#not bad as in bad but bad as in not interested in interacting with them outside of specific contexts

[the-fab-fox]

Let's see

ADeuce - basic ship (love it). As basic as it gets.

Trey x Jade - should be basic af with their interactions but some people have been like 'now that's an interesting ship' and I'm like... Isn't it like Jade's most popular ship??? XD

Kalim x Azul - I can dig it but the only digging Jamil is gonna be doing in regards to these two is gay up digging Azul a grave.

Floyd x Che'nya - okay op. As an avid rare pair writer who is ALWAYS trying to find rare ships that have purple going no way this could work and then I prove I can make it work every time (my reader's words, not mine 🤣), I am absolutely ASHAMED to admit that I have never considered Floyd and Che'nya but OMG op. You are so freaking right for this and I'm definitely adding this ship to my list of ships to write for later. But can I see your Che'nya x Floyd and raise you Che'nya x Idia? 👀 Have you considered? And what if we take that one step even further? Che'nya x Idia x Floyd. Could. You. Imagine. Op? Could you? Because oh the ideas coming up me rn. Hehehe. Okay moving on)

Deuce x Epel - aside from ADeuce and Jack and Epel, this is basic. (Not bad, just basic lol.)

Leona x Vil - perfection, no comments. (That said, op, have you heard of @mellosdrawings N2 squad [aka always number 2 squad]? Whether you take it platonically or romantically (always romance for me though lol), it's such a fun dynamic. Oh. Would help to mention the ship characters. Leona x Jamil x Vil.

RookVil - basic and based af. Show stopping, brilliant, perfect and hilarious. No comments. Just love.

Malleus x Idia - same. But have you also considered Malleus x Rollo x Idia (or even Malleus x Rollo x Idia x Azul? Lol. No? Well, be glad you're not in my brain cause that one is something else. So much drama snark and chaos in one polycule. Gotta love it.)

Kalim x Ruggie - honestly. Somehow never really considered but am ashamed. This will also be added to my ships to write in the future.

And lastly Kalim x Silver. Yes. Total yes. (Haha but what if I told you in my first twst series I made Kalim x Sebek a bg ship and people loved them so much I basically had to decide to write a prequel fic for them since so many wanted to know how they got together. It's super cute. Hehe.)

Okay! I did not peak and I'm pretty sure I got them all right. But ye. This was super fun actually but don't feel obligated to reply. I was just enjoying myself with guessing and then commenting on each of them lol

hey guess my twst ships 🤗

i'm sane

also don't look at the tags it's CHEATING 👹 /J

[linkcharacter]

I find it interesting when people call Jimmy an unreliable narrator. There’s not really any narrating done in the traditional sense, and we don’t even hear a lot of his inner thoughts. Do they mean “narrator” as in our view of the world and characters are shaped by his POV through interactions and visuals, instead of a verbal, descriptive narration?

Please THANK YOU EXACTLY I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SO BAD ACTUALLY.

My opinion is that people like to shove terms that vaguely fit the story of Mouthwashing anywhere they can, same with describing characters (Curly for example) as "morally grey". Which in my opinion is reductive and doesn't represent who the character is, it's defined enough for people to 'kinda' be on the same page but also vague enough that it doesn't accurately describe the character and blurs the complexity that makes the character interesting.

I wouldn't apply the term "unreliable narrator" to Jimmy. His perspective of what we are allowed to see in game is limited, but we see exactly what happens, just through Jimmy's eyes. Jimmy isn't twisting the narrative for the viewer because he's NOT NARRATING. Mouthwashing is a game with no narration to tell the story. Sure, characters talk about the events, but they're not talking to the player, and an unreliable narrator's purpose from a storytelling point, is to deceive or mislead the viewer. I think trying to shove storytelling terms anywhere it fits doesn't work and just confuses a lot of people. The game itself plays around with the narrative and reveals things and structures the story in ways to manipulate our perception, like allowing only certain small sections of events to be seen, and ordered in a way to play with our thoughts and attention.

Jimmy's perspective and presence change the attitude of characters, but this isn't "unreliable narration", it's the reality of how characters act with Jimmy around. I kinda understand what people mean when they say he's an unreliable narrator, that we shouldn't take Jimmy's POV as the whole truth at face value, but that's not because the 'narrative' is being twisted, we just have to take into account the context of the situation. The players aren't being deceived, they're being required to think about nuances. And even when Jimmy starts having his episodes with hallucinations, it's not to deceive the viewer, it's showing us how JIMMY HIMSELF sees reality, we can very clearly disconnect what is being shown from the context of what is actually going on. The dinner scene, for example, is obviously just has Jimmy tweak out, but we as players can tell that it's not real, there's no misleading happening. And we see how Jimmy talks to others during gameplay, we see Jimmy be abusive to others and be a jerk and perform manipulation, there's no narration to make us believe he's not doing all of these things or to even conceal or twist the truth. Jimmy as a character with his words does manipulate others, but not the viewer. You can say Jimmy is an unreliable narrator within the reality of the game, but he's definitely not if we're talking about meta.

The bizarro sequences are a bit different because there's clearly some meta "showing the viewer symbolisms to have them connect ideas of the story, while not being grounded in reality for the characters in the game" stuff going on, but again, there's no narration nor is there a point to confuse the viewer. The point is to show the themes of the story in an interesting and impactful way that leaves a lot to analyze, you're not being deceived, you just have to think about it and see what the game is trying to show, it's encouraging you to look deeper into the story. Mouthwashing IS NOT a game with a clear-cut clean concrete story with no room for interpretation.

[mummascozylittlecornerr]

𝐇𝐢𝐢 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 !! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 ♡︎

I have recently noticed that we have a lottttt of little tips and tips of how to regress , but not a lot of cg tips :( So I decided to make a starter cg guide for anyone who’s interested or needs some tips ! If you have any other questions or suggestions please ask me or reblog this post with tips of your own ! I love you all ♡︎

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ?

☻︎In the context of age regression, a caregiver is someone who looks after a person who is regressed, or "little", while they are in "little space" . This can be a romantic partner , platonic friend and cg or an online caregiver .

☻︎Age regression is when someone reverts to a child-like state of mind, which can be a coping mechanism for mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or PTSD.

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐠𝐬 :

☻︎Talk with your tiny, figure out what they like/ dislike when regressed, don't be scared to ask questions and encourage them to ask questions of their own .

☻︎︎Educate yourself on regression itself, what is it? How does it show? Why does your tiny regress? One of my favourite youtubers is lia or angellimbed !

☻︎Read text posts to get a feel for how other carers interact with tiny's and let this inspire you on your own caregiver journey.

☻︎Ask carers with online accounts for tips. For example me :p

☻︎Figure out what puts you in care headspace (nicknames like dada/mama, tying your tiny's shoes etc.)

☻︎Have check ins after regression with your tiny to see if both of you felt comfy with everything.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 : 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧,𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐧,𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲!

♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓’𝐒 :

☻︎Laugh at them or make fun of anything they do in little space.

☻︎Take away blankets, pacis, stuffies or anycomfort items as a punishment.

☻︎Point out any flaws whatsoever.

☻︎Continue doing something that makes them feel uncomfortable .

