#like from a neutral objective perspective they are sort of the same

[thedarklinkfell]

From a neutral perspective, it’s crazy that tumblr despises tauradonna and reylo but loves Catradora like… that’s the same ship. The character tropes are the same their relationships take the same direction they do the same things to each other

Like I wonder what it is about them that makes people feel so differently about them?

[mistress-violence]

Prompt: Museum from @into-the-jeggyverse (August 28)

Word count: 676 words

Pairing: Jegulus (modern AU)

⚠️ Warnings: none

Regulus is the kind of person who has loved art since he was a child. James has caught on to it in the six months since they've been dating. He spent countless group outings listening to Regulus discuss aesthetics with Evan and Barty. Among his stuff in his room, he always found art history books and art magazines. Sirius once gave him a leather notebook with some famous painting on it (he heard some sort of Moan It, but he wasn’t sure).

James wants to understand this part of Regulus, but he always found art boring. When his parents took him on trips as a kid, James hated museums. They just looked like a bunch of old drawings with old people. He strode through them and dragged Euphemia and Fleamont by the hand until they left the dusty building and went to the park for ice cream. College did not draw James closer to intellectual pursuits. He still prefers to compete with Sirius, who can eat more hot dogs in a minute than stare at the "Mona Lisa.".

The closer the relationship between him and Regulus becomes, however, the more doubts he begins to have. Regulus is not only exceptionally beautiful and charming; he is also intelligent, refined, and elegant in every gesture. James is scared that Regulus will never take him seriously as a potential partner when he will finally see that James is not as smart as him.

Because of this, James invited Regulus on a date at the art museum. He is determined to impress his lover and show him that he too can like such things. He had spent a few days with Sirius and Remus trying to figure out this whole art thing, and he thought he was absolutely ready to get Regulus enchanted.

Panic hit him when he and Regulus arrived at the museum, and instead of those gold-framed paintings on the walls, they were white industrial rooms with all sorts of strange objects that the people around looked at with interest. James also checked that they were in the right place. Yes, it said "Museum of Contemporary Art" in big letters. Then where is the art? Remus had shown him pictures of people and pretty landscapes in the albums, not stones sitting on chairs and pieces of iron oddly welded together.

James regains himself. This is not the time to panic; he can handle it. He knows fancy words like "perspective" and "plasticity." He walks over to Regulus, who was staring at something on a wall.

"Interesting piece, isn't it? I can see the artistic vision in this. The colors are proportioned to balance the composition perfectly. A true work of art,” says James with face confidence.

Regulus turns his head towards him, his expression so neutral it looks like a Renaissance portrait.

"James" Regulus began. "This is the map of the exhibition. It’s written down how to get to the toilet from here."

All the color in James' face drains, and he becomes as pale as a ghost. He has no hope left; he sees himself dying old and alone in a house with twelve cats. As James imagines fateful, horrible scenarios, Regulus lets out a giggle. He finds it cute that James is trying so hard to impress him. Regulus grabs his lover by the shirt and pulls him into a short kiss.

“Come on, I want to see some sculptures. In one of the rooms they have a Pollock, I think you'll like it. And after we're done here, we can go eat some hot dogs at the place that you like. I heard from Sirisu that you can put 5 hot dogs in your mouth at the same time. I'd like to see that,” Regulus said, dragging James at his hand.

James raises his head like a puppy and his face lightens up. He nods with a big smile and intertwines his fingers with Regulus', entering the exhibit together. Later, he will show Regulus that he can actually put six hot dogs in his mouth.

[litapeanut]

Netflix's Alexander the making of a god: pretty rad actually

My judgement: 8/10

While I'm not a history professional but a humble Alexander-the-great enthusiast, and I must admit I cannot judge the historical accuracy of all bits of information presented in the documentary either, I'm still impressed by the overall production as well as the producers' intention.

Firstly, I appreciate the presentation of a "non-Europe-centric" world at the time of ATG (which is objective since this was a pre-colonialism era, where multiple powerful nations outside of Europe existed, such as ancient Persia, ancient India and ancient China) and ancient Persia is portrayed as a strong rival instead of an uncivilised foreign hostile (I laughed every time the Greeks or Persians refer to each other as "barbarians" because this was how almost every ancient kingdom viewed the others, which is funny from a modern perspective). In the same respect, Darius is given a rationale for his motivation and shown as a worthy opponent.

In regards to acting, to me this series has the most accurate casting choices so far, and even if Buck Braithwaite (the actor portraying Alexander) doesn't deliver the sort of grandiose performance one would expect to be suitable for a figure like ATG, I'm moved by how human and nuanced his version of Alexander feels.

I'm definitely pleased with how truthful the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion is portrayed, it's probably the very first time in human cinematic history that we see a portrayal like this (confettis!).

Regarding the low ratings, I'm aware that there are primarily two concerns resulting in this: 1) conservatives being deeply upset about Alexander being explicitly bisexual. I disregard such opinion completely since I know it is decidedly conservative which I don't agree with; 2) a neutral concern about the show not offering enough historical facts / not being accurate enough. As mentioned above I'm not a history professional, so as a common viewer I can only "blindly" trust the scholars being consulted.

In fact, I found the ratings of nearly all the ATG cinematic productions to be relatively low, from the 1963 Alexander, to the 2004 Alexander, and to this Netflix production. I understand that people throughout the ages have had mountainous expectation for any portrayal of ATG since he was not only a truly competent ruler but also a cultural legacy. And there's also another layer: even though he had accomplished monumental success as a conquerer, nonetheless his conquering brought wars and suffering to the civilians. Although the geopolitical dynamic then was different from that of now, meaning the countries he conquered were not considered "less developed", still you CANNOT tell the contemporary audience, some of whom are descendants from those conquered countries, who are people of colour, that Alexander's conquering of their countries was a natural result of social Darwinism, that these countries deserved to be conquered and casualty didn't matter – it's insensitive. As a POC myself, in my eyes Alexander was very much a hero of his time who had some greatness that all people can aspire to, but his military exploits are morally debatable according to modern standards (I don't hate him, I almost named my cat after him, I only want to view him as dialectically as possible). In sum, positioning the moral of his story for the post-colonial modern audience is tricky. Therefore, this Netflix documentary is the best reimagination of him, at least in my personal opinion.

[decepti-thots]

would you be down to give me a rough outline of how Prowl has been characterized over the publication history of the tf comics? I mean, in as far as you know about it. Every time you mention the costa stuff it makes me curious

I can try! I can't really drill down well without a thing to focus on specifically, but here are some general highlights.

Furman (and stuff that directly draws from Furman's run, like AHM as a whole) characterizes him basically as he did when writing Marvel G1, and gives him so little to do that not very much really comes out even then. Uptight, stick-in-his-ass, still a basically Good Guy TM and while he puts people's backs up a little, he's not under any level of suspicion. This is the closest to continuity-agnostic "fanon Prowl" you get in IDW, because that fanon figure draws quite a lot on the Marvel G1 characterization (when it isn't simply making things up wholesale, anyway). Furman copies his own homework, basically, lmao.

Roche is the guy who wrote phase two Prowl into existence as we know him. Rather infamously because he thought it was an interesting take on the character to er, ignore all the above stuff and make the Autobot SIC a rat bastard, lmao. Roche and Barber's interpretations came to dominate the character in IDW going forward, but they do differ. Roche's Prowl is more isolated from other characters (one does not really imagine Wreckers Prowl calling Bumblebee his best friend sincerely, as exRiD Prowl does), and people treat him as disliked by default. Even before the worst of what he does comes out, his reputation precedes him. Also, Roche's Prowl speaks fairly neutrally, whereas exRiD Prowl speaks more casually than fandom tends to admit to! Finally, Roche's Prowl is less spontaneously, outwardly emotional than Barber's is later on, and tends to fit the fanon stereotype of "always restrained" more.

Costa came in post-AHM but pre-Wreckers and hated all that, so he retconned it. LMAO. His Prowl is the archetype of the "good cop" protagonist surrounded by corruption, combined with surface level noir tropes that sort of work in tandem with those but lacking any grit. (Costa seems to understand what noir looks and sounds like, but none of the underlying narrative devices that make it function as noir.) This Prowl is specifically supposed to be (here's the retcon) someone who used to be more deliberately cold, removed and logical but who has specifically decided to change to be different following his experiences on Earth. (Spotlight: Prowl is a good one-issue explanation of Costa's perspective on Prowl, which is not the same as being a good comic.) As time goes on, the sheer unpopularity of this take pushed Costa to undo it a bit, and reintroduce some level of ambivalence to him... but by and large he remains kind of the "good authority figure who objects when the systems are misused" type, almost? His conflict with Spike is very much over the fact he expected better of Spike, see.

Barber's Prowl notably does not wholly throw the Costa stuff out the window. (This is why the Spike stuff features a lot; it's really the only strong emotional hook Costa's work gives you for his version of the character to grab at.) But Prowl is back to being a morally gray figure whose moral ambivalence is very strongly tied to his role as an authority figure- and that's worth mentioning. Prowl's downward spiral being intrinsically linked to his refusal to relinquish authority, and his abuse of it, is something that is all Barber and not Roche. (In Wreckers, Prowl is an asshole because of personal arrogance. In exRiD, he's more an asshole because of his role enabling a wider system, by the end. IMO that's a big difference, anyway.) He is not starting off exRiD loathed by absolutely everyone, or a figure of preexisting serious mistrust. That's something that develops over the course of the comic as things come to light for the characters in-universe, meaning exRiD Prowl feels like he's put up a more convincing shield in front of his worse dealings over the course of the war, perhaps. His position deteriorates significantly over the comic. He is more prone to balancing his deliberate cold-heartedness with angry or emotional outbursts than we saw in Wreckers, leading to him having multiple outbursts that worsen his situation over the course of the comic. This is the Prowl who holds grudges.

Roberts' Prowl is kind of different to talk about to the above because his Prowl in Shadowplay and his Prowl in Titans Return are different genres. I can do a post on that if folks really want but it probably is its own post, haha.

IDK feel free to clarify any specific stuff you'd like a vibe on if you want, this is all just what came to my mind instinctively!

[tumblingxelian]

Storyteller Akuma: K, this thought wouldn’t leave me be, but I'm not sure how well it’s going to translate from brain to page, so bear with me.

