#is very cool conceptually. though it would never happen

[readymades2002]

(guy who likes aa so much they can barely look at it without blowing up) it would be so cool if after the investigations games edgeworth and kay traveled fundamentally different paths towards justice forever spiraling away from each other ideologically despite their closeness being vital to each other's wellbeing and understanding of what the wold can be. anyone?

[mannequinreligi0n]

Hello obscura, would you be open to writing something about the Sparda brothers quietly in love with the reader (or the reader not so interested/doesn’t feel the same way)? I’d love to read more about them…aaaarghhh 😭

OFC ! i love psychoanalyzing these two to pieces, so thank you for this <3

There are a multitude of similarities in how the twins would pine over someone. The most glaring to me is that both Dante and Vergil would only fall for someone they have a personal connection to (aka demiromantic). Both have been through insurmountable trauma, and letting someone even remotely close to them would be a huge trigger due to their multitude of losses. It would take a lot of hard work from the person of interest to even form and maintain a friendship with them, let alone a relationship.

If it came down to them developing feelings for someone and the person didn’t reciprocate, I don’t think they would take it well. Both twins are extremely self-destructive and don’t know how to regulate/control their feelings (mostly because of trauma, though perhaps we can also blame the impulsivity and intensity of their devil genes).

Specifics for each twin below. ⬇️

Dante would very much brush off the rejection - playing it cool and coughing out a self-deprecating joke to soften the blow. He would maintain the friendship with the individual and act like he never said anything, but it would eat him alive, day in and day out. Every lingering glance, every laugh from the person would chip away another part of him. Dante is also very much an avoidant attachment; he constantly keeps everyone at arms length to “protect” them and himself. The rejection would only solidify in his mind that he can’t let himself get close to anyone, that putting himself out into the world would only create more problems for him - and he has enough problems. He would still hang around the person and chop it up, but behind closed doors, I think his reliance on alcohol would see an uptick. Drinking himself dumb in order to sleep, only sober when he’s out on a job (if even that). Dante has a terrible habit of deflecting. Deny, deny, deny. He’s incredibly intelligent and can read a room like no other - he knows exactly how to act to make people believe whatever about him. The way the person of interest would figure out how badly he’s taking the rejection would be if they happened to stop by his place late enough, catching him knee deep in whiskey bottles and neglected of all his needs.

Vergil, on the other hand, would rather eat glass than confess his feelings to someone. And it would take months, if not longer, for him to truly feel safe enough to conceptualize loving someone outside of his family. His feelings would not be revealed willingly - it would probably be accidentally blurted, or exposed when/if the person of interest confronts him about it. In contrast to his brother, Vergil is an anxious attachment, through and through. He is constantly in a state of fear, worried the person will turn their back on him or forget him entirely. As a result, he unknowingly will cling to them like his life depends on it - checking in on them constantly, frequently asking their opinion of him and whatever he’s doing. It could be overbearing and anxiety-inducing, which could lead to the mentioned confrontation. Regarding rejection, Vergil would shut down entirely. Think of a small child being yelled at by a parent: they’ll run and hide, crying in a dark corner of their room until someone comes to find them (if they come at all). He would shut that person out entirely, too embarrassed and ashamed to even show his face to them again. I see him locking himself away in his room for days, only having enough energy to cry and write. If not that, he’d just disappear entirely, practically falling off the face of the earth until he’s pushed down the ugly feelings enough to return. He would behave coldly to the person there after, even if it internally killed him.

[dioslesbianwife]

How whoud the jofoes react to there partner having the stand wonder of you I love that stand and its ability to manipulate calamities.

(and because it's toru his stand he doesn't need to be in the request it makes it complicated)

wonder of u is so cool- hope you enjoy and thanks for requesting!

Dio 

He adores the sheer inevitability of calamity- the fact that no one can simply fight it, that they are doomed the moment they act against you.

However, he will constantly test his own ability to withstand it, throwing weak underlings at you just to see what happens.

His only concern is if Wonder of U ever reacts to him. If he so much as feels like fate is turning against him, he will force you to prove your loyalty immediately.

Kars

Kars is utterly fascinated by Wonder of U, the way it manipulates reality without even lifting a finger is something he finds truly advanced.

He sees it as the ultimate form of evolution, a Stand that embodies passive dominance over the weak.

However, he is not reckless. He will study it thoroughly, testing the limits of its calamity manipulation before ever putting himself in harm’s way.

If anything, he respects you even more for wielding such a refined, near-invincible power. 

Esidisi

He is not a fan of invisible, conceptual abilities, the idea of being unable to fight back against an attack messes with his warrior instincts.

However, he respects the power immensely. He’d comment about how beautifully cruel it is.

Will warn Wamuu and Kars not to make any rash movements around you, he does not want to see one of them tripping into a deadly "accident."

Wamuu 

Wamuu is both impressed and unsettled by Wonder of U. He acknowledges its strength but dislikes how unfair it is.

He’d never want to fight against it, he knows calamity cannot be outmatched, and the idea of losing due to bad luck rather than skill doesn’t sit right with him.

He wouldn’t rely on it in battle, he believes in earning victory rather than forcing it through misfortune.

Yoshikage Kira 

Kira wishes he had your Stand. The idea of being able to kill without having to get his hands dirty is pure perfection in his eyes. 

People being killed for pursuing him? Omg he wishes he could have that ability.

He would constantly observe how it works, murmuring to himself about how effortlessly elegant it is.

While he’d never dare act against you, he would subtly test the Stand’s limits. He’d ask things like, “If I think about harming you but don’t act on it, does calamity still strike?”

Diavolo 

The second Diavolo realizes what Wonder of U can do, he panics internally.

He is terrified of unseen forces controlling fate- his entire existence is built on avoiding destiny through King Crimson.

He would obsess over trying to counter it, even though deep down, he knows there’s no clear way to erase calamity itself.

He would never let you out of his sight because he can’t risk being caught in the Stand’s effects.

Enrico Pucci

Pucci considers Wonder of U a Stand blessed by Heaven, he sees its calamity control as the ultimate form of divine justice.

He’d study every aspect of its ability, memorizing how its effects unfold. He’d likely compare it to how fate itself tests the faith of sinners.

If anything, he feels closer to you knowing that you wield such an awe-inspiring power. 

Funny Valentine

Valentine sees Wonder of U as an unstoppable weapon, one that could make him the most untouchable leader in history.

He’d politely ask how much you willingly control it, keeping his tone casual while internally mapping out every possible advantage.

He is terrified of accidentally triggering the Stand’s calamity, so he moves very carefully around you.

Diego Brando

Diego adores the idea of Wonder of U, he sees it as a hunter’s perfect trap, a way to ensure prey never escapes.

That said, he’s cautious about getting too close to it. He doesn’t trust anything that can’t be physically fought.

He’d test how close he can get to harming you without triggering calamity, smirking at the challenge.

[moonsvillain]

hotwings au where hawks is a fallen angel who happens to crash-land in dabi's backyard on his way down.

hawks' wings are from his status as an angel rather than a separate quirk

i'd like to imagine that quirks aren't really a thing that they're up to date on, as well as being pretty behind in, like, everything else

imagine hawks going into this with an ariel-like disposition

anyway this kicks off with hawks crashing into dabi's backyard in the middle of the night

dabi, who's obviously awake, gets up to go investigate what the fuck that was (naturally assumes someone's here to kill him, as any normal, not-paranoid-at-all person would think)

hawks is very upset (landed on his wing wrong and maybe broke it, which, like, "OWWW...." this guy has never felt pain before and now he's human, which is cool conceptually but why do humans feel pain?? are they like this all the time?? who would do this to them??)

which leads to dabi finding hawk in a pile of limbs armed with a broken wing tangled in the clothes lines that he never bothered to take down after he finally saved up enough for a washer-dryer unit

at this point in time, dabi hasn't been scouted by the league yet, but he's not struggling to survive. he's found a small townhouse to reside in, one story, one bedroom, and a small backyard

(the backyard was an important detail to him—sometimes dabi needs to just. bask in the sun. feel warm when he can)

hawks sees dabi and assumes that he must be someone from hell, and it was some sort of cosmic fate that brought the two together

(hawks has always been the hero-type, even as an angel. he doesn't want to defeat people, rather, he wants to help them.