☻︎Yell at them for regressing because you're busy/not in the mood.

☻︎Force them to do anything they don't want to do.

☻︎Ignore them as a punishment !!!

☻︎Make fun of cartoons or movies they watch when regressed.

☻︎Make them feel stupid for regressing.

☻︎Make them feel sad or bad because they didn't do what you asked them to.

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞

☻︎pat their head

☻︎kiss their forehead

☻︎call them pet names (little one, prince(ess), etc.)

☻︎hold their hand

☻︎cut their food for them

☻︎fill their sippy cup for them

☻︎buckle their seatbelt

☻︎read them bedtime story

☻︎give commands/tasks

☻︎sit them on your lap

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 :

☻︎Run baths for them and add lots of bath bombs or bubble bath ( if they have sensitive skin just use the soap they wash their body with ). If they are struggling with cramps , Epsom salt in a bath is great ! And if they’re up to them bath toys is a must !

☻︎Don’t get mad at them for making a mess on their clothes/furniture. Just clean it up and make sure they're comfortable and reasure them they are not in trouble and that it’s not their fault .

☻︎Give them lots of cute snacks like pineapples and bananas.

☻︎Give them lots of cuddles and belly rubs if they are comfy with it .

☻︎Pick out comfortable clothes for them.

☻︎Make their favourite drink for them.

☻︎Try to get them in little space as much as you can so they don't think about it.

☻︎Make sure they feel wanted and loved, as their mood could change at any moment.

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐲

☻︎cranky

☻︎yawns

☻︎rubbing eyes

☻︎brattier

☻︎more sensitive

☻︎babbling

☻︎non verbal

☻︎probably will regress to a younger age

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬:

☻︎Know that it isn't your fault if your little doesn't want to be touched or talked to at times. Give your little some space so they don't get overwhelmed / decompress . They are experiencing BIG feelings in a little body !

☻︎Know that very loud environments might be overwhelming and overstimulating for your little . A good tip is to always carry head/ear phones on you .

☻︎Make sure to bring fidget toys with you at all times .

☻︎Never shout at your little.

☻︎Patience is key!

☻︎Soft blankies are a MUST !

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 :

☻︎Make sure that they are in a safe environment where they do not feel threatened or unsafe if they were to regress.

☻︎Hold their hand if you can! Physical comfort can be very grouding in stressful situations .

☻︎Bring a comfort item like a chew necklace or a stuffie.

☻︎If they are uncomfortable with pacifiers in public a ring pop is a good alternative!

☻︎Before going out ask them what they want or need you to do if they regress.

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 :

☻︎Take a lot of pictures with your little.

☻︎Stare at your little while smiling. When they ask why, tell them they're just so beautiful.

☻︎If they feel insecure about being too needy, remind them that YOU need them.

☻︎︎Whenever they do something to make you proud, write it down somewhere they can always see it.

☻︎Don't make rules that your little can’t say negative things. Let them know they can be open about any feelings with you.

☻︎Never say anything negative to an insecure little , they will struggle to forget it.

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

☻︎"Its okay, I'm here."

☻︎"I'm not going to leave you."

☻︎"Everything is okay."

☻︎"I'm going to protect you."

☻︎"I believe in you."

☻︎"Hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that."

☻︎"You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now."

☻︎"You're not going to lose me."

☻︎"I love you."

☻︎"I'll stay right here, okay?"

☻︎"Just breathe."

☻︎"I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay."

☻︎"You're everything to me."

☻︎"I don't care what they think, to me, you are perfect .

☻︎"Do you want to talk about it?"

☻︎"You don't have to be alone."

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬

☻︎Go to the park

☻︎Go "adopt" a stuffed animal

☻︎Movie day! Any movie the little wants (within reason)

☻︎Craft day: make kid friendly crafts with your little

☻︎Shopping date: buy them the little gear they want/need

☻︎Ice cream/candy day: let them have a sundae or more candy than normal

☻︎Pajama day: let them be in their jammies all day

☻︎Zoo/Aquarium date: take them to the zoo or an aquarium to learn and have fun

☻︎Learning day: get them learning packets/books for kids their age

☻︎Snuggle day

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 ( any budget )

☻︎Stickers

☻︎Coloring books and crayons

☻︎Craft supplies (glitter, beads, yarn, etc.)

☻︎Story books

☻︎Nail polish

☻︎Lip gloss

☻︎Cutesy bracelets

☻︎Animal ears

☻︎Tiaras

☻︎Hair bows

☻︎Socks or tights

☻︎Tutus

☻︎Overalls

☻︎Onesies

☻︎Pajamas

☻︎Blankies and pillows

☻︎Stuffies

☻︎Candy

☻︎Markers

☻︎Letters

☻︎Bath toys

☻︎Sippie cups

☻︎Bubble bath

♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎♡︎♥︎

𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 . 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 - 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚 ♡︎

[bunybunn]

Alright the drama continues and somehow it got worse. I'm glad I found a transcript of Dream's video on twitter (by @/NORsevvy here it is if anyone wants to read it) and I want to annalise it a little because I can.

Let's start with the part where he apologised for r-word and if you think about if he did that right after he posted that stupid meme we wouldn't have this drama but that wouldn't be his style.

What icked me immediately what the way he used Tubbo's stream as if through all of it he was agreeing with Dream. Especially since Tubbo actually shared very similar sentiment to Tommy when he talk about how, sure he does agree with the dumb jokes their friends group makes but he still stands by them. Besides using Tubbo as a gotcha didn't sit right with me because let's be honest as much as he is one of Tommy's best mates so is Jack and that guy wasn't as nice when it came to Dream.

After that Dreams moves to Tommy talking about Dream and his friend group being sexist and immediately he skips over the context, which in this case was the George situation and no matter how you saw it they way they talk about the situation by immediately downplaying the accusations didn't make them look good. To add to the irony we learned thanks to Ludwig that, yeah actually Dream did called two different women "whore" and only defended (and not apologise mind you) himself about one of those.

Something that I found interesting is how Dream has tendency to got on the sarcastic rants about "what if there were bad rumours/jokes about you Tommy" as if that was actual genuine argument. All of this only to then to hold the fact Tommy interacted with Dream's friends after the accusations. All of this to then pull the Logan Paul messages to prove how insincere Tommy is... As if it wasn't a case of him losing respect to content creator he looked up.

Another funny bit in my personal opinion is how he showed clip of Tommy say Dream was holding his help over his head and Dream immediately proceeded to do just that by pointing out how they called for hours talking about YouTube with no exceptions(!!! 😮😮😮) and how Tommy at the age of 16 was grateful for it. He is trying very hard to make it seems like the good guy but just by looking at the way he puts is as arguments why Tommy couldn't criticise him or express how Dream made him feel back then very much is giving holding his kindness over other people's head. What makes it worse is the way he takes Tommy owning the fact that he was one of the people who were behind the success of the dream smp because he was the one who started the idea of making stream that have roleplay and plot. Having Dream use it as another gotcha to call Tommy egoistic for it was very dishonest.

