#like overall the Crows have a lot of questionable shit going on

[vixenofcadmea]

NGL giving major side-eye to people who trash Caterina but give Illario a pass. I said what I said.

[falmerbrook]

Clockwork City DLC Thoughts

TLDR: I liked it very much! One of my favorites! The aesthetics were amazing! Lived up to the hype. However, while I overall really liked it, I have some minor worldbuilding gripes and I think it also highlighted some issues I have with ESO's worldbuilding in general.

So first of all, I LOVED the aesthetics and designs of this zone! The music was great and moody and eerie at the right times, and all of the clockwork noises were perfect. I especially loved how whenever you were outside you could hear the groaning and rumbling of the whole city structure softly wherever you went. There are also a lot of little details in the environmental designs that really sell the setting, such as the the interiors of certain laboratories having unique interiors, the way they organize and keep books, the elevators, the factotums, etc. The interiors feel adequately chaotic with all the machinery with large gears and machines in the periphery, and the exteriors feel grand and impressive. I also love the colors and general sunrise/sunset feel of the Radius. The nights are particularly gorgeous with the lights of the structures and stars in the distance.

I also really dig the dystopian utopia vibes where the Clockwork City is built to be a perfect recreation of Nirn, but it also kinda hellish for (some of) the people living there. I actually wish they leaned into that contrast even more. I like that Sotha Sil also get's to have fucked up things going on under his leadership like Almalexia and Vivec.

I enjoyed some of the important characters too, particularly Luciana and Varuni. They (and Divayth) all provide such interesting contrast in the ways people view Sotha Sil and worshipping him, and even beyond them I like the wide range of perspectives we see with the NPCs. Many have a sort of religiosity alongside a traditionally secular mindset and I enjoy seeing those usually conflicting traits paired together.

Other miscellaneous things I liked:

The crows. They were very fun

The Precursor. They were cute and it made me sad when the Apostles were mean to them :(

I liked the factotums. The voice acting on them was great and I liked the way they talked and the phrases they'd say when processing information. It was intriguing then learning that they are like that because (allegedly) Sotha Sil probably used part of his sister's soul (or at least her voice) to make them. THAT'S NUTS!! I love it. That's the kinda fucked up shit I was hoping for from him. (although I do wonder how the hell he did that. like, she'd been dead for at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years by the time he did that)

I liked pretty much all of the side quests. They all provided such interesting worldbuilding

I really liked Sotha Sil's voice and voice acting. It fit him well

Now to the parts I was more critical of (I'm writing a lot, but know that it doesn't mean I had a lot of issues, just that I have a lot to say on them!)

I liked the idea behind Slag Town/the Tarnished, that there is an underclass and a slum of folks who can't advance in the hierarchy of the city (or aren't interested in doing so) that demonstrates the way Sotha Sil and the Apostles neglect the people of the Clockwork City in service of their studies, but I don't think it's executed well because that idea feels too underdeveloped. It feels like a slum we'd see on Tamriel rather than something that would be unique to the culture of the Clockwork City (this is foreshadowing for my biggest issue). It and the prophecy quest focused on it just feel aesthetically and narratively not to fit to me. Like, how did a slum like this come to be? How did the folks there get into that position? Why isn't Sotha Sil or the Apostles doing anything to help them (or get rid of it in a more nefarious way)? Are they people who were born there but couldn't measure up to or didn't want to be apostles, or are they people who just wandered into the city? These questions aren't me criticizing the concept, but rather they are questions I wish were answered or explored. Additionally, the structure of their society has too many normal things like normal cloth clothes and woodworkers and travelling merchants and a stablemaster and other jobs that to me feel like they shouldn't actually be in this setting. I feel like their society would just function differently (and a part of this is that we are stuck in an MMO world and the devs "have to" include those).

This brings me to one of my biggest points about ESO's worldbuilding: it keeps introducing interesting ideas in side quests but not really exploring the conclusions of consequences of them as fully as I'd like. I'm always left with a ton of questions, and not necessarily fun ones, but rather "wait, how does this work? Wouldn’t this change how their society works?" For example in this DLC, how does the food work? I am told everyone eats this nutritional paste for food, but also there is a side quest where you learn about a guy growing actual food and how he distributes it to the people of the Clockwork City once a year. What happens to that food? Is it what's used in the paste? Is it not and the people just want it as a supplemental thing so they aren't stuck with paste? The idea of that side quest is very interesting but I just wished the pushed it a bit farther! These interesting implications of the setting(s) are often introduced but also completely contained with in one side quest. And I feel that way about a lot of little things throughout this game.

Another example is a feel like they are a little wishy washy with how folks get into and if they can get out of the Clockwork City. So people just randomly stumble into it? Is that common or are we, Neramo, and the Vanos siblings an exception? We need a sponsor to become an Apostle or else we are stuck in basically poverty and can never escape but if that is the case why not make it so folks have to have a sponsor to even come to the city in the first place? Why would they waste their resources on people who don't even want to be there? Once again, an interesting concept, but I feel like it didn't get fleshed out enough for me and doesn't make a ton of sense. Can the Apostles leave? If so, in my opinion, that's a little lame. Takes the consequences and stakes out of being in the city in the first place, and if that's the case it feels like it's only there as an excuse for why we, the player, can leave. If they can't, then why can we and the Vanos siblings leave? I know they need to come up with an excuse for why we as the player can leave, but aren't the wayshrines enough? or maybe the fact that we came in with Divayth? Maybe he gave us a secret thing to get in and out like Barilzar's Band? I don't know why this bugged me so much but it did.

Ok on to some more minor nit-picks

Almalexia, oh Almalexia. Why are you thrown to the side so much? I could chalk it up to her just being written shallowly in the base game before the writing got better, and that she has the bias of being the most hate-able Tribune in Morrowind (the game), but while Nerevar, Vivec, and Nall get their own little plaques in the Elegiac Replication, Almalexia doesn't (she appears in the hologram alongside Sil for the battle at Mournhold, but doesn't get her own space) and that bugged me a little. It also highlighted a writing quality gap between how Sil is written in this DLC and how Vivec and Almalexia have been written in ESO (not a criticism of this DLC though, just an observation). Sil is just so obviously written better, which to most of the fanbase makes him a more compelling character when I think it really comes down to the writing quality. This DLC just made me wish the other two had this much love and care put into their dialogue too. He makes them sound half assed by comparison lol

I'm confused by the motivations of the Daedric Princes in this arc. I'm holding off on actually criticizing this because I know there's a whole 'nother chapter to develop this but right now there's 0 explanation as to why they are here. On that note, if the Princes involved are Nocturnal, Clavicus Vile, and Mephala (I've been spoiled on that one), and the folks they're targeting include Sotha Sil and Vivec, wouldn't have been more narratively interesting for Mephala to target Vivec? Once again not an actually criticism, just spit-balling. I don’t know what’s gonna happen in Summerset. They could've also leaned into the whole Mysteries and shadows thing with Sotha Sil and Nocturnal.

Finally, I've mentioned this before, but I think the Fabricants should be weirder.

Anyway, most of this is probably a matter of personal preference rather than actual criticism, but oh well I like getting my thoughts out of my head!

Looking forward to Summerset. It’s commonly called the best Chapter.

[rennybu]

Hiii Andy! I've adore your art for years and your characters. Their designs are so lovely!! And expressive!! I was wondering if you had any tips for a cohesive character design? Or even advice on adding little asymmetrical details or features? And help is greatly appreciated! Thanks! Wishing you all the best!

HELLOO!!! AAAH Thank you so much for such a thoughtful question, this makes me so happy to hear! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get back to you, it turns out I have way too many things to say about this topic AKLSDHFKLSDG

(pls take this readmore<3)

For the starting point in a design, I try to stick to whatever rules apply for the setting the character is in, and their role in that setting.

Basic colour theory is always at the back of my mind, as well. I tend to use analogous and complementary colours when I design my characters and their closets. Analogous colours keep a palette contained and feeling similar to itself without being monotone. And then using colours that are complementary to that elsewhere in the design adds contrast while still maintaining that feeling of cohesion :D

The intended use of the character also heavily affects what can make a design cohesive or not - it's very dependent on art style and medium. (A design for use in animation would be extremely different from semi-realistic TTRPG concept art. The rest of what I've written skews more towards the second option!)