(hawks is just terribly naive, which impedes this goal of his by a lot)

dabi drags hawks inside once he's figured out that he isn't with the hero commission after threatening to burn the rest of his feathers off (which, the fire isn't helping hawks' case against him)

hawks can't really just say he's an angel, mostly because he gets the feeling that saying as much to someone like dabi would go very sideways

so he spins a story about being kicked out of his home and having nowhere to go and no family to take him in even if they wanted

which, it's not really stretching the truth at all. that is what happened. he just omitted a few details

dabi is stabbed by a violent wave of sympathy that he tries to suppress at first, until remembering that he'd have done anything to have support from someone like dabi is now back when he had been scared, alone, confused and hurt

and even though hawks is cheerful enough, dabi can see the mask he's wearing—he's hiding something. something that hurts

so dabi nods, accepts this answer, and offers hawks the couch for the night, which hawks gladly accepts (and ignores the way his eyes get wet)

the next day both wake up, remember the night before, realize it wasn't a dream and think, fuck

dabi's gotten himself saddled with a roommate—cuz even if he wanted to ignore him, it's too late now, he spent the whole night turning the situation over in his mind and kicking him out would make dabi's already fragile emotional stability skew out of control

and its finally settling into hawks' head that he's been kicked out and he doesn't know where he's going or if he'll ever get the chance to go back even if he wanted to and he's doomed to spend the rest of his life wandering the earth looking for acceptance that will never last

tldr both are having mild panic attacks

dabi finally tries to address the situation by like, asking what hawks plans on doing or if he knows anyone that could help him out

which gets dabi a look so pathetic he immediately regrets asking

("fuckkk he's so sad and lame. what am i supposed to do. it's like staring at a miserable puppy with a bag full of treats in your pocket and pretending you don't know they're there.")

dabi grits out an offer:

stay here and figure out a way to pay rent, and dabi will do his best to fix up hawks' wing so he can fly again but also so it doesn't cost a million dollars to pay for the treatment in the first place

(dabi's plans consist of roaming the underground to find a doctor that could help the both of them out and threatening them—dabi's been putting off finding one for himself after his skin grafts start looking nastier than they should and this is the push he needs to get to it)

hawks, oblivious to this, agrees pretty readily

dabi nods

a moment of silence. then:

"is your real name dabi, or—"

"i'm not hearing this from you, hawks."

[styrmwb]

I beat Chrono Trigger

And I beat it like, nearly entirely unspoiled too.

For the longest time Chrono Trigger was "The most Styrm game Styrm has never played" and I felt silly cause my super cool ADHD brain never decided it was gonna decide to play it until now (I also had to get it done before FFVII rebirth or it was NEVER gonna happen lmfao)

So like, what are my onions?

The game's so fucking good, it stands up so incredibly well that I regret not getting to it sooner. The music, the story, the gameplay, the art (backgrounds and spritework), every single part of this game I absolutely adored. I can MAYBE think of like 2 things I would have changed about the game but they're so minor.

Characters

I loved every single party member. The ones with character felt so alive and enjoyable, and the ones that didn't really have much character were super fun to use in battle. Crono MIGHT be one of the most broken JRPG protags I've played as; I gave him a counter item for the whole game and he would constantly attack with high crits. Marle is one of my favorite characters; being all adventurous and shit, rejecting the stuffiness of royal society but like, not NOT caring? I like it. Plus she was instrumental in having me not die lmfao. Lucca had a really great character arc with Robo and her mother, and blowing shit up was super fun. Speaking of, Robo deserves the entire world; I would die for him. Unfortunately he didn't get as much use in my playthrough as I would have wanted, but I still dearly care for him. Ayla was a powerhouse even though i completely neglected her thief mechanic, and despite her caveman speak and relative lack of goal compared to the cast, I really appreciated her presence as I almost felt like she was a pillar For the rest of the cast. Magus was hype. I'll describe thoughts later down the list, but for his gameplay his magic annihilated battles, and the dude pretty much solo'd the Lavos boss rush.

Finally; Frog. The absolute best character in the game. His design? Creative. His story? Heartbreaking yet heroic. His gameplay? Essential. I loved Frog from the moment I saw him and he was with me through thick and thin. Something I really appreciated was that HE got Masamune rather than Crono. Sure, Crono is the main character, but Frog is the hero. I love my amphibious mans.

Lavos is super cool to me. It's not really a character (but kinda is?) and more like a force of nature. I also think it's kinda conceptually funny that the main villain of this classic game is the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. I don't think I FULLY understood what it truly was, but it's a concept that I very much enjoyed.

Overall, all of the characters in this game are great. Everyone has a role, everyone is enjoyable in their own way, and I really love seeing how the time travel aspect would let you see fates of characters and their role in history.

Gameplay

I loved the lack of random battles. Every battle felt planned and like its own individual puzzle, especially with the positioning gimmick; what enemies get hit by what abilities, how do I avoid hitting this enemy with the element that heals them with my super strong AoE ability. The idea of dual and triple techs enhanced this further: am I gonna use individual turns for heals or am I gonna just have Crono and Ayla fuckin decimate the entire area?

The aspect of time travel felt overall very well used. Past experiences affecting the future, but things in the future not affecting backwards; it feels like it should be obvious it works that way but it just felt like, well executed. this paragraph proves i need to get better at writing cause ultimately I just said I liked it

I also feel like the whole beginning section with the fair leading to the trial really makes you think harder about what to pay attention to and what matters: it teaches well without shoving it in your face. Might just be because I play a lot of RPGs and this is an older one, but I was able to discern the knowledge i needed easily.

Story

So to clarify here, I know there are multiple endings, but I got two; the Die To Lavos Ending not sure why i got this one nope and the real ending; I tried to do everything that I possibly could, so that was my experience.

It's great. I kinda loved how it was less a "party vs a bad time man" and more of a "party vs a natural calamity": I feel like that's not done often in games, there's usually a big bad (which I don't hate!) but it was a nice change of pace. I absolutely loved how each timeline had its own individual struggles, and the nature of time travel made them flow together very well in small ways (like defeating Magus makes Ozzie the worshipped one). Being able to go into it unspoiled really improved the huge moments, like Magus and Crono's big events (not gonna say in case there's someone like me out there), and I very much enjoyed guessing what would be next and what would affect what.

The Only Major issue I have is the 3 party limit, and character dialogue being locked to who you have. I feel like there would have been some really cool moments had everyone been there, like the campfire scene where everyone got their time.

Music

I mean, it's peak. I've already heard some of Mitsuda's work in later games, but hearing him here do (pretty much) the whole soundtrack was just a treat to my ears. The main theme is stuck playing in my head daily. The overworld and cutscene songs I think are where it shines, although I did really like the battle songs as well. and as always shoutouts to Uematsu we love that man.

Art

Again, a short section, but this game is beautiful, and I could tell that a lot of the techniques they used felt advanced for the time, like the time travel effect, or the car race; the spritework felt bouncy and alive, the backgrounds were beautifully detailed (Like Magus's Castle holy shit), and the entire game was a joy to look at.

Unspoiled

So yeah, I beat this game unspoiled somehow. I knew a couple characters like Crono and Lavos (the fact that they Existed), I've seen some backdrops like the campfire and Masamune in its sheath, and I've heard some songs; but other than that, I didn't know anything!

(warning for spoilers if you are like me and have gotten unspoiled don't read this)

Like I said in the story, it was really fun to figure out how things would be affected by the nature of time travel, naturally figuring out side quests like Fiona, and being hit by moments that I never would have expected. I didn't think my actions at the fair would affect anything until I saw the trial which made me question everything (I'm sorry old man for eating your lunch) (twice). I remember getting what i thought was the full party cause that's what the box art was, until I noticed what I thought was a 7th party member slot, leading me to wonder when this person would join and who it is; discovering Antiquity (also a surprise to me) convinced me that the person was here, and then that said person was Boy with cat that said I was gonna die, and lo and behold I was right! But not in the way that I thought. Seeing Magus be the final member was incredibly rewarding, and I probably wouldn't have gotten him if I didn't get reality checked by my actions mattering in the trial (although I do wish he had some more party interactions and dialogue). Also close to this: I did not know Crono STRAIGHT UP dies. Like, OBVIOUSLY he was gonna come back, right? But to have that happen to your main character? Felt revolutionary for the time. Didn't think Lavos was gonna be like, a humanoid creature, and I ESPECIALLY didn't think it was gonna have a phase 2.

(ok spoilers over)

Final

I could not be happier with my experience for this game. I can absolutely see why it is considered a masterpiece, and it's clearly going to stick with me for a good long while, the rest of my life, even. My negatives are incredibly minor, really only wanting more party dialogue and interactions (and to remove Golem FUCK that fight lmfao), and for that, I can probably consider it one of my favorite RPGs.

10/10, thanks for reading my ramblings if you did.

[chand-ki-priyatama]

Ek khat mere pyare bade Bhai ke naam

@hectorfrombritain

You chose this name "HECTOR" for you , if we go in the literary sense it means to talk to someone in a bullying way - irony of this fact that you can never do that.... And so I nicknamed you "CEDAR"

One of the most sweetest, kindest being I ever met....

These are my feelings for you in the form of writing cause we are writers we do not speak we bleed ink on paper...

So ye khat aapke naam from aapki chhoti behen Clover aka me Kaya ek kaviyitri aur lekhika....

Mere pyare penguin bhaiya that's why I nicknamed you cedar cause Its metaphysical properties promote peaceful thoughts and help interpret messages from your inner self. Cedar supports us on spiritual quests by reconnecting and grounding us with earthly roots..... And I attribute all these qualities with you...

