#like we don't have to be the exact same at all to have similar goals and to defend each other

[uncanny-tranny]

Trans people 🤝 transsexuals 🤝 transvestites

Being siblings in arms against those who'd rather bury us (and being mad hot while doing it)

[laterreurofficial]

LT Doodle Stream Recap/Questions!

(Part 1/Part 2)

Hello everyone! Wisteriasymphony here. Yesterday the LT hivemind had the wonderful experience of our first doodle stream together!

For the purposes of cataloging all of the questions we answered on our stream (because somebody doesn't know how streaming works yet *COUGH COUGH*), I'm going to be answering them all here!

La Terreur takes place in 2002, and the events of the timeline last about a year. Of course, it's a retrofuturistic cyberpunk-y 2002, which explains later developments like the alliance ring and so on.

They're the same au! Miracle Exposure has just been a tag Silu has used to categorize talking about the effects of the miraculous, but it all happens within LT.

Hawkmoth is already a pretty solid design as is. Shadowmoth and Monarch will probably get overhauls later on, but why fix what isn't broken? Hawkmoth is already just the right amount of gross and creepy and fancy and bald, so no need to revamp that.

The consensus to far is that Felix arrived before the quarantine was instated, but he could easily have bribed officials into letting him into Paris if he needed to. The quarantine is mostly to keep people in, and if some idiot with a death wish high-paying member of the british aristocracy is willing to give money to a dying city just for a ticket in, then why wouldn't they let him?

@gaussiansphere put it quite nicely in the stream when he said that the heroes aren't trapped in Paris physically, but mentally. There's nothing theoretically stopping Ladybug from blowing a hole in the defenses of Paris and going on the run, but she has a moral obligation to protect her city. Everyone else feels roughly the same way, though we did discuss the idea of having the concept of migration fit Max better by virtue of his big goals in life involving getting out of Paris.

Also, the miraculous will likely be passed out differently. We're not following exact episodes, only storylines.

On a similar note....

Ladybug will probably alternate who she gives all of the minor miraculous to multiple times over the course of the story. She would find it ridiculous to pass them out to people "for keeps", as @sillysiluriforme put it, and before a certain point in the story will favor adult holders over teen holders. (Not saying why this changes though heehee, spoilers.)

MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!!!!!!!! Los ships no son un foco de La Terreur, pero.. Adrigaminette 100% mejor del mundo JAJAJAJA XP. de lo contrario es lo mismo que el canon.

Opinions de los kwamis hacia sus portadores es q los ven como niños. Son indiferentes a la humanidad en realidad. Los kwamis también los vicios q usan sus portadores para obtener. (Adrien huele a tabaco Y queso apestoso :/ Marinette no se afectada porque Tikki quiere el sabores dulces en su vaporizador).

#wispanol arc hehe. also YES you saw that right English audience, the kwamis are smokers. Marinette has to ask Luka's bandmates for vapes because the closest bodega to her house is run by a sweet Chinese grandma who her mom likes talking to, so if she bought from there she'd be absolutely screwed. Adrien just buys all of the tobacco as Chat, though.

We're not planning on having Aspik show up in LT, at least as far as we have planned. If he did, however, his rat eating desire would definitely go through the roof. He'd probably try and time his rat-eating specifically for when he's Chat Noir, just to make things easier for himself. (Until he eats one as Adrien by accident and has to live with the mental baggage for the rest of his miserable little life...)

Well.. there are a lot of characters that really don't need redesigns! Or where redesigns would be extremely minimal. Marinette's dad only really needs to get proportional legs and then that's it, and the same philosophy extends to most of the other minor characters.

Here are some of @clemnoir's designs for the rest of the class, though!

In fact, her lovely annotations somewhat answer another question we received....

We haven't figured out everyone yet, but the scholarships group so far is: Kim, Max, Ivan, Rose, Nathaniel, and Mylene. Adrien, Chloe, Sabrina, Alix, and Marinette are all paid tuition.

There could be! The ancient miraculous are indeed destroyed, much like the infinite amount of others like them, Bearinette and Lambdrien are just explorations of what it would be like if they hadn't been. The bear and lamb miraculous are not canon to LT, nor would any future ancients be. If we get any good ideas, you'll see them.

[wis is biting all of her fingers to prevent herself from talking about the coyote....]

The big issue Marinette has with being Multimouse is that she's no longer respected as the leader, at least as much as she's used to. Because she sees Ladybug as more of a responsibility than fun superpowers, her side effects are more psychological by consequence, whereas Adrien's are more physical. She also feels some sense of jealousy towards Scarabella, as well as general insecurity over not being the leader when she's Multimouse... but despite this she continues to use the Mouse Miraculous more often than in canon just for the sake of "training" Alya.

Silu dice muchas gracias!!!!! ...No conocen sus identidades fsgdss. Exposición al milagros del raton causa disocociación, duplicación no literal para Marinette jajaj. (Pero, no puedo decir si dos Marinettes aparecen en LT..... tal vez, tal vez no? huummmm)

Tambien, ellos comiendo ratones en privado. Nadie los trae en su almuerzo. Todos ellos tratan con sus síntomas en secreto.

Violence and misery and horror and class dynamics. I'll get into it more in Part 2, but characters' relationships to power is a huge part of this AU, both of the magical and non-magical variety.

[xclowniex]

The depressing thing about I/P is that it's shocking quite easy to take a stance on the matter without being viciously bigoted as hell, and yet people just swan-dived straight into vicious hatred and cruelty on pretty much the flip of a switch:

Netanyahu's government and Hamas are the main bad guys. The former because he was already a far-right wing crook who was in big trouble prior to all this, and now he's using the war to stay in power and out of jail. He's a genuinely evil man who needs to be in prison, and there are people within Israel trying to hold him accountable. Netanyahu absolutely detests Biden because the latter is less beneficial to him for his own cruel goals (Though justifiably your mileage may vary on Biden's actions and whether they're the right thing to do or not), and Netanyahu would greatly benefit from having Trump in power...which would be the exact opposite of helping Palestine.

Hamas is a terrorist organization being bankrolled by Qatar billionaires and who wouldn't hesitate to use Palestinians as cannon fodder for their goals. They aren't freedom fighters by any stretch of the imagination just because the government opposing them is led by an evil man and his far-right cronies, and regular Palestinians are being oppressed by them.

Both Israeli people and Palestinians have a long and complicated history that hasn't been resolved in centuries, and trying to pretend as outsiders that we somehow know the correct solution (of killing or driving out all of one side) is incredibly arrogant and extremely cruel, and basically turning two very diverse and complex peoples into props for our own ego trips.

Israel's and Hamas' governments have both committed immense atrocities and war crimes, and those involved DO need to be held accountable in order for a proper peaceful solution to exist, but that does NOT make their respective peoples responsible for their actions. So constantly trying to treat all Israeli and Jewish people as being responsible for genocide is stupid and grossly bigoted, especially given that in many other cases, we don't treat other nations who've committed similar crimes and evils the same way.

Likewise, Palestinians aren't people's personal props for their revolutionary fantasies or weirdly para-social guilt complex either; just because people in the West are deep in denial about their own nations' history of horrific mistreatment of minorities doesn't mean they get to turn two entirely different independent countries (with vastly different sociopolitical and racial histories) into a balm to sooth their own guilty consciences.

Like, this is still somewhat of a gross simplification, and feel free to correct me if I missed something, but it's still incredibly disturbing how many people can't seem to do this base level of thinking.

Nah you are so right anon

[thatfrailsoul]

– Parts of me that I seek in you

tarot pick a pile reading ( → 1, 2, 3 )

When we strive to connect, to know someone... There are many different reasons for which our heart calls more for one person than the other. The appearance, the ways, their mind or heart, their actions or deepest goals and desires... No matter what it is, there is always that something that makes them shine in the darkness that surrounds us. And, very often, that something is the same as the one that we lost, can't find in ourselves... So we desperately look for it in others. With such perseverance and obsessive need that, sometimes, we allow it to lead us to those that perhaps, at the end, we would've preferred to not meet.

So what is it? What you miss in yourself but so desperately need? Where or when did you lose it? And where and how can you finally find that missing piece?

Slow down for a moment. Breathe. Listen to your heart, to its rhythm. Allow it to speak to you. And choose the image that seems so familiar, so similar to what you feel. Remembering that, whatever the message might be, you are free to listen to it or to let go. Without the need to make it fit. Because your true answer will always find you, the moment you will be really ready and will have the need.

_

– Pile One,

the star, the ten of cups and the fool.

Your poor and innocent soul... Your tired heart, your consumed mind... The only thing you ever wanted, the one that you wanted back then, was simply to leave it all behind. All that pain, all that fear. All the reasons why you couldn't ever be enough or right for someone, for anyone, that for once you just desired to don't hear... You found the last bits of your strength, patience and courage, all that remained in your shattered heart. And you used them to try to heal. All those numerous wounds, so many that it just feels like a whole and single, draining, torturing, one.

