#just for people to act like she isn't being a spiteful little shit here

[tumblezwei]

I've been incredibly wrong in my Chainsawman interpretations before, and it's worse now that I have to rely solely on the art with no dialogue, but idk why people are acting like Yoru is terrified in that last panel and not pissed the fuck off.

Like, look at this sequence.

She stands up after having her other arm chopped off, ready to keep facing off, and Pochita starts walking past her like she isn't even a threat anymore, so she puts herself in front of his path. Maybe it's just poor paneling on Fujimoto's part, but I find it hard to believe the frame of her directly in front of Pochita's intestine scarf, aka to Pochita's side, isn't deliberate. She's also looking to her left in that shot.

Like, I do believe she's kneeling from exhaustion here, but she's being very deliberate with where she's kneeling. She's getting his attention because he was ignoring her and it made her mad.

Also, the expression she has in the last panel is nearly identical to the expression she has when she's diving towards Pochita's head and going for the kill so. yeah. This isn't fear my dudes it's pure fucking rage.

[genericpuff]

the last few episodes of persephone moping around have felt like less of a self-reflective moment for her to grow and change and more rachel griping about criticism and surrounding herself with yes men

this isn't gonna be in any way a formal essay like my usual sort, more of a slam post honestly, so fair warning that i'm gonna be a little salty here

EPISODE 263 SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

but seriously, it's been a pity party of greek proportions because this constant "woe is me" shit with persephone that's constantly met with "no queeen you're amazing and perfect" has been going on for DAYS (real time and comic time)

literally every episode since the comic returned has had some segment of either persephone or hades (or both) being upsetti spaghetti over their current situation because oh nooo persephone made the deal with erebus and had to sacrifice something. even though they both knew that was gonna happen and yet she did it anyways. so she just continues to lock herself away in her mansion and spout adorkable quips while her husband, mother, and colleagues deal with the mess she caused.

and of course there's the constant inclusion of apollo spitting straight facts about persephone being a terrible queen and person, but of course because it's apollo saying it, it's not meant to be taken as gospel, essentially clapping back at the words of the critics who call out persephone for being a shitty and toxic protagonist by putting those words into the mouth of a literal rapist.

and yeah episode 263 had a lot of the same shit, to the point that you could literally swap out the names of the characters and the words they were speaking and it applies exactly to rachel and the corner she put herself in u.u it's been a thing for a while now that apollo has just felt like a mouthpiece for LO criticism but as mentioned by users within the subreddit during the discussion of this newest episode, it's never felt more apparent than now.

so yeah enjoy this satirical text edit of a sequence from the newest FP episode, which I honestly can't tell is meant to satirize the critical community or Rachel's reactions to the critical community because the weird reality this comic and its community exist in has just become that wack that it's hard to believe it's not directly from The Onion sometimes LMAO

-and as much as i find myself empathizing with the pressure that rachel is surely under right now - no one should have to be subject to the screeching howls of the peanut gallery - i can't help but be reminded of the memes and tweets she's put out that basically outright say "persephone is supposed to be celebrated for being a shitty person, if you can't handle her at her worst you don't deserve her at her best 💅"-

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A post shared by Rachel Smythe (@usedbandaid)

-and how often she's ruined her own day looking for critical groups or people with the "wrong opinions" that were minding their own business, or how much she's stifled her own community's attempts to discuss the story openly by having her mods ban anyone with even so much as a question regarding persephone's integrity.

so yeah, as much as i can empathize with her from one creator to another that being under this amount of pressure and scrutiny must be immensely frustrating and exhausting, beyond that one similarity i just can't empathize or relate to this mindset of almost learned helplessness that's taken a firm grip over her writing. this is the story she wants to tell and by all means no one is entitled to make her stop, but if she's gonna keep using her greek myth "retelling" comic that's trying to be "feminist" as a mouthpiece for her own griping over criticisms that are largely on-point and justified - to the point of putting the words of her critics into the mouth of her token villain like she's playing some single player barbie doll "act out that fight that sounded cooler in your head" game - then she's gonna keep getting called out, full stop. i figured she didn't have any nose left to rip off in spite of her face but apparently not.

look, i get it, there are some opinions and behaviors within the critical community that even i'm not on board with. there are people who absolutely take shit too far on both sides of the fandom, and i think both sides need to do more to hold themselves accountable for how they interact with each other, the comic, and rachel herself. i make it a point to keep my shit in my own house, i'm not entitled to rachel's attention and frankly it's the last thing i want because i have a lot of fun here and i don't want that to be potentially ruined or dampened! but if you come into my house and complain about the decorating, then i legitimately don't know what to tell you. i used to love LO and i'm so sad for my past self knowing fully well they're not gonna be able to wholeheartedly enjoy this comic forever due to how manipulative and shitty the storytelling has become. a story that i once connected to as an AFAB who was a victim of assault and abuse and generational trauma.

if persephone being the true main villain in her own story was ever meant to be the point of Lore Olympus, then it's taken way, way too long to get to that point, and rachel herself definitely doesn't seem to be of the mindset that that's what she's become with all of her blasé meme'ing on a plot arc that she's still expecting us to take seriously. persephone was never a very complex character to begin with - being an easy self-insert for the audience and rachel to project themselves onto and relate to - but at least in the beginning she felt like she had so much legitimate potential, she was naive but put her best foot forward and clearly wanted to make a life for herself, made by herself.

now she's just mean. jaded and mean. dependent on the constant validation of others to the point of being manipulative. an absolute shell of a person who can only grow a spine when she's punching down on people weaker than her, completely incapable of standing up to the people who are a legitimate threat to her. it's not empowering, it's not subversive, it's just another pick me story about women pitting themselves against other women and never taking accountability for their own behavior, mistakes, and deliberate actions meant to hurt others, often teetering on the line of straight up narcissism all for the sake of a "boss babe" moment.

anyways, if you want an actual well-written and GOOD scene of an empathetic female protagonist struggling to find their footing in adulthood being called the fuck out for their learned helplessness behavior, go read Tamberlane, it tackles this topic much better through its main character who keeps using her brokenness as an excuse to never do better, it slaps and it's so real.

[richeeduvie]

Baby coincidentally changing her locks around the same time Roman gets with Tabitha. I remember reading something here once that he just makes himself home at her place even if he is with Tabitha 😭 he has such a hard time being told no and Baby just goes “oh right,, i had to change my locks recently because I uhh lost my keys ??yeah” and he just stares at her like yeah?? Well?? Wheres my duplicate then🤨 and she just sighs 🧍‍♀️

Dog at Your Door

So we do know he's panicking, right?

It's after a slight conflict, Baby's secretly tense and insecure after witnessing Roman's affections towards Tabitha and was in his words "Acting pussy-hungry."

"Eat a cock. Preferably mines, who elses?"

And Roman, in all his fuck-assery and annoying, attention seeking nature, knew that got to Baby. He didn't know why, but it did. His shit-eating smirk faltered a little, barely noticeable to most. He scratched the back of his neck, watched how Baby walked off into the hall with a fucking attitude.

It just didn't help Baby at all to see the way Roman still holds the belief that he's safe in their friendship to have sex and act as if they're joined by their genitals and hearts while playing boyfriend-girlfriend with Tabitha. It isn't fair, not to her or herself - but Roman holds it so tightly that she knows it's genuine. It's not spiteful, as if he's saying "I own your heart, what are you going to do about it?"

It still hurts.

And all those blood-gushing moments of when Baby pretends to be angry or disappointed in Roman to get him small, insecure, and panicked? It's there when she changes the locks. But it's not purposeful. Not fully, at least.

Roman goes over to her place with almost fully forgetting their little stunt in the day. He knows she's not home, but it's routine to make himself home when she's not there. Sometimes he'll jizz on her pillowcase, or play a game on his phone. Sometimes take a nap, even though naps are for people who are about to turn to dust or toddlers.

But the door doesn't budge. The knob barely moves.

"What the fuck?"

And Roman tries again. And again. The vein along his forehead appears, there comes the thinly-pulled lips and the look in his eyes gets more childishly strained.