So Cedar bro , intellectual baatein karne wale samajhdaar bhaiya

Dear Bhai,

I first interacted with you via a reblog post and I was amazed by your thoughts on my writing then we had a very small chat on dm that's it.... then I joined the discord server but there too we never chatted much cause I was busy in creating a ruckus for myself

But now since we have started talking , I never felt as if I never had a word with you on the contrary it feels as if my day is incomplete without sharing words with you....

Someone beautiful as their existence

Someone who is dearest to me....

Honestly love the way you talk , and might I tell you you need to teach me about Greek mythology , you are so intelligent and intellectual means how just drop the secrets dude...

Although I am not there irl with you but I'll always be there for comforting you....

Never feel as if you are alone in something cause you have a little sister with whom you can share anything...

We are always together in everything although not physically but whenever you see the stars and moon remember that they bind me together with everyone and whenever you feel alone just look at them somewhere I am doing that too...

They bind me to you

Being one of the most supportive person and still doubting yourself is not good that's why I included earlier "Look at you comforting others with the words you wish to hear" , you are one of the bestest person out there so learn to trust in your abilities...... (I dare you say something contrary and see what I will do🔪)

You feel like a soft melody after constantly being irritated by pop music...

These are your vibes according to me :-

I still remember the day you told me your penguin story gosh I am still not over it , it was so cute and wholesome....

You know how I am the bubbly talkative af girl and to am extent I can say maybe nakchadi hu (still can't believe you though I was rude ) but you are the contrary mature, intellectual, introverted but that's what makes us brother and sister...

If I had to say you were a colour I'd definitely say you are green cause Those with Green color personality strengths tend to be perfectionistic, analytical, conceptual, cool, calm, inventive and logical. They seek knowledge and understanding as well as always looking for explanations and answers....

As if fictional character fight me but I will always say you are Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice cause you give off those gentlemen vibes...

Now imagine we met and you know my obsession with Polaroids so think these pics as them...

I know deep down sometimes (always) just like me you think about things about what would happen but isn't it the part of growing up...

अजीब दास्ताँ है ये, कहाँ शुरू, कहाँ ख़तम

I associate these lyrics with you cause our friendship was something very unexpected....

Last few days were tough for me so thank you for always being there for me and supporting me throughout....

I lost my faith in friendship way too early but thanks to you and few others that you revived it....

Now imagine me playing a guitar and singing this song to you...

I been tryin' to do it right (Hey) I been livin' a lonely life (Ho) I been sleepin' here instead (Hey) I been sleepin' in my bed (Ho) I been sleepin' in my bed (Hey) (Ho) (Ho) so show me family (Hey) all the blood that I will bleed (Ho) I don't know where I belong (Hey) I don't know where I went wrong (Ho) but I can write a song (Hey)

I belong with you, you belong with me You're my sweetheart I belong with you, you belong with me You're my sweet

I dedicate these lyrics to you...

Just so you know I love you to the moon and back and I always appreciate and cherish your existence....

As always I'll dedicate these songs to you and as of its voice note I'll send it to you...

Now I think I have spoken enough

So signing off Cedar bro,

With love always

Kaya 💗

[midokai]

n and taiyou... and y'know what, cannoli and clair! *runs looney tunes style*

PROMPT:     send me a character’s name and my muse will tell how they feel about them!

     ❝     taiyou?     ah,     that’s my——     you know,     ❞     the term boyfriend still feels like too powerful of a word,     even conceptualizing it brings him to a slight fluster but he trudges on regardless,     after clearing his throat into a lazily made fist     &͟.     making a vague gesture of sorts.     ❝     i try not to because it’s terribly distracting and gets in the way of my work but i think about him,     a lot.     i’d like him to meet my sisters at some point when     …     the concept isn’t so     …     embarrassing,     sometime in the very distant future.     i wouldn’t call it fate,     it feels too cliche of a trope but——     i’d like to think that cannoli liking him right away was a sign,     she’s never liked anyone but me before that:     she brags about it even,     about how she’d,     ‘picked him out specifically for me’     as if she were cupid and all that nonsense.     i humor her but i don’t think arceus was kind enough to smile down on me for once and give me this one thing,     it must have been a coincidence.     ❞     a brief pause,     the swivel of gaze to     &͟.     fro to scope out the atmosphere     &͟.     make sure no one else is around to hear anything that will follow next.     ❝     at some point i was okay with loving him from a distance and i was okay with it being unreciprocated as long as i’d get him to look at me once in a while but eventually it got harder and harder and     …     i found myself struggling.     it’s humiliating,     i can’t count on my fingers how many times i would spill my heart out to one of my pokémon friends,     reshiram especially——     at some point i even told his pokémon about my mental and emotional torment,     it got that bad.     ❞     okay,     he’s rambling,     time to rein it in.     ❝     anyhow he’s my     …     boyfriend that i love very much and i’m particularly grateful that he loves me too even though i’m undeserving of it.     i’m happy that he and cannoli get along,     even if she insists that she doesn’t like him that much,     actions speak louder than words and the wag of her tail always betrays what she says.     being referred to as his boyfriend is still     …     flustering but i like calling him that because he’s my boyfriend and he’s cute,     he’s so very cute,     and charming,     and handsome,     and smart,     and he treats me well,     and i love him,     i love him,     i love him,     ❞     swooning like a school girl,     how very cool of him.     not.     ❝     but that’s besides the point.     if it were up to me i could ramble for hours but——     i’ll show mercy.     i truly think he's something special and i can envision a future with him,    i don't think i want to live in a future where i don't have him by my side in some way.     i'd do anything he could ever ask of me,     no matter what.     ❞

     &͟.     cue cannoli with her trademark spark.     ❝     big brother clair!     i feel like a princess with her own royal bodyguard when taiyou asks him to follow me around!     he scares everyone else off and it makes me feel powerful,     like i have my own scary dog in the same way dad has reshi!     i like pepper too!     and sunspot!     and     …     everyone but he’s my favorite.     he actually listens to me even when i say nonsense just to make sure that he’s actually paying attention,     always gotta keep him on his toes,     y’know!     we’re for-lifers at this point,     even if both our dads break up,     which i would never allow to happen,     that’ll still be my older brother no matter what.     we make a good team and even though he’s the scary one out of the two of us i’m way stronger,     shocking,     i know but it’s true!     ❞     poised,     a haughty expression growing ‘cross features as she upturns her nose with a smug grin.     ❝     i like going on outings with him because he actually lets me explore and he doesn’t force me to go back inside even when it’s dark outside,     the rest of our teammates will scoop me up and take me back to dad even if i kick and scream!     but clair?     he waits until i’m good and ready so he’s special,     he has the most special place in my heart EVER.     ��

[thegeminisage]

tos ep rewrites/stid rewrite for the wip meme!!!

HIIII ty for asking

this isn't technically a fic per se, it's almost like a half-fic half-meta kind of deal - essentially it's an outline of what could be a fic if i had more time and patience. i did this for the first tos movie here and had a lot of fun doing it, and then i also did a small rewrite of "tholian web" here, and i had SO MUCH FUN DOING THEM but then i got side tracked and haven't done anymore. my plans for other episodes/stid are vaguely as follows:

the enemy within - loved this one conceptually but the crass rape jokes left a real sour taste in my mouth. i'd have less of that (or, if i had it, take it seriously) and more shenanigans where someone can't tell the two kirks apart because. they're both the real kirk!! that's the real point of the episode, right?

the conscience of the king - frankly, there was too much shakespeare here, even though it will always be my fav trek episode of all time. i also thought the lenore thing, while a great twist, could have been a little less "but kirk really secretly loved this woman 20 years younger than him!" and more "man this is crazy fucked up that is trying to honeypot this very young woman and surprise she is doing it back to him." more foreshadowing and drama, you know? the tos version wouldn't have to be gambler's knife but it could be something more than what it was considering the huge effect it had on fandom - i always kinda wished it had the vibes that obsession did.

the galileo seven - i thought this episode treated spock like he was kind of stupid. "why is my first command failing when i've been an asshole to everybody?" he has a human mother! he knows how emotions work! he is not stupid! i also thought there was a missed opportunity: they all talked about how callous it was for him to be picking a man to leave behind to lighten the ship, and he was so obviously going to choose himself, but it never went anywhere. let's do him more justice!

metamorphosis - let's chill with the horrific misogyny and have more fun with the accidental parallel kirk made in his really cool speech. like fuck it this is my edit let's just do spirk

mirror, mirror - this one is actually perfect as it is but i wish we'd had more time to se what the mirror kirk & co were doing in the prime universe.

journey to babel - this one is great but i don't think it takes either of spock's parents to task enough for him turning out like that. also, they tricked us into thinking amanda was the good cop in aos and then have her slap him in tos but then acted like that was just fine? girl, let's get into it

the paradise syndrome - i just want this episode without the heinous racism. please please please. easily easily EASILY my biggest trek disappointment ever

requiem for methuselah/the enterprise incident - these two go together as part of a more complex story based partially on the fact that they originally wanted kirk's breakdown in the latter episode to be a real result of the various um things that happened to him in season 3 and partially by the fact that requiem for methuselah WAS my november 5th and i am being completely serious. i didn't think i would ever feel that way again but i did at the end of that episode. you can read about the general idea here at the end of @maulthots close encounters powerpoint which i helped a little bit with.

honorable mention to episode premises i would have loved in a different context - lights of zetar where spock is the possessed one and an episode totally unrelated to wolf in the fold, the funniest tos ep after tribbles, where an enemy who feeds on fear jumps around the ship possessing people. that could have been great had it been in a serious episode and not been played by piglet's voice actor

and finally, star trek into darkness...everything about this movie was bad, except the warp core thing which was accidentally very very VERY good. so i'd rewrite it from the ground up, starting with recasting khan, because that was just a hateful thing to do. i don't have very many concrete ideas on this yet except you'd HAVE to get assad zaman for khan, right? because he can do that thing where he makes his eyes shake? he would have rocked it.

let people send you an ask with the WIP title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

[runespoor7]

Re: chengxian cis!girl au, what do you think would change socially/politically/ect if Jiang Cheng was afab!guy ?

