#not for any negative reason. just i think i’d get too into it again

[kewpiekills]

i don’t like men but just went down your whole smiling friends tag just cause like. it’s really in character? tbh i don’t even like smiling friends that much but it captivated me. had to say it since some of those have like 4 notes and it’s not the kinda thing i reblog

haha yeah i’m glad you like em! i wasn’t influenced by the fandom because there really wasn’t one back when season 1 came out. and i was totally spiraling at the time so i latched onto the show real hard. i definitely got a lot more attention on twitter, so i don’t mind my backlog not gettin too many notes doesn’t bug me ^_^

[nostalgiclittlespace]

Regression isn’t always cute

I know I try to keep my blog as positive and safe as possible, but I also want to discuss some of the less-happy sides of regression as well. Especially because I know my blog is getting seen by a lot of newer regressors (and because I’ve been experiencing a lot of impure regression as of late)

Regression isn’t always cute. I’d say the community online does a pretty good job of discussing the good and bad, keeping things positive while also honest. But I still want to do my part in sharing those more negative experiences with agere. Well, I say negative, but they’re not inherently bad? It’s emotional processing, so it isn’t fun but it’s also important to mental health.

Age regression at its core is a stress response. Sometimes to something big, like a traumatic event, or so,times it’s just because day to day life is difficult. However, as it literally involves thinking and feeling like a child, any emotional response, whether you are reliving a past stressor and/or avoiding a new one, is going to feel different, and usually more intense.

Hence why impure regression exists. While it’s not fun, it’s also vital to overcoming the stress and processing emotions.

So yeah, regression isn’t all coloring books and stuffies and getting to feel like a happy kid again. Sometimes regression is reliving a traumatic time. Sometimes it’s tummy-aching anxiety because your current stress is too much for a child to handle. Sometimes it’s old insecurities coming back to haunt you.

and that’s okay.

It’s rough, I know. It isn’t fun to feel like this, and you probably wish you didn’t. But feeling is a part of healing. Allow yourself to feel it. You aren’t less worthy of love or weird for feeling this way. And this community is here to support you through all facets of regression.

Enjoy the good parts of Little Space, but don’t shut out the bad. Regression isn’t always cute, and it’s not meant to be. It’s a coping mechanism for a reason. Show yourselves kindness and love, like you deserve. -Marty ❤️‍🩹

[thelucyverse]

Keep fandoms alive, comment on more fanfics!

The do‘s and don’ts of fic reviews

Because a friend told me she never knows what to write and then never comments, but wants to learn how to do better, I thought I’d compile a list, and maybe it will help someone else as well!

As always, this is unofficial and just from my personal experience writing and reading fic, and talking with other fic authors.

My posts on beta reading | ao3 bookmarks

What to comment

Honestly, authors love friendly comments, no matter how small. Here are some ideas for short comments you can write to pretty much any fic you enjoyed:

I loved it!

Great fic!

Thanks for writing this!

Thanks for sharing your fic with the fandom :)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 10/10 perfection

So happy I found this!

Reading this made my day

I had fun reading this

You’re a great writer!

Love your writing style

<3<3<3

Amazing!

Kudos!

If you want to write something a bit longer, you can for example

Tell the author where you have been reading the fic or what you were doing while reading it

Tell the author what you should have been doing instead of reading fanfic (and that it was worth it to read the fic)

Copy a passage (or several) from the fic you particularly enjoyed

Did the author write a note at the end or beginning of the fic? Maybe even ask a question? Sometimes you can reply to author’s notes in your comment

How did the fic make you feel? Happy, made you cry, made you laugh, made you jealous of a character, or made you want to punch an antagonistic character’s nose in? Write it in the comment!

Is it your first fic in a fandom or with a ship? Your favorite fic in a fandom, or with a specific character? Did you read it in one go? Did you savour it slowly reading over days or weeks? Have you enjoyed every update of a multi-chapter? Do you wish you could read it again for the first time? Write anything you want to let the author know about your reading experience!

Is there a character you particularly enjoyed in that fic/chapter? Tell the author you think they wrote xy character really well!

You can always start or finish your comment with one of the suggestions from the short comments to make sure the author knows you liked it :)

If you really don’t know what to write, or are reading fic in a language not your own (though authors usually don’t mind you commenting in your native language) and aren’t comfortable commenting in either language, you can also leave emojis as comments, for example variations of:

for any fics:❤️💕💜💗💞💓💖💟🤩😍🥰

for humor fics: 😂😆🤣🤪💯

for shippy fics/getting together: 🎉💖🥳💋💘💏👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨💑👩‍❤️‍👩👨‍❤️‍👨🫶

for angst or hurt no comort: 🥹😭🤯😱🫣😢💔❣️❤️‍🩹🖤 maybe still include a ❤️heart in there so the author can be sure you still liked it!

for smut/pwp: ❤️‍🔥💯🫣😋🤩🥵😈🤯🫦

There are even some stickers you can comment by copying the html! A few tumblr posts with stickers to copy can be found here & here!

Don’ts

There isn’t much you can do wrong when writing comments on fic, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:

don’t criticize (unless negative critics/what they can do better has been specifically asked for by the author, and then stick to the kind of criticism asked for, and best try to include something positive too to soften the blow)

don’t demand more/ask for updates - you can tell the author you’d read it if they wrote more, but don’t put pressure on them, you don’t know what’s happening in their lives right now and for what reason new entries might have slowed down, and they don’t owe you regular or any updates!

don’t tell them what to write (unless the author is taking prompts, and in most cases the comment section is not the right place for prompts, check what the author specified)

Remember: Fan fiction are free, from fans for fans, so etiquette is a bit different than in the Amazon reviews of books you paid good money for! Fic authors don’t have to cater to you, just enjoy that there are fics shared with the fandom :) If you don’t like something, or don’t like a part of something, either close the tab or quietly ignore the issue and just enjoy the parts you do like.

And in general, to end this on a positive note:

Yes, you can comment on older fanfics!

Yes, comment on several fics in a row if you’re reading through fics by one author!

Yes, comment on as many chapters of the same fic as you like!

Yes, you can make art for the fic and tell the author about it!

Yes, absolutely tell the author if you’re still thinking about a fic hours/days/years… after reading it!

Yes, send authors asks on tumblr/other sites talking about how you love their fics, if they link these sites in the author’s notes! (But also comment on Ao3)

Yes, you can comment/review even if you don’t have an account (at least on Ao3 and ffnet)!

Yes, please let the author know if you’re reading a fic for a second time, even if you just write ‘re-read kudos!’

The best comments are also written directly on the site the fanfiction got posted on (so usually ao3/ffnet and not tumblr/discord), both because it makes the note count higher, and because then the comment won’t quickly get buried under unrelated messages or posts.

If you want to leave long comments about different parts of a fic or chapter, you can also make use of the floating Ao3 comment box! It allows you to type your comment while you're still reading, without having to leave the page!

Some more kinds of comments on another post

[saltpepperbeard]

Are you still feeling hopeful? I’m trying really hard not to feel demoralized these last few days…

Hi, darling anon! I totally understand where you’re coming from. We’ve been at it for weeks (almost THREE) and things have seemingly slowed down, there’s drama both in-fandom and out, and there’s just sort of an ever-creeping feeling of disheartenment. And on top of everything, it’s JANUARY (DEROGATORY).

But you know what? Despite all of that, despite it all, I am still clinging onto hope. Call me stubborn or whatever else lol, but yes, I’m still hopeful. I think I will be until I see Djenks wave some sort of white flag, or until a lot of time passes with no forward momentum. And even with the latter, I’ll probably still have the stubborn wish to get something like a movie or whatever else in the future.