I consider the colours, shapes and materials that make sense for what I want to convey about the world, and how the character would want to be presented in it. The Dogwood characters are my current exercise; Mel's clothes fit him perfectly since he works a labor intensive job on the farm, and his identity is wrapped up in it so he never strays far from heavy cotton, straight cut. Ryan and Park both wear ill-fitting clothes in completely different ways (Ryan, butchly. Park, autistic and transly) - and they each have work uniforms. Ryan's work uniform suits her gnc appearance (welding coveralls/safety gear), while Park's uniform completely transforms him into "Just Some Guy" and that changes how others read him, too (cashier). And they all shop at Local Thrift Store / Farmer's Surplus / The Walmart 1hr Outside of Town. Their styles give them each a distinct silhouette, and their levels of social comfort as well as public expression contribute to body language, colour choices, and shapes that make them stand apart from each other despite living in the same small bubble. COHESION!

Asymmetrical details and features are my FAAAAV THEY ARE SO FUN, I find inspiration for these in people-watching, nature documentaries, architecture, my reflection, my friends.. <333 This part is also fun to tie in to the character's setting! Springboard questions like. Are they prone to injuries? Magical injuries? Do they have like, modern dental procedures available? Do they give a shit about crooked or crowded teeth? Are they missing a tooth, or did they chip one? Do they smile a lot and have crow's feet/other wrinkles? Do they get a lot of sun, and do they have/use sunscreen? (Even finer wrinkles.) Did they have acne as a teen? Do they still? Are they in a combat-heavy setting, with the scars to show it? Even more uniform features like freckles aren't symmetrical.

Clothing is really good to use to play with asymmetry - maybe the character rolls their cuffs but one is coming undone a little. Jewelry of all types is also great for asymmetry since it can go anywhere on the body!! Facial and other physical deformities or injuries are also incredible to see, and should be researched to find out if they impact other parts of a person's overall health and mobility outright. The different skin texture of a birthmark, for example! I noticed in certain photographs, the subject's red birthmark changed the texture of the skin, so I started drawing Orson with one drooping eyelid on the side affected by his birthmark. The more you look, the more you find!

Before I get too carried away. I try to use asymmetrical details and features as a way to boost that "world setting" cohesion, and to bring attention to parts of the character I am personally endeared by or want other people to notice. Mahon's snaggletooth is an eternal fav, which made me draw him smiling more, which made me more prone to drawing lines around his eyes. And since the anchor is in his left hand, and he tries to hide it subconsciously, I put thumb-holes in his left sleeves, which he plucks through as a nervous fidget, and as a result, his clothes pull a little across his entire body :D ITS VERY FUN to find the right jumping-off point that lets specific details click into place. For Mahon especially, since so many of those details are derived from the setting and his role in it!

Asymmetry and symmetry are just tools at ur disposal. Asymmetry tends to be more comfortable and natural. Symmetry gives a sense of stability and can be pushed for a sense of power, a sense of being uncanny, rigid, etc. Asymmetry can also be pushed into uncaniness depending on what it's applied to!! (But as a matter of personal taste, I find asymmetrical details to feel more natural and inviting than perfectly symmetrical ones. Which. Again. Depending on the character's purpose, could equally contribute to a cohesive design!!!)

OMG ok my final thought. Asymmetry can also be used as a balancing tool which yet again lends to a sense of cohesion. Adding a detail on the left while leaving it out on the right, repeated throughout with different details where applicable. Loam's colour spots, archery gear, scars and jewelry are all areas I've played with this idea.

[tomoeskiss]

Hey there, it’s me again! Now my questions are:

1. Aside from “The Crow”, which Brandon Lee movie is your favorite and which one is your least favorite?

2. How did you get into “The Crow”?

3. Favorite movie in general?

4. Favorite actors in general?

HIII!!!! I LOVE YOU AND YOUR QUESTIONS YOU’RE THE SWEETEST!!!!

YOO this is a good question im gonna rank and review all the brandon lee movies now just cause i can..

1: the crow.. for obvious reasons my whole blog is dedicated to it

2: rapid fire!!!! so this is my favorite brandon lee movie apart from the crow. brandon didn’t get the chance to do a whole lot of movies but this one was actually really good!!! the action was soooo amazing (he choreographed it of course it's amazing) and the story was compelling.. its just a great movie overall i feel like it’s one of those movies you’d watch with your dad randomly just a feel-good action movie thats nice to watch. brandon was sooo charismatic and my favorite fun fact about this movie is that in the love scene, the actress he was doing it with didn’t wanna show her butt cause she had only agreed to show her top half nude. so you know what brandon did? he suggested that they should just show his ass instead! so the ass that’s shown in that scene isn’t hers it’s actually his and i find that so silly and so nice of him to do… don’t ask me the amount of times i’ve replayed that scene.. then there’s also the fact that while filming the scene his toe was broken and he was in a lot of pain and she kept accidentally stepping on it LMAOO poor guy..

3: showdown in little tokyo, now this movie was certainly.. interesting!!!! the amount of naked women in the first half had me flabbergasted but it was a pretty entertaining movie.. brandons character was really silly but it was fun to see him fight and a lot of questionable things were going on in this movie but pretty good what can i say! brandon’s the comedic relief in this one and he plays this wasian guy that’s out of touch with his japanese side and he’s the police partner of this white guy thats SUPER in touch with japanese culture cause he grew up there and yea its a goofy comedy action movie

4: legacy of rage, this one was actually pretty good, i loved hearing and seeing brandon speak cantonese. the only version of the movie that was easy to find was the english dub but that sounded so goofy so i spent HOURS searching for one where it was only subtitled and not dubbed and by the time i finally found it i was so mad… then as i was watching it kept BUFFERING a million times and it took me i kid you not 3 hours to get to the 40 minute mark of the movie ohhhh my blood was boiling.. but then i found another wesbite and everything went smoothly from there on. anyways my review of the movie was that it was pretty good, but the action didn’t really start until the end, so it was kinda slow.. also there were so many funny scenes.. brandon (who’s character is also named brandon for… whatever reason??) ends up being framed for a murder cause his best friend wants to bang his gf… then while in prison all of a sudden a bunch of white guys (ONLY white guys even though they’re in hong kong) start attacking him verbally and a bald bulky one screams ‘’EITHER YOU KISS MY ASS OR CALL ME PAPA!!!!!!!!’’ HUH????? I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD WATCHING IT HELP then brandon flips him off with his middle finger and all of the white guys JUMP HIM and then he gets put in solitary confinement.. then the white guys attack him again and a bald guy with an oddly square shaped head attacks him but he does cool martial arts moves and wins the fight.. he attempts to escape prison but fails and lalalalala. meanwhile his best friend who wanted to bang his gf tries to attack his gf but shes like no and this random old man thats in love with her take her to brazil?? and shes pregnant with brandons child btw. and yea a lot of shit happens… the movie was certainly an experience!!!

5: laser mission, this movie……………….. i don’t have any words.. i have no idea what was going on in it like genuinely. i love brandon SO MUCH but i couldn’t sit through this movie without skipping every 5 seconds.. i think there’s a reason brandon never liked to talk about it and apparently even forgot he was in it at one point cause what even was that.. although brandon’s charisma shone through and was the movie’s only saving grace, the bad script really ruined everything. but of course i rated it 5 stars everywhere just for brandon!!!3<3<3<3<3<3<3

6: kung fu: the movie, i havent watched it cause im scared of bald brandon lee. maybe i will one day who knows!!!!

-

2. i actually got into the crow not that long ago… i’d say a little less than a month ago??? even though i haven’t known this movie for a long time my love for it is immense and i’ve rewatched it more times than i can count. how i found out about it was that i was just scrolling on pinterest a long time ago… as one does… and i come across this photo

and i’m like wwoooooaaaaaa… okay… wow… who’s this??? i do a little research and find out he’s from the crow, so i put that on my watchlist and the movie just sits there and rots along with a million other movies i’ve planned to watch but never gotten around to actually watching. then randomly one night i get this sudden urge to watch something and pick the crow out… and the rest is history!!!

3. this is a hard question… i have a ton of favorite movies from all different type of genres but one of them is.. despicable me. I KNOW IT’S SILLY but what can i say how can you NOT like minions? the storyline is also heartwarming and i love watching it with my little sister… another favorite is ‘’train to busan’’ it’s this korean zombie movie and it’s SO SCARY and SO GOOD and SO SAD it’s just amazing in every aspect… you really care for the characters and it makes me cry everytime i watch it.. another favorite of mine is ‘’grave of the fireflies’’. if you’re ever in a mood to cry your entire heart out and be depressed for at least a week this movie is for you. this is a studio ghibli film about japan in world war 2 and before i watched it i heard a ton about how sad it is but i never expected the SHEER AGONY i would be put through as i watched it. this movie is so so good but not for the faint of heart i assure you..

