#it's unfortunate when it's an original character you eventually want to write a novel for because no one else can understand--

[tentacleplains]

all symbols for eden and sydney??? i wanna hear your headcanons!! :D

hi sorry this took so long!! under the cut because it's almost 1k words haha

put a symbol (or several) and a character/characters in my ask box, and I’ll give you a headcanon!

☾ - sleep headcanon

when you’re sleeping in eden’s bed they cling to you like a koala. which is a little unwieldy and uncomfortable given your respective sizes and occasionally painful because they hold you too tight sometimes.

sydney is a (canonically, i think) poor sleeper and has a scent diffuser in her room to help relax enough to actually get to sleep.

★ - sad headcanon

eden goes and hides away like a sick dog waiting to die if they get too sad. they don’t want you seeing them like that and they feel like it detracts from their “strong protective husband” (gender neutral) archetype. when they come back they act like nothing ever happened.

after [mysterious and unconfirmed canon trauma that probably includes kylar and definitely includes harper], sydney spent a lot of time crying sporadically and having terrible nightmares. jordan and sirris helped, and harper… did what they did, though only time really lessened the frequency of her breakdowns.

☆ - happy headcanon

eden likes to pick you up and spin you if they’re particularly excited or pleased.

sydney does happy stims, though she tries to keep it discreet because she gets embarrassed.

☠ - angry/violent headcanon

eden needs to do something physical to get their anger out. working out, chopping wood, sex, hand to hand combat. whatever makes them sore and gets them to work up a sweat.

sydney tries and mostly succeeds to keep a handle on her anger, but she’s not immune to accidentally snapping writing utensils in half in her hands when pissed.

✿ - Sex headcanon

eden gets really turned on by the idea of seeing their dick/strap bulge through your body when they’re fucking you. whether or not this is actually possible is irrelevant.

at the first possible opportunity after corruption, sydney tries to attend a bdsm/kink party with you. unfortunately for her there are too many people and she promptly gets overstimulated and wants to leave.

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

eden didn’t originally build their cabin, but they take it upon themself to do repairs when it gets damaged and by this point it’s a bit of a ship of theseus situation.

sydney had a hyperfeminine phase early on in her transition. it didn’t quite fit for her so she eventually phased it out, but her room is still a casualty of that. her bed is covered in plushies.

♡ - romantic headcanon

eden takes some of their romantic cues from romance novels. bodice rippers and the like. whether it works or not depends on if you have stockholm syndrome: eden

syd will swoon and die if you do big, public romantic gestures for her. she likes everyone else seeing that she’s taken, and in such a grandiose way too.

♥ - family headcanon

eden’s parents were terribly abusive, to eden themself and towards each other. this is where their obsession with being a stereotypical protector/provider husband stems from, and because of how terribly their parents treated each other, no amount of mistreatment they pile on you will register to them as abuse because they can justify their actions to themself, and they grew up watching worse.

when sydney started medically transitioning, sirris took it upon himself to research the effects of HRT on the body. syd got rather long and rather uncomfortable in-depth explanations of the changes she’d be going through, but at least she was informed…?

☮ - friendship headcanon

bailey and eden’s friendship started off as transactional and businesslike, bailey being the brains and eden being the brawns. it also started off with a fight, like a hand to hand schoolyard wrestling type fight.

syd likes to hang off of her friends’ arms. she gets very clingy and touchy-feely when she likes you.

♦ - quirks/hobbies headcanon

eden does wood carving. none of it turns out good enough for them to want to bother keeping, though, so none of it is in the cabin.

if sydney ever gives up wearing her rosary, she’ll replace it with a worry stone around her neck. she needs to have something easily accessible to fidget with to self-soothe. 

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

eden’s favorite flavor is citrus.

in practice, sydney drinks more coffee, but they prefer tea.

▼ - childhood headcanon

when their home life got too bad, eden would go and climb a tree and hide out in the branches for a while until things had calmed down. this proved to be a poor defense mechanism when the animals started getting as bad as the humans, as is the dolville way...

sydney and kylar picked up their doodling habits from each other. when they were still friends, they’d come home from school each day with their arms covered in each other’s scribbles.

∇ - old age/aging headcanon

later in life eden has to get glasses. if they lived a normal lifestyle, they could probably get away without wearing them, but a hunter has to have sharp eyesight.

sydney starts greying early, partly due to stress and partly due to genetics.

♒ - cooking/food headcanon

eden knows how to make like five things maybe. and they’re completely fine with it they’d be happy to have the same breakfast/lunch/dinner every day for the rest of their life. they can make one (1) vaguely sweet dessert-type thing for special occasions.

syd has only ever used induction/electric stovetops and she’s scared of gas stoves.

☼ - appearance headcanon

f!eden doesn’t shave at all. m!eden doesn’t let his beard get anywhere past stubble.

hrt was generous to syd in the chest department. it was less generous to kylar, who is jealous of sydney’s size.

ൠ - random headcanon

eden pushes through it, but humidity is terrible on their body. their joints get the worst of it but their scars act up too.

sydney’s favorite sanrio character is keroppi.

[monikafilefan]

20 Questions for Fanfic Writers

Tagged by @slippinmickeys <3

1. How many works do you have on A03?

75 (maybe one day I’ll reach 100?)

2. What’s your total A03 word count?

589,435

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Basically just txf fandom but I have dabbled in GoT, The Fall, and Sex Ed.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Five Years and a Lifetime

Only One Choice

All Eyes Lead to the Truth co-written

Together

Language of Love: Prompts of Angst and Romance

5. Do you respond to comments?

I absolutely do, just not every one of them. Unfortunately A03 counts author responses as comments and that bugs me, but I wholly appreciate any and all feedback!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh damn. Probably a chapter in my prompts collection called That Night in 2014 when Scully left, and one called Bone Deep set post Tithonus are angsty enough. I love writing angst, but prefer to leave my fic on less of a dreary note.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Ha it turns out I write a lot of fic with happier endings, but I guess Brother Bill ended very happily considering it was during the cancer arc. There’s plenty more I could’ve chosen though.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I know of.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what?

Yes, I mix it up. Lots of soft, sensual sex, but also some downright dirty smut too. Depends on the tone of the story.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I wrote one where Mulder and Scully go see Jean Milburn from Sex Education and have a therapy session. Coming Undone. It’s ridiculous and funny and was way too fun to write haha!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of but I hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes but I can’t remember which one 🫣

13. Have you ever co-written before?

YES many times and I love it. I’ve written with several amazing writers @cultureisdarkbeer @admiralty-xfd @fridaysat9 @gaycrouton @slippinmickeys one several different fics.

14. What’s your all time fave ship?

MSR ofc! I do also love Jamie/Claire and Stella/Reed.

15. What WIP you want to finish?

I have this Unruhe fic that isn’t even that long but I cannot seem to fucking finish it for the life of me. I will eventually though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Details? Creating a scene and capturing the characters as close to THEM as I possibly can comes easier to me than other things.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably dialogue and writing longer novel length fics.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I want to dive into the Outlander fandom very badly but I’m too scared to try Gaelic/accents and be happy with the outcome. Maybe one day.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

X-Files! I was just a wee 15yr old on my dialup desktop trying to write a post FTF fic on the original XF storyboards. I never did finish it past the second chapter.

20. Fave fics you’ve written?

I have a few I really love, but I am kind of hard on myself as a writer. I enjoy writing but can’t seem to reread my own stuff and come away beaming about it. The ones off the top of my head I’m proud and have not mentioned above of are A Life to Remember - an AU were Mulder and Scully are doctors and meet under interesting circumstances. Lots of UST, angst and family fluff as they flashback to their past on how they met.The Things They Say in the Dark is another one I love. It has angst, lots of hurt/comfort (not to mention Scully washing Mulder’s hair post Amor Fati) and serious yearning! Honestly love these two so feel free to check them out if you haven’t, I’d be blessed if you loved them too!

Tagging @today-in-fic and anyone else who wants to join in. This was fun!

[snailsgoingdowntown]

Im dying- chapter 8 when? Take your time and hydrate and eat regularly

Whenever my doctors finally give me answers about what's wrong with my body and not go around in circles like it's a merry go round, saying tests are all good despite the physical evidence that something is indeed wrong with me and I'm losing my mind -

Jk, jk. I don't know when it'll come out. Maybe this week or next week. I've been (unfortunately) busy with work and... Trying to see what's been wrong with my body for the past literal year + hospital financial aid renewal for my dad.

I have started but I don't know when I'll finish I'm not even at the editing stage lol. But it is (most likely unless I lose all motivation like with the lies of P fic which I really need to update because I miss my little chosen puppet who deserves better) going to come out. Eventually.

I also want to read more of the novel first before I write more for the story (I like how I just need to wait 3 hours to read new chapters but damn, I always forget). The manhwa leaves out some stuff/ slightly changes some things from the novel (novel spoiler?: when Jeremy lets out the spider thing when Cassis is kinda free, a maid dies in front of him before he saves the male servant. A little detail but I like it. Oh also Roxana kicks throws a metal leg chair thing to Griselda during that too before leaving to find Cassis. Another thing that the manhwa leaves out is what happened to Jeremy's mom. I forgot he even had one lol.), and while I still get everyone's character from the manhwa, it's still nice to get more info from the original source. It also adds more background for them too.