Now, I’m clinging onto hope for a few reasons. One, and this is the most important one, we really don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes right now. I think that mentality can also swing into negative territory, but I’m using it to propel me into hopeful territory. We don’t know what all is being discussed, we don’t know if anyone’s interested, and we don’t know who all is fighting and how hard.

Again, could be twisted into a “nothing is happening” type view, but when I look at David? At Taika? And how much the show means to them? How passionately they’ve spoken out about it? And how gracious David and the rest of the cast/crew has been? Idk about you, but I’d like to think they’re trying to push for a continuation as hard as they can. *Stede voice* I don’t think…any of us have let go, actually.

Not to mention that the cast and crew have not stopped posting/interacting with renewal campaign efforts. David hasn’t told us anything that would allude to failed deals, and Ruibo still posts #SaveOFMD type things. It just feels like they’re still riding alongside of us.

Secondly, and sort of along those lines, I’m holding on to the knowledge that every renewal is different. There have been some giant campaigns with zero results, but there have also been smaller campaigns with success. There have been campaigns that have only landed a few more episodes, whereas there have been others that landed more seasons, a movie, etc etc.

Each case is unique, and really has to do with what’s going on behind the scenes. Why the show was cancelled in the first place, if the platform is willing to shop it out, if other platforms find it desirable/profitable, etc etc.

And I think along those lines also, there comes a mentality that makes people even more disheartened and sad. I think there’s this thought that if we’ve slowed down, if we’re not pushing enough, we won’t get renewed. And I don’t really think that’s the case; I don’t think renewal rests squarely on our shoulders like that. Because, again, I think a lot of it really has to do with money, and with negotiations between studios. I think we’re very good for visibility and noise, and subsequently, I think any sort of effort is great effort! I think any work that has been conducted is good work.

It’s also important to think about how we’re sort of in a transition stage of the campaign right now, too. Things are significantly different than they were just a week ago. There are campaign leadership changes going on, the focus is different, and new plans of attack are being ironed out.

So, we all just need to give ourselves some grace. We’ve done so much, and things have moved so fast, and the cast and crew have felt so loved. We’ve made it into publications, made it onto physical ads, and gotten the attention of outside entities (shoutout to Astroglide WJDJW). We’ve also all come together, which is VERY wonderful considering how divided things felt towards the end of October. We’re doing wonderful all things considered, and so for that reason among a few others, I’m still hopeful.

Also, there’s this post by @pehmokoira that goes into even MORE detail of why we shouldn’t throw in the towel/lose hope.

SO. TLDR, there is a lot weighing down on “the atmosphere of this ship,” but I still encourage you to keep those fingers crossed. Help maintain the momentum however works best for you. Take a break, take a step back, and take care. But keep that stubborn little fire burning if you can 💜🏴‍☠️

[krashlite]

Opinions on secret Soulmates? (Saw you made the millie animatic so im curious) /light hearted

(Bass boosted sigh)

Short answer, I love this duo and they’re one of my favorite toxic yaois in this fandom however comma during DL they’re definitely unethical and I’ve already gone through all the the intricacies of how DL went badly

Long answer

I think they’re fascinating because they both tend to idolize the other while both using the other as an excuse to avoid their problems and dooming the both of them in the process. When they’re around each other they’re usually only Positive and any Negativity is very jarring (especially from Grian’s perspective, who sees B as a safe person). Introducing negativity there is like being tagged when you’re on base- it shouldn’t be allowed they don’t know what to do with it

Except it’s somewhat unbalanced

BigB keeps finding himself in situations where he’s the failsafe for Grian’s poor decisions. In 3L the Blue Sword Boys were all but planning a rescue mission for Grian midway through the war. In DL obviously Grian ran away to BigB when Scar was his soulmate, then again in LimL Grian ran to him when the other two Bad Boys died

In all three of these seasons, you can argue having this connection got BigB killed! In 3L BigB was still reaching out to Grian as Scar and Bdubs cornered him (then he turned on Grian but shhh), in DL Grian killed Ren, BigB’s soulmate, and in LimL Grian got the Nosey Neighbors into SEVERAL scenarios that cost them time

Again, they idolize each other but BigB has the understanding that Grian brings danger into his life. Yet he still ultimately views Him as a positive thing. In fact, I’d even argue that the added danger is what BigB idolizes him FOR

And that’s because BigB is scared of getting into dangerous scenarios. He usually bases alone, he develops an alter ego to run from the consequences of killing Cleo, he has to psyche himself up for Any type of physical attack on someone and when he does strike he’s screaming “AAAAAAA” the whole time!

Grian doesn’t need to do that, it comes naturally to him

Then on Grian’s side of things- he’s a coward too! Except he’s constantly masking it with his thrill seeking, trying to be the scariest thing in the room not just to feel strong but so that everyone else Leaves Him Alone. In fact, Grian ALSO tends to base alone! Or at least he tries to, until some group comes along and tosses him over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He makes secret alliances to save his own skin (yes, alliances plural, there were Several), and is usually the first to run when trouble comes his way

And all that running is Tiring.. it’s so, so tiring

So him idolizing BigB is him idolizing that “safety” he sees BigB having. Grian has never had a direct interaction with one of BigB’s risks, nor does he have any reason to see BigB as a threat in the same way other people are “threats.” He runs off to BigB over and over again because he sees BigB as someone that can save him, maybe even the Only person that can save him

Except again, what ends up happening is Grian gets BigB killed

Also couldn’t find a way to fit it in here but iirc BigB is the first person Grian actually built a grave for and I’m so normal about that

[vide0-nasties]

THANK YOU FOR TAGGING ME EMILY @lemon-bats 🥰🥰

1. Were you named after anyone?

To the best of my knowledge no, at least for my real name! My internet name, Rags, I actually just ended up snagging from one of my OCs - a washed up rockstar named Cosimo Ragatz, who was a recovering drug addict that founded an indie record label with his wife.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Oh god, it was some time last week?? So much real life stuff had piled up and I think it was honestly some kind of mini-break or smth, god only knows. But I’m feeling better now lol.

3. Do you have kids?

ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY NOT LMAO. My mom passed when I was young and I raised my younger siblings, I’ve done my time in the child rearing mines and I’m never doing it again.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

For a really long time I rode horses and I was a really good three day eventer. I also really loved archery and swimming. I also rode dirt bikes too, and I’d love to get back into it!! 🥰🥰

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes indeed!! But I’m not sure that I use it as much as I used to. Not for any particular reason, I don’t think dgheh.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

I’m boring and predictable and I pretty much always notice height first 😂😂 I do also notice face shapes and noses, though!!

7. What’s your eye color?

Dark brown that leans pretty close to black dfhjd.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Each have their own benefits and negatives!! A time and a place for everything 👏👏

9. Any talents?

I’m a good writer, and I’m pretty good at accents! I also like to think I’m the funniest asshole in any given room at any time 😂😅

10. Where were you born?

Commonwealth of Virginia babeyyyyy 🦩 there aren’t cardinal emojis, but I’m still barely south enough to be southern lol.

11. What are your hobbies?

I like posting video games, writing, playing dnd, a lil bit of digital art. Painting my nails. Dfhjd. Running outta stuff here, uhhhh. Panicking trying to remember my meds, but that’s more a full time occupation lol.

12. Do you have any pets?

Four dogs (a cocker spaniel, a border collie, a pit bull, and a boxer lab 🥰🥰), some barn cats, and a little grade paint horse named Rooster who’s a complete ASSHOLE.

13. How tall are you?

5’6” or 5’7”, it depends on how tall I want to feel that day dghjd

14. Favorite subject in school?

History and English!!! I really wanted to be a historical researcher for a career when I was in school and I still think about it. I would’ve liked to study Appalachian history from pre-Civil War to present.

