#need to let this out of my system because the more i think about it the more sad i get

[persephoneed]

I was going to ignore this post, but the more I thought about it and how many notes it had, the more it bothered me and asdfghjkl I need to get this out of my system.

So Elphaba, my beloved, was not selfish in asking her best friend to join her against Ozian fascism. I’m more than a little aghast at the suggestion of it. Like…doing the right thing isn’t always what’s popular, but that’s often true for real life too. It’s not selfish to ask real people to make those same sacrifices, so I’m not sure why that would be applicable here. Glinda may not be for the systematic oppression of Animals, but she’s certainly complacent in it, and it isn’t wrong to criticize her for it.

It is also not easier for Elphaba to do the right thing because she has always been hated and ostracized. She is an incredibly vulnerable and marginalized person and making herself an enemy of the state comes at an increased personal risk. I think it really undermines her courage and strength of character to present her choice this way. If anything, her desire to be loved and to be seen as “making good” should have made it easier for Madam Morrible and the so-called “Wizard” to manipulate and exploit her. She was literally being groomed to be a corrupt government’s weapon and subsequently tricked into creating their army of spies, but she had the moral backbone to fly walk away.

We should be unanimously celebrating Elphaba’s decision and her fortitude; we should not be shaming her for asking her (again) best friend to join the cause with her instead of joining the one that’s against her.

And respectfully, I’m also not sure why you (or anyone) would be sick of “people acting like Glinda made the ‘wrong choice’”…she did make the wrong choice. That’s the whole point. Even she becomes aware of this herself in the second act of the show. The entire concept of this story is to ponder the questions of “Was the Wicked Witch of the West actually wicked?” “Was Glinda the Good Witch actually good?” “Was the Wonderful Wizard of Oz actually wonderful?” “Was everything in Oz as it seemed?”

Of course some of these questions have nuance to them, and I’m not trying to suggest that Glinda is this tainted and irredeemable villain. I love Glinda! She can be so ridiculous and silly! But that doesn’t put her above any criticism. Over the course of the first act, we see her exhibit a lot of personal growth; however, she continually falls short in a lot of ways politically.

Yes, she and Elphaba eventually become friends, but let’s not forget how relentlessly Glinda bullied her and encouraged the entire student body of Shiz to do the same because of the color of her skin. Glinda has sympathy for the Animals, I’m sure, but she doesn’t share Elphaba’s level of outrage towards Dr. Dillamond’s dismissal or any real desire to go against the grain. I don’t believe she would have freed the lion cub the way that Elphaba and Fiyero did, if she’d been given the same opportunity to do so. She was also incredibly irritated by Dr. Dillamond’s difficulty in pronouncing her name and only changed it in his honor later because she thought it would impress Fiyero.

She can be well meaning, and I understand the inclination to give her some grace because she’s so damn likable, but that doesn’t make her any less performative in her politics. She was given a choice, and it wasn’t a choice without consequence, but it was a choice nonetheless, and she chose wrong.

TLDR: Elphaba as an underprivileged person has way more to lose by making her choice than this post implies and is not selfish for asking Glinda, an incredibly privileged person, to join her in doing the right thing. Glinda is in fact wrong for making a different choice, and it’s okay to say it.

I love how inherently selfish both Glinda AND Elphaba are as protagonists. But where one gets praised and admired for it, the other gets demonised and hated.

People always attack Glinda’s decision not to runaway with Elphaba, but no one acknowledges how overtly selfish it is to ask that of someone.

Elphaba is asking Glinda to throw her ENTIRE life away for her. To be ostracised and hated all throughout Oz when she knows full well how badly Glinda cares about what people think of her.

And while Elphaba is used to such ostracisation, Glinda is not.

It is an equally selfish decision to refuse Elphaba request. To perpetuate corrupt beliefs you don’t believe; in order to be accepted and validated by people in power.

They’re BOTH in the wrong, for entirely different reasons. It was an impossible situation with no right answer. And I’m sick of people acting like Glinda made the “ wrong choice ”

[a-bit-too-critical]

Holy shit?!? I watched the newest ep thinking it would be crap that I wouldn’t care about at all (especially with stolASS in the thumbnail), BUT THAT WAS ACTUALLY KIND OF DECENT??? IM KINDA OBSESSED IN SOME WAYS (obviously minus the Stolitz crap but still 😭)

Spoilersss below ofc

STELLA IS BACK LETS FREAKING GOOOO!!!

I do think the fact she never even CONSIDERED reporting Stolas’ illegal grimore use is really stupid, it feels like Viv didn’t know what would cause the authorities to arrest Blitzø so she made some crap up 😭

Here’s a more fun idea: Stella saw Blitz fall out of a window that fateful day with the grimore, but always assumed Blitz stole it and Stolas got it back easily considering the whole hell hierarchy (IMPs are seen as useless and weak). During a recent visitation day with Octavia, she was plotting ways to get rid of Stolas, asked her, and Octavia spilled what’s ACTUALLY been going on, which she then passed onto Andrelphus. Not perfect but a bit better than what was shown here I’d say

…Also why does Andrelphus keep calling Stella hot?? That’s your sister bro?? Why not make him say “you���re lucky you’re powerful” or “you’re lucky you’ve got insight on Stolas’ current life” or even “you’re lucky you’re of use to me”?? But no, we got stuff that kinda sounds like incest 😭

Not bothering to add an image here but I love the interns, they’re probably there for a college requirement or something (assuming hell has an education system) and Blitz is just like “HELL YEAH FREE LABOR” (more proof that bro does not actually care about his workers, idc what the show wants you to believe lmao) (good to see they likely weren’t caught up in the arrest tho, probably let go after they explained their story thankfully)

Also Moxxie dear god I felt so bad for him, he was sobbing and looked genuinely distressed, especially after hearing “we are going to beat you”. He definitely has ptsd from his dad and he deserves so much better than Blitz as a boss /srs

I also felt pretty bad for Loona, she doesn’t even want to work at IMP and doesn’t give a crap about the Stolas drama yet is now being arrested over it. I’ll get into this more later but proof that hell doesn’t care about hellhounds and Imps!!

Back to Moxxie, Blitz stuffing paper in his mouth while he was clearly visibly distressed caused me to lose a piece of my soul (and we’re expected to laugh at it, as usual :/)

Haven’t mentioned Millie much here but that’s kinda because she knows what to do in this kind of situation? She’s a wrath imp, she’s not afraid to kill literally anybody to save her life. She knows how to hide evidence and fight as well. She is completely fine in this scenario and knows what to do (and is clearly shown to be staying mostly calm, unlike Moxxie or Loona).

SATAN!! THE DRAGON DESIGN FITS PERFECT FOR HIM!!! this is by far my 2nd favorite sin design (only behind Bee, unpopular opinion but I freaking love her design)!!! I also love how they gave him buff arms but skinny legs (as he’s likely punching, grabbing/choking, and stuff like that a lot, but is rarely kicking, jumping around (he can fly, no need), or even running that much)!

ALSO LEVIATHAN AND BELPHAGOR!!! Belphagor fits pretty dang well imo, though I with they’d made her a bit more “plush like” to represent a sort of laziness and preference of sleeping instead of waking. Not sure how to feel about Leviathan just yet, I like the 2 head approach but the left head is just a copy paste Glitz or Glam 😭

AND BEEEEEE MY GIRL IS BACK!!! SO NICE TO HEAR HER TALK AGAIN AND HER NEW OUTFIT LOOKS SO FREAKING GOOD ON HER!!!

Alsooo I love that Moxxie has finally had enough of his boss!! He fought against his crappy defense of “attempting a crime isn’t illegal” instead of blindly defending him. You go Moxxie!!!

Anddd Andrelphus once again says his sister is hot FOR NO GOD DAMN REASON, Bee and Ozzie look rightfully disgusted though so at least it’s being portrayed as a negative thing 💀

AND VASSAGO ACTUALLY SPEAKING FULL SPANISH SENTENCES ON SCREEN WITHOUT UNNECESSARY SUBTITLES TRANSLATING HIM??? HOLY CRAP?? ITS A SMALL VICTORY BUT IM TAKING IT!!

Hey so what the hell

THIS MAN GOT HIS EYE FREAKING EXPLODED AND HE COMES OUT OF IT WITH THAT??? THATS IT?!? THATS BARELY EVEN VISIBLE WHAT THE HELL??

HIS EYESIGHT IN THAT EYE SHOULD BE AT THE VERY LEAST WEAKENED IF NOT COMPLETELY BLINDED, AND AT LEAST SOME OF HIS FACE SHOULD BE FREAKING MELTED OR CLEARLY BURNED. VIV, MAYBE TAKE SOME NOTES FROM QUEEN SCARLET FROM WINGS OF FIRE, BECAUSE EVEN THAT KIDS BOOK SERIES SHOWED HER FACE MELTED AFTER INJURY

Ughhh sorry, that one just really infuriated me :(

Ok this one might get a bit headcanon-ish since I selfship with Bee, but they mischaracterized the living hell out of her 😭

No surprise she tries to defend Blitz of course, as far as she can see that’s the father of Loona. But here’s my thing: WHY DOES SHE NOT EVEN TRY TO DEFEND LOONA??? HER BOYFRIEND’S LIKELY BEST FRIEND AND HER SELF DESCRIBED “FAVORITE PERSON”?? UGHHHHH SHE WOULD NOT DO THAT. NUH UH, SHE’S FIESTY AND WOULDNT HESITATE TO DEFEND OR SAVE SOMEONE OF HER OWN, MARGINALIZED KIND. I MEAN SHE LITERALLY INSULTED AND THREW A PENIS-POPSICLE AT MAMMON IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER SINS, AND SHE CLEARLY DOESNT THINK TWICE ABOUT IT. DEAR FREAKING GOD SHE WOULD DO SOMETHING-

In short, Bee would not freaking do this. Continue.