4. this is a hard one… SORRY I DON’T KNOWWW there’s so many i do love anya taylor joy she’s so uniquely beautiful… olivia cooke is amazing and yea there’s probably a million other actors i like but right now my brain is just: brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee brandon lee

ME:

(i made this pic for the sole purpose of this post btw)

THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME THESE STUFFF!!! i kinda went overboard LMAOOO but i was boreddd..

[se7ens-oc-heaven]

Jakob! (hopefully that's the correct spelling hdjdhdh)

Ok so did this and a bunch of others literally years ago, but for each one I had a question I'd stall on so then I just. Never actually posted. Any of these.

So I'm fixing that now! Context is this was a character ask prompt - might be the template was thanks to @iolitewyvern ? If so lmk so I can link it properly I lost the original post lmao

As for spelling, it can be! Jake's name spelling denotes if he's in the fantasy au setting or not. Jakob is fantasy, Jacob is not. So I answered these based on fantasy Jake!

(Best image I have, but it's normal Jake and also humanized lmfao. He's like. Sonic furry wolf so ykno. Picrew source)

Who are they?

Full name?  Jakob Alhers

Nicknames? Jake

Gender/pronouns? Male, he/him

Orientation? Demiromantic/arospec, gay

Age/Birthday? About 16, birthday is on a separate calendar than ours but is most likely in the local winter months of his home country.

Fun fact! Zodiac? ^^^^ (would most likely be Capricorn)

What’s their personality?

Major good traits? Cares deeply about others around him, dry sense of humor

Major flaws? Very prideful while also having zero value of self

Goals?  Living up to what is expected of him, as royalty and a deity

Fears? Hurting another with his own actions, losing someone important to him

Optimistic or pessimistic? Pessimistic

Introvert, extrovert, or ambivert? Introvert all the way

Empathetic or un-empathetic? Hmm... he can empathize if he's aware, but he struggles to pick up cues... so maybe that's more sympathetic?

Do they wait and plan or dive right in? Bit of both, he tries to plan but if he's panicked or upset enough he'll lose his cool and charge in

Do they go with the flow or forge their own path? He will not go with the flow. Out of spite even.

Relations to the world?

Who’s their family? His mother Allison, and his father Alher

Where are they from? (Gestures vaguely at northern fantasyland)

Where do they live now? (Gestures to same vague region)

Do they have a job? If so, what is it? Crown prince of his country

How are they with technology? He's in your very basic very generic fantasy au so uh. Not great if he ever saw any lmao

Connections to religion or spirituality? Well his dad is a literal god, does that count?

Powers or magic? He has strong ice magic that grows stronger with age.

Fun fact! Connections to the lore? He is in fact a demigod, son of Winter itself

Favorites?

Favorite season/weather? Summer, hot and sunny days

Favorite place? He hides in his room a lot, so it's hard to say.... Maybe his room lmao

Favorite food? Probably some sort of steak dish? Idk, something I'm not familiar with lol

Favorite clothes/accessories? He's limited for various reasons, but highly values sentimental accessories, such as his family crest brooch or jewelry made for him by Pandora

Favorite animal? He's a furry so this is a loaded question to answer lmao. Might not even be an animal as we know it.

Favorite/most frequently used mode of transportation? I think he prefers to walk places himself...? He doesn't usually travel lol

Favorite holiday? Doubt it'd be one we know of, although he doesn't strike me as big on social events like most holidays are

Hobbies? Sculpting, practicing swordfighting

Favorite thing about themself? He takes a lot of pride in his swordfighting skills, at least for a prince ;)

Relationships?

Best friends? Nerezza

Closest family member? He's close with both parents, but spends more bonding time with his mom overall

Partner/s? Pandora DeSales

Enemies? He considers the murderous Crow an enemy for constantly attacking his loved ones

What organizations/clubs/etc are they in? N/A

Fun fact! What are they like with their best friend or partner? With his partner Pandora, Jakob drops a lot of his composed and distant persona, he can be a bit childish but is also a lot more casual and easy to make laugh. He's also not afraid to play the sly prank or do other shit he knows he can get away with just to mess with him.

With Nerezza he isn't quite as open in the same way, but the two of them bond over being snarky royal spawn with little affinity for their title or the expectations that come with it. The sarcasm in the room tends to increase tenfold if you put these two together.

[hesbuckcompton-baby]

miscellaneous tag game

@xxluckystrike tagged me in one of the questions in this because Blu is LOVELY so now I'm doing it

favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

Iceland! Rome is definitely a close second, but Iceland is just such an unreal place, it almost feels like being on a different planet. Everything there is sooo beautiful, I honestly never wanted to leave, and as a huge Game of Thrones fan getting so see some of the filming locations irl was huge too!

something you’re proud of yourself for?

I've always been pretty socially anxious, so I'm really proud of myself for the friends I've made in this fandom - I was definitely a lot more shy when I first made this blog, so getting to know people has been great! I think getting into my dream uni has been my biggest achievement overall, and it's been worth all the hard work

favorite books?

Anyone who's been following me for a while knows I can go ON about books, so for the sake of brevity here's a short list of my highest-rated books: - Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo - The Secret History, Donna Tartt - The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang - My Best Friend's Exorcism, Grady Hendrix - Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

One of my best friends lives in an old farmhouse and has a huge field that we all love to have massive bonfires and camp in during the summer, I think those nights are some of my favourite memories, it always makes me smile to think about

favorite thing about your culture?

I really love how much of a mish-mash of culture, tradition and language we have in England. As a big history nerd, I love tracing the origins of things we think of as quintessentially 'British' and being able to see where these things have actually originated from. England's multiculturalism is something I think is incredibly central to this country, and one of the only things I can genuinely say I'm proud of these days

when did you join the hbo war fandom? what was the first show you watched?

I started posting about HBO war on here in May 2021! My first show was Band of Brothers, but I remember starting the Pacific like the day after I finished BoB, so I was pretty all-in straight away

have you read any of easy company’s books? if so, which ones were your favorite?

I haven't, but I definitely want to! I've almost bought Ambrose's book sooo many times but somehow never gotten around to it. My mum's a big HBO war fan too, and it was her that got me into the shows - she preferred the Pacific to BoB, so she had Leckie and Sledge's books, but I haven't gotten around to reading them either

favorite hbo war character and your favorite moment with them?

Ron Speirs you will always be my best friend. I think my favourite moment with him is honestly the bit where he walks in on Janovec having sex and doesn't give a single FUCK because he's just trying to steal as much shit as possible. It's such an insignificant moment but it makes me laugh sooo much every time.

do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

Yes! HBO War, SAS: Rogue Heroes and the A Song of Ice and Fire universe are the only fandoms I've made content for - I'm a fic writer in all three!

favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

I worship at the altar of Florence Pugh she is my Jesus and my Princess Diana (definitely not making it weird don't worry). I think my favourite movie of hers is Little Women, mostly because I am so chronically Amy March coded

favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

"Thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers" - Grover Underwood, Percy Jackson and The Olympians 1x05 (he has such a way with words xx)

random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

I tear up every time I think about the end of Paddington 2. It's fucking legit

if you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader?

I thrive off of the immediate dopamine release I get after posting chapters the minute I finish them. I live life on the edge and I have no regrets

three things that make you smile?

Shane Madej, stupid camp sci-fi from the 1960s, manipulating people into watching The Terror

any nicknames you like?

I have never been given a nickname sooo idk really

list some people you love to see around on tumblr!

@xxluckystrike @dcyllom @basilone @mercurygray @footprintsinthesxnd @trenchenjoyer @mads-weasley - you guys are all so great, I'm so happy to be in this fandom with you!! <3

what would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

off myself like. immediately. sorry but I've watched all 11 seasons of the walking dead and I'm not doing that shit

favourite movie?

Muppets Christmas Carol you are my number one bestie of all time, in the words of Mr Darcy, i ardently admire and love you

do you like horror movies?

yesssss I'm such a horror girlie I love it. The Conjuring movies are my go-to classic 'haunted house' horror movies but I'm particularly partial to a good bit of folk horror (Midsommar and The VVitch my beloveds)

Everyone mentioned above please consider yourselves tagged and feel free to do this!! If I didn't tag you, do it anyway if you want!! it's fun xx

[wardenswateringhole]

I'm a relatively new follower so unfortunately I don't know a ton about what to ask that'd work for you, but MAN can I relate to needing to talk or be asked something by someone when you're in that kind of high anxiety state... I'm really really sorry you're experiencing that and I hope it passes soon 🫂🩷🩵

As for a question and invitation to infodump to help, hmm... how about: what's a pokemon design you really like that you could talk a lot about? If that's a question you find interesting of course lol.