I see part of Ladybug Not Being Affected . . . like, she is being influenced, it just SEEMS like she isn’t, because 1) as we discussed, she's the hero, & 2) 1 of the major influencers right now is CHAT NOIR, who knows Ladybug really damn well, so she's basically herself, right? Well one thing that just hit me-

Right now, Ladybug IS NOT Marinette.

Like, as much as people write about it, Ladybug & Marinette are not separate people. Ladybug is not an entire act Marinette is putting on, but rather an extension of herself. Ladybug makes choices that Marinette absolutely would, because THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON. BUT . . . No one knows who Ladybug is behind the mask. Not even Chat. So things DO go a little different, because Marinette's BIAS isn’t there.

Cause like. I think we all agree that Marinette is very "Black-White/What-Is-This-Grey-You-Speak-Of?" in her worldview. It's basically why, when Chloé DOES make efforts to change, they go either unacknowledged, or misinterpreted, because Marinette has several YEARS of Chloé being a rude, unrepentant, Rich Bitch Bully. & I'm not saying it’s wrong for Marinette to think that way, but it's what makes it all so hard for the girls to see where the other is coming from. It colours their every interaction, even when Chloé is trying her hardest to please Ladybug. But right now? Ladybug isn't - CAN'T - be Marinette. & her biggest influence is Chat Noir, who sees Ladybug as herself, yes, but also her BEST self. So that changes things.

Like, Ladybug is AWARE that she's really Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But if she focuses too hard on that, she starts slipping into whatever the Storytellers see Marinette as, & nope, can’t do that, so we are Ladybug right now! & none of the Storytellers know that Ladybug is Marinette, so they don’t think to apply Marinette actions to Ladybug. & what this really means, is that Ladybug finds it easy to be sympathetic to Chloé in particular. Because without the years of animosity between them, if Marinette had met Chloé as a teen, & seen first hand how her parents treat her? Oh, she'd be FURIOUS. How DARE they treat their daughter like that!? Can't they see how they're hurting her!? How hard she's trying to be what they want!? How miserable she is!?

Or what about Adrien? Without the crush blindness, what does she think of him? How does she see him? Like, yes, at the core Ladybug & Marinette are the same person, but - *inarticulate gestures cause my brain is failing me*

It basically lets her view the whole situation objectively, so when everything is over . . .

Ooh I am excited!

Yeees, yeah I can totally see this, I love exploring the distinction in identities and sense of self that come with the mask. (Ask me about Six-Teen-Heroes sometime XD) But yeah cos like, her magic, role in the Akuma's narrative and all three but especially Chat's dominant experience with her means Ladybug is gonna be pretty close to her professional hero self... While Marinette is sort of... Not quite there right now.

Also yeah Chat not knowing whose behind the mask plays heavily into things to, so true, he only as the Ladybug perception. & Marinette returning to the field will have been 'in character' as well.

You are also right I hadn't considered that but I love it! Cos yeah she's got several years of negative experience with Chloe & a rather simplistic world view where parents are good & loving, authority figures are generally reliable and being nice is natural and easy. Intellectually she may know bad parents exist but Chloe's life on the outside looking in, is not super obvious on that front unless coming at it from an adult or more neutral perspective. So to Marinette there's no real explanation save "Spoiled rotten". But for Ladybug, none of that stuff applies!

Let alone the fact that Chat probably wouldn't mind it if they got along, he always seemed amused by their interactions X3 Also true facts on her best/ideal self.

Yeah there's definitely be some dissonance there, and to avoid losing herself she probably leans harder on Ladybug but is maybe also a lil freaked out somewhere cos she doesn't want to not be herself either. Everyone's getting a messed up mind today!

so they don’t think to apply Marinette actions to Ladybug.

Action, feelings or history, so at most its like, oh the ever professional Ladybug can be a bit eh on the exuberant Chloe & that's at worst.

Also yeah I can see it, hell if they'd only met as heroes she'd possibly be full on fond of her even without seeing her trauma. Or at least able to go "OK that was rude but like, god damn what an over reaction." Let alone yeah Audrey at least would be something she could pick up on. Add in stuff like Maladikator and all the pieces would fall into place given Akuma are not meant to harm their loved one's and both her parents try to harm or use her as Akuma. So it'd be all red flags all the time, especially cos she's a hero in all their eyes.

Gosh yeah that'd be interesting, like does Adrien's perception of himself as Adrien VS Chat play into things as well? So many angles!

But yeah I love this so much.

Low key just imagining post purifications everyone just flops onto the floor unsure what to do with themselves. Probably feeling a bit eased up like in that original ask I sent you:

The rich kids have taken knives to each other. They've cut open their festering wounds. The rot is exposed, scrubbed raw. While they lie angry, bleeding, crying, and dying [inside], they have the opportunity to look upon themselves once more and apply new dressings.

Or maybe a little relieved, or hell jus confused. Marinette-Bug is not much better, but like if Chloe tries to flee, or put up an act, she might just get that hug she's been starving for all her life and just fucking breakdown sobbing.

[everythingunderthestarsthings]

Domestic life with the Lyoko Warriors

Note: All characters are aged up. Also, all of these imagines are happening in the same universe. Which means that Aelita's partner, Jeremie's partner, and every other Lyoko warrior and their partner, have met up. For the sake of writing for them individually, I've decided that Jeremie-Aelita and Ulrich-Yumi are not couples.

Headcanon about how mostly-general and domestic life with the Lyoko Warriors would be. I'm writing this with a gender-neutral reader in mind.

Aelia Schaeffer:

Post Lyoko and post college, where she was definitely a Computer Science major, Aelita meets you in her classes with Jeremie. The two of you hit it off pretty quickly, being interested in music and computers, and she finds your presence to be refreshing. Of course, she loves the Lyoko gang -- they're family! But, meeting someone new, and away from all that chaos just brings so many new things, new perspectives of life, and she's there for it.

For the sake of writing for Aelita, let's say that she and Jeremie broke up at the end of freshman year in college, because Jeremie's concern for her -- however heart-warming and welcome -- got overbearing and she felt as though she was just an object to be constantly fretted over. So, she called off their relationship and things were just weird between the two of them for a while after that.

It is during this while that Aelita grows closer to you, and finds herself falling head over heels for you within the next six months. But, it takes her until the middle of senior year -- after she's got things sorted out with Jeremie, and then you meeting all her other friends and them giving her approval, and then her meeting all your friends -- that she confesses to you, only to find that you've felt the same way about her all along!

The two of you move in together after college, with you working and her immediately applying for a masters degree in Artificial Intelligence.

Domestic life with Aelita:

Out of the two of you, you're the more domestic person.

Of course, Aelita is an angel, but she has no experience keeping a home.

By the way, I don't think Aelita would have told you about Lyoko -- as much as she's excited for the new life she's got with you, she wants to keep that part to herself. You know about her parents passing away and how much of a help her friends have been, but not a single bit about Lyoko.

Aelita helps with the cleaning, once you show her the ropes, but you're the one who cooks and buys groceries. Our little angel tags along, but it takes her about two extra years before she's even got the basics of cooking down.

You love listening to Aelita's remixes. They're always playing somewhere in your house, regardless of whether people are there or if it's just the two of you. You're her hype buddy -- her music is your ringtone and everything.

While Aelita does her masters, you're the sole breadwinner, and Aelita's royalties from her published music also contribute to finances.

Aelita's great at coming up with budgets. She's also a savvy when it comes to stock markets and investments. You're so in awe.

Aelita loves giving you back hugs when you're doing the dishes! If you're about her height, she would press kisses to your neck. If you're taller, she would nuzzle into your back, and if you're shorter, she would rest her chin on your head.

You eventually trust Aelita more with cooking as time goes on, and you get hearts in your eyes when you watch her prepare simple meals with an apron on.

Besides her own music, the two of you dance to Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift music as well.

With regards to cuddling, AELITA IS A HUGE CUDDLEBUG. She loves cuddling with you and would do it forever if she could.

You feel the same way.

Watching TV? Cuddle! Doing dishes? Cuddle! Standing together in an elevator? Cuddle!

Weirdly enough, Aelita might like being the big spoon more than the little spoon! She just likes hugging/holding on to you in any form.

Aelita has a lot of PTSD. You figure that out early on, and even though you don't know much about Lyoko, or anything, you're a huge comfort to her. You always know the right things to do, and even if you don't, you're willing to learn, and she falls in love with you all over again.

You have friends from school come over, and so does she (and eventually with their partners too)! Both sets of friends love the other person immediately (except Jeremie, for whom it took a while to warm up to you, considering how he used to date Aelita).

Odd is Aelita's cousin (according to the stuff they had to tell at Kadic Academy), so Odd is what you consider to be Aelita's family equivalent.

You introduced Aelita to your parents within a year of living together, and your mother pulled you over and nearly demanded you to propose to her that instant cuz your family was blown away by Aelita!

Your parents might have mailed over the ancestral family ring to you about a week later

But you two are all about just living your best cozy life.

After Aelita's masters, she probably starts work as a Reserach and Development Engineer in AI and she also contributes a lot more to your shared income.

That's when you think about the next stages of your life.

You might have brought out said ancestral family ring and she definitely said yes

Jeremie Belpois:

Same as Aelita's story. Jeremie and Aelita break up in freshman year of college. Both of them are doing computer science.

Jeremie sulks around for a while after the break up, and that's when Odd offers to set him up with someone. The first person was ridiculous, and so was the second and third, and Jeremie nearly gives up hope and resigns to a life without a life partner.

And then, one day, while he sees Aelita hanging out with her new significant other, he sulks and goes to a random cafe and orders a whiskey.

That's when he meets you.

You work part-time in that cafe to have a little extra cash in hand while you study. You're a year younger than him and you study in a different university/college, but something about you gives Jeremie the kind of butterflies that he hadn't felt -- for a while now -- even with Aelita. The more and more he gets to know you, with your sickeningly sweet smile, the more and more he falls, but he wants to see how well the two of you work as friends, first.

You definitely are into him too. Blonde, glasses, and the way he knew everything about everything was a huge turn on for you.

It's only after he graduates and gets a research fellowship in his university that he confesses and asks you out. The two of you start dating, and two months in, you need to find a new place and that's when Mr. Belpois just goes, "Why not move in with me?"