It would really depend on how/when the social transition happened! And how you decide the Jianghu is wrt trans guys. I largely err on the side of “idk, I don't feel like it would change much provided JC doesn't come out/transition socially while JGS is running the show.”

Still not really what you asked for, but here's a couple things I think this would mean for JC and his self image and his relationship with WWX:

In a world where the Jiang parents hide JC’s sex at birth (maybe YZY had a hard enough pregnancy etc that another try isn't an option, and they already think JYL will be unfit as a sect leader, so they decide to announce JC is a boy and raise him as such), it doesn't change much of anything on that scale. JC has a very bad time when sequestered in LP and WQ promptly doses him with abortives, but that’s largely it.

If JC doesn't transition as a child, I think a good moment for it would be Sunshot. It’s a messy, chaotic time, the jianghu is in upheaval, JC is the Jiang authority, I don't think anyone’s going to find the time and energy to police too strenuously his claim that where the younger Jiang daughter died a Jiang son lives. (You know, it'd be cool if one of the reasons why WWX defaults to calling him JC in that world is bc JC doesn't like his courtesy name.)

I don't thiiiiiink WWX would necessarily be super cool with coming back and finding JC recognized as a dude even if he’s known for years that JC’s a dude. This is mostly because post-being-thrown-in-the-BM WWX is horribly not okay. Everything that’s different from what it was before grates. Also, this specific thing, I think it hits WWX right in the toxic masculinity/cultivationship/sth-sth: it’s like JC decided to be his own protector, it’s like– it’s like an acknowledgement or an announcement that WWX isn't there anymore, that the brilliant head disciple of the Jiang is no more. WWX isn't enough. And WWX feels it like that because that’s what’s going on, he is no longer the person he was and he can't fulfill his duty to JC like he was meant to and he will never again be able to. (I wonder. Would this WWX look for WQ at some point. Would he try to convince her to give him a core, any core. He fantasizes about it, that's for sure.)

If JC doesn't transition socially during Sunshot, I think he’s stuck being understood to be a woman for a good while. Maybe he can transition at some point after JGS’s death but before WWX’s return? Would he, though? He’s not exactly someone who loves to rock the boat.

Wouldn't it be something if when WWX returns JC is out as a man, though. Wouldn't that occupy WWX’s thoughts a lot! (Maybe would fuel his unavowed resentment. Oh, so JC can fight against social norms after all.) I'm not sure when/how it works but WWX being flummoxed would make it a good fic.

Or maybe he transitions after canon. The other two great sects are in disarray, the Nie are… whatever’s going there, people have decided to blame JGY instead of WWX, up is down, might as well. Now's a good time. Now is the time. JC is no longer a frightened youth, he's a powerful adult that no-one wants to have angry at them. (And, as well: WWX and LWJ have confessed their love and have married. Is it such a reach that JC would take advantage of that?)

In both last two cases I’m not sure WWX knew about JC being a guy; I don't think JC did. JC didn't conceptualize it that way. It took him a long time to arrange the pieces.

In both cases - JC being a guy after WWX’s death - I think it reframes his relationship to WWX in his mind. Surely that was the root of both his resentment and his love. He loved WWX because he was a girl and he resented WWX because he wanted to be WWX (cool and strong and a boy). He’s not actually in love with WWX.

WWX’s confession to LWJ is also a lot here. (let JC tell himself that men can't like men like that, WWX!!)

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 27

This episode was really fun and it felt like a lot happened. Pretty bizarro conceptually. As usual, I have QUESTIONS! The digimon blind watching experience is full of questions.

Notes:

Never thought I'd see a digimon riding a motorcycle. For a second there I thought we were getting a motorcycle digimon lol.

The "rider-less" bike reminded me of Stephen King. Evil/possessed vehicles is a pretty cool concept and combining that with this whimsical fantasy village was a new twist.

Okay WTF, digimon age now?? The Tsuchidarumon village had little baby Tsuchidarumon and elderly wrinkled Tsuchidarumon. This has never been a thing before that I can recall! Why would data-based creatures age like that anyways? Also, this brings me back to the previous episode. Are you tellin' me that there are "kid" versions of Jijimon and Babamon that look the same but are smaller? What about the previous forms for the Tsuchidarumon, do they digivolve from a baby form into a baby Tsuchidarumon or...? I'm definitely overthinking this, but I've gotten pretty deep into the franchise at this point and visually aging outside of digivolving was not a thing before!

That baby Tsuchidarumon barely reacted when its relative died lol. I guess they didn't need to make the moment that dramatic, but then don't kill digimon so casually!

Juri just eats dirt and likes it? Was that supposed to be her being polite or is she just a freak?

We got the doggo deva! I really like his design, probably one of the best yet (I could do a tier ranking at this point). Funny how most of the deva have that same, cryptic way of talking. Definitely a cult.

Jian and Jian alone looked off model this episode lol. They drew his eyes very rectangular for some reason.

Culumon's 2 seconds of screentime were completely pointless. The weird binary forest was kinda neat though.

I have a crack theory that Terriermon is aware he's in an anime. The fact that he's constantly like "meh, it'll work out" makes it feel like he knows he has plot armor lol

Choromon (lil baby metal mouse) was really cute. When they introduced him I was thinking "oh boy another baby digimon I'll have to raise in a video game eventually."

Excited for Beelzebumon, but he totally blew it when he was like "I'm Beelzebumon" at the end there. Who are you talking to? You look like an idiot now. Also, I had to double check that that was Impmon's digivolution because they didn't show it happening really (I know it's literally in the title, but still!)

Guilmon and Terriermon were extra cute in this episode. I love them so much! Juri was kinda cute too, she's growing on me. (Not that I ever disliked her).

[mars-ipan]

Okay

A list of the kinks/interests Mars may have, in no particular order cause then it's less embarrassing if I'm wrong:

Biting

Collars

Hypnosis

Panty stealing

Bondage

Hickeys

Furries

Domination

Impact play

Feeding

Pet play

Blood

Marking

Piercings

Orgasm control

:DDD IT’S HERE !!! ok i’m gonna go through these one by one:

biting: sniles so sneetly :) i have good strong teeth. would be a shame not to use them. being bitten also good

collars: i didn’t care much at first. but then komaeda. and now. i very much enjoy a collar. more on other ppl than on me though i have sensory issues with things on my neck

hypnosis: this is one i’m actually just dipping my toes in. i really dig it conceptually but in practice i tend to get nervous/distracted whenever i’m hypnotized (i’ve never been hypnotized in a kink way though). i think hypnosis as a whole is really cool psychologically and am open to exploring how it could be utilized in kink settings :3

panty stealing: i’m not like. actively into the panty stealing itself. i don’t really gaf about underwear. but! the implications that panty stealing has are fun. i enjoy the obsessiveness, the possessiveness, the general pervy-ness of the act. it’s not about the panties it’s about being deranged enough about someone to steal from them. or in the case of the dangan protags having someone trust you enough to give them your underwear as a sign of your bond. what !!! that’s insane !!! i’m looking !!!