Oh honey. You know not what you have wrought. Though I'm going to go with pokemon I dislike instead. There are far too many I adore to talk about.

*pulls up a podium and sets up a display*

So I've been around since the original 151. Back when Pikachu was a tubster.

It was obviously new territory on the gaming scene. It was just a critter collecting and battling game and of course not much thought other than what kids would find cool were put into the designs of the Pokemon.

As the generations continued, people began to try and assign rules to a Pokemon's design. Like what made a pokemon a pokemon. I actually remember a complaint that pulled me away from gen 5 was that the Pokemon designs were terrible and didn't look like pokemon should.

(I have since learned those people were full of shit and I was a fool for skipping gen 5)

While do believe there is probably a set of rules that game freak has to ensure a Pokemon's design coalesces with the rest of the roster, it does feel like there are exceptions.

and I fucking hate them.

I love the majority of pokemon designs. The ones that don't immediately click usually grow on me. But dammit all there are some that I hate with such a flipping passion that I cannot bring myself to even consider catching them and adding the to my party.

Let's get the easy ones out the way.

ALL THE ULTRA BEASTS.

You heard me. I hate those fuckers. Not only are they so different that it makes my ocd scream, but I overall just hated the idea of them in general. it freaked me out terribly. Something about the idea of pokemon from another dimension being so much more violent than the Pokemon native to the normal pokemon universe suddenly crossing over and running amok bothered me so badly when I was younger. I still hate it to this day and could not tell you why.

(Most if not all ultra beasts were designed by the ONLY American pokemon designer on gamefreaks team. That same artist has been responsible for some of the more disliked designs. Not their fault, The higher ups just seem to have terrible taste.)

CHEWTLE

Fucking hate this abomination. The design feels so damned lazy. Also looks like something from Chalkzone than Pokemon. I abhor catching this thing. They get my shittiest ball and camps out in my box until I decide to actually evolve it.

CALYREX

AHHHHHHH!!! Oh sweet Arceus I cannot tell you badly my blood boils when I look at this idiotic thing. I did not get the DLC just because I hate this design so badly. It could have been done so much better but no.

MOST OF THE PARADOX POKEMON FROM VIOLET

It's not that I hate their designs but the idea they represent. The future they foretell feels so dismal. Devoid of life and cold as metal. I actually feel depressed when I look at them. If there were more organic features to them I think I'd like them alot more.

I think I can leave it here. These are the ones that immediately come to mind and thus are the most hated. There are other topics I could crow about but I think this was enough and helped me a lot. Thank you so much for sending this ask.

[thessalian]

Thess vs "Old Age"

Not mine, by the way.

No, I've now actually finally found something that I actively dislike about Veilguard, and it took two and a half playthroughs to do it. I'd heard about this, but I thought it might be an exaggeration, like ... well, a lot of the things we hear these people bitching about.

It's the ageism. And honestly, not only Harding's, but the entire fucking game, when you get right down to it.

Look, as far as anyone can tell (I think data mining was involved), Emmrich Volkarin is in his 50s. That is not old. That is close to my own age. And yet Harding in particular is apparently put off as much by the age difference between Rook and Emmrich as she is by how fast the relationship seems to be going. Which ... I have a few issues with this:

The assumption the entire game seems to make is that Rook is young. Doesn't matter that the stellar character creator allows you to give your Rook an older face; Rook is a "wild, exciting young thing". Which ... sorry, but why? Hell, a few of the backgrounds rely on this; like Viago de Riva (he himself not being particularly old) having been a Crow!Rook's teacher and apparently older brother, for example. But there are going to be a lot of players who go in playing an older Rook and all of a sudden they're a "wild, exciting young thing" compared to Emmrich. Why aren't we allowed to headcanon our Rook being in their forties in peace?

I understand Emmrich being massively afraid of death, all things considered. But to want to ditch Rook (which I haven't got to yet but I am not looking forward to it) because he's afraid of "abandoning them when he dies"? It's ludicrous. For one thing, they're doing incredibly dangerous shit on the daily and both of them might die tomorrow when the literal gods they are gunning for flatten them like pancakes. Even if not ... again, Emmrich is in his 50s, and if Caterina Dellamorte can be very obviously older and still be able to brain an attacker with her own cane is anything to go by, that assumption that the life expectancy of the time is low is bullshit. Which means that, especially with a Warden!Rook who has the Calling to deal with, it's entirely possible that Rook will predecease Emmrich anyway.

Harding is saying all of this under the veil of "You're mopey and it's happening too fast!" when she gets easily distracted at the thought of Taash's legs pretty early on. It feels hypocritical as fuck unless you take it as her trying to find a way to justify her discomfort with the relationship that isn't accusing Emmrich of cradle-robbing. Then it's just gross.

As for the mopey ... maybe it's because you keep poking at his fear of death and insecurities about his age that the world has done enough to implant in him and don't need to be echoed by his friends, Harding? EVER THINK OF THAT?

Honestly, Davrin's got a bit of this too. He's encouraging, at least, but there's this borderline infantilisation they've got going on with Emmrich - the kind of infantilisation that happens to people deemed 'old'. Harding and Davrin both seem to peg Emmrich as someone with little to no experience, and I'm not sure if it's better or worse that Davrin only takes it to the place where he's assuming that Emmrich doesn't remember what to do in bed with someone while Harding questions the entire relationship in this slightly condescending "I know you're old and lonely and it's overwhelming when someone pays you attention buuuuuut..." sort of way.

At the end of the day, it feels like I'm reading a Reddit comment thread where people are going, "Age difference BAD!", and it underlines the fact that they expect us to play much younger Wardens than many of us are likely to actually play. They could have left age out of it, and gone with his overall fear of death - it might have been more powerful if it hadn't been about age at all, but Emmrich coping with his fear of death even when he's facing down death on the fucking regular. But nooooooooo, because the game itself has Rook coded as young, we're stuck with, "I mean, you're older, and..." when it's possible our Rook isn't, and a whole mess of ageism into the bargain.

My mother goes for older men as a matter of course, by the way. Her first marriage sucked for that ... but that was my dad, who's a bigot and an asshole. My stepdad's not quite as much older than she is but he is a fair bit older than she is. Even if they did get married at a point in their lives when a decade or so's age gap doesn't feel like the end of the world, it can work. Especially when the power balance is relatively even. Which ... Rook's technically in charge, for one thing, and for another, Emmrich's "with age comes experience" specialities are all things he picked up in the Necropolis, so most Rooks are going to be more worldly than him anyway.

Seriously, they tried so hard to be inclusive (or "woke" if you're nasty), but they missed the thing where life doesn't end at thirty.

[girlsexbattle2]

The road is a depressing book about why we live life and is poorly executed. if one may deal with thoughts of suicide, may wanna skip this post. oh and canabilism. lots of it

my goal is discussion so have literally the slightest thought cross your mind please tell me about it. i will steal it for my essay (i will credit if asked to)

the books ending is shit. not in the 'oOOO oo emotions' way but bad writing way. the man dies to illness and the boy is on his lonesome for like two days until a deus de machina comes and gives the boy a chance at a new life. and the overall message is like supposed to be life moves on even if you dont(?) or maybe that our lives maybe shit but we have the ability to help it so we must live. ignoring that they really do fuck all to make their lives feel like they are worth living. idk man it feels stupid trying to analyze the plot when the setting is the main focus. like the reason mcarthy wrote the book wasnt to tell a story about characters but to show a desolate post apocalyptic america. i am supposed to question the idea of 'good vs evil' and its dichotomy.

my first thing to say is there are no good guys. not like the boy and the man evil but neutral. grandpa too. just living to survive with no greater purpose. simply walking an uncertain road to oblivion. okay ill mention the on the nose theme of the road is life and youll meet all types of people but they all leave at some point and leave an impact on you in some way. the depiction of the road as cabalistic also an on the nose dog eats dog world.

(great point of idea over execution. dog eats dog world -> man eats man-> man eats man!! fr!! thats a fun little detail but that leaves us with no real reason for canabilism. like i think they mention crows at some point? not the best option but better than newborn.