But yea there is a WIP but idk when it'll come out.

Also thank you anon, I unironically forgot to drink any water today.

I'm happy that you enjoy the story and please take care of yourself too!!

[mewmewchann]

Projects update!! (end of 2024)

well this year has been fast hasn't it

ANWAY *CLAPS HANDS* I thought I should update you guys on where the projects I'm working on are at so ye ^^

As you guys now know, I've started working on a new project! A completely original story called Dead on Arrival! It's still in concept stages and I'm still figuring out what exactly I want to do with it (ngl the novel/book series route looks appealing rn) but I love the world and characters and hope you guys stay with me as this project evolves ^v^ The 10 main participants all have concept designs now!! All that's left is to design the two hosts and that's everyone designed! and I have a cool idea to reveal each of them so just you wait :3

As for Hope's Chains, as you all know I recently completed chapter 4!! Which was H U G E. Like srsly I had burnout for at least two weeks and am still maybe a bit reeling from it now lmao I consider the chapter 4 trial to be my personal magnum opus now, that's how happy with it I am :) And I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it! As for upcoming content, the next interlude chapter is complete writing wise and just needs its illustrations done and it should be completed soon! As for chapter 5, I still have some crossed wires to write through but it will come eventually! And trust me. Chapter 5 is insanity. :)

Next, Memento Rosa! I finished Main Story earlier this year and have been working on the first event on the side, and I can say it is currently 30-45% done! I only plan on drawing one of the cards (both trained and untrained though :3) to ease my workload but I've been looking forward to writing this event for forever so I hope you guys are looking forward to it ^^

So that leaves Despair From the Heart. I said I wanted to get chapter 6 done this year, but unfortunately I don't think that's gonna happen. With adult life being adult life and getting busier now that I VA for more projects I don't think I'll be able to get chapter 6 done this year. But I will say this. Despair From the Heart has a minimum of three written chapters left before it is fully complete. Which is. Wild. When will those three chapters release? Idk yet, but they will when they're ready. DFTH is the first project I've ever written to completion which is a HUGE thing for me, but it'll come when it comes. (And I'm sure you've noticed I've been teasing/hinting at something with the DFTH cast and as for that...That's still a maybe. I'm still not 100% sure if I'm doing it yet, but it's an idea that might happen. Who knows?)

Anyway thank you all so much as always for following me this year so far and I hope you guys stick with me! Peace out <3

[starcrossedkaiju]

From this post:

all the unrealized concepts I had for a Third Life novelization with pretty in-depth world building and backstory that I never really got to see through because of circumstances but. Yeah.

If you don't mind, I'd like to hear more about it 👀👀👀👀 (not forced)

Yeah ofc!

Slight disclaimer that I did most of this back in the olden days of 2021 when 3rd Life was the only life series installment, and it wasn’t known for sure whether or not any more seasons would be made. I also unfortunately have not watched anything after Last Life, so I don’t really know The Lore past what I’ve made up.

The general idea was to write a play-by-play of the actual Third Life events, except the timeline spans multiple years rather than days/weeks. With the characters all starting out in their late teens to late twenties and ending about ten years later. There would be heavy focus on the world before the borders went up. As in, there used to be a functioning society that fell into ruin and division after years of civil war, and as punishment (and to cover up their own crimes), the Administration of the server (the equivalent of a governing body irl) basically locked everyone away and threw out the key.

The events that happened before the borders would obviously inform the characters’ decisions throughout their time trying to survive in the 3rd life map, as they all came from different backgrounds in the somewhat dystopian world they used to live in. Mainly in that a few of them were much closer to privilege than the others, and prejudice against one another must be overcome from the very start if they want to live through the first winter, and then the rest of their lives.

I won’t go into the specifics of every single character’s pre-game lives because that would be entirely exhaustive (though I may on a separate post if there’s interest); but I will give a little run down of Scott’s deal since his is the most different and he’s also the one that post is about.

Scott is not actually from the 3rd Life server (servers would be kind of like planets or something). He’s from another world which was taken over by greifers. It is subtly implied that this world used to be the Origins SMP map (this dates me significantly, I was not lying about this all being conceptualized in 2021), but it is unrecognizable now. He was twelve when the world was destroyed and taken over, and as a powerful Origin, he had to hide his identity as to not be press-ganged into working for the greifers. Hence the veil and the modest clothing. Eventually, when things went even more to shit, his father “broke the game” and forcefully sent Scott out of the world; and in a stroke of cosmic unluckiness he landed in the Third Life map when he was sixteen. Although much to the confusion of certain characters, Scott actually seems to like it there better.

So that’s the abridged version! Tldr I guess I would advertise it as a survival thriller with some political drama aspects.

[thatseventiesbitch]

would love to hear more about ur verse covering the gap between t70s and t90s 😁

Thanks for the ask!

Well, it's a massive story. The longest one I've ever outlined (and I wasn't finished) - it was like 60 chapters. It attempts to bridge the two series, so it started on New Years Eve 1979 and went right up to the 4th of July 1995. Each of the characters had their own major plotline - quite complex, to explain how they got from the '70s to the '90s. I truly don't think I'll ever finish and post it, so here are some details (be forewarned, this is long 😅):

Eric and Donna of course, were the center. The story was about how they handled their unexpected pregnancy with Leia, and then raising Leia, along with navigating turbulence as their friend-group imploded, stress in their careers, and eventually fissures in their marriage. A lot of angst, which is something I haven't been writing much of these days but I rather miss it. A few big spoilers about their plotline:

Eric finally grows up when Leia is born. We see him struggling to find his purpose at the end of T70S, and when his daughter is born he finally finds it.

They end up going to college in Milwaukee, not Madison, because it's much closer to Red & Kitty (who help them immeasurably when Leia is little). Donna gets to attend Marquette - the private school she loved but was going to give up so she could go to UW-Madison with Eric.

They want to have a second child when Leia is around 5 or 6, but unfortunately Donna loses the pregnancy/has a miscarriage. When it happens a second time, she goes into her self-destructive spiral and runs away to her mom's in California (deja vu). Eric goes and brings her back home, once again.

Donna's a journalist when she graduates from college, and after several years of work she gets her dream job opportunity: writing for Rolling Stone. The job requires a lot of travel, though, and Eric is concerned by that (Leia's around 10) and nags her about it. The plotline culminates in Donna missing Leia's birthday. Things become even more tense between Eric and Donna, and then on an international work trip, she's drunk and pissed and she cheats (like, somewhere in between kissing and sex). They work through it in marriage counseling. (This storyline was partly inspired by the marriage and family therapy course I had to take in grad school, and partly by Jim and Pam on The Office 🤣)

Donna changes careers after the whole ordeal, and ends up as a writer/author. She publishes her first novel to modest success, but her second becomes a Bestseller. It's about her mom. Midge died of cancer and the book is Donna processing her relationship with her mom/her mom's death.

Obviously from T90S, they end up happy (and together). By 1995 they've worked through their stuff, and they're happier than ever. Well. As happy as you can be when you're raising a teenager (marriage and family therapy course taught me that statistically, families are at their most volatile stage when their children are teenagers 🤓)

Jackie and Kelso

I originally had Jackie with Hyde when I drafted this story, but I changed it after That '90s Show came out and I became intrigued by the idea of Jackie and Kelso for the first time. What makes them keep going back to each other time and time again? How do they work? How does parenthood change their dynamic? I wanted to explore it in a story. A few big spoilers about their plotline:

When Jackie realizes she's pregnant (and it's Kelso's), the first person she turns to is Hyde. He doesn't know why she's telling him that she's pregnant ("I don't know why you're tellin' me. I ain't the daddy,") but Jackie confesses she didn't know who else to go to. She confesses that she doesn't want to be with Michael, she wants to be with him - but Hyde gets upset and tells her it's too fucking late for that. Upset, Jackie leaves. Hyde goes after her, but it's a few moments later after he's collected himself. She's gone.

Jackie flees to her father in Boston (he's just been released from prison and has promptly remarried and is quite literally starting a new family). He's still rich somehow, and he's vowed to take care of Jackie and his grandchild. He's relieved when he learns the baby daddy is Michael and not Steven, because he 'will be easier to manipulate'.

Jackie's dad threatens and then bribes Kelso to ensure loyalty to her. He gets him a job, implied he's paying him off, etc. Jackie quickly sees through this/realizes it, but admits she could really use the help with newborn baby Jay.

Kelso just straight up ditched Brooke and Betsy for Jackie and Jay, once Jackie's dad started manipulating him. There's bad blood between Brooke and Jackie/Kelso - even though Betsy lives with them part-time (in the summers, etc).

They get divorced because Kelso reveals her dad's bribes to marry her - and because Jackie feels she can't trust him, and he's cheating (he is). Their kids (they now have another baby) are tired of seeing them fight. Etc.