We haven’t got to this part of the ep yet so I’ll talk about it more later, BUT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE GONE BACK TO THE WHOLE CLASSISM DISCUSSION!!! FINALLY!!! Satan calls Blitz an “Imp bastard” that they can just kill and not care about, and nearly everyone agrees. With Stolas later however, that is NOT the case. I hate the classism but I love the discussion of why is so screwed up. Beautiful.

Ozzie looking up from his phone was freaking heartbreaking as well. He clearly cares about Fizz to a straight up unhealthy degree and would do anything for him (Codependency), but he knows he can’t do anything here. I think the same goes for Bee at this point, earlier she could’ve stood up and fought but now any bite-back would get her head cut off, especially considering how she is likely viewed for dating a hellhound and how Ozzie is viewed for dating an Imp.

AND BLITZ’S SPEECH?!? IM SORRY BUT IVE GOTTA RECORD THIS ONE ITS JUST TOO PERFECT, THIS IS WHAG THE SHOW SHOULDVE BEEN ABOUT AND THE PATH IT FOLLOWED.

(Ignore my friend yapping about TADC in the discord group 😭)

THIS IS ACTUALLY BEAUTIFUL. AND YKNOW WHAT THIS SHOULDVE BEEN? THE FINALE. THE END. THERE SHOULDVE BEEN NO STOLAS TO SAVE HIM. WHY, JUST WHY COULDNT THIS SHOW HAVE BEEN ABOUT MISSIONS WITH SLOWLY MORE DRAMA AND EVENTUALLY THIS, AND SINCE BLITZ HAS NO RELATIONS WITH THE POWERFUL… he just dies. It would show that, in a society so royally screwed up by this level of classism, they wouldn’t have cared. Our main guy is just some random Imp to them. Blitz never supported the rich, and for that, he died. Now THAT would’ve been a dark yet amazing commentary. But this is Viv so that’ll never happen 😭

Also this is nitpicky but the ass joke with Stolas is just so tonally dissonant, like this is a very serious and celebratory moment that shouldn’t have a stupid joke in it…

ALSO GOD DAMN IT NO NO NO MORE STOLITZZZ 😭

I am never, ever getting over the fact the actually successfully made an “in the only way I know how to… SONG” joke, it’s freaking amazing

Anyway, not going super in depth in this song but STOLITZ DOES NOT DESERVE THIS BOP OMGGG GIVE THIS TO ANOTHER SHIP PLEASE 😭

and of course Stolas called Blitz a worm and a bunch of other derogatory stuff as per usual, sureee you don’t look down on him bucko :/

GANG. WE WON. I DONT CARE IF STELLA GAVE AN EVIL SMILE AFTER THIS, THIS IS THE SWEETEST MOMENT IN THE SHOW. I KNOW STELLA WILL BE A BETTER MOTHER THAN STOLAS, AND I HOPE THE SHOW PORTRAYS HER AS ONE. ALL I KNOW IS THAT STELLA DOES CARE FOR OCTAVIA, BUT LET HER HATRED OF STOLAS GET IN THE WAY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. Now that there’s no Stolas… they can have an actually good life. Now Viv, you know you screwed up when your “bad ending” over here is actually the best possible outcome.

OK NOW UH

“You’re demon royalty!! Soooo your life has actual worth!”

THE CLASSISM HOLY HELL, I NEED MORE OF THIS. THIS!! THE THING THE SHOW WAS ACTUALLY MEANT TO COMMENTATE ON!!! HELL DOESNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ANYONE WHO IS NOT ROYAL, NO MATTER HOW SUCCESSFUL THEY ARE. THEY SEE THEM AS PAWNS FOR THE ROYALTY AND HIGHER UPS TO USE.

THIS PUNISHMENT FOR STOLAS WAS ACTUALLY THE BEST WE COULDVE EVER GOTTEN. BECAUSE HE FREAKING DESERVES IT. HE ABUSED THE LOWER CLASS (Blitz) FOR HIS OWN GAIN TO THE POINT OF CHEATING ON HIS OWN WIFE AND NEGLECTING HIS DAUGHTER, PLUS IGNORING EVERY ASPECT OF HIS LIFE EXCEPT HIS LITTLE PAWN TO ABUSE. AND NOW HIS IS THE PAWN, NOW HE HAS TO SEE THE CLASSISM IN ACTION. HELL. YES. Albeit I wish Blitz would throw him out on the street to freaking die but oh well, Viv needs her stupid Stolitz :/

AND THIS. YALL DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW SATISFYING THIS WAS. Blitz managed to fight against classism in a court and show so much support for Impkind, something he should be celebrated for. And Stolas abused said impkind, so should be hated on. Simple as that. Finally the god dang tables have turned and I could not be more pleased.

And even though I’m not a fan of Loona still loving Blitz so deeply despite all the crap he puts her and the others through, I loved seeing Stolas look so horrified. It’s almost like he’s realizing his daughter never freaking says that. It’s almost like he’s realizing he was a god awful father. Took ya long enough.

ALSO I SAW A TEXT ON BLITZ’S PHONE ASKING IF HE ONLY HIRES IMPS??? I THINK HE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE CHALLENGING THE CLASS SYSTEM HERE AND BRINGING DOWN THE HIERARCHY A BIT!!! THE CLASSISM COMMENTARY MIGHT ACTUALLY BE PERMANENTLY BACK HOLY CRAP!!!

I’m not even gonna talk about the Stolitz at the end 💀

But Blitz deserves those fireworks!!! He’s not perfect by any means and his previous abusive actions toward his crew should NOT BE EXCUSED, but what he did here is amazing and should be celebrated. Love to see it

Overall rating: 9/10!!

Pros: Classism commentary, Stella gets custody of Octavia and Andrelphus gets Stolas’ position, Stolas gets what he deserves, Satan has an epic design. Also some higher quality animation!

Cons: Stolitz, Moxxie abuse played for laughs, mischaracterization of Bee

[sharpbutsoft]

Fuck It Friday Saturday

in my defence, @clytemnestraaa did not tag me until it was already saturday in my timezone. Please enjoy some more of the Buddie college au because you all seemed to love that last time 🫶

tagging @cranberrymoons @clusterbuck @buick118 and anyone else who wants to share their writing please & thanks cause i Love being tagged xo

Buck tries his best not to eavesdrop.

“Alright. Yeah. I’m leaving right now, Mijo. Yeah.” Eddie drags a hand through his hair, with an anxious look on his face. “As fast as I possibly can, yeah. Love you.” He hangs up with a somber look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Buck asks, unable to help himself.

“I have to go. I’m really sorry,” Eddie says, gathering up his papers and crumpling everything into his backpack. “It’s uh- It’s my kid.”

“You have a kid?”

“Yeah, Chris. He’s only six, and he’s with my Abuela right now. I hate to cut this short, but he got hurt, and he asked for me.” Eddie looks upset, and maybe a little guilty which Buck doesn’t think seems right.

“Well of course.” He starts gathering his own study materials, carefully folding papers into his binder and securing his laptop in its padded case. He won’t get any more work done alone at this rate. “Your kid needs you, that takes priority. I get it.”

“Thanks.” Eddie zips his bag and slings it over his shoulder. “For being so cool about this.”

Buck scoffs, and follows Eddie out of the library.

“It’s cool, really.” He’s never seen Eddie this on-edge. Which, considering they’ve only known each other for like a week is fair, but still. Buck isn’t gonna do anything to make the situation worse. “Where are you parked? Let me walk you to your car.”

“Oh,” Eddie keeps walking past the turn off towards the student parking lots. “My car’s in the shop. I got the bus.”

Buck frowns. He hasn’t had many brushes with LA’s public transit system, but from what he knows it’s not particularly congruent with urgency.

“I could drive you?” The offer’s out of his mouth before he realises he’s made it. “Get you there faster.”

Eddie balks.

“I can’t ask you to do that, Buck.”

“Good thing you didn’t ask. I offered.” He flashes Eddie his most convincing grin. “If not for me, for your kid?”

[machineheraldbabe]

arcane's depiction vs. endorsement and why it flopped

~ i think i'm finally ready to complain ~

My general opinion of season 2 is potential squandered. My recent post about Viktor's storyline as an intentional tragedy lets ya'll know that I did, for the most part, enjoy his arc (hot take, I know, and I know lots of people disagree with me, and I fully understand). If he'd gotten the screen time necessary to pull it off, it would have been legendary in my book. But the lack of screen time, even in the case of the season's eventual BBEG, speaks to my greatest issue with Arcane: no commitment.

(Critical) Discussion of Jinx, Ekko, Sevika, Vi, and Viktor below!

Arcane, as a tragedy (I've said this word too many times to count smh), asks the plot, "what is the worst thing that could possibly happen to this character?" and answers in kind. This is why we get Viktor's lost agency until the very end (and like I've said in the past, I completely understand and hold space for those who dislike this route).

If we ask this same question of the following characters, the scope of loss and despair innate to Arcane's final narrative is made very clear:

Sevika: a revolutionary forever devoted to the cause, not the individual, is nominated as an individual to represent the masses in a governmental body that has no interest in her class-conscious ideal.

Ekko: the people's hero in every sense of the word who never sees the fruits of his labor/sacrifice and who goes without the acknowledgement he deserves (more than any other Arcane character).

Vi: the ultimate victim of Piltover police brutality coerced, through grief, trauma, and loss, into working for the system that oppressed her. Even Caitlyn, for all her good intentions, seems incapable of ever understanding this.

Viktor: a genius hellbent on ending the same suffering he endured at the hands of Piltover's oppression has his agency revoked, driving him to inflict the same choicelessness he endured on Zaunite innocents.

On paper, these arcs are devastatingly sensical. And we don't always need happy endings in our stories (I'd sure like them, more often than not, of course). We can and should witness the harsh realities of class oppression if we don't experience them ourselves. The writing team painstakingly crafted and foreshadowed these worst-case scenarios throughout season 1. For example, in 1x07, Ekko being immediately shot at by Marcus at the bridge confirms our suspicions that Piltover Enforcers are a lost cause, not just full of bad apples but internally broken beyond repair. It felt that, despite all the hope, this struggle was doomed, and we were careening toward something dark - "In the pursuit of great, we failed to do good."