'oh theres no plants' okay fuckwad why do they have trees? and apples? our duo find a doomsday bunker intact which proves that there is still places unscavenged not saying it would be easy just there are ways to live without eating human flesh. actually htf does the settlement at the end of the book survive? they have to eat something. thats a big detail i dont think carthy would miss that im probably forgetting.

just canabilism aspect doesnt sit right with me. would it be too twitter of me to say this book realizes on a white suburban view of life? cause like native americans didnt live here for fucking centuries as stewards of the land and with mellow cultures for you to say that all society would collapse. like yes the upper middle class up live cushy lives and probably never have killed an animal bc of thier own need of food but others in poverty already live in some [i am white upper class and have no balls to say all] of these conditions. is the road an analogy of poverty? like it would be the end of the higher class but not all of us

actually i really like that point. this is only a horror/sad story for those of us fortunate enough not to live it. we are cooing at the preventable corspe of our fellow man with the smoking gun still in our hands.)

okay idea three(?) would be idea one remixed. the man is the stand in for the older generation or for my purpose the 'current' generation. boy likewise is the to-be inheriters of the current generation title. The man is cautious of people and holds no sympathy for 'others' but he still willing to go into the old world wreckage to scavenge. the boy is opposite, empath but terrified of the world that came before him. good and evil would have to rely on the characters morals. and the focus shifts from the man to the boy when he inherits the current generation title. could be the theme of 'the world is seen through the procived majorities eyes.'

i think i deleted the part that says 'keep living by obligation' which mcarthy fails to make this interesting. like the plot being because dad says so isnt inspiring. okay a realistic life is lived by obligation but thats not a good story motivator. i did what i always do which is watch a video essay about the topic bc im cool like that and he said that the point is to ask the question 'is there a reason for anything?' which yeah interesting question hard to execute in a meaningful or memorable way. or if there is it definitely isnt the road. im a hudge bitch when it comes to stories that make my class have discussions on whether suicide is the answer and seemed to genuinely go to yes. that was the moment i felt most kindled by the duo bc my god mcarthy you better prove them wrong or ill cry. not bc of you unique writing style but because these fucks deserve better. i deserve better.

the man and boy should share more moments being genuine with eachother. no one ever breaks down and like expresses shit to work through it they just crack for a second then go back to surviving cause boys dont cry. like its obvious that the man loves his son. but does he love the person? does he love the boy beyond the title of kin. same thing in the other direction too. cause i really dont think these characters do. and that could be interesting if you explored that but thats not mcarthys goal!! so they are just bland tear fodder. like i think the goal was 'the road is worth walking with loved ones' they lack any attributes so the reader can imprint whatever ideology onto them. Thats lazy. These arent people. Fucking Sun Wukong, representation of the human mind, one of the most varried things in existence, has enough character that the duo would turn to ash in his presence while being a damn fine metaphor (even if it doesn't encompass everyone)

im expected to give them pidy on the idea that they are human and trying to survive in a world hell bent on killing them and just like. yeah man that sucks but me too. and then we both continue living our shitty depressing lives and never do jack shit to help ourselves. well i guess the entire book is to get to a better place. but what happens when they get there that couldnt happen in rock city? what changes because of this. i know i know the winter. i feel unsatisfied. okay so thier goal is to keep living in the world where they reside. not im going to stop this. which is boring i can go talk to any bitch out on the street and get the same life story eachtime. i dont care anymore.

I get thats not the point. that not everything must be a call to action. that this is a fiction book desperate trying to presist thats its real. not like those other books but this is my tumblr blog so im going to say i hate that. i hate the idea that this is it. theres no hope here. go outside and weep if your looking for that. dont require me to read in class a story where nothing is accomplished. where the main take away is our lives will not impact the universe and therefore are meaningless.

okay tldr: the roads all like 'life is meaningless monotonous mess' and i think thats a really boring topic. with out agency your novel is shit. i dont really care about these characters at all bc they arent characters. they are muses for the reader to view how they like. which did not work in this book.

[herorps]

shadow and bone and racism

shadow and bone just came out so i can now finally break my silence bc holy shit do they go ham on the racism and me being me, i just have to tell you all about it. possible spoilers and triggers for anti-asian racism and microaggressions.

to preface, i was very privileged to receive a screener for the entire first season last month and i was actually excited to watch it bc i have friends who love the books and the show piqued my interest since it was announced. and i also have to say that i never read the books and i probably never will ( tho i’ve been told i would like soc ) but i did like the show overall. 

i think sab is a good adaptation and that the fans will like this show. i thoroughly enjoyed it and as someone who had very little to almost no knowledge about the books, i didn’t have trouble keeping up with the fantastical world. 

however that doesn’t mean i can’t be critical of it. 

i think the show can actually benefit from people being critical about it because so far, it feels like they took a very tone deaf direction and ran a marathon with it. 

what i’m talking about, is alina starkov being half-shu. 

now, i said before that my interest was piqued for this show when it was announced and one of the major reasons is the casting of biracial actress, jessie mei li, in the role of alina starkov. i can’t tell you how happy i was to see that a half-chinese actress was cast as the lead in a series based on such a beloved ip, especially since the creators of the show consciously changed alina’s ethnicity to be half-shu before casting calls were even sent out. ( for those of you who are also non-book readers, shu is the race of people from the country, shu han, and is based off primarily mongolian and chinese cultures ) 

so i was endeared with the idea that this character, that is coded white, was deliberately changed to be coded asian ( and coded mixed race to boot ) because the producers wanted to include diversity into the show. i commend that, i love that, i support that. but i believe the way they handled it, shouldn’t have been the way they handled it. and it’s because alina’s race is constantly brought up. 

obviously of course race is going to be brought up at some point. alina in the show is surrounded by white people when we first see her, and her home country of ravka does have a hostile history with shu han----i get it. racism is going to play a part in alina’s story. but it doesn’t necessarily need to go so far as to constantly remind the audience that she is shu in almost every interaction she has with someone she meets. 

and that’s a big part of the issue, is that nearly everyone she meets will bring up the fact that she’s part-shu. and a lot of the time, it’s said with hostility. now i’m not exactly sure if i’m just being particularly sensitive because of certain recent events, but the anti-asian racism hits differently these days. idk. 

because that’s what it is, at the end of the day. it’s racism. alina is often the target of very hostile racism and it seems to mainly be directed at her character and her character only. 

and honestly, on a surface level it makes sense, i sort of understand what the producers are trying to do. ravka has a turbulent history with shu han and were involved in wars with them and they’re often seen as the enemy so obviously that would affect a shu-mixed person growing up in ravka, a very white country. but on a deeper level, it reminds me a lot of the anti-japanese sentiments during wwii. the production team even created a banner that i felt called back to those anti-japanese propaganda of that era. ( mind you it was shown multiple times, in main focus, and acknowledged by characters that were coded shu ) 

but on the other hand, they’ve done a considerable job to diversify at least the ethnic makeup of ravka. there are black and brown grisha at the school and there are people of different cultures ( noted by costuming, etc. ) in ketterdam and there’s even a shu-appearing trainer that teaches the grisha to fight. so my question is, why is this very hostile treatment primarily geared toward shu people and geared toward alina specifically? it just doesn’t make sense to me. 

and when i say it’s specifically geared toward alina, i mean that it’s very apparent that they’re targeting her specifically, because mal  ( played by a possibly mixed-race archie renaux ) is also coded to be of mixed shu blood. while it is not explicitly stated that mal is shu, it is heavily implied that he is mixed, but he is never subject to the treatment that alina is, and the only times he is subject to racism is when alina is also present. in scenes where we see alina and mal as kids, they are often both referred to as “mutts” or “half-breeds”. but when they are older, only alina is continuously called those things. 

this isn’t even touching the microaggressions she faces after she’s at grisha school and this one line that made my gut wrench so viscerally i had to pause the episode and replay the part so i could confirm what i heard. [ episode 3 spoiler warning ] i’m trying to avoid posting screenshots or from spoiling parts of the show but there’s a scene where alina is being cleaned up and made presentable by servants and one of them says “I’d start by making her eyes less Shu.” [ end episode 3 spoiler ] i don’t think i have to explain to anyone how offensive that is. and i understand that the intention was to show how racist this servant is, that the entire point of of this weird racism plot is to show how the people of ravka can be racist and ignorant, but to have that line be written by a white writer, approved by a white showrunner and said by a white character to the face of an asian actor/character feels very tactless. it feels like another antagonist alina has to go against is racism itself. 