Kelso has a playboy era for a few years, but it loses its appeal rather quickly and he comes crawling back to Jackie. He misses his family. She makes him work for it for a year, but when he's 'proven his love', she takes him back and they remarry.

The second divorce has to do with them being competing local news anchors, ala Anchorman.

Years in the future, beyond 1995 (this was going to be an epilogue, maybe?) Jackie and Hyde run into each other again. Jackie's kids are grown/almost grown, and she's finally left Michael behind for good and been happily single (parenting) for many years. Jackie and Hyde's chemistry is still there - until Hyde reveals he has a 7 year old. Jackie's crushed, but forces herself to ask about his wife. He grins and says no wife, just a co-parent, he's not with Jamie's mom. It ends on a flirty note and we're led to believe they get together like that, later in life. (*Found a way to make it Zenny!*) (Maybe sort of inspired by Daisy Jones and the Six)

Hyde

He turns away Jackie when she comes to him with her pregnancy - lashes out at her from a place of deep hurt and regret. Unfortunately for him, he drives her away one final time and she's married to Kelso within the year.

He eventually moves to NY, with W.B. It's related to running Grooves, he's gotten a promotion and is making quite a bit of money. Work is his life now - he never thought he'd be one of those people.

He still comes back to Point Place, though rarely. For Eric, Donna, and Leia. For Red and Kitty. He always says hi to Fez. Etc. But he avoids Jackie and Kelso.

He doesn't date or have a serious girlfriend for a long time after Jackie - like 7+ years. When he visits, Eric always tries to tell Hyde that he can have what he has too, he can settle down and find someone. Hyde just brushes him off.

Fez

Fez is completely blindsided by Jackie's revelation that she's pregnant (with Kelso's baby) when they're in Jamaica. He comes home and is devastated. Jackie was his dream girl. But Hyde assures him that his destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves. He inspires Fez to do something for himself, and he decides to go to beauty school so he can be a hairdresser.

It's hard for him to be around Jackie and Kelso. He stops having ill-will towards them after a few years, and he eventually just defaults to avoiding them. The splinter between Fez and Kelso/Jackie - along with Hyde bailing to New York - means the gang essentially dissolved. It's really hard for Fez (and some of the others). He still talks to Eric, though, and sees him and Donna every time they're in town visiting Red and Kitty.

He dates quite a bit over the next several years, even trying dating some men, but he never feels that soul connection he had with Jackie. He quietly resigns himself to settling. Until he meets Sherri.

That was a lot. And yet, only a snippet. 🤣

[kattahj]

My Agatha Christie Re-Reading Project, #40: A Murder Is Announced

I actually finished this book months ago, but never got around to writing the review. (Partly because I wasn't making any headway on the next book, but that has changed now, so expect another review soon!)

This is one of my favourites from my childhood/adolescence!

Obviously, the central conceit is a bit of a weak spot. If you're going to commit a murder, why invite the whole neighbourhood in and make a spectacle of it? Wouldn't you want to minimize the number of potential witnesses, rather than the reverse?

On the other hand, the resulting scenes are fun, with everyone's reactions to seeing the murder announced, how they pretend to just happen to come by and each say the same trite lines (except the delightful Bunch), and how the eventual murder takes place. As a way to showcase all the different characters, it works.

The rest of the plotting is pretty tight too – there's a lot of focus on hidden/mistaken identities, but not in a way that stretches credulity too much.

But this isn't a Christie you read for the plot. You read it for the gentle comedy (and occasional tragedy) or small-town life and all the people therein.

My favourite is, and always has been, Bunch, the vicar's wife. She's somewhat of a flake, very innocent, and always has a refreshing view of what's going on. As Miss Marple's friend, she somewhat serves as a Hastings, though miles more endearing.

Even so, I didn't mind her being eliminated in the TV version – she's not exactly necessary for the plot. Instead, part of her role was given to Miss Murgatroyd, who along with Miss Hinchliffe are some of the few characters to be clearly (if subtextually) gay even in the original book. Funnily enough, I didn't realize that until I read Agatha Christie's autobiography in high school and a comment she made about her imaginary friends made me go, "Oh! Like Hinchliffe and Murgatroyd! Ohhh!"

One thing I DID mind in the TV version was their skewering of Edmund Swettenham, as they had missed the vital detail that everything he says is tongue in cheek. Edmund is someone who wants to be a serious-minded intellectual, but whose dry humour keeps getting in the way (which is why he ends up binning his unfinished novel and writing a farce instead).

But I digress, this is supposed to be about the book. :-)

In the older generation, Miss Blacklock is a formidable character, and the more we find out the more fascinating she becomes.

And obviously, Miss Marple rules supreme, and in this book, she is at her best. I enjoy her interactions with absolutely everybody.

Unfortunately, I can't discuss the characters in this book without discussing the one major blight on it: Mitzi the maid. As a child/teen, I didn't think much about her. She was just a stock character, comedic without actually being funny. But now that I re-read everything in order, from an adult perspective, with the knowledge of when it was written, and what Christie had written before... Having a "Middle European" character whose main point of characterization is that she's a mythomaniac who wildly exaggerates the things she suffered in the war, and having other characters "explain" that all those refugees lie for sympathy... it's vile. Even with her one moment of heroism, as a whole it's still so vile I debated back and forth whether to knock this story down from a 4 to a 3 based on that alone.

However, my next book to be reviewed is "They Came to Bagdhad", and THAT'S definitely a 2. (Not quite bad enough for a 1.) And this one is definitely more than 1 point better than They Came to Baghdad, so 4 it is. (But if I hadn't decided against half marks early on, it would have been 3.5.)

[linklethehistorian]

salutations mr linkle the hyrule historian tumblr can u direct me 2 the last anon that said ur wrong bc i think they're great n I wanna give them a kiss on the lips!!!! anyway was it not u that said the OFFICIAL!!!!!!! 15 translation was wrong n bad so i dont think the opinions of anyone who considers rimbaud a doormat n wrote the abomination that is cherish are valid

anyway anon if ur reading this ilove u pooks u me n bitch tree anon n bully anon should b poly or smth we'd make beautiful children

Hmmmmmmmmmm, well I don’t remember anybody saying I was wrong, honey. 🤔 Last anon just asked me a question about if I’d ever considered something, and I answered! 😊

Anyway I’d love love love love to help you two hook up bc that’s so sweet and I want to meet your future children so much! 🥺💕💕💕 I could be a part of a real life love story! 🥺💖💖💖💕💕💕💕💕 So cute!!! I don’t think Bully anon or Bitch Tree anon would be into it unfortunately at first, since they send me little hearts and cutesie things these days…. I’m sorry about that. 😔 Oh well! I’m sure when they hear your dedication to reach out to me they’ll still want to give you kissies somehow ‘cause they’re so dedicated to me too, just in a very loving way.

And yee! I did say the ‘official’ translation was bad! Thank you so much for remembering my words and sticking around my blog so long. 🥺💕 Anyway yeah, that unfortunately happens sometimes, and by sometimes, I mean a lot, ‘cause a) there are people out there who unironically think it’s okay to take creative liberties in translating because it’s their right as someone taking the time to do it (can’t be assed rn but if you search around this site enough, you’ll find an entire thread of translators talking about this), b), there are people who write for a lot of series they’re not into and therefore aren’t aware of all the context of previous novels, c) there are people who just slip up and make mistakes! Happens all the time unfortunately and most people don’t understand that if you misunderstand or change one thing it can change everything, and d) people who are tasked with translating 99% of the time never even talk to the people team of people who actually published the original, much less are in contact with the author themself! Mistranslations and drastic creative liberties happen a lot for example in the fandom I came from (The Legend of Zelda), which you can see a bit here! And if you still don’t believe me, you can go ask Dear old Author Neil Gaiman, who has even had some of the characters in his books turned from lovers to sisters and everything, a lot of the time completely without his knowledge until fans point it out to him! If you scroll his blog, I’m sure you’ll find those posts for yourself, assuming he doesn’t see an ask from you on if it happens. ‘Tis a sad thing, but Asagiri-sensei likely doesn’t even know when a mistranslation happens, much less do these people sit down and ask him things directly before doing their thing. He certainly doesn’t have involvement overseeing the process; that’s an unreasonable thing to ask of someone when it involves other languages they may or may not even be fluent in. And all the proof we need that it’s wrong is that the JP novel and the Stage Play (both things that Asagiri was directly, heavily involved in and/or directly penned the words of/material of the script for himself) both contradict it. If you’d like to take on that claim, since you’re implying I’m wrong, have at it! The burden of proof is on you, so, I look forward to seeing you send me the individual JP source lines of the Eng translations you want to take a crack at defending and a long wall of educational text explaining why each part of the English translation got it 1,000% right, directly in my in-box. If not, have a good day ‘cause I’m sorry, but I got limited time and other things to do right now, baby. 💕 I’ll eventually get to it myself some day, but right now I have other articles to finish first, art to make, and a fic to keep posting.