Had these arcs been successful, audiences would be confronted with the systemic issues we see today that implicate the physical and mental health of downtrodden individuals on account of lazy, prejudiced leadership. This actively happens. It is actively happening, sans the fantasy of it all. This is where Arcane should have shined: they depict the tragedy of these characters, but DO NOT endorse it.

But Arcane chickens out and the entire thing fails. Here are the Flop Era Spark Notes:

Maddie is the egregious bad apple stereotype that absolves all other agents of the regime. She clearly is not a stand-in for Enforcers at large because, all of a sudden, they're capable of coordinated artillery strikes that are necessary to the defense of Piltover, which the viewer must suddenly and abundantly care about. So glad she died. Also, Arcane, you cannot introduce abject warfare in the last 30 minutes of your show successfully.

Jinx's "revolutionary" plot was a red herring, and Sevika humbly vying for the spot was never delivered upon. They pay lip service to the Undercity organizing, but the scene is interrupted for larger (messier) plot concerns almost immediately. No commitment. No depiction to even refrain from endorsing.

Ekko and the Firelight Tree. Clearly this was set up as a means of showing how Piltover's mistakes were physically seeping into the only sanctuary left in Zaun. Yet this is just...never resolved? If someone has some insights into this, please let me know. No depiction. No discussion about endorsement.

What could Vi specifically gain by aligning with the Enforcers/Piltover? Human connection with Cait, sure, but why return to them in 2x06? Vi's character begged all season for development, but she kept returning to her nonsensical error of her ways (looking backwards) until the very end, and this is basically what "kills" Jinx. This is a nod to her lonesomeness post 1x03, sure, but to what end? Again, why the Enforcers?!? Oh, because now that Cait has been redeemed and Sevika is in Piltover to save the day, there are no systemic issues left to fix? Sure, Riot.

WHY DEVELOP VIKTOR'S ENTIRE HEXCORE ARC OFF SCREEN?I'M ADMITTEDLY BIASED ABOUT THIS, BUT THE AMOUNT OF DISCUSSIONS I'VE HAD WITH VIKTOR NATION ABOUT THE DEGREE TO WHICH HE WAS INFLUENCED/MANIPULATED BY THE HEXCORE (now that we know Sky was a manifestation of his humanity, not her Actual Self) IS DESPICABLE. HIS COMPROMISED AGENCY NEEDS TO BE FRONT AND CENTER AND OBVIOUS, OR ELSE IT SURE SEEMS LIKE RIOT IS ENDORSING THE LACK OF AGENCY IN VIKTOR'S STORY. I shouldn't have to make 1k word posts to explain this. I'll do it because I love him with my whole heart, but still.

I begged and pleaded for months for BBEG Viktor (I'm really proud of my predictions from October), but by introducing a villain/conflict beyond the Piltover/Zaun dichotomy, Riot severed all threads of class conflict that were so rife and exciting in season 1. The proletariat and the bourgeoise will never coalesce like they did by the end of 2x09 without systemic revolution. Sevika is just one individual. Ekko's people need him. Jinx and Viktor are gone. Vi is downtrodden, and we have SO LITTLE to show for it.

In summary, we just didn't get enough explicit explanation of any character development to make Arcane-As-Tragedy successful. They did not stick the landing. The finale leaves us all with various bad tastes in our mouth. Instead of lamenting the harsh reality of oppression, I'm confused about what Riot prioritizes and agrees with, what they aim to criticize, and what they condemn.

I'll die on the hill that revoking Viktor's agency has the potential to be one of the greatest tragic hero storylines I've ever seen, but it's a lonely hill because I'm fighting against the writing team's consistent flops. At least Balayage Viktor was so gorgeous.

shameless self plug for my earlier discussion about the innate political clashes in season 1 that were abandoned for flashy fantasy fights in season 2:

[glitter-stained]

Sense the current state of jason as character is stagnant do you think dc will ever purplish a good story of him, maybe he even kills of his red hood persona and goes on to be something else that would be something I would like to see but I don’t think it will happen. Dc will forever shoehorn him in to the batfamily. At least in his anti-villian era he was actually fun now his character is in a pitiful state

do u think theirs a chance of reinvent him as character anytime soon ?

Well first of all through spite everything is possible, so jot that down.

Like seriously, remember when it was so so incredibly over like Spiderman's Uncle Ben levels of over and then Under the Hood happened? Hell yeah I think dc will publish a good Jason story

Second I may not be the best person for this ask because I like my blorbos pitiful and miserable. Like yeah defiance is awesome but exhaustion -in characters who have been angry and alone for so long, beaten dog who got electrocuted too often to bite back- has a special place in my heart. But I also agree this has to be a transitional part of a story, the arc can't be "well he was hurt and then he was angry and then he was tired and he was miserable the whole time". Unless of course he ends up perma-dying in a really meaningful arc centered around his character but I'm not sure that'd be what I want for him, and we all know how lame dc is with permadeath nowadays. I'm also very mitigated with his villain side because yeah sometimes it's very fun and cathartic to see the angry/bad victim trope, but also the classismXpsychophobia of villain Red Hood sometimes are just too much; and also I'm a jaybin fan and sometimes I feel betrayed on jaybin's behalf by elements of his villainous characterization. (One day I'll write that damned UTH rewrite, I will).

With that being said!!! I love Jason because of his potential, he has so so much of it, that's what's exhausting about his many bad comics is that yeah. Yeah, dc can absolutely publish something more than good. They don't understand the goldmine they're sitting on in terms of potential.

What I'd love to see explored in hypothetical upcoming good comics (i'll talk more about it later with malfiora but for now)/how dc could go about reinventing his character :

1) addressing Jason's suicidality and getting him a functional support system (seriously, something's gotta give)

2) Get that boy a dog. Ik he had one at some point in N52 idc give him more dogs. Big ass rescue dog that's loyal and similar to him.

2) we need to figure out a way to let Jason keep being a Crime Alley/Park Row vigilant without being dependent on Batman. Like yeah he should explore the world away from him and heal but also i'm very uncomfortable with the idea that healing, for Jason, has to mean leaving the city and neighbourhood he grew up in and protected, has to mean be shoved out of his home by a guy who doesn't live there and, at least when Jason was a kid, only visited the place one time a year because of the anniversary of his parents' death- it's not fair and I won't accept it.

3) I so so agree about the "killing the red hood persona" or at the very least changing his vigilant name. Like I get the point, I understand the use he had for him, but his story can't be centered around the Joker forever (I keep thinking about the Joker's attitude to him in The Man who stopped Laughing and god, I can see a driving force to find himself as something else than what Batman and the Joker made him). At some point his name has to become something that is his and turned towards the future.

4) art + story that acknowledges how young he is (someone please let Jason take college class please please he deserves it)

5) perhaps most importantly: batman writers often sound like hardcore deontology or hardcore utilitarianism (and the occasional egoism) are the only acceptable moral philosophies. And for characters, it works! Like I can see Batman as a Kantian, sure. But for others, it doesn't fit as well.*

The cool thing about Jason's character right now is that he's a utilitarian, but a utilitarian that often isn't guided by his values. He can and will compromise on his philosophy in the name of love and being loved ( @bestangelofall called that a morality leash) and that already sets him as an interesting character in his own right. But in terms of redefining himself as a person after decades of defining himself through his pain (which, at 20-23 years old, he should get to do) I'd love to see an evolution of his morals based on love. Specifically, I'd love from his morals to shift from mathematical utilitarianism to agape, an ancient greek concept of platonic love for everything human, a movement towards the other that can be thought of as close to some conceptualisations of empathy. Mind you, that doesn't mean that he would stop killing! I can believe in a Jason who kills because or against of agape, the pain or relief that could be so good to explore in relation to that, how he would go on to define himself as a person... I feel like Jason has a certain tendency to kinda dehumanize the worst criminals as he kills them (a lesson from Judy, love her sm) which I love, but would also love to see him grow out of - learn to see and love everyone as human and what it means, a re-exploration of his empathy.

Imagine: a scene where he kills a guy because a kid victim begged him to. The focus on the image is on the kid's big wide tearstruck eyes, and then Jason's uncertain face, the kid begging him to kill the bad guy. And then Jason kills him and they're standing so close to eachother, and he's look him in the eyes and seeing the image of the kid's eyes, and then turning back to the kid while wiping the blood on his face and seeing the kid's wide eyes looking in disbelieving awe. And then kneeling and hugging the kid as he cries his heart out. And Jason's inner monologue during all that being something like "I could say that I killed him because I'm a bad guy; I probably am. Or argue the world is better off without scum like him; I could pretend I did it so he wouldn't hurt [x] again, or that I was thinking about all the other children he wouldn't be able to hurt anymore. But the truth is, I didn't. I killed him because [x] asked me to; because I could tell that he needed it. I can live with that."

Idk, that's the direction I would love to see it going, but simply "becoming even more open, louder and unapologetic about prioritising his love over his values, and being angry when it causes him dilemma" is something I'd love with as way. Very "Odysseus knows what he's going to choose the moment the gods tell him to throw the baby off the wall to see Penelope and Telemachus, but fuck if he's angry at the gods for making him make that choice" kind of vibe if you like Epic the musical.

*i'm not saying there aren't any characters in dc that fall out of this deontological/utilitarian false dilemma, it's just a vibe I get from batman writers at times, and as a consequence of specializing in one character I don't feel legitimate in exploring the intricacies of other characters because I feel like I'm lacking information and would be making uneducated guesses (that being said, I would fuck heavily with an exploration of Cass' morals VS Levinas' concept of ethics). If anybody has recommendations of dc characters that are neither utilitarian nor deontological (or are at least an interesting twist to it) I would love them so much please don't hesitate!!!