But what did it give you, in exchange of this incredible resilience to try to heal? Only a little relief, a little distraction... That hid that hole that was becoming bigger and bigger, with each time that you worked on - or to be exact forced - the healing of your soul.

And this is the thing. This is what ruined it all, what made it so difficult and challenging. What influenced so many others areas of your life... One little but so important detail about who you are, the way you are. And how much you got used in this life to beat yourself up, blaming for every single disgrace that you experienced... How often you repeated it, demonstrated it to yourself with every step that was supposed to help you heal. You never were gentle, patient, understanding. You never gave yourself credit for how many right things and choices you made. Or how many others mistakes never were really yours, but of somebody else. You did none of this. But only focused on rushing, on becoming better, on healing faster, growing, so you could be sooner worthy and ready to show what a good person you are to this world. You were angry, frustrated, ashamed. You despised yourself for needing healing and learning in the first place. You regretted every single additional day that you needed to get it together. Only noticing how many flows you still have, how many wounds are still bleeding, how many triggers you still can't endure.

Your desire, your intention, was so good... So innocent, genuine and truly right. But so quickly and scarily naturally it became just another cage and punishment that you gave yourself. Changing the whole purpose, the whole meaning, of a journey that is so pure. That was never supposed to be so rushed, give you so quickly those results that now you are so angry to don't see manifesting in your world... And that you decided, unconsciously or perhaps not, to look for in others. The ones that seem so beautiful, so healthy and whole. The ones that seem to go through life so gracefully, no matter the obstacles or challenges on their path. The ones that seem to be able to influence you so positively, if only you stay close to them, showing you the right ways and directions. Supporting you, helping you in doing it correctly, like you seem incapable of doing on your own.

But, no matter how much we adore to think the opposite, we indeed are the only ones responsible for our journey. For our battles, our victories or our loss. No matter how supportive, how close others are, they still can't really help us. Not when we don't allow even our own self to do the needed work. You can't fight through it, not this journey. You can't do it with the only motivation and push being your own meanness, judgment and resentement for the things that you dared to do or not. You can't be there, behind your own back, looking closely at every your step and action, ready to attack if you don't do it right.

But you can allow yourself to take more time. To be slower. To make more mistakes. To feel once again that pain, if it's the one that still overwhelms your heart. You can remember. You can reflect. Learn something from it. Or maybe not. Because it is normal, it is right, to take time to heal, to go through it with all the needed ups and downs.

And you can still do it. You can continue this journey changing your pace and rhythm, or simply starting from scratch. You can and need to do it. Because no-one else can help and guide you, as you can do to your own self. By being gentle and understanding with your heart and mind, that indeed do their best to allow you to feel and experience this life.

P.s. If you would like to receive a more personal message and guidance about your situation - find out all about it here!♡

– Pile Two,

the magician, the fool and the page of swords

You have something so beautiful, so unique, within yourself. Such passion that, if not explored and shared, can consume you inevitably. Consume that power that you sometimes forget to have. So you always took care of it. You always nourished it. In the moments when it felt as natural as breathing, and even in those where it was too similar to a torture, that need to create and do something but without any idea on why, how to start or from where. And even if, thanks to you and your deepest love, this passion and calling did survive... It is starting to fade now. Submerged with all the questions and doubts about whether or not it is worth it, if you are good enough to do it at all, if it is really that important... All because for quite sometime you were the only admirer and supporter of your work.

You are wavering, your steps and actions as you create become more and more unstable, as every inspiration or idea seems not enough to be worthy of the success, even just appreciation that you want. But this something... Is so yours, so made perfectly just for you and to express your soul... That you can't really just leave it. You can't just stop doing it, even if it is becoming hard to be satisfied as you used to, because you so naturally always gravitate back to creating and allowing your mind and heart to speak up through every step of your work. So you keep going, with a non consistent rhythm, many set backs, infinite doubts... Doing it, because you feel this need and desire so much. But not really enjoying it anymore. Because in the eyes of others it never seems good enough, and therefore it doesn't feel enough for your own self. For the one that, in the first place, you were supposedly creating it for.

It is so natural and normal to have the desire to share, to welcome others in your universe in a sense, to show them who you are or how you see this world... But what starts so innocently and genuinely, a way to connect to others and don't feel so different or not understood, an alternative type of motivation and fuel for your creativity even... is so often soon to become exactly what kills it, overwhelming your every idea with the judgment of others, and their way of seeing the world.

It just shifted your perspective, about yourself and your work. It made you feel little, insignificant, too simple or too much, confronted to what others seem to consider deserving and worthy of their attention and love. It made you feel useless, because when your creation was ignored, you felt like what was really being rejected was your soul that spoke through your work.

And time after time, day after day, this calling became so faint, almost non existent. Not because it is really going away... But because you are just the one that tries so desperately to ignore it and to not hear it. Convinced that following it would be useless, without anyone appreciating and admiring what you do. Convinced that doing it for your own self and enjoyment is not really worth it, because it doesn't give you any income, any fame, any support and appreciation from others. Convinced that it is only and simply a waste of time.

But is it? Is it really completely useless if you are the only one to whom you dedicate the creations of your soul? Or does it give you a chance to feel and experience this world in your own way, processing those emotions and thoughts, reinventing them? Does it give you back the ability to breathe and feel at ease, once you allow everything that overwhelms you flow out through your work? Does it fill your time with excitement and enjoyment? Does it give you a safe place, that allows you to rest and hide from everything else? Does it make you feel proud of who you are and what you did, what you were able to create with your own mind and hands? Because even if it does only one of these things... Than it is worth it. Because this is what gives you the energy and fuel to live this life, to appreciate it, to go through it. Having something that always protects and expresses your soul.

You can't do only what assures you the interest or appreciation of others. You can't do it for so long as you are planning or trying to do. You can't do it without constantly feeling on autopilot, thrown from one work to another, trying to satisfy every one of them in hopes that in return they will support your work. It is not true to you. It is not what you want or need. It is not even something that you can do, the things that they want. It is only a play, of which you are trying to learn all the phrases and rhythm, but that you can keep up with only for so long.

This life is not unfair, wrong, useless, a constant and neverending annoying and painful cycle. But it is this way for you, who doesn't have anymore that tiny but vital component - the language of your soul. You are suppressing it, you are limiting it and judging. For what? For whom? For what reason? This is not something that needs to be enough or good for others. It is not something that needs to give you incredible success, wealth or recognition. It can, but before any of that it needs only to be something that you enjoy. Truly and simply.

You don't need to find new ideas, ways, hobbies, interests, sports, studies, paths to explore - you just need to comeback to what you already know that you love. And welcome it in your Iife, starting doing it again and more. Just for your own fun and enjoyment, that will overflow from your heart to every other aspect of your life. Connecting everything, and making it free from the torture of unsatisfaction and frustration that you endure.

P.s. If you would like to receive a more personal message and guidance about your situation - find out all about it here!♡

– Pile Three,

the devil, the justice and the star

Sometimes we cross paths with those that perhaps we weren't meant to be with, we weren't meant to create and have the same story as the one we desired and pictured so well. It happens. It hurts. Then, eventually, it goes away. But when it happens again and again, one person after another... One betrayal, lie or misunderstanding after the other... How can one not notice the one element that connects them all - themselves? How can one not think, even in the slightest, that perhaps it is not working out because of who and how they are?

So one dives into it, tries to remember every single moment, analyse their own ways, with the desperate need to find that wrong something and change it, making everything in themselves right again. With the need to demonstrate that it is something that can be changed and that it won't be this way forever. That they can and will be better, more worthy, more right, and for this reason chosen by someone. And perhaps they do find it, that something, they work on it day and night, fight their own demons and who they are, and come out of it brand new. They put themselves out there, open up to people and try genuinely to connect... And then it happens all over again. The same pain, confusion, uncertainty, doubts, betrayal or a broken heart. But they did the work right? They changed, or did they not? And there it goes the fear of not being worthy no matter what, of being destined to loneliness and hurt, or perhaps of not doing enough. And some collapse, they hide, and try with all their forces to make themselves enough, to not need anyone else in their life. While others... Others don't say it out loud. Don't think about it. Hide it deep down. And try to make things work no matter what it means to accept and endure, just to not have yet another person leaving them behind.

And you... You are doing it right now. With them, or with others in your life. Subtly, unconsciously, you force yourself to stay. No matter the words you hear, the actions you see, the promises that you know are already broken and mean nothing to the person by your side. You stay. Because walking away might mean that there never will be someone else, that you will be the only one you will have.

It is difficult and painful to think about being somehow different and wrong, never enough. It is even more difficult to try to work on it and change yourself. It is difficult to face not only the pain but also the loneliness. To feel that fear of living this way forever creeping on you with each day. So staying, trying to be more understanding, patient, docile, considerate, delicate, silent and comfortable for others... Seems indeed less difficult and scary, because in return they too will stay. Even when it is clear that you are torturing and consuming yourself. Even when you so clearly and surely know that the way you are treated is not okay at all. All for that acceptance, that tiny affection, even if not genuine. All for those things that you think you will never be able to find in yourself, and might not find once the people that are now in your life will not be here anymore. A void that, perhaps, won't ever be filled with another person, with another connection or love.

