#just some musing

[zeta-in-de-walls]

Intriguingly enough, this does indicate the memory plan was always the plan for DSMP 2. This lines up with Dream’s first message in around July of last year I think? Where he explained there would be a big sudden shift in the server. The amnesia plan had been planned for a while. I think it was inherently a terrible choice for the record and the fact that it was planned for so long and still executed so badly is disappointing. 

Not surprising though. The dsmp was good at improv bad at plans. I can’t think of many things that were planned in advance that seemed to work. Earlier plans were way more fluid and changed as the server changed. Sticking to a plan that doesn’t fit just leads to stupid plot beats forcing something that doesn’t work to work. 

[overlordrae]

Trying to think on why a lot of modern anime leave me dissatisfied. I saw someone say all of them are sloppy power fantasies and sure that could be part of it but we've always had power fantasies, so what changed?

Then I realized something.

The fluffy farm life anime and power fantasy anime feel the same to me these days. Why?

Ah, right. Stakes. More specifically, the lack of them.

Many power fantasies before had things like ideals for the characters to hold onto that would get challenged again and again but a lot of them these days are "your life sucked so here's some powers to do what you want with" and often are pretty weak in actual themes.

I don't even mind the idea of low stakes, but I really wish these characters would have a bit more in the way of challenges, even if they are internal.

[seekerwithsneakers]

i love 5pm when the sun sets after 7

5 pm is for the people resting

taking a tea break

or waking up from their naps

it is sunny, but not harsh just enough sun to warm u up on the walk from lab to the dining hall to get a beverage

the campus is mostly empty and so pretty

i love 5 pm

reminds me of the period before the start of the hustle and bustle , when you are holding your breath or having the last bite of food before the show begins

[jonismitchell]

sometimes i wish i could read elena greco’s writing and then i think of lines like “it offended me because i did not have a sense of self disparate from her” and i’m like. girl. you are lenù

[somecallmekay]

Most people probably have normal daydreams, mine consist of suddenly developing basically godlike powers, putting on a black hoodie and a black mask over my face, then flying to the ISS and just stare through the windows until I see someone's sense of the world melt. Then the astronaut radios it in and suddenly everyone is confused and amazed. Eventually one of them gets in a space suit for a space walk and I, without saying anything, take them on a dance around the orbit, then returning them, flabbergasted back to the ISS. And when they finally gather enough clarity to ask me where I'm from, I just gesture to the Earth, and fly downwards, letting the satellite trackers lose me as I return to my daily life, occasionally reappearing and leaving wholesome notes on the outside of the main entry way, but never hinting as to who/what I am and what my goals are

[emeryleewho]

There's a huge difference between redemption and humanization. I feel like a lot of "redemption arcs" aren't actually redemption at all, they're just attempts to humanize the villain so that they seem multi-faceted, but people read them as "redemption arcs" and think that that is meant to justify all the evil they've done before and negate whatever made them a villain in the first place. I think true "redemption arcs" are actually kind of rare because true redemption would take making the villain acknowledge their crimes, reevaluate their actions, actively choose to do better, and then proceed to make amends and become a better person, and that would this take more time than most stories are allowed to give their characters.

I've also seen people argue that a character has to be poised for redemption from the jump for it to work because once a character does something "too bad", they can't be redeemed. I completely disagree because redemption isn't justification or forgiveness, so no matter how horrible a character's actions, they could choose to become better, but because a lot of people (including writers) think redemption means "erasing the character's flaws and making it so they did nothing wrong ever", a lot of attempted "redemption arcs" just end up erasing a character's entire history or justifying every evil thing they've ever done. And yeah, in these cases, the only way to make a character go from a villain to a perfect cinnamon roll with no flaws *is* to have been planning it from the beginning and make sure they never do anything that can't be explained away later.

TLDR: real redemption arcs require a lot of self-awareness, patience, and growth, which are things that are rarely actually allocated to villains, and that's why real redemption arcs almost never get executed. The reason people think redemption arcs are overdone is because there are so many attempts to either humanize a villain that get misconstrued as redemption or attempts to blatantly erase who a character was in the name of "redemption", which is really just poor character development.

[madamemiz]

sad: falling out of a hyperfixation

tragic: watching your beloved friends and mutuals fall out of the hyperfixation while you're still in it

[tofixtheshadows]

This is one of my favorite minor details in Dungeon Meshi, firstly because what in the femme fatale, but also because it's one of those little things that raises so many questions about worldbuilding.

The Occam's Razor defense attorney in me says that Ryoko Kui gave Kabru a boot knife because she wanted him to escape from his bonds here. And Kabru is a very competent swordsman, why wouldn't he have a boot knife, sure. He's already got a dagger, he can have this too.