So yeah, idk if that answers your question, I don't pretend to know the intricate working of dc editorial. But imo there are wonderful possibilities for dc to reinvent Jason and write him into good comics -call me a blue lantern cause baby I got hope.

[discoscoob]

Um...How about Neo?

This is also for @scarlettspectra who requested Loser!Neo (alongside her beau Jack which will be coming later) This is my speciality!

He is an orphan, he was given up as a baby. (I know his parents are on his file in the interrogation scene but let’s say it wasn’t hard for the Agents to find out who they were or Neo maybe already tracked them down himself but he avoided getting in contact.) This gave him abandonment issues and avoidant personality disorder — partly the reasons he has never been in a relationship. When he finally gets into one he is terrified you will leave him. He will worship you like a goddess but also questions what you see in him. He feels insecure and often needs reassurance but he will avoid telling you that because he doesn’t want to seem needy, so he is the suffer in silence type. You learn how he is feeling through his behaviour, if he becomes quieter than usual you can generally tell something is wrong but you practically have to beg him to tell you. Of course, once he does, you’ll do everything in your power to silence the insecurities, but it’s not an easy battle, one you can’t fight alone and he might have to consider therapy.

He’s inexperienced, which adds to his insecurities. When it didn’t happen in high school, he told himself it would happen in college. When it didn’t happen in college, he told himself he’d meet someone at work. Eventually he stopped expecting it to happen. He finds it hard to approach women, he doesn’t really know how to flirt or engage them in conversation, the few times he has tried still haunt him late at night because of how disastrous it was. Now he would rather save himself the embarrassment.

Sarcasm is his defence mechanism. He struggled a lot with authority growing up with teachers and different foster parents — think “how about I give you the finger and you give me my phone call.” He might be quiet but he’s not a total coward, granted before he learnt how to fight outside the Matrix, he wasn’t exactly the best fighter but he has quick reflexes and at least learnt how to dodge punches (before dodging bullets) and run away really fast. Despite being bullied growing up, he would still manage to get a few verbal jabs of his own in even though that probably only made things worse, he couldn’t help it. He’s smart and could figure out their insecurities, if not he would hack the school’s system and mess with their grades.

He looks after a stray black cat that lives near his apartment. He brought it inside once, despite his landlord having a no pets policy, when it chewed through one of his computer wires he took it back outside, but he still leaves out tins of cat food and sauces of water for it.

Wears black nail polish. Not much since he got a corporate job, he doesn’t really want to show up to the office with chipped black paint on his nails but he wore it a lot more in college.

[officials-of-hell]

One of the funniest things about my relationship with my partner ( @eternalparadisesys ily <3 ) is that in all technicalities, we don’t actually love each other. Let me elaborate on this

I have NPD and he has ASPD. We’re both autistic and due to those specific disorders, we both are incredibly low empathy. It actually cannot even feel sympathy, that’s how low empathy xe is. On top of that we’re both aromantic and acespec. So there’s not really any emotional love, romantic love, or even really that much sexual love between us

However, we still love each other in a practical sense. My partner cannot function on its own. He is incredibly high support needs due to multiple physical and mental disabilities. So our relationship provides xem with a caretaker he can trust. Whereas I am provided with a companion and a partner in crime. I am low support needs myself, but even then I couldn’t really live alone. However due to my lower support needs, I’m able to care for my partner while it provides me someone to talk to and keep me company

I also get a lot of supply from my partner. He provides me with the attention my NPD and HPD (killer combo right there ☠️) crave

And on top of that, my partner is the reason I will be able to ultimately pursue a service dog of my own one day. Xe thinks I could benefit from one and his special interest is dogs, more specifically working dogs. As a handler itself, he knows a lot about them and wants to help me acquire one for my own disabilities

Ultimately, to the public we do come across as a very loving and doting couple. Especially if we both have certain people fronting (yes we’re both systems). But in reality, that love cannot be defined by traditional means, and I think that’s beautiful

I talked about this with my therapist and her immediate response was “well that’s why the Greeks had multiple words for love” and you know what? She was right. Our love cannot be defined by eros or agape or anything like that, but pragma? Pragma defines it well

We stay with each other because there is mutual benefit to our relationship. I think that’s beautiful and we should normalise relationships forged out of mutual benefit. It’s a unique kind of bond and I would love to see it more

I guess you could call us queerplatonic but that doesn’t seem to fully cover it in my eyes. If anyone knows a better term, please let me know

[thydungeongal]

I have an addendum/addition to the BLeeM discussion re: using 5e

Most of my playgroup comes from the world of forum-RP. But we also are very mechanically-minded when it comes to games - system mastery is something we all enjoy immensely.

We are a very roleplay-heavy group, but we prefer our roleplay to be very freeform such that the lack of social mechanics in 5e or Pathfinder suits us, but the tactical crunch gives us gameplay satisfaction.

Ive suggested playing other, social-focused systems before (partially because I would like to try new things, partially because I would like to see conflict resolution that isn’t around fighting, and partially because I’m a TTRPG fan while the rest of the group is ‘D&D fans’), but they’ve always objected to it.

I guess I’m writing this partially for my benefit, but also to think about how D&D’s lack of social mechanics can be something a group likes (though I don’t, particularly).

You see I don't object to the idea of not wanting the system to be opinionated on the social interaction side, but something that more people need to realize that the ways in which rules are opinionated about certain things inevitably ends up affecting the stories the game tells. It's okay not to want the system to have a lot of say in social interaction, but that does mean that the gameplay itself will end up being about things other than social interaction.

And truth be told, most D&D 5e players who say they prefer social interaction to be something that is largely not rules-mediated actually don't have a clear image of what rules-mediated social interaction can look like, so all the justifications ultimately end up sounding to me like post-hoc justifications borne out of the fact that D&D 5e has absolutely bare-bones social interaction rules.

In a game like D&D the game isn't really letting players handle social-focused gameplay on their own, it's basically forcing them to because it has very few tools for actually helping that side of gameplay. And we should be honest about the fact that the game being silent on the matter isn't some unique blessing.

[askhezureviews]

If I remember, you criticize the diamonds from Steven universe for being complex villains and having personalities. Then, you criticize Stella from helluva boss for being an abusive wife for seemingly no reason. Can you explain to me why this shouldn’t be considered hypocrisy (besides your hatred)?

Hello anon, your tone makes me believe you are a biased Viviziepop Stan who has missed the entire point of my criticism for both shows, so I’ll take this time to clarify:

The diamonds are amazing characters. They are complex. They are terrible people, but have redeeming qualities. They are their own characters outside of Pink Diamond.

Stella is not complex. She’s a terrible person with no redeeming qualities. Stella is not her own character outside of Stolas.

I’m extremely confused how you think these two are related. The only thing I’ve criticized the diamonds for was their rushed , not believable redemption. Let me explain; Blue and Yellow are the exception to a degree. They were expected and forced to conquer and control by White Diamond.

They were racist, homophobic (fusion) , and totalitarian. They murdered hundreds of thousands of people for the sake of their perfect empire, but they were imperfect themselves. If they didn’t do what White said, they would be in trouble and she would take their wills from them.

Blue and Yellow, the only reason they woke up is because Pink Diamond left. Because their closest family member died. After hundreds of years of shutting their emotions out and feeling nothing but emotion respectively, they finally woke up and realized how miserable they were. How miserable they’ve always been, and that’s what ultimately pushed Pink away. Pink was the only one that brought them together, who made them truly happy. Knowing they were responsible for their own misery, they realized they needed to change.

Blue and Yellow decided to become better people, but they still had a long ways to go. There’s a lot of damage to the universe they can never undo. It’s not too late to change, but we only saw them wanting to change for the sake of their family member. Magically, their biased racism and homophobia vanishes and they just become saints to their people over the course of a few years when their destructive terrible nature and belief system has been instilled into them for thousands of decades. The show didn’t have enough time to make this change to their morality believable, but had we had more time, it probably would have been perfectly acceptable.

The biggest issue here however is White Diamond. The show set up to pin the blame of the empire onto her. White diamond does not become a better person because she misses Pink Diamond. Even after the finale she still believes organic life, fusions, and off colors to be disgusting; her racism still peaking through. The thing that “redeems” her is a literal joke. Steven embarrasses her. She becomes insecure when she realizes she’s not living up to her own expectations. It’s all still completely narcissistic in nature.

Even to “redeem” herself, she goes around and lets other people control her body and will instead of the other way around, which, after ordering the conquer of hundreds of thousands of planets , with all the blood and gem shards on her hands- this is an extremely unusual , counterproductive way to undo any damage she caused to the universe. It feels like she didn’t suffer. One does not necessarily have to suffer to be redeemed, but when you are someone so full of yourself, so shut off and uncaring and not empathetic to the world around you, I believe, in order to truly change, you need to understand what other people have gone through because of you. You could argue she’s doing that by synchronizing with other people, but she’s not actually doing anything about the pain or suffering she’s caused them. She just lets them use her and take things out on her which isn’t productive either.

Long ramble short,Stella is flat, the Diamonds are complex. Helluva Boss has time to explore its villain characters, Steven Universe did not.

Stella is an annoying waste of screen time, while the Diamonds are integral to the series as well as the overall message.

These characters and series are incomparable.

[mookymilksims]

🌟 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲: 🌍✨ 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 💖🎭

What's good MooMoo crew, welcome back to my channel! And if you are new thanks for stopping by! I hope part 1 gave you all enough to think about and you're ready to move onto part 2

So,let's talk about curating your sims worlds:

As promised in the last part, we are going to steam roll through so let's begin!

Remapping Your World

Setting up your world in The Sims 3 can either be a fun or frustrating process, but with this guide, my goal is to make it an enjoyable and easy experience!

I always recommend building up your world before you start actively playing in it. This approach helps prevent early-game burnout, boredom, or the temptation to scrap your save file because you've accomplished too much too quickly. By taking the time to build up your world, you'll commit more deeply to your save file because of the passion, creativity, and energy you've invested in crafting it perfectly to your tastes and needs.