what also turns me off about this scene is that jessie mei li revealed that this scene is what actresses had to audition with. “...the sides that they sent for the audition, like Alina is talking to Genya and they’re talking about her eyes and they’re talking about her Shu ancestry.” having actresses of mixed-asian ancestry come in and act out that scene for white producers doesn’t really sit right with me. and i know that there’s an argument to be had about how it’s important to show the minutia of what it’s like to be ethnic in a world ruled by white supremacy and that it’s important to show how alina’s race affects her story, but i don’t think that going this far is necessary to the development of plot or character. 

and i don’t personally know jml, i don’t know how she feels about the show apart from what she’s probably briefed to talk about in interviews, but it is perfectly valid for me to feel iffy about the microaggressions while she feels that it’s necessary for character development ( again, this is just an example, i have no clue what she thinks of the racism ). our experiences are different, our upbringings are different, but we’re both happy to see representation and i’m happy that she’s happy to see an actual mixed-chinese character on screen as the lead. 

i’m glad that the producers were open to diversity and were open to making the lead a person of color, but it’s things like the treatment of shu characters and exchanges like “Tell her...Oh, I don’t know...good morning.” “I don’t actually speak Shu.” and “I didn’t know the Zemeni had such talent.” “She’s Suli.”  ( zemeni is a race of “dark-skinned” people and suli are coded south asian/mena/wena so this exchange is just white people mixing the brown people up )  that remind me the majority of the writers and producers are white. 

now i’m not saying that you should boycott the show or that this show is the most problematic thing to ever grace my retinas, because i really enjoyed watching it and i want to see what season 2 has in store ( more crows content please ). but, i want you all to please keep all of this in mind when you watch the series and think critically of what kinds of unconscious biases these producers had. you’re allowed to have nuanced opinions, you’re allowed to be critical of the media you enjoy so long as you understand where some people’s criticisms are coming from---where my criticisms are coming from. i just hope in future seasons the treatment of alina gets better and that she actually learns to love her shu side because otherwise it’s just going to be problematic as the show continues. 

[a-is-for-abel]

“It’s a very odd sensation, standing over your own grave.” prompt from @givethispromptatry

Crows barked, throaty and dry, from their perch high in the gnarled branches of the tree at the head of the cemetery. The letters etched into the granite before him shined and the heavy mist settled over his shoulders, oppressive and thick.

He counted the crows in the tree, a rhyme coming to mind as the black winged birds called into the fog. "One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral… Four-- Four for..."

A funeral… His brow furrowed. The name on the gravestone drew him back in and he eyed the letters. Bells from the steeple of a church coughed in the distance.

"It's a very odd sensation, standing over your own grave." He turned to see a man leaned against a tall gravestone, a lit cigarette in his fingers. "But you seem to be taking it rather well."

The man flicked a lick of hellish embers off the end and took a long drag. Smoke trailed from his lips and curled over his salt-flat empty eyes. "Say, you haven't died before have you? That'd make this a bit awkward-- See, I don't really do the whole doing someone else's do-over. Those contracts tend to get a little messy, if you know what I mean."

Dressed sharply in a suit jacket and trousers to match, the man didn't stand out quite that oddly against the backdrop of a graveyard. However, with no procession, he was out of place without the rest of the mourners to stand shoulder to shoulder with.

It was even harder not to notice the way he stood a little too tall, a little too pale, and a little too thin...

And the eyes--

He couldn't remember having ever seen eyes like that. Though, he also really couldn't remember how he had gotten here either.

The man frowned, cigarette dangled from his lips. "You're not very talkative are you. That's gonna make this a little hard if you don't at least start asking some questions."

"Who are you?" he asked, voice hoarse.

"Ah, there it is-- Everyone always starts with that one. Never a 'where am I, how'd I get here', it's always the who are you?" The man shrugged. "I got a lot of names, kid. Just make one up, it'll probably be better that way."

Paul. It was the first name that came to mind, risen like the valleys of weathered hands and deep-set wrinkles the name brought with it.

"Paul?" The man hissed, eyes scrunching as he flicked the cigarette onto the ground and ground it out with the toe of his dress shoe. "Wow, you're real bad at this. Look, I'll settle for something like, uh-- How's Paal sound? Good? Great."

Even as Paal dismissed it, he tried to latch onto the name Paul and the hands that came with it. Somehow, he knew those hands had shown him how to hold a chisel and carve with the grain and not against it. That they had smoothed down his hair and lain flat against the crown of his skull as the other drew a new line against the door jamb, and he had childishly smiled at the inch gap that had grown between it and the old one below.

"Well, now that we got names out of the way--" Paal reached into his coat and pulled free a scroll. "Let's get down to business."

The parchment unfurled with a dry cough, ink dripped over the page and rearranged itself into letters that shimmered, ruddy and wet.

"So, for starters, my contracts are pretty straightforward. I don't do all that funny business the others do." Paal pointed to the second line. "The overall payment is going to be your eternal soul, of course. The only exception I'll make here is if you can name something of equal value and I also deem said thing of equal value. Now, don't get all excited. Not a lot of things add up to a human soul. Unless you'll be trading someone's else's soul as your payment. Simple math and all of that."

His eternal soul? He looked at the cross atop the gravestone and wine-dipped stained glass and the pulpit of a church flitted to the forefront along with it.

"We on the same page here? You look a little lost?" Paal asked, tilting his head.

"Sorry, I just--" He furrowed his brow. "Am I dead?"

Paal pointed to the grave. "Is that your body in there?"

"I--" He looked at his hands. "I think so."

"I wouldn't say I'm a genius myself, but I think we can both put two and two together here."

He grit his teeth. "Right…"

"Fantastic-- Now, onto the good stuff." Paal pointed further down the parchment. "So, in exchange for said eternal soul, I grant you a few things. First off, you get to get up on your own two feet and walk out of that grave. A pretty good deal, right?"

"Deals go two ways."

"See, now you're catching on--" Paal pointed at him and then tapped the next line on the scroll. "Alright, so it's pretty damn expensive to bring a soul back to life. Maker's got an idea in mind and tampering with that's always gonna cost you a little extra."

"Do you mean money? I don't exactly..." He held his hands out, the empty state of his pockets hopefully obvious.

Paal laughed. "Money? What the hell am I going to do with money? No, no, no-- I need a favor."

"A favor?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah! A favor. something pretty simple, actually. But to get that body back and with all your precious little memories intact, you gotta do something to pay for that. More than just signing off your soul, that is."

"And who exactly am I paying back?"

Paal grimaced. "You're asking questions you really don't want the answers to, kid."

"Fine." He rubbed at his jaw. "What's the favor then?"

"Bounty hunting. Or collecting, I guess?" Paal gestured vaguely. "Whatever-- Basically, a few folks deferred on their contracts and I need to collect on their souls a little early."

"How early is early?" he asked, squinting.

"Well, I'd say I'm a pretty generous dealer. I give you about how much worldly time you should've had-- Had things not gone absolutely shit for you." Paal held up a finger. "So, in this case, I'd be collecting these souls well before they croak from becoming all ripe and old like they normally would've."

"So, I get my life back..." He chewed the inside of his cheek and glanced at the cross on the gravestone. "Is that it?"

"Is that it?'" Paal mocked and then grinned. "Look at you, already driving a hard bargain."

"You wouldn't have come to me if my soul wasn't worth something."

"Did you come to that astonishing conclusion all by yourself?" Paal said flatly.

He glanced over the demon.

Or devil... Or whatever hellish equivalent he was supposed to be. The lack of the classic horns or even a tail made it hard to pin any kind of fiendish charm to him. Besides the eyes and the pallor of someone who's never seen the light of day, he looked rather ordinary...

And his memories, few and far between-- muddled even-- like he was reliving them from underwater-- As unreliable as those memories were, he still remembered sitting upon a pew in a sun-washed room, a pastor at the head of the church, attesting how the devil would always wager in ways that would seem fair and just, but never were.

"What else do I get?"

"Greedy, aren't you? Fine." Paal rolled up the scroll part way and pointed at a line halfway down. "You can't die. At least while you're contracted under me to collect souls. If you call on me and I deem the request reasonable enough I can and will help you. Think of it like, uh-- Praying to a guardian angel. Except I'm absolutely nothing like that and I'll actually show up."

"And collecting on these contracts? What does that entail?"

"Killing them, for starters." Paal said simply. "I can't exactly grab their souls when they're still kicking around like that. And a lot of them have found ways to sort of, eh-- protect themselves from me. But you're just a bag of bones, maybe a little bit juiced up when I'm done with you, but you'll be human enough."

He didn't feel like picking that last aside apart too much. "So, you want me to kill for you?"

"Yes."

"How exactly?"