Domestic life with Jeremie:

Moving in two months into a relationship was definitely a first for both of you.

His own friends were very skeptical. Like, they knew that you've known him throughout your whole college life, but you've only just started dating, and it's weird, in Ulrich's thoughts, to move in with your partner of two months, but Jeremie found that he couldn't care less.

Jeremie, after his breakup with Aelita, has had a lot of time to think things over. His perception of certain things have changed, and he's a slightly reinvented version of himself.

Also, equally weirdly, Aelita is the first person to come to Jeremie's defense and say, "It's not weird that he's moving in with someone if he feels that it isn't weird!"

Coming back to you and Jeremie.

In my mind, Jeremie's new partner is someone who isn't from a tech background. I imagine that someone with a literature degree of sorts would also match up with him.

You want to publish your own writing one day.

And Jeremie's very supportive of that!

Coming to your dynamic, Jeremie earns more than you, owing to his affliation to tech, while you're a literature graduate who's getting short stories and news articles out. You also freelance, so on the whole, your income isn't fixed.

There have definitely been some misunderstandings between the two of you because of the money, but you work on it. Plus, Jeremie is very supportive of you and just loves you.

Jeremie's love language is always being able to help you in some way. You're searching for your scarf? He knows where it is. Your spacebar key is faulty? He can fix that for you. You want someone to offer feedback on your work? Jeremie will do it.

As for you, you're very physically affectionate. Hugs, cheek kisses, neck kisses, throwing Jeremie's glasses away while you climb on his lap for a makeout session. It takes him a while to get used to it, but he's not complaining.

Odd can't believe that Jeremie's intimate life is far more developed than his own.

He's told you about Aelita, of course, so you're happy to let him work that situation out on his own. You're sweet to Aelita, her partner, and the rest of his friends and he loves it!

The first time they hosted a get-together after moving in, he saw how sweet and affectionate you were with his friends and decided right then and there that you were the one.

You love cooking! You're an amazing cook, and that won over not only Jeremie, but also all of his friends, and their partners!

So you guys host dinner once a month for your friends.

Also, I don't think any of the Lyoko warriors' partners are ever told about Lyoko. That's just an adventure for themselves.

Jeremie's parents have met you and they love you! His dad, especially. And Patrick, too. Same goes for your parents and siblings.

Also, the two of you have an aquarium of fishes together. I feel like Jeremie's allergic to cats, and you're allergic to dogs (you only found this out after meeting Kiwi; you would have never known otherwise). So you bought an aquarium and learnt all about fish!

The two of you are very open about money, work and where you see yourselves in the future. This openness came after your first few fights about the money earning situation, and has led you to be more open with each other since.

You made it very clear that you'd only be ready to marry later on in life, after you've published your first book.

And that's exactly when he proposes.

You say yes, of course.

Your wedding happens a year after Aelita's wedding.

Odd Della Robbia:

Now, Odd!

Odd strikes us all as a player. He's not that bad boy player, but the cute, fun person everyone wants to date at some point. So, he's got his fair shares of partners throughout school life as well as college life.

You come into his life when Kiwi dies, actually (I imagine that this happened a year after Jeremie's partner met Kiwi). Your dogs, Otto and Goober had also died within the same week that Kiwi passed away, and both of you were looking at good spots to hold a funeral for your dogs.

The two of you bond over your dogs, how you both snuck your dogs into your schools, and how your dogs were very important to you, and you keep in touch even after the funerals.

He takes you as his plus-one to Aelita's wedding, and asks you out the same day. That's when you start going out. You have a standard relationship, and Odd decided after the second date that you're the one.

It takes you a while to, though, because you know about Odd's dating history, and also, in my head, Odd's partner might be a year or two older than him, so you're very level-headed and guarded.

So, when he asked you if you were cool with moving in about two years after you start dating, you were skeptical. He was okay with it, respecting your space, but he find sout about your apprehension regarding his past relationships and why you're so guarded, and he promises you that it's not like that with you, and that you're different.

Domestic life with Odd:

Odd actually moves in with you.

Your place is much bigger, and he slowly adds elements of him to that space, and the two of you make it your own.

Having grown up in a joint family, Odd is pretty good at keeping his house clean. He's good at chopping vegetables and doing the laundry when it needs to get done, and you're fairly surprised.

I imagine that Odd majored in theatre in college, and has his own stand-up shows. You, on the other hand, are probably a doctor, or lawyer, or a private business consultant of sorts. I think that would suit Odd well, but sometimes, you might have fights because of your individual career struggles.

But you love comedy, and you love Odd's brand of humor. It's one of the things you adore about him. Regardless of your schedule, you help him write bits, and always attend his shows.

Odd is so grateful.

Jeremie is so shook that Odd managed to find someone level-headed. Also, out of all of Odd's friends, you're the closest with Jeremie, which was very surprising because Ulrich and Odd are top-tier besties.

You spruce up Odd's life. Like, his old apartment was messy and cheap, but your place -- now his place as well -- is full of plants, full of life!

Odd, much like Aelita, likes to give you back hugs when you're doing the dishes.

The two of you get a dog about a year after you officially move in together, and you name him Scooter (I couldn't think of any other names).

With both of you having very different careers, you guys dedicate one weeked every month for netflix and chill, and another to date night.

I think the two of you just fall asleep cuddling during netflix night, tho. It's cute.

You've met all of Odd's sisters, and his parents, and he's met yours. His family loved you at once, but your family is skeptical, even after the two of you get married (which, I think, happens a little later down the line).

Odd might feel slightly insecure because of this, but you love him, and you assure him that though you love your parents, you won't let them give him a bad time because of his career choices. You love him for him!

Ulrich Stern

By now, dear reader, you've probably realized that I made specific scenarios for each Lyoko warrior. I hope you're liking this so far.

We all know Ulrich and Yumi's dynamic. But, for the sake of writing for Ulrich and Yumi seperately, let's say that Ulrich and Yumi decided to stay friends. Their relationship dissolving seemed like an inevitable thing for them, contrast to how things between Jeremie and Aelita went slightly awry when they broke up.

I think Ulrich just took some time to figure out what sort of person he was during his years after Kadic.

His father then sets him up in an arranged marriage.

Naturally, he's pissed, but he's a mature man. He doesn't like the idea of an arranged marriage. But he goes to meet the person because his father and your father arranged a meeting, and Ulrich's mother convinced him to at least meet you before rejecting you, if he was really so averse to being set up.

He goes to meet you. And he is absolutely floored.

You are the most gorgeous person he has ever met, and you have a very corny sense of humor in a way that's adorable! The two of you have so much fun and he saves your number, hoping to meet in the future.

You're actually the one who proposes moving in together before marriage, and he's fine with it. One part of him is scared, because he could see that things were moving too fast, but in comparison with his relationship with Yumi, he thought things were considerably better with you.

Domestic life with Ulrich:

For you and Ulrich, there's a timeline of events. The two of you move together two months before you were set to get married (which is, roughly speaking, after three years of dating/engagement).

You're very open to communicating, and your love language is basically every form of affection. For Ulrich, this is different and new, because his parents have never really openly communicated like this, but he's learning and he loves it.

You help him become more open!

Much like Odd's partner, you also love keeping plants and taking care of plants. The two of you (you and Odd's partner) talk about plants for hours when you first meet while Ulrich and Odd are just staring like 'O.O'.

I imagine that you would be a nurse/paramedic, while Ulrich's an electrical engineer (flying by the seat of my pants here, bear with me, but you can imagine yourself to be in any occupation you want. this is just what makes sense in my head). So your working hours are very demanding, and you function on coffee.

You always fall asleep when you and Ulrich are cuddling. He loves it! He carries you to bed if it's late, or if it's an afternoon, he'd take pictures of your face with doodles.

Both of you cannot cook to save your lives, so for about six months after you moved in (and four months after marriage), you survive on takeout or Yumi's cooking.

But then you learn to cook together and its still a work in progress.

Speaking of, Ulrich thought that things might be awkward between you and Yumi and was downright nervous about introducing the two of you, but then, after ten minutes of knowing you, Yumi is the embodiment of "if you break their heart, i'll kick your dick, ulrich."

Yes, you're basically corny sunshine.

Ulrich, I imagine, is the first person to end up as a Dad in the group.

Also, his relationship with his parents has improved after your marriage! You encourage him to be more straightforward and honest with them about his struggles during school and you're all a big happy family!

Ulrich teaches you penchaksilat.

You teach him how to take care of plants. Y'all have a garden.

The two of you are very cute.

William Dunbar

Now, remember where I said that all of the Lyoko warriors never told their future partners about Lyoko? William's partner is kind of an exception to this rule.

The truth is, you were also a student at Kadic Academy. You were in William's class, too.

Remember how sometimes people don't forget X.A.N.A. attacks even after a Return to the Past? That's how William actually got even more suspicious about Lyoko, remember?And Laura too! You, my dear, are also one of those people who don't necessarily forget X.A.N.A. events after a Return to the Past.

You just thought it was a case of deja vu.

William in my head will always be a secret agent. Or someone who likes extreme stuff. Let's just say he's a police officer/FBI/top secret agent and he was actually assigned to a case involving you receiving death threats. You're a successful author, by the way. Your stories may or may not revolve around your deja vu.

William read your books while he was on your case. He also got to know you and realized that while you were basically perfection with legs, you also went to Kadic Academy and had been his classmate for a long time, and it was him who never really noticed you.

He also realized about your deja vu problem and knew that you, like him, were kind of immune to Return to the Past.

After the case was closed, he asked you out on a date, though. You always did have a crush on him from school, so you thought, why not?

And the rest is history.

Domestic life with William:

So, you two don't really in together until marriage.

William's away for work and you keep a private life as an author, so most of your relationship is long-distance.

But when you stay with him, and he stays with you, it's basically flufftown.

William enjoys cuddles. He also enjoys reading your novels and your drafts and even gives suggestions (based on X.A.N.A. fights, shhhh).

You think he's very creative. He doesn't tell you about X.A.N.A. though. He'd thought of it several times, but he never tells you.

He sometimes does your chores for you, and you appreciate it, because you don't like doing chores.