"What the fuck?"

So does his voice. It'd make Baby smile if she was there.

After the thirteenth door jam, Roman begins to pull at his hair.

"Fuck!"

It's about a hour worth of constant text messages when Baby reached her place.

'why the fuck can't I open the door to the pent'

'hey'

'what the fuck'

'What the actual fuck?'

'literally what did I do? It's an actual different lock too'

'fuck you seriously'

'I didn't know you were that pussy hungry but I didn't do anything and what?'

'What are you trying to say with this?'

'or can you tell me the lock broke or something?'

'hey'

'why can't I open the door?'

"Roman."

It's Baby standing over him in front of the door. He's rested, casually pissed and passive aggressive.

"I lost my other key."

His fingers play nervously with themselves. Baby watches Roman's chest rise and fall, it's even. But she knows him. It's manic. Not a good enough answer for him. He needs complete assurance that she's not going to leave him or filter him out - that and a kiss, an arm wrapped around his stomach while he sleeps.

"Why didn't you just get a new key?"

"That would mean a place where a stranger could have my key to my door. Changing the locks is safer."

He blinks up and scratches his nose.

"...That's fucking stupid. I'm here in like...belief? Belief you want me out and fuck Roman and his tiny, occupied cock that is perfectly available but I won't accept because your womanly ego convinced you someone might pick up your key and think you're worthy enough of a sex crime."

She looks the knob above his head, scratched up. She assumes (and assumes right) that that came from Roman growing increasingly more frantic and kept missing the keyhole when trying to open it over and over.

"You were about to break in. And what? Wait for me naked to pounce on me? Which would be more like begging. I'd reject which would get you huffy and then I would have to rub your chest like you're a fucking baby who had a bad day with Daddy."

Baby unlocked the door over Roman's head.

"If you were the cautionary scenario I was imagining when I was changing the locks, Rome, I'd keep the door wide open. It's all a pathetic, corporate nature."

"...I didn't even say anything."

"Say hi to Tabitha, and tell Shiv tha-"

"I wanna come in."

"Rome."

He steps in, tense and needy and every other word to describe and man stepping a panic, doing what needs to be done to be the center of her love and affection and she can't leave him outside the door.

And Baby knows that, and she's been so lonely that she'll indulge for the sake of herself.

Roman butts his head into her neck nearly-softly, like a cat. He smiles, not in smugness, but relief.

Sometimes a dog and his bone, other times a cat who gets what he wants anyway.

[flower-boi16]

Why The "Their Both Meant to Be in the Wrong!" defense doesn't work

Lately I've commonly seen this defence levidied towards the show's writing of Stolitz everytime someone critizes season 2's handling of it, and in light of the recent episode I feel the need to cover it. So let's go over why this defence simply doesn't work, shall we?

1. Their mistakes are not equal

I already made a post about this before so I'll try to keep it brief; Stolas and Blitz's mistakes here aren't equal and the show can't act like they are. Stolas mistake was sexually abusing Blitz, trapping him in a situation where he has to agree to sleep with him or he'll lose the thing he needs for his job

Blitz' mistakes are...

Being kind of an ass to Stolas in Apology Tour

Not realizing that Stolas has genuine love for him due to being blinded by preconcieved notions he's had about him

Let's break these down, shall we?

This not on the same level as what Stolas was doing

Blitz isn't even in the wrong for this. Again I talked about this before in my post about Viv's tweet but. Blitz is not in the wrong here for not believing that Stolas loves him, after all, what reason does he even have? Stolas has done nothing but sexually abuse and constantly belittle Blitz, and even those "nice things" aren't suddenely enough to balance out those bad actions, they are far too small to actually make up for the shit Stolas did to Blitz.

None of these mistakes are remotely the same level as what Stolas did to Blitz especially when you start putting in context here. Stolas was doing what he was doing to Blitz were all purely for his own selfish pleasure while Blitz' actions were more understandable once you look at things from his perspective.

You can't pretend that Blitz and Stolas' actions are somehow the same level when they simply are not. The actions from both characters should be equally as bad when you put in the context, but here it simply isn't.

2. Stolas' mistakes are never acknowledged

I've seen a lot of people trying to say that one of Stolas' mistakes here is that he "isn't self-aware enough" to realize how he treated Blitz not as a why to excuse him but to try and deny the argument that the show is victimizing him. There are two problems with this;

There isn't any actual indication of this being case within the show, this was just something that Viv made up in a tweet she posted after the full moon aired and everyone suddenely started parrotting it around. This was suppoused to be character trait for Stolas than that should have been made more clear from the narrative.

Let's say for a sec that the narrative does make it clear that Stolas has little self-awarness; well, it still fails because the show never calls this out. The show never calls out Stolas' lack of self-awarness in these scenes, if the show really was trying to hold them both accountable then Stolas' flaws here should be properly addressed by the narrative, but they aren't. It's a similar issue to Charlie from HB's sister show; the narrative is aware of the flaws the character has but it never chooses to call out or confront these flaws because it's too busy idealizing/babying the character to do that. Stolas' flaws SHOULD be addressed by the narrative if Viv really is trying to make them both flawed, but no, only Blitz flaws are acknowledged while Stolas' aren't.

That's bad writting. 90% of the blame is put on Blitz while Stolas is solely painted as someone hurt by Blitz' actions. The only time where Stolas' actions are seen as bad is when he was SA Blitz, which is good but...since it's coming alongside moments that demonize Blitz for not seeing that Stolas loves him, it runs hollow and still comes across and victimizing Stolas here as someone hurt by Blitz in spite of holding him accountable (and also because, once again, Blitz is not in the wrong for thinking this even if he has biases). The show is still directly demonizing Blitz for being hurt by Stolas' actions here, so it runs hollow.

3. Blitz still gets all the blame

People constantly complain about antis "picking sides" when you aren't suppoused to, but I don't think you can blame people for doing that when the show itself is picking sides. The show puts all the blame onto Blitz here, painting him as the one mostly in the wrong here and an asshole for hurting Stolas' feelings.

Despite what fans try to argue, the framming of the show makes Stolitz look completely black and white; Blitz is the asshole who hurt poor Stolas' feelings and Stolas is the one who maybe made some mistakes but is mostly innocent here guys! I'm really sick of people trying to argue about this being a grey reletionship when it's not, if Viv wants it to be a grey reletionship then she's doing a shit tier job at it due to the framming of the show.

Blitz is the one who the show mostly demonizes here, he's the one who the show sees as the worst person here who needs to change, while Stolas is painted as the "bigger" person. That's not mutual toxicity. If that was what the show was aiming for then the show would call them both out on their bullshit, but it doesn't.

Conclusion

Just wanted to write this quick post because I was sick of seeing this defense over and over again when it came to this reletionship. Guys, Stolitz is suppoused to be a mutually toxic reletionship, then the show's framming is fumbling it significantly. The writting for the reletionship here is just plain bad.

[bobbydagen24]

Trolls overall has a Big problem with the idea of Holding people accountable for their actions.

here's a numbered list of examples of what I'm talking about.

Cloud Guy in the Tv shows not only because he Harasses Branch most of the time with no consequences but also because Poppy goes out of her way to defend him even when his actions cause trouble for many other people.

like when he flooded the village just out of spite because Branch wouldn't do what he wanted anymore and not to mention how even when she found out that he also Harassed other people from each of the Troll Tribes she still took his side and got mad at them when they stood up for themselves and "" upset Cloud Guy "".

which even if it hadn't been revealed that it was all an act by him just to mess with them it would still make Poppy look bad since she Refused to do anything about his Blatant Bullying yet got mad at his victims when they stood up for themselves.

and not to mention made excuses for why his behaviour wasn't so bad making out like he only Harassed them because he was trying to help them which is just all kinds of wrong.

2. a lesser example but still a bad example imo is in the Trollstopia episode where Dante uses Branch as his muse and he stalks him breaks into his home and disrupts his daily Jobs which he does.

and when he goes to Poppy for help she makes out like Dante's behaviour is reasonable and tells Branch to suck it up.

and after Branch does something to get Dante to back off Poppy then gets mad at him when Dante isn't able to come up with any music ideas like that's somehow Branch's problem?