Speaking of which…OMG YOU READ CHERISH? 🥺💕💕💕💖💖💕💕💖💕💕💖💖���💖💕🥺💕🥺💕💖💕💕🥺💕💖💕💕💕 That’s so sweet OMG OMG OMG! I’m glad you enjoy my beautiful ‘abomination’ enough to read and keep up with it! Don’t worry sweetie, the next chapter is on its way!

See this is why I love love love love love love love my ‘haters’ so fucking much, I adore y’all, I’d kill for y’all, OMG. You give me so much dedication and time, I know how much y’all adore me and I adore you right back! My beloved super fans. 💕💕💕💖💖💕💕💖💕💕💕💕🥺🥺🥺 Every ask I get and vague post I read makes my heart flutter, frfr, I’ve actually got an album I keep of screenshots of y’all’s posts to give me the motivation to keep doing what I do whenever I’m down. 🥺💖💖💕💕 This one goes in the collection for sure ahhhh 💖💖💕💕💕 I’m so important to people OMG IT’S SO CUTE AND SWEET

TAKE CARE OUT THERE ANON! PLS SEND ME MORE MESSAGES I LOVE THEM. I WAIT WITH BATED BREATH 💖💖💕💕💖💕💕💕💖💖

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR DATE!!! PLEASE MAKE BABIES WHO ARE ALSO OBSESSED WITH ME, I CAN’T WAIT 💕💕💕💖💖

[flickerstar]

Writing is fun. You make characters. You give them names, likes, dislikes, relationships, goals, and all the other fun quirks that come with writing a novel.

But what no one tells you is that you may very well fall in love with them. I’m speaking from experience, because I’ve fallen in love with two of the characters out of the hundred or so I have created.

So, why not I share these two characters with you all? Here they are!

Felix Kaizer Adelric: Army General of Switzerland. A rather gentle soul, focused on building a strong sense of trust between him and his soldiers.

He was born in Russia, and used by his own military to create a virtually “invincible” army, as he is a seer, able to foresee the deaths of others. He is tortured whenever one of Russia’s soldiers dies, but is kidnapped by Germany as they wish to use his ability to better their military. While in Germany, he is brainwashed to believe he was born there, hence allowing him to fight to escape the Russians when they kidnap him back. He successfully escapes his captors in Switzerland, and joins their military, rising to become the nation’s Army General.

He is sent to Forchheim, the city he was brainwashed to believe is his birth city, to protect its borders from a terrorist organization’s supposed attack. While staying at his assigned post, he realizes one of the soldiers he is assigned to look over- Reko- has gone missing. Felix finds Reko being attacked by one of his own peers, and kills them, ensuring Reko is okay before heading back to his post. He finds the entire area in ruins, his superiors picking valuables off of their own soldiers for money. Felix kills them, leaving him and Reko as the only survivors.

Felix spends the three months off he receives for recovery in his office, contemplating taking his own life, but never building up the courage to do so. When the night finally does arrive, Reko interferes, hugging Felix and telling the young man that he loves him, which puts Felix at peace.

Currently, Felix is leading Switzerland into its war with Russia, as the latter country desires to finish what they couldn’t twelve years ago in Finland- killing all the mechanical soldiers. And that’s where Reko comes in.

Reko Levo Erkki: A mechanical soldier, created by the young genius prodigy Kirsi Vilho. These soldiers were mass produced by the young man, as requested by Finland’s government at the time, so the nation can better respond to threats. Unfortunately, news of Kirsi’s work reached Russia, and rumors of a possible war began to circulate. Reko was the last soldier Kirsi created before going into hiding.

Reko lives with a childless couple that decides to adopt him and raise him until he can eventually enlist into Finland’s military and become their best soldier. But Reko does not get that future, as his adoptive parents are killed by the Russians, and the boy escapes the Russian soldiers who try to kill him, joining an orphanage that is burned down in the war with the goal of trying to kill Reko again and any remaining Finnish mechanical soldiers.

Reko lives amongst the rubble and debris of a war-torn Finland, barely able to survive from day-to-day. Until a group of Swiss soldiers- with orders to rescue any survivors and chase away the last of the Russian soldiers- arrive in Finland. This is how Reko meets Felix. Originally, the two do not get along, but Felix continually attempts to chat with Reko, and the boy eventually begins to respond and appreciate the time Felix takes to talk to him and build a friendship.

Now, mechanical soldiers have one goal: protect the country in which they are created. This means Reko is loyal to Finland, so when he finds himself in Switzerland, he wants to do everything in his power to go back. And that is the case for awhile, until he begins to build a stronger bond with Felix. Reko learns emotions from Felix. Mannerisms. Even German. He learns what it means to be human from Felix, and it is actually what Reko’s true purpose was.

Kirsi originally made mechanical children for couples who couldn’t have children, or others who just wanted a child. But he gave that up when the government requested he make soldiers. These soldiers did not understand emotions, and were extremely violent in nature. Reko, being the last soldier Reko created, was half-soldier, half-child, so to speak. He is able to understand emotions and learns more about humans (hugely thanks to Felix), but is still violent.

Reko comes to love Felix, and vows to do anything to protect him and ensure he does not suffer, especially after knowing what occurred in Forchheim. He unhesitatingly kills (or rather attempts to kill) anyone who dares to even insult Felix, and is determined to face the Russians that threaten Switzerland with a new vow of loyalty to both Switzerland and Felix.

I absolutely adore their relationship! Felix and Reko have nothing but familial love for one another. Felix keeps Reko grounded and stops him from killing anyone who even throws a dirty glance in Felix’s direction, while Reko ensures Felix remains the gentle and loving person he is by threatening those who aim to ruin Felix’s life.

[pluralsword]

Thoughts on Jazz?

Jazz is a character we want to see get more time to have his/her/their own arc that shows them shine in ways they have been written well. We really like them as an intelligence operative highly skilled at improvisation (a very important special ops/espionage/command skill), as a diplomat familiar with alien societies, and as a musician apart from that. Their cool and sweet demeanor is something we'd like to see more, and we do really hope that Jazz as a gal does eventually become part of a canonical story (she was cut from cyberverse). We personally headcanon them as (gender)fluid, we write them as fluid in Honey I'm Cheering for You But No and intend to show them more when we get back to Rekindling Flight and other stories in the original continuity. We think Jazz was written well in the Fall of Cybertron videogame. Just like, full disclosure the body we inhabit is white and that's just how it is so take what we have to say in this paragraph and onward with a grain of salt.

That all said (not even gonna deal with how Jazz is treated by portions of the fandom other people have spoken to that we will simply say there is a bunch of racism unfortunately), we um, we're not a fan of um, how in canon Jazz is often depicted as overly/quick to violence (thinking about Marvel comics here in particular, do y'all disproportionate to situation flamethrower usage), we don't like how Jazz was written with anti-revolutionary sentiments in the Aligned novel Exodus, and we do wish that canon in IDW1 had er, further navigated how Jazz of all people is judged so harshly by various other Autobots for killing a human cop after having been pushed to that point to defend his friends. Optimus, a former cop, who later tortures Megatron with no repercussions, sets the tone for Jazz being looked down on and scorned for much of the run by most Autobots he works with. The only people on Optimus's team who don't judge him so harshly are Arcee (who literally killed a cybertronian cop in front of the cop's boss, Starscream, in #44 The Transgressors, and did prison time for uh *checks notes* taking on the common threat of minions of Nova and Jhiaxus most Autobots didn't know about and was thrown in spark iso because nobody understood her and was scared of her look we have a separate thing we are working on about this and this is a segment on Jazz) and Kup and some bots who weren't part of the Great War, like Aileron. There's more we could get into regarding this but it's just, ugh, makes us a bit sick. We'd like it if in the future Jazz could be themself and fight against hegemony their own way that isn't a racist caricature and without getting reprimanded by Autobot command for y'know, shooting a cop.

Also as we have stated previously, we are not comfortable shipping Jazz/Prowl unless Prowl isn't a cop and doesn't have a cop car altmode. There is a reason we write orig cont Prowl as a chubby librarian logistician who is an aesthetic revolutionary (in our orig cont pre-war cybertron and the autobots dont have cops like c'mon imagining a copless world isn't impossible) and a reason that when we get to IDW1 Prowl in Addendum we have no intention of shipping him with Jazz and if anything the two won't get along.