Then you have the merch part of the argument and I will be so real there is no argument that wouldn't make selling yours baby photos to fans sound fucking weird. Funny enough Tommy never mentioned Dream's merch company scamming people he simply shared an opinion that he thinks Dream's merch designs are lazy. Additionally notice how Dream took Tommy's words out of context as he was comparing his work on writing a book, doing standup the legit way not relying on his internet popularity and making a proper podcast to Dream just putting out simple standard merch and using very weird ideas to make profits from it. Tommy has been growing and trying new things which yeah I would say are bit more impressive then making the exact same type of videos for years. Perhaps that's why Dream didn't like the video where Tommy was talking about how Internet in fact got worse because that's the Internet Dream is enjoying being stuck in.

Dream still not getting that massaging someone's mom is crossing a boundar despite being told that that's the case by more then one person feels so dishonest especially when he is framing it as if every one are unreasonable... He brought fucking c!Dream reference to prove it and one more clip of younger Tommy praising him as if that somehow made his point more valid.

All that to say that what Tommy felt about the way Dream treated him and how he acted was somehow not as valid as Dream using his response to do a very similar thing. There was a lot of me, me, me in Dream's video without even acknowledging that perhaps he was making other people dislike him with his own actions.

[bayetea]

jason and hazel's beef in hoo was always way more interesting than whatever percy and jason had going on sorry. the differences in gravity and intrigue in the jason/hazel beef vs jason/percy are only further compounded by the ways they're connected and the ways that their stories are similar

because 1. they have a HISTORY they knew each other before he went missing!!!!! they were in the fifth cohort together!!!! hazel is the ONLY person on that ship that was in jason's life before he disappeared and had his memories stolen. yes they didn't know each other well but I really think that was a bad writing choice rick made. can you imagine if they used to be friends/if jason had been a big brother figure to hazel only to go missing for months and then they have a very awkward reunion on the argo because he barely remembers her and then she's even more betrayed because he doesn't wanna save nico initially. the drama. we could have had it all man

2. beef between a son of poseidon and a child of zeus/jupiter from the grace family? yeah been there done that why are we doing this again. god I wish we had gotten a big fight between a child of jupiter and a child of pluto instead

3. their beef regarding nico was way more high stakes than the silly alpha male posturing rick was trying to force between jason and percy especially considering how mega nerfed jason is written in hoo because no one's allowed to be on equal footing with percy

4. the tacit layer of betrayal in jason being hazel's ex-centurion/praetor only to end up choosing chb (this is a more interesting conflict between jason/reyna but since hazel is actually on the argo and reyna isn't she can still be an opportunity for this camp jupiter/camp half-blood conflict to be explored with jason)

5. I'm just gonna say it - I think hazel ought to have complicated feelings about white authority figures in a military camp as a black girl from the freaking jim crow era (not that this would have ever been explored satisfactorily in the books because as far as rick is concerned hazel is colorblind and hardly ever thinks about race despite growing up segregated. which is crazy unrealistic but whatever)

6. something something about the parallels that jason and hazel have about making hard choices about their pasts in order to have a more fulfilling future

7. this isn't necessarily interesting in and of itself but I just think it's neat that they're both big three roman kids with greek siblings that they didn't grow up with. what could have been interesting is jason seeing how close hazel and nico are and feeling some type of way about everything he never got to have with thalia and some exploration into how that impacts his feelings about the rescue mission

8. they both have really awkward romantic conflicts in their pasts that intrude upon the present (whether he and reyna were ever even slightly romantically involved or not) because the jason/reyna thing is written as a initial source of conflict/uncertainty for jiper in the same way that hazel/leo (sammy) was a conflict for frazel to grapple with. this is interesting to me because hazel is connected to reyna and jason is connected to leo. like there could have been a moment of connection over letting go of pasts loves to wholeheartedly pursue new ones in the way that both of them are (were) with piper and frank

(unrelated but having no frank or hazel pov in mark of athena sucks So Bad and I hate it. it was the first time they ever have relationship problems and we only see it through someone else's pov. I am going to bring this up forever because I'm still mad about it)

9. they both died. this bullet is a joke but I just thought I should put it here

10. percy is a well-established character and hazel and jason are new in hoo. percy has 50 povs in hoo and hazel has 28. economically speaking it would just be a more effective use of your limited pages to spend more time developing important interactions and conflicts between two new characters (esp new big three kids) who already have a more interesting foundation than the one involving our previous protagonist of 5 entire books

imo hazel and jason are the most weirdly written new additions to the main cast but I strongly feel that rick severely underutilized the way that characters like those two could play off of each other. hazel isn't just a sweet little cinnamon roll she is passionate and contemplative and morose and guilt-ridden and jason isn't just a bland rule-follower he is kind and committed and loyal and conflicted and they're both painfully self-sacrificing and I just think it's such a shame that these two characters with great concepts on paper and so many obvious threads to connect them didn't get as much as attention as.... whatever happened in kansas did

and I mean if you like the jason/percy conflict that's fine, but I think it's worthwhile to compare the merit of them because rick chose to centralize and build up to one more than the other when he had such perfect material to expand on the other instead and I think that says something about his biases. and I think part of the issue is that rick struggles with strengthening tension and applying complexity to conflicts between male/female characters that aren't romantic or onesidedly antagonistic like clarisse/percy. we have several noteworthy conflicts between male characters but when women are involved it's like rick doesn't know how to put them on equal footing and apply platonic depth. imo this is just another reason why big three girls (hazel/thalia/bianca) don't get to be as powerful and transformative in the overall narrative as big three guys (percy/jason/nico). all this world-changing narrative weight is afforded to big three kids but hazel in particular is weirdly excluded from all of that and doesn't get to have much impactful interconnectedness with the prophecy or with other big three kids. what happened to big three kids being super dangerous when put together or when they're on opposing sides of conflicts!!!!!!!! we had impactful percy/thalia and percy/nico and jason/percy and jason/nico conflict where is the fleshed out jason/hazel beef!!!!!!

anyways tldr all I'm saying is that jason and hazel complement each other well and rick was too hung up on the Colliding Of Alpha Male Strong Dudes (that he didn't even write well) to see everything that hazel and jason could have had instead

[nobodyfamousposts]

I remember reading a post by @critical-thinking-is-mandatory a while back about how Lila would realistically be disliked by people because of how self centered she is even if they don't think she's lying.

With this logic, Adrien's public friendship with Chloe (a school wide bully) should have a lot of people side eyeing him, if not outright avoiding him all together.

What do you think?

That's a valid point, and one that I and I think a number of others have considered.

Origins played with it but not nearly enough. By all counts, when a bully comes in with their "celebrity best friend" and parade him around the way Chloe does, there would be a mix of people being put off by him being her friend as much as there would be people impressed by Chloe being his friend.

Honestly, it would have been a more interesting setup and added extra layers to the love square dynamics if they started off going from enemies to friends to lovers. Or at least slow down and not dive headfirst right into over the top crushing.

But in that case, it would likely work better as a reverse love square. Ladybug loves Chat who is Adrien who loves Marinette who is Ladybug. Have Marinette be someon who gives Adrien a chance which builds a friendship and starts up his crushing on her.

Otherwise it would just lead us back into cringe with Marinette crushing on Adrien despite having valid reason to not trust him for being Chloe's friend or potential boyfriend.

