You lived out your years at Hogwarts with the company of your best friends, Lily Evans and Alice Fortescue. You fell in love with one of the infamous Marauders, Sirius Black. After school, you married and became Mrs Black, living in a home full of love and life with your faithful husband. Your happy life is cut short when Sirius is wrongfully convicted of the murder of Peter Pettigrew and several muggles, and sent straight to Azkaban without trial. The Ministry thinks you must be connected, but after several days of investigation and questioning, litres of veritaserum thrown down your throat, you're proven innocent. You have maintained his innocence ever since, knowing Sirius would never do something like that. The only person who'll hire you is Albus Dumbledore, and with his help your name is reverted to its maiden and your past is buried deep.

This story follows your life during your time as a professor at Hogwarts when Harry Potter joins the school and everything changes.

FULL of angst but has a happy ending.

No use of Y/N

This fic is mostly a collection of moments and scenes! So a lot of time skips.

p.s. title is from the song "I Love You" by Fontaines D.C. — one of my favourite bands!! would so so recommend checking them out :)

CHAPTER ONE (see full series list here)

1991

You glance at your watch, the hand ticking slowly as it moves to show 9:03 p.m.

Finally, the large wooden door opens and a scrawny young boy pushes forward, huffing tiredly, and less than 20 odd first-year students filter into the astronomy tower.

"Evening, everyone!" You say cheerfully. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws stand awkwardly as they gaze around the room in wonderment.

You feel proud of it. The last astronomy professor had left this room a little...boring, so when you came into employment you spruced it up a little bit. Though there aren't many to write on, each wall is plastered in hand-painted constellations with their names in 5 languages written underneath. You had cast a spell on the floor to conjure up a moon, one that matched the real one's lunar phases. Today, a waxing gibbous.

Telescopes line the edges of the circular room, each pointing high into the sky. You eye your favourite for a moment, the same telescope you'd used during your own years as a student at Hogwarts.

It feels like home in this room.

"Welcome to the Astronomy Tower," you say with a smile. "Here, you'll learn all about the wonders of our universe and its planets, galaxies, stars...everything. Please, find a telescope and stand behind it. We'll start with charting some simple constellations today."

The students obediently line behind a telescope each. Your eyes immediately focus on a young boy, with jet black hair and circular glasses. You lose your train of thought for a moment, feeling as though you're looking at a ghost.

He's the very image of James Potter.

Then, he turns to look at you and his eyes strike you. Green and vibrant, full of youth and gentleness.

Lily.

You feel your breath catch in your throat, but quickly shake your head of the grief and clap you hands, smiling at the students again.

"Astronomy is one of the very few subjects that is present in both the wizarding and the muggle world. That means that there are millions of resources out there for all of you to use, whether it be from a wizarding standpoint or a muggle one! Interesting stuff," you continue. "Now, I want you all to do a small task for me. Look through your telescope — please don't change any lenses just yet — and try and see if you can spot a constellation. Then, using the first page of your book, see if you can figure out which constellation it is. Call me over when you think you have one!"

The students immediately start rooting through their bags for their Astronomy textbooks and you sigh gently, content with your introduction. First-years are always well interested and curious about everything, so Astronomy is a pretty easy subject for them to get into. After all, lots of the first year curriculum is just looking at pretty stars and constellations.

"Professor, I think I have one!" A young Gryffindor girl with bushy brown hair and an excited face says to you, throwing her hand in the air enthusiastically.

You smile, walking over to her. "What's your name, dear?"

"Hermione Granger, professor."

"And what constellation do you think you've found?"

"Aquila, professor," she beams, pointing a finger to the small, 'T' shaped constellation in her book.

You close one eye and look through her telescope, noticing it immediately.

You grin at her. "Well spotted, Miss Granger! Excellent work." You glance at her scarlet and gold tie. "5 points to Gryffindor for being the first one!"

Her face lights up proudly.

"Now, let's see if you can find any of the stars present in it. Any at all, though you may find it difficult to differentiate — "

"The star of Altair, professor!"

Your eyes widen and you chuckle in surprise. "Well, aren't you just making my job a whole lot easier for me? Well done, Miss Granger. Please chart that constellation down on some parchment and continue looking."

In the next few minutes, many students find constellations and are charting them down. One boy seems to be having a particularly difficult time.

"Neville Longbottom, isn't it?" You say as you wander up to him. He jumps at the sound of your voice, knocking his forehead against the edge of his telescope and letting out a small yelp of pain. "Oh, sorry..." You wave your wand gently and his eyebrows raise, bringing a hand to his forehead in surprise.

"Just a small healing spell. For minor, minor injuries," you tell him. "How is your charting going?"

The boy's cheeks go red and his eyes focus on the floor beneath him. "I...haven't been able to find one, professor. I — I thought I had one ages ago, but there were too many stars in it..."

"Let me have a look, Mr Longbottom," you say kindly, bringing your eye up to the lens and grinning. "Well, you most definitely have found one. One I didn't think anyone would find!"

You glance at Neville's face, and he's the picture of shock.

"Pisces, Mr Longbottom. Trust your judgement! Excellent work."

Neville grins, and you step aside, but not before he says something else.

"Uh, professor..."

"Yes?"

"How do...how do you know my name?"

You study his face and smile again. The very picture of Frank Longbottom. With Alice Fortescue's mousy hair.

"I went to school with your parents, Mr Longbottom. You're the spitting image of your father."

Next, the young boy with jet black hair and glasses calls you over. Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived.

"What one have you found, Mr Potter?"

As he looks at you, green eyes connecting with your own, you try your hardest not to see Lily staring back at you. You try your hardest not to picture your best friend, your honourary sister, a woman of true light in a world full of darkness.

Your heart has felt lonely since her absence. Since James. Since Alice. Since Frank. Since Peter.

You blink.

"Uh, Canis Major, I think?"

You swallow hard. Of course.

"Let me have a look see..." He's right of course, you don't even need to look. You can spot that constellation any night without a telescope. You know it like the back of your hand. "You're dead right, Mr Potter. Brilliant constellation, that is. Canis Major means 'the Great Dog', and it actually contains the brightest star in the night sky visible to our naked eye, Si — "

"Oh, wait, hold on..." Harry says, flicking through his book to find the page on Canis Major. He pauses, eyes skimming down the page. "Uh, Sirius, right?"

You bite your lip, feeling your heart speed up. You take a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Yes, Mr Potter. Sirius."

Your favourite star.

Your favourite person.

Your heart has been broken since his absence.

"Good work." You promptly spin on your heel, heading for your desk as you glance down at your watch. "Alright, everyone. Excellent work today! Now, I won't set anyone any written homework...but if you're truly interested and find you have a little free time, try and see if you can chart any other constellations! Night, everyone."

The students chat animatedly amongst themselves and exit down the spiral stairs, leaving you alone in the room. You sit down at your desk, sighing as you slip a key from your pocket and open one of the drawers. You pull out a small photograph, eyes wandering over the young, elated faces of James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Alice Fortescue, Frank Longbottom, and yourself.

Graduation day.

One the left, you're standing in the middle of Alice and Lily, arms around them and laughing wholeheartedly. James stands beside Lily, arms around her and Sirius beside him, who's connected with Remus, Peter, and Frank.

You smile weakly. You remember that day, all full of hope and joy. There was some sadness too, sadness to be leaving Hogwarts and ultimately leaving childhood.

Your fingers gently skim over Sirius' face, feeling your heart ache.

What you wouldn't give to go back to that day.

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

Dear Moony,

I hope you're well! School's started back up again. Been a bit crazy lately, sorry that I haven't written since your last letter. Someone let a troll into the dungeon. Quirrell went mad, fainted in the middle of dinner and set all the students into a panic. It was torture.

Harry's started here. It's hard to look at him sometimes. He's the image of James. It's uncanny. He has Lily's eyes, too. Sometimes I start to feel like I can talk to them through him, even though I know that's mad of me. Neville Longbottom's here too. He's just like his parents. Both in Gryffindor, you'll be happy to know.

Dumbledore's gave me strict instructions not to say a word to Harry about it all. Says it'll be too much for him. He won't be able to understand why I couldn't have raised him instead of the Dursleys. He says that Harry will only start digging around for more information on me if he finds out I'm his godmother. He'd ask about his godfather then. It's too much for a young boy to know that his godfather is in Azkaban.