William does those chores shirtless and often encourages you to join. You're only too enthusiastic.

You never really get a lot of cleaning done.

The two of you love planning two-day and/or week-long getaways to different places.

You often take trips with William's parents too. They adore you.

Because of your unpredictable work schedules, you two don't go to many of the Lyoko warrior gatherings. Sometimes, you do. Sometimes, he does, and the event of the two of you checking in on the gang together is always a blue-moon day.

All of them love your books.

Jeremie is a little wary of the things you seem to recall from X.A.N.A. days, so he's very cordial with you. His partner loves your books and has merchandise signed by you.

William proposes with a very expensive ring. The two of you have a very lavish wedding and that's when you move in together.

William's a very easy person to live with. The two of you are very touchy-feely and emotionally compatible, so there's no big problems between you two.

Yumi Ishiyama

You and Yumi met through a dating app.

She was looking for casual relationships then, but very quickly found herself falling head over heels for you.

Yumi's relationship is the one that moves very fast. She meets you, you get together, and you're moving in together after three months.

She has never felt this with anyone else. You're a wild soul, always craving adventure, craving fun, and you have such positive energy around you that just pulls her in. With you, she feels understood. She craves your energy, your enthusiasm, and your curiosity.

Domestic life with Yumi:

Yumi was brought up in a traditional household and I like to think that you're the opposite of that. You might be non-traditional, but you respect her beliefs, and love to hear about her childhood and culture.

You're a very extroverted person. You love trying new things -- food, clothes, bars, talents -- and you believe that life is for exploring.

Both you and Yumi are workaholics. You believe that, in order to have the lifestyle you want to, you must also work hard. Yumi is of the same belief, and the two of you appreciate each others' work ethic. You and Yumi keep your finances seperate, but also do talk about your money.

Yumi is a mean cook. You worship her cooking and always compliment her on things she makes.

Yumi's so glad she sat through her mom's cooking anecdotes.

You and Yumi have very similar music tastes, and bond over that the most!

Yumi loves that you have a strong set of morals, and a defined way of living, but also that you're open to other perspectives.

Her parents are very skeptical of you because you're so non-traditional, but once they see how honest and hardworking you are, they eventually warm up to you.

You destroy that when they find out that you're not willing to get married.

In reality, you've had this conversation with Yumi before. You're not exactly open to marriage, because of your childhood and the trauma you faced, being a child of divorce. You're not very close to your family, either.

Yumi figured that out even before you moved in together, though, but she was cool with it. Still is cool with it.

But as time goes on, you're open to marriage. With Yumi.

You figure out that if Yumi was accepting of your wishes, you could atleast be open to trying to work through whatever issues you have to acknowledge hers.

But, overall, you have a very respectful, healthy relationship.

[adhd-merlin]

unpopular opinion: arthur (as much as i like him as a character) was useless in terms of prophecy and liberation of the magic people. not just bc he never ended up lifting the magic ban but bc literally anyone sitting on the throne could have done that. i see no reason why it had to be arthur specifically. but the show liked to pretend like he was the only way to achieve a positive future bc the opprressed community cant simply help themselves that would be silly ig? no no they need to patiently wait that maybe one day their oppressor (whos literally continuing his fathers genocide even if less zealously) has a change of heart and they wont be hunted down like animals anymore. never mind the countless people that will have to die in the mean time. merlin can kill a bajillion people on screen and thats fine and for the greater good but if someone tries to kill One guy sitting on a fancy chair with a fancy hat suddenly thats too extreme. half the time it felt like the show was pointing to merlin as a poster child of how to act when oppressed. the fact that morgana growing bitter about uthers reign is framed as inherently bad and what directly lead to her becoming evil tm is particularly infuriating to me. the choice to create this very ya dystopian setting and then cast the oppressors as part of the main cast and the final solution is just very weird to me. i think it wouldve been objectively for the best if the magic community had overthrown arthur (or uther really but thats not really contested.. unless youre the bbc. this show is so british (derogatory))

in that vein: mordred has never done anything wrong in his entire life and that includes killing arthur

one more for the "arthur was a loser" folder

[ok but about the rest!! I have many thoughts about it. merlin as a member of an Oppressed Minority. his betrayal of his own kin. I'm putting it all under a cut bc you guys don't need to see me rambling about this and the disir again]

you make a good point — the way in which a story is framed, even the moment we choose as a "beginning", determines what characters we'll feel sympathy for, even when the facts at our disposal are the same.

I don't think the writers were trying to create any kind of deep social commentary btw. just so we're clear. merlin is the hero of the story and his mission is to keep arthur safe. we've got to root for them both.

to have a king with a hatred (fear) of magic gives us a convenient antagonist within the court. merlin having to defend the men that would have him killed for his magic is a great source of dramatic tension. it sort of follows that the people he has to fight against to defend the king/prince are other magic users, or magical threats. (it also keeps things interesting because there would be no challenge for merlin otherwise).

there isn't much of a point in exploring the motives and backstories of other characters with magic (with the exception of morgana, perhaps). They are only briefly touched upon — so these characters remain vaguely antagonistic for the most part. Neutrally aligned at best (see mordred).

We are shown that the druids are (mostly) aware of the prophecy that marks merlin/emrys as the saviour of their kind.

what I find fascinating are merlin's interactions with magic people who are either not aware of this prophecy (gilli) or have no faith in it (kara, possibly?) Because we're never given the chance or the time to see things from their perspective. To see merlin through their eyes.

When gilli says:

"It is time that someone struck a blow for the likes of you and me. And if you're too weak, then I will." (!!!)

It makes him sound like some kind of extremist, but really, when you think about it. isn't his anger kind of justified? I'm not condoning his violence, I'm just saying — it's understandable. uther has killed so many innocent people. literally drowned innocent children. and merlin's like "violence isn't the answer!" — and I can see his point!! but I can see gilli's just as well. and I find it so interesting that he's still addressing merlin as a brother ("the likes of you and me"), even when expressing disappointment in his actions and calling him weak. because they are the same. he's saying "you're deluded, and cozying up to the enemy won't save you"

this episode also contains what is (probably) my favourite dragon call. when merlin summons kilgharrah in other episodes, he's usually in the middle of some Urgent Situation. matters of life or death. there is nothing urgent here, really. yeah, it is arguably a matter of life or death, but nothing merlin couldn’t have stopped on his own. he really just called on kilgharrah to have a heart to heart with a friend — a member of his class.

("You are a creature of magic, and only a creature of magic could hope to understand.")

this episode is about merlin looking for kinship and still feeling isolated from his magic brethren. there's something tragic about the way the prophecy makes him unable to connect to some of the people who would be best placed to understand him.

and gilli plants a small seed of doubt in merlin's mind. "You've been pretending for so long now that you've actually forgotten who you are" (!!)

but kilgharrah reassures merlin that there's a golden age coming. so merlin does what he has to do — he saves uther once again. before gilli leaves, merlin reassures him that one day they will be free.

he tells mordred the same:

"It won't always be like this. One day we will live in freedom again."

and then, when he has the unique opportunity to use his influence on arthur to sway his opinion in the right direction. he fails.

he condemns himself, and the people he spoke to of freedom, to keep living in fear and in hiding — and what's even more upsetting, he does so while talking of a "just and fair kingdom"!

("You must protect the world you spent your life building, a just and fair kingdom for all." What an interesting choice of words. camelot isn't just and fair to all — as merlin knows well. he's lying to arthur, and possibly to himself.)

imagine being gilli or mordred and hearing him say that "there can be no place for magic in camelot." (!) What a slap in the face.

I've read meta suggesting that the disir were testing merlin just as much as arthur (or even more so than him). I'm inclined to believe it — I want to believe it. If anything because it makes the story all the more interesting and tragic. (I know what some are going to say — if mordred's destiny was to kill arthur, it would've happened anyway. but remember what else kilgharrah said — the future is never clear. there are many paths).

I understand why merlin did what he did, I really do. but for a moment, the fair and just kingdom he spoke of was within reach, and he failed to grasp it.

so was gilli wrong after all?

[and kara. I feel quite sympathetic towards her. we know arthur. she can't see him from our (merlin's) perspective. for her, he might as well be uther. magic people are still persecuted under camelot's law. she has spent her life on the run, she has seen people she loved be killed. and from our (arthur's) perspective, she looks like some kind of fanatic. but in reality. put yourself in her shoes. when arthur offers her a chance to save herself by "repenting" for her crime, she says she has nothing to repent for. "it is not a crime to fight for your freedom". that's the belief she's willing to die for. did she deserve to die for it?

(I also think there's an interesting parallel in merlin failing his kin in the disir, and arthur failing mordred in ep 5x11 by condemning kara to death. something about pinning all your hopes on someone who's going to fail you, and doom you both. idk idk.)]

sorry anon. you were saying

[pebblysand]

hi pal, how r ye? weird ask ik but thoughts on bisexual!harry?

hello! not weird at all - a very valid question.

that said, i always feel a bit odd when people ask me for opinions about characters/canon events though, because i feel like there's always this expectation that i have a Strong Headcanon about these things, which honestly i mostly don't. i'm pretty neutral on most characters - like: yes, i have my view of them, but if someone has a different view, i'm not going to fight them, you know? i tend to bow out of conversations every time people start drilling into metas and text interpretations, because i find that everyone just seems to have much stronger thoughts than me about most things. i think there's a million ways to interpret canon, and i don't think my way is the only valid interpretation. i really don't feel that strongly about anything 🤣.

that said, from a writing/fic perspective: i guess i feel... neutral about it? i've said this before but i'll say it again: i think really good writing can sell me anything. it could sell me harry as a pirate, harry as a serial killer, harry as a god, if it wanted to, so i don't have any strong objections to anything. i'll read slash fics or fics with harry being bisexual if they're well-written. i suppose the one ship i really don't see is tomharry/harrymort - that seems very far-fetched to me, but again, i think a really good fic could potentially even sell that to me, if the characterisation work was done well.