But by convincing yourself to adapt to others and what they look for or don't love... You did exactly that one thing that will not allow people who are genuinely interested in you to come closer. Not when that place in your life is already occupied by another someone. Not when you show so ardently and persistently that the way you are treated is what you want.

A right person - the one that is interested in you exactly the way you are, not less not more - even when so close to you to see you... Will never be able to do something, to help you, to take you out of this play pretend and torture... Because no one can do what should start from you, what you should be ready to finally to do: to protect yourself, t be treated right, to be loved and appreciated for the way you are.

It is safe, please believe me. It is safe for you to be who you are. It is safe for you to don't accept scraps of love and attention from others. It is safe if you walk away from those who can't find that one thing they want in you, who is already perfectly fine and enough. It is safe for you to don't force it. It is safe for you to let them all go. Because the space they will leave behind them is not something so negative as you convince yourself to be. It is not a sign of loss. It is only more space for your own self to grow, to bloom, to be who you are. To shine so proudly and brightly and to be seen by those who will notice and love you. And not the ways you can adapt to someone elses need, desire or mood.

P.s. If you would like to receive a more personal message and guidance about your situation - find out all about it here!♡

_

[utilitycaster]

feel free to ignore if you feel like it's too theoretical/parasocial/etc. but: I see how the campaign as a whole is off because of how lack of prep influenced the cast to create somewhat unfit characters, but as someone who got immensely annoyed by this episode, I'm wondering why has that throughline carried out for so long. why haven't the cast decided to start playing their characters in a way that leads to a more cohesive and satisfying story? is the hesitation and bizzare opinions on gods a very dedicated RP choice or do you think the players themselves are also at a loss? I'm honestly very confused about that, given how driven and decisive they played VM and M9 during their oneshots. I don't want to feel like I'm singling anyone out to hate but e.g. the way taliesin plays caduceus vs ashton is particularly puzzling to me.

Hey anon,

This is all highly speculative (as, to be fair, was the original idea the cast was given very little information, and that turned out to be right) but I think it's the far-reaching consequences of that initial lack of prep combined with the fact that it's been a very central-plot focused campaign that failed to allow the characters to develop into more decisive people. It also, I think, centers the Ruidusborn such that I suspect a lot of the rest of the table is taking their lead.

The Mighty Nein, we know, involved a lot of prep with Matt specifically offering feedback and vetoing certain aspects. Every character came in with pretty clear goals, and because it was a character-driven campaign we got to see those goals change as they learned more: Caleb and Fjord notably abandon their original goals in favor of new ones. Veth and Caduceus achieve theirs; Jester as well, and she develops new ones as she becomes less sheltered. Beau and Yasha's exact goals were much more nebulous, but they have the opportunity to confront their pasts at length and find new purpose and peace throughout the narrative. I don't think it's productive to rehash everything every time but: lack of pre-existing long-term relationships and more work on the short-term friendships that existed, the fact that Beau and usually Molly due to Yasha's absences (and later Caduceus) were free agents who didn't know anyone prior to their meeting, and the fact that the party had like 2 gold to their name and had to double up in odd configurations plus their willingness to engage in conflicts led to a fairly quick and deep bond, which also influenced their goals and dynamics.

Vox Machina were initially very generally sketched out characters, but after they began doing more there was a similar effort put into to backstories, and I think going back after they'd already played a bit meant they knew more about who they wanted these characters to be. The pre-stream plot, as we can tell from the origins comics, was also heavily backstory focused; the Briarwoods arc is when most people feel the streamed campaign really takes off.

We have seen the backstories of the characters of Bells Hells, but a lot of them are deeply tied into a long-running main plot that doesn't really allow for the same development over time. Like, Percy, for example, actually does his "plot" about quarter of the way into the campaign; but this kickstarts his development. Fjord is rather similar; he learns the source of his powers quite early on, but grapples with them until the halfway point and then the rest of the campaign is him embracing something new. To compare, I suspect Laura envisoned Imogen's story as being not dissimilar in the sense of "learn what my powers come from, find a way to better control or perhaps get rid of them" and so upon finding out this is the lynchpin of the entire plot, Imogen never has that post-resolution time to cook, essentially. Even for those who had slightly more rewarding plot beats they kind of felt like "let's address this problem so we can get back to the moon stuff" (Chetney, Laudna) and in some cases, I think it felt to the players, rightly or wrongly, like those plots were actively rushed to the point that they couldn't explore them (I suspect this happened for Ashton during the solstice split). There's been a hurry-up-and-wait sense of urgency over the whole campaign because it's a plot that was introduced very early and has never let up. There's been no "what do we do" type breaks and I'd be shocked if there are. We've sort of run out of plot because we've speed run everything that would have been a plot in a different campaign.

So I think the players don't know how to evolve their characters because there's been no in-world impetus to evolve, really. Now, as someone who prefers to play people who are already decisive, the fact that most of the cast went for kind of indecisive/impulsive types isn't my bag, but that is valid; but it means no one's really had the chance to organically move from that.

I also think that the fact that there's one big plot that really centers the ruidusborn is another factor. Even if Orym, for example, were the type to shut down the party, what is one person who can't reasonably stop two spellcasters from going into the Hallowed Cage going to do? I think this post makes a good point; I think putting the pressure very heavily on two players who (very understandably! for a number of reasons!) are among the most averse to making a hard and potentially alienating or unpopular choice has sort of prevented anyone else from taking a wild swing. The other campaigns had a much more even distribution of who could make decisions within the party, and I think that reflects that. I also think this is uniquely an issue for longform campaigns; I haven't seen this hesitancy from Laura nor Ashley in Candela, Downfall, nor in the various Daggerheart one-shots and miniseries, since you have to swing big there.

I do want to cover one point specifically, which is that I actually find Ashton to be one of the better played characters. I disagree with them, to be sure, but like, Caduceus is a character who can be arrogant in his fairly limited worldview, but who is also consistently very empathetic and kind. Ashton has that arrogance, but without those priorities. Caduceus isn't really invested in hurting those who hurt him; he's interested in stopping those who would hurt his home, family, or friends, and if that requires hurting them he's okay with that. Ashton really does want to beat up those they deem responsible for their own pain, justified or not. I think taking the shard was a great move and stand by that [though, admittedly, it and the bit about Predathos needing a vessel just now have me like. the consequences have been conveyed in a crystal clear manner to ME and somehow the cast is not getting Matt flat-out saying in game THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN, so idk what's up with THAT.] and my issues stem specifically from his decision to claim to speak for the weak and then immediately accept the titans saying that a remade world in which only the strong survive is fine. Like, I don't think there is a problem in how Caduceus is played vs. Ashton, in that I think they are both internally consistent as characters; I think it's just. Caduceus is someone who tries to make decisions that minimize broad harm to that which he deems good, and Ashton is often, by their own admission (episode 78), selfish and conceited. Like, Taliesin is just. Playing someone who is often not a great person this time. And that's a valid choice. But I think it's in a narrative that didn't really permit enough time and space for characters to change meaningfully so Ashton is a bit stuck there whereas, while Caduceus didn't have nearly as much of a gap between who he already was and the hero he needed to be, he had far, far more room to grow.

[writingdotcoffee]

The "Alt" NaNoWriMo Challenge

I'm a big fan of NaNoWriMo and the energy the event breathes into the writing community. Hundreds of thousands of people start working on their novels at the same time. Lots of people share their progress and cheer each other on. Several now-famous authors have started their best-selling novels during NaNo over the years.

That said, it's not for everyone. Writing 50,000 words per month is a serious commitment. Doing it alongside school or work is no joke. In fact, most people who sign up don't finish. According to these stats, only 1-2 out of every 10 participants complete the challenge.

I've never joined NaNoWriMo myself. I'm a slow writer, and I know that I would burn out. Instead, I set a different writing-related challenge for myself every November.

In 2018, I started reading one short story every day. It turned into a regular habit, and I ended up reading hundreds of short stories over the following few months.

Last year, I wanted to build a 30-day writing streak. In the end, I wrote for 232 days in a row. 2023 became the most productive year of my writing life by far with over 250,000 words written.

This year, I will be doing something similar, and I want to invite you to come along for the ride.

The Idea of "AltNaNo"

The idea of finishing a novel in a month seems outrageous to most people. That's what makes it so compelling. It's like standing at the foot of a snowcapped mountain with a rope and a couple of ice picks. The challenge itself is inspiring.

The AltNaNo challenge is the exact opposite. The goal is as small as possible on purpose. The focus isn't to achieve this massive feat but to squash all excuses and merely start writing.

You may not be able to write 50,000 words in a month. But almost everyone can find 15 minutes to write every day.