I wanted to talk to him so bad, Remus. I want to tell him about his parents, show him the photos. I want him to be able to feel at home here, feel like he's got someone here. A part of his family. I know exactly what those Dursleys are like. Petunia always hated James, you know that well enough. I hate that I have to keep this secret for even longer.

I talked to young Neville though. Merlin, he has Alice's clumsiness, that's for sure. Such a sweet lad. He was more than happy to see photos of the two and hear stories about them. I feel like a little bit of the weight that's been hanging over me has been lifted. I even showed him that photo of Alice falling into the Black Lake in 5th Year. If she was of sound mind she'd surely throttle me for that.

I think I need to get out of the castle for a bit. Wanna get a coffee? It's been a while.

I've omitted a few details of the past few weeks so I have something interesting to tell you about next weekend, if you're up for it.

all my love,

You sign the letter, folding up the parchment gently and dropping it in an envelope. You grab your bland wax stamper and press a small circle of black wax over the envelope's seal. You slip it into your pocket and stand up from your bed. Beside you, your black cat, Dubh*, stirs from her sleep and meowls at you.

You give her a loving scratch behind the ears. "Just popping down to the owlery. I'll be back."

On your way down to the owlery, you pass two lanky, identical students with heads full of ginger hair. They haven't noticed you yet. They're peering around the corner at Filch, a suspicious-looking bag in one of their hands.

"Bit late for the two of you to be out, isn't it?" You whisper behind them. They wheel around immediately and their eyes widen in shock.

"Professor! We — uh, we weren't doing anything!" George blurts out.

"Don't you look just lovely tonight, Professor? There is such a...healthy glow about you," Fred remarks suavely and you raise an unamused eyebrow at him.

"I sincerely hope you don't think I'm that thick, Mr Weasley."

"Never, Professor!"

You sigh, shaking your head. "Off to bed, both of you. Quickly, before Filch can catch you. I advise you to keep your pranks within the time you're actually allowed out of bed."

Fred's shoulders slump in disappointment, his want for a good prank evident on his face. George however, is staring at you in surprise.

"No detention?"

Fred immediately smacks his hand over the back of George's head, scowling at him. "Don't give her any ideas!"

"Get going, you two."

They take it this time, quickly scampering down the hallway. You step out from it, into the same one as Filch, who's eyeing you suspiciously.

"Is someone there?"

"Only me, Mr Filch," you answer.

"I thought I heard voices."

"Just me. I was trying to remember a poem I heard recently, it's three pages long. Would you like to hear it?"

Filch's face contorts immediately. "No."

You shrug. "Suit yourself."

You walk past him and out into the cold night air, trying to suppress the smile on your face.

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

->-> read chapter two here!

*Dubh: pronounced 'duv'. Irish word for 'black'.

→ all types of interaction appreciated ♡

[al-the-remix]

I know nothing about 911 but seeing all the bucktommy posts makes me really interested, if you don’t mind could you give a short introduction of the ship/which episode(s) to watch for them? Thanks!!

Hi! So the ship is a very new one and they don't have a lot of screen time yet, so their relationship only appears in season seven, episodes: 7x3 to 7x6 and then 7x9 and 7x10. Tommy Kinard as a side character also shows up in episodes 2x9, 2x12, 2x14 (in an off-screen capacity) and 2x16.

As for the introduction, the lore with this show runs sort of deep, but as condensed and simplified as I can give it to you: the decision to introduce bi!Buck and Tommy and his love interest was made very last minute (like as the first few episodes of season seven were coming out kind of last minute...) as the tv show switched networks from FOX to ABC and was working with a protracted season, (10 episodes in stead of 18), so this first season you see them together in has a very "let's see how well this works and if the general audience approves of it" kind of vibe.

Obviously, it worked for me! And the general reception has been good. Personally, I find their dynamic fun and genuine; the show runner was aiming for a non-heavy coming out story with a romcom twist, which I think they succeeded at. Buck (or "Evan" as Tommy calls him) is sort of the obvious favourite of the show in the audience and the writer's eyes, he's gotten a lot of development over the years, but has stagnanted recently on the romance side of things and also in his professional development, (which is partly the fault of the writers and partly just bad luck with maintaining actors). So I think a lot of fans are excited to see him "off the hamster wheel", as they say, in the love department. This opens up the possibility to explore other plot lines with him as a character in his professional life and personal life now that hes in a steady relationship.

Tommy we don't know much about yet, other than he was deeply in the closet when we first see him in the season 2 flash-back episodes. He's not initially a very warm, welcoming, and accepting person, but it's implied that a lot of that behavior was influenced by his environment and poor upbringing, and he is quick to make amends and befriend the main characters when he's shown to be in the wrong. He used to be in the army, and is a fan of cars, martial arts, and rom coms. The way he talks in the season seven episodes makes it clear that he's done a lot of self reflection since we've last seen him (and since he's come out). He's shown to be an open and honest person who does his best to show up for the people he cares for, and once Buck is in his line of sight, all that attention is turned his way.

I think with this ship what people are most excited about is the potential it demonstrates: Buck as a character is someone who's been on an aggressive misson of self discovery and understanding, he's been actively looking for a romantic partner to have a committed, mature relationship with, he's someone who's willing to give a lot of himself away to his partner and is desperately hoping to have that attention and affection mirrored back at him.

What little we know about Tommy so far makes it clear that he's mature and willing enough to be that person for Buck: if it works out and the writers allow him to be. I just really enjoy what little I've seen so far, and with the show being back to its regular 18 episodes next season and Tommy pretty much confirmed to return, I'm interested and invested and hopefully in where they may take this relationship next.

Also I feel like I need to add if you're going to engage with the fandom specifically for this ship, do it through the #bucktommy tag on tumblr, because it's a real mine field out there right now, lol.

[xiii-e]

XIII▸ Well. I suppose I should introduce myself.

XIII▸ Hello, to all those I haven't met- which, will be most of you realistically. I'm Project XIII-E, otherwise refered to as Thirteen-E. Just Thirteen works too. After certain recent... events shall we say, a representative of the Union DoJ/HR insisted that I be given the oppertunity to meet with people outside of Harrison Purview while discussions regarding my status are underway, since things are dragging out somewhat.

XIII▸ So... this omninet account was created, with the assistance of Helios-8 [◂▸Hi folks o/ ] a fellow Project who understands all of this better than I do. He's volunteered to be my minder while I'm figuring all this out. For now, I suppose- more about me? What's important... I'm a trained field medic and basic mechanic, intended to opperate as a mobile assistance personnel wherever the fight is thickest. I can patch you, or your mech up from most things. I'm a Lancaster pilot; not the most common thing in the legion I know, but IPS-N knew what they were doing with the old lannies. I've made some alterations. M1 Leatherback is my pride and joy. I'm registered under the callsign Cicatrice, but my name is preferable. It's easier to say, and to spell.

XIII▸ Oh the uh- the Project thing. That might take a while to explain. I'll... I'll summarise it later. [ADDENDUM: summary_attached] That's all I can think of, from the top of my head. I'll do my best to aclimatise to any cultural differences outside of Harrison space during my time here. Please feel free to ask me questions, about myself or my stated expertise. It might be nice to make some more lasting connections, outside of deployment.

XIII▸ Signing off for now. I look forward to meeting you.

// loading echo.exe ... //... //... // now running echo.exe

◂▸ alrightyy, Turtie's got themself introduced, now it's my turn. howdy folks: My name is Helios-8, but I accept Lio if flashclone naming conventions turn your stomach. That's what me and Turtie are, by the way. Project-produced HA sanctioned flashclones. Being able to say that openly is why I run this nifty piece of software that keeps things below the line for any HA techs who might get on our case about legal distinctions, treaties, terms of service etc. Legally, we didn't say any of this shit.

◂▸I'm on a seperate datapad, I get my own that I can tinker with since I'm defined as an employed citizen in the tech sector, whereas Turtie's... well, it's complicated. Suffice to say they're not that. I'll explain in time. Important thing is, anything they want to say that might get them in trouble, they'll run through my interface and protective software. You want to see what either of us don't want HA seeing, we'll throw it into the void under the cloak of ECHO here. Something between insurance in case this all goes tits up, and a sort of controlled exposure therapy so Turtie can learn how to speak their mind.

