#really compelling character writing so far i'm excited to see more of him...

[every-sanji]

[thankskenpenders]

I'm a huge fan of Ian, but one criticism of him that I've seen that I kind of agree with is that he sometimes falls into "look how much I know about Sonic" in his writing. For example, a number of references in Frontiers like Tails namedropping Dark Gaia out of nowhere. It's a nice change of pace from Sega not knowing where they wanted to go with Sonic for like a decade, but it might be too far in the opposite direction. What do you think?

There's definitely a thin line between Ian's love of references and lore and lyric quotes being fun and grating, yeah. I think he tends to do it well, choosing things that will support and enhance the story he's trying to tell rather than just dropping random references for the sake of it, but sometimes it can kinda make me roll my eyes and go "okay, Ian, settle down buddy." He readily admits that sometimes he just really wants to play with all the toys in the toy box.

I think an example I might point do would be some of the Classic Sonic comics for IDW. The Tails special in particular felt like it relied very heavily on Ian being excited to use the Witchcarters again, and to use Flicky Island as a setting, but I felt like the story left me wanting a little more beyond just "this obscure old stuff is back again." (The art in all the Classic stuff is phenomenal, though, of course.)

Frontiers absolutely is jam packed full of references, but I think it works there because acknowledging and building off of decades of continuity is one of the main points of the story in Frontiers. It's part of a greater effort Sega has been making to acknowledge Sonic's legacy after much of the late '00s and early 2010s were spent being kind of ashamed of that stuff and trying to streamline the series. Frontiers, meanwhile, wanted to look back on all those past adventures and their inconsistent writing and figure out how to wring some proper character arcs out of them, so that the cast can reflect on those arcs and figure out what they want to do next. Mining hit-or-miss old material for a compelling throughline like that has always been something Ian's excelled at - it's literally what he did to the Archie comics when he started out - and having the characters acknowledge their past adventures is a part of that. It gives us a sense that Sonic and co. really have gone through a lot together, and that those experiences have shaped who they are today.

It's also worth remembering that a ton of more casual Sonic fans aren't as immersed in the state of the canon or Ian's referential writing style as we are. When Frontiers came out you'd see people say stuff like "OMG, Sonic mentioned Jet the Hawk!! I didn't know Sonic Riders was canon to the main series! I loved those games!" That kind of reaction is probably a big part of why those references are there. Sega wants fans to know that Sonic DOES have continuity, unlike a series like Mario where every game and sub-series is kind of its own thing, and that all the old stuff still matters. And if that's what you wanna do, then Ian's the guy for the job.

[nipuni]

Doctor Who status report! Writing these I'm realizing I only ever feel compelled to share my opinions on media when they are positive lmao makes for rather boring commentary probably!! but I only care to share the things I love, I would be a lousy critic 😆

We are half way through S7 and I can say now that S6 was a big improvement from S5 for us! It was really fun! we have been rating every episode and keeping season average scores and S5 was the lowest we ranked so far out of all but it was still enjoyable honestly! Someone in the comments in one of my reports mentioned that each doctor's first season is usually their worst one and I'm also noticing this! I think Ten's first season was his lowest ranked out of his three for us too even though all his run was super high. Matt seems more comfortable in his doctor's portrayal by now and he is also more goofy which I personally always love 🥰

S6's arc had us terrified and puzzled the whole time it was very engaging!! and some of the episodes were devastating like "The girl who waited" and just everything about River Song always, The Silence creatures are so unnerving and cool and it had a ton of really classic episodes with great concepts. We were kind of disappointed with "the doctor's wife" episode though I'm a bit mad about it because I feel it had some great ideas but the way some elements were handled ruined it for us (mainly the Tardis's whole characterization and the Doctor's reactions to the situation felt so flat and out of character it was weird) so much wasted potential! but overall it was a great season!