bondage: of course. this feels like a given to me. fun fact i was born premature and premature babies need to be swaddled really tight to help development. i think i never outgrew this swaddle instinct i want to be wrapped up in smth to the point of not being able to move. that sounds so relaxing. and also trusting someone enough to do that ??? hell yeah. also good from a rigger perspective to be trusted with someone who is incapable of moving away from you in some way shape or form. that’s really good and i very much enjoy it. also it’s Pretty like aesthetically holy shit bondage is gorgeous

hickeys: correct. part of my oral fixation. i think hickies are soooooo pretty though the idea of skin dotted in little bruises as a physical show of affection…. affection so strong it hurts… gwah. fun fact one of my college besties bruises like a peach and every time i see her with a hickey on her neck (result of her bf) i get mildly jealous bc like. who’s gonna give ME a hickey huh. but i would never say that except as a joke bc that’s Insane lmao

furries: in the sense of i am a gay person on the internet, sure. i am a furry just in general (pine marten fursona will one day have a design. and a name. i promise) and i have lots of friends who are furries and they’re all real cool and furries are generally cool. i’m not like actively into them (non-human stuff is just generally refreshing though) but. cool shit is cool shit and if good porn happens to be furry porn then so be it. it tends to line up with a lot of my other interests so we’re chill but i don’t necessarily seek it out

domination: i loveeeee me some power dynamics. i’m a vers so i’m comfy on either end of this scale but goddd i love a good battle for dominance that ends in one person’s victory. soft domming mind games cruel doms the threat of punishment the promise of reward… all very good. very fun game. i enjoy it

impact play: ehhhh not really actually? never been a big fan of active hitting. don’t get me wrong there’s some sadomasochism in here but i prefer it when any pain is either inflicted incidentally (heat of the moment type of deal) or very, very deliberately. things like pinching or the occasional slap across the face depending on the scene are chill and fun. things like spanking or whips aren’t really for me. so like if partner a snaps and hits partner b in the moment yeah that’s hot. but if partner a like. bends partner b over their knee and has them count out five hits or whatever that’s a bit eh for me. not my thing

feeding: also not super my thing! nothing against it it isn’t an active turn-off or anything but. meh. not smth i care too much about. i think it can play into my other kinks if desired (i have an oral fixation i can easily make it work) but the act of feeding someone or being fed doesn’t do too much for me kink-wise. i think it’s a cute show of intimacy though :3

pet play: :3333 komahina unlocked this one in me i’m not afraid to say it. i realized hajime hinata was puppy and then i went “ah. i’m learning things about myself” and that’s just how it goes. idk the thought of sitting there doing obedience training/going through tricks for ages without even actually having sex…. the promise of rewards/‘treats’ at the end… clickers. hell yeah

blood: i like things visceral. i enjoy animalistic, primal type things. what is more visceral than blood. this is mostly a hypothetical kink for me (i’m immunosuppressed lol i can’t be out here getting genuinely injured or ingesting someone else’s blood </3) but OUGH blood is hot. blood is hot! and that’s the truth and we know it. vampires i love youuuu

marking: yes. yep. 100%. possessiveness. dominance. primality. sadomasochism. yeah. the idea of lasting marks being left on a body… good god. on me on whomever my hypothetical partner is. yes. good. i want bruises up and down i want scratch lines i want bite marks. genuinely one of the hottest things on the Planet

piercings: not actively but i’m down to clown. this is mostly just me being into alt folks and also having an oral fixation. metal in my mouth please :] also sensory play is fun and piercings make things interesting. being licked: nifty. being licked and there’s a tongue piercing: woah !!! so like yeah sure 👍

orgasm control: YEAHHHHH. at first i thought this was an asexy thing bc delay/denial was how i got into it and i enjoy the idea of sex without the pressure to have an orgasm. but then as i got older i started realizing that forced orgasms and multiple orgasms and ruined orgasms are also fun and. i just think it’s neat :3

[g33se]

Playing bg3 right now. Got to the point with the druids and the tiefling city. A couple of opinions about the party:

Lae'zel: I liked her a lot when I met her first (competent, straightforward, my type of girl) but she's being very rude about the tieflings. Given that I'm playing a tiefling... well. Not keen on the way she compared us to cockroaches or the way she made the tiefling bow- granted the tieflings did have reason to want to stab her. So liking her quite a bit less now. Still, looking at her respectfully. She is hot.

Shadowheart: Never really liked elves all that much. Not super keen on the way she did a racism at Lae'zel as soon as we met her, but the moments of emotional vulnerability have me liking her a lot more.

Astarion: Stupid loser bastard. That man is clearly a vampire- I mean, look at the eyes/teeth/the literal VAMPIRE BITE on his neck and the ten thousand clues he's been dropping. Sexy of him to greet me by holding a knife to my neck I thought he was going to rob me. He's such a fucking idiot I want to jump his bones.

Gale: This man has bard energy. At least, the way I play bards. Also kind of single dad energy? Just a random wizard running around. Just a Dude, if you will. Had to put him back in the campsite since I'm a sorcerer and party comp will get fucked though.

Wyll: Thought he was a paladin at first. Then he started doing warlocky things. I like how he acts it's a nonstandard edgy warlock thing, I hope his storyline pans out well. Really like his back-and-forth with Lae'zel about ever doing nice things with her life. Immediately taken with the fight scene I saw him in first, looked fucking epic.

Overall, I really love Mind Flayers. They're fucking cool, that little starter scene when I converted a woman into one was fucking nightmare fuel. I did see the button saying perfect and press it knowing what it would probably mean. What the hell were they doing in Avernus though. And isn't Zariel the angel who fell because she wanted to kill demons with GREAT PREJUDICE?

I've also been save scumming whenever I steal stuff a lot because, habit. I just want to collect all the boxes and put them into the campsite. Also reloaded the same save three times because I wanted Asterion to take that one potato off a crying guard. (Probably going to try to see if I can do a revivify on the dead guard later? I don't know if the game has the 1 min timer on revivify or not.) Also I do like how yoinking just makes people do 'hey wtf' or 'you're getting arrested' because instantly trying to kill the party is. Weird.

Also reloaded the save once because I couldn't revivify Shadowheart because she died on stairs that were on fire. I know how to play dnd I just have a hard time conceptualizing it with game graphics.

Lower level dnd's always interesting. The take action to restore someone else at 1hp is also... inspired. Would be interested to see normal downing rules- that would force me to think in more dnd terms to play the game. I also keep clicking wrong and wasting attacks on the space right next to a person.

Weird how everyone can use scrolls.

I hate the 1/short rest mage hand it's a fucking cantrip and it can do, like, nothing. Going to download a mod for it later.

Going to have to use the speak with dead amulet a lot I hope. I love that spell. Not quite sure how I feel about your camp being a separate room- I feel like it trivializes inventory management and sending things there is. Weird. Where is all the weight going. I do like stacking all the boxes I find though.

Thought the Absolute people were part of a mind flayer cult so had to kill a few of them.

Current leader druid is a bit cringe. Don't want to kill her but definitely ousting her asap. Stop being a dick to my people (tieflings). Also really liking the tiefling responses so far.

Also wonder at the deal about the tiefling village. They seem to have a lot of hell stuff going on there.

Anyway, this is cool! Looking forward to what happens next.

[seasideretreat]

I am doing my job

The things are going out of control. The Li is our only guide. Ritual and freedom go hand in hand. Existence is a powerful way forward.

I can see the world, but why? Because I see it with my eyes. It seems existence is a pure essence, that flows automatically down to the real harbors of automatic essence. The world is the real world. Contradictions are the lifeblood of civilization. Cool things are necessary for being alive. The generation of truth is the essence of pure reality. When we do things, we are automatically realized to the ultimate reality. Sedation is the way forward; automatic necessity is the way into the limelight: we need ordinary truths to make sense of our lives.

I am not sure I want to write. There are so many questions I have yet to answer; I ain't got no reason to spout gibberish into the unknown, and the questions that I do want to ponder will probably never be worth writing down.

The world consists of Yin and Yang. We know that these forces obey the simple law of the Li. Then there is the force of the Qi, that lives inside us and makes us alive. It seems this is all very good. We've got to understand the world. When God created the world, he created the light first: it is said that God is pure light. It seems the nature of the Gods is different from ours, but maybe we're all light too. It seems the whole hypothesis of a black hole is a bit limited. We're all built up out of black holes, because we are light but we don't give off light.

It seems we can wonder what the world truly is. We can also wonder why we consider a world really exists. This is what I would call conceptualization. When we have a world, we automatically consider it to be real, and we think the world really exists - that's easy. However, when we accentuate the pure horror of ordinary life, things happen, and this makes us go crazy and be insane. And so on.

The truth is, I was wrong to say that we can wonder whether the world truly exists. There's more to metaphysics than that. "Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind."

History is the mistress of life. I could ponder metaphysics all day, but history gives me immediate answers, although they are not very nice, nor subtle. Still, I can philosophize thanks to history, although it does not beat metaphysics. You know, I am a stoic of sorts, even though I believe in many things; and I always try to benefit during my day from the things in my life. I try to do things during the day, like read and play poker. God I love to play poker. It's so relaxing. But I also love metaphysics. I believe that it is the point of metaphysics to do conceptualization, but the true metaphysics is unable to conceptualize anything, and therefore we just remain stuck in blind thinking. Still, I am trying to get a grip on my life. I want control. So often I feel like just letting the time pass, but somehow I can't let go.

It seems we can know things, and not know things. Knowing what you know, and knowing what you do not know, that is wisdom. Confucius said that. Now it seems we do not know if God exists. However, there are probably events that we cannot explain other than that there was a divine will in it, that had those things happen - I can't think of anything, but I am sure that it might happen. Then we might say: I do not know if God exists, maybe he does. Then metaphysics - the science in our mind that determines what exists and what doesn't exist - will allow for a divine will; and so, God becomes a metaphysical concept, because we have thought about it. Nevertheless, it might still be a bit insane.