◂▸I think it's important they get a break from the bullshit the Projects put us through, hence why I put myself forward to be their handler between deployments. My project line wasn't anything like Unlucky Thirteen, but- ehhh, that's a story better saved for the big expo. Sorry for being cryptic about shit. It'll come to light in its own time. This was meant to be an introduction but, I think you'll find out what you need to if you get talking to us.

Or don't; we'll be treating this thing like a diary anyways, and when ECHO's feeling up to big files I'll drop some of the more interesting pieces of history I have squirreled away too >:]c But, your eyes are enough. You saw us. You know we were here, and we were real, and that we were people too.

I'll try and keep things organised: ECHO should automatically tag anything she's cloaked with echo.exe if you're looking for our back and forth, and I'll file any large files, exposes etc that may or may not actually come from me under turtleshell.dox ; for incoming chatter, just check out You've Got Mail

◂▸anyway, cheers for reading. see you round the net -Helios-8

-----

// ooc: hiii this is @mossydice / @mossylocks depending on where you may know me- and this blog is a bit of an experiment!! I'm pretty shy overall so how much actual rping I manage to do is Very up in the air, but at the very least this'll serve as a fun in character blog for me to exposit about my scrungly Thirteen-E; I won't get to play them for probably another year or so yet, so this is a fun way to explore their character and some of the lore specific to them that I've come up with in the mean time!! ^-^ I look forward to doing more ic writing!! If you want to talk about anything, ask any clarifying questions etc please feel absolutely free to pop into my dms \o/

IMPORTANTLY: Thirteen-E's whole deal can get a bit gritty in places, so I'll be trying to include cw's where I think they might be revelent. However this whole blog is going to play heavy into dehumanisaiton and the comodification of human bodies if the flashclone premise didn't make that obvious, so if these are topics you'd rather not read about at length in your fiction, no hard feelings!! thanks for stopping by o7

[thecrustiestpurp]

Genius writing of Pavitr Prabhakar

They made an ass of a spiderman in theory yet he's my favourite out of all of them and naturally I'm thinking why.

Ignoring the aesthetic aspects like his sick design and his distinctive web slinging style. I think it's most interesting how they do this through the writing, the way they tackle his fatal flaw, his fat ego and blind optimism by creating a really sharp interval logic and communicating this within the space of 15 minutes.

We understand that his big ego is all earnest and out of naivite rather than him putting down others. He just so happens to be the best and perfect, and therefore everything is great for him. He was given a blessing at a very young age to be a spider and he happens to be good at it of course he's going to be prideful how can it not be. And why would he not gloat, he's a perfect guy perfect grades perfect hair and he knows that makes him special. Especially considering the rest of the Spider-Verse, having a perfect one like Pavitr is unexpected so we're at least intrigued by him.

But why do we like him despite characters with perfect lives and a big ego typically being frustrated. Using his humour the writers made his introduction it as playful as possible so we laugh at how him you know. One of the first things he says is "being Spiderman is so easy" and knowing he's been at it for 6 months it's super funny. He's also relatable, the successes he points out, skipping working out because he has a perfect body, having a girlfriend her parents don't know about, doing well in school are all things that are relatable to us especially if you're Indian, it feels like a real student who's living their best like. Also playfulness is maintained when they go to unglitch spots thing the collider scene, he treating it with even less seriousness "just another easy day of being spiderman" he says and is subsequently blown up - it's funny. We also can't get annoyed during that scene really being invasive to Miles' attempts and channelling the electricity so he's not being frustrating to us or to Miles, just a little naive. We can get humour from it but we also understand this as a flaw too because of the dramatic irony, we're hinting that he's not supposed to think this way.

They also give him the nice internal logic making his mindset sympathetic by testing it within the movie. In the saving India scene, what's most notable is the line "I can do both" turning his idealism into tragedy when he's faced between saving his girlfriend and saving his girlfriends dad. The surrounding microelements and whatnot making the atmosphere feel dire which contributes to the tragedy. But it's that were seeing the life that he easily lives turning on its head. His mentality given definition as a this it will work out so long as I do it, a noble origin for his confidence. Though he knows he's special but he doesn't think he's any more valuable. "do both" showing no real bias towards to what directly affects him - he can empathise with his girlfriend and recognise loosing her and her dad would be devastating. He's not egotistical like thinking he's better than others, he's empathetic and values the people he saves as well as the people they value. The words "do both" colours his saving as this as being an overexertion, he's unaware of what he can't do solidifying his perspective of viewing this as easy coming from a place of naivite. Additionally he has to be the one to save people - "I can do both" - and this is why being Spider-Man is easy for him, it has to be. This all makes him more understandable and the fact this is clearly failing him and tragically makes him sympathetic. Moreover, we care about the love for his girlfriend and for his people because it was fun hearing him explain it earlier so its even more sympathetic that he's loosing what he loves. I think this also stops being a careful what you wish for where we could reproach him because of the scenery we understand him to have.

It seems more he does everything because he's so loving, and he just so happens to be blessed and stuff. Which is super enjoyable to watch! and this burst of characterisation happens in like 20 minutes so like wowowowoowwwowoowowowowow

Anyway, this isn't the greatest most insightful analysis but I just had to ramble about my favourite boy!!

[evanox]

If you joined the fandom some time after Anisa's rewrite like I did, and you've yet to come across (formerly) Nix Hydra's official youtube channel, I cannot recommend enough that you go and watch the playthrough of Anisa's first two chapters. GOD they're just SO delightful; especially if you're interested in Astraea's worldbuilding (or at least a taste of it).

The little details such as the occasional line pointing to Mournfall folk making their living through fishing, or how it's common for mischievous kids to go to the abandoned temple to mess around with magic, or how there are wards implemented by the city during the war 5 years ago to detect and prevent magical disturbances---all of that contributes to breathing so much life into our setting, rather than it just serving the simple purpose of being A Place Where Things Happen.

Not only that, but Anisa's personality shines SO much brighter in this older version. She already surprised me in the old prologue when she pounced at Sage for a hug in the tavern. I know she gives him the cold shoulder in our current version because of the whole betrayal thing, but angst aside, I still couldn't imagine our stiff and uptight Anisa offering either of her friends physical affection (she's just so exasperated with them all the time that it's hard to believe they were friends at any point), so that moment in the older prologue was very endearing to me.

(Also the banter between the three Starsworn is chef's kiss in the older version.)

Anisa pointing out how MC deserves the right to choose a mentor since they had no choice in their predicament is consistent across both prologues, but in the first (old) chapter Anisa chides Felix for not being considerate of the Mournfall townspeople who already suffered enough during the war, and it really drives in the point of how thoughtful and empathetic Anisa is. It also contributes to my point about how the little details in this version breathe life into Astraea---the impact of the war on its citizens is acknowledged; it's not just an event that drives the plot/drives the protagonists' angst.

On top of that, Anisa is very passionate about her job, a total workaholic, and a very curious cat; so much so that she was willing to go investigate the city wards despite being on vacation. For as straightlaced as she may be, she's not above a little mischief, grinning at you when you point out she's going against the orders of her Captain. All of these traits immediately endeared her to me, and they're kind of lost/diminished in the rewrite when her primary motivation for her workaholic tendencies becomes "I need to prove I'm good and pure to distance myself from my evil father's shadow."

Also, Saaros is introduced halfway through chapter 2 so it gives Anisa the chance to breathe and establish herself as a character before she has to share the spotlight w/ a masc-presenting character who'll steal most of the fandom's attention, as is every fictif female LI's curse. Additionally, the elf's introduction is more impactful than that in the rewritten chapter. In the latter, they're first seen complaining about lotions (which establishes that Saaros is someone really picky about their beauty routine), whereas in the old chapter, Saaros is taunting a vendor peddling "spiritual-cleansing" potions (the Astraean equivalent of essential oils only this one's effects are even more dubious). They spill the bottle of potion onto the ground and turn their nose up at Anisa when she asserts her position as a knight, deliver a speech about how Porrimans pretend like they play by the rules while letting charlatans run loose, and then march off. This establishes that Saaros is not someone you can easily fool, and Saaros does not think highly of Porrima or its authority and is not afraid to state their opinion about either. That hints at just how difficult Anisa's spy mission will be, and only at the end of the chapter do we find out this bold elf is Anisa's spy target, assigned to her by Archmage Escell himself.