The Challenge

The goal is simple: Write for at least 15 minutes every day in November.

Writing 100 words and calling it a day after 15 minutes is a success.

Spending longer and writing 500 words is a success.

Wrestling with a difficult scene for 15 minutes and writing only a single sentence is a success.

Spending 15 minutes trying to write after a long day and not producing a single word is a success, too.

Be a tortoise. We all know how the story goes.

How to Join

I've set up daily challenges for the first week in Writing Analytics, if you wanted to join us there:

Day 1/30 ✅

Day 2/30 ✅

Day 3/30 ✅

Day 4/30 ✅

Day 5/30 ✅

Day 6/30 ✅

Day 7/30 ✅

I'll be posting daily updates on the blog as well.

PS: If you'd like to learn more about developing a writing habit, check out this free course I launched a few weeks ago.

[sly-s-n0nfusion]

The ot2 travelers don't feel like a found family as much as the ot1 travelers - an analysis

This is probably the boldest opinion I've ever shared on socials for this fandom and I am aware this take will probably get me some hate but I feel like I want to say this and compare the two games under this aspect also to know other people's opinions about this (I feel so brave right now) but I have to make a premise: I loved octopath traveler 2 to death as well as the ot2 travelers, this is not a hate post by any means. Also, the fact that the first game is still more dear to me doesn't make me blind to the fact that ot2 did improve its formula under almost every aspect and is overall of better quality than ot1.

So as I was playing ot2, I felt like it was somehow “missing” the same warmth of the first game. Naturally, my first thought was that it was just nostalgia for the first cast, until my boyfriend said the exact same thing to me some time after he started playing ot2. When I asked about it in a small octopath server, almost every response I got was similar to what we were feeling, and many of us pinpointed that the main reason is that the cast doesn't feel as a found family as much as the ot1 cast did, and I'll explain why.

/!\ Spoilers for both games! /!\

The group of travelers in ot2 doesn't feel as cohesive: on the contrary, it often feels like the travelers aren't involved in their friend's adventures as much. They often come off as a bit more individualistic and just casually sharing the same road together while pursuing their own goals. In their banters together, they rarely offer/actively seek each other's help and they generally feel more lonely in their paths

This is kinda ironic given how much more content together the ot2 travelers have, like the crossed paths or the journey for the dawn chapter. The one exception, at least regarding the crossed paths stories, are probably Throné and Temenos

The found family trope is more often than not shoved down your throat in a way that's just less effective and more annoying ex. Ochette calling Osvald and Castti mama and papa (or the general imagery of every traveler seeing Castti as their mom when she is just doing her job as a caregiver) or Osvald getting drunk and mistaking Castti and Agnea for his wife and daughter, when Osvald often shows fatherly instincts only towards his actual daughter Elena

The major issue we all agreed on: the travel banters. The main difference is that in ot1 every travelers had a chance to talk to all 7 travelers during each chapter of their story, which actually gave the impression of them traveling together and also the opportunity for a good balance between more lighthearted banters about disparate matters, and deeper banters that explicitly address what's going on in that moment. In ot2 we had the amazing opportunity to reread every banter without missing even one of them, but the amount of banters drastically reduced! Which left me kinda confused!! Because for every chapter, only a few travelers get to talk with the one progressing through a chapter. And that leaves place for an awkward silence on the other travelers' behalf, because it does almost deliver the vibe that they're just observing quietly, or that they don't care enough about what's happening to intervene. That silence takes a big toll on how believably the concept of found family is delivered, in my opinion. We don't really need 70% of the banters to be about card games, fashion, hobbies and food (why are there so many banters about food lol) when the actually deep/important matters barely get addressed by the other travelers.

An example: the apothecaries' chapters 3. They both are very emotionally heavy chapters, where both Alfyn and Castti are having a really rough time. Having the chance to talk to all 7 of his friends, Alfyn not only gets to talk about his job as an apothecary and joke with Therion about getting drunk at the tavern, but he also receives important advice and active help from his teammates. Like Olberic, for example, you can almost picture him holding Alfyn's shoulder in the attempt of getting him to calm down

Whereas in Castti's chapter 3, she goes through one of the most painful and heartbreaking moments of her life (remembering what happened to Malaya and the Apothecaries) and barely anyone comforts her. You only get Temenos saying "you can count of me" and Hikari, saying more or less the same thing. No Osvald talking to her about dealing with the grief of losing everything?? No Agnea and Partitio reassuring her, telling her she did what she could and that it was not her fault?? No Throné sharing with her the relief of freedom, of finally being free from her amnesia?? ... That does feel like a huge missed opportuniy and really makes it look like the other 5 travelers are just observing in silence, and that really ruins the immersion to me. They do feel more lonely and less of a family, no matter how many times Ochette calls her "mom" , she wasn't there for Castti when she needed it. She didn't say anything. The effort made by their crossed paths story isn’t enough to make up for it to me

Not only that, but ot1 is full of other examples of the travelers actively seeking each other's help: Olberic is constantly asking for his teammates' opinions because he trusts them (Olberic ch4, Cyrus banter) and offering his protection in return, Tressa and Therion often value each other's advice, and many other cases.

Final point: this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but I couldn't help but feel my opinion reinforced by the promoting team's choices; in every piece of art for the first Octopath Traveler game anniversary, all 8 travelers were featured. As they should be! OCTO is in the name, after all. None of them is more important than the others, and it's crucial to me that in their anniversary art they ALL get featured. Well, for the first anniversary of the Octopath Traveler 2 release the official promotional art only featured Temenos and Crick. One (1) traveler and a npc. Well done, that's how you don't want to celebrate your game's 1 year anniversary when the main feature of the game in question is that it's a collective story that features 8 characters. Yes I am not blind I am aware of Temenos and Crick's popularity as both individual characters and as a ship (which by the way I am very neutral about so again, no hate), but my god that official art did leave a bitter taste in my mouth as soon as I saw it. Like really? What about the other 7 travelers? Aren't they supposed to be a found family?

So in the end I think the missing travel banters are what makes the ot2 crew feel a bit more distant and less of a family to me, and the crossed paths and Journey for the dawn really, really struggle to make up for this because the basics of the relationship between the travelers just aren’t quite there.

Now I know this game is dear to many, me included, and that many others may have the complete opposite opinion, and that's okay. We can talk about it! I love hearing different opinions.

Peace! ✌️

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.18 thoughts

[Oh What a Feelin' When We're Fightin' on the Ceilin']

(Topics: character analysis - Desscaras/World Hater, speculation)

Oh yeah, baby, this is what I've been waiting for!!! Now this is a ceiling battle!!!

Where Ichi needed to literally knock himself out just to take out the first wave of World Hater's Lancemen, Desscaras was able to do the exact same thing casually AND with style

Iskandar is an absolutely sick Magik design, both beautiful and terrifyingly nonhuman, and it's clearly not even Desscaras' strongest move! She's playing with World Hater, aiming to humiliate and torture him while she systematically searches out his trial, so there's no way her opener is her best move, especially when you consider it doesn't tie into her title as the Abyssal Witch

I said a while ago that Monegold's summary of Togeice was more tell than show and that it didn't really give a good impression of just how skilled Togeice really was since Nishi didn't provide a frame of reference. This chapter, though, is a very effective case of show-don't-tell, as we get a direct comparison between Desscaras, Ichi, World Hater, and even Togeice

Tipping the Powerscales

Togeice was stated to have 16 acquisitions to her name, which, without an established average, must be assumed to be a pretty high number, certainly above average. It was stated in such a way that it didn't seem like Togeice was a record holder, more like a reasonable deviation or two from the mean

Desscaras, on the other hand, when asked directly how many Magiks she's acquired, simply states "who knows? Lost count." Not only does this mirror World Hater's nonchalant dismissal of how many humans he's killed, but it illustrates both Desscaras' skill and her mentality regarding it

As she says this, we can see twenty-five magic stones floating around her, thirty if we assume the ones on her scabbard didn't join the rest. She has Togeice beat by at least nine, but the implication is that there are more we still aren't seeing

And to Desscaras, this is perfectly natural

She's the best, after all. The world's greatest, most powerful Witch. Why wouldn't she have a ton of acquisitions to her name? For her, acquiring a Magik isn't even a source of pride anymore, it's just another rock to add to the pile

If my read here is correct, then that goes back to what I said back in ch.2: Witches don't respect Magiks as sentient beings. If not for the fact that she needs to do so in order to use a spell, Desscaras doesn't seem the type to remember the name of a defeated foe, at least not with how she's presenting herself here

As I see it, this could lead to two very interesting angles. Either Desscaras represents everything that's wrong with the current Witch system, or...