Dante needed help but Rather than ask for it he just went ahead and took it by invading someone's privacy.

and breaching their trust and then Poppy made out like Branch was wrong for setting down Boundaries with him which is just iffy to be honest feels like this episode was written by Joe Goldberg or something lol.

3. and there's Creek as I've said in the past I love him lol but I do agree that his Return in TBGO could have been done better where he could have had a little arc of slowly earning back people's trust maybe over the span of a few episodes.

4. some people like to go on about the Bergens being forgiven too easily and I agree to an extent but given how Gristle Jr couldn't exactly punish the majority of the population I don't think they really had much choice in this matter.

I feel the only problem is them acting all chummy with the rest of the Bergens like letting them off for killing their species is one thing but acting like friends with them is a whole other like staying friends with Bridget and Gristle is fine given their history and the fact that they were too young to have eaten any Trolls prior to the escape.

but acting friendly with the rest of them feels a tad insensitive like in the opening of TBT we see Branch and Poppy acting all chummy with Random Bergens and Branch even High fives a couple of them and I was just thinking to myself

"" dude they probably ate someone's loved ones in the past how would you feel if you saw other Trolls giving Chef a friendly High five? ""

5. anyway moving on there's Barb who enslaved countless people destroyed their homes and tried to wipe out all other kinds of music and she was let off in the end.

its not even like she had a last minute change of heart she literally just got beaten and that's the only reason why her plan didn't succeed and afterwards she was just instantly forgiven.

6. Bro zone I've already talked about them in Depth in the past but yeah unreliable selfish insensitive and at worst cruel not to mention they never truly change their ways.

they keep on doing the same crappy behaviour and they don't show that much remorse for their past actions yet they still get forgiven in the end Despite everything.

because yaaaay family is amazing even if they Treat you like shit over and over again.

the films message feels like it was written by a toxic parent to please other toxic parents to be honest which judging by how this film won over general audiences I'd say it worked like a Treat lol.

so yeah Despite my love for it Trolls overall as a franchise has a serous problem with actually Holding people accountable for their crappy actions and Behaviours I feel the only exception is Veneer as even tho his turn at the end felt Rushed and out of nowhere imo.

I was pleasantly surprised that the movie didn't just let him off the Hook and he still got arrested and accepted the punishment for his crimes in the end.

I feel the same thing should have happened with Barb given everything she did.

anyway if you've made it to the end of my post thank you you have the patience of a saint lol anyway what do you think about this aspect of the franchise?

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Excellent Villain Writing

It's interesting because one of the plot points of Not a Typical Reincarnation Story is that the story's "fixes" to irregular human behavior in them are kind of poorly written - perhaps the original novel the character's stuck in was okay, but whoever's using that as a basis for a real world isn't good at adapting when a human brings in Facts And Logic.

Anyway in spite of that, the character of Cliff is actually an excellently written villain.

The Context: In the novel the brothers Cliff and Killian were fighting over the affections of Rhyse. Killian was briefly married to the evil Edith from the villainous Rigelhof family but her obsession and jealousy drives her to increasingly blatant acts of sabotage and violence and she's at last executed, and then the tension of the love triangle is in full swing. But in the comic Edith is played by a reincarnated human - and not just any, but one who read the novel. She knows how this goes for her if she's a jealous little shit, so she is a fine upstanding citizen and furthermore she is genuinely nice to Rhyse, which screws with everything about her portion of the base story. If she's not being horrible it would make the good-guy family look bad to execute her, so she's living past where she was supposed to be written out of the story. But if she's a good person and as bewitchingly lovely as the evil temptress she was supposed to be, it makes Killian look bad if he doesn't, like, at least attempt to care for his own wife.

In the process of all this story-breaking, Killian's been falling for her.

And finally there's enough context for the latest scene:

Cliff is egging on his brother to pay less attention to his own wife and more attention to Rhyse, who is supposed to be the woman in the love triangle. Now, Cliff has been firmly villain-coded the whole story long. Every time something bad is happening to a good person and he's on screen, he is smiling. And a lot of the story we've seen that hasn't been from Edith's perspective has been from Killian's, and Cliff is the jerk older brother that never lets him win at anything.

And this is what makes his act here such excellent villain writing.

By rights Cliff should be happy to let his brother get out of the love triangle so he wins by default, but he's so obsessed with the contest that he can't accept the idea of his brother walking away from it and spending attention on his own damn wife. It's not enough to have Rhyse at his side or even to "win her heart." Without his brother to defeat at it, he's lost and confused.

In this scene Cliff is at once pathetic, obnoxious, twisted, sad, and really offensive. He's been a constant threat to Edith, happily treating her as guilty-by-default, like an NPC whose dialogue hasn't been properly rewritten in response to altered player behavior. But this shows how little he thinks of his brother and even of Rhyse herself.

And the thing is, this idea of the "sore winner" is a character most of us have met. Even if Cliff turns out to be doing this because he's actually an NPC that can't pivot like a real person, or something, for now this still feels like pretty naturalistic character writing. It's not that unusual for actual people to get hung up on the people around them sticking to the script, and paradoxically upset with character growth in people they should care be happy for.

[dadvans]

9-1-1 S8x04 Liveblog Notes

This episode starts and ends with Bobby being underestimated by Gerrard in completely unique ways. Amazing.

Underrated line: "So they took my house from me. Yes, it was humiliating. Well, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I'm back." I really don't think Gerrard is fully gone. We know there will be more Hotshots + Brad this season. Gerrard is a man who survives out of spite, and there are depths of his hatred we don't even know.

I'm so curious about how Gerrard has, if I remember correctly, said mooks twice. Gerrard/Sal OTP.

As long as we're going to talk about Gerrard, I'm adding this here much, much later: awful, terrible people have good sides to them. This will always be true, especially for powerful people. I've seen a few different interpretations of "Tight End," but I'm going to be real with you all from someone who grew up in male spaces? This is affection. This is Old Guard shit. It is not good. It is the kind of preferential affection that tells you that you're on thin ice but you're special enough or good enough if you work hard, and you've been noticed. Your name will always be your strongest weakness. Someone has their eye on you. You can be called out by the leader something awful, but at least you have a name. (My coach's name for me was "Bruiser.")

Buck is terrible at golf. I feel like there was a lot of spec this episode about his outfit: that's just a golf outfit. Buck strikes me as the kind of guy who knows how to socially fake appearances, and Gerrard isn't calling him on his terrible performance here. NOTABLY: in terms of performance, Oliver Stark can act his way through terrible drives down the line with the addition of SFX and flailing with the net, but I'm still frustrated at how capable he was in the basketball montage in s7 after Buck is supposed to hate/suck at basketball.

Yes, you can be good at a sport and hate it. That's me with golf. That's Buck with basketball.

Someday, if anyone ever wants, I would love to nerd out about how they blocked and choreographed the basketball scene, because it DOES make me a little crazy.

Did they actually play a full 18 after this? And Buck survived?

The apartment Bobby and Athena are looking at is at least $2mil. It actually looks like several listings where I was trying to gauge new build in surrounding neighborhoods when I was writing "An Outlier."

Michael... plans. I find it a little weird that Athena would do it, a lot weird she would do it without Bobby. Bobby and Michael had a good relationship! But then Athena was excited! It's a weird way to navigate how Michael can't physically appear in the show anymore. It almost feels like a regression, because Bobby and Michael were so close. Michael would probably have reached out to Bobby if Athena reached out to him. I miss their made, intentional, yet triumphant family so much (including May and Harry).

I was SO into Chimney pointing out the obvious about the blueprints until he made it about the 118-- although his Gerrard impression was the unsettling kind of impressive.

The tiger would have simply become friends with me and I would have called 9-1-1 while we were chilling on the couch together. But I would have told them it was okay and to never come because I found my best friend forever.