I'm fairly certain I pointed this out in another essay/critique/salt post that they completely missed out on a potential character arc for Adrien in having him actually ADJUSTING to public school. Having him struggling to make friends with his stigma both as a celebrity and as "Chloe's friend". The effects would be two-fold.

First, it would help the Adrien salters better sympathize with him. Yes, I know there's his horrible HORRIBLE father, but storywise, the "Gabriel sucks" angle doesn't really matter if Adrien isn't having to be the one to face that. In addition, he seems to have no trouble with acclimating to a public school and making friends. Heck, he's not making friends, people are jumping over themselves to make friends with HIM. Part of what makes people sympathize with characters is seeing them try and fail and just generally make an EFFORT for what they want. Turn that around. In the hands of competent writers, this would be a setup that would do that more for Adrien. We see that in some aspects with the manga where it has Nathaniel mistake Adrien as a snob who looks down on comics and him as an artist. It would have been great to see more like that with Adrien getting to know his classmates or being the focus through which we get to learn about the classmates since he is supposed to be the new boy.

Second, it would be a stepping stone/building block to the eventual confrontation with Gabriel—which yes, should happen. Building relationships and forming HEALTHY bonds really helps to understand when other ones you have are not. (COUGHCOUGHScarletLadyCOUGHCOUGH) They can help you gain strength and courage and build a new identity for yourself. They also give you support in dealing with major conflicts. They can help him form attachments that make him NOT so willing to jump in to join his father's craziness. And they can help him become a better hero in his own right.

I'm not saying make Adrien suffer and be friendless. Far from it!

I'm saying to USE this as a plot point to develop Adrien and give him focus and room to grow. Or at least a point that ISN'T just him being half of the endgame pairing and desired by everyone in the city.

Show Adrien try to interact with each of the classmates. Show how Adrien becomes friends with others. Show how he comes to care about people who aren't there just to give him what he wants or tie him to the plot.

And yes, this would inevitably also lead in to some changes for Chloe as well...for good or bad.

[twipsai]

this one panel in issue #50 and it's, like, not THAT bad alright

fuck it im tired and had a long day this is my treat to myself. im talking about that panel. yes, THAT panel. which one?

THIS ONE. alrighty this is off the cuff and terrible, lets go.

so this panel isnt like, that bad in context when it comes to Sonic. i think specifically "ive made peace with enough enemies to know there is a better way" is a really interesting line here, because it calls back to the amount of times that the "villain" hes fought has just been a person whos hurting, and how hes been able to help those people. it makes sense that eventually hes more keen on trying to figure out someones whole story before deciding if theyve gotta go (which is rare).

but i want to talk about the FRAMING of this panel, and specifically the larger context of this issue in particular. theres a lot of flip-flopping in perspectives. usually, IDW is told through Sonic's perspective (loosely, this kind of thing is up to interpretation a lot), but in issue 50, it switches rapidly between four different groups -- Sonic and Surge, Tails and Kit, Eggman and Starline, and Belle and Metal. within these groups, the perspective its being told from changes a few times, but never as much as Sonic and Surge's do

i actually love these two when they interact as a storyteller myself, and one that has handled scripts too often for my own liking. Sonic and Surge do this thing where they push and pull the pacing of the script to fit their motives -- Surge keeps trying to escalate things, whenever shes in a panel everything starts pushing rapidly and it feels like the panels are tumbling off the page. when Sonic does anything, though, its slow and deliberate. hes having fun fighting, sure, but he can very much tell that Surge is trying to kill him and hes not having any of that. Sonic keeps things slow and focused, Surge tries to push things faster and unfocused. i could get into how this reflects her motivations and stuff but thats not what this is about i already lost track of what i was talking about fuck hang on

ok so. Surge knows shes supposed to be Sonic, to be BETTER than Sonic. its all she knows, really, and thats the problem. shes traumatized and full of rage and Sonic has been put on this high pedestal, not just by her, but by everyone. she cannot stand this.

this panel is how SURGE sees Sonic, specifically the composition. hes shrouded in light and physically above her -- its not even that subtle of a metaphor, they use it all the time in idw.

the entire overpowered saga shows Surge clawing for control of herself, her life, her freedom... this issue sets all that up in the main story. the way Sonic is framed here isnt how he sees himself at all. weve seen him do this exact same thing from his own perspective before, where everyone is on even ground. he doesnt see himself as above anyone, this instance of him being depicted as such isnt alluding to how Sonic feels about himself, its how Surge feels about Sonic.

and, look, its not the most well-done in the world. this issue has a whole host of problems, evident by the constant switching of focus from one group to a next (a problem that i think they did better on in the Phantom Rider saga). i literally forgot about Belle and Metal in this issue bc theres just so much more going on, i wouldve loved for them to slow things down a bit, maybe splitting it into two issues, but hey, what can you do, yk?

as an aside, i think its really weird how people narrow in on this specific panel of Sonic as being "so out of character", which i sorta like, 30% agree with (i think some phrasing could be better), and then ignore the page right after it...

...in which he pretty much says "you dont get freedom if youre gonna be a problem". funnily enough, on twitter i have this flow chart saved whenever i need a quick guide on Sonics morality and stuff, its really not that complicated

x

none of this is new imo, we see he has the same philosophy in sa1 and satbk. Chaos was blinded by rage and pain after being trapped for thousands of years RIGHT after they were attacked by the echidnas. Merlina was so scared of death (implied to be because she had lost family members and wasnt able to cope with it well) that she became a monster in an attempt to never let anything change ever again. these arent very different stories in my head i guess, just cases of Sonic seeing people who are hurting and doing his best to free them from that.

uhhhh anyways. all this is disorganized i forgot what i was talking about like 5 times while writing this but. people on twitter are ripping into this issue again. like its a b tier issue stop acting like its an f yk Q_Q i will defend anything if people are too mean tbh

thanks for making it this far if you read all this. i love idw a lot and i think that it does have some flaws, theyre all really blown out of proportion.

have a great day/afternoon/evening wherever you are yall :) bye bye

[lsunstreakerl]

plz ignore if it's spoilers :)) but I am very curious about Daniel's POV in all of this and especially his relationship with Max. Is there a bit of 'what if?' that he feels? Like, if he didn't break Max's trust by leaving, he might be in the position that Charles is in now? Or disappointment that their dynamic was strictly dom/sub in scene and he never got the opportunity to 'be nice' to Max and have that different level of closeness with him. To paraphrase Taylor Swift said....will he always wonder? He clearly respects Charles and his relationship with Max (and is very happy to be Josh Allen's WAG apparently lmaoo) but, I am thinking that there is a subset of his feelings towards max that aren't just platonic/sexual...is that something Daniel has assessed if it is there?

And, we know Charles is a possessive little freak. Does he feel at all resentful or jealous that Danny got to experience these things with Max first? That Max was able to open up to Daniel sexually like this but kept it reserved with Charles. Or is the knowledge that at the end of the day Max chose him and is his forever person enough?

For the record, you have awakened a monster with these questions, because I have been waiting for someone to ask about Daniel. Heartbreak highway ahead.