Then S7 so far we watched up to "The bells of saint john" and our favourite has been "The angels take Manhattan" we love the concept of the Weeping angels and this one was terrifying and back to their original lore! and the ending was so unexpected! We also met Clara and I love her too honestly I'm terrible at rating companions because I love them all I think they all bring something new and special to the story I end up loving everyone 😭 We have seven episodes left with Eleven ahhhh time to suffer another regeneration soon!!

About the writing I think as we watched we grew more used to the differences and they became less jarring, though when I think back to the RTD era I feel I loved it because of the writing while now I sometimes I feel that I love it despite the writing, if that makes any sense? I still do love it but it feels like wrestling with Moffat a bit! lmao. He gets a bit repetitive and too on the nose and ..weird about women and overly grandiose at times still but now we know to expect it 🤣

Also another unrelated observation but we feel that Eleven seems younger than Ten in many ways. I know their personalities are supposed to change and they are not necessarily linear but it's something curious we both noticed! And Eleven is such a clingy soft little man!! baby!! very cute!! I love him I'm excited to see how the change to Twelve is going to feel!! I have no idea what to expect from Twelve I'm so curious!!

We are consuming this series so fast and we don't want it to end!! 😭 I have such a gigantic backlog of art I want to make about it by now, I keep thinking of ideas as I go and I don't have the time to draw them yet because of work!! AAAAA the moment I meet the last of my current deadlines it's over for you all!!

Anyway that was very long I'll go make dinner and watch some more 🥰 I hope you all have a good night and a great start of the week!

[lost-inanotherlife]

Lost S2 Rewatch - spontaneous, random thoughts (might change my mind)

Kinda dig Ana Lucia. I remember that, back when the show first aired, I didn't like her but I guess I've changed my mind. I like the fact that she seems to be unapologetic, she's leader-material and she knows it and acts as such but she's not smug about it. She does bad things, she knows it and doesn't hide behind excuses. Honestly? So far she's cool.

The introduction of the Tailies was a ballsy move, we haven't seen our fearless leader Jack for 6 episodes now (I've reached S2E7) and the show is still compelling and exciting. We meet five new characters and their introductions are different from those of the main characters in s1: it's fast, no flashbacks, direct. The comparison works because I find myself wanting to know more even though I wasn't even given enough screen-time to care about them. Ballsy, well-executed professional writing move.

I like how the first 3 episodes are taking place on the same night/day as the last 3 episodes of S1 (or 2 episodes, according to how you're watching "Exodus"). We see the events from different perspectives and this method of storytelling sometimes is very effective, sometimes I personally find it a bit boring. This doesn't happen here at all.

Hurley is such a more interesting character when you rewatch the show! I think that he's the only character (so far) where knowing things in advance makes him better and I'm like "hell, yes, why didn't I see that before?". Like, when I first watched the show I thought that Hurley was the "comic relief" of the series. He kinda is, but he's also not and so much more? Upon rewatching the show you can clearly see why he was the right leader and the best protector of the island. Gotta love The Dude.

I've said it once, I'll say it again (and forever): JUSTICE FOR SHANNON. I'll protect her against anyone. Her centric episode "Abandoned" is okay but I find it very distasteful that her death is framed as manpain fodder for Sayid. Also, she has sex at the beginning of the episode and at the end she dies? Ugh. Again, distasteful, it felt a little like she had completed her function so off we go. My girl deserved so much more :(.

Speaking of Shannon, her relationship with Sayid is meh. I actually liked it 20 years ago but thank god I've definitely changed because it's a badly written ship. I mean, I can see that the two characters have potential, but there's no "meat" behind it. The story is not "built", it's just there. One day Sayid finds her attractive and that's it. The two of them have spent like 1 afternoon together and all of a sudden the guy creates a romantic location on the beach so they can have sex. Shallow. And also, let's never forget that these people are on a fucking island full of things AND people that want to kill them, but okay, let's go beachsex-camping somewhere!

I'm an anti-Charlie. It really costs me a lot to say this because he was my favorite twenty years ago and now I can't stand him. I've reckoned that if I have to spend more time trying to make excuses for him while I actively don't like his actions... well, it's wasted time. Let's call is as it is: Charlie's a dick. That scene after Locke was holding Aaron and Charlie was jelaous or, I'd rather say, unhingedly possessive? Brrr, chills bruh and the wrong kind. Dude, you're cringe.