Paal flicked his hand and the scroll snapped out of sight with a thwick. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled free a revolver. Six-shot, shined, scarred with engravings up and down the muzzle and wrapped around the barrel. Handle a bone-white ivory, pale and unblemished.

Paal held it out to him. "With this."

Dropped into his palms with little fanfare, he cradled it, as if a newborn lamb. He glanced up from the gunmetal shine after a beat. "I can't shoot."

"Oh, you won't have to. You just have to aim." Paal formed his fingers into a mock-gun and pointed it at his forehead before mouthing ‘pow'. "It does all the hard work for you. Unless you're into that kind of thing, then by all means I'll take the training wheels off of it and let you do the trigger pulling."

"No…" he swallowed, careful to keep the muzzle pointed away from himself. "Training wheels is fine."

"Fantastic. Do we have a deal then? All of this--" Paal gestured to the whole of him. "--for the meager, one time price of doing a simple chore for me."

He stared flatly.

"And your eternal soul after you've lived a long and happy life, but that's just semantics," Paal laughed, waving him off.

He tilted the gun in his palms and glanced down at his pockets. It wouldn't exactly fit very well… "Is there a holster?"

"Oh, right--" Paal patted his chest and fished around in his suit jacket before drawing out a belt. "Here. It's a bit used, but at least it's already worn in, right?"

Mottled stains scattered the edges of the leather belt and where intricate markings had been stamped and tooled into the holster itself.

"Thanks…" he said, pinching it between two fingers while trying to find a good way to hold the pistol with his other hand.

"Woah, don't sound too grateful there, champ," Paal said. "You'd think I wasn't about to do you the biggest favor of your life."

He paused in his inspection of the holster and gave Paal the flattest look he could muster.

"Get it?" Paal's grin dropped. "Not a funny guy then… Noted."

Finally, managing to holster the gun he slipped the belt around his waist and fumbled with the buckle before fastening it. "How exactly do we seal the deal?"

"Eager, are we?" Paal held out his hand. "Just shake my hand and that's it. None of that writ in blood nonsense."

He wrinkled his nose.

Paal flexed his fingers and held his hand out further. "Look, if you really need me to draw up a traditional contract and give you a copy, I can do that too, but it's dreadfully boring and I do enough paperwork as it is. I mean, what do you have to lose, honestly? You're already dead. I'm just offering you a second chance… and a little bit of revenge."

"Revenge?"

"No one ends up dead in a ditch with a pack of dogs eating their face without being fucked over somewhere along the road."

"I don't…" He knitted his brow. "It's hard to remember."

"Oh, it'll be like that for a bit. It gets better once we get everything settled. Trust me though, you've got quite the bone to pick with someone back up there. And I for one would love to see how it all pans out."

"This is a form of entertainment for you," he said flatly, eyeing the still outstretched hand.

"What's the harm in mixing business and pleasure?" Paal smirked. "Plus it'll be fun to see what you do."

"Can you not bring back the memories now?"

Paal tutted. "That's quite expensive, and we haven't made a deal yet."

"How do I know I even want to go back then?"

"Does it even matter who you were before if you get a re-do?"

He looked at the name on the gravestone. "Won't they recognize me?"

"Oh, no-- Uh, see, you're not going back into your original body." Paal grimaced. "I can only repair so much and those dogs really did a number on you."

"Great…"

"Don't worry though, I got a good one picked out for you. Close enough to be uncanny even. Just some little differences, barely noticeable."

He grimaced.

"Don't you humans love taking leaps of faith? What's with all the hemming and hawing? What happened to all that stupid recklessness?"

"Not all of us are stupid."

Paal groaned. "I would get stuck with the biggest coward this side of the Mississippi."

'Look, it's lil' yellow-bellied Bern!'

'Just take it from him. He's not gonna do shit-- He'd flinch at a fly if it looked at him wrong.'

'Pa said he's soft. That his own daddy made him like that.'

He blinked, flinching and scrunching up his eyes at the sudden, sharp jab that needled at his skull. "I'm not a coward."

"Then take my hand."

His head pounded, and if he really was dead he wondered why he could still feel that out of everything. If the sweat pricked along the back of his neck was more memory than actual sensation, or if the way his tongue had grown heavy in his jaw was all made up too. He eyed Paal's hand and the discolored fingernails, the sheet white skin, the odd scarring along the knuckles and on the palms.

'Leave and don't you ever come back here. And if I ever see you again, you'll be begging the devil to take your soul from me first.'

He grit his teeth, fingers curling into fists.

The voice bit across his cheek like knuckles, like blood on his tongue and smattered across his hands. It curled like snake oil and melted wax, like the dust settled over the rafters of an ever empty church and like floorboards stained with drying flecks of rust.

He reached for Paal's hand and Paal grabbed his wrist instead, wrapped his fingers around him and squeezed, hard enough he twisted with the motion. Paal didn't budge, no matter how he pried at him, and the hand burned-- Burned the way laying your palm across a sheet of ice stung and wormed its way deeper and deeper the longer you left it there.

He stumbled as Paal released him, clutching at his wrist and hissing. "What the hell?"

"Part of the contract. It'll fade in a second."

The burning stopped and when he let go of his wrist, a coiling band of white took its place. Sat snugly, flat and lined with black, was an ivory snake wrapped three times about his wrist. The head of the serpent rested along the heel of his thumb, eyes a nearly translucent blue. It faded, still standing out against his skin, more like an impossibly pale tattoo and less like the actual snake it was a moment ago. His arm ached dully with it, like he had come in from a long frigid day, and his fingers cramped as the feeling returned to the very tips of him.

"Oh, right-- You'll be needing bullets." Paal grabbed his hand and dropped a freezing piece of metal into it.

More followed as Paal fished around in his suit jacket for them. At the fourth one Paal paused. "What was that little rhyme you were doing before I arrived? I rather enjoy that one. The ending is always my favorite."

He watched where the bullets settled in his palm. The casings a blood-red ebony and the bullet itself the shade of bone.

"And four for birth…" Paal dropped another bullet. "Five for heaven..." Another. "And six for hell," Paal said with a smirk, manually curling his hand around the bullets and patting it. "Now keep track of those, they're not exactly easy to make."

He didn't tell Paal that he didn't finish the poem, that there was still one more line that needed to be said to complete it. Instead, he pocketed the bullets.

"Walk with me a sec--" Paal grabbed his shoulder and nudged him forward.

They meandered along the lines of graves, passing headstones that varied in shape and size, some cared for, with flowers and candles and even worn sepia photos left at their feet. Others were less fortunate. Grown over, dulled, and abandoned.

They stopped before one with a less modest headstone. A large stone cross jutted up from the top and an angel carved above the name of the soul that was laid to rest below their feet.

"You know, I really do think this is the start of a great partnership..."

He raised a brow.

"Marcus J. Bern--" He flinched at the name, not expecting it to fall from Paal's mouth so casually. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

He hesitated, shoulders drawing up, hand coming to rest on the gun at his hip. "Uh, you too…?"

Paal smiled, like he found that amusing. And he hadn't noticed how sharp his teeth looked until he was staring the oversized canines dead in the face.

"Now--" Paal said, placing his hands on his shoulders, dusting them off before squeezing lightly. "This might hurt a bit."

"What--"

Paal shoved him.

He fell and fell and the earth swallowed him whole.

Dirt and silt and death surrounded him. Impossibly endless and vast, the grave didn't catch him as it should have. And the chill that bit at his limbs gnawed feverishly, right down to the core of him until he felt a yell clog up with the hallowed ground packed against his tongue. Further and further he descended, gut flipping and twisting with him, until he thought this would be his new forever. That Paal had lied to him, and he would simply be doomed to free fall for the rest of eternity, until all returned to dust as it had once emerged and longer still.

Light broke up the darkness overhead and he reached for it, arm outstretched. The white snake coiled around his wrist writhed and burned at the first touch of it and dripping with pale ichor, his veins stood out a ghastly silver against him. A venom coursed through him as it wound further and further down, closer and closer to where his heart had thrummed to life and kicked against his ribs in a fevered fit. He clutched at his chest as the ground-- as something-- hurtled towards him.

Breath slammed into him with a rattling gasp and his eyes shot open.

Blinded, he blinked and squinted against the grace of a new day, trembling and shaking where he had woken upon the dirt. The cross of the gravestone cast a merciful shadow over him and he could see the tangled fingers of the tree beyond it.

Raucous caws chorused above him. A murder of crows dotted the grey sky overhead, having flighted from their perches high in the dead limbed oak.

One, two, three, four, five, six--

"And seven for the devil, his own self..." he muttered, hand falling to his hip and the gun now holstered there.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb. 