Now, I'm not saying that Anisa being rewritten to be the LOS daughter is necessarily bad, but God what would I give just to see Dev's vision for Anisa before Lulu came along because it seems SO interesting. Perhaps not as intense as having the main villain as your dad (tbh they kinda ruined it by revealing it from like... the first or second chapter, but that's neither here nor there), but given that Sage and Felix's routes are already packed with angst and secrecy, Anisa's would come as a fresh breath of air---while you have to play therapist for the two male LIs to help them unpack all that baggage, you get to be on equal footing with Anisa and play detectives/spies with her.

It's got the same vibe as what the Arcana team was going for with Portia, only this one's done SO much better. I could never quite put my finger on why I just wasn't feeling Portia's route, but I guess that might have to do with how disconnected she is from everything established by the other routes. Asra, Julian, and Nadia are former friends who plotted together to take down the self-absorbed and useless Count Lucio, and Muriel is Asra's friend whose life was entirely jeopardized by Lucio's tribe first and then Lucio himself second. Portia is Julian's sister who arrived in Vesuvia not too long ago and she's not really friends with any of these characters (besides maybe the romance she gets with Nadia in Julian's route), nor is she really affected by Lucio so the route gives her an entirely different villain to defeat. In a way, it has become its own story without space to grow as a story should because of the chapter limit. The other routes get away with the chapter limitation because they all complement each other--telling the same story from different perspectives.

That's not really the cause for Anisa because she is at the heart of the conflict as one of the three last surviving Starsworn, suffered in the war as they did and is very empathetic towards the people affected by it. Her lower social status makes it harder for her to climb up the ranks until Escell himself offers to sponsor her if she'll spy on Saaros for him. So, even without the LOS relationship, Anisa is very well-entangled in the plot to make her route relevant and engaging.

It's a shame there are only 2 chapters out and you can only see the choices that the person recording chose, but also it seems like this was recorded at a time when the chapter wasn't even completed because honey what is THIS

[itsboredoom]

So, about names in yorukura.

This is very obviously about the episode nine montage and, well, everything that happened in that episode, but the whole thing goes way back to Mei's introduction, if not further.

Mei is Nonoka's fan first and foremost, and Kano tries to correct her, but ultimately fails as the series goes on. We already knew that Kano doesn't feel particularly good about her old self, but after the events of this episode it becomes much clearer what the name "Nonoka" means to her.

Yukine stopped having a daughter. Or more accurately, she stopped having her daughter and replaced her with an idol persona, only acting motherly to keep her dreams afloat (on an unrelated note, I think she treats Mero the same way, considering how Mero thinks of her). Kano expresses discomfort in her persona, and even more so, when talking to her father, she feels happy to be called by her real name for the first time "in ages". She discovers the mural and falls in love with its weirdness, with its expressiveness, and writes lyrics about how it gives her the hope she can shine on as herself.

Kano knows better than anyone how much names affect your perception of someone, she experienced it first hand. Which leads us to Yoru/Mahiru. Kano has been using "Yoru", Mahiru's artist name, all the way until episode 7. That is when she starts seeing Mahiru as much more than an artist. It's interesting, knowing Kano prefers going by her real name, and specifically asks her if she also has a preference. It is one of the many ways she parallels yet differs from her mother, from chasing numbers to registering creator and person who creates as different terms (Yoru and Mahiru, Nonoka and Kano).

In the fallout, the lovely line of "you're just a jellyfish who can't swim" starts with Kano correcting herself from using "Mahiru" to using "Yoru", because at that moment she was betrayed by the artist who went behind her back and teamed up with the enemy, and yet when she's by herself she still says Mahiru, because she was betrayed by the friend who values working under her mother more than her.

Mahiru stance to "Yoru" is pretty unclear to me. At the start of the show it is a name she has abandoned, alongside her artistic expression, for fear of being made fun of. But when she gets asked what she prefers, she says Yoru is fine. I think for her, now that she's grown back into her passion, they mean the same thing. Which also alludes to her choice. She wants to draw and to improve and to do anything to become better. Mahiru is slowly becoming more Yoru, and that is exactly what affected her relationship with Kano.

And that is without even going into Mei not being fully Japanese and therefore bullied as child for being called Kim, until she changed herself to fit in. Or Kiui finding confidence in her name and her uniqueness until it was stripped away from her once she didn't grow out of it, becoming a shut-in and expressing herself under the alias of Nox.

In conclusion, knowing how much I struggle to name my own characters I feel bad for the writers who had to come up with so many but goddamn if that doesn't elevate the story so much more. This episode was pain and I really wish hopeless lesbian Kano learns how to communicate about what her past means to her, since she's been failing at that from the very start of the series.

[evelhak]

I’m curious about a few: Propinquity, Anem and Bitchberg (a great name, lol)

Well, you've already read about Bitchberg by now from the previous ask. :D

Lol, I actually winced a little when I saw you asked about "Propinquity" since it's the current working title of my Akashi centric fic, and I know you don't find him that interesting. It's still just a bunch of "notes" (=bits of monologue and dialogue that come to me and I have to write down so I won't forget). I haven't actively started this fic yet, since I can't really write multiple projects at the same time. I will probably have to finish another shorter fic after The Luminous Things, before I get to this one.

I know the opening lines, though:

Winning is like breathing. Sometimes I wake up, gasping for air, but my lungs seem to have fallen into a partial state of paralysis.

Or something fairly close to that. The idea has been in my head for a long time, because I really enjoy digging up ignored dimensions that kind of naturally follow from whatever is going on in canon.

There is of course one thing in this fic that could interest you: The main love interest is an OC. :) You know some things about Azumi already. Here's a snippet that will probably serve as her introduction in the fic:

I absolutely pretended to be the empress of this micro-utopia, growing up. Not because it was mine to conquer, or control. Because it was mine to know. To pick apart. Explore, taste, and merge with. A little pocket of wonder in this huge city, a bubble with its own rules. That's what I came to realise pretty soon, anyway. About the world. How different, how illogical and ultimately unsatisfying it was, compared to my shrine, my home, my own ecosystem, my island of undisturbed ground. It frustrates me that the rest of the world doesn't know how to do it. Live and let live. Give and take. Circle of life. A system that works. Because I was born into it. An heir to it. Happiness.

Micro-utopias are a huge element in my whole fic series as it progresses, and there are several kinds of them, Azumi's home life being its own example. Utopia is generally something I'm really interested to write about, especially because a lot of people claim you can't write interesting utopia without making it dystopia in the end, and I very much disagree with that, as people are always imperfect, so you don't need to add any intentionally awful circumstances for a story to have conflict, if you're writing believable people. For me, the key to what makes the most out of utopia is to centre it around whose utopia it is and why. This got slightly off topic, these are just themes I really like exploring and since my fics are my playground, I definitely use them for exploration of things I might want to write later in a more polished form in my original fiction.

The working title "Propinquity" came while I was writing a chapter in The Luminous Things where Kagami ends up lost in Kyoto (it's complicated) and spends the night in Azumi's place, where he has many enlightening conversations with Akashi. (Azumi and Akashi are already together in my main fic timeline, their own fic will cover how they got together, among other things.)

Here's a snippet from the chapter also titled "Propinquity", which I haven't yet posted anywhere, so things might still change a little, but for now, Akashi muses something like this in it:

"[Propinquity] is the central theme of this shrine. Things develop, and change, and prosper in propinquity. It rings true, doesn’t it? Right things, wrong things… so it really matters what you surround yourself with. It’s not enough to know and think. You have to see, and taste, and touch… A plant wouldn’t grow from the understanding that it needs water, if it never got it. It would still die from poison, no matter how informed it was. Azumi knew all of this, so bone deep. That’s why she was disappointed with the world. That’s why she retreated back to her paradise. I think that’s what caught my attention at first. How she had a physical place to go to when she needed to get away."