having said that, i personally wouldn't write bisexual!harry because personally, in my own view of the text, i just don't see it, so it would be hard for me to sell it to other people. i know a lot of people will point to him calling men "handsome" all the time and label that as "basically canon", and if that's your boat, then by all means float it, but i personally think this is just JKR being a straight woman and describing people the way she sees them. also, calling someone of the same sex "handsome" doesn't make you bisexual/gay - i find women pretty all the time, but i identify as (mostly) straight, so. i think if you put a gun to my head and asked me: is "bisexual!harry canon?" i would say "no," because JKR clearly meant him as straight, and interpreting the text any differently is reaching. I appreciate that a lot of people are very #deathoftheauthor with JKR, but i am not.

that said, if you asked me: is is canon-compliant? sure, you can make a lot of things canon-compliant if you want to. you just have to build more on top of canon. there is nothing in canon that says: harry will never be attracted to a man ever, and as such, you can for sure make bisexuality canon-compliant. you just have to work on it and sell it. and, if you want to tell me that's your canon, then fine, why not? it's your interpretation and it's just as valid as mine or JKR's.

i think the way i view these things is more like: how big of a writing hurdle is it to make me believe them? so, for instance, if you were to write a hinny fic, my tolerance for mediocre writing is higher, because i already believe in that relationship. if you were to write a dramione, harmony, drarry or harry/ron fic, your writing hurdle might be a little bit higher, but i do generally think all of these relationships are within the realm of possibilities, and therefore i'll buy it if it's decently written. if you were to write harrymort or snarry, i'm like: mate, that's a Hard Sell, but sure look it, if you think you can pull it off, be my guest.

that's as far as shipping harry with canon male characters goes, though. if we're talking in the abstract, could harry be with another man? i think ... yeah. like, why not? i genuinely don't believe anyone is 100% gay or straight, i think we all sort of float somewhere on that spectrum, so maybe he could potentially meet someone he likes. again, it's probably not what JKR intended, but you can make it canon-compliant. i think it's unlikely, because i think he's probably like 90% straight, but that 10% is open. there's just other canon characters who i think are more likely to be bisexual than he is.

i also think that it's important to acknowledge that it's understandable and important that people write harry as bisexual. like, i totally understand why someone would do that. it's representativity, and openness, etc. but i also don't think changing the canon sexual orientation of canon characters (as in: giving them a different sexual orientation than the one JKR intended) is the only way that can be achieved. HP obviously lacks representativity in that area (esp in light of today's standards) but i tend to focus my diversity writing on OCs, and that's just my way to do it.

additionally, if i want to do something with canon characters, i tend to focus on the sexual orientation of characters who are a bit secondary, whose head you're not in, and for whom, thus, sexual orientation is a bit more of an open question. i think you can easily do that with ginny (in fact one of my favourite fics i've read in recent years in ginny/luna) or with people like seamus or dean, who are in the background enough that you just don't know what they think/who they're attracted to.

but again, i'm a canon-compliant writer. i'm a canon-compliant reader. if you're writing this wild AU where you're totally disregarding the canon characters and settings and just writing whatever you please, then obviously that's a different question.

[south-sea]

☆-happy headcanon ☮️-friendship headcanon ♦️-quirks/hobbies headcanon

for your Metal and Shadow AU!

WOO! feelin' good!

☆ - happy headcanon

i like to think of shadow as the type of person who finds joy in the little things. he could be out and about doing objectively fun activities, and it's still going to be the quiet moments after the excitement's died down where he's just watching the sunset with someone that really completes the day. it's wearing an apron and making home recipes until the whole house is filled with the scent of savory sweets, it's taking a second to just walk down a forest path or lying in a field of flowers and feeling the breeze in his fur, it's sitting shoulder to shoulder or in a pile on the couch while watching a movie, it's getting his achy hands massaged after a long day.

for metal it's the same but different. sure he gets a certain sort of joy out of making a ruckus, roughhousing, or generally just causing destruction, but the things that actually make him happy, the things that make his eyes switch from red to blue for how overwhelmed with fondness he is, are the quieter, more mutual moments with shadow. the moments where he gets to see his efforts have been worth it-- that his cherished person is safe and in good spirits. metal does not need, want, or ask for much, but so long as his self-chosen purpose is fulfilled, he's content. in particular, he's especially fond when shadow takes the time to buff out any scratches or scuffs in his paint, and generally any attention paid to his appearance despite the fact metal himself cares very little about it otherwise.

☮ - friendship headcanon

i'll answer this one from the angle of "how easy it is for them to make friends" since it's not something i've had the chance to talk about before--

metal is exceptionally difficult to actually "befriend". he very literally categorizes people, and those categories aren't exactly a spectrum. either you're shadow, someone who benefits him/shadow, or you're Just Some Guy. maybe if you're lucky he'll classify you as "durable enough to roughhouse with", which from an outside perspective might look friendly. after all, metal's idea of "playing" is throwing people halfway across a field or suplexing them if they've even slightly inconvenienced him, so one might assume him finding people he doesn't have to worry about accidentally hurting would mean he likes them, right? ... nope. it just means he likes having a loophole where he can get away with it without being scolded.

metal doesn't have "friends". he has people he's protective of (rare), the equivalent of business associates, and people who mean nothing to him beyond the fact he can just hulk them over his shoulder without someone else scolding him for it.

shadow isn't nearly as cold about it, but he does have a tendency to subconsciously hold people at arm's length. from an outside perspective, he could be as kind and helpful as can be to a person to the point one would assume he thinks very highly of them, but from his perspective, they're not any more special than the last random person he interacted with. he encounters a lot of people, some of which he tends to habitually help given he sees himself as somewhat of a nurse, but there's a certain magic in letting single meetings be just that.

you could argue it's just really rare for him to bridge the gap from "acquaintance" to "friend", or you could think of it as "he's really bad at realizing when someone actually qualifies as a friend". sometimes it's both. usually it's just the latter if he's met the person several times. typically though, he really is just perfectly neutral. he gets along with certain types of people better than others, sure, but he's not really the one to go out of his way to interact with them unless they really click. (hell, even metal was a matter of "this guy just lives here now, i guess", so they were in more regular contact than average, and it wasn't intentional on shadow's part.)

♦ - quirks/hobbies headcanon

shadow has so many hobbies and they are all over the board. he's generally the type to go through phases of interest where he just focuses on/picks up something at random, and if it sticks, it sticks. this was especially common in the earlier days when he was trying to figure out what it was he wanted to do for himself, so there's even completely mundane things like cloud watching. whether or not he still considers it an active hobby or not, he can semi-reliably identify cloud formations. clouds and earth-like weather was one hell of a novelty for a while, considering space was all he knew prior.

photography was his first and continues to be the main one, though: at this point he's got a whole portfolio and takes up commissions whenever the mood strikes. branching off from photography is scrapbooking; he even has a separate (polaroid) camera specifically for it. he's kept up with it regularly since shortly after his revival. it goes without saying that a lot of this also involves just generally wandering around/exploring. he'll snap pics of whatever strikes his fancy or seems novel. one of his favorite subjects is finding out-of-place things in the middle of nowhere, like a particularly unique tree compared to the rest around it, a single flower, long-abandoned campsites, completely overgrown ruins, etc.

apart from that, he dabbles a little in cooking (only when he finds something he really likes, otherwise he prefers to think of this particular hobby as "exploring food/new places to eat"), gardening, creating secret bases, or taking on missions of varying levels of danger. given these missions/explorations tend to take up so much of his time these days, he doesn't have as much motivation to just try out random things anymore, but i could absolutely see him learning bass/electric guitar if there was ever a reason or motivator to.

metal has exactly one hobby that doesn't involve being a destructive little thing: collecting data. he keeps profiles on just about every person he meets, every place he visits, and records even seemingly irrelevant information. i liken him to a walking library, and he takes his role as a "librarian" very seriously.

the information isn't for anyone or to serve any purpose but his own satisfaction/entertainment (unless it is medically relevant/a safety precaution). very rarely will he take commissions to scour a world for information on xyz thing, simply because he prefers to just hoard the knowledge to himself. he's not interested in being helpful to literally anyone but his people/himself, and has no real need for money after a certain copper-stripping stunt he pulled early on.

[somecunt]

I’ve dissembled my lesbophobia, my misogyny, and my femmephobia.

I’ve carried a fear of being attracted to women, for a long time. I have a lot of anxiety surrounding attraction to women. Whenever I’d see a nude woman in a sexual context I’d become disgusted. This is partially due to it being very normalized for gay cis men to find women’s bodies, and objects associated with women’s bodies repulsive.

I’m working on it definitely. I didn’t value the relationships of wlw or wlnb/nblw or lesbians,sapphics and related attractions.

I used to have a, “not like other girls” mindset, yeah sure I’m ftm and I was in fact “not like other girls” but I leaned into misogyny heavily to distance myself for girls/women, and femininity in girls/women. some of my hatred of female bodies may also come from my need to not be in association with girls/women.

This could be misinterpreted for me as an trans male coming in to scold cis gay males for their “inherent attraction to male bodies and repugnance towards female bodies”, being a gay man isn’t synonymous with hating vaginas, breasts, and loving dick. I’m firmly attracted to nonwomen, and I like breasts, and vaginas, I like penis as well, but in terms of men I do have a preference toward vaginas, nonbinary people, no preference.

In the way I interpret sexuality, what I believe determines it is what are you thinking behind it. regardless of your partner if you’re intimate with them because you’re perceiving their body within womanhood, then you’re probably attracted to women, if you’re partner doesn’t perceive themselves that way, that’s an issue. there’s other things that affect this, like are you forcing yourself to perceive their body in some sort of way to prevent you from facing the reality that you’re one way. I think forcing, and widening your perspective is different.

We’ve been taught that penises, are male genitalia, they’re don’t have to be, they’re penises at their core, and they’re attached to many types of people, trans/cis men, fem/masc/neutral aligned people, trans/cis women. It’s understandable that you categorize penises as male because you were raised in a society where that’s the norm. Seeing more women and non-men with penises while genuinely recognizing them as women, and nonbinary can aid in expanding that view. You don’t need to sleep with anyone you don’t want to, but placing their body into a category of disgust is wrong.

Women’s bodies are beautiful, although I’m not attracted to them sexually, aesthetically all bodies carry their own intense beauty.

Some people don’t even weigh gender presentation, gender identity, or genitalia in their attraction to people, which I guess would be called pansexuality, although plenty of bisexual people also feel this way about their attraction. This doesn’t mean pansexual people can’t have these same issues of perceiving all bodies afab as women’s bodies, and all bodies amab as men’s bodies.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Honestly, this was very disappointing to see. I would be hard pressed to find a more egregious example of a series of strawman arguments pretending at legitimacy.