We don't want to spoil RotB for anybody but like, after watching this movie, we honestly want to see some Jazz/Mirage be canonized? Would be such a good dynamic and zero copaganda

We don't have more spoons on this but yeah if people could be normal about Black coded characters and trans ones that would be nice

[barretthanna]

1 || Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

bk. “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak; published 2005.

wg. ¡ This review does contain incredible spoilers for “The Book Thief” book. Be aware of this fact since I will not warn when they are coming up. !

rw. The Book Thief is often brought up in middle school curriculum during the WW2 unit, specifically the Holocaust. It is often referenced as one of the quintessential Holocaust books, among such as “Night” by Elie Wiesel and “If This Is a Man” by Primo Levi. I was required to read this book for school. I dreaded the thick pages accumulated with the seemingly overdrawn, wordy descriptions and prose. But as I realized the deadline was coming uncomfortably close I allotted time to dive into the book on my own time. As it progressed through the out of context first chapters and I was introduced to the charming and gritty main characters of Liesel (a young girl who suffers from nightmares as a result of her difficult early life) and Rudy (a rambunctious young boy who finds joy in every facet of life) I found myself eager to continue reading the book. The family and community dynamics were contemporary but still incredibly interesting as it broadcast an unfamiliar culture and time period. As the nazis began their rise to power it was incredibly unique seeing the situation from Liesel’s and other character’s perspectives. The young girl was originally indifferent, accepting the nazis and not having a lot of knowledge regarding their beliefs or actions. Soon she forms her own negative opinion of them, being silenced by her foster father for her own safety. Eventually her foster parents invite a jewish man, Max into their basement. His father served with Liesel’s in the first world war, making Hans house his son in his great time of need. Liesel and Max grow close over his time in their cellar, bonding over drawing and weather reports. Unfortunately, a time comes when Max must leave the safety of the home, . He leaves and is caught, being sent to Dachau and suffering indescribable horrors at the camp. Many things happen after Max leaves, Rudy and Liesel grow closer and the girl steals books from the mayor’s home. While these events are important to her character and the development of her character I don’t want to give everything away.. (Except for the ending.) At the very last portion of the book Molching is bombed. Liesel is writing a story in her journal, enjoying the peace and quiet of Himmel Street in the late night. Her entire family and many she cares about are killed in the attack. One of the only people she knew personally who survived was Rudy’s father, Alex Steiner. She is cared for by the mayor’s family following the bombing and reunites with Max in an incredibly emotional final pages.

rg. 10/10 -- I think I completely oversimplified the insane magnificence of this book. The phrasing and vocabulary used in this book, the way Markus Zusak illustrates an incredible community and characters while still writing a respectful historical fiction novel about such a turbulent and horrific time in the world’s history is impressive to say the least. This book changed the way I thought about the Holocaust, making me what to expand on my surface-level understanding of the events of WW2. 

tldr. Read this book, you will never regret it. Ever.

[lxikobsd]

You don't need to "kinda blame SKK" when its literally the entire reason... Asagiri-sensei admitted this in the lecture he did back in November.

Rough translation: "Kunikida and Dazai were originally created as partners, but their action scenes together have been disappearing... they're being taken by Chuuya.

I want Kunikida to have more of an active role. The Kunikida-Dazai duo is one I think I could write as much as I want if I had the time.

I am often asked to write about Dazai's perspective on Chuuya. The producer also told me to write about these two."

Well if you really want anybody to blame, blame Studio BONES and the manga producers.

Blame Studio BONES for completely ruining the anime adaptation. They ruined every single character but took effort to make Chuuya, and by extention his relationship with Dazai, slightly less awful than everyone else. And yes they did it bc they knew they could capitalize on Dazai and Chuuya's manga popularity to make the two of them marketable together. Most people start with anime, or are anime onlies, so when they see a relationship with the slightly more care put into writing it than anybody else the new fans are gonna like it.

Blame the manga producers who push Asagiri-sensei to write more Dazai and Chuuya to capitalize on their popularity for more money. Appealing to shippers with shipping bait is profitable, and every time they put Dazai and Chuuya in one scene together people do not shut up about it on social media, which is just free promotion for them for potential new fans who will likely start with the anime and we already know how that is.

DEAD APPLE, a movie/manga/light novel that was rushed and has an infamous "omg skk need to kiss already" moment was being written while the movie was in production so the anime team had a lot of influence on the plot. 15, the skk bible, was written because the anime team asked him to write a story about Dazai and Chuuya. He said in the after notes of 15 that he was fine leaving their past vague to let audiences use their imagination, but also he knew that eventually he'd be asked to write about them.

Asagiri-sensei has to balance writing the story he wants to write, while also trying to fit in what the producers and fans want but unfortunately it can't all fit together. The fans/producers get priority as fans buys the content and producers are the ones actually producing and getting the work published. So to keep the story going while also fitting the requirement for fan favs some characters will need to be sacrificed and Kunikida (and really Tanizaki, Kenji, and Yosano) are those sacrifices. Kunikida just gets the shortest end of the stick due to how much his character is tied to Dazai.

need to be studying rn but fuck that Kunikida Doppo is more important to me because he deserves SO MUCH MORE APPRECIATION

We do not talk enough about how my man went from being to one of the main characters to being sidelined

and as much as I love soukoku, I kinda blame them for this ngl

the series started focusing so much on Dazai and Chuuya it forgot about Dazai and Kunikida, I miss seeing Kunizai shenanigans, was rewatching an s1 episode today and it just reminded me of how much I adore this duo

but now I feel like this post is focusing more about Kunikida when he is with Dazai when Kunikida on his own also deserves so much more attention

my guy is so underrated. sure, he's not as "flashy" as other characters, compared to the rest of the ADA he kinda looks like just some guy who happens to have an ability, but he's so much more than that and I need more people to talk about him

I love him

[definitelynotafurinasimp]

Cuddling with them

Characters: Jean/Layla x gn!reader (separate)

Warnings: none, just fluff

a/n: Originally planned on writing for two more characters, but I'm getting tired and wanted to have atleast something to post. So while I might post the two other parts someday, it won't be today.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

 Jean

While Jean liked the feeling of being hugged by you from the very first time you put your arms around her, the first few times she’d freeze up instantly, feeling way too nervous to move even a muscle and risk doing something she might regret later. But as time went on, and the number of times you hugged her grew larger, she started to become less and less nervous, until she was eventually able to relax and return the favour.

“How was work?”, you asked after a few seconds of having Jean in your embrace, already knowing what the answer was going to be long before she even opened her mouth to respond.

“Exhausting”, she silently answered, snuggling closer to you immediately afterwards, feeling relieved to finally being able to relax in your arms, only for a thought to flash through her mind as she did so.

“This seems like a scene out of one of those cheesy romance novels”, while Jean was self-aware enough to see that they weren’t the most realistic pieces of art ever put on paper, she was too much of a romantic to care, so when this thought went through her head, she couldn’t entirely decide if she should feel happy about it, or slightly embarrassed for thinking about them in this moment.

“Hmm?”, you made a curious sound, immediately grabbing Jean’s attention as the acting Grandmaster went over the past few seconds to figure out what it was you were curious about, only to realise shortly afterwards, causing her to press her face even more against you in the hopes of hiding her red cheeks.

“Nothing. I… was just thinking about something.”

Layla

While Layla was busy trying to somehow keep up with her schoolwork most of the time, there was no better way to calm down after a very short night than by hugging you, only to fall asleep in your embrace, not for too long, her insomnia causing her sleep to be a rather short one, but it was better than nothing.

“No schoolwork in sight, I didn’t drink any coffee in hours and there aren’t any classes I have to attend today…”, Layla said to herself, only to look up at the sky one last time before closing her eyes and mumbling out a silent prayer.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have the rest of your life. Did you drink the Ashwagandha Tea?”, you asked after shooting her a quick, reassuring smile, Layla nodding in response shortly afterwards, only to start staring at you with a slightly nervous look.

Just as you were about to ask if something was wrong, you remembered her usual timidity when it came to initialising any sort of physical affection, leading to you opening your arms and her immediately letting herself fall into them.

What followed was a long silence, but just as you thought about opening your mouth and asking her if she’s feeling sleepy yet, you noticed her being asleep, causing you to let out a silent sigh of relief, hoping that she’d have a long sleep.

And to both of your luck, your prayers turned out to be answered, as Layla slept the longest sleep in weeks. Unfortunately, however, “longest sleep in weeks” meant about five to six hours for the tired astrology student.

//please consider liking and reblogging if you enjoyed this post

[magicalgirlgrimoire]

Genesis of Genre: Part 4

Post modern Puella Magi and what the future holds for Magical Girl as a genre

Author’s note:

I wrote the bulk of this essay the same time as the previous essays I’d posted to this blog. There’s an interjection partway through that notes where I begin to rewrite parts, and you can check the addendum at the very bottom of the page if you want to read about my meek return.

The “Golden Age” of Japanese Magical Girl media would be the 90’s and early 2000’s, introducing us to to genre defining series like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, alongside the more Avant-Garde series like Utena. As mentioned previously, Sailor Moon ushered in an array of series clearly influenced by it’s sentai style dynamic, but those kinds of stories are much more rare these days. I believe we are instead in a Post-Modern age of Magical Girl Media. It’s more common to see a deconstruction or subversion of the archetypical Magical Girl narrative as opposed to seeing it played straight. While some pick up on the darker elements of the genre, others choose to subvert expectations; we’ve had everything from stripper angel magical girls to anime centred around groups of magical boys in the last decade. However, not all series are made equally, and in this (perhaps overly long) segment we’re going to look over the Magical Girl genre hits of the mid 2000s to the 2010s.