I probably would not have developed any need to write a story about Akashi's love life on my own. (Well, it's not all there is to it, but it is a how-they-get-together type of story). It was the influence of my ex, who's a big Akashi fan, and as I have probably said before, Azumi was originally her OC that we worked on together a lot. Eventually I grew attached to Akashi and Azumi together, and now I have my own version of the story.

I don't think I actually read any Akashi x OC fics myself, but my ex read them and complained about them, usually, and I picked up on two pretty common patterns, which I didn't want to do: I didn't want the OC to be 1) poor, or 2) have a similar family dynamic and childhood trauma as Akashi. This is because I wasn't interested in dealing with the power imbalance that tends to come with very different socioeconomic standing, and I also didn't want to write a relationship where people get stuck in validating each other's trauma, and it takes them a long time to grow beyond that phase because their relationship is centred around how similar their experiences are. I wanted to hit that sweet spot which I like the most, a relationship that centres around growth, having enough common ground, and being inspired by things about the other that you've never experienced before, or even believed really exists in the world. The kind of relationship that makes you feel that you want to fill your own gaps, and a key factor in that is the proximity, or, propinquity to a person you can rely on, because they don't have the same weaknesses as you. I just really love writing about people who are good influences to each other.

A lot of this fic will also be about dissociation and trauma. Yay.

Anem, then, is another original novel I've started multiple times without being completely satisfied. The premise is pretty classic religious cult + good girl/bad girl dynamic, or at least would seem like that in the beginning.

Here's how I seem to have described it on my website at some point:

Dina is a good girl. She picks up flowers every morning, to put on the altar of her family’s home. She’s chaste, she’s beautiful. She fears God. Semira is a “Wild One”, she rarely goes to church, she speaks out of turn. She could be beautiful, if her hair wasn’t so short. Dina doesn’t think it’s her job to save Semira. After all, if the Fathers don’t know how to help the girl, how could she? But Dina keeps ending up spending time with Semira anyway, and the more she does, the stronger the big black swirling something grows in her stomach. There’s clearly something very wrong about Semira. And there’s something wrong about the woods surrounding their isolated village. Dina knows she’s supposed to stay away, but Semira keeps going into the woods.

It has a lot bigger world and anything but clear-cut themes and dynamics, even though it may seem like that in the beginning... and it's one of those early projects that are sort of everything, because you're not good at narrowing it down yet. It's like a dystopian supernatural medieval fantasy horror philosophical cult story I wrote just to barf out everything I was thinking in my early years of studying theology. It's certainly a cult story, but is the cult the big bad or the world around it? It's certainly a queer story, but is it a love story or a hate story? It's certainly trying to say something, but what? No one knows, not even me. It's a big mess.

I'm also starting to feel like I'm dealing with every element and theme I have in this story, in some other story too, and coincidentally someone from my writing group actually just got a book published this year that has a strikingly similar setting and themes, (we both wrote them without knowing about each other) and even though it shouldn't, it does kind of add to my confusion to what to do with this story. I do still want to write it at some point, but it's a big question mark that sort of just pops up from below the surface every time I'm not actively thinking or writing about another project.

Some angsty pictures of Dina, also drawn in my early university years (Oh Lord how obvious my Arina Tanemura influences still were in the way I draw):

Yeah... at least they are accurately dramatic to the story.

Thanks for the ask. I hope there was something entertaining. <3

For anyone curious, here's the WIP list.

[otherentrance]

um. an analysis of martha & ten in s3e1 of doctor who or whatever

now when it comes to the tenth doctor's companions you only really hear about rose and donna. and that's great, that makes a lot of sense, i get it. but that meant i really had nothing to go off of with the introduction of martha jones in series 3 & setting aside the fact that i immediately loved her, it really struck me just how calculated the doctor was in that first episode in regard to letting her on

i think its fascinating actually, because in "The Runaway Bride" (the christmas special between series 2 & 3) the doctor had just lost rose. like it went: "Rose Tyler, i love you" *30 seconds later, Donna has entered the chat* "Who the hell are you?" so it makes sense that he's super out of it that whole special

a new end of world crisis is thrown on him, a new person is thrown in his life, & its all happening before he's had time to process the end of "Doomsday". by the end of the special i didnt get why donna didnt go with him, but i get it now

it was all just so much so fast. unfortunately, i dont think we know how much time has passed between The Runaway Bride & Smith and Jones, but he's apparently had enough time to settle two things:

despite his protests, there's no avoiding what donna made him promise. "find someone", "i dont need anyone", "yes you do. because sometimes i think you need someone to stop you.", "yeah"

the fashion in which he wants to go about finding said someone

ok

in that first scene martha and the doctor have together, where the doctor is pretending to be a patient, right off the bat he's got this cheery neutrality to all the doctors-in-training crowding his bed. martha just happens to be the one called up to diagnose him, and he seems to like the way she reacts to finding out he's got two hearts

its interesting, she just takes it calmly, no freaking out or even mentioning it. this is a pattern with martha, she just accepts whatever situation shes in and rolls with it. and the doctor's got this look on his face when he looks at her in that first scene, neutral smile, raised eyebrows, he's curious he's probing the waters he's trying to figure her out

right off the bat, the doctor is curious as to what sort of person martha is. & i dont have the background of how he met rose (because im not watching doctor who in order) but im assuming, based on how it ended, that everything about her sort of happened to him. like she just burst into his life, blinding, and they crashed into each other

so it makes sense, indeed its incredibly human of him, to take the exact opposite approach with a new companion. he doesnt want to fall apart like he did for rose, so he's going in all experimental and curious neutrality and its fascinating because he's not even emotionally distant!

right, ten's emotions are something that gets talked about a lot, about how buried they are. its funny, ten is telling martha who he is instead of showing. (because if you're upfront with the things that hurt you then its all out in the open and you can put distance between yourself and the significance of your own experiences)

im getting ahead of myself. second scene they have together

ten comments on how smart martha is with the whole "if the air was gonna get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didnt!" thing. this objective observational approach to bizarre situations seems to be the first thing that draws martha and ten together. shes smart, and clear-headed, and curious. like he is

and then! and then and then!! "fancy going out [-side, on the moon, where there's no oxygen]?" "okay." "we might die." "we might not." "...good, come on."

good. good. like a teacher asking a question and getting the answer they want. the line is delivered slowly (which is saying something because jesus christ david tennant talks fast) and deliberately. if the question is "will you risk your life in the name of figuring out what's going on?" then the answer is "yes, not only will i risk my life but i choose to put my faith in the chance that i live."

curiously, i think it's this gift for hope martha has that ten is drawn to. i think he's been flying by the skin of his teeth, running on hope and running out of it, and martha is an optimist. a curious, smart, observant, optimist. god i love her already

(at the end of that interaction ten specifically points to the other woman with martha and says "not her, she'll hold us up". he's chosen his subject, and disregarded the other potential opportunities. its so calculated)

scene three, that balcony scene.

turns out they can breathe on that balcony, wahoo. martha remembers that party with her family and starts getting choked up. "you okay?" "yeah" "you sure?" "yeah" "you wanna go back in?" "no way, we could die any minute but all the same its beautiful"

ten sees her getting emotional and, briskly, asks if shes okay. she insists she is twice in a row and shoves down her emotions in favor of admiring the view. and who is this reminding me of?

okay so thats the fourth thing of note then. she's calm, smart, hopeful, and ignores her own emotions in crisis. and she finds joy in that view too! its beautiful! standing in the earth light.

she finally asks him whats happened, and he turns the question back on her. here we go, fifth thing. "extraterrestrial. idk a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days?" she pays attention. complete opposite of donna, she's caught up on the alien events going on and she believes them

moving right along: ten makes the decision to open up to martha, and tell her his real name. "what, people call you The Doctor?" "yeah" "well im not, as far as im concerned you've got to earn that title" "well i better make a start then"

i love this interaction. he's telling her his name and instead of ogling at the weirdness she says "earn it." like its a challenge. my current hypotheses, having not seen the rest of season 3, is that this is a unique quirk of their dynamic. martha wont just take his bullshit, or ogle at his space-alien-ness, or let him take charge just to follow after going "what the hell??". she'll catch right up with him and help figure out the mystery as well

ok scene 4

"if they're [jabloon, monster of the week] police are we under arrest? are we trespassing on the moon or something?" "no, but i like that! good thinking."