Still, how do we begin thinking in metaphysics? Maybe by asking what life is. Hell, we might even ask what thought is. Then we might say that thought is words in our head that we use to categorize the world. This is also what the Bible says about God: in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. So perhaps the principal question of metaphysics is not "does the world exist?" but rather "are words real"?

I have been interested in stoic metaphysical notions such as that the whole world is the word, or reason (Logos). Obviously, that is a valid position in metaphysics when we are considering whether words are real: duh, everything is a word. But then we might say: how do you explain writing? When I write a word on paper, you can see it clearly from the surrounding area, and the rest is clearly not a word.

Also, we might say: duh, words exist, because you only exist because you hear yourself think, and therefore you think in words. But then we will say: do we also hear God think? And you will say: God doesn't exist. And then I will say: do you know that? That is metaphysics.

It seems the world is very complicated. We do wonderful things everyday, and we should be thankful for that, but that is not the essence of life. The essence of life is controlling our emotions. If we do good things, good things will come to us; a wise man can befall no bad things: you stand tall in the flight of life and will not be thwarted by any real or unreal necessity, such as we see in the flow of life.

As I said, writing is a bit like playing poker. Just like in poker, you only need to know a few rules and if you stick by them you will win. The essence of life is being in the zone. You can realize ordinary things and make them count in the vast abyss of pure ideosyncrasy. When we do things, we realize reality and make the full power of things work. This is the truth of being a full-blooded individual: you do what you can to make the world a better place; when you condone real actions, you grow stronger and wiser and this makes you a man: the world is an era of new becomings, that flow over each other and make us realize the essence of the world. Being is becoming. We see the power of the ordinary world and this makes us think we know better than everybody else, but it is just a noise in the carburetor of pure life, that flows automatically down to the realities of ordinary creativity, and makes us realize the little things in pure life the way ordinary life overpowers our power to give us flow in the essence of ordinary reality: it's all about flow.

Right now I am thinking about the concepts of spending and wasting time. When you're sitting in a chair doing nothing, not even thinking, you're obviously wasting time. Not always thought. Sometimes we are spending time. The notion of spending time is much more positive than that of wasting time. We can truly start to manage our life this way, to a minor extent. After all, we must benefit, but we must also just spend and waste time in our day: we can't always be doing great stuff, and we must be honest with ourselves and so on and so forth.

It seems that sometimes we are thinking and other times we are not. In the same way, miraculous events may happen and we won't even know it. Essences flow and make sense on their own. The reality of life is a bit weird. Everything is known, and we know what is common sensical through the reality of being a man. This is constant flow: being alive, being real.

Another way to look at time is the concept of "holding up" - I think this is a very important one. In Dutch this is a normal way of saying that someone was in a certain place for a certain length of time: where is holding up? (Waar houdt hij zich op?) Of course, in English we ask this when someone is grieving or in emotionally dire straights: how are you holding up? Which is a very positive meaning. But I will use it in the Dutch sense also: I had to hold up at the computer whilst I was writing because I had nothing to do. Something like that. Of course in Dutch you say: I had to hold myself up at the computer, but I don't think that's English.

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. The jolly world is full of terrific discoveries that will allow us to draw from the inner wells of joy and be total human beings. Things are existential, and we can only understand the necessary essences of things when we articulate the necessary essences with due force and profound vigour. Things may exist, but in the last analysis nothing is known except the little things, and they are all insane and crazy and they don't really matter. When we encounter valid assumptions, the necessary contours of ordinary life fade and become better agents of the newer and more creative enterprise, that we call pure essentiality. The hope of the newer order of men is that a higher calling will be uttered by the priests of the new order, that make appeals to the only known God, that makes the world a better place for all to live in; and we realize the essence and make them essential in the vastness of space and time; but there is no particular identity or particularity that we can fathom in the vastness of space and time, because we do not apprehend the segmentation of pure knowledge into the newer appartuses of sheer reality, that we ascertain with sheer force and patience.

What is this world? Logos. However, it seems we can think in myriad directions without ever trapping ourselves in a purely rational construct. So what does Logos really mean? It means reason, but it also means word. The logic of the world - its proper necessity - articulates the necessary ends of a purely uttered world, that is to say a world with particular characteristics that make it sensible to modern ears. When we encounter this crazy reality, we automatically flow into the area of history, where things are absolute and meaningful. In this course, we can continue without too many problems. A fully rational world is uninteresting.

[twinktowers667]

nonbinaryronaldreagan movies review

Barbie Movie: 8/10, very lynchian beginning that makes you believe it’s going to be something great, but ultimately devolves into directly stated social commentary. Still conceptually interesting throughout, but just a little too on the nose with everything the more I think about it. Honestly though, it pulls off the directly stated commentary by nature of being a brand movie, it makes it more surprising when they really go there. Kind of reminded me of the 5th element, which I haven’t seen.

Asteroid City: 6/10 FUCK this movie man. Wes Anderson went off the fucking deep end with the stupid narrative structures in this one. Most of his previous movies have random narrative devices, like Grand Budapest Hotel technically being a girl reading a book written by an author who was told the story by an old man, but that’s nothing more than endcaps to the movie that makes you think like oh yeah that’s kind of quirky. Cool deal Wes. But in Asteroid City scenes of the ‘meta’ part of the story are constant, which would be possibly interesting if it felt like it served any real purpose. The whole thing is just too scattered, it entirely lacks focus. So much went into this movie, the acting, the visuals, the presumed creative control given to Wes Anderson to make something this weird, and it all serves a rambling mess that feels like little more than an excuse to have quirky and funny scenes occasionally. It’s still enjoyable, but it never grabbed me emotionally except at the end when I was slightly ticked off that nothing happened the whole film. I watched part of a video on this movie and a guy said that his interpretation was that it’s about the experience of an artist or something but really it’s just hipster bullshit. Don’t watch this one unless you’re a big fan of Wes Anderson already.

Oppenheimer: 2/10 didnt watch this cause it looks like shit #LOL. christopher nolan movies are made for dudes who watch breaking bad and think “wow, walter white is such a badass”

[centrally-unplanned]

Delayed Season 4 Buffy thoughts! Should have posted the messy first draft as a metaphor for Season 4's plot composition eyooo - *cough* okay Buffy stuff first:

Pathetic!Spike is hilarious, I love him <3 It is certainly a "weird", choice, like there is incredibly simply no reason for the Scoobies to keep him alive as long as they do. They did not put in the work to have this all make sense. But he is the lodestone of some of the better episodes, you can tell they wanted it to work and so waved away the logic a bit.

Halloween is cringe is so great, and I like to note that Season 2 Spike, while not intentionally doing, did not pass up an opportunity to try to kill Buffy on Halloween. All vamps are secretly cringe.

“I tend to hear the actual words that people say and accept them at face value”: Finally, the tumblr autism representation we needed

Re: Hush, no soundtrack would have been cool but I think it would have just authentically been too daring for TV. This is one of the episodes that wasn't a "fight" but was a bit of a ~execs handwringing~ moment, so I think pushing it too far wasn't really in the cards. Also am curious now if Buffyverse just has a different Bible - they definitely haver a different theology!

"Willow’s crusader costume is cute": I also appreciated Oz as God, very "of the era" adorkable but it works - just like crushing on Willow, right of passage for 2000's nerds.

"Joyce/Giles Dating": First off amazing to find a Joyce/Giles shipper, you aren't settling for second place on the niche awards. I agree they have some chemistry, but authentically? I think Giles ain't into her. The reality is they hook up under the influence of magic drugs, Actual!Joyce is much more straight-laced, and as history shows Giles's type has a bit of a roguish streak. Setting aside the fact that he doesn't wanna fuck where he eats as it were, I think authentically he doesn't see spark-sparks even if they have physical chemistry. Leaves you free to date Giles though, bonus!

Thanksgiving Episode: I have a soft spot for this one because, yeah, like it doesn't "age" well? But also it kind of does - it really is a 2000's bottle of the same concoction 2010's Social Justice internet is gonna be dunking into its own mix drink. It is cringe but college freshman being cringe about ethics is so real. Also Spike is pro-genocide, my precious <3

Faith Arc: I agree this sort of "therapy" arc actually hits really well because it "goes there", that totally could be the actual, trauma-inducing consequences of a body swap. Freed from her own social prison and, probably, straight-up chemically-imbalanced mental state, she gets to step back and go "uh, wait, what the fuck was I doing?". They did it well, and they had a ton of fun with it too - I have ofc blown my "because it's wrong" gif usage already, but the mirror scene is also hilarious.

Also "he just wanted to be a big snake" lmao, Faith you gotta bring back the mayor solely for the family hijinks, do it.