I was planning on going a little bit more in depth in chapter six, but these aren't technically spoilers for the fic. if you're interested in reading it organically through chapter six and the eventual updates to the maxiel prequel, don't keep reading. :)

Daniel and Max are soooooo complicated in the Search History universe. (spoilers for 09000767)

- it's blatantly clear to the RedBull garage that Max was not raised right, or with much love in the home, and the way he throws himself into events and parties and PR events, the way he'll do anything if he thinks it'll get him even a scrap of affection, is something the whole garage, especially Daniel, can see. Max is also a minor when Daniel meets him, so he's not thinking of him in an intimate way at all- he thinks Max has a bit of a puppy love/hero worship thing going on.

- Daniel even jokes with Christian in 09000767 that he's "too responsible about his victory sex to be a father". He views a lot of both his and the garages earlier interactions with Max as raising him, or in the fic they describe it as teaching him how to be a person.

- unfortunately, when all your development happens in a sport like F1, shit gets complicated fast, so Max ends up with some heavy dependencies on bad habits when he's 18/19. (he drinks, he does drugs, he does both at once) Daniel only picks up on this when Max starts really spiraling.

- Daniel steps in to pull Max out of his spiral, and the whole thing is a moral grey area, because what Max needs at that point is professional help, but Daniel doesn't want to tell the team because Max will get kicked out, and Daniel (rightfully) assumes that would be the worst possible thing for Max at the time.

- Max, at this point, has really only been around Jos. He doesn't handle softness or tenderness, and he'll butt heads with anyone and everyone, so Daniel is kind of backed into a corner- to take care of Max, he needs Max to listen to him, to make Max listen to him, he needs to be firm. He doesn't necessarily want to treat Max that way, but he's picking up on the way that Max isn't really capable of looking out for himself, and that he needs someone to step in and tell him what to do.

- Daniel ends up taking Max back to a small place he has in Australia, which is where the dom/sub thing starts, and it's a very slippery slope for the two of them. Daniel starts kind of micro-managing for the two of them, because he notices Max does well with that, and it's clearly making some kind of progress. He tells Max when they eat, when they sleep, when they workout. He's washing Max's hair, portioning his food, and he's constantly watching him.

- Max gets his wires crossed (Daniel is taking care of him and telling him what to do) and starts unintentionally slipping into subspace. Neither of them realize that's what's happening for a while.

- for my 09000767 readers, the first time Daniel gets Max off he's not even really touching him in a sexual way, he's massaging his muscles after a run, and Max is young and on a hair trigger so Daniel kind of just. lets him. He notices what's happening and doesn't explicitly stop it, because he's mentally decided: "If Max needs his positive verbal enforcement to also come with the positive chemical reinforcement an orgasm gives, Daniel can do that."

- Daniel has mentally told himself that if Max makes it a sex thing for himself that's okay, but Daniel's not actually going to fuck him, which leads to a lot of situations where Daniel is talking Max through it, telling him what to do or what not to do, and Daniel doesn't really think about it a whole lot, beyond the fact that it's helping and it's progress and it means Max has a chance of being okay.

- Daniel doesn't really recognize it as a dom/sub thing until Max starts really dropping with him, and even then he's not super informed, he's just like "this seems more intense than it's supposed to be". When he looks it up and starts learning, he realizes they've been doing it all wrong, so he puts a lot of effort into learning how to do it right.

- one of the things Daniel tells Max to do in 09000767 is come up with less destructive coping mechanisms, and Max ends up saying one of them is subbing for Daniel, so they end up still doing it, even when Max is pulled out of his nosedive and ends up doing better.

- throughout this entire thing, Daniel is aware that what he has with Max is not healthy, and it's foundations are inherently wrong. He's always telling himself he won't go further, and every time he still does, and he also is well aware that Max has never actually had a relationship before.

- Daniel recognizes that Max would let him do anything to him, and he fundamentally feels wrong about the whole thing, especially because when Daniel is actually with someone, he wants to be nice to them, doesn't always want to have to be firm, and he feels like he needs to be that way with Max.

- Daniel is also aware of Charles, and pretty much everyone except Max has always been able to tell that the two of them are special, that they really mean something to each other. He kind of has a feeling the whole time that Max is going to end up with Charles, it's inevitable.

- Daniel gears his time with Max more towards learning healthier things, but he's never really tender with him the way he wants to be, because he and Max are never going to get to be that way, and who is Daniel to get in the middle of that?

- Max is convinced that he loves Daniel, and that's just another reason Daniel knows their relationship is wrong, because Max doesn't know what love is yet, and Daniel knows it. So he breaks Max's heart, and he leaves Redbull. Leaves Max.

- when Daniel goes to Renault, he leaves Max behind, because it's a lesson Max needs to learn. (and also, because Redbull needs a primary driver, and Redbull loved them both, and you can't have that in a team. The team cannot love both and succeed at the same time, something has to give, and Daniel has only ever wanted the best for Max. Daniel knows how to learn a team, how to adjust, but Max will never be able to thrive anywhere but Redbull.)

(Max's first real heartbreak is Daniel's final act of love. He will never see that.)

(Charles can.)

- Charles enters the grid and can immediately tell Max and Daniel have something going on, because he's never seen Max like that with anyone, but he doesn't particularly care at the time, too busy with racing and trying to impress Ferrari, and as long as Daniels not trying to claim he's Max's rival they have no problems.

- obviously, the entire grid can feel the tension when Daniel leaves Redbull, and no one really talks about it, buts it's an unspoken thing. Max closes off a bit to the other drivers, although he goes home with people at parties a lot, though it starts to really taper down right before covid hits anyways.

- when Charles and Max first get together, Max assumes that they're strictly hookups for several months, doesn't realize until they're out to dinner and he asks why Charles is bothering, he could've just invited him to his hotel room.

- Charles then assumes Max's last partner treated him like absolute shit, and he's furious about it, before Max catches on, and Max is mature enough (mostly) to look back at his situation and recognize it for how complicated it actually was, and they have a whole conversation about it.

- Charles realizes midway through the conversation that Daniel really did love Max, and he realizes at the same time that Max will never see that, will only ever see Daniel leaving him.

- Charles has some moments in Search History where he realizes Daniel still loves Max, might always love him just a little bit, and he can't find it in him to be upset or angry about it, because what Daniel did for Max to help take care of him Charles can never repay him for.

- in 1+1+1, if Daniel wasn't also dom'ing Charles, it might've been a problem, but instead it's a genuine three way thing for that weekend, and it also gives Charles a slight peek behind the curtain, at the way Daniel wanted to love Max, the way he can't.

- "It is very easy, being sweet to him." "Yeah. It is." This right here is the entire summarization of Daniel and Charles' relationship. Charles stating it like a fact, like the sky is blue, because it's something he gets to do, as easy as breathing. Daniel stating it like a jail sentence, because it's something he never got to do, and never will, it's a reminder of something he'll always wonder if he could've handled better, something he'll never get to have.

If you read all that and you're thinking "fuck you Sunny, that was way angstier than it needed to be", here is your consolation prize:

- Daniel does eventually end up with someone in a healthy relationship, where he gets to treasure them the way he wants, and he gets loved endlessly in return. (no spoilers.)

Anyways, that was definitely more than you were asking for, but I've been sitting on it for weeks <3

[bheska]

I'm gonna make a prediction.