Right out of the gate, you are coming at this from what comes across as an incredibly aggressive and, quite frankly, mean-spirited position. The OP made a post on their own blog, sharing their own opinion, in a very neutral way.

Your argument that "most notes, at best, augment what is presented in the cutscenes" is categorically and demonstrably untrue. There are a plethora of notes, books, and writings that exist solely to give extra depth to the world. Just because those are seemingly unimportant to you does not render them objectively unimportant.

Yes, because telling Shadowheart "I want to talk about everything that's happened to us" ten times and getting the same answer for eight of those times is SO much more enlightening than watching someone else do it. Truly riveting stuff, you just can't miss doing it yourself.

I am going to give you credit enough to presume that you didn't just entirely miss the OP's point, which means that you deliberately built this response around something that they didn't say at all, and clearly did not intend. That is an incredibly disingenuous way to build an "argument".

Maybe we should only count someone as having finished the game if they have done both, because you miss so much information about the world and history of the Absolute plot playing as someone besides Durge.

Once again, you are inventing and adding on to a fabricated version of the OP's argument. The OP said nothing at all of the sort, but you are acting as though they did, and doing so specifically to direct ridicule at them.

This is the same kind of elitism that is used to insult easy mode players of various games, saying that if they can't play it the "real" way, they don't deserve to see the ending, or that you can't call yourself a fan of the game if you only play on easy mode, etc.

I can't help but feel like this is getting repetitious, but once again: strawman. It is not elitism to hold an opinion different to your own, and I find your willingness to weaponize concepts like this against people you disagree with, frankly, incredibly concerning. No issue is divided into two black and white sides, and you finding something disagreeable about what the OP said does not equate to them embodying these other, completely unrelated, accusations you are lobbing at them.

What are you afraid of- someone's opinion being listened to when it isn't bought with money?

You keep making this about money, when that was not at all a part of the OP's post. In a game designed like Baldur's Gate, with a massive number of hours in an average base game run – that being the amount of time you are intended to spend with these characters – as well as the incredible ripple effects of so many of the choices made, it is not elitism or financially-motivated prejudice to voice an opinion that one's own experience of events might give a different perspective of the world and characters than merely viewing them in a much more condensed time frame.

It's like saying that someone who listened to an audiobook doesn't actually understand the book because they didn't turn the pages themself.

Video games as a medium exist to tell stories in a way that cannot be done with another format. As such, trying to reduce the discussion down to this flat 1:1 does a disservice to that very medium, and the artistry it allows and encourages.

And I have to challenge the premise that there is THIS much of an emotional difference between the two. Like, putting aside that different moods have changed my opinion on characters, I have experienced the "convince Shadowheart to spare Aylin" scene twice. Once with me playing it, once watching my friend. And guess what? I didn't feel anything when playing it myself that I didn't feel watching her. "Cool. Aylin's been spared. Time for Moonrise." Actually, I did feel one thing that was different: "thank fuck I don't have to fight Shadowheart, she has all my healing potions." That's it. Only difference.

I have been trying my best to avoid engaging in the "making judgments of someone else's character based on a few lines" that your post is filled with, but I feel inclined to give my thoughts upon reading this segment of yours, which are: You feeling absolutely nothing at all at this scene, no matter how you experienced it, might actually indicate more about your own experience of the game, story, and characters. I would not use that to draw conclusions about everyone's experience.

In conclusion, what I saw from your response was that you philosophically disagreed with the OP's personally held opinion, and instead of addressing it in those terms, you decided that to "win" this engagement, you needed to paint the OP as someone objectively horrible and ideologically flawed.

People are allowed to have different opinions. People are even allowed to discuss those different opinions respectfully. What you have done is so far into the the realm of bad-faith that it has nearly eclipsed the sun.

I'm gonna be honest with you guys: there's a major difference between watching scenes of BG3 on youtube and actually playing the game, and I'm saying this was someone who began writing a BG3 fanfiction before playing the game.

A video can be edited. Or you can skip the 'boring' parts of the video. And also, the person who posted made their own decisions that could be vastly different than what you would have chosen, and many of them affect the characters of the game. The person who posted the video might not have read the various books and scrolls that the game has.

When you play the game, it's you doing everything. You who make the decisions, who go throuhg the 'boring' interactions, you. When you play, you have access to all bits and pieces of lore, access to talk with the characters how many times you want.

*also, i'm considering playing the game as finishing the game (or at the very least, getting very far into it cause I know a lot of people kinda stop after getting to act 3).

It's a different experience. You have a different perspective of the game when you play it, instead of just watching someone else do it.

And like, i will be honest, it baffles me a little how I've seen people write this long ass meta and opinion posts about characters of the game when the person has only experienced it through watching videos on youtube.

Because, playing the damn game is such a different experience that my opinion of certain characters CHANGED when I actually played the game v. when I was only watching stuff. Also, when you play and then make your meta posts, you can at least have the fact that you went through the things you're talking about, you have a different view of how those things affected the world and you.

Also, since i'm already in this discussion, we gotta stop acting as if datamines and devnotes were as important as what is actually in game. Sure, there are datamine material that eventually makes it's way into the game, but it's not a guarantee and in my opinion, it should not be treated with as much value as what is ALREADY in the game. And devnotes, they're acting directions, they're not supposed to be taken as some secret lore, they're just there to help the actors portray the desired emotions.

Anyways, i made this post cause some behaviours have been bothering me and quite frankly, if i ever have to choose who to side on with, i'll probably side on with whoever actually experienced the game. Now, i'll be back on my usual shit.

[kgrundy]

Week 4 Blog

The composition of the image has a lot to with lines, including the lines of the mirror and the posing of the subject herself. It looks to have been shot from around eye-level of the subject, bringing the audience into their perspective and allowing one to connect emotionally. The use of black and white offers a sense of minimalism to the photo, allowing the viewer to focus in on the subject and their reflection. Light and tone is used by having natural light sort of bounce off the mirror to highlight the subjects face. Black and white offers an elegant contrast to the image. Focus has been on the subject, but there is an obvious blur from the mirror in the subjects reflection. Potentially revealing that one may see a jaded sense of self in the mirror as apposed to what others see when looking at the subject. The posture of the subject conveys a sense of carelessness, she isn't looking at herself in the mirror and is off looking in the distance at something else. I believe the most interesting aspect of this photo is how the reflection offers the audience a different perspective when viewing the subject. The mood of this photograph is a bit solemn, I believe the black and white add to that.

The composition includes good use of rule of thirds and a lot of lines in the photo. The lines are straight and curved around the subject of the photo. There is quite a lot of space in the photo above the subjects head. There seems to be either artificial or natural sunlight in the room as we can see light bouncing off the white brick walls, and the reflective objects in the room. Again the tone is black and white and it has an effect of loneliness in this photo. Every object seems to be in focus in the photo, perhaps stating that everything is important for one reason or another. The subject is posed with a cigarette in hand and her arm crossed over her body, giving a sense of standoffish attitude. When one crosses their arms it is a subconscious way of telling others to leave one alone. I believe the most interesting aspect of the photo is the fact that the cigarrette is so small but seems to be in the center of the photograph, drawing ones eye there naturally. The mood of this photograph kind of gives off sort of "im cooler than you" attitude. I believe the posture creates this mood.

I used the first photo as my inspiration for my portrait. I like the idea and use of many mirrors to capture different angles of the subject at the same time. I didn't give my subject much direction on the posing. I told her to look at herself in the mirror, and I took many photos to achieve one that gives off a sort of model look to my subject. She is neutrally looking at herself in the mirror and we can see this in the larger mirror in the back. I wanted the use of two mirrors and the subject to first show, how others normally perceive the subject, the back of the subject in the first mirror represents what the subject normally wouldn't notice about herself, with the second mirror showing how the subject perceives themselves in a mirror.

[dragonmuse]

Could we get Izzy’s perspective at the passport office when he ran into Pru? I also wonder if he would bring Lucius’ drawing to their coffee meeting? I’m loving the “and be prudent” tag!!

(@objective-j also requested more of Pru and Izzy meeting, so here is more of that from Izzy's POV. and lol I don't usually give the more minor OCs tags, but that one felt right! Also Pru seems well liked so she may crop up from time to time.)

“No fucking way,” Lucius voice echoed around the car. “For a big city, this place can be small as hell. Are you okay?” 

“I don’t know,” Izzy admitted. He hadn’t actually pulled out of his parking space. He didn’t actually have anywhere to go, a lie told to let him escape. “Sort of. I mean I barely knew her. She was a kid.” 

“Why don’t you come over, huh? I’ll make you a drink while I do prep.” 

“Yeah, yeah all right.”  

The back door was closed, but unlocked when he arrived and slipped inside. The Swede was sweeping and singing along to ‘Dancing Queen’, occasionally swirling the broom around. Eddy was laying down on the stage pointing up at some of the lighting while Jim stood over them. When Izzy entered, they gave him a lazy finger wave. 

“Hey, boss.” 

“Iz!” Eddy cried out from the floor. “What are you doing here?” 

“Stealing your liquor.” 

“Don’t tell Stede, he gets prickly about that.” 

“Why the fuck would I tell him?” Izzy rolled his eyes. “Are you stuck down there?” 

“Nope, trying to figure out which bulb is flickering. It’s not doing it regularly, so if I stay down here I might catch it and we can replace it before show time.” 

“You’ll get spots in your vision.” 

“Probably!” 

Izzy decided against continued argument. Jim could handle it. Or just sit there and wait for their ‘I told you so moment’. Both seemed equally satisfying. He took his usual seat at the bar and didn’t have to wait long for Lucius to emerge from storage brandishing vodka bottles in both hands. 

“Goblin!” he set the bottles down on the bar and came over to give him an acessing look. “Figured out how you’re feeling yet?” 

“Working on it.” 

“Pink or yellow?” 

Izzy didn’t bother asking for what. “Yellow.” 

“Cool, try this,” Lucius set a martini glass in front of him. It had about an inch of very yellow liquid in it. 

Izzy took a sip and did his best to keep his face neutral. “Little sour.” 