Oz's fate is tragic, it is 100% because of silly, should-have-been-fixable contract disputes about requirements for set-time, and miscommunications between the various parties. Never heard their be any ill will, it was 100% "welcome to the business, shit happens". But yeah, he needed to leave, they didn't really have the prep time to write him off, they did what they could. Conceptually I do really like it, I think it is nice for him to realize that maybe being a werewolf isn't the "nap for one day a month" health condition he is making it out to be? And I think he is a really effective foil for Tara, he offers a very different relationship dynamic than her. Would have been great to explore it. Very funny you confused Oz and Spike in a sleepy fever dream ^^

On that thread, Xander going to Angel is honestly not a bad idea? And I like Xander. I think this season he got good material and he improves at it goes on - his role as the "everyman" is not as sexy but kinda raw. Still, while he has good arcs personally, his mechanical role in the plot is yeah totally shot, and the Angel setting could have revitalized him.

The Initiative is definitely one of those things where you kind of touch the "worldbuilding stove" - he military can't really know about Demons because then the whole "world behind the veil" thing falls apart. So they make the military out to be this insane science cult thing, because that will maybe make them showing up for one season and noping out make more sense? But obviously none of it makes sense. I think it hurt Riley's arc too, as he has no *real* military to relate to and care about, and so needs steroids arc instead.

Buffy is absolutely inconsistent on magic, but there is a thread throughout of "dark doesn't mean bad" with magic - dark is dangerous to the user, not evil. And this connects to the wider Wicca cultural movement - explicitly "anti-Christian" and so reclaiming dark gods as positive. I think in Season 4 this is holding together okay - in Season 6 the inconsistency is gonna be a real problem...

Okay, Angel thoughts now - I will just have a few here, as I am not as much of an Angel fan (I enjoyed it, but it makes some odd choices - as you say, it shoots the worldbuilding full of holes)

Angel-in-Angel may be far less menacing as our new wisecracking lead most of the time, but every once in a while he does throw down, it's pretty great

I also enjoyed Doyle, though agree we didn't need any love triangle stuff. I find myself *very* confused about Demon biology that he demon side did not "express" itself until he is 21? Face o' spines take some time to settle in? But yeah, it is weird how demon cultures just fly all over the place - some are totally chill, some will just kill you over an off-hand apparently-binding contract! That episode is one where the "formula" of a comedic battle-style ending got in the way imo.

Re: Demon-humanness, as they explain in Buffy around the mayor, you learn in Season 3 that all demons on earth are just like shades or hybrids, and a true demon manifesting is super powerful, etc. It is good lore! And also totally not what they had planned in Season 1 and not a rule they follow lol. Angel has to face this far more problematically - these demon societies they encounter just do not play by that rule. And honestly they could have done better, it was just sloppy.

Faith <3 <3 her arc in Angel is really good, and honestly it is a bit sad that it is *in* Angel because it is hard for someone watching Buffy today to jump over to those episodes mid-season. Classic "marketing getting in the way of the story" moment, but it still works really well. Angel hits his stride as the guy who "gets" darkness in a way that say Buffy never could, so he can function as the grey-morality side of the heroing.

Re: Romani slur, yeah the "time marched on" aspect here is just particularly harsh - it wasn't a slur in the year 2000! No one mainstream had even an inkling of that. And to be fair this is contentious today - people in Europe, including Romani, still use it heavily (though they debate it there too). But of course in the US this is settled, it is a slur, and Buffy+ was just a few years too late to the party.

I too really appreciate the focus on the finances in Angel - both slots into the Grey Morality thing and also, hey, this is Los Angeles. Rent ain't cheap. Allows them to do stories Buffy just isn't set up to do.

You should let me know your "net" opinion of Season 4, if you have one ofc, as I can see the ups and downs - curious how it all comes together! For me it is a messy season - the Initiative is weak, weird moments like Oz being written off don't work, multiple bad filler. But I like Willow/Tara - team Gay Wicca baby - Spike is hilarious, Anya/Xander is fun and kinda real, and one-offs like the Faith arc are some of the best in the show. You also like Adam! No one likes Adam! A huge boom for you in liking the season.

bbb s4 / aaa s1

just sending this in ask format is growing increasingly untenable.

I...have tried to organize this a little bit. The first draft was much worse.

I keep forgetting to mention how weird it is to regularly hear the attack SFX from Alpha Centauri (though it is slightly different in Angel, which is also weird). 

Xander should get more mileage out of his Halloween military experience. 

I really liked Adam a lot more than I expected to. 

Spike is great: still ““evil”” but unable to hurt anybody, is great.

Buffy Episode thoughts

Buffy 4x4 

“Creatures of the night shy away from Halloween. They find it all much too crass.” lmao. Halloween is a night of safety not because the monsters are scared but because they think that you’re cringe. 

“I tend to hear the actual words that people say and accept them at face value” I rarely have occasion to say this, but I’m proud of Xander. 

I like how Buffy nearly murders a guy because he’s wearing a costume. Was it a very realistic costume, or do demons really look like cheap Halloween costumes? 

Buffy 4x10 How dare Giles cheat on Joyce! 

What did the Gentlemen wear before suits? Did they invent suits? 

Revelation 15:1 doesn’t have anything to do with a plague of silence. And it’s Revelation, singular. 

Who wrote this? Joss? Fie on Joss. 

It’s pretty cool that they got a voiceover from Stephen Hawking. 

Probably Unpopular Opinion: Hush should have gone without a soundtrack, or at least less of one. 

Shorter episode thoughts in re Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy 4x3 "The gem of amara is like the vampire holy grail." Giles, buddy, vampires are Christian. Or, they were Christian in the 10th century when they were looking for the gem of amara, anyway (Spike definitely does not go to vampire church). I'm pretty sure that the holy grail is the vampire holy grail.

Willow’s crusader costume is cute. This reminds me of when I had a crush on — “I’m Joan of Arc!” Well then, no wonder. 

Buffy 4x7 “Buffy likes cheese.” Does she? I’m not certain I’ve ever seen her eat cheese, let alone express fondness for it. 

Buffy 4x8 Is there anything to say about the Thanksgiving episode that hasn’t been said before? It sure is something. Sucks that there are some incredible bits in here. 

Buffy 4x11 “I don’t see a scratch on you,” says guy who doesn’t have a scratch on him. Holy shit, Gravity Falls reference!? The Buffy writers were ahead of their time. (checks notes) By twelve years. 

The Giles & Spike team-up in 4x12 is fantastic, but they are really making the “Giles is her dad” subtext just plain text. Why is he not dating Joyce? They didn’t even try to date, because Joyce says that her last boyfriend was the robot! Joyce, why aren’t you dating the hot librarian that sings like a god, and fucks like a stevedore, and – incredibly important detail here – already loves Buffy as if she were his own daughter? They’re clearly physically compatible (which they, ahem, rather explicitly brought up again this season), they have overlapping interests, and he’s already aware of the Slayer thing, so there won’t be any awkward lies about Buffy’s extracurriculars or terrible revelations or whatever. 

4x15 It’s incredible how Faith gets therapy in the worst ways possible. Being able to step into Buffy’s literal shoes for a bit seems to have done some good for her – showed her that, like, it’s possible for normal people to actually love each other. 

4x21 Xander: “Does anybody else miss the mayor?” I do too, buddy. I do too. God, that video that he recorded for Faith... He just wanted to be a big snake, and the Scoobies murdered him for it.

4x22 Giles & Spike team-up: literally a dream. 

General thoughts re Angel the Untitled Spin-off 

Angel pushing a vampire out the window of a skyscraper in broad daylight: incredible. 

Do you think that Angel is still a Vampire Christian? I mean, the Master seemed to like him (pre-re-ensoulment) and he even seems to have a preference for Latin exorcisms instead of some witchy thing. 

I don’t like Doyle. If they needed a Xander on Angel then they should have sent Xander to LA. Never mind, he redeemed himself, in more ways that one. 

Poor Doyle. He just needs to meet a monsterfucker. Oh no, he was married to one already. I guess it’s true what they say, and it’s no use marrying somebody who would fuck you if you wouldn’t fuck yourself. 

The bachelor’s party episode was pretty good – especially with the revelation that Doyle’s marriage was ruined by his own insecurities – but I thought, when the fiance said that the ritual hadn’t been performed in years, that the demon-anthropologist lady was going to discover + explain that they were misinterpreting things, it was all symbolic, something like that. Or, since it’s noted that some of the fiance’s family aren’t terribly observant in other ways, that they’d be convinced to let things go. I guess the writers just really wanted a love triangle with Doyle and Cordelia. 

You know, there’s all this talk of evil from demons, down to when the Nazi demons say that tolerating “half-breed” demons is “as good as giving up the call to evil altogether” and “as good as becoming human ourselves.” Now, souls seem to be related to the conscience (Angel’s morality depends on whether he’s got a soul, the bad kid from 1x14 doesn’t have a soul) but it’s possible for demons to be decent people, so what’s going on here? It feels like “evil” is a label that demons use in rejection of whatever the soul confers, but also I’m fairly sure that the writers never sat down to work out a complex demonic philosophy of opposition or whatever, and this is just fannish epicycles. 