In, let's say 2027, if when we get to season 3, the pjo fandom is gonna reach shrimp colors levels of unbearable.

First because Titan's Curse is a very important, tone shifting book, and i'm not at all certain they'll be able to pull off. I'm gonna wait for season two before I choose to abandon hope.

Second, Nico di Angelo. I don't think I need to elaborate on that and I already feel bad for whatever kid they cast for the role

Third, with the introduction of Nico and Rachel, we're gonna have a new influx of percico and perachel shippers, either from old fans interacting with the new content or newer fans that think their dynamic is interesting. And from what I've seen from the show fans, they tend to forget that these books are almost 20 years old and had decades of content before the Disney adaptation, and the percabeth shippers are going to say the only reason percico and perachel are being shipped is because of racism towards Leah.

Now, I'm not saying that this fandom isn't racist. It is. Towards the fans of color, the characters and the actors — especially Leah. And yes, fandoms in general tend to magically think that the characters "don't have chemistry" or have "sibling energy" when the love interest is a black woman.

But perachel and percico predate the show and Leahbeth by years. I don't personally ship it because some people tend to do that by saying Annabeth is abusive with Percy — which I think is a result of double standard fandoms tend to have with girls and a deep misunderstanding of annabeth's character.

But what really worries me is that at that point we're gonna have 3 seasons of the show's characterization of annabeth (so far, not great) as well as tsats², the third book of the cashgrab trilogy and Richard's writing gets worse with each book. And while I don't think the pjo percabeth dynamic is abusive, the one from the recent books is... Not great. Other people have talked about this already but the only way Rick knows how to write them nowadays is to turn annabeth into a girlboss and Percy as this lovesick loser who can't tie his own shoes without the help of his girlfriend.

So the antis are gonna have plenty of material and i'm not looking foward to that

[thee-cult]

The Kdrama Hell is other people/ Strangers from hell in my opinion is the best use of psychological horror.

Jongwoo is an incredibly unreliable narrator through the entire ten episodes of the show.

We can only see the show through his eyes, and he is constantly showing the audience an untrue state of events: I.e. the last episode. Episode 10.

He is showing the state of events in a contradictory way to induce self pity/make the audience pity him. Reducing himself to a victim

He has countlessly changed/confused the timeline of events; in an early episode Yoo Gi-hyeok steps out and says the same sentence Seo Moonjo says episodes later, doing the same action by stepping out into the hall once the gangster/Jongwoo gets too confrontational.

The show constantly tells two different versions of events. Jongwoo’s version. And the one we do not see, yet only in small cases such as episode 10 where we are shown the “true” events of what happened in Eden.

But it had happened further in the series.

When Jongwoo had gotten drunk, lashing out at everyone and was seemingly surprised when he and us as the watcher seen what had actually went down the night before.

Even 3 years after watching this show it still has its grip on me. It’s incredibly mind fucking every episode.

What I’m so interested in about this show is how much of it was true events, and how much of it was garnered from the novel that Jongwoo had started writing since he arrived at Eden.

I often jump between it was all purely fiction and Jongwoo was so driven by incredible amounts of paranoia while living there with albeit “odd” roommates that had drove him to murder everyone in Eden residence.

What if he was the only one who had murdered everyone? That the other residents were innocent, even if a little odd.

In his flashbacks to his time in the military, he’s seen beating people up, nearly to death in some cases. Being dragged away. Maybe he was already just wired to be a bad person, who did end up murdering everyone, before writing it off as being pushed over the edge, and blaming everyone else in the residence for provoking him because they were “trying to kill him.” Ultimately painting himself as the good guy.

The episodes are usually always filled with two separate versions of events. Like the when the gangster was attacked in his bed, until he wasn’t. He went unstairs to check out a noise, and that’s when he is attacked. Whether the first attack was a dream from the gangster character or part of the novel that had been scrapped is unclear.

But throughout the show, the timeline is unreliable and so is every single characters personality—especially Moonjo and Jongwoo.

The episodes often end with some creepy moments. Whether a creepy sentence coming from Moonjo or him making sinister faces, the next episodes always start up at the same scene, showing a different version of events. A different interaction.

To continue on that thought—throughout the series it is seen to show Jongwoo writing before cutting to one of the residents, acting suspicious in a way. Or constant transitions between some resident acting out violence to Jongwoo in some lighter, less gruely act. Usually at work or in his room. It shows contrast between what he is writing in his novel, and the real world in which he lives.

Or…

If they were all indeed cannibal serial murderers that had lay low in their murders for their entirety of living at Eden, until Moonjo had met Jongwoo.

So infatuated with making yet another one of them/him at Eden. Seeing the disgust or rage or natural human reaction to chew one another up and spit them out—seeing another version of himself in Jongwoo.

That one line in the dentist office when Moonjo was stitching up Jongwoo’s mouth still sticks with me LITERALLY EVERY SECOND I LIVE AND BREATHE.

Jongwoo: “what are you?”

Moonjo: “what do you think I am, babe? A dentist who lives at a residence? Or a serial killer you’d find in a crime novel?” “Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“I can be anything you want.”

Can we think on how insane that is for a moment?

what if Moonjo had snuck into Jongwoo’s room one day while he was at work and read his novel. Re-enacting parts of the half written novel and placing it into the real world to make this “masterpiece”, as he so graciously puts it. Becoming what he thought Jongwoo would have wanted, what he thought Jongwoo would have found the most interesting. Constantly putting Jongwoo in the center of it all. It was as though some switch was flipped and Moonjo’s goal was now Jongwoo. Hi world somehow revolving around him.

Delicious yaoi sandwich.

Kdrama: hannigram version.

I had more in my little pea brain but I am so tired and I lost my train of thought. Sorry chat.

[weixlsstuff]

Is the King of Xianle a bad father?

pt 1

It would seem to be a typical story: a father adores his son in childhood, spoils and encourages him in every possible way. However, with age, when the young prince becomes a young man, there is a break in this close bond between them.

For example, the king stopped considering Xie Lian "cute" as the latter grew up*. This tendency is typical for some parents, because a teenager is no longer the "comfortable child" who blindly believes in everything a parent says. Xie Lian, like any person in the awkward age, begins to see the world in his own way, that is, he forms his worldview, which does not correspond to the ideas and principles of his father (it is also interesting to note that his father is a conservative man who holds traditional views on the foundations both in terms of government and class division of society, which would later play a role in the tragic development of events). The king takes everything with hostility, imposes his principles and ideals on his son (of course, the culture of Ancient China plays an important role here, but I won't touch on it here), which, in my opinion, was the reason for their strained relations.

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu mentions that almost every (!!!) meeting they had ended with a fight, and it was Xie Lian's unwillingness to interact with his father that led him to decide to move from the palace. In fact, his father's actions force Xie Lian to run away from his own home. According to some psychologists, running away from home is an attempt to avoid conflicts and an unfavorable situation, which is very suitable for the situation between the Crown Prince and his father (one of the protective mechanisms of Xie Lian's psyche is immediately visible, which he uses later in the course of the narrative, namely avoidance, that is, in a way his relationship with his father "taught" him to use this method, and showed that this mechanism is quite effective in resolving individual situations.) Аt the same time, his act cannot be called impulsive, rather it has a certain emancipation character, it is associated with the desire not only to avoid quarrels, but also with the desire to get away from excessive parental control, to get more freedom of action, thirst for independence and freedom.