“Damnit,” Lucius sighed, picking it up and taking a sip himself. “Ooooh shit. Yeah. Okay. Went too hard on the pucker.” 

“What’s the pink?” 

“Same idea, less sour, more strawberry. I want to put a few fun drinks on the menu for February. You know the month of loooove.” 

“Cute,” Izzy shook his head. “Yellow one doesn’t really seem in line.” 

“Excuse you, but I’m in love with a sourpuss myself,” Lucius grinned. 

Izzy huffed out a pleased laugh. “Is that what you’re going to call it?” 

“Maaaybe. We’ll see. Got to make it drinkable first. For now,” Lucius poured him a straight up shot of vodka and set in front of him. “Down that than talk to me.” 

“Thanks.” He threw it back and then set the glass aside. “I don’t know. It was sudden. Barely recognized her.” 

“How old was she the last time you saw her?” 

“Fourteen, maybe fifteen. And yeah, decades ago.” 

“Does...I don’t know. Did she look like Faith?” Lucius talked about her now like he had known her too and Izzy hadn’t known how much he’d needed that. 

“She didn’t back then. I mean yeah, you could tell they were sisters, but Pru was taller already by the time I met Faith. I mostly recognized her from her nose. Pru had a very up-turned nose as a kid. Between that and the accent, I got there.” 

“What was she like?” 

“Only talked to for a minute. Mad, mostly.” 

“Why?” 

“The ring.” 

“Shit. Really?” 

“I showed it to her. She didn’t know it was from me, apparently. They threw out all of....” he couldn’t really think about that. Couldn’t say it. “Gave her my card, then go the fuck out of there.” 

“Uh, Iz. You gave her your business card?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to go through the whole dance of trying to give her my number.” 

Lucius lifted his brows, “So, you know that I think it’s incredibly sweet and all, but uh, did you tell her what you named the business?” 

Izzy stared at him for a long second, then groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “Shit.” 

“I think it’s fine. I’m sure she’ll draw the right conclusion from it.” 

“What conclusion?” He asked into his palms. “Is there one that doesn’t make me seem kind of pathetic?” 

“There is nothing pathetic about how you love people,” Lucius chided. “It’s enduring. It’s beautiful. And kind of obsessive, but lucky for you I’m into that.” 

“Thanks,” he sighed. “Well. It’s done anyway. Doubt she’ll call.” 

“Bet she will,” Lucius countered. “Hey, you think she’s got a photo of her?” 

“No idea. Possible.” 

“HA! FOUND IT! FUCK YOU LIGHTING FIXTURE!” 

“I think I’m going to be asked to get the stepladder,” Lucius determined. He dropped a kiss in Izzy’s hair. 

Izzy stuck around, watching the entire inefficient show that was the Revenge staff trying to change a lightbulb. If it had been happening in his home base, he would’ve killed all of them, but here it was mostly amusing. Distracting. 

He stayed for the show too, then gathered a goodbye kiss from Lucius before heading back home.  It wasn’t until he had eaten a late dinner, finished the book he was reading, showered and gotten into bed that his feelings caught up with him. He lay in the dark and let the grief wash over him. It had been a long time since he’f felt it so hard. 

Izzy: figured it out. Sad.  

Lucius:  That tracks. Sucks though. 

It did suck. Izzy fell asleep about it and felt mostly all right in the morning. The tingle of potential incoming complication didn’t leave right away, but he still had to move through his day. She wasn’t going to call, he reminded himself. No use in getting worked up over a chance meeting. 

He only dimly remembered Pru as part of the amalgam that had been Faith’s terrible family. He pictured her yelling down the stairs as Faith went out the door or tucked in behind her mother like a miniature version of her. Faith would complain about her, the way she stole, rifled through her things, talked incessantly and complained endlessly. 

Izzy had hated Delly like that once. 

Mid-day, he picked up his phone and texted. 

Izzy: If you don’t have plans, I can get the kid tonight for a few hours. Had a change in plans. 

Delly: Really? Yes! That’d be great.  

Izzy hadn’t had any plans at all. But he couldn’t really do much for Delly at fifteen, abandoned to handle their parents alone. This he could do. 

When he picked Pickle up, he asked casually, 

“I can’t remember, were you in the same grade as Prudence Callahan?” 

“Hm?” Delly was moping off Pickle’s face after a close encounter with a very ketchup intensive hamburger.  “Uh...no? I think she was in the grade or two above me. I remember the name. Wait. Wasn’t that your girlfriend’s sister?” 

“Yeah. Ran into her the other day.” 

“That must’ve been fun. Ok, take her purple backpack by the door and you two are good to go. Bye, sweetheart. Don’t wear your uncle out.” 

“Kay!” Pickle wrapped herself around Izzy’s arm. “Bye, Mommy!” 

It was easy to forget his own shit when he had Pickle. She needed his full attention. He dropped her back off, both of them tired, sticky and with far more knowledge of Barbie’s fairy kingdom than they had been at the beginning of the night. 

“Thanks, asshole,” Delly grimaced as Pickle explained exactly how much ice cream she’d eaten. 

“You’re fucking welcome,” he said pleased. Despite herself, Delly looked far more relaxed and in another room, Izzy could hear Thomas whistling. Disgusting. He hid a smile. 

The days passed and each one that ticked by without a call, Izzy let go a little more. What did it matter? They had nothing to say to each other. Lucius did hand him something mid-week. 

“Just in case.”  He’d offered and Izzy had taken it. Couldn’t hurt to have on hand.  

Nearly a full month passed and he’d practically forgotten about the encounter at all, especially when he had to take Read to the E.R. in the middle when she’d stepped in to prevent a beating of the guy they were following. Man just had a stupid mouth, he probably didn’t deserve to get the shit kicked out of him, but Read had gotten a rib busted for her trouble. Izzy lectured her all through the long sit in the waiting room and she’d taken it with an annoying fond smile. 

Asshole kid. 

So it was with some surprise that he opened an email absently on Thursday and read a request to meet for coffee. He agreed and they set a time and a place. 

“Do you want me to come?” Lucius offered. 

“No, it’s okay,” he decided. “Don’t want her to feel ganged up on. I think I spook her as is.” 

“Yeah, bet you scare all the soccer moms, hot stuff.” 

But she’d mentioned her boyfriend’s kid. Possibly she had her own, but when she slid into her seat across from him in her immaculate white knitwear and precise haircut, it seemed unlikely. 

They regarded each other over steaming cups. 

“You’ve done well for yourself,” Pru said eventually. “I saw your website, read some reviews.” 

“We get by,” he agreed. “What about you?” 

“I’m an interior designer. Mostly personal spaces, but I’ve done a few offices.” 

“Huh, what’s that like?” 

Pru seemed relieved to talk about something familiar, so he asked a few questions, letting her ramble a little about her work. When she ran out of steam though, she grimaced. 

“This isn’t what you want to talk about, is it?” 

“It’s fine,” he shrugged. “It’s a lot to face headon.” 

“She’s been dead way longer than she was alive,” Pru said bluntly. “And I think about her a lot, but not name my business and keep her ring around my neck every day a lot. Back then, I didn’t figure you cared much at all really.” 

“What do you mean?” He frowned. 

“I mean you were around a lot, but I figured...” she sighed. “You know. Why does any high school boy stick around a girl?” 

Izzy barked a dry laugh, startled by the bluntness, but welcoming it. “Yeah, no. I’m gay.” 

Pru stared at him then spluttered out a ragged, “What? Did she know?”

“I didn’t know then. She wanted a guy who would protect her and not touch her in ways she didn’t want to be touched and I was good for that,” he said, but the words no longer sat so easily on his tongue. 

Years together. Years that were volatile and strange. He’d watched from a distance and now a little closer as Mary’s kids struggled through high school, the way Alma fell in and out of relationships and Charlie barely seemed old enough to consider them. 

“And we loved each other,” he amended. “A lot. By the end anyway.” 

She nodded slowly. “I can see that. I wish...I don’t know what I would’ve done with that back then, but I still wish I’d known that.” 

“She didn’t trust you,” he said then wished he hadn’t. What was the point all those years later?” 

“I know,” Pru didn’t look hurt. “I tattled on her one too many times. Stole from her. Made fun of her. She gave it back too. She was no saint.” 

“Yeah, she had a mouth on her,” he said and it was hard not to make it sound like praise. 

“Once she told me I was too stupid to tell my feet from my hands. I was nine,” Pru said, her lips twitching like she might smile over it. “I actually worried about that for weeks.” 

“She used to call anyone who cut us off on a bike ‘filthy dickbags’.” 

“Oh my god,” Pru did smile. “You know Dad used to be all over us about swearing. I still can barely say ‘hell’ without wincing. Guess she was braver than me.” 

“Did you get out?” 

“Soon as I turned 18.” 

“Then I’d say just as brave. Braver. If you did it on your own.” 

“I did,” Pru lifted her chin, eyes glinting. And there, just for a second, she did look just like Faith. Izzy had to look away. 

“I uh...you said you didn’t have much of hers?” 

“Just the boots. Ran out in them. Sturdier than my sneakers back then. I still have them, but that’s it really. Mom and Dad when on rampage, tried to act like she’d never even existed.”  

“No pictures?” 

She shook her head. “Never were a big photo family. Mom might’ve had some, but I didn’t even know she’d died until years after it happened. 

Izzy hadn’t been hoping for much, but that tore at him. Nothing at all. Not for the first time, he wished he believed in a higher power so he could thank them for bringing Lucius into his life. 

“My boyfriend is an artist,” he pulled out the envelope. “He found her yearbook picture and drew this. He made a print for you when I told him I’d run into you.” 

“Seriously?” She took the envelope and opened it with a single long nail. They were nicely painted, some kind of white tip situation. It was precise, like the rest of her. Pru was a woman held together by right angles. Izzy could relate. 

“Yeah, I think it’s good, but I’m not really-” 

“Oh my god,” she gasped as she drew out the paper “It’s her. That’s her.” 

He sat back, watched her take it in, pressing her hand to the paper.  “Thank him for me. Please.” 

“I will.” 

“Oh my god,” she said again and closed her eyes. “I half think I made her up sometimes. Is that strange?” 

“No. I know the feeling.” 