15. Dream job?

LOL 😂😂 historical researcher, possibly an author, or a rare and antique jewelry shop owner siiigh. I really fell in love with fine jewelry at my last job, and I would DIE to be able to do it again, but in a much more niche fashion.

No Pressure tags: @smoggyfogbottom @brilliantblasphemer @dotcie @kastlequill @skinnyazn @snail-eggs @lunarvicar @siriusleee 💖💖

[thyandrawrites]

please feel free to not answer this ask, but if you were to write a post-426 Todoroki family fix-it, how would you do it? under the condition they don't just let him die slowly and actively try to save his life and heal him, i think the canon setup presents interesting conditions for Touya to heal and see how much his family loves him and wants him back.

(as long as the others don't let e-slur make it all about himself)

Hi! Thank you for the interesting question and for offering an out. I think I want to answer, but sharing my more critical thoughts on bnha still stresses me out so I might end up deleting this reply in a bit if it stirs up my anxiety. I hope you’ll understand! 

I think I should preface this by saying that all that follows is strictly my opinion! and that I feel very differently than you about chapter 426, so this answer probably won’t be much of an answer at all. I’m sorry for that. 

The thing is, writing a post-426 fic with the intent of specifically making it a fix-it doesn’t really work for me. And that’s because by that chapter, what I consider to be irreparable damage to the Todofam plotline is already done. So anything stemming from that set up will not lead to the kind of resolution that I’d (personally!) consider thematically appropriate for this family. Or satisfying to consume. 

Breaking this down, what would a fix-it entail for this family? In my opinion, it should involve healing from trauma. But for any healing to happen, there needs to be change, you know? The characters need to put in the work to actually be better. Imo canon doesn’t really show them as willing to do that, nor does it set up a good starting point for change or growth. In fact, the way I see it, that chapter shows them repeating the same old family patterns with zero self-awareness from the writing. That’s why in the Todofam post-canon fix-it I did actually write, I started the canon divergence at an earlier point, discarding anything that would’ve worked against a narrative of healing and of addressing the past in a constructive way. 

But. I tried my best to brainstorm what I feel like doesn’t work in canon, and how I wish it was done instead. This ended up sounding like a big list of complaints, but I figured it could also work as a good starting point to examine what needs reworking, maybe? idk, it still doesn’t really fix stuff per se, imo, but maybe it comes closer to what you were asking for. 

Under a cut for length, spoilers and negativity. 

The baseline: 

The tube is antithetical to a narrative of healing for various reasons. Begone with it.

Putting Touya in a tube and making his parents visit him doesn’t work as closure. I get what Horikoshi was trying to do with that. I do! It’s supposed to be a fix-it for how Enji never showed up at Sekoto peak, or spent any quality time with his eldest son, tbh. But it doesn’t work. All it does is paint Enji as a slightly better father for trying to learn from his mistakes, but the overall narrative is still very off. 

Please consider: with the rest of the family, Enji had the maturity to realize he shouldn’t inject himself in their lives if he wants them to really heal. He still didn’t ask them if that was what they wanted, but at least he was willing to distance himself without them asking first. He built Rei a house so she can live far away from him with the kids and choose for herself whether or not she wants to see him ever again. That was good. It showed he understood boundaries.

But with Touya, he forces himself back in his life without letting Touya have a say in it. Enji makes that choice for him, and Touya doesn’t have the agency to say no because he’s physically unable to leave the tube. 

First of all, a fix-it should re-examine whether Touya wants his father to visit in the first place. And if the answer is no, Enji should accept it and leave him alone. Enji should not have all the control in his hand. Touya’s boundaries should matter, too. Otherwise it’s still an abusive dynamic where Enji always does whatever he pleases with no consequences. 

Another reason why the tube is bad is because it rips away Touya’s bodily autonomy, and that’s a bad way to end a character arc focused on gaining control of one’s fate. Touya’s self-determination was constantly put under question by his family during his childhood. The narrative decided to never solve this, and in fact to reinforce it by removing what little freedom he had left, and making him dependent on his family to literally survive. 

A fix-it for that? Well, just let him heal enough to no longer be hooked to a machine to live. His skin doesn’t need to go baby-smooth again, but in a world of quirks that can magically heal even an exploded heart, it does sound exceptionally callous that they couldn’t even treat his burns. The only narrative purpose of sticking Touya in a tube is to limit his agency, and that’s not good storytelling imo. If a character cannot sit down and have a conversation unless you strap him onto a table and have another character talk at him, then you didn’t solve the communication issue. What you’re lacking is a character arc that brings said characters to a point where they’re willing to listen to each other. Stripping him of basic human dignity and calling it a day isn’t a solution. It’s lazy writing.

So, no tube. Then what?

First, I’d let Touya heal enough to talk. God, does he need to talk to his family. I wouldn’t skip that part. Nor would I make him a passive listener to Enji’s monologue, or to the family’s resolves. I would’ve liked to see him be an active participant in conversations. Canon left the actual family resolution open-ended, but if I was writing a fix-it, I wouldn’t. I’d explore what Touya wants, how he feels, how he sees himself going forward now that everything wrapped up differently than what he had imagined. I’d want to write him developing a more stable sense of self and maturing past the grooming he suffered growing up. I’d like to see him develop a better relationship with his quirk, too, and stop thinking his value as a person relies on whether he’s a good weapon or not. He could do that with Enji, theoretically, but with Shouto as well. 

In canon, he shows remorse and apologizes to his brother, but Shouto isn’t around to hear it. But for the family to heal, I think they need to get in the habit of properly talking to each other more. Touya and Shouto in particular are strangers, and aside from their fight (during which they weren’t even trying to see each other’s point of view) they’ve never had an extended conversation. I would change that starting from the hospitalization. I’d show them visiting often (with Touya’s approval).

Most of all, I’d show Touya being loved and looked after by his family. Canon doesn’t do a good job of making them act differently towards Touya now that he’s back. In fact, the writing around this is a mess. The chapter opens with them proclaiming that they’re not visiting Touya out of a sense of duty, but then, just a few pages later, Natsuo of all people declares that they’ve taken responsibility. After a total of one (1) visit. When Touya didn’t even speak much. 

It all sounds like he’s saying that they showed up, so the job is all well and done. Now they can pat themselves on the back. The problem brother is dealt with, and now they can return to their lives. 

…that’s not… a great wrap up for a plotline of neglect. 

Now before anyone jumps my throat, I don’t think that’s what Horikoshi intended to portray in this scene. I don’t think he willingly wanted to demonize any members of this family. In fact, I think he was trying so hard not to point fingers, that he zapped out all the emotion that should’ve been there in an effort to write this “resolution” as neutrally as possible. 

Zapping any emotion Natsuo feels towards the brother he spent a decade trying to honor and fight on behalf of, made Natsuo feel like an empty shell, a puppet in the hand of the plot. 

Ideally, a fix-it would show a family that actually cares about having Touya back. They should care that he’s in so much pain he can’t even speak. They should be happy that he lived, and not be talking about how “punishment” was “doled out”. Why the fuck would Natsuo, a civilian, care whether or not a villain was punished according to the law? That’s his brother. The brother he spent a decade mourning and wishing he had done better by. His focus should’ve been on emotions, not on moralizing. The latter is a job for the narrating voice, if there really is a need for that. 

The lack of reaction from the Todofam when they’re told Touya is dying is extremely jarring and out of place, after the story went to such lengths about how much they regretted being unable to prevent his death the first time. In fact, they spend 0 time thinking about his feelings, or his wellbeing. How are we meant to believe there was any significant shift in the family dynamics that would make things better from then on? 

All of this to say: ideally, a kinder wrap up of the todofam plot would spend more screen time showing these people actually bonding, or even liking each other. It wouldn’t gloss over it while also dehumanizing the usual scapegoat and call it character development. 