What is the king doing to try to restore relations with his son? The correct answer is ... nothing. He does not try to establish contact with his son, take the initiative and show himself as an adult in their relationship (of course, the role of the family hierarchy, characteristic of Ancient China, is important here: the father is the head of the family, the unconditional authority, however, in the "Heaven Official's Blessing" it is noticeable that not all the traditional principles of that time are respected, for example, a love match between Xie Lian's mother and father; the likely upbringing of the Crown Prince by his parents (at least, the novel did not mention servants and teachers, except for Mei Nianqing and the empty shells of his friends), the presence of Confucianism in a modified form, aspects of Xie Lian's upbringing, etc.). The initiator of communication, as well as the mediator between these two is Xie Lian's mother, and in some cases – other people who happened to be nearby at the time of the conflict. For example, Feng Xin even breaks his arm to stop Xie Lian from continuing the argument**.

Thus, Xie Lian's relationship with his father before the events preceding the fall of Xianle is almost on the verge of breaking up and is retained only at the insistence of the Queen. At the same time, if Xie Lian's position can be understood by referring to his adolescence, then the king's position remains unclear: why did he not try to restore their relationship?

* - interview with Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

**- Volume 2, chapter 65

[divorcedwife]

Im especially interested in your opinion of the companions! Did you like any, how would you rank them, how did they compare to other games.

I did enjoy veilguard myself cause admittedly im a combat enjoyer (boo me now) and the combat was great to me. But what is usually good in dragon age/bioware even if everything else sucks are characters and their stories and interactions and that was so bad in veilguard imo.

Still I liked Davrin and Emmrich and Bellara myself, rest were very mixed, and these three also suffered from bad dialogue and Bellara also from some overt cutesiness.

hehe noooooo i wouldn't boo you! this game really made me realize that i prefer video games as a form of interactive storytelling rather than purely for gameplay, but i mean, i feel like im the weirdo here if anything. video games are games first... as much as i like the combat (especially when it's in big open fields, with opportunities for cover ; god is it satisfying to slowly take down a mob of enemies through clever dodging and hiding, i wayyyy prefer that to spamming the flashy special moves), it feels empty to me if i dont feel connected to the world. ideally, i'd love to play games where i enjoy both, but if i have to pick, i'll prefer a game that i find unfun to play but where i like the writing

i think it's a pretty weak cast, yeah. individually, but also as a group, they lack chemistry to me. most of them get along just fine, but not in a way that's particularly fun or exciting. their relationships aren't interesting to me because they're very samey, both in that most people are friendly and also that they start out friendly and end up friendly. dai isn't a game i love, but for all its flaws, it definitely had fascinating character interactions to me. blackwall's friendship with sera is so different to his friendship with cassandra or with solas, and he's initially wary of cole but grows to like him after a while. and these people all have their opinion of blackwall changed forever by revelations. that's what's lacking to me in companion relationships! growth... change... i did enjoy davrin and lucanis's bickering at least. i also did like how emmrich talked to companions, his therapy talk was actually charming every time i liked emmrich and davrin the most! my only problem with davrin is how often he felt shackled to assan, like the writers felt the need to remind us that he has a cute griffon every three seconds in case we were losing interest. but as a character, i found him really cool. i like how level headed he is, i love how he can't tell when lucanis is messing with him on purpose, those feel like great warden traits. emmrich, i really liked that he had the flaws to match his qualities - i love it when he complains about needing to teach TEN students (gasp!), or when davrin asks him if he knows how to wash dishes and he responds like someone who hasn't washed a dish in ten years, and so on. that's definitely what i found lacking in most companions - actual flaws! it's mind boggling to me how much of the lucanis banter i heard was spent clarifying how unproblematic he is. like he doesn't kill children, doesn't kill people who acted in self defense, doesn't kill innocents. what??? he doesn't even have flaws from growing up rich in a mansion... or being the ultimate nepo baby.................... that made most of the companions feel pretty shallow to me, like they were born right before the game began and had lived nothing

lucanis has enough little things about him i like that i would still say i liked him, but he's not getting honours from me. i like his design (it's very satisfyin to draw somehow), i liked spite, i liked the idea that he's trapped in the ossuary in his mind, i loved going to the mansion and seeing how barren and sad it is there. but i think his romance is my least favorite of any i've done in any dragon age games, and i would say that he was a worse boyfriend to have than the one who tried to kill me and also than the one who turned out to be an axe murderer in disguise, cause at least these two liked talking to my characters! lol

i'd put neve next but if im being honest with myself, i disliked more about her than i liked. i liked her bitter cynic pessimist traits, but i found her somewhat inconsistent on that and generally too friendly. the remaining characters, i didn't find anything compelling about them, i dont remember any moment that i liked with them :-( i really wish i did! i gave everyone as fair a shot as i could, i didn't start out this game looking for things to hate, but they really didn't do anything for me. i think bellara suffered from the fact that i dont really like all the technology in this game, i prefer low magic sad unwashed fantasy. at least she was very beautiful so she does get point for that

[deviousgoat]

My honest opinion on the WWDITS finale (yes I know it’s late but hear me out through my tedious essay on this.)

It genuinely suffered from bad writing. This final season had so much potential to be great much like the ones that came before, but it absolutely flunked on it. Everything else in this season had great quirky; the costumes, the lighting, and the set. But as the season’s writing was truly introduced, I noticed it didn’t really have that same atmosphere anymore. The jokes felt stale and too planned, while others seemed to appear out of nowhere and cause chaos for the storyline. Jerry and the monster were a good add-in joke, and introducing Laszlo’s father aswell was great. But how these characters were entered left a huge writing problem. They created a huge Checkov’s (I think that’s how you spell it?) gun. They introduced huge plot point’s that could’ve been executed carefully enough to be reasonable with the audience. And there are a couple I’d like to name.

Sean’s death; throughout season 6 we hear about Sean having a huge decline in his mental and physical health. This is present through his two heart attacks, being fired from his job, and seeming incapable, of much. But when it came to a point where people began to worry about Sean’s health and such, his last scene is him talking about the people who have pissed in his toilets. It’s very on cue for Sean… but it feels wrong. How Sean is so carefully cured to die, then they just drop it.

Nandermo; Nandermo has been an ongoing thing since the start of the series. A ship between Nandor and Guillermo where one finds themselves in pure love while the other refuses to admit their feelings and kinda just complains. It’s a very popular ship dynamic in communities and I feel WWDITS is no different. But for the final scene of them together, it expands on more plot points instead of answering them. Will they be lovers? Or just friends? Or will they grow to hate each other? None of it is answered. We just get them sitting in a coffin together and falling down a big ass hole.

Rodrick Cravensworth (I don’t know if that’s properly spelt but oh well.); Lord Rodrick Cravensworth was an ASS of a character. The writing for him was great, and his story tells us so much of Laszlo’s childhood. He’s really meant to agitate you through the screen, and does so wonderfully. But yet, in his finale scene we only see him being locked up in a safe with a funko pop that looks exactly like him. I see this as a huge plot point that shouldn’t have been left out so easily. If they decide in 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 or beyond years to do another movie about our favourite vampires from Staten Island, it should include Rodrick again, just for closer. (If he possessed the doll and broke out of the safe or some shit.)