“I think I need to go before I start bawling in public,” she said quietly. “But...I’d like to talk again. If that’s okay. Maybe meet your boyfriend so I can say thank you in person.” 

“Any time,” he found himself promising. 

She didn’t take her coffee with her. Izzy bussed it for her, tossing both their half-finished cups away. He decided to walk back home. It was raining every so slightly, the terrible mist of late fall that clung and made everything damp instead of properly wet. 

“Your sister turned out okay,” he mumbled. What was another gray haired guy talking to himself on the street? People could mind their fucking business. “I think you’d like her now. Maybe not. Maybe you’d just tolerate her during the holidays. Would’ve done that with you too.” 

He could imagine it so easily. Faith hadn’t liked parties, neither had he, but they probably would go to Delly’s annual romp anyway or whatever fussy Martha Stewart nightmare Pru might do. Maybe both and after they’d compare notes, trying to outdo each other on who had the most passive-aggressive thing said to them. Faith would win since Delly tended to be more massive-aggressive. 

Or maybe...maybe they would’ve enjoyed both in their own way. Or maybe they wouldn’t have made it there together even if she lived. 

None of it mattered. He couldn’t live his life in what-ifs. What he had was a Lucius, who was getting very thoroughly thanked when he came home tomorrow night and someone else to reminisce with from time to time. That was more than enough. 

[emeryleewho]

Okay, I was asked to elaborate so I shall. Just gonna leave this here from Masterclass explaining the different types of Third Person POV, but TL;DR:

There are 3 types of Third Person POV

Omniscient - the narrator is an outside person who knows everything about the story and the characters. They can see all.

Close Third - the author sticks closely to one character at a time and we are limited to whatever the current POV character knows.

Objective - A neutral narrator who does not know the characters' thoughts or feelings.

Note that literally only the second one really puts you in the sort of deep, personal, and biased perspective that First Person deploys, but Third Person can kind of play around with this more than First Person can.

For instance:

"He walked into the room and was instantly struck by the smell of fish. He'd never experienced something so repulsive." - this is more objective and distant than something like...

"He walked into the room and was instantly struck by the smell of fish. Absolutely disgusting!" - this reads more like First Person POV because the narration (while still using he/him) basically closes all distance between the character and the narrator. This is *fine*, but it's also not the default, though many readers and editors seem to think that it is.

Note that if we took the two above passages and translated them into first, the second would read fine: "I walked into the room and was instantly struck by the smell of fish. Absolutely disgusting!" Whereas the first would read really clunky and lifeless: "I walked into the room and was instantly struck by the smell of fish. I'd never experienced something so repulsive." I think this is the editorial eye that people are wrongly deploying against Close Third, expecting it to convey the same level of extreme closeness and casualness that is kind of necessary in First Person POV.

On top of that, if you're writing this scene in Omniscient POV, it might sound something like "He walked into the room and was instantly struck by the smell of fish. He'd never experienced something so repulsive. The woman across the room felt much the same, but everyone else had grown accustomed to the smell." Now we know how everyone feels about the situation.

Meanwhile Objective might read something more like "He walked into the room, sucking in a long breath only to gag, his nose twisting upward. Across the room, the butcher chopped a large fish before a long line of patrons. Only the woman in the corner wore an expression that mirrored the man's." Notice how we can piece together the same information as the previous passage, but we're not being *told* how anyone feels about anything. We're seeing all of this like outsiders watching a movie and using visual (or other sensory) clues to piece together what's happening and how people probably feel.

And, of course, with all of these, there is variation within them. Omniscient may only touch upon the emotions of certain characters as necessary or it may give us their feelings in detail. Close Third can vary DRAMATICALLY in how close it wants to be, from only giving us a handful of important thoughts to giving us every intimate feeling to literally deploying an unreliable narrator in which we're closely following the "feelings" of the character but all of those feelings are wrong because the character doesn't even understand their *own* feelings.

Editorially, you should be looking more for consistency and relevancy to the story. If the POV stays consistent throughout and serves the information that is needed to propel the story along than it's doing its job. It does not need to replicate the most popular POV trend at the moment to be good.

I feel like, somewhere along the way, people forgot that Third Person POV is supposed to allow more distance than First Person and have instead started treating Third Person as "First Person But We Use She/He Pronouns".

[neomedievalist]

some ??hot?? takes: innocent sin feels more "contemporary" than persona 5 in terms of story. all this wild shit happening simultaneously just feels like looking at the news.

this one probably isn't a hot take, but persona games need to bring back character theme songs. 1) it owns, 2) it might prevent the p4/p5 problem of having Too Many Guys so they barely get the spotlight.

oh persona should stop dripfeeding party members. just introduce them all early and then give them arcs throughout the game. also let social links hook in.

thinking any of nocturne's reason endings are good is really silly. they all suck and are narratively unsatisfying, and all of the reasons are abhorrent. this makes sense for the game but i can't imagine someone thinking any of those endings are the best.

manikins should've been able to get a reason. the demifiend can already fuck with creation by restoring the old world / exploding the universe, he should've been able to force through the manikin reason.

yeah i can see what you mean. actually there are several different points in here let me respond to all of them

i mean, true, but p5 is hilariously modern, they literally use iphones to go to the demon dimension, and forum posts are your sidequests. i get thats not your point though, and it speaks to p2's longevity that its themes are still able to be relevant today. honestly, if p2 was made today, itd work even better with the misinformation age and the rumours theme. this is a tangent, but ive always thought digital devil saga is the most modern relevant smt and it takes its themes to the logical end thats perfectly fitting for the quote unquote new generation of smt, if it was released today it would hit exactly the same. i honestly think if smt was a chronological series with a clear start and end, the dds duology would be a perfect end to wrap up all the themes of the entire series. (that's why i wont rec it to newcomers to smt, but if youve played others and havent played it, you absolutely have to)

true! i mean i dont have any particular takes about theme songs but i think its something id like to see come back for sure.

to an extent yeah. i think p3 works so well because you already have a lot of the party members from the start who are all intertwined with each other and the lore of the story. persona has always worked best with a small cast but p3 works because all of the cast is relevant but they also dont try to act like they all get along perfectly. like, i dont think mitsuru talks to junpei as a friend. and thats normal. it helps make p3 more serious and not just goofy guys on an adventure, if that makes sense. but from a game balancing perspective, kinda tough to make that work lol. i think every party based rpg works like that, but it wouldnt be unreasonable to introduce characters early and then just not let you use them yet sort of like what p3 did with akihiko's broken arm, not being able to use mitsuru until you got another navigator, etc.

yeah, i mean, that's what smt is about. it's about choosing between bad and worse options. law and chaos is no better, really. well...actually no i would argue they are better but thats beside the point. i think i need to say for the record me saying i'm law aligned is a joke and i don't actually believe in anything that law believes, but, hopefully my followers have reading comprehension and can tell that from my blog.

true, but like i was saying before, the point of smt is choosing between bad and worse options, and having one clear good option defeats that purpose. but then again, neutral endings have been a thing in smt forever as the Objectively Good Option so, i guess it doesn't matter. yeah, i agree in-universe lore it would make sense though

[dsmpgobrrrr]

I guess the original post was deleted, but I spent 3 hours collecting data for a cohesive reply so IDGAF I’m stealing the question and making it my own post. 

Prompt Question: From a Techno POV perspective, during the confrontation between Dream Techno and Tommy where Dream brought up the favor, would Techno have “handed over” Tommy if Dream had called in the favor? 

Answer: Short answer - I think Techno would have, kinda. And been more than happy to tease Dream about wasting a favor later. 

Long answer under the cut

With the hopefully obvious disclaimers that Dream wouldn’t have called in the favor for a dozen different reasons (chiefly the context of the encounter and his objectives, but also he had other plans ect) and that Techno brought it up to bait Dream. 

In a world where Dream had either brought it up, or more likely, (still unlikely) taken Techno up on the offer: I think Techno would likely shrug, stand aside and continue with what had been the way he was handling similar situations most of the time already.

Something along the lines of “Well Tommy, I’m not going to stop you from doing whatever you want. So I guess you’re free to go with this homeless idiot, I just think it’s a bad idea.” Stepping back and not interfering as directly.

That confrontation is one of very few moments during Techno and Tommy’s alliance that Techno stepped pretty forcefully between Tommy and a decision. As opposed to pointing out information or begging. (I think fairly, given that the situation clearly had Tommy spooked and in need of the more forceful direct support).

It’s not as though Techno had (or aspired to) any control over Tommy’s actions. The most “handing over” Techno could really do is adopting a neutral stance.  

Obviously they supported each other and Techno grew to trust Tommy, but any time Tommy started talking about returning to Dream or returning to Tubbo Techno’s response was typically repeating why that was probably a terrible idea or general confusion. It was typically prefaced with a “it’s your choice, understand the consequences” vibe. Most of their alliance Techno was awkardly begging Tommy to stop wasting resources, stop blowing their cover and to retain information for 5 seconds. And just sort of passively accepting it when Tommy routinely did none of those things.

Though it is an interesting nexus point of Techno’s morality. He repays his debts, he does not change sides mid-battle, he favors anarchy, he supports his allies decisions making/self determination. Those things don’t always line up, but typically not changing sides during a fight takes priority.

But let’s talk less speculation and more evidence based on other actions by Techno:

The clearest canonical equivalence we have is during the prison escape. Sam does actually try and make a similar bargain to the one Techno implies Dream is angling for in the confrontation at issue. Techno was being threatened to turn on Dream (who is in a similar but obviously dramatically worse situation than Tommy was during the scene in question) for Ranboo’s safety. Which is like a lot more immediate and dramatic than a loose “I owe you a favor”. And Techno does not even consider it.

We could also consider Techno’s response when Tommy inevitably does backstab him isn’t a “yeah I would’ve done the same for a friend or a debt”. It’s distress and wrath. “When I said you don’t have to help me Tommy I meant that you could sit it out.”

Though I think the most useful is understanding the dramatic shift in Techno after the festival. Going from violent and capable anarchist to “I will 1 v the entire server for my allies.” Is a direct response to what he felt he did wrong in being forced to execute Tubbo. I don’t think he’d be inclined to repeat that mistake.

It’s kinda all immaterial though, because bringing up the favor made Dream back off. Which was the whole point.