Why Build Before You Play?

Longevity: You're more likely to stick with your save file because you've made it uniquely yours.

Purposeful Design: Not a single space in your world is wasted; everything exists for a reason.

Endless Possibilities: You'll never run out of ideas or places to send your Sims because you've given yourself so many options. Focus on Consistency

Aesthetic Consistency: Keep your lots on theme with your world's style—whether it's a city, small town, forested area, Italian-inspired, African-themed, etc.

Lot Functionality: Make sure your lots serve a purpose and provide activities for your Sims. Avoid the typical EA community lots that lack functionality or cohesion.

Opened Rabbit Holes: If you're like me and find traditional rabbit holes to be the bain of your existence, consider replacing them with interactive lots that fit your theme.

For example, in a medieval-themed world, replace a modern grocery store with specialized shops: a meat shop sold by hunters, a marketplace for produce, and a general goods store for items like pet food or household supplies. Other themed replacements could include:

Tavern instead of a bar

Brothel instead of a strip club

High-society tea club instead of a coffee shop

Castle instead of City Hall

Apothecary instead of a hospital/pharmacy

Tailor shop instead of a fashion boutique

These specialized lots keep you immersed, encouraging you to see the world from your Sim’s perspective instead of having to imagine it.

Choosing the Right World

Select a world that already runs well on your system. Small worlds perform best for everyone, while medium worlds provide more space without compromising performance. Large worlds can be hit or miss, depending on their optimization and your computer’s specs. My favorite large worlds, such as The Big Apple and Fairhaven, run smoothly thanks to well-done street routing and the use of decorative buildings instead of active lots.

Remapping Your World

This is the most creative part of the setup. You can design your world however you want, with a lot of freedom to explore different layouts. I recommend building lots in a separate, optimized builder’s world like Rosie’s, then placing the finished lot into your main save. Save frequently, and decorate the surrounding areas to “lock in” your progress.

To help organize your world, consider dividing it into different districts:

Wealthy Neighborhood: A gated community of mansions.

Middle-Class Neighborhood: Suburbs or other moderately priced housing.

Apartment Complex/Starter Homes: This could be a slums area, basic apartments, or smaller starter homes.

Downtown District: Include essential lots like opened rabbit holes, nightlife spots, and specialty shops.

These divisions help create a balanced and complete world. When paired with NPC households, you’ll find less pressure to fill every home, allowing you to focus on the most important spaces.

I want to add that if you are following my NPC Household method, then you don't need to have any empty houses during this process. All of your houses should either be filled or deco. Especially if you only plan on moving to another world at some point in your save file. SP will try to find sims to populate these empty houses which can cause lag and eventually an overpopulated world as more sims have been added who will eventually have children. Removing empty homes prevents both of these issues. And if you do plan on moving in-world at some point, and you're like me, then you would only leave 1 empty mansion, as the only reason I would want to move is because my sim has now made a lot of money and wants to enjoy the benefits of that in the world.

Debunking Myths About CC

It’s possible to have a detailed, CC-heavy save file without lag—optimization is key. The right mods and CC can ensure smooth gameplay, even with lots of detail. If a particular lot crashes in one world but not another, consider adjusting the lot size or the CC used. Test your lots thoroughly to find what works best.

Designing Lots for Your Active Household

If you’re unsure what kinds of lots to add, consider the traits and interests of your active Sims:

For my vampire Sim, Pandora, I created an underground rave in an abandoned greenhouse as a secret hangout for vampires.

My scientist Sim, Solomon, works at a custom science lab and gathers herbs from an apothecary for his potion-making hobby.

For my chaotic Sim, Moon, I revamped a dive bar lot to serve as a seedy hub for his illegal activities.

These personalized lots add layers to your roleplaying experience, providing endless opportunities for storytelling.

Opening Up Rabbit Holes

Replacing traditional rabbit holes with functional lots can add depth to your gameplay. Use a hospital lot for pregnancy roleplay, a police station for criminal activities, and a City Hall for bureaucratic errands, such as getting a license or applying for family services. You don’t need to be a master builder—download lots from the community, or re-decorate existing shells to suit your needs.

Section 2: Functional but aesthetic lots

While creating a visually stunning world in The Sims 3, you might find that a lot of EA lots were very empty, oversized, and boring. This quickly prompted players to fill this space up with a bunch of deco, leading many lots to be primarily for taking pictures and lacking actual playability. However, you can cleverly incorporate functional elements into these decorative spaces to enrich the Sims' experience without compromising their visual appeal. Aim for 80% decorative features and 20% functionality. If you remember my populated world guide, then you know that fewer functional objects on a lot can lead to better optimization and smoother gameplay. This balance makes decorating and building lots a more manageable and creative process! Here’s how you can achieve this:

Maximizing Functional Value in Decorative Lots

Integrating functional elements into decorative lots allows you to create engaging spaces that serve a purpose while maintaining their visual appeal. By adding a small percentage of functionality, you enhance the gameplay experience without sacrificing aesthetics.

Examples of Combining Decoration with Functionality

Coffee Shop:

Decorative Elements: Fill the coffee shop with deco Sims in seats to create a bustling atmosphere. Use stylish furnishings and art to set the scene, you don't have to be able to sit on all peices of furniture, you can easily set up deco purses, books, or deco sims in it's place. You can also place deco cafe food at a table where your sim can sit. Since drinking coffee doesn't actually require a table slot. The only open table slot you would want on this lot is for sims who have laptops.

Functional Enhancements: Incorporate the UNI coffee bar to allow Sims to order and enjoy coffee. Use Flo Theory’s relax-to-sit mod to let Sims sit comfortably at various seats, making social interactions more fluid. This way, your Sims can have a pleasant outing while still interacting with the environment in a meaningful way. You won't have to worry about sims you came to the lot with sitting seperately from you, you can just have them all sit at a table together using this mod, and watch them talk and slowly build relationship as they sit.

Park or Plaza:

Decorative Elements: Fountains, flower beds, tree's, flower's, bushes. You can become a real landscaper, even adding a fake creek or river running through the park.

Functional Enhancements: Place a few functional items like picnic tables or playground equipment. Sims can use these items for activities such as eating, playing, or socializing. You don't always need a chess table. And you can even just design this lot as a year round seasonal festival lot, with a functional carousel, haunted house, ticket booth, etc.

Art Gallery:

Decorative Elements: Most of this deco will be in paintings and sculptures of course. But did you know your sims can view cc paintings and sculptures and still gain the art museum buff on these lots?

Functional Enhancements: I usually love putting a souvenir shop and mini Art cafe on this lot. This makes this lot perfect for family or date nights. You can add romantic lighting for the night time, a little lobby with dining chairs and little tables. View art with your date or sim by setting up a bench in front of exhibits and talking on them using Flo Theory's relax to sit mod. And then ultimately ending the date or family gathering with a savvier seller gift shop you can gift to the other sim or sims you went with! You can also add a little wine and painting class somewhere in the lot, somewhere you can sample nectar and then paint on the lot with other sims.

Fashion Boutique:

Decorative Elements: Design a chic boutique with stylish displays, mannequins, and fashion déco.

Functional Enhancements: Include a fitting room where sims can check themselves out in the mirror. You can use Ani's ITF mod to make some mannequins functional, and add more than 3 outfits to your sims "closet".

Design Tips for Balancing Aesthetics and Functionality

Strategic Placement: Position functional items in less conspicuous areas to maintain the decorative focus of the lot. For example, place the coffee bar in a corner of the café where it complements the overall design.

Use Mods and CC: Leverage cc and mods to integrate functionality seamlessly. Mods like Flo Theory’s relax-to-sit make it easier for Sims to interact with various parts of the lot without disrupting its decorative theme.

Minimal Functionality: Aim for about 20% functionality in decorative lots. This small but impactful addition ensures that the lot serves a purpose without overwhelming its visual design.

Benefits of This Approach

Enhanced Immersion: Adding functional elements to decorative lots enhances the overall immersion, making your Sims’ interactions more realistic and enjoyable.

Increased Versatility: Functional yet decorative lots can serve multiple purposes, allowing Sims to engage in various activities while maintaining the lot's aesthetic appeal.

Creative Freedom: This approach provides creative flexibility, allowing you to design visually stunning lots while still offering practical features that enrich gameplay.

By incorporating functional elements into decorative lots, you can create a world that is both visually captivating and interactive. This balance ensures that every lot contributes to the gameplay experience, offering your Sims opportunities to engage with their environment in meaningful storytelling ways.

Section 3: Curating Households

So again, if you watched my Populated world guide then I breifly touched on the technique of mixing official townie households and NPC households in your world. I have always wanted to dive further in depth with this technique so let's do that here!

Creating a set of unique, official households is essential for bringing life and personality to your world. These households can be filled with dynamic characters who have distinct backstories, relationships, and daily routines that align with the overall theme of your world. By thoughtfully designing these Sims, you can foster engaging neighborhood dynamics that encourage players to interact with and care about their townies.

Designing Diverse and Engaging Households

Aim for 10-12 Households: To create a lively and interconnected neighborhood, populate your world with 10-12 households that feature a mix of personalities, aspirations, and relationships. Here are some ideas for structuring your households to create a balanced and engaging community:

Random Families: Include families that feel authentic and relatable, complete with quirky traits and unique personalities. Think of creating a mix of traditional, unconventional, and blended families that reflect the diversity of real life.

3 Neighbors: Design households that live near your main Sim’s home or have storylines that overlap. These neighbors can be friendly, flirty, or even hotheaded, providing opportunities for interactions ranging from casual chats to petty rivalries.

3 Potential Lovers: Create Sims who could be love interests for your main Sim. Whether they are charming, awkward, or mysterious, these Sims can add romantic intrigue and plot twists to your gameplay.

3 Potential Enemies: Introduce households with clashing personalities or conflicting interests that naturally lead to drama. This could be the rebellious teen that your Sim's parents despise, a rival co-worker, or a former friend turned opp.