Dadzlo; Dadzlo is a word used by fans in the WWDITS community to assess Laszlo’s time as a father for Colin Robinson. This was a huge plot point in WWDITS season 4, but is never really expanded on since then (Other than the brief mentions of it.) But when we s6 (ep6? I can’t remember) We see more hints and mentions of the two. This whole thing is a huge mess of a plot. Colin refusing to acknowledge that Laszlo raised him, while Laz is left tormented by his inner turmoil. This whole thing was left unresolved, which left it to only be a couple-line joke mostly. I hate this because I personally enjoyed Dadzlo a lot in the season and was disappointed without the denouement of it.

Nadja’s lack of positive female interaction; Nadja is Pansexual, we’re all aware of that. But throughout the entirety of WWDITS we almost never see her have a positive female interaction (other than Jenna, and even then it was pretty bad.) Why haven’t we seen her ever have any interest in another female character? It’s a horrid battle of bad writing and fear. A popular ship, Ladja, romanticizes Nadja and The Guide together. I personally like this ship, showing how Nadja and the guide SHOULD’VE needed up instead of being a one-sided friendship. But it actually pisses me off to see that yet again, their just in a crush x “who the hell are you?” kind of relationship.

The finale; writing this in general just makes my blood actually fucking boil. The season was so bad, and how they ended it was even worse. No tying of lose ends, no use of Checkov’s gun, and not even a resolve to ships. The episode was mainly Guillermo centred, which is kinda boring. There are plenty of episodes already within the series that have Guillermo in every plot line, and having the finale be one of those was horrid. The other characters within the finale felt more like props instead of supporting characters. And of course we had “We’ll meet again” as the song to end it off. I’m not saying it’s a bad song, I’m just saying it’s overused in media. A lot of endings in television shows from what I’ve seen include that song, a very notable one being Gravity falls. I know it’s hard to find appropriate music for the ending of a series, but do I really have to hear that same one over, and over, and over? Like, grab Al Bowley’s “Heartaches” or something but just find something original.

I’m super pissed about this, and I could go on and on about the things I hated about this series finale, but I’m just going to let you guys get a taste of how much I hated s6

Like, god how hard is it to write an ending? Do the fans have to do it all themselves? The whole point of a proper ending is to find a way that makes most of the fans of it happy, not suffocating us with bad writing. I hate what they’ve done to this television show, I really do.

I hope you enjoyed my energy vampire-like rant. Now goodnight :3

[elainsgirl]

I’m confused, other than the BC, what makes G/A shippers think they will end up together? They barely interact in Nesta’s book or am I missing something? There’s no build up, no foreshadowing, nothing. SJM could pair them but it’s not her writing style, she usually build up the arc in previous book, but for this pair there’s no build up.

The funniest thing about this is the fact the bonus chapter they built the foundation of their entire ship on - isn’t even important enough to be reprinted or included in the new special editions despite how popular and well known it has become. The whole “Spark!” “Glow” “gwynriel are mates!” Agenda is rlly crumbling rn.

Look, I honestly get it if people simply don’t vibe with elriel. You’re not going to like every single couple Mass writes about. I also understand people have their own preferences and chemistry is subjective. Some people may have just read Gwyn and Az scenes and liked them together. I’ve always said this, Eluciens and Gwynriels like the potential of Ga and El bcs they’re both heavily undeveloped ships therefore you can mold them to follow whatever dynamic, plot etc you want.

Gwynriel became popular and is still popular due to Elain hate and Elucien’s needing Elain to make their precious lulu baby happy, they took innocent interactions between two characters with 0 romantic interest in each other and wanted them to become a couple as it 1) Gives Az a better Li then Elain and 2) makes sure Elain is left w Lucien therefore has to eventually accept him. I cannot tell you one significant gwynriel scene tbh, when I look back at acosf I just remember how down bad Az was for Elain throughout. You’re right, there was no buildup for Gwynriel. But that doesn’t matter to Ga stans as majority think that Sjm can write anything - intentionally ignoring the set up and parallels she has done so far with Nessian/Feysand and has set up for elriel - they believe that Gwyn and Az have every chance of falling in love and becoming mates.

Which fair. They can believe that but it has the same amount of possibility as me saying Gwyn and Balthaazar will end up together 🤷‍♀️

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Imagining this Viktor sassing Mel. No screen on earth could have handled their power, I fear.

[fumifooms]

What if we were both magic prodigies and it otherized us in different ways and we devoted ourselves to protecting a family member who has general other goals & priorities. What if we both did self-sacrifical devotion in opposite ways.

What if we were dark mirrors of each other and where I've grown overcontrolling you've grown complacent. What if, bought as a servant into a pretty loving home, ownership and control is what love looks like to me, and to you neglected and lonely growing up, love is gratefully taking any scraps of it you’re lent.

By belonging to someone, even if she comes back injured or fails at finding Delgal, she feels like she belongs and is cherished, by owning someone he feels safe in them not leaving him.

She’s what’s tethering him do you see… And he’s the only thing giving her direction and purpose in her state. She needs a compass and he needs a support.

They’re both so out of it 😭 It’s the weirdly intense and unearned mutual trust and reliance on each other?? They’re each other’s weird little comfort codependent teddy bear. Or at least they were headed towards that before SHE DIED THEN HE DIED THEN THEY BOTH FORGOT ABOUT EACH OTHER AND NEVER MET EVER AGAIN. Though she’s also the guard attack hound keeping him safe… And vice versa he heals her and can rewrite her very being with just one wave of his hand. They’re both so so mentally and physically vulnerable both but they cling onto each other. They can’t perceive things accurately but despite it all someway somehow they stumble into something closer to resembling companionship just before they both die. Falin is just that kind and Thistle is just that lonely. Overworked.

We both haven’t lived for ourselves in a very long time, haven’t we.

They both have a similar devotion to the people they love but again the difference is that Thistle starts overtsepping while Falin is self-effacing. The other difference between them is that people care about Falin <3 People have given up on Thistle long ago, and he has given people reasons to, while people refuse to give up on Falin. Yaad has a mini arc about it dw about it it’s ok he’s not all alone in the end 😭😭 He reached out for Marcille’s hand but they already all wanted to help him, they just had to be given the chance to, Yaad just had to be given the chance to, it’s okay I’m okay

Hey what if we learned to get in touch with our own identity and the world around us and living in the present again through being in the worst codependent situationship ever.

Falin and Thistle sitting in a tree, sucking on flowers together because they’re h-u-n-g-r-y 💕💕💕

I bet he’s only ever thought of flowers as useless ornaments. Weak weeds. But she shows him they’re tasty and useful and good and pretty in their own right too and deserve existing without proving their worth and waaa <33 Thistles…... Did you know thistles taste sweet if you remove the thorns and eat them?

"Even as a chimera, her kind nature remains" you can’t suppress her in the way that matters. You can’t soothe him in the way that matters. It’s doomed. You’re doomed. It’s all doomed. Save me.