Crazy that they had to use a tranq dart. I simply would have entered the apartment and said hello and the tiger would have recognized me as a friend and we would have left together laughing over shared interests.

I totally think Eddie violated HIPAA contacting an underage patient's parent without his OR his guardian's permission. Eddie also showed said parent photos of his son's injury that Eddie had taken without permission. The mother even clarified that she would not notify the father. For me, the biggest implication here is that Eddie's on-the-job performance (despite being impeccable during the emergency itself) could begin to suffer, or his ability to remain impartial in situations will continue to take hits before it gets better without Christopher.

People are BIG MAD about the above opinion on Reddit. Why are you booing me, I'm right.

I had an HR post script about how Bobby financially runs his department here and how he underhires with overperformers to navigate attrition, but it is lost to time. I guess we will never know how my sexy HR brain works in a situation that it has never been in, but I'm sure I was right, because I always am.

[shera-dnd]

I got the game Soulstice for free in the Epic Game Store like ages ago and finally decided to play it

AND OH BOY

That was not what I was expecting and I mean that entirely as a compliment

Game feels like a lower budget Devil May Cry. The aesthetic is beautiful, the world is fantastic, the story is cheesy at times but still really good, and I'm simply in love with the two main characters

The gameplay is a bit rough around the edges. Like it's very clear this is this dev team's first attempt at making this type of game, but they have plenty of interesting ideas and takes on classic mechanics that will only get better as they gain more experience

Not sure if that has been announced yet, but I'm fully convinced that Soulstice 2 is gonna be a fucking banger

Anyways I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves dark fantasy and has an itching for some good DMC-like action

But well this is my blog and y'all know what I'm about.

IT'S TIME FOR THOSE SEXY FUCKING THEMES BABY!

short version: this is a story about relationships and how people help each other survive their shared trauma

Like our main characters are a scarred warrior and the ghost of her little sister! LIKE SHE'S LITERALLY HAUNTED BY HER DEAD SISTER! THIS AIN'T SUBTLE!

ANYWAYS

Now it's time for the long version under the cut, so be weary of spoilers!

Alright let's do some set up here

Okay so our girls, Briar and Lute, are a "chimera" which in this setting means two souls placed into a single body

So guess what the shared trauma that those two have to get over is THE DEATH OF EVERYONE THEY KNOW INCLUDING THEMSELVES

And that's the trauma all chimeras in the game suffered. They all had to die to become what they are now. They all suffered and they were all changed by that suffering

And to top it all off, every chimera at some point will become so changed by their transformation that they'll lose all sense of the person they were before and turn into a destructive monster

This is known as transcendence, and every chimera would rather die than transcend

AND THAT, MY GOOD BITCH, IS THE CENTER OF MY ARGUMENT HERE

Because we see plenty of transcended throughout the game. The 3 big bosses of the game are all transcended chimera, all people who are just like our protagonist. People who were changed by their trauma and lost themselves to it

And the thing is Briar and Lute transcend too, but instead of it consuming them and turning them into a monster, it makes them stronger.

And why the fuck is that? well, it's because of the way they deal each deal with their trauma and how they relate to each other

Like Jared and Jadon

They straight up DON'T deal with their trauma. They don't unpack shit. They just try to move forward, act tough, and be loud and boastful.

When they transcend that's all that remains of them. Their humanity is lost, replaced only with that drive to never stop moving, never stop fighting, be loud, be strong, take on the next challenge, and the next, and the next, and the next.

Armina and Damian are somehow even worse. They're entirely fueled by spite and a sense of superiority. They hate each other and their hate is what keeps them going, that and the act they put on of being better than each other

When they transcend they get consumed by their self destructive tendencies, fighting for control over their body and constantly belittling each other. Hell their transcended form literally features a pair of hands wrapped around their own neck

THIS ISN'T FUCKING SUBTLE!

Then there's Donovan and Hannah. By the triarchy, these two

Donovan, the good and kind father who clung desperately to his dying daughter. Clung so tightly in fact that all he did was prolong her suffering. He held on until Hannah's death consumed and destroyed him

Donovan is a mindless being in this transcended form, only Hannah's pain and resentment remains

So in short, they all suck. They hide their pain and cling to these masks, and these toxic relationships. They refuse to change until change becomes inevitable and fully consumes them

And so they're all destroyed by their own pain

And sure they're antagonists, but the story constantly asks you to understand them and their pain. None of them are like this because they wanted to, none of them became monsters by their own choice. None of them chose to suffer this trauma

And neither did Briar and Lute

They constantly talk about the pain of becoming a chimera, of how this change was forced upon them and how it was never their choice

They feel like they're less than human and that they can never go back to who they once were

They too are on the path to transcendence

But the difference is that Lute and Briar make each other stronger. They help each other move forward and even deal with the past trauma that led to their new existence

Hell your major power upgrades are straight up locked behind flashback sequences in which they confront the events that led to their death and subsequent rebirth as a chimera

Not to mention that they have other people to help them deal with their crap. They have Layton (begrudgingly) and Donovan (for a bit) to help them process everything that has happened and IS happening to them

And in the end our girls realize that... yeah, this sucks. They got changed by forces beyond their control and made to suffer for it

But that doesn't have to define who they are and what they do. Their trauma changed them, but it isn't all that they are

They support each other through the pain and when they transcend it's (for the first time) by their own choice

They accepted their pain, they confronted their trauma, and they chose to change. So unlike every single other transcended in the game, they get to remain themselves, they may look different but they're still Briar and Lute

their deaths, their transformation, their pain

None of it gets to decide who they are

And my god does that lead to a lovely ending sequence

Genuinely cannot wait to see what comes next for these two as they go after the people behind all that pain and try to help more of their fellow chimera

so uh... yeah. Cool game

[bastard-coatedbastards]

Hiiiii I'm Miren 🎴🎤, I run this shit show, partly - gonna use this blog to work out my sys shit in my head and otherwise because I am NOT relating well to the world rn. I was the host from age 12-18 and I have a LOT of fucking catching up to do apparently despite not being completely dormant.

If you connect this to another blog stfu that alter probably wants to be left alooooone I'm the only one who has fun with other people's opinions of me 😭 long as the people closest to me Get It (and my biggest concern is that they will not lmao).

He/him

---

Another alter frequents this blog too.

My name is Percival, you can call me Perry I guess. He/Him. I sign off with 🩺, as the caretaker for our system.

En has been around for a long time, but when he was little I was the "responsible one" a lot of the time. I care deeply about healing, but that has made me deeply frustrated at many points in my life. We were under an abusive roof until we were 18 and I don't even want to think about the first few years of that. My hyperverbal ass doesn't always know when to stop, and I've been around for a very long time. So if you can spare the patience to put up with my bullshit, I'll be impressed. Maybe even grateful, I don't know. I need to dump my thoughts about having this disorder somewhere, because I genuinely do forget that this is my body, too.

----

Heya I'm the better Jax, Jaxx'n. I am not technically an introject!!!! I am a fragment who stole an appearance and attitude I liked!! I am the only one allowed to associate me with my source, everyone else fuck off about it. Anyway I'm taking this blog over for a bit. Practice the art of not giving a fuck for a change. I have found comfort and mild enjoyment in logging/categorizing information on our system, but that doesn't mean I don't fuck around for kicks. I can be a little mean, fair warning. 🪩

---

🩺💞🏔🎸Some boundaries:

Many of our introjects are fragments who took on those identities and feel seen in them. Many change their name, some do not. Do not harass them about their sources, names, etc.; some will talk about them, others just want to live normally as themselves. Fictives don't choose their traits, because no alter can inherently choose that kind of thing.

Do not harass us about "Endo" discourse; we speak on it when we feel like it. Personally, yes, we believe that this is a disorder stemming from trauma. We also believe trauma is inherent to the human experience and to deny that part of systemhood does everyone a massive disservice. We find the concept of "other origins" largely irrelevant and the "evidence" flimsy at best. Don't like it? DNI.

Our littles are not allowed on this account nor will we be posting about them, with few exceptions.