3 Friends: Develop friend households that align with your main Sim’s personality and goals. These Sims can be classmates, co-workers, or simply kindred spirits who share similar hobbies and interests.

Flexibility in Design: Remember, you don’t have to limit each category to a single type. For instance, a household meant to be a potential friend group could consist of three siblings, two of whom might get along great with your Sim while the third becomes their nemesis. Mixing up traits, aspirations, and personalities keeps interactions fresh and engaging.

Creating Connections and Dynamics

Neighborhood Dynamics: Think about how each household interacts with others in the community. Who’s the “wealthy family” that throws extravagant parties? Who’s the “eccentric artist” whose quirky lifestyle intrigues the neighbors? Who’s the “troubled teen” seeking acceptance? These roles help shape the world’s story and create opportunities for roleplay.

Roleplay Inspiration: The dynamics between households can inspire various roleplay scenarios. Maybe the artist’s daughter is secretly dating the son of the uptight politician next door, or the town’s most notorious slacker finds himself working at the café owned by his worst enemy’s family.

Tips for Making Townies You Care About

Unique Backstories: Giving each household a rich backstory adds depth and makes interactions feel meaningful. Consider each Sim’s past experiences, dreams, and secrets. Even a small detail—like a lingering high school rivalry or a secret talent—can make a Sim memorable.

Defined Roles in the Community: Assign roles that affect the world’s story. For example, a “troubled artist” household might be at odds with the conservative neighborhood watch leader, while the “aspiring chef” could be the go-to Sim you invite for neighborhood gatherings.

Personalities that Pop: Use traits and career paths that complement or conflict with other households, ensuring a mix of harmonious and challenging interactions. A mix of friendly Sims and Mean-spirited Sims creates a more dynamic and unpredictable world.

Household Rotators: Special Note

If you rotate your households you may already have a natural connection to the Sims you create since you’ll be actively managing their lives. However, even rotators can benefit from carefully designing each household’s role in the neighborhood to ensure every play session feels fresh and interconnected.

Backstory Generator:

To make the process easier, I’ve made a backstory generator that can be used to quickly develop engaging backstories for your active households and official townie households. This tool will help you add depth and personality to each Sim, making your world feel rich and alive.

NPC Households and Defining Their Need

The Role and Impact of NPCs: NPC households add flavor, depth, and unpredictability to your Sims 3 world. They can serve as the town drunks, rivals, eccentric loners, or just that quirky neighbor who always seems to show up at the wrong time. These Sims bring an extra layer of storytelling that enhances the overall roleplay experience, making the world feel alive and filled with unique characters outside of your active household.

Strategies for Placement and Management: To keep your world optimized, consider placing NPC households in lower-functioning homes like basements or tiny apartments. This encourages the game's engine to push these Sims out of their homes more often, making them more active participants in the community. Another tip is to convert their homes into apartments using NPC doors; this setup not only increases the number of visible Sims around town but also creates a larger pool of bin townies that you’ll see around your world.

NPC Household Concepts:

Potential Lovers, Enemies, and Friends: Create a mix of 8 single male and 8 single female Sims who can serve as potential lovers, enemies, or friends. These Sims add a dynamic layer of spontaneity because even though you may initially label them as potential enemies or friends, gameplay might surprise you. A planned enemy could become a lover or vice versa, adding a twist to your story that reflects the unpredictability of real relationships.

Teen and Child NPCs: If you’re interested in family play, consider setting up NPC households of teens and children. These Sims will help populate your high school, giving your teen Sims more peers to interact with—whether it's friendship, rivalry, or romance. You could even theme them as “Class of [Year]” to create a sense of time and narrative progression.

For smaller towns, consider fewer households, like 4 male and 4 female teens in a single home, creating a tight-knit yet diverse school community. For child NPC households, you can include a Nanny or Adoption Agent adult to add context and provide adult supervision.

Toddler Households and Daycare Setup: If you plan to set up a functional daycare, NPC toddler households are essential. By including toddlers in a daycare run by an NPC adult, you can add adorable chaos to your world. Place 5-7 toddlers in a household along with daycare staff, and watch as these little Sims are occasionally taken out on outings, adding to the town’s realism and charm. I’ll be releasing a guide soon on setting up a fully functional daycare that can include these NPC toddlers as well.

Maintenance Townies:

Savvier Seller Cashiers: For those using Savvier Seller items, NPC cashiers are essential for running various shops like grocery stores, boutiques, or arcades. Create a household of Sims with the last name “Savvier” to easily identify them when assigning them roles. These NPCs ensure your businesses are always open and thriving without pulling from your core storytelling townies.

Business Sims for UC Mod Players: If you use the UC (Ultimate Careers) mod, adding a household of business-oriented NPCs can populate your offices, adding a sense of busyness and realism to your community lots. These NPCs can actively work alongside your playable Sims or simply populate the area, making it feel like a bustling, lived-in environment. You can also alternatively just use Deco sims to achieve this but I still wanted to give you guys some examples of how you could embellish this category.

So for a themed world:

The big Apple NYC world I recommended could have a:

Hispanic/Latino NPC Household

African-American NPC Household

Asian-American NPC Household

Starving Artist NPC Household

Political Activist NPC Household

Civil Service NPC Household (half could be police, other half could be first-responders)

Homeless camp/shelter NPC Household (you could make a homeless camp district for them to live)

Criminal NPC Household

And you can just keep going with this. Make the NPC households fit for your theme or story.

In a Life-is-Strange Core small town kind of world:

Indie Music lovers NPC Household

Mine Workers NPC Household

Starving Artist NPC Household (this household could easily fit here, you wouldn't even have to make a new one just drop them down in this world)

Motorcycle Gang NPC Household

Indigenous NPC Household (Maybe the town is located near a heavy indigenous population?)

And again, just to give you some ideas to string along.

Let's do a Fantasy Supernatural themed world:

Elves NPC Household

Witches NPC Household

Dwarf NPC Household

Orc NPC Household

Barbarian NPC Household

Werewolf NPC Household

Vampire NPC Household

Fairy NPC Household

Mermaid/Siren NPC Household

Now let's try a medieval themed world in general:

Nobles NPC Household

Royalty NPC Household

Merchants NPC Household (can also be your savvier seller cashiers)

Hunter NPC Household (these could easily be your love interest household with some hot hunters in the mix)

Peasant NPC Household (with some torn rags)

Beggar NPC Household (for your homeless population, optional)

Pirate NPC Household (move them into an IP pirate ship kind of boat)

Knight NPC Household (could also be your "police" population if you want to establish that)

Theives Guild NPC Household (your criminals)

Mage's Guild NPC Household (could also be your witches and wizards)

Slore NPC Households (these are for your brothels if you establish that, you could alternatively just use Arsil's custom generic role mod to place them).

And as a final example let's do a Cyberpunk/Scifi themed world:

Robot NPC Household

Hologram NPC Household (dead robots will have a holographic effect in game)

AI humanoid NPC Robot (I like to use the Detroit Become Human blue circle cc accessory)

Alien NPC household (there is plenty of cc to make all kinds of aliens so you can stretch this across various "species")

NetRunner NPC Household

Corpo NPC Household

Outskirts Gang NPC Household

So as you can see, the NPC household making process is pretty simple and very fun. And as you go through these households and plop them down in your world, you will find your world very quickly becoming more alive and more immersive!

As a pro-tip. consider changing the look of your bartenders and various NRAAS Register assigned role sims, just to make them look the part of the world's theme.

Custom Role Generator

Creating and Assigning Roles: To bring a fresh, dynamic feel to your Sims 3 world, consider using Arsil's custom role generator mod. These roles can range from regular customers, librarians, to strippers, adding depth and intrigue to your gameplay. By defining specific roles for certain Sims, you can create more immersive and interactive storytelling opportunities that push your Sims’ narrative beyond the typical game mechanics.

Arsil's Custom Role Generator: Arsil's mod allows you to assign unique roles to NPCs, enhancing the realism and unpredictability of your game. Here are some creative ways to use it:

Park Rangers: Assign Park Ranger roles to Sims for your camping lots. These Sims, equipped with the “Loves the Outdoors” trait, add a touch of realism to outdoor adventures. Another sim you could interact with on your camping trips outside of yourself or who you brought with you.

Librarian: Use Arsil’s generator to assign a librarian role, complementing Olomaya’s Library mod for extra immersion. A dedicated librarian adds a layer of interaction to your Sims' visits—whether it's asking about book recommendations, renting out study rooms, or simply catching up on town gossip. This little touch transforms a simple library visit into a social experience.

A Mayor: A Sim who can fill your city Hall, placing down a UNI podium you might even find them making speeches every now and then.

A manager: Give your uptight sims someone to insult and complain to when you're not happy with a bussiness' services.

A regular customer: A Sim you always see hanging out at the bar after work. I remember when I played a save file where I won a Daycare in China, I ended up making one of the customers (assigned by arsil's mod) a roommate, then I randomly decided he had a brother who needed a place to stay as well. You can easily transfer any of these sims back into your gameplay for an engaging story!

A therapist: A sim you can assign using Olomaya's medical overhaul mod, someone your sim can set up appointments with and go speak to when they need to unload something off of their mind!

Deco Sims

Bringing Worlds to Life: Deco Sims are a fantastic way to make your public spaces feel lively and engaging. By populating areas like parks, cafes, or arcades with these decorative figures, you can transform static lots into vibrant, bustling community spaces. Deco Sims give the illusion of a thriving world, helping to fill in gaps and make your builds look and feel more dynamic, especially in screenshots or videos.

Using Deco Sims Effectively: Placing Deco Sims strategically is key to enhancing your lot without overwhelming it. I've optimized Deco Sims specifically for The Sims 3, ensuring they won’t lag or crash your game even when used in larger quantities. Here are some tips to make the most of Deco Sims:

Placement and Density: Be mindful of how many Deco Sims you place in a single area. Aim for a balance that creates the illusion of activity without cluttering the space. For example, a bustling café might have 3-5 Deco Sims scattered around, sitting at tables or standing by the counter, whereas a quiet library might only have 1-2.