Now this is more of a personal hangup of mine, but. Since we’re on the topic. I wish Touya had been allowed to make the first step in reconnecting with his family, rather than being a passive recipient of their efforts to atone. 

Everything is always about everyone else’s feelings except his, you know?

Everyone gets to say how they feel and what they want, but not him. 

Everyone gets to move on with their life, but not him.

Everyone gets to choose whether or not they want to have a relationship with Enji, but not him. 

Everyone gets the chance to prove themselves better, including Enji, but not him. 

At the very least, Touya could’ve been allowed space to be better, too. Cause otherwise, why saving him at all? Just to see him die in a tube? 

But no, he was brought back so that everyone else except him could have their closure, and that’s just… ugh. 

I feel like so much of Touya’s story is about how he’s constantly made to be an abstract, passive recipient of everyone else’s feelings, rather than a human being with feelings of his own. First, he was the child that made life harder for everyone around him, and his pain didn’t matter enough to bring change. Then he came back from the dead, and he was the villain embarrassing the family that needed to be stopped. 

His feelings never factor in, and till the end, everyone still assumes how he feels without asking him and makes choices for him instead of giving him agency. For me that’s the opposite of character growth, and because of this, the Todofam plot failed to deliver on the narrative of change. For it to have any impact at all, at least for me personally, there should’ve been a better effort at showing, rather than telling, these characters moving on from their old ways. Starting from them actually listening to Touya, for the first time in their life. Instead, they all just sorta. Talk AT him. As usual. 

tl; dr: how would I write a post 426 Todofam fix-it? I would afford Touya the dignity of having bodily autonomy and personal boundaries, and I would make his family show more consideration towards him and actively engage with him on an emotional level

Hope that answers your question even if it wasn’t the reply you had hoped for

[speedofsoundsketches]

I know you aren't a fan of IDW Sonic comics, but I wanted to know your opinion about the Phantom Rider thing and the fact that Sonic is hiding his identity, do you think it's something out of character?

Hard to have an opinion on something I don’t keep up with regularly or read lol so I’m just going on my limit gleanings of what’s going on in the premise.

I’d say that Sonic feeling a need to hide his identity for any reason is weird since he’s pretty forthright with letting his actions speak for themselves even if people react negatively to it. That’s the whole gist of Black Knight when he’s warned how taking down Arthur will warrant a negative reputation to which he reacts with “well, thems the breaks. Can’t always be a hero!”

It speaks to his inherent confidence and presence of character that he’s unbothered by peoples opinions about him. He’ll always be his authentic self and won’t apologize for doing what he‘s decided is the right thing to do in the moment. And when he has been in the wrong or hurts someone unintentionally, he’s able to own up to it. He only feels bothered if he’s getting credit or blame for things he DIDN’T do.

I can only see Sonic hiding his identity if a conflict was a highly sensitive operation that warrants it, like a hostage situation and he’s gotta sneak in to find the victim before going nuclear on whoever did it. Like, if revealing himself too early would end up endangering said hostage I guess.

This is a public race where far as I know, it’s just an info collecting situation, not really one with high stakes like someone’s life is in the line? Idk again I haven’t read it, can only make opinions on the premise.

I kinda feel that it’s just a justification to put Sonic into a cool tokusatsu inspired racer uniform which idk why needing to hide one’s identity would be required to put him in some cool drip while racing against the big baddy lol

[not-wholly-unheroic]

Thoughts on Off to Neverland: 70 Years of Disney’s Peter Pan by Jim Korkis

Now that I have finished reading Off to Neverland, I’d like to share some thoughts on it—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s start with the negatives and get that out of the way, shall we?

As mentioned in a previous post, the book starts out sounding rather clunky and more like a list of facts than an actual book. However, once we move past the original history of Peter Pan as imagined by J.M. Barrie and start getting into the history of Disney Peter Pan material specifically, it starts to improve. Korkis was, after all, considered a Disney historian, so I guess it’s no real surprise that he writes more excitedly about that side of things. That said, there are still some things that bugged me and made me feel like the book was slapped together in a hurry. I noticed several spelling errors, missing words, and/or weird punctuation throughout the book and while that doesn’t take away from the info itself, it’s rather distracting and unprofessional for a published book. It’s also troubling that Korkis has neither a bibliography nor footnotes in his book to indicate exactly where he got his information from. Some of it was, undoubtedly, from interviews he conducted himself, but even then, there is a way that you are supposed to write up interviews as source material for professional writing…and Korkis just…doesn’t for some reason. So if I want to look up more info on, say, a specific fact…I can’t really do that because I have no proof of an original source. Lastly, some of the “facts” he includes—and I’m being nitpicky here but the guy is supposed to be a Disney historian so I think I’m allowed to be—are straight-up WRONG. For example, in the Disney film, Hook is said to have a harpsichord in his cabin (it’s not; it’s a piano—listen to a harpsichord…it doesn’t sound like that) and a cutlass as his weapon of choice (cutlasses are curved on one side; his blade is definitely more akin to a rapier or a fencing sword). Smee is also said to be the first mate in the original film, and while it’s true that in some later Disney media like Jake and the Neverland Pirates has portrayed Smee as a first mate, the original film does not. Heck, the man has a bosun’s whistle that he uses to pipe up the crew and specifically mentions the first mate as one of the people spreading rumors about Pan having banished Tink during the scene where he’s pouring hot water on Hook’s feet. So clearly he isn’t the first mate, and you don’t have to be a Disney expert to know that. You just have to actually watch the film. The author also says that Cubby is referred to as Curly in the sequel, Return to Neverland…which, again, just listen to the film for yourself and you’ll quickly learn that isn’t true. Oh, and did I mention that he essentially defends the racist portrayal of the “Indians” in the original film? Yeah, so…there’s that.

On a more positive note, I did learn some interesting new things about Peter Pan in the Disneyverse (though, of course, since there is no bibliography, I can’t prove any of them…). So, here are a few fun facts for you fellow Peter Pan nerds, as promised.

(1) There were a LOT of changes made to the original script and storyline between its initial inception and the final version of the film we have today. A few things that were considered but ultimately not used include the following:

Wendy was originally going to be the one who wanted to go to Skull Rock while Peter warned it was too dangerous to go there, only giving in when she finally dared him to take them there.

In one version, Nana came with the kids to Neverland while John stayed home, being “too grown up” for Neverland.

There were several different suggested starting points for the film. One would have had an adult Wendy as narrator reading the story to her daughter, Jane. Another started with Peter’s backstory similar to his origins in The Little White Bird. In either this or another version with a backstory for Pan, we would have seen Tink as the queen of the fairies who, on being presented with the foundling baby Peter, decided that he should be raised by the fairies to protect them against the pirates and other threats and, in exchange, gave him the power of flight.

One version of the story that would have followed much more closely to Barrie’s storyline had Hook creeping down part of the way into Hangman’s Tree to poison Peter but getting stuck and weeping frustrated tears that land in Peter’s “medicine.” These tears, of course, turned out to be poison from the red of his eye as in the 2003 film. This version also would have featured Hook voluntarily jumping ship and being nabbed by a silent crocodile whose clock had run down.

Disney debated for a long time whether to make Peter Pan a live-action film, an animated film, or a hybrid of the two. In the case of the latter, Wendy and her brothers would have been live-action characters with Hook, Peter, and the other residents of Neverland as animated characters who sprung to life from Wendy’s storybook.

There was gonna be a fairy ball. And a scene with the fairies feeding the kids at a kind of banquet. Also a fairy jazz band. Yes, you read that right. Fairy. jazz. band.

(2) The very first Tink to fly over one of the Disney parks to head off the fireworks was a 70 year-old Hungarian woman of Jewish descent and former burlesque dancer. This lady, known as “Tiny” Kline, slid down a 784 ft long cable nearly 150 ft off the ground at speeds up to 30 mph nearly every night for three years…while fighting cancer.