This is a bluff

Poker Face

As I've stated repeatedly, World Hater is an actively dispassionate individual, going out of their way to hide their expressions and executing their goals without emotional investment. When Desscaras cites that World Hater destroyed her home, World Hater retorts that her emotions are worthless, as they nihilistically view the world as destined to fade into nothingness

This is a hilarious thing for the World Hater to say, since they explicitly include "hatred" in that list of worthless emotions, but again, they've never referred to themselves as World Hater, that's just a name that Mantinel gave them

Anyway, Desscaras' detached ignorance of her own accomplishments perfectly mirrors World Hater's ignorance to their own atrocities, which could either be a way to show how similar the two of them are or an explicit dig at World Hater's attitude meant to evoke a response

If the former, then Desscaras is a negative role model for Ichi, one that he needs to surpass to prove that he is correct for how he values life. If the latter, and Desscaras reveals that she does, in fact, know exactly how many Magiks she's acquired and remembers all of their names, faces, personalities, trials, etc., then we'll know that she's not the strongest Witch just because she has the most acquisitions, but because of the dedication and care she put into every single one

Either way, her taunt in this moment makes her feel every bit as powerful as she's been purported to be and then some

And World Hater definitely feels it too

Time To Get Serious

The fact that World Hater has been pushed far enough to be concerned with how many Magiks Desscaras has acquired is already proof enough that they acknowledge her strength, but even without that, it should be clear that she has the power to back up the threat that she's going to take her time experimenting

After all, she's leagues above Ichi

As Desscaras said, Ichi was able to earn World Hater's direct attention with one spell. If World Hater truly didn't view Ichi as a potential threat, they would have just let him fall into the forest and be trampled by the Lancemen without paying him any heed

Instead, they deliberately lift Ichi back up, with the intention of warping him with their own hands. How else could they be absolutely sure that he's dead?

Again, if Ichi could register as a future threat, then Desscaras must register as an immediate threat. And if that's true, then there's no way that World Hater is going to just let her have her way. No, if she wants their trial, she's gonna have to earn it

However, there is one flaw in Desscaras' premise: she believes that World Hater tried to kill Ichi out of fear, but we know better. We saw World Hater's smile last week: they were excited that someone might be able to figure out their trial, they just had to suppress that feeling to focus on the task at hand

With Desscaras, though? They're not going to be able to afford to be casual about this. World Hater is going to need to put their everything into this fight: both their power and their emotions

This chapter was all about giving Desscaras her shine, the Good News phase, but next chapter? It's World Hater's turn: the Bad News phase

I don't think Desscaras is going to die here, but she's not acquiring the World Hater either. No, World Hater is going to show us just how Big of a Bad they intend to be, and what we're going to have to look forward to down the line

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[hiddenwashington]

observant citizens of washington may have seen the beginning of a set up, stands, a partially built stage, and the signs that something was coming to the city. those who have been here long enough to remember start telling their friends that perhaps the ren faire is coming back for another year, to let everyone know they should start planning costumes though no official event date or information has been released. despite the fact that something is clearly being set up no one can track down who is running the event, or any of the important details for it, and nothing in washington can ever be that simple. overnight the upcoming ren faire seems to have taken over the city. bars suddenly become taverns, shops are replaced with merchant stands, and nobility now holds the power rather than the democracy that had been running the city. cars are an unknown creation, so citizens better be comfortable with a horse if they intend on going anywhere far.  luckily the transition seems to have gone well for the majority of the citizens, who are unaware that anything has gone wrong, going about their lives as if the sound of a dragon overhead is simply something they've grown used to, and know how to navigate in their lives.

TLDR;

overnight the city of washington has been trasformed into an image of the past. the entire city looks like it may have been taken out of any renaissance faire, though not many are aware a massive change has occurred. though this is america the city has somehow become the image of medieval europe, with all of its citizens losing their modern clothes and technology and employment.

OOC INFORMATION:

happy fall everyone! we're super excited to go ahead and bring you our eighteenth event! we have done a ren faire mini event in the past, and decided to have some fun making things bigger, and much more complicated for your characters. we're super excited to see what your characters do and how they live in this new environment for a little bit of time. that said, definitely go out there and come up with some crazy ideas, plot, and don't hesitate to get creative with it. obviously this isn't an exact time period or realistic in any way since we're pulling a european fantasy setting and sticking it in america, but the goal is just to have fun with it!

DATES:

october 2nd - october 16th 19th!

this event will last the same time ic and ooc

THE CHANGE:

magic has swept over the city and completely transformed it into an era similar to that of the european medieval/renaissance era. modern washington as everyone knew it is completely gone. this includes technology, clothes, transportation, and anything else you can think of.

what does suddenly exist is medieval fantasy! feel free to get creative with this, but know that it would be easy for characters to find creatures such as dragons, witches, fae, dryads, unicorns and more throughout the city. this could include monster hunters as well, both as a potential job, and something for supernatural characters to have to worry about.

feel free to check out our list of potential fantasy elements you could incorporate into your threads here!

AWARENESS:

characters will keep their awareness status on the taken page! this means that if your character is aware they still remember their past and believe that at some point they arrived in dc in this time period, and that it has been this way the entire time.

most characters will have no idea there was a time shift! they will believe that washington has always been like this, and they’ve been living in this era for the entire time since arriving in washington. this way threads don't just have to be about the surprise of arriving in the new time period, and you can instead have the chance to explore how your characters would be living in this environment.

with that said there can be exceptions! we will allow you to pick up to half of your characters to be completely aware that they have been shifted to this time period overnight! these muses would know that one minute they were in washington and the next day the city had completely changed, with no idea why that isn't common knowledge.

you do not have to meet this cap, and can have the majority of your character unaware that any change has taken place.

JOBS:

we encourage thinking of what your character would have been doing and potentially posting a little blurb about it before the start of the event so everyone knows. there are lots of possible jobs your characters could have taken up, such as being a noble, scribe, blacksmith, court jester, knight, merchant, rat catcher, and much more

feel free to check out a longer list of job ideas here if you need help deciding on something that would be fitting for your character!

HOUSEKEEPING:

please make sure to tag all event threads hwevent18!

nonevent threads will be paused during this time! as it doesn’t make sense to have threads going on in modern washington and the event washington we do ask that all nonevent threads are put on hold until after the event

feel free to kill your characters! though it’s not the focus of this event there are still plenty of dangers, between the fantastic with creatures like dragons around, and more grounded options, such as jousting as a duel. with that being said, as this is not the main intent of the rp you do have to message the main and get confirmation before killing any of your characters! 

please use your best judgement when including time accurate content. obviously we are throwing characters far into the past, and social hierarchies and situations were very different, but characters should not have to worry about time accurate racism, sexism, homophobia, or otherwise in washington. this is all meant to be a fun time and we don't believe that content would be appropriate for our group

of course make sure to review our triggers page any tag any post with content that requires it.

feel free to begin your plotting and starter calls now! we know that you have to figure out situations for your characters with this event so definitely take the time you need to do a plot and starter call if you wish! there will be an event themed meme coming at the start of the event to get some threads going, but you can always draft things ahead of time if you want.

and that's all! if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask either over dms or in the discord, and feel free to get started with plotting and starter calls! finally please make sure to like this once you've read it!

[loopdile]

loopdile so real. i have a Vision of both siffrin and loop being Deeply Deeply Closeted Repressed Transfem and having gender envy over odile and i feel like that'd do Something to the Dynamic. Something......... Something........................... well i'm not successfully envisioning it but maybe YOU are?

i am positively plagued by loopdile gender visions!!! maybe not the exact same as you're thinking but i think you will enjoy them. walk with me, anon, through the garden of my loop gender headcanons. it's kind of a big garden but we'll get to the odile part eventually i promise.

Before they were Siffrin, Siffrin had their gender on lock: something transfem, but also tied to unique cultural elements in some way, either the specific identity or the way of thinking about it or just the particular set of presentation options. Perhaps they even started fantasy HRT! But then they forget everything, obviously, including their identity and transition plans. They decide pretty quickly that they're not a man, but none of the alternatives feel exactly correct either; if their previous identity was presented as an option, maybe it would click and they'd settle into it pretty fast, but unfortunately that is literally impossible.

So, no clear goals in mind. And because of his forgotten past, continued memory problems, and constant traveling, Siffrin starts to really value the few things he can count on to stay consistent. He'd rather wear his comfortable hat and cloak than leave them behind in favor of anything more gendered. He'd rather stick with his familiar body than risk changing it. Still, maybe there are some changes he'd be happier in the long run to have made... but the process would be stressful, and he's got enough stressful things to worry about already!

But then we get to Loop. Who has already been changed, suddenly and irrevocably and so very, very accidentally. They are not Siffrin anymore, they do not have the hat and cloak, they aren't even human. They don't even really remember who they were pre-loops. There is no familiarity for them to cling to; instead, they're desperate to find things they can control, things they can change, proof that the world moves forward and they're in charge of their place in it. The motivation that Siffrin lacked, Loop now has in spades!

However, their negative feelings are more intense as well. They struggle to face real stakes, to put effort into anything too complicated, to try anything that might disappoint them. They take risks, yes, but not about things they care about; they take risks because they don't care. And they have a lot of other things going on, too, both practically and psychologically, so gender isn't their immediate priority. "Who and what am I?" is a very difficult question for them right now on multiple levels, a difficult question with only difficult answers.