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

 It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending. 

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.  

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

 Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up  basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought  their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

[attollogame]

how did all the ROs react when they first got their powers?

ohhhhh i love this question omg. Protip: gaining powers is a very strenuous and at times mildly terrifying experience bc your body is really vibing one day and then the next it's just like 'ah time to attack all of my own cells in a boss battle-esque style in order to adapt you to my next surprise' SO

Pariah: Their sister already went through the experience and kind of prepped them for what was coming long before it happened. So when it did happen, Pariah was a lot more calm about it than what most kids are. They knew that any discomfort or pain was normal, so they pretty much went on with life like normal until their body settled again.

Vasilisia: Thought it was the coolest shit ever. Immediately went to her godfather (who also completely lost his mind) and was given numerous pamphelets created by the Crowes about what to expect, how to respond, when one should go to the hospital, etc. She was very pleased to have gained an ability in the first place.

Operator: Confused, and a bit afraid. He didn't really have anyone to instruct him on what to expect, so he pretty much had to figure out the ropes of his abilities himself. Used the pamphelets from the Crowes and tried to figure out through those what his abilities even are. Overall, didn't enjoy the experience, and did end up going to the hospital a few times.

Dreamwalker: Definitely ended up going to the hospital. He had to stay under secure observation for a while as his abilities came into place; his entire body was pretty much going haywire, leaping from the awake reality into dreams without his control at random intervals. He lost sight briefly as well which only added to the stress. Had the hardest experience out of everyone.

Sysba: They've had powers since they were born so there was really no 'defining moment' for them in their lifetime. It's pretty much a natural experience. However, when they first realized they lost most of their powers, it was really bad. Completely shook them up and they ended up wandering around earth for a few years trying to come to terms with it. Eventually got settled, but it's still a sensative point with them.

Suha: Another person who was absolutely STOKED for the experience. Went around showing it off to everyone who would pay attention to her. Her 'coming of age' caused a few issues (namely random bursts of plants blooming throughout the Crowes Court), but Markos and Hypatia actually stepped up for once and guided her through it until her experience settled. She got pretty fortunate to be under their care.

[teawiththegods]

You've said before that the gods don't mind content of fictional characters based on Them but I was wondering if you have any advice for worshippers who are upset by content portraying the gods as cruel/selfish/ab*sive/etc? I feel like any time I try to look for content related to Them all that comes up is content of the fictional characters that are really different from the gods I know and love

I think you answered your own question with that last line. The gods that appear in media are "fictional characters" not actually the gods we know, love, and worship. It's like BTS fanfiction. We know that the characters depicted in those stories are NOT the actual BTS members because their fans don't really know them. They just so happen to have basic things in common with the real life people they are based on like the names, the occupation, and maybe some mannerisms but nothing that makes an individual who they really are. The same applies to the fictional gods that appear in media. They aren't our gods because they don't possess the qualities that make our gods who they are. So imo the key is embracing that idea and learning to separate the gods from their fictional portrayals.

Also, I think we give non believers and non worshipers too much of our emotions and energy. I mean, i understand the desire and even the demand for respect for our religion and our gods but I think we all have to be more realistic. Our gods are taught and presented to the masses as fiction. They are seen and thought of as characters not gods that are alive and worshiped today. And I'm not even going to get into the influence of Christianity on how people perceive the gods and religion as a whole. But my point is that these creators are not viewing the gods the same way as we do and they also aren't really creating with us in mind. So i just think continuously getting upset over these depictions only serves to hurt you. Because its not going to change. The gods are just going to continue to be popular and inspire more and more stories some of which (or a lot of which) you're not going to enjoy or agree with. I'm not saying you have to like or engage with these stories. Not at all. But I think its in your best interest to find a way to protect your peace. Fictional stories written by nonbelievers/nonworshipers are really not worth disturbing your peace and threatening your overall wellness.

And I'm just gonna take this opportunity to call everyone out by saying the ONLY way this shit is going to change is if we actually get our asses off tumblr and write those damn stories we're always talking about! That is the only way because then it will be actual Hellenic Polytheists who know the gods creating the media.

I'm tagging @theoi-crow specifically and he knows why! HE KNOWS!!

[firelxdykatara]

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.

[twstheadcanons]

Do you have any lore and headcanons for ramshackle? Like what the rest of the dorms layout is like and little special features you might find there. Or if you feel like it what Disney villan and key moral it might be based on. I've heard it might be based on pete the cat (who was Disneys very first villan and mickey's rival ) or mortimer mouse instead of mickey. And even the lonesome ghosts too.

Not to be niche, but in Are You Alice?,

 the world of Wonderland is distorted, incomplete with Carroll refusing to continue the story after Alice's death, and mangled by contradicting, discarded plot ideas that further confuse and warp Wonderland's world and characters.  In an attempt to regain control of it and most importantly save the character of Alice, the White Rabbit becomes tasked with 'assigning' character roles to people who have lost their way (being on the brink of death, mentally broken, etc).

It has nothing to do with D1zknee, but the overall concept seems to match a lot of people's belief Twisted Wonderland represents a world where certain people must fulfill certain roles - i.e. the Overblot characters manifesting the antagonists as their blot apparition.  This turn of events isn't necessarily desired, but given the worship of the Great Seven, and the emphasis of dorm leaders (or rather, the people best representing their respective Seven's main driving force) upholding those values 'fulfills' a role. At the very beginning Crowley mentions them all 'almost out of time', which implies some sort of balance has been tilted.  

Whether this is PART of the prologue or in media res like the 'Grim Overblot' is frankly questionable.

Epic Mickey: this one's obvious.  The recurring theme of blot distorting characters and dropping magical gems easily made its way through TWST.  The fact that in the game televisions act as . Given mention of Jamil's younger sister, it's clear the series doesn't shy away from the occasional game reference.  Granted it's currently unknown if his sister is a younger twin sister like Nasira is to Jafar.  If it goes more Epic Mickey for the antagonists, a Mizrabel type antagonist may show up.

D1zknee would've gotten nowhere without Mickey, so by that logic Twisted Wonderland depends on his existence too.  If something truly is altering its stabilisation, it's Mickey's absence.  And without him you have options of, of course, Pete taking advantage of that, Oswald (scrapped concept of Mickey, referring back to the Are You Alice? tangent), or if it goes further with Epic Mickey allusions, Mizrabel - all three are solid contestants for somehow conceptualising a world where villains flourish as ideals. Or, you could go the more meta route.  Toboso makes it clear she wants the Overblot antagonists to have nuanced motivations and trauma that contribute to their actions, instead of embodying the genuine malice Dizknee villains embody.  

This is something ppl who like villains will also explore - deeper motivations and what-if scenarios (see: the novel series by ).  If we go this route, TWST really only exists so long as those beliefs in Yuu's world are strong enough to stabilise it as well, hence dragging Yuu into it somehow.   What with the glitches and visions Yuu starts having as of Ep5 instead of strictly dreaming, it's very likely, if not canonically, some metaworld shit going on. For all we know, it could be a complex combination of two or all these options (and let's be real, that would certainly elongate the gacha game's lifespan and bank deposit).

If Ramshackle has a theme, I'd go with 'recreation' or ‘, given the revisions Mickey underwent before becoming the Mouse he is today, and Yuu's involvement trying to help certain characters overcome mental obstacles presented by their hardships.  It also lends to the theme of Villains being idolised as 'good' figures instead of villains to begin with.  Yuu also pushes previously overlooked concepts into NRC (teamwork and cooperation).  It would further contribute to the idea of either Pete, Mizrabel, or Oswald being a key factor later on, seeing as this sort of 'reformed view' initially benefits them.  Personally, I’d prefer a Mizrabel type antagonist, but it’ll probably go a less obscure direction.  The dorm itself is based off the Thru the Mirror room, featuring the ghosts from Lonesome Ghosts.  So even if the antagonist isn’t a force like Mizrabel, that leads the question if it could logically be represented by Pete to begin with, since he has no involvement in either short. 

Everyone is tired of Crowley is Sus posts, but, honestly, even if it’s not intentional, I lean towards the Are You Alice? approach, where one of the characters themselves has an intrinsic, vital connection to a certain character that could throw everything out of whack, like Crowley’s association with the Evil Queen (the first full-length, coloured animated villain of the princess move franchise), presumably as her crow.  Although, strictly speaking, both the Grimhilde and Maleficent’s bird buddies were ravens, not crows.  The only crows in major animated Dizknee nostalgia-boner movies are from Dumbo.