(3) There was an earlier version of Return to Neverland titled Peter and Jane featuring Kathryn Beaumont reprising her role as Wendy and Corey Burton in both the roles of Hook and Smee. Most of the voice recording for this version was already complete when the directors decided to go a different direction with the film. Beaumont was ultimately replaced by Kath Soucie, and the role of Smee went to Jeff Bennett.

(4) Somewhere out there, a live-action reference model version of Return to Neverland exists, and I need it. I have no idea if any of the voice actors were used as models as in the original film, but either way, I really wish we had some way to access the recording, or at least stills.

(5) Apparently, the filmmakers’ reasoning for replacing the crocodile with the octopus was that they thought a toothy crocodile would be “too threatening” for younger members of the audience. That, and they wanted to come up with a new, creative way to torture Hook. (For some reason, Korkis seems to think that the octopus can’t see well because he views Hook and the crew as fish. This is another “fact” which I’m pretty sure is wrong. I always assumed the vision of the characters as fish was just to show that the octopus considered them all potential food, not an actual indication of the creature’s sight…but whatever.)

(6) And last but not least, I have to include Hans and Corey’s takes on Hook as a character because my thoughts on the book wouldn’t be complete without them. I’ve shared some of this before but it bears repeating.

Hans Conried:

“He is a much maligned character. If you read the lines with any sensibility at all, you must have an animus against Peter Pan who could fly, and took outrageous advantage of this one-armed man. Hook was a gentleman. Pan was not. His behavior was bad form.”

Corey Burton:

“He’s the nastiest of Disney’s comical villains. He’s conceited and bombastic and takes great relish in his evil and that makes him really fun to play. Captain Hook is so theatrical, like an old ham actor of the vaudeville and music hall days. It’s not that he really scares anyone because you can see right through all of his bluster. He’s really just scrambling for the recognition afforded Blackbeard and the other great pirates.”

I find it interesting that Burton, though his take on the character is more comedic than Conried’s, still has a rather sympathetic view of Hook—that his attempts at villainy are, in fact, so over-the-top precisely because they are meant to cover up a deep insecurity that he isn’t living up to what everyone expects him to be.

Overall, the book had some fun and interesting bits but wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I’d love to send Korkis an email and ask him about some of the issues I had with the book and pick his brain. Unfortunately, he just passed away in July of 2023, so that’s no longer an option.

[lia-land]

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

5/5 stars

Spoilers*

I don’t think I can put into words how much I loved this book. A shorter review because I have nothing to criticise. This book is perfect.

I did go into it having seen spoilers that Feyre and Rhysand would be endgame, but I didn’t find that to negatively affect my reading experience. The build-up was amazing and I would gladly read another book entirely made up of the two of them exchanging magical flirty notes.

The twists, characters, and pacing are all so perfect and there was not one boring or slow chapter. I would especially love to see more of Tarquin and the Summer Court. I do feel bad about how Feyre, Rhys, and Amren deceived Tarquin, but it was for the greater good.

Chapter 54 and 55 are pure gold. Personally, I think the tension during the throne room chapter and the inn chapter are unmatched, but 54 and 55 were so satisfying to read after the build-up. I had the audiobook on when I got to 54 and 55 because I was getting ready to go out and I wish I had time to fully process everything. I love when a book has the power to change my mood. I’d seen spoilers for all of it, but it still had an effect, which is impressive. What I’d give to experience this book for the first time again…

I like Azriel, but I was so mad when his arrival robbed us of Rhys and Feyre going to buy lingerie together. Though, somehow, I think I preferred how that chapter ended. Something about Rhys sending her a vision of it was sexier than if it had happened, so I can’t even be mad anymore.

The cliffhanger!!! I hope we get a bonus chapter of Rhys and Feyre’s ceremony one day. It’s a need.

The only thing that would have made this book even better for me is if Rhys’ trauma from Under the Mountain was acknowledged more. It felt just slightly skimmed over. We get little glimpses through lines like ‘it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just your body reacting,’ but I think it’s an important aspect of Rhys’ recent history that should have been acknowledged. Not just in this book, but throughout the series as a whole (I’ll discuss this more in my A Court of Wings and Ruin review).

Also, the House of Wind is a bit of a plot hole because they make it clear that no one can winnow in. They can only fly in or take 10,000 stairs. If this is the case, how do all the people on Starfall get in? Surely they don’t all have an Illyrian plus one and didn’t go up the stairs in their formal attire. I’ll personally be overlooking that because the rest of the book is so good.

Importantly, I should note that the only reason I saw spoilers for everything is because I was so obsessed with Rhys and Feyre that I was reading short fanfictions about them while I was still reading ACOMAF, because I quite literally could not wait for them to finally get together and I also didn’t want the book to end too quickly. In hindsight, I don’t actually know if the plot is any good because I was far too invested in Rhys. The plot could be nonexistent and I’d still give this five stars for Rhys and his charms.

Infinite stars out of 5. This was exactly the kind of book I was expecting and more.

[being-of-rain]

I wasn’t really a big fan of The Giggle by the time I finished watching it, and I liked it less the more that I thought about it. Which is a real shame, because I think it was full of a lot of great ideas that were squandered with poor execution. I didn’t really want to just post pages of negativity, so I’ll quickly skim through a list of things I think could’ve been done better, and maybe I’ll expand on some of them later or if I’m asked about them. Still, this is your warning for negativity.

The whole 'screens are evil and making everyone think they're right' felt so shallow and cheap, especially because it was set up as the main obstacle and then largely ignored. A lot of the characters at UNIT really didn't do much (I totally forgot about The Vlinx after my first watchthrough) but I think that didn't bother me much while watching because I was used to Chibnall regularly ignoring characters like that. It was nice to see Mel again, but she didn’t really serve much purpose.

RTD’s take on the Toymaker is quite similar to his take on the Master, which was sometimes fun and sometimes annoying (specifically the German accent, which lost its appeal pretty quickly for me). But he felt pretty hollow and full of wasted potential beyond that, feeling like he was there just to give the episode a villain. Although speaking of the Master, his brief inclusion was hilarious and an easy way to write him back into the show later, nicely done.

The last third of the episode had some many intriguing and potentially awesome ideas behind it. The new Doctor turning up partway through a story? Cool! The Doctor defeating his final villain alongside the next star of the show? Fun! The Doctor getting self-care and words of wisdom from his next self? So heartwarming! One Doctor retiring to be happy while his next incarnation travels off to continue the adventures? A fun use of the show's format!

But for me these ideas just didn’t work or didn’t fulfill their potential, and it’s mostly because there’s no narrative justification for them. No cause and effect. There’s no given reason for the Doctor to bigenerate, it just happens. There’s no particular reason that it was the Doctors rather than the Toymaker who won the game of catch to save the world, it just happens. Without any narrative reason the third act feels so unsatisfying, like spectacle for the sake of spectacle, and (I don’t say this lightly) incredibly lazily written.

That lack of story reason also undermines the ending, clearly the thing RTD was most interested in, by making it feel unearned. Like a first draft script that worked backwards to make it happen. The retirement ending itself I have mixed feelings about, which I’m not sure I can fully articulate. One thing I love to see is that RTD can actually do a genuinely happy ending rather than making every ending a tragedy. But said happy ending feels a little too ‘married-with-kids-and-a-white-picket-fence’ to me – though obviously I can’t stress enough how relieved I am that romance didn’t factor into it. It just felt like it wasn’t set up well enough. I’d probably like it a lot more if they made clear if Tennant’s Doctor was going to turn into Gatwa’s Doctor or if they’re just separate people now. It was sweet of RTD to try and bring a conclusion to the ‘Doctor is traumatised’ thing that he introduced to the show 18 years ago, but he did it poorly. At least it offers interesting new possibilities for the show going forward!