Utena began the dialogue with darker themes; Akiyuki Shinbo’s 2004 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha continued it. Nanoha is notable in being one of the first contemporary Magical Girl shows that was not aimed at young girls; instead it was a seinen, aimed at young men. We’d previously had lots of instances of men writing series, along with an uninvited male gaze, but these series were still targeting an audience of young girls. Nanoha is also different than pre-Sailor Moon examples like Cutie Honey, which is a Shounen, as instead of being more of an action comedy, it delved into darker themes of abuse, on top of being a spin off of an erotica visual novel game; all of which is made much more disturbing when we remember the characters are all elementary school aged children.

Real talk for a moment: it sucks a genre that started out being about young women’s friendships and dreams for the future eventually got turned into torture porn for crusty men. And it didn’t stop with Nanoha.

Shinbo returned in 2010 with the acclaimed Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the huge franchise that now comprises the original anime, several films and countless spin-off manga. I’ll save my complex feelings towards Madoka for another time; the key point is that for better or worse, it is a definitive deconstruction of all Magical Girl media that comes before it. Madoka succeeds in examining the human experience of suddenly being thrust into a world of aliens and magic better than it’s predecessors. The character’s youth and immature decision making is central to the story, and the tragedy stems from the magical girls being children who act rashly and aren’t able to fully process the consequences of their choices until it’s too late. While there is a portion of the audience that is undoubtedly there to view misery being inflicted to young girls for whatever gross whims, it can’t be argued that Madoka’s narrative managed to be compelling to people of all ages and genders, and that is a strength of it’s story. However at the same time, it also lead to a lot of copycats, just like Sailor Moon before it, because there is unfortunately a market for teenage girl torture porn. Please look forward to my Black Rock Shooter hit piece.

On the possibly brighter side, we also had more comedic subversions. First, there’s the very specific brand of Magical Girl shows that Studio Gainax and Trigger started putting out in the 2010s; both Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt and Kill La Kill take the sexualisation of the female body present in old school works like Cutie Honey to the logical extremes, and despite being so overtly sexual and fan-servicey, both wind up completely absurd by the end of it. These are obvious subversions of the idea of Magical Girls as pure and innocent; Panty and Stocking is particularly interesting because of how it blends Japanese and American art styles – particularly cartoons like The PowerPuff Girls- to create a cute and cartoony presentation that contrasts with the crass humour and antics of its titular characters. Conversely, I remember watching Kill La Kill during it’s original run and being stunned that by the end of it, when the finale happens and all the characters are completely naked, I was astounded to find I’d become completely desensitised to the naked human form (all this before 3 years of life drawing).

-a future interjection- I’m writing this at the time of posting. The part of the essay you just read is a part I’ve mulled over for over a year. My original essay from 2017, which I’m using as a basis for this much larger work, spoke quite favourably of both Kill La Kill and Panty & Stocking. I think I simply could not leave it as is.

I recently rewatched parts of both Panty and Stocking and Kill La Kill. Surprisingly, Panty and Stocking held up well, so this isn’t about them. Kill La Kill on the other hand simultaneously held up better and much, much worse than my first watch during it’s original run. (I think I might begin doing straight up reviews for shows soon; but that’s for another post)

My main thought upon rewatch was my attitude now, and my attitude nearly 10 years ago is a real reflection of the ways popular feminism, and my own ideologies have shifted over time. Originally, I’d felt the display of the main character’s bodies, that they were powerful and strong while wearing the skimpiest chainmail bikinis, was almost a power move. I especially admired Satsuki’s character, being someone so unflinchingly determined, and feeling no shame in her body as she served a higher conviction.

I just don’t think I can look at the show in the same way now. Yes, the show is still absurd; I do still think it veers into the surreal. But its far more uncomfortable than I remember.

Either way, both these shows still serve as a perfect subversions of the classic magical girl story. -end-

Sliding across the spectrum, there’s also the notable increase in shows that star Magical Boys. On paper this might seem like a thoughtful take on how we present young men but in reality most of these series are played for comedy and or fanservice for a female demographic. Though I’m sure there’s merits to it, it’s a far cry from earlier Magical Girl series which deeply examined themes of gender and sexuality. At best, these are missed opportunities!

We’ve also seen an uptick in remakes and sequels to more nostalgic franchise; Sailor Moon Crystal is the notable example, as is Card Captor Sakura’s Clear Card Arc which is currently ongoing. Tokyo Mew Mew, at the time of writing, has now seen two separate revivals with the short lived magical boy spin off (???) and now with a new anime version airing as I write this! I think the revisiting of these older properties is both a symptom of our expected nostalgic media cycles (see, the 30/20 year cycle), but also a reflection of the current want to revisit late 90’s and Y2K media again, and companies as always being more willing to bank on pre-existing franchise.

The last few decades of Magical girl media has, to be honest, been a mixed bag. However there is one, single shining light for me, and that is 2013’s Little Witch Academia, and it’s subsequent sequel film and anime series. Somehow, the creators of Kill La Kill, the most edgy, ludicrously sexual and action orientated Magical Girl show in recent years also created the most sweet and wholesome. Little Witch Academia takes the genre right back to its roots, utilising the Magical Witch Archetype with a main character named Akko, just like the heroine of years passed, and centres the relationships between the students and teachers at their magical academy. The series also stands out from Trigger’s other works as it didn’t start out as a syndicated show; the original OVA was Trigger’s first outing, created as a project for new animators, and its sequel film was crowdfunded to increase it’s original runtime of 20 minutes to a full 50. The eventual series was created in collaboration with Netflix, and I believe this alternate production also lends to why Little Witch Academia successfully unshackles itself from the troubling tropes that have stagnated Magical Girl media in recent years. Little Witch Academia is the genre returned to it’s primordial state; devoid of fan service and rich in substance, it’s a love letter to the genre.

Addendum:

I started writing this blog around the winter of 2020/Jan 2021. A lot of terrible things have happened in my personal life since then but recently, I started feeling like I could write some essays again, for fun. This particular essay had been sitting in my storage since back then too. As I said in the post, part of what made me not publish it until now is because I'd started to re-contextualise some of the writing with my current views, and it felt incomplete to post it as I'd written it; as in, quite true to my perspectives in my original 2017 essay. I still have a lot I want to write, both based on my original work and also large pieces, but I think I might start writing the essays out of order+mix in some more general reviews with my personal thoughts added in. I do intent to write a more contextual essay about western magical girl shows, but I'll leave that for later maybe! Thank you everyone who followed this blog and read my work so far. I hope I can start posting more frequently!

[shititbe]

Anyway, HSM2 is about internalized homophobia, and no one can tell me otherwise.

High School Musical is one of the most beloved franchises in the world. Teenagers all over the world grew up watching Troy and Gabriella harmonize together. Three movies, and nearly a decade later it’s still beloved by all. The first film easily forgotten in the ashes of the early 2000’s, the third film stuck in a purgatorial limbo of the rather unfortunate late 2000’s. The second film on the other hand sticks out between the ruckus. 

The second High School Musical film takes place at Sharpay and Ryan’s family country club, during the summer between junior and senior year. The Wildcats are working summer jobs on the country club, often forced to the beck and call of Ryan and Sharpay themselves. Sharpay uses all her prestige to help Troy with college instead of starting at the bottom ( or rather, in the kitchen washing dishes) with his friends. In the time she’s helping Troy, she is also pushing her brother away; replacing him with Troy in their musical number for the talent show, and refusing to hang out with him in preference for Troy. Ryan becomes vengeful to his twin and starts hanging around the Wildcats in the kitchen. At first, he was met with some distasteful looks and words (most of which from Chad). With the help of Kelsey, and her neutral party, Ryan fits in smoothly with the other teenagers, eventually giving the WildCats all dance lessons.

 Throughout the movie, the main conflict continues to be the internal conflict of Troy Bolton. He debates over and over again if he should go through with Sharpay’s shenanigans, or if he wants to “listen to my own heart.”  This of course involves Gabriella, as she is Troy’s love interest. She’s not in the second film except for the beginning, then, where she leaves in the middle of the film - in order to create angst for Troy - then when she shows up again in the finally to sing/rejoin Troy. 

The conflict in the second film  is the combining of Troy’s two worlds. His first - his main world in the first movie, that hence became his secondary world - which is represented by Chad. Then his secondary world - which becomes his main world in this movie - which is represented by Ryan. Chad represents Troy’s masculinity, or his more idealized version of himself. Ryan represents Troy’s femininity or his current version of reality. These two worlds collide in the iconic song “I don’t dance”.  

Since this movie - and hence this scene - came out in the early 2000’s, a lot of the innuendoes went over people's heads. Luckily, as the children who watched this movie grew older and more experienced, and the world became more accepting, we’re able to see this song for what it is. 

Before getting into the lore and symbolism of the iconic “I Don’t Dance” sequence, context is needed. For most of human history, homosexuality was seen as a sin in all places except ancient times (see: Greece and Japan). The modern age is the most accepting on all fronts, such as sexual orientation, race, and religion. In the early 2000’s, High School Musical director Kenny Ortega was not publicialy out yet. He wouldn’t be till 2014. 