Theming and Storytelling: When placing Deco Sims, think of how they contribute to the story of the lot. A Deco Sim reading a book in a library, teens playing arcade games, or a couple chatting at a park bench can create a narrative that makes your lot feel alive. Don’t be afraid to mix it up; these figures can add character and ambiance, blending seamlessly with your active Sims during gameplay.

Creating Immersive Scenes: One of my favorite ways to use Deco Sims is to set up scenes that tell a story. You might have a Deco Sim “waiting” at a bus stop, another browsing magazines in a shop, or even someone appearing to make a phone call. These setups might seem static on video, but they add so much visual interest when you’re actively playing or capturing screenshots.

Gameplay and Interaction: Though Deco Sims don’t move or interact, they can still play an essential role in your gameplay. For example, in an arcade filled with Deco Sims, it may look like they’re enjoying games, which makes your lot look lively even when your active Sims are there. In photos, Deco Sims appear as though they’re fully part of the scene, letting you capture moments that look vibrant and social without the need to pause and manually set up your shot.

Technical Tips for Seamless Integration: Use the OMSP (One More Slot Please) to position Deco Sims on furniture, ensuring that active Sims don’t route to these spots, maintaining the illusion without disrupting gameplay.

Place Deco Sims in front of decorative objects rather than interactive ones. For example, setting a Deco Sim in front of a deco arcade game rather than a playable one ensures your active Sims won’t try to interact with them, preserving both immersion and routing.

Deco Sims are a simple yet powerful tool to enhance your Sims 3 worlds, making each lot feel vibrant, dynamic, and always photo-ready. Incorporating them strategically can significantly elevate the atmosphere of your builds, offering a richer, more immersive experience.

Showtime Crowd Cheat with Fog Emitter

Simulating Crowds and Events: The Showtime crowd cheat, combined with fog emitters, is a powerful way to bring more life and energy to your public spaces. Whether you’re looking to simulate a bustling marketplace, an active concert crowd, or a vibrant downtown scene, these tools allow you to create highly atmospheric environments that feel lively and dynamic.

Creative Use Cases: The Showtime crowd cheat generates ambient Sims that act as part of the scenery, enhancing the immersion of your builds. Here’s how you can use this effect creatively:

Bars, Clubs, and Concert Lots: One of the best uses of the crowd cheat is on nightlife lots like bars, clubs, and concert venues. By combining the cheat with fog emitters, you can create a dense, energetic crowd that perfectly captures the chaotic fun of these spaces. The fog emitter can add layers of special effects, such as smoke, flashing lights, or even fireflies, making the environment feel alive.

Marketplaces and Festivals: For outdoor settings like farmers’ markets, festivals, or community fairs, use the crowd cheat to simulate large groups of people wandering, shopping, or enjoying the entertainment. Placing deco Sims strategically among the crowd adds to the illusion, making these spaces look packed and vibrant without heavily taxing the game’s performance.

Busy Downtown Areas: For bustling city centers, set up clusters of crowds in specific areas—around cafes, bus stops, or shopping districts. By placing fog emitters and deco Sims in key locations, you can turn an ordinary lot into a lively downtown scene where your Sims feel like they’re part of a larger world.

How to Use the Showtime Crowd Cheat:

Activate the Cheat: Open the cheat console by pressing Ctrl + Shift + C and type testingcheatsenabled true, followed by buydebug on.

Fog Emitters for Added Atmosphere: Find the fog emitter in the BuyDebug catalogue, it's a green circle that looks like this. Now you shift+ctrl click the circle and pick "Set Visual Effect". A box will pop up prompting you to type in the code.

ep6crowdposreaction_main ep6crowdposreactionb_main ep6crowdnormal_main  ep6crowdnormalb_main.

This generates this moving crowd effect, now you can shift+ctrl click it again and select "Clone", and just place as many as you like to tell a story!

Combining with Deco Sims: Mixing in deco Sims among the crowd adds a diverse visual experience. For instance, in dark settings like clubs, the lighting effects can obscure the fact that some of these figures aren’t animated, making the whole scene feel full and immersive.

Tips for Optimal Use:

Strategic Placement: To avoid overcrowding or performance issues, be selective about where you place crowds. Focusing on key hotspots—like dance floors or near stages—ensures that the crowd feels dynamic without overwhelming the entire space.

Dynamic Movement: Because the crowd cheat creates non-interactive Sims, you don’t have to worry about them being pushed to the lot by the game’s routing system. This can be a relief if you’ve tweaked your mods or settings to increase foot traffic, as the cheat keeps the lot visually busy even when not all active Sims are present.

Atmospheric Storytelling: Use this setup to tell visual stories within your gameplay. Crowds at concerts create the feel of a real event, while a packed bar makes social outings more vibrant. Even when your active Sims aren’t interacting with every person present, the background noise and movement add depth to the experience.

Using the Showtime crowd cheat with fog emitters creates an illusion of activity, turning your Sims 3 worlds into lively, engaging spaces. With this method, your lots will always look full, fun, and photo-ready, enhancing your roleplay experience without the need for constant manual adjustments.

Conclusion

So in general,

If you follow all of the suggestions in this guide, by the time you start your gameplay you will have a completely revamped world and households with optimized population. This will all intertwine and interconnect with each other.

This process can last as long as you want it to last, it can be time consuming but it really depends on how much detail you want to add.

The sims 3 is also a building game, and it hangs a lot of it's merits on creativity. Which means you could spend a lot of time creating before playing.

I also find this process to be quite soothing as I often turn on some music, bring some snacks, throw a netflix show on in the background, bring my iced coffee and water, and just go silently crazy with my idea's.

If you have ever built or decorated in the sims 3 then you've probably hit that creative spark at some point in the game, where a build could initially start overwhelming or even boring, but the further you get into it you just started feeling the vibes out and throwing things everywhere like it was just supposed to be there.

I personally enjoy decorating and roleplaying so that is why this process moreso excites me, however, if you're not a builder and you just enjoy gameplay but you still want beautiful cc builds in your game, consider searching the community for their uploaded lots, and if you stick around I have big plans to upload my own cc lots to the community as well.

As I convert more cc I get inspired and like to build from what I have converted, so I plan to do speedbuilds and tours and then upload those lots for download. I offer this as an alternative because you don't have to build or decorate if it's a stressful process for you.

While I highly recommend it, because you get a better sense of what you actually like in the game, what your aesthetic truly is, you can also just plop down community projects all the same and jump right into the game.

Combining this with official households and NPC households just ensures your world is already full once you actually hit play, and sims will start being sent out into the world immediately.

I want to thank you all so much for joining me in this video today, and for the wait, guides like the topic I am doing have to be made very carefully and are a bit more time consuming than my other guides, since I have to visually show you many examples for the information to connect and to prove that this is even doable in the game. So I really appreciate your patience, and I will see you all in part 3! Bye MooMoo's!

Disclaimer:

I have no issue with you sharing this information on your platforms, and in fact, I would prefer it. However, I do ask for proper credit, as I believe it’s important to respect the original creators of content. I’ve put a lot of effort into developing my tips and techniques, which I’ve shared publicly in very specific ways. These concepts predate your "guide," and the only other place you would find this information is in my own work.

It’s particularly concerning that, as a creator, you privately asked if it was okay to credit me when using my techniques in your guides, yet you proceeded not to credit me and even claimed to have discovered these techniques "on your own". This is especially frustrating considering you directly asked me to explain my concepts in more detail privately.

The community we're part of values ​​sharing and collaboration, and when a creators' work isn't respected, it discourages further contributions. If this continues, creators like myself may be less willing to share ideas, which ultimately harms everyone.

I’ve received messages from many in the community who recognize where these ideas originated, so the situation is becoming increasingly embarrassing (for you). This will be the only time I address this publicly. If you’re reading this, I imagine it’s because you’re seeking more ideas to steal for your “groundbreaking guides.”

Yes, everyone knows, please stop. :)

Resources:

Custom worlds for CC builders

NPC Household guide

Decorating Tips and Tricks for Community Lots

How to Upload sims 3 lots with cc

Building Inspo To-Do List

Lots for travel roleplay

NPC Door

CC and Mods:

Alien cc

Forsworn armor

Relax to Sit mod

Functional Ferris Wheel

Ani's ITF Stands

Arsil custom generic role mod

Backstory Generator

Credits:

FarfallaSims

Galladriehel

CJ Plays

House of 84 Sims

Ani

Sims

ATS

SlytherSim

Sims2EPer

SimmerKate

DonSalami

Callia-Evergreen

Girls Meets Pixels

LegitLovely

Simstiful

EllieSimple

pitheinfinite

nightosphere

JuliLux3

AuroraEternal

Clumsypxel

Aurora

Pelixel

VixenSims

Simplicity

Cleotopia

StarrySims

MythicalShoes

S-club

Yellow Ninja

Severinka

Carl's Sim Guides

ButchSims

Murfeelee

PuddingFace

BeoCreations

Brennachan

NG Sims

SaterlySims

FairySims

LadySpira

Simarex

Sprinkle of Gaming

Insomnia

LizzieLilly

[orleans-jester]

There’s nothing slow about cold water. Not the way that it gets into your skin, into your pores. Not the way that if so much as a drop gets into your system, it feels like your esophagus and lungs are being attacked with a thousand stinging knives. It’s not refreshing like a cold shower or a dip in the pool. It’s pure pain. It was fight or flight when you couldn’t do either because you were too fucking cold to move, your muscles growing stiff, freezing.

Figaro literally only had the strength to get that Leo line out before everything else was taken from them. They weren’t able to help scramble onto the land with Willem and Nelly’s help, just laying on the ground, soaking wet, taking heaving breaths that hurt with each new inhale. That feeling when you have some very minty gum and then breathe in cold air? That times a thousand. With KNIVES.