With all that said, in the end The Giggle felt to me like RTD retreading some of his biggest flaws as a writer, and throwing in a few borrowed from other showrunners for good measure. It was a disappointment both because of the good ideas just below the surface, and because it came after a very fun first episode and an incredible follow-up.

But like I said, I’m excited to see what the show does next! I saw talk that there’ll be lots of mythical and unnatural creatures turn up due to the Doctor’s salt thing, which is super cool. And obviously I’m excited for more Gatwa! I haven’t really felt a lot of reason to be excited about Ruby yet, but as always I’m ready to fall in love with the new companion quickly!

[whentheleahvesfall]

It’s difficult to know for certain now what I want to do with my life. I know a lot of the time I do ramble a lot both irl and I guess online, but a lot of the time I feel lost and without purpose without feeling I have a good place in the world. Whilst I know I’ve been wanting to get back into doing art and writing, I guess finishing uni has made me think a lot about the ups and downs of my life and how far I’ve gotten to the place I am now. I dunno… I feel lost? Scared? A mixture of it all? I haven’t the slightest clue at the moment.

I don’t know how many of you guys who read my posts a lot of the time know about this, but I’ve got Autism. I’ve had it since I’ve been about 8 years old, and for the last 13-14 years of my life knowing I’ve had this as something affecting me, it’s made me question a lot about the stuff I’m good at.

Am I good at being a writer, an artist, a student or even just a person?

What do I offer that I feel is a strength for myself?

Do I even consider myself a person who deserves to be loved, despite fearing he always constantly upsets people?

And… I guess that’s how I’ve been really feeling. A lot of the time, I don’t know whether anything I’m doing is something to be considered “good”. Do I belong here? Do I keep making mistakes so much that people don’t want to be around me?

Maybe I overthink things a lot and that’s what these thought patterns are. Yet when you’re a guy who has mostly dealt with things on his own for most of his life, I uh… I don’t know how to really be me in a stream full of people.

I guess maybe I’m not someone who can answer these questions I have about myself. But despite that, I worry a lot of the time. An awful lot. And even still, underneath it all… I feel like I’d like to try and be who I am for what I am, but my brain and the way my life’s been up until now makes me question if I do have a place in this world for people to even appreciate just myself.

For what it’s worth, thank you for everyone who has liked the dumb stuff I’ve done since I first joined Tumblr or who know me from elsewhere. I don’t know why people enjoy it for what it is as I don’t consider myself good by any means, but it does make me smile knowing there are at least a few of you who do like me for me.

I’m just thinking about I suppose what’s next for me. Do I continue to just try and participate in the communities I’m in? Or fade away and hope people forget about me so I move on with just perhaps living a normal life?

I… I’m not honestly sure. I wish I knew how to be positive for myself and to keep moving forward, but without much of a goal, what do I really hope to accomplish for myself? Do I make any of you guys happy? It’s okay if I don’t too, but I feel maybe I need to reflect better on myself, but I don’t know how.

I don’t usually ramble a lot on my blog, and for good reason as I don’t know how many of you genuinely care about the guy behind the scuffed shit and I guess see me for… I don’t know, the dumb nerd with a like for Mudkips?

I may be mistaken, but as this point I really can’t say for sure. Maybe these feelings of mine will subside, but as they are not going away right now, I guess I’ll throw them here and see what happens.

If you got to the end, then thanks. I’m sorry for making this feel overly negative about me, but I suppose sometimes when you really just want to find a way to vent… you gotta do it in the way that helps you to feel better. Sorry again.

I don’t know how much of this is my Autism, but… hopefully one day I’ll get over these doubts. Probably just not right now.

[theshortolivia]

Get to Know me tag :)

Was tagged for a get to know me tag game by @deerlisteners and these are fun so thought I’d do it for the like two people who will see it, even though, they are both childhood friends and know all this…

1. Are you named after anyone?

Yeah! My moms named me after the character Olivia Benson from law and order because she was a ‘strong independent woman’ like they wanted me to be and they also both had a crush on her/the actress who plays her. Bonus fact I’m p sure if I’d been born male they woulda named me Josiah

2. When was the last time you cried?

Uhhh, I got emotional and ALMOST cried at the ‘shoe scene’ (can’t be any more specific cause Huge spoilers) when rewatching Jojo Rabbit, I DID cry when I saw it in theatres and I HIGHLY recommend it as a comedy satire but also a harrowing reminder of history we should never forget (and for taika waititi of course). Um last time I actually cried I don’t remember cause recently my mental health has been depression apathy and not anxiety tears but it was Probably out of frustration at my chronic illness limiting what I can do, not a fun anecdote unfortunately but sometimes it be like that

3. Do you have kids?

I do not and I don’t plan on having any anytime soon for economic, chronic illness, and age reasons (I’m 22 lol I am Not settled in life I don’t even live alone). I would like to have kids when I’m older and more settled health and money wise, I love kids and feel I have so much love and care to give, i think I’d both enjoy and be a good mother. Also, I’d like to have them ‘traditionally’ because I’d like to experience pregnancy and I have some good genes lol. I think I’d like to have 3, partially because I do think I will love to raise and love children but also largely because I want my kids to have multiple siblings and to have a bigger (I know that’s not large in the grand scheme but for like, this day and age and economy and etc) family and for their kids to have multiple aunts/uncles. I love having a brother and wish I had more siblings, I wish I had a sibling closer in age that I could relate to, but I do still enjoy taking care of him and him being my baby brother. I also used to have 5 aunts and uncles (well 10 since they were all married ig) and many many cousins of all ages before we stopped talking to that side of my family, and I have two uncles (and my aunts their wives) and only see a few of my cousins due to where they live, and I am so glad I have family gatherings that big but I do miss the giant ones too, therefore I want for my kids what I have and love.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I am NOT a sports girlie. Up until I was 12 ish I was a very into ballet and modern dancing (would’ve continued but alas anxiety struck) and after that I did musical theatre which is its own style of dancing, incorporating all different types. I’d love to go back but since I stopped dancing due to a steady string of anxiety, anxiety medication side effects, foot problems, and then finally chronic fatigue syndrome, I’ve become out of shape, have really bad feet, and REALLY struggle to find time to take care of myself. I do want to start exercising again in ways that don’t require me to have functional feet like weight lifting, aerial dancing (those fabric strip things) etc. But I am Not good at sports nor do I like it, sorry. I remember basketball in elementary being the most frustrating and volleyball being,,,ok

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Hm in general i don’t think I do actually, I’m a pretty earnest and straightforward person myself and idk using sarcasm feels negative? For me? And I strive to be as positive to others as I can be. (Not that sarcasm is always mean I just feel like it don’t my Vibe ykwim) but I’m also somewhat socially and subtextually dense so I think it makes sense I don’t use something I may not be the best at understanding unless it’s obvious

6. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Hmm, I think that varies a Lot, it’s probably usually either makeup, clothing, hairstyle, or tattoos if they stand out or if they’re something I’d want myself or am attracted too or like aesthetically. I always try to get up the courage to compliment people on things I notice because I feel good when I get complimented so I want other people to feel like that too :) also actually since I’m a cashier and people hand over cash and point cards often I usually notice nails. Oh I also notice extremes in height immediately, I’m short so people shorter than me are like woah! And people super duper tall are also like Woah!