And yet: the implications. Kabru, why do you have that? That is not remotely something that could be easily accessed or used in combat. Nobody is pulling out a pen knife from the heel of their boot during a fight with a monster. It's useless in the dungeon ... unless you're the type of person who isn't just worried about monsters.

I've mentioned this before, but I consider one of Kabru's functions in the narrative as being the character who fully brings the idea of human ecosystems into the story. There's a reason why he's always connected to large groups of people (Toshiro's party, the Canaries). He (along with Mr. Tansu, briefly) introduces the reader to the social and political forces working on the dungeon, showing us that none of this is happening in a monster-filled vacuum. His confrontation with the corpse retrievers, who very nearly kill Kabru's party permanently with their reckless murder-for-money scheme, reminds us that monsters are not the only things that prey on humans. Kabru understands the ways the dungeon causes people to put profit over human lives.

We only get hints of it in the story, but like any gold-rush-style economic boom, it's implied that there is a lot of crime and corruption surrounding the dungeon.

So yeah, it really makes me wonder why Kabru keeps a tiny knife in his boot, meant to be carried on him even in situations where he would otherwise be unarmed. Stored exactly in the place where it's easy to reach, even if, for some reason, your hands are tied behind your back.

[ephemxras]

should do fic updates and such in my oc/writing blog

[canisalbus]

Ok ok hear me out: it could end in tragedy,, AND have a happy ending. The attempt(s) on Machete’s life force him to flee, he doesn’t even have the chance to find Vasco. Cue gay longing for at least a few years while Machete despairs over the loss of his love, his life, his status. He and Vasco only reunite (again) in their later years. Their relationship is forever flavored with loss and loneliness, but that only means they savor every moment that much more

I also I would like to see them as old men. Vasco would be so droopy :)

You gave me such old dog brainworms.

[lemm-moxx]

Yes killer i believe you do.

[nothatsmi]

Lovely isn't he.

I finished the third book. It's been a few days already but with work and stuff... Anyway now I'm digging through the additional content Nora posted on Tumblr, took me a while to understand how it works but now I am pleased.

I cannot express the emotionnal damage these books have done to me, but I'm not finished drawing any of the foxes. Just saying.

[vale-n-tina-and-the-internet]

Angel is tactile. His many hands like to poke, hug, grab, pat. His long limbs entangle themselves in other people's personal space like pale branches. It used to drive him mad, it really did, when it came with jagged edges of aggressive, unwanted sexuality - made to attack, provoke, discomfort.

It's different now that they are friends.

Husk had thought that the constant touching would go away along with the relentless come-ons, but if anything it seemed to increase by the day: it was now rare not to have a long-fingered hand on his shoulder, a bony knee encroaching on his stool, or as of late the whole seven-feet fluffiness slumped gainst his side while bitching about another shit day at the studio. Husk would have put an end to it pretty quickly, nerves unused to familiarity and distrustful of it, If he hadn't seen Angel do the very same with Cherri. He thinks he understands at least the vague shape of Angel's want for touch that is free of… ties, obligations. Consequences. And Husk finds that he cannot deny him this, his own mild discomfort fading in the face of the reward. Especially when Angel is tipsy, happy, laughing in that loud and unfiltered way that shouldn't be as endearing as it is, talking about a million things at once. Never mind that the dancing fingers on his fur leave him with a strange buzzing under his skin. It's just him being a grumpy-ass old man that hasn't known any contact for decades, Husk can deal with that no problem. This kid deserves it, and Husk will gladly give it.

[catherine-sketches]

So in my “will-i-won’t-i” with Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss (where I procrastinate and don’t watch the shows and only absorb the content through TikTok, Tumblr and sometimes Twitter) I came across Staticmoth/ VoxVal.

I saw the scene with Angel and Valentino. His abuse and disgusting behavior. I have an idea on how this moth asshole behaves.

And I have seen some people think that their relationship would be toxic, that Vox and Val, if the predictions are correct and become (or are revealed to be) a couple, would beat the shit (physically, mentally and emotionally) out of each other on the regular, but I think the idea that him and Vox having a healthy relationship could be such a punch to the gut plot wise.

Because that would mean Valentino IS capable of understanding consent. He KNOWS what working with someone else means without disrespect. He FULLY knows what sex is supposed to be like.

But that’s is between equals. Vox? His equal. Fellow overlord.

Angel? His property. Why would he give a shit about his thing?

[kayomin]

mohn jarston

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Does

Does Barnaby

Does Barnaby tell the others to get off his lawn when he's angry

psh, who do you think he is, an old man? he'd Bark, like any lively young dog