But, starting with the practical: wearing clothes is an easy way to look and feel a little bit more normal, right? So they experiment, and they decide that dresses are just similar enough to the cloak to be comfortable, but distinct enough to not be as emotionally fraught. And they like them in a frivolous way that Siffrin was never willing to lean all the way into. Siffrin didn't put much thought or energy into his appearance, but Loop's inhuman form is a constant issue, so they might as well dress it in a way they like! Something good to balance out the bad, since they can't be neutral any longer.

And of course they think about body craft, though in a different context from most people. Even the nearly-human parts of their body are lacking detail, without all the right functions behind the form, and then other parts aren't human at all. Their body feels wrong, distracting, constricting. They don't understand how it works, and it draws attention they don't want, and it's not them. And yet, isn't it? Even if they'd been put back into a Siffrin body again, they aren't Siffrin anymore, either. Loop is what the loops made them. They want to change their body, to make it something they can be comfortable in, but they can't. Because body craft is a method of changing flesh and blood and bone, and Loop is not made of such human stuff anymore.

So we've got Loop. Trying to find themself, and maybe succeeding in some ways, but stymied or uncertain in others. Desperate to change, but scared to hope. To make a long story short, they join back up with the party, which brings its own set of problems, and yet... it's also a step towards fixing some of their problems, too. Most relevant to our post, here: Odile is a craft expert with a unique set of experiences. She's got a wide foundation of knowledge, since she's familiar with all three main craft types. She used to be part of Ka Bue's underground body-crafting scene, where she not only crafted her own body but also helped and taught other people; and unlike in Vaugarde, where Houses provide resources and education, Odile and her peers had to do their own research and experiments, develop their own techniques. She even has some knowledge of wish craft from Siffrin, and the way she stopped Siffrin from looping proves that she's unusually good at analyzing and adapting to new forms of craft.

So once Loop's dissatisfaction with and ignorance regarding their own physical form comes to Odile's attention, of course she offers to help. To see if she can figure out what their body is made of, and how it works, and hopefully, in what ways it can be changed.

And this dynamic with her... it's totally different from her relationship with Siffrin, both pre-loops and post. And Loop has always admired her, and here she is, talking about the confidence and determination with which she changed her own body, not without fear or frustration but not letting herself be slowed down by them, either. Taking her fate into her own hands and refusing to be anyone other than herself. And Loop used to feel that Odile understood them best, and losing that connection felt like the end of the world, but here she is, still! Observant and caring as ever. Dedicated to figuring them out again. Unflinching as she sees them for the strange thing they currently are, but equally unshakable in her insistence that they do not have to stay exactly as they are.

So Odile helps them figure out their body. Helps them with the craft itself, too, but even more than that — through both encouragement and example, she helps them be brave enough to genuinely try. To ask themself what they really want. To strike a balance between Siffrin's complacent hesitation and Loop's miserable desperation. To experiment, and face both the chance of failure and the chance of success with head held high. To hope.

Odile is not one for platitudes and empty positivity, after all. If she says something's possible, then it is, or she will make it so, one way or another, despite any setback. Isn't she proof? She remade herself, and she can remake Loop, too. Changing them, slowly and carefully and so very, very deliberately. Loop will never be human again, but they can decide who they are and become themself.

[once-in-a-blue-moon-rising]

Okay okay okay, this might sound just a tiny bit unhinged but I am convinced that the LCDP writers have seen and been influenced by Hannibal, owing to the parallels between the Hannibal/Will and Sergio/Raquel relationships (focusing especially on a scene in the show that really mirrors one in Hannibal).

So, let's look at the text. First up, Hannibal, 3x11

Hannibal: The building of a new body and the othering of himself, the splitting of his personality, all seem active and deliberate. He craves change. Will: He didn't murder those families. He changed them. Hannibal: Don't you crave change, Will?

Second, LCDP, 2x8

El Profesor: Yo estoy haciendo una inyección de liquidez. Pero no a la banca. La estoy haciendo aquí, en la economía real, de este grupo de desgraciados, que es lo que somos, Raquel. Para escapar de todo esto. Tu no quieres escapar? ('I'm injecting liquidity. But not to the banks. I'm doing it here, in the real economy, for this group of wretches, Raquel, which is what we are. To escape from all of this. Don't you want to escape?')

And, ok, they're not the only two stories in existence where one character begs the other to see things from their point of view, you might say. You're clutching at straws here, Nay, because Hannibal is your current obsession, and LCDP was the one that came before.

But it's not just the dialogue. And it's not just this one scene.

If we're looking very literally at these two scenes, you'll notice that one half of our pair is imprisoned, but even that's not just surface level. Both imprisoned parties should not, by rights, be there, if they'd behaved in a remotely rational way leading up to that point. Hannibal allowed himself to be imprisoned for Will, even though he should have killed him long ago to protect himself. Raquel, likewise, could and should have handed Sergio over to the police many, many episodes ago, but she didn't, because like Hannibal, she couldn't bring herself to hurt him.

However, the real parallel isn't between Hannibal and Raquel - Sergio/Hannibal and Raquel/Will are the parallel characters leading up to these scenes, and besides looking at who is currently imprisoned, the clearest parallels within the scenes too.

Both of these relationships are deeply manipulative and physically violent, but the person who is initially causing harm gets tripped up by their own feelings, opening a window for their intended victim to exercise power over them instead. And, although in each relationship there is a clear manipulator at first, even in their beginnings, they are equals, and natural enemies (even though they might not realise it at first).

That's not to say the characters are the same - Hannibal's manipulation is driven by curiosity, and Sergio's is driven by ideals. But the outcomes are surprisingly similar nonetheless - they realise their goals, and then they regret them. They both lose the trust of the person they have unwittingly fallen in love with, and as Will and Raquel see Hannibal and Sergio, respectively, for the people they really are, they want (or think they want) to exact revenge on them. Raquel ties Sergio up and interrogates him, threatens him, hurts him, and Will tries to have Hannibal killed, and works to prove that it's Hannibal who's the serial killer, not him. But both Will and Raquel, of course, are not quite able to bring their righteous violence to its logical conclusion. Raquel fails to turn Sergio into the police, despite the fact that she's in charge of catching him, and Will gets tangled in his own line as he tries to reel Hannibal in, finding Hannibal himself far more magnetic than the justice of catching him. Both of them want to hurt their manipulative counterpart, but they've fallen for them too (and for both of them, I think this adds to their fury at Hannibal/Sergio).

And then we reach these two scenes I referenced at the top of the post. In both shows, they appear towards the end (at least, the assumed end at the time - LCDP, of course, got three more seasons later on, and Hannibal was [is?!] supposed to have more too). In both shows, Will and Raquel have experienced a loss of some kind, a really significant loss, tied to their identity, that is the fault of Hannibal/Sergio - Raquel has lost her job and integrity as an inspector; Will's family has nearly been killed and are emotionally lost to him - and yet they are both running towards the cause of that loss. Raquel, of course, is ostensibly trying to catch Sergio by herself, and Will has come to yell at Hannibal. But there's a calm in both scenes that wouldn't be there if all the wronged party felt was anger - after a fight Raquel lets Sergio talk to her without interruption, just as Will allows Hannibal to talk back to him, to ask him questions. And then our two manipulators - both of whom, I might add, have almost thrown everything away for the people who were supposed to be collateral damage - make this final plea in the dialogue above.

They're very different people, Sergio and Hannibal, but the plea is, at it's core, the same. The world, they say, The world doesn't look the way you were taught to see it, and you don't fit into it the way you thought either.

It's a plea for acceptance, because if Will and Raquel can accept the world and themselves the way Hannibal and Sergio see them, then they are, by extension, accepting them. It's a please, god, just say you want to run away with me.

And, in both instances, it works.

[nutterzebutters]

I have a take to share about cookie run kingdom, now that I've gone through the store and essentially analyzed everything that I can and I'd like to remind ppl of something very important (which means this post isn't a thesis about the update as a whole but a specific detail) when it comes to accepting the gravity of the story, and this is directed at "lily is dark enchantress" deniers.

I better not see another person say that Lily is not dark enchantress, to disassociate dark Enchantress from Lily as De does in the story

De does so bc she sees lily as weak and a failure to her own goals, there is a ton of self-loathing. I genuinely don't think that attitude about these two cookies is meant to be performed by us, the players. That is dark enchantress's job, our job is to recognize that dark enchantress may deny it all she wants but it's still an irrefutable truth. They truly are more similar than what meets the eye.