7. What’s your eye colour?

Dark brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

TLDR happy endings, I’m a sucker for happily ever after to the point where if it didn’t end happily I’ll probably write or st least daydream a fan fiction ending where it does. ESPECIALLY romance it Always gets me. I do like scary movies though, especially psychological horror, although,,,In The Tall Grass FUCKED ME UP (the movie, I don’t read stephen king books cause his writing style makes me uncomfy but man does he have some fucked up terrifying horrible ideas for for him)

9. Any talents?

Ig that’s kinda complicated cause I’d probably call myself a jack of all trades (but master of none). I was one of those kids that was praised for being good at like everything the first time I tried it and now as an adult has to learn how to study and have a huge issue of getting frustrated and stopping anything I try that I’m not immediately good at therefore never being able to improve because I’m not practicing. But I’ve been Told by teachers, professors, and other people that I’m quite talented at singing. I starred in some musicals in elementary school and studied vocals in high school, in choirs the whole time too, so I’d say I’m like, sort of trained in musical theatre and opera and I Have worked to improve my voice. But I was also told that apparently when I was 3 ish I grabbed a mic and went on a stage (probably at play group or smth idk) and belted twinkle twinkle little star and parents laughed and said I’d be a star one day so idk maybe I just have that star quality lol. Oh I’ve also been commended for my acting skills back before I did acting? But I haven’t done much of late and wouldn’t consider myself exceptionally skilled, I want to be though! I uh also had a period in high school where I discovered I liked (and was good at) academics and excelled in science and math and focused Heavily on that, getting awards and whatnot. I’m not gifted but my mom and grandfather are (were, granddad is not alive) and I definitely did get their big brains.

Oh also I’m like a professional daydreamer at this point I write whole ass stories in my head most of which Never make it to the Google docs and I’m Amazingly talented at oversharing I’m sorry in advance tell me to stop talking I literally won’t mind I promise I ramble Too much

10. Where were you born?

Ontario, Canada

11. What are your hobbies?

Too many. I have this issue where I like too many things so I spread myself too thinly to commit to spending enough time practicing on any one thing to improve, and then on top of that have this thing where I can’t just do something for fun I have to be Good at it (which I think stems from being a Talented Kid™) BUT here’s a list here we go it’s long

Singing

Acting

Dancing

Cooking

Baking

Writing

Makeup

Learning languages (I’m shit at it tho)

Linguistics (how languages WORK is So Cool)

Driving

Drawing

Learning about cool science things namely psychology, genetic, otherwise biology, or nuclear related

I’m not good at this yet but I wanna get into mixology for fun and also as a job

Can’t sew v well yet but I think it would be So Fun and also good to know cause I have to hem every other pair of pants I get

12. Do you have any pets?

I live w my parents still n we have a dog who’s actually my brother’s service dog she’s a huge black lab named Marshmallow and she is full of so much love but not a lot of thoughts, and we recently got a tuxedo kitten i got to name Carmilla (Carmilla is the name of an 1872? gothic lesbian vampire novella that came out before dracula, see my kitten loved to hide n is super duper fast and also play bites, hence, vampire)

13. How tall are you?

5’1 or 152cm

14. Favourite subject in school?

Too many uhh in high school I rlly loved general biology, my vocal classes (which we learned solos in Italian, German, and musical theatre genres and etc it was amazing), my intro to sociology, psychology, and anthropology class, my human development throughout the lifespan class (I wrote a super cool paper on the theory of infantile synesthesia which tbh is probably the best paper I’ve ever written), and my drama classes. In uni so far I’ve enjoyed my year 1 biology class, Especially the second half cause it was like almost All genetics (soooo fascinating!!!), I Loved my Japanese class which was hard as hell but so fascinating and awesome (I love languages and how they work, and Japanese being so different from my native language of English was really interesting, I also really like Japanese food and culture and nature so learning the language was partially because I think it’s a wonderful language but partially so I can go to Japan at some point), my psych intro class was fascinating and I especially enjoyed the parts on sleep and consciousness and on sensory and perception, those parts of our brains are sooo cool I also really liked my Health Psychology (relating our body to our mind was eye opening and very interesting) class. All those classes had super interesting subject matter AND really amazing sweet and helpful professors. Oh my intro data science class was cool cause I got to do shit of coding which was fun and rewarding

15. Dream Job?

Ok so remember the ‘jack of all trades but master of none’ thing? Liking and being somewhat good at many different things is rlly not helpful for deciding on careers, the end of that phrase ‘but better than being a master of one’ I’d say isn’t true cause I do think being good at One thing has its pros and cons, a pro being it’s def easier to decide what to do. I’ve been told I could probably make it in the opera industry, and I would love to act and sing for a living, whether that’s theatre, film, or voice acting, preferably I’d love to do them all tbh. It feels narcissistic to admit but I do like the recognition for performing, I relish the applause I get during curtain calls or after a solo, I wouldn’t say I Live for the applause but I do like it, I think I’d like to be some level of famous. However I know that’s not easy to attain and I also would love to be a teaching and researching professor of psychology and genetics. I love presenting and teaching and am very good at it (my best marks are always on presentations lol) and I love researching concepts that are interesting to me, like for example if I had to write a thesis right now I’d probably write it about the possibility of finding the epigenetic patterns that cause hereditary depression, anxiety, etc, and use CRISPR gene editing technology to correct those thus ending the cycle of hereditary mental illness instead of putting the bandaid of a medication on it. Also I know that coding and computer science is lucrative right now and I did enjoy my taste of coding so I’d also love to look into that. I Do want to make a lot of money so I can afford to take care of those I love (and myself), be more sustainable, and enjoy some extra things in life like fancy and unique or uncommon to my culture food

No pressure but Also tagging @dragonheart1330 :)

I probably didn’t even say One thing @dragonheart1330 and @deerlisteners don’t already know lol as I said I am soooo talented at oversharing

[jinchuls-moved]

hi, important lil note

pseud change, jinx -> echo

you don’t have to read but there’s a not so thought out ramble of all the thoughts in my head rn under the cut. i feel like ive been tricking people and i want to explain myself

okay so, i moved blogs when i was in a very negative space. i only stayed away for about a month, i missed tumblr and i missed writing even if it took me a hot minute to feel good enough to even be semi active on here.

tumblr can fucking suck. i left because there was drama with a few people that left me a mess honestly, those people have since been blocked and i started to feel a little bit better. i also noticed a number of people breaking mutual with me, which i completely understand curate your space as you need i’ve done it a few times myself, but the amount of people that did in a short time (as far as i noticed) gave me a terrible feeling and i needed to leave. i felt unwelcome and like i had done something wrong to people i had only interacted with a few times. this was on top of a lot of stuff i had going on irl, i felt so fucking alone in every aspect on my life regardless of my friends that made it so obvious they were there for me. i hated how i was at the time, and i appreciate every single person that stuck by me.

so i made this blog for a fresh start. i thought a new pseud and a new blog would make me feel better. and it did, for a while. my friends knew and they listened to my request to change tags, not refer to me as any previous nicknames and essentially not make it too obvious it was me. although i don’t think it was entirely impossible to tell. but now i miss all those things, i miss being stupid with my friends, i miss getting to call my best friend my wife on dash, i miss getting to miss astrology aims and mother nesi nesi, i miss the mutuals i used to have that i didn’t tell about the move because i was scared they were going to think i was stupid. i miss the url i kept going back to bc i loved it (possibly the most silly reason but still ukaishin holds a special place in my heart)

and it just doesn’t feel right. everyone has been so nice to me so far and it feels wrong knowing that wasn’t how echo ended, it makes me wonder what was wrong with me then that wasn’t now? but reality is, it’s nothing. shit happens, i needed time to get over a lot of things and it took time. even quite recently i had a terrible evening because of an old mutual. as in i had a mental breakdown because they added one stupid word to an ask that made me feel pathetic for sitting there the night before crying about how much i was missing them to aims.

getting called jinx in dms throws me off, i appreciate those that knew me first as echo using the new pseud, but it never took. it was never a name i was happy with (except for the first couple weeks on this blog) and im sorry for any confusion and having to switch pseuds again. i just don’t want to move blogs, i don’t want to have a whole thing i just want tumblr to be the happy place it was for me for almost 2 years. it got me through uni, being on here with the friends i’d made, i spend my final year of school in a constant mental breakdown, crying on the phone to my mum almost everyday and it was kaze that kept me going, motivating me to get my degree. it was kaze that flew to england to meet me and attend my graduation. it was aims that was the first person to reach out to me and give me the type of friendship i needed. it was everyone in our silly delululand server that made me laugh and reminded me that no matter how shit people were there were good ones. and it’s the good that’s made me feel better. and the good that makes me want to try one more time to maintain that happy place i had 2 years ago

that got too sappy but i refuse to edit <3

[bithermal]

"anyways I’m gonna stop before I rant about how there is a fundamental misunderstanding of anarchy"

I for one would love to read your rant about it tho, if you don't mind. :]

Ohhhh man ok bare with me. I am responding to this while there are fire trucks outside because someone set their apartment on fire.