Don't tell us what's going on with cesspools like r/FDC. Don't fakeclaim or generalize about entire groups of systems. Don't shit-talk random creators who don't have the same system experiences as you. It's fucking obnoxious. DNI if you think having Trauma justifies being a miserable, mean, spiteful person (seriously fuck you for perpetuating those cycles). The people groups mentioned here have opinions that are built on personal issues and unaddressed negative emotions; they are not worth listening to. And no, being abrasive towards people who act like that isn't the same thing. We carry a lot of pain but you don't see us taking it out on just anyone, especially other systems. Jfc.

"don't be a bigot/fascist/Zionist/abuse apologist" should be obvious but y'know. Just don't.

---

Boxes by @/sysboxes

Other occasional sign-offs (in order of Who Adds What lmao some picked two emotes):

⚾ John (he/him) | 🎴Mikoto/Frost (he/they) | ❄️ Ice (he/him, nine/nines)| 💕 Amelia-Dean (she/ey/they/he) | 🦉 Eda (ey/she/he) | 🎈Yunice (she/it/he/💥) (the ONLY alter in our sys to use an emoji-pronoun because "fuck it that's why." Yeah.) | 🥼Kiri (he/him) | 🔏🦌Louis (he/him) |🪩Jaxx'n (it(derogatory)/he) | 🗡️Kas (he/ey) | 🪽 Mitch/Michael (he/xe/they) | ⛪El (he/they/ey) | 🎭 Hara (he/she/they) | 🔥 Fuu (he/they) | 🎸 Blitz/Ches (he/ey) (barely uses this account because I am the guy in Real Life who's like "hi how are you" yes Miren I am roastibg you) | 🌐 Rick (he/xir) | 🐈‍⬛ Dreyfus (he/it) | 🌊 Lazuli (he/they) | 🗺️ Tumbleweed (he/ey/it) | 🔫 Arther (he/xir) (yeah he spells his name like that) | 📚 Di (pronounced Dee, short for Diane) (she/they/he) | 💊Nicole (she) | 🧹Adam (he/it) | 💒🎠 Shina/Mappi (she/her) |🐕‍🦺 Redd (he/it/ey) | 🐈🌂 Momos (she/it/they) |💧Ruka (he/him) |⏳Mu (she/they) | 💞🏔Calcite (they/nine/he/she)

[lipstickchainsaw]

Victoria/Lisa

So, the running joke here is that these two act like a divorced couple forced to hang out because of shared custody, and that's a good joke, but let's dig a little further!

Lisa is not interested in relationships for herself, in either the romantic or the sexual side. She is in no way attracted to people, but there are hints that she's still a little romantic at heart.

She sets Taylor up with Brian, for example. Now, how much of that is because of her desire to give Taylor a happy and fulfilling life to counteract her suicidal urges, and how much of it is Lisa living vicariously through other people is up for debate (and I'd probably lean on the former, personally), but let's look at it from both sides.

For the latter, despite Lisa's cynicism, she eventually admits to herself that she actually gives a shit about humanity, about people, and wants to see them survive and live. This is a conclusion she comes to at the worst possible time in Worm, and that drives much of her motivation in Ward. A part of her really does want to see people happy, including in ways she herself isn't actually interested in.

And for the former, well, Lisa put a lot of effort into saving Taylor (and is saved by Taylor in return), but, in the end, she could not stop Taylor from sacrificing herself when that seemed to be the one thing to do. This left Lisa adrift. She attaches herself to people like Taylor in order to save them, in order to make up for what she feels is her failure to save her brother (see my post about her name), but, after Worm, the loss of Taylor weighs heavy on her, and none of the people around her are doing badly enough to need her.

So instead she's trying to keep the world on the rails in her supervillain mastermind way, which is something she wants, but doesn't satisfy her, and she gets cranky because of it, and drives her friends away, and gets harsher in the choices she makes for the world, spiraling without anything to grab onto, to help her focus.

And then Victoria comes back.

Victoria's spent two years in the hospital, and another two years barely living, going through life as if by rote. She's deeply uncomfortable in her own skin for Amy related reasons, and not particularly happy with her power, also for Amy related reasons, and also not exactly willing to think about herself being in a relationship, also for Amy related reasons. Sexually, she is interested in guys, but a lot of this is because she has some seriously conflicted feelings about any potential interest she might have in girls, for, well, three guesses.

Throughout the early arcs of Ward, Victoria finds some zest in her life, and comes back to life, finding her passion in heroism, and that's because one of the villains of her old hometown, one of the catalysts for the Amy situation, one of her own failures, comes right back to poke at her, and is she going to let her? Absolutely not!

The relationship that forms following that is mutual antagonism, with Victoria not wanting to just let this villain ruin more lives, and Lisa incredibly annoyed this ill-informed hero starts getting in her way of saving people. Both of them are wrong about each other, of course (Lisa's motives are more altruistic than Victoria is assuming, but Victoria is absolutely right to stop Lisa's more callous tendencies).

More importantly, however, the mutual antagonism is healthy for them both. It gives Victoria a goal, someone to spite, and the antagonism and the barbs are honestly a kind of security blanket an almost safe way of dealing with her personal vulnerabilities, and Victoria hones Lisa's focus, with someone who can actually hold her to account when she starts messing up, and someone she starts giving a shit about, despite her own reluctance to get there.

They don't come up with the idea of working together themselves, because the hatred is genuine, but both their teammates are more willing to cross the hero/villain gap, and, eventually, they become each other's first thought when they need someone on the other side of that divide.

As things go on, they settle into some kind of weird absolutely not friendship, where the barbs never stop, and they don't even stop being genuinely mean, but they're also safe, because they know each other well, and their hatred of each other as 'evil villain' and 'ignorant hero' both softens and hardens into 'this bitch is so close to doing it right, but she just has to be an asshole/idealist'.

And the fun part is that they never stop doing this! They just start hanging out together more, without this making them like each other more. Them hanging out together changes how they view the world, and it makes them both better at their side of the 'keep the world together' job, but they never fully resolve this conflict, even when they both start mentoring the same teen superhero/villain team.

Which is why they have bitter exes vibes throughout, and it makes for a great relationship dynamic.

A: I love it

[newt-man0304]

Obey me brothers/dateables and Luke meet Cereza

(Basically, while venturing in the avalon forest, Cereza fell into a portal and landed in devildom. No mc, just cereza being taken care of)

Lucfer:

-Confused. How did a mortal child end up here?

-What really caught him off guard was that this child seemed powerful, but didn't seem to unlock her true abilities.

-Learns that she was a witch in training and that her name was Cereza.

-Avalon forest? Inferno? He never heard about those places. Faeries ane monsterous looking demons?

-Learns that Cereza wants to save her mother and Lucifer respects that, but is a little doubtful of the 10 year old.

-Him and lord diavolo decide to let her stay for a while so she could get stronger and maybe even tell them about this witch clan and the rest.

-'Why is your cat dolls eyes glowing'

-He doesn't like Chesire.

-Reminds Cereza of Morgana. Cold, but wants the best for everyone

Mammon:

-Oh hell no

-Not only is he assigned to look after a child, but a witch in training no less

-Alright, who sent you here to collect something from me? I ain't giving you one grimm

-Learns that he isn't in dept with Cerezas teacher and sighs in relief.

-At first, he tries to stay away, but then when a few other witches attacked him, Cereza sent out Chesire and incased them in thorns.

-The witches never came back again. Ever since that day, he became sort of a uncle figure for Cereza.

-May or may not dress Cereza up as him and gets in trouble with Lucifer.

-Cereza accidently learns how to scam people

Leviathan:

-Another Normie? Boring.

-Isn't the biggest fan of children.

-But when he learns from the umbran clan that cereza is from, he changes his mind.

-You're just like that main character from 'I kill angels and try to regain my memories after sleeping for 500 years'

-She doesn't know jack shit of games and anime? Oh hell no! Let me introduce you to Ruri-Chan

-Cereza hangs out with Leviathan the most, because he is basically an outcast from the brothers in her eyes. Altough he was willingly and she was forcefully cast out

Satan:

-Girl be prepared. This demon will adopt you.