Originally, while writing this, my first thought was  that Kenny - the director - would be using Troy as a y/n type character to project his insecurities and struggles with masculinity, and what that means in defining his orientation and societal views that would be placed upon him. Then, it came to me later that this is in fact not the case, Troy (and Gabriella - who is in fact a y/n character for the female audience) is more of a character for a man of his time, confused with his own ideals of masculinity and the views of society because, “oh god, I can’t like theater/drama because only queer people and girls like it!” The second point is pushed further with the Troy and Sharpay sub-plot. Sharpay tries to further Troy’s career as a basketball player, though that’s not what he wants anymore, and Troy is no longer sure if that is what he ever wanted to begin with (enter the song “Bet on it” and the hilarious meme “no dad, I’m giving up on your dream”). 

Keeping these things in mind - Kenney’s queerness, and Troy’s struggle to realize you can in fact sing and be a heterosexual, wow, revolutionary - it became clear to me that Kenney’s y/n characters were Ryan and Chad. 

For those who aren’t into the arts, or find them too difficult after a singular attempt thinking they could write a world class novel on the first go, let me be the first to tell you every author has a y/n character. First, for those who don’t know what y/n stands for, it’s a popular fanfiction trope where a writer will write a story about a character dating, being friends, and so on, with the reader. The y/n stands for “your name” so anyone can be the main character in this story at any time. For a writer of mainstream fictional work, such as High School Musical, Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, even most comics. Now, most writers or directors aren’t going to be as obvious as having a character not named (or named y/n) or even named Jane (looking at you Jane Austin), the y/n character of many mainstream authors/directors/comic artists and so on is usually the character they feel or have given the most attributes similar to themselves. 

It’s the same reason people have favourite characters. You see a fictional character and you either 1. Want to Bob the Builder them, 2. Some sort of weird sex thing, or 3. See more/the most of yourself in this character. Number three - thankfully - is usually the main reason. Some people just create their own favourite characters. An even easier way to think about this, is just projection baby, that’s psych 101.   

Before I went off on a small tangent of fictional works and how human emotion plays into creating them (except anything Disney has made in the past decade, and no you can’t change my mind on that) I mentioned that Chad and Ryan are Kenney’s y/n characters. As a queer person myself, it’s clear for me to see the different struggles each of these characters face and how these reflect the queer experience. 

So, let’s finally get into it. 

Ryan, without it being explicitly said is clearly a character of what people in the early 2000s think a gay man is. He is effeminate, wearing bright coloured outfits with lots of accessories - namely his signature hats - he is also in the theater department doing musicals, and passive/subservient to any of his twin sisters' wills. Yes, now we know gay men aren’t just feminized men, but in the early 2000’s a gay man who can do "masculine" things like change their car oil, like sports, and so on, break the "effeminate" stereotype thus confused many cishet people. Sharpay is painted as more confident - or, for sake of comparability - masculine to her twin in the first movie, and most of the second movie. Making Ryan a bit of her dog who would do anything to get by - painting Ryan as lesser than human, once more, playing into the homophobia of the early 2000's.     

Despite the clear stereotypes playing into his character, Ryan is consistently one of the most confident characters in the movie. The other, being his sister of course. This confidence in himself is what gravitates the other characters towards him, either by being intimidated (Troy, thinking Ryan and Gabriella were a thing), or admiration (Chad, by the end of “I don’t dance”). 

Chad, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. While he is confident in the first movie, and the first portion of the second movie, he begins to break more and more when Ryan becomes a more integral part of the Wildcat group. To keep in mind, Chad is also the most vocal about his distaste for Troy’s artistic past-time. When the other Wildcats join Ryan and begin learning how to dance for the talent show at the end of the movie, Chad is also the most vocal about his distaste. The baseball game where “I don’t dance” takes place, is the climax of Chad’s arc and his turn towards acceptance to Ryan/Troy’s hobbies. 

Of course, there is more to the “I don’t dance” sequence than just Chad’s realization - the exact one Troy comes to terms with in the second movie as well - of “oh my god I don’t have to be gay to enjoy stereotypical ‘feminine’ things.” That is the main part of the song though, that and all the sexual tension. 

Going back to what I’ve stated previously, Chad and Ryan are Kenney’s projection or y/n characters. Let me do a small recap before we get into the nitty gritty of the famous “I don’t dance” video. 

Thinking back to the first few paragraphs, I stated that Kenney wasn’t publicly out till 2014, about 7 years after the second movie came out. This could be due to the fact that a) it’s the early 2000’s and everyones still very homophobic, or b) self-doubt that comes with the queer experience. The most likely reason is a mixture of both of these. Because of this, Ryan is the more self-assured version, or idealized version of Kenney that he wants to be. Ryan is confident, never being swayed about his lifestyle (could be read as: sexuality) even though Chad - and most of the wildcats in the first movie - put him through relentless “teasing” and humiliation. He’s confident, almost to a fault, he’s sure of himself, and yet still reaches out a hand to Chad and the other wildcats to show them that they’re just being, kinda dick-ish. 

Every queer person wants to be Ryan. Despite his heavily stereotyped characterization, I personally believe he is one of the stronger written characters in the movies, mainly due to Kenney putting the time in to really make Ryan feel like a real person, to give himself some sort of relief of his own anxieties, a chance to see the world through a person who truly has no fear. Unlike Kenney himself. 

This is where Chad comes in. 

Chad is seen as “confident” in the first movie, the second Troy “leaves” basketball though, all that confidence comes crashing down. His best friend has another hobby - one he thinks is “not right” (it’s okay, you can say gay), - they wont be spending all their time together (first, can you say dependent relationship much, yikes).Chad’s defining characteristic up until their fight that instigate act three of the second movie, is being Troy’s best friend. I’m going to take this as if this were truly the case, and not a decently written character arch. Some people base themselves around their friends and their whole identity on being a friend, that they lose sight of themselves, this mainly in high school of course, when your whole world is really nothing but school, and friends. Newly developed independence is there, but that’s scary, so instead of worrying about the future, cling to something that’s reliable. I’ve seen this happen, mainly at the end of high school, when the “real world” is coming a bit too close for comfort. This could generally be the case if a person is lonely, but for timeline sake I’m going to say Chad has got some anxiety about graduating (considering the second movie takes place the summer of junior year). 

His lashing out at Troy’s hobbies and at Troy’s neglectful friendship, make more sense with that background, and are seen more in the second movie where Troy begins spending all his spare time with Sharpay (trying to collect that BAG!). Chad - and others (read: father) - insists that music is not a feasible career option, and Troy should just stick with basketball (like...that is a feasible career option). The tension Chad creates in the studio only grows when the other wildcats decide to take up Ryan’s offer for dance lessons and move from the kitchen, to helping out with the talent show. (Next essay idea: how high school musical two was really about class all along, cause Jesus). 

 Chad is the less obvious option for a y/n character. Though again, the 2000’s were not as cool people like to pretend they are. Chad - for Kenney - represents what he actually feels, this fear of being rejected for how he is and how he chooses to live his life/lifestyle, so he sticks to something reliable. Ryan is new, and exciting, and confident in a way that Kenney/Chad wish they could be, but in order for that to happen they need to understand that maybe people are complex creatures, and can enjoy multiple hobbies (aka: the same lesson Troy is teaching the viewers, but far less boring). But, for Kenney/Chad facing that thought and that realization is scary, and thus, they lash out at anyone (read this paragraph as: Chad mad jealous of Ryan cause Ryan bomb as fuck). 

All this build up, finally comes ahead in the employee baseball match 

                                                       ******

The baseball game is probably the most memorable scene in the whole High School Musical franchise (minus Sharpay’s “Fabulous” solo, but that’s also from the same movie, and it’s kinda rude to give what’s already the best more points); the tension in the scene, and what it implies makes it the best written segment of all three movies, let alone the most entertaining. 

Some things to keep in mind from our background information: Chad is missing his bestie and struggling with what being “masculine” really means for him and others. Ryan of course makes this confusing, because the traditional method is being thrown out the window. In short, Chad has internalized homophobia, and Ryan being open - or as open as Disney would let him - is causing all sorts of problems. 

Despite the song, “I don’t dance” being logged into our collective skulls for all eternity (you’re probably humming it right now, sorry about that), the very brief interaction of Ryan and Chad before the game is lost on the public consciousness. The two are clearly comfortable with each other, though the distaste seems to be on Chad’s side more than Ryans. So, the two start playfully jabbing at each other before deciding to do a bat toss to see who will be in the outfield first. 

Before they begin the bat toss, Ryan says “You don’t think dancing takes some game?” Chad then very clearly checks him out, doing a simple but effective ‘drag-your-eyes-over-them-top-to-bottom-then-smile’ and says “you got game?” (Seen in gif below) 

I don’t know how much you know about sex metaphors and how many of those baseball has in it (seriously though, it’s a lot), but with the bat toss, Ryan’s hand ended up on top, and Chad’s under Ryan’s. Let’s ignore this for now, it’ll be implied again later. Ryan’s team starts out in the outfield because he won the bat toss, and hence, the song officially starts. 