again, she's sharp. creative. and then the reveal that the doctor's non-human! oh youre kidding me, dont be ridiculous, stop looking at me like that. 13 seconds. "oh you're kidding me, you're not non-human" to "well shit, guess he is" in 13 seconds! she's marvelous! she just takes it!

fifth scene, the whole The Doctor is trying to figure out the situation and the companion is hanging back asking questions and trying to get their head around the whole space alien thing while he spits information a mile a minute. its crazy, she keeps up! like not just with how freaking fast ten talks, with what he's saying!

im a broken record, she just believes it all its wild. she recognizes the situation as a problem, accepting each piece of information as valuable and true, and works to solve it i love you martha jones

ok i cant sit here going scene by scene lets jump to the end shall we

scene i lost count. the tardis is parked in some back alley after a fiasco of that family party for marthas brother

the initial test is over, and martha's passed. the doctor wants to take a chance on her

"i just thought, since you saved my life and ive got a brand-new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip?"

evidently martha cant say no to that so we, lovely viewers, are treated to a classic "its bigger on the inside!" scene. and ten's got that look on his face again! carefully cataloging her reaction, sizing her up.

coming full circle, martha asks about the doctors previous companions (again), and its fascinating comparing this scene with the opening of "The Runaway Bride"

where donna stumbled across rose's jacket, assumed ten had kidnapped her, and confronted him about it, thus throwing the hurt of loosing rose right back in his face, ten puts it all out in the open for martha right off the bat

im the doctor, ive got a brand new sonic screwdriver, the tardis is bigger on the inside, and the last one was rose. welcome aboard

even while throwing it all out in the open, ten quickly says "anyway" like he doesnt want to talk about it. when martha asks where she is (like donna did) ten assures her that rose is safe and fine. directly doing the opposite of how donna approached the subject

and still ten insists that martha isnt going to be "the new companion". that shes here for one trip, then back home. he knows donna was right, he needs someone, he promised her. he knows but he doesnt want it, yet. hes telling martha the situation while still walling off his actual feelings about it

which explains why ten reacts so badly to martha teasing him about that kiss from earlier. when she opens up the situation like he's flirting he shuts her down fast. but when she turns it into a joke, and says she's not interested we get "good." again

its a really clear pattern, the way ten assesses her this episode. he notices her cool headedness and observation and pokes a bit more. he shuts her off when she approaches territory he doesnt want her to. he responds with "good" when she responds with what he wants

he's drawn to her because they share a lot of key traits (accepting bizarre situations, intellect, high emotional regulation) & because she shows a few key traits that distinctly compliment his own (her hope, curiosity, and stubbornness). she doesnt marvel at him like other companions did (and will), and doesnt put up with his bullshit either. she makes fun of him for being "pompous" in a way other humans just worshipped him. she relates, accepts, understands, and humbles him in very distinct, important ways

anyway "Smith and Jones" was a solid episode & you guys dont talk about martha enough, shes amazing

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Propaganda why Alex Eagleston is insufferable:

literally causes the end of the world by being The Absolute Worst and has done so multiple times including his alternate selves. he technically has three (and a half) love interests (cause theyre the only characters he can/attempt to kiss or express any attraction to) and he treats them all poorly first three vella sammy and essentia 2000 are cause hes a misogynist but they all get different flavors of it sammy gets fridged for the plot of the game and is basically never relevant again outside of a secret(?) ending. shes also based off of a real life dead person for no fucking reason. vella is subjected to weird speculation about her age in her introduction scene with alex saying something along the lines of she cant be older than him cause shes too pretty (alex is like 24 and vella 27 from what i recall its been a few years since ive thought about yiik) and has a weird internal monologue about his feminist ex girlfriend prompted by vella just existing. theres a weird scene when alex asks her if shes korean n says she looks vaguely ethnic making her uncomfortable. One Of His Alternate Selves Literally Caused Her To Leave Her Home Dimension Cause Of How Poorly He Treated Her and the context behind that is that to leave the world/timeline/dimension/whatever you're originally from you basically have to be super suicidal and he pushed her to that point by ghosting her for a while and next time vella saw him he was hooking up with a girl noticably younger than her (<- remember this) and immediately after being told this he can attempt to kiss her which has no actual repercussions. essentia 2000 is like technically supposed to be evil i guess but her goal is supposed to be killing alex so i cant fault her on that. the in game day after they first meet alex has like a monologue about how special and attractive she is ""she was like water filling all my cracks"" or some shit. all three girls are alternates of eachother and are on a sliding scale of how objectified they are by alex with who got it the worst depending on which aspect you're focusing on. other sort of love interest is rory (diversity loss!) who alex can attempt to kiss after he confides in him about something when rory is like 18-19 (hes meant to be about the same age as michael whos recently graduated high school) and depending on how alex treats him can literally kill himself and alex's reaction to learning this is to only focus on how terrible he feels before moving on n rory's death never being mentioned again. the whole point of the game is that alex is a piece of shit who cant even buy groceries for his mom without throwing a hissy fit about it but it undermines itself constantly by having characters forgive or just stop being mad at alex on a dime after hes been exceedingly shitty towards them in various ways and any sort of charm or endearing traits he had quickly wearing off due to him never shutting the fuck up. near the end of the game all the other party members are killed off in quick succession leaving alex by himself and all he can do is sulk in self pity before going on a space adventure or whatever to stop an alternate him thats linked to an alternate essentia and enlisting the player as a different alternate him to help fight various superficial flaws of himself (which arent even like the actual things that make him insufferable n a bad person) n then finish the job for him. i need to punt him into the sun

He constantly goes on annoying monologues about things that nobody cares about. In game he is meant to be kind of an asshole, but they never give him the necessary character development to make him feel like a proper flawed protagonist, yet the narrative makes him out to be a character who is ""deep down a good guy"". Also he doesn't seem to care about any of his friends/party members.

"""YIIK"" is a poorly written, irony-poisoned RPG using a real life actual unsolved murder as the basis for an inciting event, altered so that what happened to the victim was some ~scary supernatural stuff~ and also Alex was there being vaguely misogynistic the whole time and monologuing to no-one in a way no real human person thinks uncritically.

The game intends to paint Alex as a bad person, but this is implemented in such a snide and uninteresting manner which has nothing to actually say about him being this way, nor is it at all fun or entertaining to experience.

He has no idea what's going on, blindly following the plot with the vague motivation of being suddenly stricken with affection for a girl he basically called a freak as soon as he met her five minutes ago. He is self-absorbed, lazy and overconfident, constantly bemoaning and ignoring the needs and feelings of others. He is the only character given enough breathing space to have something to him, and yet manages to not even feel any sort of dimensional.

Also his shirt is an ad for the dev's last game.

An incel who always screams about everything and yet is overly pretentious about everything.

Propaganda why Scott Pilgrim is insufferable:

He is not a good person. He doesn’t take other people’s feelings into consideration. He mooches off his one real friend. He’s dating a teenager as a grown ass man. Every girlfriend he’s ever had hates him for good reasons

Stupid idiot

dated a 17 yr old

kind of a cop-out answer since he's like deliberately made to be an annoying person but

[familyabolisher]

hi! im new to theory, as in (imo) hard, non-fiction books. when reading some, i realise I lose track of the points inside the book, so recently I have been (attempting) to make notes. however, im a complete amateur, and I don't know exactly how to. back in school, i used to just skim these type of books finding whatever was 'useful' ie. relevant to my assignment/essay/class discussion and would simply dismiss the rest. i dunno if it's just me but I feel like these books are overwhelmingly packed with information - and useful information at that! do you have any tips to organise points mentioned in these books without getting bogged down on details/focus shifting on one line of thinking? if not, it's completely fine. love your blog, and have a great day!

hey! i actually think the best thing you can do is to keep taking notes as you go, because in my experience that's the best way to keep track of information and the best way to identify discrepancies in the text. obviously this can make reading nonfiction a bit of a slog, but ime it's a lot better to have a thorough critical position on a handful of texts than to have skim-read and half-absorbed a lot of them; if you're reading in around the same subject area, it's also pretty likely that you'll gain greater familiarity with texts/scholars/arguments/points of reference over time, such that you won't need to keep writing down Every Little Thing.