-Not only does she have to read a lot to learn spells, Cereza also loves Cats. She styles her hair as cat ears and has a chesire plushie.

-'I've only had Cereza for 1 hour and a half, but if anything happens to her, i will kill everyone and myself'

-Cereza reminds him of alice in wonderland. He also often plays with chesire and makes it fight Cerebrus

-Sometimes has Cereza do something for the anti lucifer league.

-Probably has soemthing about Umbra witches.

-Say hello to your new papa, cereza.

-Constantly fights Asmodeus and Solomon over who gets to take care of her. Chesire is not amused.

Asmodeus:

-Squels when he sees her. She is adorable, but not as adorable as him of course

-A young witch in training,how cute.

-Knows that she is a kid, but she could do better with her outfit choices.

-Whats that? Your hair needs proper care, because it acts as a conduit? Say less! Cerezas hair is in good care with Admodeus.

-Definetly takes a lot of selfies with her and she becomes devildoms most popular witch

-He has a lot to say about Chesire. Couldn't this demon get in a better looking doll?

-Ate his words when he learned that Cerezas mother made this doll when she was imprisoned.

-Hopes Chesire won't scratch his beautiful face.

Beelzebub:

-Big brother instincts kick in

-Thinks of her as a little lilith and protects her with her life

-Occasionally spars with Chesire.

-Cereza gives him lollipos and Avalon essences, which are very sweet.

-Would eat them in a second.

-He reminds Cereza of the Inferno varaint of him, Baal.

-Whats that, your mother is in danger and you have to travel through a forest to save her? Let me come with you.

-He feels like Cereza and Belphie would get along

Belphegor:

-He and Cereza don't get along. At all.

-Belphegor doesn't like humans, especially children and Cereza thinks he is annoying.

-Spite eachother

-Cereza always gets chesire to wake Belphie up. She knows she won't get in trouble with Lucifer if she does.

-That little BI-

Diavolo:

-Learns a lot when Cereza came to the devildom.

-Theres another part of hell named Inferno. He knew of the legend, but didn't think ot existed.

-Surprised that Barbatos knew of it. All the butler had to say was 'You didn't ask, so i didn't tell, young master.'

-Inspires Cereza a lot. He started to care for her like a little sister.

-He finds Chesire very cute.

-If anyone says something bad about Cereza, they will get punished severly. Its a criminal offence now.

-Often gets Barbatos to join them when Cereza is talking about her teacher.

-'Young Master, please get to work'

Barbatos:

-He already knew of Cerezas existence before she came here. She was child of sage and witch blood.

-As to how he knew, its because Cerezas mother, Rosa, made a contract with his own mother, Madama khepri, who is knows as the protector of time in Inferno.

(I know it was never stated that Barbatos had parents, but i thought it would make sense if they were mother and son. They're both mainly known for the color green, control of time and are the most powerful demons in their respective universe.)

-'How amusing' he thought. Who would've known they would cross paths someday. He could've know, but can't use his powers without Diavolos permission.

-He appreciated Cereza a lot, since she sometimes helps him clean. When he asked her why, she just shrugged and told him that her teacher would always make her do chores that might help her with training.

-Is a bit iffed at that.

-Cereza also gives him the plants and herbs she collected from avalon forest. He appreciates it and is surprised how the petals of onyx roses make good tea.

-Once when barbatos was frozen when he saw a 'you-know-what', Cereta captured them in thorny vines and Chesire at them.

-Was very grateful. Wonders if he could borrow Chesire for a while.

Simeon:

-Simply adores her.

-He often watches her have play dates with Luke. He thinks children are the most innocent beings.

-While not thrilled that she was a witch who makes pacts with Infernal demons, he respects her decision.

-Fate hasn't decided yet. He can sense an angelic and light magic in her. Who knows, maybe she'll becoma a sage.

-Is also grateful that she doesn't know how to use Technology. How do they do it?

-Hears about how you were treated. He would like to have a word with those bitches- i mean witches.

-That cat doll somehow scares him. It threatend to eat its wings

Luke:

-Finally, another child.

-Becomes instant friends with her.

-Is confused when she said that he resembles the boy im her dreams. Makes him blush a bit.

(Who Cereza reminds him of)

-Bakes with her a lot. They both always want Barabtos to feel special, so they make him cookies or cake.

-Definelty wishes she would visit the celestial realm.

-Bumos heads with Chesire often.

Solomon:

-Not only did Cereza get a dad in devildom, but also a second teacher.

-Teases her a lot and doesn't really mind Chesire.

-He knows a lot about the witches and sages, but choses not to tell the rest. When Cereza asks why, he just says 'why not'

-Is impressed by Cerezas potion making. But she still had a long way to go.

-Knows who Cerezas teacher is. He and Morgana often have some sort of beef.

-Does he purposly take Cereza as his apprentice? Maybe. Does he like it? Yes

-Is moved to tears when Cereza likes his cooking. He will fight Satan over an adoption.

-In actaulity, Cereza thinks his food is quite decent. Besides, she was served worse when she was with the umbran clan. She had better meals from Morgana.

[relentless-endurance]

Hello, I love to encourage violence, please any of the following Choose Violence ask game questions you feel up to answering: 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, and 25!

'Isn't that basically all of them?' Yes! yes, it is. If there are any I didn't list that you wanted to answer, feel free to answer those too. I love drama, give me the chisme, peel it and feed it to me like squapes.

LIKE SQUAPES. fun fact: i have a squapes keychain on my lanyard. (alongside shoebill, Crow destiny 2 and (redacted) from Pandaemonium)

I will do xiv because. because.

answers them all because i have the day off, why not

the character everyone gets wrong

thats tough bc every character has those ppl that get them utterly wrong; I have particular beef though with the "emet was right and hydaelyn was evil" crowd because it just. it glosses over everything Emet did and acts like what Hydaelyn had to do was the worstest ever amen how dare she, when its like. Both of these characters did what they thought was necessary, but there is a gulf of difference between "I would let billions die to bring my world back" and "I sundered the star to avert a far worse disaster"

because i think people fail to realize. they were just going to keep sacrificing to Zodiark lol. (ALSO THERES ENDWALKER SPOILER STUFF as to why I will die on the hill defending my crystal mom)

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

see last ask! that was a dm a person sent me lmao. at least??? they warned me???

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

this is going to be hilarious coming from me but i'm not much a fan of most zenoswol or emetwol shippers (in spite of enjoying the former) because the discourse surrounding it all is fucking. INSANE. and there are just ways they mischaracterize both characters that drive me fucking BONKERS. So I stay in my brainworm corner with select people and I keep emet selch as a bitter ex because its honestly a lot funnier

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Amon/Fandaniel. Specifically the clown wearing Asahi's skinsuit and the guy from crystal tower. there is just. a vibe. about it. that i do not fucking like how the fans engage with it. i can't explain it concretely it just fucking bothers me.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

sorrows of werlyt is not gaius' redemption it is him suffering consequences of his actions. if its anything close to redemption atonement is probably a better word for it and also the wol still fuckin hates his guts you can see the faces in the cutscenes. he calls u a fried when at best ur coworkers for that.

also i'm a stormblood enjoyer till i fuckin die. this is not a discussion i had fun thats it that the message

9. worst part of canon

the fact that ARR didn't lean more into the fact that you were the WoL from 1.0, ARR's writing in general.

also in general there is more bits in the msq where i wish we could uh. bite back a little harder instead of just being a silent protagonist.

10. worst part of fanon

oh god. theres a lot. probably the uwu soft imperialism that people get up to with certain ships (esp bc certain characters canonically and categorically do NOT give a fuck about politics at all)

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Aside from the obvious female characters I will defend until i fucking die (Lyse, Minfilia, ETC.).... Maxima! I just think he's neat. like was actually being genuine as a Populares, and saw that shit was fucked and noped out. also here, have this screen shot where my crimes gave him thot boots:

13. worst blorboficiation

answered in last ask! theres 1 ur about to meet and 1 thats pandemonium relevant but yeah. bluuuuuhhhhh your milage may very

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Huh. I'm actually not super sure here besides things I've already bitched about. WAIT.