The first lyrics (ignoring the chores of “hey batter batter, hey batter batter, swing”) is 

I'll show you that it's one and the same

Baseball, dancing, same game

It's easy

Step up to the place, start swingin  

This part is sung by Ryan, who is taunting Chad out in the outfield. Before the game, as stated, Chad was taunting Ryan about his lack of “game” (both sexual and not sexual metaphor are implied), and now, Ryan has turned those tables around. Baseball - is seen as more masculine than dancing, not as masculine as football or basketball, but it’s up there. Chad is someone who cares about his masculinity, enough to the point that Ryan playing baseball makes him loose his mind. Makes him question his own personal definition of masculinity, if you will. 

Ryan says, “baseball, dancing, same game,” impyling that, to him, baseball and dancing are one and the same. That is baffling to Chad, cause well, how can something meant for girls even be close to something meant for boys. 

Chad comes back with: 

 I wanna play ball now, and that's all

This is what I do

It ain't no dance that you can show me, yeah

This only proves my previous point. 

I had a conversation with myself about this, and I’ve decided not to include it in this essay, but a second essay may or may not be possible. Basically the premise - the dancing/”musical” moments of High School Musical are conjured up images by those meant to see them (ie: like a visual hallucination, but, not really) but this scene kinda poo-poos that idea. 

Now, the thing I am talking about is Ryan and Chad’s  peacocking at each other during the time they sing these lyrics. The movements they’re making could be mistaken for dancing - as we automatically assume it is because of the title and themes of the movie - or it could be them just getting ready for the baseball game. Ryan swings his leg over the pitcher's mound, tossing the ball up and down into his glove, making wavy hand gestures, etc. Chad brushes off his gloves, swings his legs, hits the bat on each foot, and so on. 

For the peacocking, Chad makes a mock of the ballerina foot stance before strutting over to the home plate. Ryan laughs at this, which earns quite the smirk from Chad himself (see gif below). 

This is when it becomes a conversation.   

You'll never know - R

Oh I know - Ch

If you never try - R

There's just one little thing - Ch

That stops me every time, yeah - Ch

Come on - Ch

When Chad says “Come on” it’s when Ryan throws the baseball at him, starting the game, and giving Chad’s team their first strike of the game (get it, it’s funny). Now, obviously we need to talk about the “there’s just one little thing that stops me every time.” As a queer person, I assure you, two of the things that kept me from living my Best Life were 1) my own ignorance of what asexuality was and 2) the fear that everyone I love would hate me for who I am, and what I have no control over. 

Sorry to get deep like that on main, but, can any other queer person say different? Obviously, your first point may differ, but my point still stands. In the video/scene there is a very short moment (to which I have condensed into a gif for you all, you’re welcome, and I’m sorry about the quality in advance), of the camera moving over to Chad’s team (or his friends in this case since it’s an employee baseball game) as he says this line (gif below). 

I will not be explaining the use of subtly in this essay, but I’m sure you get the metaphor Kenney is trying to use. If not, let me spell it out for you in very simple words. This song has a lot of sexual innuendos (as mentioned pervious with the baseball bat scene and still, more to come), with that in mind, and clearly queer themes at play (as mentioned before, again), this scene only shows Chad isn’t as straight as he leads on. His fear/phobia of Ryan/the arts come from a much deeper place. 

In shorter, and much simpler terms: Chad queer. 

But, let’s get back to the boy's conversation. 

I don't dance - Ch

I know you can - R 

Not a chance, no - Ch 

If I could do this, well, you could do that - R 

Translation: “If I can do this weird, sweaty, dirty, Male thing without blowing a fuse, you can and should be able to dance just fine.” 

But I don't dance - Ch 

Hit it out of the park - Both 

I don't dance - Ch

I say you can - R

There's not a chance, oh - Ch

Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor - Both

I don't dance, no - Ch  (This is just the chores, you’ll see it multiple times throughout the essay, I just figured if the song is going to be in your head, go all the way right). 

Two-steppin, now you're up to bat - R

Bases loaded, do your dance - R 

Here we are with the baseball metaphors you’ve all been waiting for ladies and gentlemen. Girls, gays, and non-binary pals. For those who have somehow managed a sheltered existence with access to the internet, lemme help you. Ryan is talking about “loaded bases” both in the context of the game (where it shows each base has one person from Chad’s team on them) and in the term of sex. While you go out there dating - while it’s mostly douche bags and people using it ironically - your nosey friends may ask you how far you got. 

“First, second, or third base?” They may ask. Or something like, “oh wow, did you get to home plate/base?” These are simply the rankings of the stages of a sexual relationship. First - kissing, sometimes just handholding, Second - making out, some light groping, Third - full on groping, no clothes come off, but it gets close. While each person has different boundaries, these are the general accepted definitions for the bases. 

Home base is obviously full blown sexual intercourse. Since Chad has his “bases loaded” it means he’s done all these things before, just never gone completely to sexual intercourse with someone - in the terms of the song and the history we’ve already established, it’s most likely a male character. This is only proven by Chad’s uncomfortable nature towards Ryan (internalized Homophobia, thank you, returning theme) but his easy, and cocky personality towards everyone else. “bUt thAt DoEsnT pRovE” hush, that’s the final cherry on top. Remember this conversation. 

It's easy - R  

Again. Previous points have been made.  

Take your best shot, just hit it - Ch 

I've got what it takes, playin my game - Ch

So you better spin that pitch - Ch 

You're gonna throw me, yeah - Ch 

I'll show you how I swing - Ch

Ah, the famous “I’ll show you how i swing” a very strong baseball metaphor for everyone. Keeps queer people from defining themselves to dangerous (straight) people, and, well, that’s it actually. This term is mostly used by bi/pan people, though if you want to stay in the closet or are in a dangerous place, it is also used to subtly tell other queer people you are in fact, not straight. My favourite is when this term came into play when President Buchanan got elected in 1856 (for those that don’t know, he’s the first and only gay president). 

You'll never know - R

Oh I know - Ch

If you never try - R 

There's just one little thing - Ch

That stops me every time, yeah - Ch 

This is again, the same lyric as before it doesn’t pan, and the tone is much different. The camera stays on Chad as he says this line, meaning he’s reflecting, he is now his own problem, the person that is keeping him back. His friends are not on his mind anymore, which is good, Ryan’s Gay Propaganda has been working. 

Come on - Ch

I don't dance - Ch

I know you can - R

Not a chance, no, no - Ch

If I could do this, well, you could do that - R

But I don't dance - Ch

Hit it out of the park - R

I don't dance - Ch

I say you can - R

There's not a chance, oh no - Ch

Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor - Both 

I don't dance, no - Ch

Lean back, tuck it in, take a chance - R

Swing it out, spin around, do the dance - R

I wanna play ball, not dance hall - Ch

I'm makin a triple, not a curtain cal - Chl

I can prove it to you til you know it's true - R

'Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too - R

You're talkin a lot, show me what you got - Ch

Again, like the beginning of this song, this is a heavy base for flirting and sexual tension, which this song is drowning in. 

Stop swinging - both

Hey - both

This is the part where they all start a flash mob in the middle of the baseball diamond. Again, alluding to the conversation I had to myself earlier, this only proves my own theory as no one takes notice of this. But, that’s not this essay, this is where I mention how close Chad and Ryan are at the end of the group dance.  

Come on, swing it like this - both

Oh, swing - both

Jitterbug, just like that - both

That's what I mean, that's how you swing - both

You make a good pitch but I don't believe - both 

Here is yet another (and the final) sexual innuendo. This is actually a rather quick one. Pitching in queer culture is considered the person who tops (because queer people even had to straight-ify their sex lives to “top” and “bottom”), this is the person who is giving, if you know what I’m saying. 

I say you can - R

I know I can't - Ch

I don't dance - Ch

You can do it - R

I don't dance, no - Ch 

 Here is where that mosh pit ends, and how they get a little too close to comfort. 

Nothing to it, atta boy, atta boy, yeah - both

The rest of this song is simply a mash-up of the baseball game being finished, and this lovely gem. 

Now, clearly, Chad’s self conscious nature towards his sexuality is gone, he’s sitting close - if not squishing - Ryan, and talking to him like they’ve been friends forever. Take note of the change of close, most likely due to all the tension at the end of the song, and maybe a little of Chad’s own natural human curiosity built in. Now, I leave you with this note: 

If there is anything that confirms all this more, its Chad’s girlfriend wearing the pride colours. 

Also note: this could also be seen as a friend helping his bro discover his sexuality and fighting internalized homophobia, but, that’s ignoring the sexual tension, so go off I guess. 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.  

Watch the full thing here

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference! 

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀 

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked. 

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~ 

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :) 

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore 

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC 

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right? 

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty! 

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe? 

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in? 

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more! 

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch? 

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that. 

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :) 

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else 

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂). 

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha 

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu 

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3 

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4? 

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol 

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc. 

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before! 

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that? 

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever? 

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :> 

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game? 

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1. 

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you? 

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing? 

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc? 

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments? 

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress? 

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.