i find that the best way to take notes is to identify the key argument(s) in a particular section and to break down the evidence being used to substantiate those arguments. so my notes often look something like:

[ARGUMENT]

sub-argument/supporting evidence

sub-argument/supporting evidence

sub-argument/supporting evidence

and so on. kind of like trying to reverse-engineer the essay/chapter plan that the author was working with.

imo, if you're just looking to get the gist of an argument, it's actually fine to just read the introduction and conclusion to a text. obviously this is not always the case, and if you're looking to seriously posit a position on one particular text then you ought to read the whole thing, but there's a lot of theoretical work which tends to set out the significant points of its argument(s) in the intro + conclusion and use the main body of text for detailing examples + evidence. in my experience, the best subject to get away with this in is lit theory - a lot of the central body of lit theory will be detailing application of the theoretical framework laid out at the start, which, whilst obviously helpful (in the same way that all explanatory/evidentiary content is obviously helpful), probably won't do much for you beyond giving you a greater sense of how applicable the theoretical framework in question actually is.

another way to make the process a little easier + more engaging for you could be to think about the sorts of questions you want to ask about the text in question. some of those could be:

what are my expectations for this text? what do i already know about this subject matter & the scholarship surrounding it, and how might i expect this text to respond to that?

what key things do i think a text of this nature must identify in order for me to consider it credible?

what am i looking to get out of this text? what am i interested in? what am i hoping it might clarify?

i think approaching nonfiction with a significant sense of a) what you might expect it to argue (and of course, a willingness to be proven wrong) and b) what you want to get out of it can be helpful in identifying which parts of it you want to prioritise. imo, it's better to think of nonfiction/theory texts as something you are engaging with to the ends of formulating a critical response, rather than a wall of information that you have to take in. hopefully this kind of approach lets you circumvent that concern about focus shifting - it still requires that you look at and think about everything, but the way in which you think about it & the material you deem helpful in articulating the response to the text ought to change a little.

i completely feel you though lol i find it incredibly difficult to keep track of information + arguments if i don't write it all down and i still don't 100% trust my opinions on nonfiction texts after the fact if i don't think i was thorough enough with my reading. i tried to read a physical copy of g. aloysius' nationalism without a nation in india the other month & whilst it was clearly so helpful & so thorough, i had to give up because i couldn't find a pdf online and i can't really take notes from physical copies. it's annoying but, like. it works!

[bibibbon]

Characters with wasted potential: shinso Hitoshi

(rant)

I love the idea and structure of Hitoshi's character but horikoshi just decided to execute it in one of the worst ways possible. So Hitoshi's introduction starts with him in the sports festival and how we see him slowly climb through the ranks and get introduced to his character and the problems he has with 1A. I don't mind his interaction with ojiro as I think that made me more intrigued to him but I hate when the fandom decides that it will be fun to demonise ojiro about it for no reason when Hitoshi was clearly in the wrong.

Moving on to my actual problems about shinso:

HIS WHOLE BACKSTORY. in my opinion yes he is an interesting character but his backstory really really sucks and just contains with people telling him "oh you're quirk sounds kinda evil" like it really doesn't do much nor does it explain how shinso acts the way he does. There is almost no conflict in that backstory or anything like quirk discrimination which is present in another characters backstories like izuku,toga and shoji. I think this is mainly a problem due to hori not being able to show but just having to tell us everything which really ruins the story in its self

HIS CONFLICT/FIGHT WITH IZUKU. maybe as an izuku fan Iam being biased but it makes no sense how shinso went on to izuku about being born with a silver spoon in his mouth when during that WHOLE TOURNAMENT izuku didn't use his quirk but his brains which is something anyone can do. I understood the point of the speech but it really really fell flat because 1) izuku didn't use his quirk and 2) it was a horrible guess on shinso's part.

THERE ARE NON OFFENSIVE QUIRKS IN 1A. The whole idea of shinso thinking he didn't get into the hero course because he didn't have a good flashy quirk is just stupid when you see a lot of the other hero course kids like toruu, ojiro or even koda who don't have any offensive QUIRKS at all and it doesn't help when there are many and I mean MANY heros that fight with non offensive QUIRKS and are quite successful like night eye.

Now let me talk about his potential. The idea of a brainwashing quirk is actually very interesting and it's a good quirk as well it would make sense if shinso hates his quirk due to discrimination or bullying and he has a very tunneled view of the world which is that people with flashy/strong quirks are always happy, on top of everything, powerful and arrogant. Now we can go on and have Hitoshi cement that idea in his head after whatever nonsense bakugo pulls during the sports festival and whatever rumours came out of the usj incident. During the sports festival we will have shinso's behaviour stay the same but when it comes to him and the izuku fight you could either have izuku use his quirk before ( it could make shinso think oh so someone who doesn't even know how to control their quirk got into the hero course but i couldn't) or have him fight another member of the hero course who has a flashy quirk maybe someone like momo. During the fight shinso can provoke the character to get an answer out of them but also question how and why they got into the hero course. (I prefer having izuku being chosen to fight shinso.) This happens and then the fight goes the same line as canon. The next time we meet shinso it should be way sooner then season 5 and I feel like hori should focus on more of the academia so we meet him during those moments where we see him talking to izuku more and try to change his views; we can have him apologise to ojiro and the way he treated 1A. We can then have him involved in 1A sooner then season 5 make it some time around the final exams where we see him see others fighting and he notices how their quirks aren't as flashy and powerful as he thought also have him focus on the momo and todoroki fight or have him involved in it. In my opinion it would be good for him to see momo who is the smartest in 1A and has a cool flashy quirk crumble thinking she isn't good enough and it will also break a lot of the stereotypes he had.

Overall, we slowly see Hitoshis character develop from someone who has a narrow minded view based on only his experiences and hate who then changes and sees the reality of life while also fighting against his own stereotypes of him being a villain by becoming a hero.

[magicalgirlsirin]

the elysian realm: well written, poorly directed

NOTE: this post is an elysian realm critical look by a relative newcomer to hi3, i dont really have the grace of having played it as it came out. i enjoy the elysian realm, but in my opinion, its absolutely a mess with regards to storytelling.

Part 1: so no theme?

When I titled this post, I meant it quite literally. There's plenty of stuff within Elysian Realm that is well written, I'm not here to argue that it isn't (with some small caveats). Most characters are interesting and engaging, and have a wealth of available text to further their depth. The real problem here is that all that detail and work isn't in service of anything. There is no theme to the Elysian Realm, no point of narrative, no common through line. Elysia introduces us to the realm, implies there's a point, that the 'unfinished lives' of these 13 trailblazers is going to go somewhere, and then waffles the plot all the way from the initial game mode through Elysium Everlasting, with a final cinematic which I will get to later for my thoughts on why it doesn't work.

The initial game mode that kicks off the story is just oddly paced. The first chapter is relatively fine, just serving as an introduction to the realm and its mechanics both in and out of universe. One of the first questions I had was just "why does kevin have a weird basement paradise with ai copies of his mostly dead friends and then also a version of himself and hua who are still very much alive" and I'm loathe to report that the realm never bothers answering this question or elaborating on why it exists. At risk of sounding like HoC, it really is a meaningless diversion with pointless people existing redundantly.

The second and third chapters, however, are unforgivably bad. I realized upon reflection they were probably heavy focus on Mobius and Aponia respectively because their suits were debuting at the time (or something to that effect) but it feels like such an agonizing detour to focus on them with seemingly no other motive. Learning about the two furthers my understanding of the Flame Chasers as a unit, I Guess, but doesn't illuminate anything about the realm or even Elysia.

I will get back to Elysia.

Part 2: No really, why is Mei here?

Another major problem with the Elysian Realm is that Mei pretty much ceases to be a character. Even though she's the point of view, she barely expresses any of her own opinions, thoughts, or even basic input outside of rebuffing Elysia's attempts to flirt with her. Sure, she still has some snark and sass to her, especially when interacting with Kevin, but outside of that I can barely remember anything important she does. Which is crazy! I could easily describe any other contribution she's made to various chapter sets/arcs within the game, but the Elysian Realm is absolutely dead air.