And yet, not once throughout this adventure, did they ever think ‘Man, I wish I didn’t agree to this.’ Not once did they fault Willem for bringing them to this crazy other place with the cold and the weird fairies and Cap’n Hook and Peter Pan. This was better than a movie. This was like Pan’s Labyrinth with Targaryen hair! Even shivering, even with skin reddened from the cold, and teeth chattering, and blue lips, they didn’t regret a diddly damn thing.

They were muttering to themselves though. “Okay, what horror movie nuh - knowledge do I have th-that can help?” They said, stumbling on frozen feet to get towards the more stable land while Willem was calling for his aunt. “The Thing - keep up on blood tests. F-Frozen - know y-your ski-lift hours, and don’t jump down d-dozens of f-feet expecting to land on your f-feet, and don’t fall asleep w-with your skin on cold metal. D-damnit, that’s not helping. Uhh - Th-The Shining, Hedge Mazes in the Winter are never a g-good idea. Dead Snow - always b-be prepared f-for Nazi zombies. Jack Frost - don’t bathe in melted snowmen..”

As they walked to find the sun and some firewood, Figaro’s toes definitely feeling the cold, not even realizing how numb they were until they started to painfully warm up. They didn’t know which was worse. The freezing or the warming. So they more waddled, trying to keep their toes from touching the ground with each step. With red-tinged fingers, they undid their coat too. They didn’t have to take Clopin’s survival class at the Magisterium to know wet clothes were a hinderance.

They just let the coat and pack fall onto the ground for now, leaving it behind. Wasn’t like they couldn’t raid some outdoors store in Feral for another one. Fire though - fire. “Damn, why did I sp-spend all my t-time learning cu-curses rather than f-fire.”

They exhaled warm air into their hands, rubbing them together, wishing they were Ellie right about now. That would come in handy. Actually - for the first time, they felt a little bad for not being more of a help in this whole thing, other than emotional support. But that was quickly pushed to the backburner. Self-pity was not Figaro’s style. Then they started to strip down even more. They didn’t see their body as a sexual object, so stripping down was almost the same as just a guy taking his shirt off. They left their Trailer Park Boys briefs on, though.

“Iorek - will be damn p-proud of us, I think,” They said, looking to Will, their short hair pressed to their face. “And well-jelly that we did it with s-such grace.”

They clung close to Willem though, almost appearing needy, just because they needed that damn body heat. Still cold but slowly thawing as everything around them did as well. As Spring sprung.

“D-Don’t be,” Figaro said. “We’re the motha-fuckin champions. Look what we did. Mostly you b-but I’ll take some credit.” They bent down and ran their fingers through the grass, wet but still growing. The flowers. They plucked one and put it behind Willem’s ear so it created a bright splash of color against his dark, wet hair. “And we always have the d-door still. If we need it.”

“I’m lie - B minus percent sure that I’m going to lose a toe or two, but I thi-think I’m warming up.” The shivering wasn’t so bad as they found a patch of sunlight. It was helping, little by little.

Only Figaro could pull off a quip like that. Hook’s hair indeed. But they weren’t wrong. Willem thought to himself he did have good hair, didn’t he? He ran his hands through it as he thought about it. Maybe he’d thank the ol’ man for this hair someday.

“I do have pretty good hair, don’t I?”

But the world got away from him too fast before he could think on it long. The ice and snow were melting from everywhere. Before they knew it, they were sloshing down a pixie white water river. This was so not the plan, not the plan at all.

If this adventure had been fun at all this part wasn’t. Drudging through the blizzard was one thing, but getting submerged in ice water was not it. So not it. Maybe he managed to get to shore after all that, but now they were chattering and as they looked at poor Figaro Willem felt guilty for the first time for bringing them along. The suffer together motto was really pushing them to the test now.

“I’m sorry Smalls. But don’t worry. You may be Leo, but I’m not Rose. I’m your DaFriend.” He growled. “I’ll never let go.” He pulled as hard as he could flittering his slopped over wings that were drenched.

Luckily, Nelly could fly in the wet cold like a boss bitch. Her wings weren’t real being a doll. She flew on happy thoughts and pixie dust alone. Nelly grabbed the back of Willem and they both pulled. Three big heave hoes later and Figaro was pulled to land.

Willem quickly helped them take more steps back from the water line before it gave way again. He wanted to make sure they were all on stable land.

He didn’t know what to do or how to even dry off. Everything was wet from his whole body, his clothes, his pack, to all of the surrounding forest as snow kept melting around them.

He hugged onto Smalls just thankful to be alive at first. Then it dawned on him he didn’t know where Periwinkle was. He started to look around and call out.

“Peri! Aunt Peri!”

His teeth and lips were chattering as he called out with a frantic look on his face afraid, she’d gone under.

Nelly would point way down the now raging river. Willem was holding Figaro and himself as he squinted as hard as he could.

“It’s her. Way down there. She made it. She’s climbing out of the river.”

Relief washed over him, but they were still stuck with the pressing problem of hypothermia like this.

“Come on Smalls. We gotta, I don’t know. Get out where the sun is blazing down on us.”

That was all he could manage to think of at first.

“Build a fire if we can find anything dry. Nelly, go look. And-and… and check on Peri.”

Nelly buzzed off like a little bee on a mission for something dry to help while Willem looked up tried to help figure out the best place for them to dry out themselves in the sun.

“It is pretty bright. It’s weird how I can feel the heat of it and still feel this cold at the same time.”

The ground where there was snow would look like puddles of muck like swamp the ground was so wet. It would look like a flood was draining. He pulled his cold soppy shirt off in some attempt to warm up not having it against his skin as they waited for Nelly when things started to keep changing rapidly.

“Uh… Sm-m-malls?”

The snow wasn’t just melting. The flowers were growing. It was like spring was springing. It was more than just the sun was shining.

The Nevers were coming back to life.

He started to smile despite everything. “Maybe we should do jumping jacks? Keep moving?” No matter how much it hurt. No matter how fast the sun or Pan’s wake up was making things happen.

“Or maybe a polar bear plunge never hurt anybody?” He was trying to look at it from a different angle. “What would Iorek say?” His shoulders were still shivering though.

Back in Pixie Hollow all the pixies were getting excited. They hadn’t been informed yet of Willem’s plan. All they knew was Wild Will and those traitors stole Pan right from the Hollow, their blue dust, and even heard Hook was back which made Will seem all the guiltier. They were all in a terrible depression over it deciding how to proceed when out of nowhere here they were all out dancing in the middle celebrating the weather. Could it be? Oh! Could it be?

Rumors were flying that Pan somehow escaped and was coming to save them all. There never seemed to be a proper rumor for how he awoke when after all this time no one could figure out how to wake him from his endless sleep. Like the dwarves with the Snow White the pixies dwelled on the site of the missing glass coffin like a memorial to the worst tragedy ever to befall Pixie Hollow. Wild Will’s face, the son of Captain Hook and even Figaro’s was in the mind everyone as enemy number one.

What was happening with Pan and Hook? Battling their way out of the labyrinth. The moment he awoke he was up to his old tricks and calling Hook a codfish. Hook was no lost boy. He’d have made his way out and the pair were swashbuckling sword fighting… er hook and wooden knife fighting their way through the Nevers. Pan was trying to get back to his boys and Hook was trying to kill Pan while signaling to the crew back on the Jolly Roger.

While the pixies were celebrating the weather and Willem was just thankful, he and Smalls were alive and that his plan was working, he’d saved the Hollow, Hook was getting word to Pirate Cove that Wild Will was a traitor. Everything he’d worked for in the magic door at Funky Town was being torn apart for the Nevers, the pixie’s safety, his mother’s home that Tink abandoned herself, and for Delta’s alliance with the pixies in Feral. As Willem watched the flowers grow and even though he was smiling that this phase of the plan had really worked, the chill that was down to his bones felt more real than ever as the reality of what this was going to damage crept up in his heart.

Where were his happy thoughts going to be now?

It was the first time in all this that pirate admitted to Smalls, “I’m a little scar- worried.” He’d been terrified of his father all his life all while he was his right hand, but he knew he might have just crossed a line that couldn’t be uncrossed again.

“We can fix this. There’s always a next plan.” He nodded as if to reassure himself of being able to handle whatever came after this. “We did the right thing. You okay?” He asked as he kept watching for Nelly to come back.

[maxintime]

Been thinking about tyler having an obsession with cleaning as a coping mechanism from laurel's SA. He'd rub himself in the shower over and over again until his skin gets rough. He'd wipe all of his food before eating. He'd clean his house everyday despite his dad telling him that it's already clean enough. Because its never enough for him. No matter how hard he tries to clean himself off of all the touches from laurel he never could

[elftwink]

have to work on a project today and an unrelated thing happened that just made me so so so so so mad (just some irl personal stuff), which normally derails my entire day because i find it so hard to come out of the angry/upset state and tend to just circle back and obsess over whatever triggered it but! today after 20 minutes of that i had a council meeting about it (<- what i call my decision making process) the outcome of which was putting it aside (!!!) for later when i could actually talk about it and resolve it (!!!) & in the meantime we could just do other stuff.

local man exuberant and jubilated to achieve feats of basic emotional self-regulation and was seen excitedly telling reporters he "never thought this day would come" and began giving a thank you speech to nobody in particular. more on this story as it develops

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Me: I don't like Sci-fi, space operas, or fantasy. Me: *sees fanart of some characters* Oh these look cool. I wonder why their arm looks like that. Why is that one person dressed in skull attire? I keep seeing these guys everywhere, let's get the book on Audible what could possibly go wrong? Book: *Sci-fi fantasy novel in space* Me:

[planet4546b]

image id: A tweet by InsaneLetterbox reading "You have an Avatar-sized budget to adapt ONE video game into a movie. What game are you adapting?". end id.

yoinking this from twitter cause i want to hear yalls opinions!