I hate this “Angel can get into any building in LA via the sewers” thing. We know that indirect sunlight is fine, so just give him an umbrella. 

<3 Faith. First time I've really really liked Angel, he's so good for this, I'm sad to hear through the grape vine that she's going to go away for a while.

Angel 4x3 Spike dropped the ball when he called Buffy "Slutty the Vampire Slayer" instead of "Slutty the Vampire Layer." Genuinely what the fuck, how did the writers miss that one? Was it for the alliteration? "Slutty" is a positively tortured replacement for "Buffy," Slutty the Vampire Slayer < Buffy the Vampire Layer, every time, if they had to pick just one then they picked wrong.

Angel 1x6 left me sort of mad that the sensitivity training was from a baddie. Some of it was decent! Nobody under his influence told a goddamn lie – that was brave, that was inappropriate for the situation, he is hiding behind humor, an act of kindness can be manly, etc. (What they did under his influence is another story) Well, alright, people said some untrue things in the last ten minutes. But before that, it was all good! Also police brutality probably went down a bit. This just tells me that we need, maybe, twenty-percent demon magic in our lives, and not the whole whammy. 

Angel 1x9 I don’t like how the fascist demons hate demons with human blood. In Graduation Day Pt 1 we learn that all the demons on Earth have at least a little human blood. I don’t think this is supposed to be a subtle mistake in their ideology because the episode is hardly subtle about these demons being fascists, and you’d think that one of the characters would ask, “How come these fascist demons, being partly descended from humans like all the other demons, don’t get melted by the Human-Melting Lantern that melts other demons? 

Angel 1x14 I am trying to not pick every nit I see, but when Angel and Wesley find out that the priest at the local church is dead… (1) how is there not another priest at this church, when he died six months ago; (2) why do they not go to one of several hundred other Catholic churches in Los Angeles; and (3) why do they not look for somebody who is not a Catholic priest? 

Angel 1x15 Kate, finding out that a dude is a demon: “Well I guess I can forget about reading him his rights” no you fucking cannot, that demon was probably born in this country. 

Angel 1x15 “although technically demons aren’t otherworldly, I mean in fact they were here first” #LandBack 

Angel 1x16 “Did you know that there are a dozen species [of demon] indigenous to LA County alone?” Indigenous! But for real, there actually are a legion of demons in LA. I assume that this is a consequence of the Hellmouth being a hundred miles away, but still, if the masquerade ever breaks then I expect demons to be a noteworthy minority that local politicians have to keep in mind. 

Angel 1x18 “We’re not in the business of giving up on people.” Cool. But earlier: “That’s not a person. It’s a demon.” :screaming: :screaming: :screaming: 

I really fucking hate prophecies. 

Cordelia

Some things about the Buffangelverse haven’t aged well, but Cordelia’s willingness to live in a haunted, deadly apartment because it’s rent-controlled has only gotten more relatable. 

It feels like Cordelia lost a little bit of character development. What possible reason does she have to say “Crybuffy” instead of “Crybaby”? I don’t think she did that kind of thing even in the original series. 

I appreciate her focus on finances. You would think that if The Powers That Be are going to keep sending Angel Investigations to save people who can’t pay to be saved, then they could at least occasionally give Doyle the winning lotto numbers or something. You can’t save people if you’re dead because you ran out of food, and two-thirds half two-thirds of the company still need to eat. 

Oz…

So, I fell asleep halfway through “Wild at Heart,” then woke up near the beginning of “The Initiative” without realizing that I’d slept more than a few minutes and I was in a whole new episode (the downside to being able to sleep anywhere is that…when you’re tired enough, you could sleep anywhere), and back when I was very young I caught part of an episode that (from what I could recall) involved Oz, werewolves, and a secret U.S. government agency, so I thought that Oz disappeared because the Initiative nabbed him (and…put a mind control chip in his head? my recollection from the long-ago time was vague) and all this talk of him “withdrawing from class” and “sending for his stuff” was a dirty Initiative lie. 

I mean, would Oz really ghost his gf like that? My Oz? Sweet, lovable, dependable Oz? 

Cue la surprise when that laconic motherfucker just shows up at the door from his adventures in fucking Tibet. 

It feels bad that the Oz/Will/Tara love triangle got resolved mostly because Oz just skipped out again. Will should have had the opportunity to dump his ass before he decided to skip out again, and Tara should have gotten the sure knowledge that she wasn’t just Will’s consolation prize. 

I read that Oz left the show because he wasn’t getting enough opportunities to Do Stuff. This is terrible. They really should have sent Xander to LA. I mean, I don’t hate Xander, but I certainly don’t like him as much as I liked Oz. At least let Xander get more mileage out of his Halloween military experience so that he can do something interesting. 

The Initiative

How is there an entire underground facility beneath Sunnydale? Why does it exclusively employ early twentysomethings for its muscle. 

I was sure we were going to find out that the Initiative lads were clones, maybe with fake memories and maybe just cover stories. They called Professor Walsh “mom,” describe each other as family, and except for the doctors they’re all kids very young adults, even the ones in leadership roles (except for the colonel who later comes in to supervise). 

What exactly is the organizational structure of the Initiative? Riley’s rank is “agent,” one of his subordinates is “private,” and Maggie Walsh is called ”mom” “professor.” I won’t pick at Xander’s mention of “Secret Forces,” because that’s clearly a minor mistake in the script, but overall it feels like the writers know as much about the military as they do about the price of tea in China. 

It just bugs me…

What is this shit about Willow Wicca and darkness? She talks about dark powers, about calling on the ruler of darkness, et cetera et cetera, as if she hasn’t spent three and a half years helping Buffy to fight against (to quote the intro voiceover from the first two seasons) the “forces of darkness.” You’d at least expect this to be a point of contention in an episode by this point. 

Also really bad how the First Slayer is accompanied by animal sounds. 

It’s really weird how, the first time we’re introduced to Angel’s curse, we’re told that he was cursed by the Romani – and then, every single time they came up again (even amongst themselves) the shows use the slur. I can understand “just using the slur” and I can understand “using the slur in a sort of, ‘you know, the g*****s,’ way and saying ‘Romani’ or ‘Roma’ or whatever afterward, now that the viewer knows what we’re talking about,” but it boggles my mind that they use “Romani” just once, the very first time, and have failed to use it again for five seasons. 

The worldbuilding in Buffy hasn’t been incredible, but Angel (the series) really introduced a lot of problems, most of them related to demons. 

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

The queen herself!

design notes under the cut

alright, let's get started with the outfit-

The thing is that Ravens outfit is really cool, but it is a PAIN to draw, at least for me. There are some small details that come from them having to fit doll molds that drive me crazy, like the fact that Ravens shoes don't have heels but she walks like they do

I also had gotten really, really bored of drawing skirts, so pants it is

Ravens look is majority black with purple and silver accents, but I tweaked it a bit so that purple is the primary color, just for fun

The feathers were cool, but I wanted to save them for fancier looks, so instead I went with dragon wing style clamps on her jacket. It always bugged me that she was the first character with a dragon and that she didn't have any draconic features on her

Alright, so this is my explanation for the way she dresses in this interpretation- she doesn't want to be seen as evil, but her wardrobe is literally cursed to make any and all clothes she tries on as much like her mother's as possible. So she has to try and mold it to her own style, like "ok what's the most normal thing in here" but she's going through Goth Skeletor's closet and this is what she's managed to put together. I'd say she did pretty good! Cravat is a little much though

Yes she only wears one glove, that's on purpose. It was gonna be that the gloved hand is her primary spellcasting hand, but I immediately ruined that, so now I guess that's just something Raven thinks looks cool

Ok now the more character lore stuff

That weird little skull nightmare next to her is Prince! I don't have and have never read the books, but I have spent a lot of time going over wiki pages to try and find details I can incorporate into these designs. Apparently when Raven was a little kid her dad got her a puppy which she called Prince. At some point her mom decided it was unfitting for an evil princess and transformed him into whatever the hell a bone rat is. Needless to say, traumatizing. I can't stand a single even vaguely negative thing happening to a dog, so I'm deciding that Prince is alive, kind of immortal since he's undead-ish, and maintains the same memory and personality. He lives with Raven's dad when she's at school and he's a very good boy, he's just really, really weird.

Yeah I don't know where I'm gonna fit Nevermore in, I think she's just gonna have to join the canon with the rest of them in Dragon Games, cause I like Prince way more conceptually tbh

Evil Raven cause why not. I actually have some ideas on how the queen lineage would work, especially because Raven seems to completely control every aspect of her powers after signing in Way Too Wonderland. I really like the idea that as the next queen grows they gain more magic, but because they siphon it from the previous generation. Raven had a natural affinity for basic spells her whole life, but after a certain age she started to take her mom's powers, which are the new ones she can't control. Plus, I like that angle on the whole jealousy thing. The Queen isn't just bitter that Snow White is more fair than her, it's the double whammy of knowing that no matter what she does, her power will be drained away and made pointless by both Snow and her own family. Usurping based angst