I fucking HATE when ppl have their wol who did not let go of heavensward trauma. like in that their wol didn't develop past it. especially if they're dark knights because. WHAT WAS THE POINT?

everyone handles grief differently ofc and its not a linear thing ever, but its so ?????????? to me that its like "my wol hasn't changed or let go or processed this at all".

what is the point if your character is never going to change or be affected? especially getting to shadowbringers??? thats all about grief and having a primo example of what NOT PROCESSING YOUR GRIEF does to you and can push you to?

like i'm not saying they shouldn't be affected at all, considering how much Haurchefant haunts you in the MSQ but like come on now. you've gotta move in some kind of direction.

(also smaller and pettier pet peeve: super 2edgy4me Azems. it feels so against what Azem was man, idk.)

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

my taste is flawless and impeccable and perfect. zenoswol may be the closest thing to an answer but like nah, its fucking funny.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

most of early ARR before waking sands

there is a bit after the first endwalker trial that i've sort of speedran on my subsequent runs, its not BAD, but it is a little jarring tonally the first time. i mildly appreciate it in hindsight because AFTER that endwalker cuts the brakes and is a semi rolling the down the hill at top speed emotionally, but it still like. please let me move on.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

alexander raids. mid as fuck honestly.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

oagh unfortunately i am a girlie who enjoys all the popular things in canon. The best answer is probably the Four Lords trial series. Its one of my favorites but people don't seem to talk about it much

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

I actually don't have a ship that fits this. I only like like 2 of the canon/canon ships and i've always been a fan of most of the wolships that float around

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Emet Selch. I love grandpa war crimes, he's one of my favorite characters and favorite villains ever, i have literal merch of him, but holy shit he is the reason for so much twitter discourse. which is kind of funny and on brand but also jesus christ can people please just relax and learn to mute/block people and tags aaaa

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i don't know if this common or i just saw it a lot given my twitter algorithm but people have so. much. beef. with people who Persephone Azems. for some reason.

the reason is apparently they're most insufferable kind of straight girl shipper/emet selch fan but like aside from an occasional encounter on a wolqotd post, the two people i know/know of who actually have an Azem named Persephone are.

an mlm whose noriety comes from... being one of the biggest G'rahawol content creators/shippers

one of my lesbian friends who chose it for not shipping related reasons

and most of the time their highest crime is. an Azem named Persephone. that ships Azemet. like any genuine complaints there might be are like. not unique to this VERY NICHE SUBSET OF FANS but apparently they're sooooo common and soooo annoying.

like maybe just block and move on bc some of the complaining i see borders on being genuinely misogynistic like. its fandom pixels. RELAX.

[catgirl-catboy]

1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 for the violence ask game lol

- @nsfwitchy

Since I don't think we share any other fandoms, Danganronpa it is!

1.) the character everyone gets wrong

There are so many, since I suspect the reading comprehension of the average Danganronpa fan is subpar. (If I haven't blocked you, then this jab isn't at you, dw.)

But Mikan is the most glaring. People take her defense mechanisms at face value, and write her inner monologues the same way as they write her dialogues. No way is she consistently that nice. She knows shes a doormat. I perceive that Ch3 is closer to her true feelings than 99% of the fandom thinks, even if Junko undoubtedly makes her worse.

2.) a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

I'm not really that into the PWP aspects of fandom, but pre-sauna scene lines heavily imply that Taka is the top here. You'd think that'd be the fandom default, but nah.

Also, bottom not equal submissive, but most bottom Kokichi fics are WILDLY OOC. If he bottoms, he's bratty and a pillow princess not "uwu soft boy".

3.) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

There are so many, how can I possibly pick one.

DRV3 spoilers ahead, since idk if you've played that.

hmm. Danganronpa isn't pro incest since Kiyo's backstory is made up by Tsumugi. Okay then, explain Dr3 Mukuro. Explain Leon's FTEs. Explain the multiple pretty heavily implied ships where they call each other siblings. (Looking at you, Soapies and Ishimondo.) Explain why Kodaka CHOOSE to have Tsumugi pick that specifically for his backstory.

4.) what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I cannot stand a lot of the people that headcanon Chihiro as trans (I do too, I just dislike the other fans) and act like its fucking canon, when it explicitly isn't. Is it a highly trans-coded narrative? Yes. Is it squicky to some people for that reason, yes. Are people being transphobic for enjoying what actually happened in canon? No you dumbass.

5.) worst discord server and why

OKAY, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THIS IS STILL A SERVER SINCE IT WAS IN 2021, BUT I ONCE ENTERED A SERVER WHERE CHARACTER DEATH WAS ON THE BLACKLIST. I WISH I TOOK SCREENSHOTS. IN THE CHARACTER DEATH FANDOM.

(A shitton of Danganronpa servers have problems with blacklists, actually.)

Then there was this other time, where I campaigned hard to have a part of the server where people can talk about blacklisted material, since over time that becomes 99% of ships and characters.

And then the server decided that kinnies and people with DAs have the right to not have shit mentioned even in that section of the server. Goodbye!

I'm otherkin too. If you can't stand people talking about you, stay the fuck away from the fandom. Y'all are entitled little pissbabies, and if you tell me what I can and can't write (asking for better tagging is understandable) I will write it to spite you.

6.) which ship fans are the most annoying?

Komahina, 100% Tenmiko is a close second. Yes, its semi-canon. People are still allowed to enjoy other ships w/o being homophobic.

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

🌈 ❤️ your oldest still active oc!

Ahh, thank you!

A lot of my OCs are, like, in a weird state of "you still exist in my head, but I know I probably won't do much with you," so my oldest one(s) that still lives in my head in a way I know they'll see use is probably the ones that wound up accidentally spawning my ASOIAF AU that I use for both a ttrpg setting & a fic that I keep rewriting the plot for every few years 😅 so I guess I'll just do all 4 of the main members of House Araval

🌈 -- What Advice would they give their younger self?

Lord Stanler: Spend more time with your oldest son instead of getting frustrated about him having so little in common with you, it will give everyone fewer complexes if you don't write him off as dumb.

Danielle: You need to stop taking it out on other people if you're upset. You will say things you don't mean just to hurt the other person, and you can't take any of that back. You won't get what you wanted, you'll ruin all your relationships, actually.

Ser Dorian: Your dad actually is as smart as he thinks he is, so you should listen to him.

Bryant: I know you're too sickly to play with the other boys your age, but you've got to stop feeling down about yourself. You're wonderful in spite of this and you're worth more than your garbage health. Your family loves you, & its not just because they have to.

Calypso: Hey, maybe don't punish your bastard brother for existing, it literally isn't his fault. You can only blame your dad, only blaming him is an option. Also, your husband is gonna suck so hard, so prepare for that instead of trying to fall in love with him. That'll set you up for failure in the early stages, just start jaded.

❤️ -- Their love language(s)?

Lord Stanler: Quality time. He loves simply existing in the same room as someone he likes, bonus points if they are doing the same lame, nerd ass, Medieval equivalent to stamp collecting hobby. Not together, but, like, in tandem.

Danielle: Giving gifts & quality time. She shows her affection by presenting you with so, so many expensive things. Fancy jewelry you looked at for .5 secons longer than would be considered a quick glance? That's yours now, she bought it for you. Your favorite wine imported across vast distances? It's already on the way, no need to thank her. If you want to, though, just do the same dork ass loser shit she & her dad like with her.

Ser Dorian: Physical touch & words of affirmation. The members of his Bro Posse™ are just constantly getting slapped on the back & clapped on the shoulder & shit. He's a little more gentle with the physical contact he gives his family, but not by much lol. All he asks in return for his constant physical affection is to maybe tell him something nice about himself. Please reassure him, his need for confirmation someone still liks him is out here picking a fight with him, & this existential worry has hands.

Bryant: Quality time, but in a less loser way than his dad. Bryant wants to have a nice conversation & maybe also do a thing together & not just, like, coexist while acknowledging each other's presence as if he were the human version of a cat.