"you can't completely subscribe dark and chantress's actions to Lily" is something I see a lot and now that we have been presented with the evidence that dark enchantress is truly a vile person here and there's absolutely nothing to glorify about her savior speak I feel the need to remind us all that the entire concept of the perfect cookie stemmed from lily, the purpose of seeking power to use it for her goals stemmed from Lily, regardless of who it hurts even after a countless patterns being told that she shouldn't have continued. It does not take a genius to see that a lot of dark enchantress's actions have parallels to Lily's own, and it's perfectly understandable why somebody might label lily as horrible for this bc shes exactly where it started regardless.

There is no evidence that dark Enchantress was just something trapped inside Lily that seeked to get out (as if it was a completely different entity inside her that happened to take the opportunity of baking its own body in the ultimate dough)

There's only ever evidence that dark enchantress is Lily's "darkness" that has gotten out of control, that has been festering for however long and possibly the exact thing that pure vanilla feared way back in the academy. Which can create another reason that pure vanilla blames himself for dark enchantress's creation, because she proves all of his worst fears about Lily's method of actions true- I feel like we as a community need to remember that just because a character we like does something irredeemable doesn't mean we have to deny it. It's still ok to love them AND acknowledge that maybe they're a little whack and should not be encouraged whatsoever.

I'm speaking from the point of view of watching people at the time of the golden cheese Kingdom update switch up on "dark enchantress is lily" the second that they showed something she should be held accountable for. Conveniently forgetting that she did the same exact thing to vanilla's Kingdom prior and only ever reacting to cheeses bc it held more weight in detail. Yes, I agree that white lily is an excellent but accidental representation of what BPD can be, but I am finding that this is often used as an excuse for comfort more than it is acknowledged and actually looked at- it's perfectly okay to want to have a character appeal to a general audience a lot more, but I don't think we should be changing what makes the character the character in the first place - I will assume you never really liked the true character to begin with

On another note, when it comes to Lily's flaws a lot of them really do relate to silence, being complacent or even avoidant on matters that should have taken more priority or care. Being in her own little bubble all the time contributes to this, as it created such a disconnect between her and pure vanilla alone. Dark enchantress on the other hand, way more direct. This is a very key difference and something that should remind us that yes, there are very big differences. Just as there are very big similarities. The idea of building a perfect world was always something lily wanted, her life spent doing so will obviously shape the actions and thought process that dark enchantress has, aka the thought process of the cookie that was literally born from Lily's own dough and soul. This is not to say she's not on the path to redemption, because I do believe there is room for growth, it's only unfortunate that it happens after it's been too late to perform any harm reduction on the initial impact. I would like to believe her arc with silent salt will pave the way for a better Lily, perhaps even a better relationship with pure vanilla (possibly romantically if we get any substance on the two beforehand to build up to it, as her silence/bystander nature in ever responding to pure vanillas efforts to keep her safe is a big issue as well)

I'd like to believe the arc might bring her out of a lot of the self-pity attitude that she currently has, and make her more active in tackling more complex matters within herself. Remember, as evidence stands dark enchantress is a very current version of Lily, while the Lily that we have is a preserved shard reanimated that was saved from the past and now has the opportunity to deviate and make a new, different future than the one currently belonging to dark enchantress (which is another reason I think it's important to accept that DEs actions can be completely subscribed to lily, and at the very least do not deny that Lily is dark enchantress, because then it denies room for any growth on Lily's end)

When it comes to her relationship with someone like pv, It's possible she did not like her persistent and direct companion at first but whatever the case is he did eventually grow on her and that's an undeniable fact. It's also what happens to make the conflict of being dark enchantress so interesting- because she straight up wants to kill him. I have a small theory that dark enchantress could feel Lily's love even through the transformation, and she seeks to kill that. I believe it's also perfectly reasonable to say that for how strong Lily loved the traits for pure vanilla, is exactly how much dark Enchantress hates them as shown in ep 10. Like how she hates his smile the most, and yet Lily is extremely fond of it, his face and his nature.

That's all I just wanted to rant, the update reminded me that a lot of people can be very stubborn when it comes to their faves which is so damn understandable, but it's also extremely important to know that your fave can be problematic, they can be labeled toxic, and that's perfectly ok! Just like it's okay to like a character that can be all those things as long as you have a good understanding on what those things mean for the character. I love her writing, and because of that I have a love-hate relationship with pure lily as a ship, as I can separate her writing from who she is as a person, which is actually abysmal atm. Like she cares, and it's very clear that pure vanilla rubbed off on her and taught her a lot of the kindness she now demonstrates as she mimics him frequently (admiration ofc)

[shallowseeker]

i do think it's interesting that the core of dean's frustration with his mother in season 12 is when she's dishonest with him or sam. like whether or not it's justified, his strongest emotional reaction during mary's deprogramming is when she says "i'll never let anything bad happen to you" to his younger self, while she KNOWS that azazel is coming ("you lied to me. i was a kid"). i just think about his reaction to her words of reassurance a lot.

Oooooohl Okay, I'm putting a pin in this because I can't remember the exact wording. But there was a vintage conversation with Dean and Sam asking if it would have been better if John had lied to them sometimes. Shielded them from the truth, the monsters, etc.

And now I'm thinking about how cool it'd be to compare Mary's soldierly all-encompassing protection and under-prep versus John's guerilla, boots-to-the-ground, neurotic over-prep AHHHhhhhhhh

Part of this is background. Mary is from a hunter-soldier family... the Campbells were overbearing, while John's hunter-prep was largely absent.

John's legacy was hidden from him, and his father wasn't around to show him how to trap the monsters... he wasn't given the chance to even try to protect his family (re: "You made a fool of me" and his behavior in The Song Remains the Same").

This was echoed nicely in SPNwin when Millie's specter taunted young John about how Samuel had trained Mary up, had believed in her, etc etc. (Ep 3 I think?)

Interestingly, John and Jack Kline are similar in that they don't want to be lied to and prefer no sugar-coating in tough situations. Jack's entrance into the world was terrifying enough, and Sam's ducking around the truth was damaging enough that Jack now prefers the ugly, horrible truth above all else.

Unorganized thoughts///

EDIT/// re: Mary. Mary's relationship to cause is so interesting in her BMoL run. On the one hand, she's doing the classic Winchester: I wound up nearly destroying the things I sought to protect.

But Mary HATES her fam being in danger. She's so allergic to losing her loved ones that she prefers being a long wolf hero and reaches for a "total solution to evil" and resorts to lying to keep them out of the fight. Which is exactly what we see SpnWIN Samuel is doing in SpnWIN. "I thought if I took care of all the evil i the world... you'd be safe."

BUT. That said, even later after some healing, Mary is very reluctant to leave Apocalypse-World... This is her "Purgatory" of endless, "easy," 24/7-360 fighting. It's "pure" war; a "poughkeepsie" in SPN. She'd rather serve a cause far from home, where the enemy is CLEARLY defined, her fighting has a utilitarian purpose, and above all... she has little to lose. If her family isn't with her, she doesn't have to actively lose them.

Mary's relationship to Apocalypse-World is a twin to Dean's neuroses that he struggles with in season 10 re: Purgatory. (In season 8, Dean wanted to get out—to get Cas out. But when Dean himself becomes suicidal, he thinks... maybe Purgatory was easier after all. He, in effect, devolves into early season 8 Cas, or late-season 8 Benny, a total giving-up. Dean wonders if he was better off staying there... in a world of limbo/allegorical non-participation of life.

Note: Thematically, it's family that tries to yank you out of these terrible situations. (I think Sam harps on this a lot; that family got him through some horrible times and addictions etc.) But we see it time and time again: Dean tries to get Cas out of Purgatory. He then gets Sam out of Purgatory. Sam tries to get Mary out of Apocalypse-World when Dean is too mentally ill to try. Then Sam and Dean and Jack and Cas GET Mary out of Apocalypse-World. EDIT the 2nd:///

Basically... These are worlds devoid of personal goals or love. They're are punishing, hopeless, anemic, anorexic. It's as Ketch says to AU Charlie in Exodus:

via @spnscripthunt-inactive

It is another kind of running from life. And I think... the lying is tied up with this. It's for another day, but YES Dean gets upset about lying. But also... Dean lies to Sam to save him (Gadreel), and Dean lies by omission at first about the Mark of Cain about his plan to defeat the evil once and for all. (Which runs in parallel with Mary and SPNwin Samuel).

I feel like Dean's arc with Mary terminates in a speech that says, "I love you and a hate you... but I get it because I've made deals to save the ones I love."

Dean gets it.

He gets the lying and the deals and the mistakes... because he's made them. This is why we need a season 16 argh!!!! We need one more to tie up the the Jack-Dean stuff as it relates to Mary and John aghhhhh I'm dying over here

[newtypezaku]

Now, now, it's quite simple! A player in the opponent's half must have at least two opponents between them and the goal when a forward pass is sent to them.

What's "between," you ask? Again, super easy! You just draw a line across the field parallel to the goal line that intersects the part of the attacking player's body that's closest to the goal and can legally be used to touch the ball, which is anything but the part of the arm below the shirt sleeve, or the armpit, it can be fuzzy and dependent on the ref's interpretation of the handball rules... but hey, you know it when you see it! You draw similar lines intersecting each opponent at the point on their body closest to the goal, and as long as the attacker's line is behind two opponents' at the moment the ball is played forward, it's all good!