This ties into the fact that the realm has no theme, there's not a point, so Mei isn't going on a character journey. You could argue that Elysia is influential to Mei's arc for gifting her the power of origin, but that's not really... character growth. Mei becomes origin because she accepts the blessings* and ideals of the Flame Chasers, but because she didn't learn dick or shit in the actual realm, everything kind of just rings hollow. Mei functionally is meant to be a stand in for you, the viewer, to self insert into the realm and imagine that you're the one interacting with everyone, which is such a disservice to Mei.

*I want to briefly sidebar to curb the misconception that Mei was given the power of origin because she collected all the signets, or that the point of the realm was to find someone to collect them all to have that power passed along to them. Mei getting the power is unrelated to the realm's existence as far as I'm concerned, given that Hua says this:

I trust that Hua is telling the truth here, mostly because she has no reason to lie to us. What this does leave us with is, unsurprisingly, still no answer on the purpose of the realm. Vague handwaving of Kevin saying that Mei has earned the right to "seek answers" only for the narrative to do a weird slight of hand where Aponia goes "now you get to know Elysia's secret because you defeated me kyaaaaa" is not the point. I doubt Kevin allows people into his basement for the possibility of finding out some dead chick from 50,000 years ago that no one outside of WS would actually know by name was secretly a herrscher.

Speaking of which.

Part 3: The Elysia was always a herrscher reveal is dumb

I know this is the most contentious part of the discourse™ when it comes to Elysia, but I cannot understate how stupid it is. I can accept retcons of herrscher order, begrudgingly but yes I will concede if the game wants to commit to it. What I cannot concede to is the game saying that Elysia was born a herrscher.

All the Flame Chasers got MANTIS surgery. This is a fact. Elysia received it as well. Don't you think like, I don't know, literally anyone involved in the procedure would have noticed she has honkai radiation off her like a nuclear bomb? This is such a basic hole in logic and it feels like the game almost wants you to forget that this is a thing, but I didn't, I've spent the past 2 months digging through all the realm game mode text to come to this conclusion.

I also have grift with the fact that she was a previous era herrscher with sapience, since a lot of the tragedy of the previous era is because of the loss of humanity. Kevin was fucking devastated by the HoF emergence, because he hesitated. He saw Murata's face and thought she was still in there. But she wasn't. Kalpas lost Emile to the HoD. Mobius lost Klein, not only to her own over-ambition, but to HoL. Sakura lost Rin to HoC. All of these are essential to their stories, and it's because those herrschers were just mindless tools, godproxy emanators of destruction with no higher order thinking skills. Only a will to subjugate humanity.

Oh but actually Elysia is a sweet and special perfect girl who never did anything wrong, she didn't betray anyone, she was always the bestest girl who loved humanity and was a friend to everyone because she's so lovable and you should love her too ❤️❤️❤️

Yeah no I'm not doing that. I want to make it clear that I actually really like Elysia, and it doesn't take much to fix the parts of her story that have no logic or retcon themselves in the span of a chapter. She's very close to being well written, which makes it all the more frustrating that the narrative continually bends around her to make her have less flaws. Elysia is pushy! She's overbearing, and tends to needle at people whenever she notices something. She forces Mobius to try on clothes she likes but Mobi doesn't, she constantly flirts with Mei and calls their hangouts dates even if Mei doesn't seem interested, she's a little selfish and plays pranks, all of this stuff is very endearing! I just can't deal with the other things the game does to try and make me like Ely more.

Part 4: Even if I try to fix it, the realm is broken

I could sit down and outline ways to fix Elysia's writing, the way the realm's story is structured, and it would be fine and dandy in service of smoothing over the stuff I didn't like about it, but you know what it wouldn't fix?

Mei.

Yeah I think we all just keep forgetting about Mei being in here. The thing is that because the Elysian Realm is such a dead weight in canon, you almost can't make Mei go through character development because it wouldn't flow into Transcending Finality in a comprehensible way, and this post isn't about the problems with the final chapter set of Part 1 (although I do promise I have some complaints about the writing choices in there too).

The realm treating Mei as a self insert, and not really serving her arc either, is seen most obviously in "Because of You", the ending cinematic. One that famously doesn't feature Mei at all in the fighting. The ender for this arc is Elysia, because all things start with Elysia. It's Elysia Impact all the way down, except for the part where it has literally no bearing on the main plot.

And that's the problem, isn't it? The only thing the realm really does is augment our understanding of Kevin, and only barely so if you want to split hairs about how Sim!Kevin isn't our Kevin, given that there's a few stray dialogue moments that actually go against Sim!Kevin and most other characters insistence that Kevin is an immovable rock of a man.

So at the end of it all, what do I even say? I love the realm, obsessed to death with it, all the characters are my favorites, well written, absolutely dogshit in terms of story direction. I find this contradiction to be reflective of Elysia, a character who exists only as a vessel for whatever the writer/story director thought would be cool, instead of making it mean anything.

[areyougonnabe]

How would you suggest people get started learning about polar expeditions? I read Frozen in Time but I'm at a loss of where to go now 😭 any suggestions?

Hi!!! It depends on which era you're interested in!!

For Victorian exploration including the FE, I always recommend Erebus by Michael Palin, William Battersby's Fitzjames biography, and Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming. Now, all of those books have their flaws as many nerds (like me) will tell you, but they are all great starting points and will introduce you to the cast of characters/run of events of that era. Once you've advanced a bit, you could check out Dave Woodman's Unraveling the Franklin Mystery for an intensely detailed look at Inuit testimony; The Spectral Arctic by Shane McCorristine for an academic exploration of ghosts and clairvoyance in Victorian exploration; or Finding Franklin by Russell Potter for an overview of the search expeditions up to the present day. Michael Smith's Crozier biography is also a solid read. (EDIT: I forgot The Man Who Ate His Boots by Anthony Brandt if you want to know more about Franklin himself and his earlier expeditions!)

If you're more interested in the late Victorian/Edwardian era, commonly referred to under the "Heroic Age" umbrella, you have a lot of potential starting points....

That era could be said to have begun in 1897 with the Belgica expedition, one of the most chaotic and insane expeditions of all time. Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton is a RIDE of a book (more like FRATHOUSE at the end of the earth, amirite) and will get you started with two of my favorite figures of the age: it was the polar origin story of Roald Amundsen, and where he met a pre-pole controversy Frederick Cook (HIS SOULMATE).

For more Amundsen after the Belgica, I really liked The Last Viking by Stephen Brown. You could also check out Roland Huntford's biography buuut this blog is a No Roland Zone so I am hesitant to recommend him, even though re: Amundsen he's more legit than elsewhere.

The Worst Journey In The World is a classic for a reason: a really beautiful and detailed first-person account of Scott's last expedition that is a pillar of travel writing and the foundation for much of the historiography that came after. However, you could also start with A First Rate Tragedy by Diana Preston (which I haven't read yet but comes highly recommended) or even Cherry's biography by Sara Wheeler which is really excellent. OH and the graphic novel version of Worst Journey just released its first volume which is a WONDERFUL introduction to the story! Buy it here and support the artist!

I've also really enjoyed all of the other first-person accounts I've read, many of which are free & in the public domain: With Scott: The Silver Lining by T. Griffith Taylor and The Great White South by Herbert Ponting are super interesting and give you a taste of what it was like to really be there.

For Shackleton, definitely start with Endurance by Alfred Lansing and go from there. Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition is a good second step & will get you background on him and Scott (& Wilson). I have had Shackleton: A Life In Poetry by Jim Mayer recommended to me as well but haven't read it yet. After that, Frank Worsley (captain of the Endurance) wrote two books which are great supplements: Shackleton's Boat Journey and another one just called Endurance. And Caroline Alexander's The Endurance is really good too but it's a coffee table book with nice pictures, so grab a hard copy!

And last but CERTAINLY not least, I May Be Some Time by Francis Spufford is the be-all and end-all of polar exploration nonfiction, IMO. I'm just finishing a reread right now actually—I first read it post-Franklin obsession but pre-Scott obsession and honestly, it's an entirely different book once you're crazy about the Heroic Age, so while I have recommended it in the past for people just getting started, and still do, at this point I also kind of want to tell people to maybe wait until you've already reached a certain level of derangement to dive into it.