For the sake of ease I’m going to break this up into talking about what anarchy arcs can look like, and what I’d think one would look like on the QSMP specifically or at least how it would actually affect the server. For reference I am a legitimate anarchist so if you’re wondering why this stuff gets under my skin that’s why lol.

Now most anarchy arcs on SMPs usually spawn from someone having a problem with the current leadership, status quo, or societal structure of the server. They want to overthrow or disrupt things because, for whatever reason, they don’t like them. That is technically the textbook definition of anarchism. However, a common mistake is that there is no long term plan. Most creators focus so intently on the overthrowing the government part they don’t stop and think ‘ok what am I going to do after I’ve completed this goal?’ And I can’t exactly blame them. The aftermath isn’t exactly as fun as the overthrowing part, but it usually just results in a new ruling party stepping into the subsequent power vacuum. Let’s take Technoblade on the dsmp for example: as much as I loved his character, he never had a follow up plan once he overthrew governments, and that’s pretty much exactly why he got caught in a neverending struggle of destroying L’manberg only for it to be built back up again. This constant overlooking of a follow up plan often leads to viewers misinterpreting anarchy as just destroying any sort of governing body and leaving the citizens to clean up the mess. Now there are other contributing factors, namely the existence of anarchy servers. They tend to cause most to have a pretty negative reaction when ‘anarchy’ and ‘minecraft’ are in the same sentence lol, but the point im getting at is there is a difference between textbook anarchy and political anarchy and that’s often overlooked by creators and viewers when discussing anarchy arcs.

Now as for what an anarchy arc would look like on the QSMP? Honestly, not that different from what Bad has been attempting. Remember, anarchy is fighting back against a ruling party. Who is the island’s ruling party? The Federation. Now unfortunately Forever is going to get caught up in the mix since he won the presidency and seems to be intent on keeping that title, but you can’t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. Most of the other islanders aren’t exactly actively upholding the Federation’s ideals. They all seem pretty vocal about their dislike of the Federation. Bad isn’t exactly advocating for going after the islanders. In fact he’s done a pretty good job setting up a long term plan by aiding in the island community so much. intentionally or not, he’s helped to mitigate any negative effects that could possibly come from overthrowing the Federation. I think a lot of people hear anarchy arc and automatically equate it to a villain arc, when in reality the only people that Bad might be antagonistic towards are Forever, since he is unfortunately upholding the governing body by remaining president, and possibly Cellbit, Jaiden, and Foolish (as they are Federation employees, but I trust Bad to recognize their situations.)

I hope this made at least a little sense lol I tried not to get too political on a post talking about… Minecraft politics

[proxythe]

Another hc is I think Shinji loses a lot of weight during the 2 years just cuz he isn’t getting enough to eat and he’s getting sicker and then when he’s recovering he has to take a lot of time to be able to move again so he’s definitely not doing much strenuous activity and he regains weight slowly. I think what is able to really help him both gain weight and learn to be nicer to himself is he makes food that he himself would enjoy (its a long journey cuz he’s not used to being nice to himself and he’s very crabby about it lol) and I like to imagine him having a sweet tooth and liking cookies and cake a lot and he gets chubbier over time and Akihiko is like over the moon cuz Shinji is taking care of himself and it’s showing!

Then Mitsuru um because of fucked up angsty reasons shes had to prioritize her appearance a lot, a whole metaphor for keeping up a facade so she doesn’t reflect badly on the company, and she always is very controlling of what she eats and how it’d make her look. She also puts a lot of effort into her hair and makeup to keep up a perfect image of femininity. Then like during her social link she’s with Kotone just kinda exploring common shit for the first time and she develops a love of fast food and it frightens her cuz like. What’s happening to her she isn’t allowed to have this kinda indulgence and she certainly isn’t allowed to enjoy it either. But she’s supported and encouraged to let herself eat whatever she wants and she just explores a lot of options and eats what she likes even if it’s not some perfect shit that keeps her skinny I think Kotone and Yukari would collectively be like PLEEASSEEE DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY IF ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING WE WILL MURDER THEM WE HAVE OUR WEAPONS DRAWN. So Mitsuru gets fatter and also stops wearing makeup too and it’s very scary cuz she’s always had it ingrained in her that this is the last thing she’s allowed to be but she also feels her body and looks at her natural face and she finally feels like her body is her own and she loves what she’s made

Obviously we gotta have Shinji and Mitsuru bond over their new food revelations it’s part of repairing some strain in their relationship I think Shinji can definitely be pretentious about food and would probably have negative opinions of fast food like he’ll eat it cuz sometimes you just can’t cook but hes snarky about it. But when he sees Mitsuru likes it she figures he’s got something snarky to say and he’s just like "uh actually knowing what you’ve gone through I’d be pissed if you didn’t eat fast food let’s go get some borgers". He does make some of his own shit occasionally though like burgers and fries for Mitsuru to have and it’s a nice gesture but it just doesn’t capture the ENERGY of wild duck burger 🙄. Shinji would melt anyone if they said that though alsjka. Mitsuru in return would get Shinji some fancy ingredients and any special sweets that are all expensive (even though I strongly believe the happiest ending for Mitsuru is one where she isn’t really a part of the Kirijo group family anymore let’s just say she still has a way to get yummy snack akjsks). They candy is always really strange and tastes like shit 8/10 times and Shinji will eat all of it anyway and he will not share

Basically Shinji 🤝 Mitsuru: gaining weight and exploring what foods they like for the first time as a way of showing they’re recovering

i’ve thought ab this with shinji constantly (i’m not sure the oversized clothes i put him in have ever properly showed it tho 😭) but i’ve never imagined it with mitsuru !! i definitely draw mitsuru a bit thicker than she actually is but ive never put much thought behind it besides it looks better to me LMFAO … now i will have a reason to continue drawing her this way and more…

in general, the whole “gaining weight to signify growth” oh i could collapse i fear … literally the most perfect & beautiful hc for any fandom…

& guhhh i seriously seriously am in love w shinji & mitsu friendship so much. i always love to think about the respect they have for each other and how they can alwyas just get together if they want to chill … falls to my knees. them getting food together and it’s whatever they want bc they’re becoming so secure in their lives … ……. no judgement just vibes. post canon shinji lives au, i love u so much…

also the bits w aki, kotone, & yukari … clenches fist. sniffle. this is kind of in relation to all of sees but it works here so i’ll mention it: their entire group vehemently protecting each other even tho they’re all fully capable of doing so on their own (except probably fuuka & ken to an extent) is actually just a god tier level thought. big family ..

+ i love that u send such long asks Thank you so much… you’ve already said everything so i feel like there’s not much for me to add !! but i love this so much… 🫶🫶