Ah, so I've been saying "played forward," but there's a wrinkle there. Here we mean that the attacking player is ahead of the teammate who played the ball, using the same lines. If your teammate is farther forward than you and passes the ball laterally or backwards, you're fine. And even if they pass the ball forward, if you're behind them when that happens and then sprint to the ball, all good! And if the ball comes off a defender, forget everything I said, by rule you cannot be offside. Throw-ins, too, you cannot be offside from a throw-in.

And speaking of wrinkles, an attacker is allowed to be in an offside position if they're not affecting the play. Like, if two players are running forward and one is offside but they ignore the ball and let the onside player receive it, totally fine! Of course, an offside player doesn't have to touch the ball to be involved in the play. They could be screening a defender or the goalkeeper by standing between them and the course of the pass, or they could be obscuring the goalkeeper's vision and preventing them from reacting to a shot in time. That all sounds subjective and can be dependent on the officials' interpretation of the rule, and it is, but those are details that don't matter until they do.

Besides, in competitions that have booth review, officials are encouraged to let the play continue even if offside is suspected. If a goal is scored, the booth official can then review the television footage and determine if it the attacker was truly offside, in which case the goal is disallowed. This can take several minutes as we find the exact frame when the ball leaves the passing player and then scrutinize the pixels to find the point of each player's body that's closest to the goal, and we may have to do this for several passes in the attacking phase, which is generally any period of uninterrupted possession by the attacking team that resets whenever the defense regains possession or clears th--

But anyway, like I was saying, it's actually pretty simple.

[marimeeko]

I have a sudden, unsolicited opinion on the moment where Ochako admits that she fell in love with Izuku. Since it has been going around as one of those context-less, surface level articles on Google(I spotted it too)

So it's talking about the moment when Ochako is fighting Toga and she tells her that she fell in love with Izuku.

Does she use the exact wording? Yes.

Does that mean it's an end all declaration? Does it mean she is endgame with Izuku? I do not think so.

I don't think it's the final nail in the coffin to the argument for any other ship involving Izuku or Ochako. Here's why:

The admission is so anticlimactic.

We have known for a while that Ochako has complicated feelings about Izuku. We know that it has been a bit of a crush. And that has led to ANTICIPATION to see what becomes of those feelings.

But along the anticipation, we have also seen her going through some feelings of discomfort about the whole thing...unusual, for a supposed love interest of a Shonen manga!

So the audience has been waiting for a LONG time for something, anything, to happen between Ochako and Izuku that rewards that anticipation and that waffling on Ochakos part.

And for something like a supposed love confession, a line like "I fell in love with Izuku Midoriya", to heppen....

But NOT in a moment between Ochako and Izuku themselves, just also does not reward the anticipation that was built up.

She did not confirm and admit these feelings TO izuku. She admitted them to Himiko.

And that is the first time the audience hears her positively confirm that she had those feelings, blatantly.

But it TAKES AWAY from the actual relationship because Himiko received that confession...not Izuku.

We didn't get a charged confession between Ochako and Izuku. The relationship was STILL not mutually developed. It's still just a quality of Ochako, it says nothing about Izuku. The anticipation of Ochako having a crush, and changing, complicated feelings for Izuku and where that would eventually climax, where it would reach its peak for Ochako and Izuku both, instead is diverted. Kind of literally. Because it didn't happen at either chance they had to talk it out, to confess, she sent Izuku away when Himiko tried to trap him into a love discussion. She didnt bring it up before the war began even though they had such a calm moment to be able to do so. It didn't come out in the logical places. And now in the endgame, they have split up to fight different battles...Ochako has even exhausted everything she has right now to save Himiko and likely is out until we receive the wrap up.

So, the anticipation I mentioned, again, does not have a payout in the form of even a rushed battlefield confession because the two of them are fighting different battles.

Instead the audience is given the confirmation of "I fell in love with him" when he is not even present, when Ochako is not confessing to him or confronting him. It comes out with Toga, when she Is trying to reach out and level with her, it almost could read as a "I had a crush on the same boy" kind of statement. It comes out when saving Himiko is Ochakos main priority.

What I'm saying here is that Ochakos love confession for Izuku, which is usually a big deal in any story, is in the back seat to prioritize each of their other relationships and goals. Which is great that it is not forced upon us when there are bigger things happening, however it just does a disservice to the pairing itself when most of the feelings are expressed onesidedly, and an actual statement of love, if it's not even outdated because of changed feelings, means a lot less when it's not filling the gap between the two people in question. When the confession doesn't reach the other person.

(And I will go ahead and say that is kind of similar to how bkdk is right now as well, bc we have SO MUCH material on Katsukis side, about how he feels and how much he cares about Izuku, but not a lot on what Izuku feels or allows himself to feel about Katsuki. I will call that out as well.)

Like at this point, the best we could hope for, for Ochako and Izuku being a couple, is a very open note about it in the aftermath. Like maybe Ochako asks Izuku if he would like to get crepes with her. That's just enough given context clues to suggest to the audience that yes there are still some feelings there, she heard what he said about crepes and holding hands and took note of it, but also that Izuku himself is willing to explore those feelings as well. It would be Ochako finally choosing her feelings for Izuku, but without it being too sudden for Izuku to accept. This whole time we are not shown Izuku crushing on her at all it would be strange to have him suddenly initiate.

But anything more romantic and profound than that? Any dramatic reveal/confession of feelings, any chance for them to have a moment in the midst of war to have the "i love you" discussion? That has been bypassed time and time again. Horikoshi COULD HAVE WORKED IT IN, IF IT WERE A PRIORITY TO HAVE THEM ENDGAME. While no, romance doesn't have to be a priority in a Shonen, and Ochako has flipped the script on how she handles her feelings as a shonen love interest, Hori has demonstrated that threads and concepts of romance ARE part of his narrative.

And right now? Hot take, but the most romantic thread that Izuku, his main character, finds himself in, is whatever the hell is going on between him and Katsuki Bakugou.

You'd just think if the mc was going to be with a romantic partner, a girl, by the end of the story, something would have happened.

I feel like I'm going in circles past my point, but it boils down to Izuku not having any indication of interest in Ochako besides friendliness....the fact that the audience received confirmation of Ochako loving Izuku from her telling a 3rd party and NOT her subject, and the anticipation of that confession, built up for YEARS of this manga and animes run, of supposed feelings not really being paid off, if the two are meant to be the romantic end game. It also boils down to the fact that the anticipation of the confession had a CHANCE to occur with Izuku, the subject, multiple times. It boils down to again, ochako and Izukus relationship being romantic in anyway being little more than an after thought.

AND! it doesn't even guarantee that her feelings of love for him are still the same! We don't know for sure if she STILL loves Izuku!

So yeah. I hope this made sense, but it sure feels anticlimactic to have a love confession(supposedly) not even occur while the subject is present, where the audience can view it and celebrate that long awaited conclusion.

As always, these articles that pop up on Google leave a lot of context out, and are very face value. They saw Ochako say the L word and called it endgame. There is a reason I don't read them.

[la7ma-mafrooma]

I've heard there's a scame going around trying to profit off of the Palestinian victims by acting as a fake GoFundMe request that gets sent to people's asks and DM's. Do you know if that's true? How do we recognize them? I don't want to help scammers (especially those profiting off of a genocide), but I don't want to deny sharing people's real GFM's, either :/ thank you!!

Yes, unfortunately a lot of scammers use this genocide to scam people out of their money and it's beyond sickening.

1) Reblog GFMs that have been checked and confirmed to be legit by Palestinian creators on this platform. They do magnificent work. I personally learnt about this from @el-shab-hussein who spread awareness about this issue before and constantly post and reblog legit GFMs (They have a tag on their blog called scam alert with various usernames listed as scammers.)

I also follow @ibtisams and @fairuzfan who always post and reblog ways to donate for Palestine and a lot of helpful resources. You should definitely check them all out and boost the donation links on their accounts. They do massive work on this platform and have helped Palestinians receive aid and helped Palestinians reach their goals on GFMs.

2) Usually these scammers use the exact same tone in their asks, and I usually just search on Tumblr for an example "Evacuate Gaza scam" or if it's not Palestine-related, I look up the main topic of their ask with the word "scam" next to it. You'll find asks with similar if not the exact same wording in the results. A lot of people also post lists of scammers on this platform for you to block or at least recognize the usernames of, because they recreate scam accounts with the same username but for an example with an added number at the end.

3) The accounts are usually only a few days old. Scroll a lot, you'll see that they reblogged quite a few posts, but their first post is usually only like three days old, so don't be fooled by the number of things they reblog.

This is all I can think of right now. I'll make sure to reblog this and add to it if I find anything. But for now, definitely boost GFMs and donation links posted/reblogged by Palestinian creators.