Calypso: Acts of service & quality time. What she does for you may not be "ethical," but she did it for you, because she loves you. She was being literal when she said she would kill for you, so, y'know...watch what you say, I guess. You don't have to do anything for her in exchange, just spend time with her she is so lonely.

[enigmaincrimson]

Sitting here... thinking about a few Freedom Planet verse things. (Long Ramble alert)

For starters, in spite of the physical resemblance, "Modern" Light Dragons are not the same as their ancient counterparts. Of course, most people presume that it was a decline, but the truth is that the creation of the modern Light Dragon was the result of the largest cover-up in galactic history.

In other words, the Pallandian Imperial council quite literally wiped out their own race (and everything else in the empire) for shits and giggles and then tried to cover up by kidnapping people in order to modify and brainwash them to hide what actually happened and embed themselves further as essential for their daily lives.

Of course, in spite of clear evidence to contrary, modern Pallandians refuse to admit that their entire history is a lie and that their "gods" didn't actually need to set people on fire every morning to make the sun rise among everything else.

They were also extra upset when evidence of what actually happened and is happening in Pallandia was leaked to the galactic public with no way to stop it from spreading.

_

Evelyn looks strikingly like the ancient empress... other than features like her horns and tail being black instead of white.

It's a generally accepted trait that the royal family carries some similarity to the lost empress.

The current imperial princess does resemble Evelyn to the point that if she dyed her tail and covered her horns in varnish, you'd think they were sisters... or even twins... which has caused some confusion.

However, the imperial princess cannot open the imperial vaults, but Evelyn can... and that act requires a connection to the true imperial bloodline. Understandably, this little fact tends to be pushed aside whenever it is brought up.

Also, they don't exactly know that it was Evelyn accessing the vaults as they can't get inside, and she keeps escaping whenever they tried to catch her in the act.

If they were able to get their hands on Evelyn, they'd likely want to stick her on the throne, regardless of how she feels about the matter.

_

So... consider things this way...

Lord Brevon would likely pick up that Evelyn could be connected to the Pallandian royal family and seemingly trying to hide her identity by her appearance alone and would quickly tip him off that something is weird if he ever tried to well... wash her and the paint and dye isn't coming off.

Not that she'd ever let him get close enough to give her a bath. Especially considering what plans he might have for someone of the imperial bloodline. Especially going for a "throwback" like she seems to be.

So, him constantly addressing her as "Your highness" and "Princess" among other things just to get on her nerves and everyone's attention wouldn't be too surprising.

_

I doubt Torque has been to Pallandian territory at all, but he's likely heard something about the royal family and make the connection once the warlord starts making a point in addressing Evelyn's "secret".

I mean, sure... Pallandia is definitely demanding the "lost princess" be returned to some degree, but it would be pretty obvious that she'd rather stay where she is.

For the galaxy at large, it's better she doesn't go back to Pallandia.

_

For the shorter notation...

The True Light Dragon race was wiped out from what amounts to mass genocide for "fun" and the "Modern" light dragon race was produced to cover up their disappearance.

The members of the Pallandian Royal family looks quite a bit like the Ancient Empress, who vanished shortly before the event.

Evelyn also looks strikingly like the Ancient Empress if it weren't for features like her horns and tail being a more... void-like black tone instead of a pure white.

Of course, that also means that Evelyn resembles the current imperial princess.

Anyone familiar with the Pallandian Royal family would recognize that Evelyn is the imperial princess, but fail to realize that there's more going on here.

So... any encounter with Lord Brevon, the Magister, and maybe Torque could get pretty awkward.

I'm still debating how things would go from there.

[nathank77]

5/18/24

9:25 p.m Edited/Added to

I just got home from the hospital. It was nice seeing her. I spent a couple hours there maybe 3. She was mostly sober cause yea she was on oxy. So we had a regular normal conversation which was really nice. She seemed sober. It was really nice. I could see my mother behind her eyes. Something I don't see ever.

She's thinking about trying to apply for fmla so she can go to rehab. Her idea not mine idk what fmla is lol but paid leave. That's all I know. I made sure to bring it up to her nurse and gave her skyes contact cause of the hours. Bc the case manger could potentially get it approved. She came in the er so drunk. They know the right things to say and now is the time to act..

So hopefully she does that. I won't give my hopes up. Cause I get it she needs to get paid and she also will return to her normal habit if she stays at home. It's sad cause she always thinks about quiting drinking when she's spent a few days away from it at the hospital... like she knows she feels better once she stops withdrawing and is more clear headed but she can't quit at home.. which i mean I do get. There is a reason rehabs exist.

I feel better having seen her. I'll go tomorrow after therapy if she doesn't come home. We could have a really good relationship if she stopped drinking that's the saddest part. I love her so much. I hope they can get it approved and I hope she actually goes. I'll visit her all the time.

But I'll expect her to come home and drink herself to death cause yea. She brought up a time when she was sober cause she was out of work... I low key remember but I think she was still drinking just less so I didn't spend time with her. I was with Katie and thats something I resent about Katie is she made me resent my mother more and stay away from her. It's important to me that my partner takes my mother as she is. I get that if she had kids, she couldn't be around the kids. I get things would be a little different but I expect her to take her as she is. And to talk to her and make eye contact with her. Katie wouldn't even make eye contact with her.

Anyways I'm still stressed about sleep... I'm worried I'll struggle.. but hopefully it was just anxiety about not seeing my mom and all those feelings that came up last night about how she could have died. And the fact that I didn't go to see her...

Idk what to do about Mark. Here are my thoughts:

1) I will respect myself more if I don't go cause he didn't accept me for who I was as a person. And I always put everyone else first and disregard my feelings. This isn't to spite Mark. This is me saying. He didn't mean anything to me and I don't need to see a dead body and people crying and I dont need to say good bye I don't want to talk about the, "good times." My dad looked at mark like he was shit. They didn't talk. Of course it's his brother but I mean why do I have to go for you? When he didn't respect my identity? My entire being? Who I am as a person?

I'm not trying to spite anyone. I feel bad he died. I feel bad for him-how he died. And for his family for my father. For everyone who loved him..but I respect myself too much to pretend he meant anything to me beyond I care that another human being suffered...

But then I will put a wall between me and my father.. bc he doesn't want to understand that for one mental pictures are a thing. Negativity is a thing. I need to be in healthy situations. And only deal with something like death if someone I truly care about is dying...

Beyond that it's my identity. Not the fact that I don't work or idk that I'm fiscally liberal or something.

2) I will likely respect myself equally if I go bc- it's the right thing to do for my father. But only for him. It's not the right thing to do for me.

I always put everyone else first. All the time constantly... and for once I don't want to but I don't want to build a wall between me and my father.

So idk what to do cause it's only the right thing for my father not for me.

That's the thing about the right thing.. the right thing isn't always obvious...

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are same."- The Fray All At Once.

The hardest thing and the right thing are the same in this case, putting myself first but it will effect me and my father's relationship.

So idk. All I know is the right thing for me is to not go. The right thing for my father is to go.

I reference that song for a reason bc of that quote. The fray is one of my favorite bands of all time and that qoute struck me when I was a teenager. And it applies to this.

The song below is really important to me:

"Looking for something I've never seen

Alone and I'm in between

The place that I'm from and the place that I'm in

A city I never been

I found a friend or should I say a foe

Said there's a few things you should know

We don't want you to see we come and we go

Here today, gone tomorrow

We're only taking turns

Holding this world

It's how it's always been

When you're older you will understand

If I say who I know it just goes to show

You need me less than I need you

Take it from me we don't give sympathy

You can trust me trust nobody

But I said you and me we don't have honesty

The things we don't want to speak

I'll try to get out but I never will

Traffic is perfectly still

We're only taking turns

Holding this world

It's how it's always been

When you're older you will understand

And then again maybe you don't

And then again maybe you won't

We're only taking turns

We're only taking turns

Holding this world

It's how it's always been

When you're older you will understand"