[lover-of-mine]

okay so I had a really terrible thought and I’ve been following you for a while and I wanted to hear your thoughts (maybe i’m just in a place of doubt rn) BUT

since they’re basically writing the episodes as they go, and are seeing fans reactions (and possibly taking them into consideration as they write), do you think if they see such a positive reaction to buck/tommy, they’ll make him more long term (and possibly endgame)…? again, I could be overthinking it but I’ve been seeing a tON of buck tommy stuff and idk if they’re going to consider that when they write the upcoming episodes for the rest of the season…like buck/tommy is cute ig don’t get me wrong bc we see bisexual buck and him enjoy his first male relationship and like i’m so proud, but…i’m an eddie-girl and buddie has always been my endgame

Okay, hi, ngl, I had this exact thought too when Tim kept insisting there's no plan. But the thing is, I don't believe him. I believe he doesn't have the full plot locked and loaded, but I doubt he doesn't have any idea where the story is gonna take him. Personally, I doubt that a few weeks of excitement over Buck being bi will be louder than 5 years of people BEGGING for buddie to happen. Buck and Eddie have a compelling relationship that's been cultivated for YEARS. And, look, far from me to make Buck's bisexuality about Eddie, but making a character who's HEAVILY shipped with another man for years queer in season 7 while having no plan on following through with the love story they've been building for 6 seasons would be dumb. Buck with a new guy and Eddie doubling down on being straight and ending up with some random woman is the worst case scenario here. This fandom is weird in the way that most of it is mono shipping. It's Buck and Eddie together or nothing. So they would piss off the homophobes, who are already pissed, and a solid amount of the people who have been following buddie for years and that's bad for business. They have the power to have a ridiculously compelling queer love story that's built on a foundation that's been there for 6 seasons. Buck and Eddie getting together could be EPIC. And they made the move to make Buck queer. They didn't have to. I love that Buck is getting a queer storyline, but if we are going there with Buck, what's actually stopping them from going there with Eddie? I don't see how you can have one of them being queer and not go there just because people are excited that Buck is bi. Tim can't say it's gonna go there. That would be a spoiler. A huge spoiler. But narratively speaking, or from a business perspective, Buck being bi has to mean buddie getting together. Because that's what people have been wanting from them. And honestly, if they wanted to play Tommy as having any chance of being Buck's endgame, he wouldn't have so many parallels with Taylor. The TK of it all, the helicopter of it all, the kiss that happens because Eddie is injured, Buck is even wearing a shirt that looks like the one he's wearing when Taylor comes back, like, seriously, what the fuck? And that's not going into the symbolism they have to know is there on the way the loft itself is a symbol of romantic doom, because Buck got it in a relationship that instantly Ended and the 2 times he started something there it went up in flames, so like 🤨🤔 I'm curious to see where it's going, but, personally, don't see them actually lasting the rest of the show. At least that's what I'm telling myself to calm down when I panic and trip into the bad place lol

[amethystfairy1]

hiya it’s been a hot minute since I sent an ask but I want you to know that I’ve been reading all your stuff for months now, refreshing multiple times a day bc I can’t get enough and I adore everything you write <3<3<3 I think your more recent writing with the darker themes is well done, it adds the perfect amount of angst and stakes to the story, more than vague threats of getting hurt, esp in the under city, but it’s not too much at the same time. Also your newest TT treebark is probs my favorite fic thus far, and treebark isn’t even my favorite ship lmao. It’s so arghhh yesss with Rens acting but Martyn can’t tell nooooo 😭 I REALLY want to know what Ren was thinking that whole time negotiating with the bandits, esp when he finally looked at Martyn bc he could probably hear his cries the whole time and UGH it breaks my heart in a good way. AND MARTYN ACCEPTING THAT REN WOULD DO THIS, AND FORGIVING HIM????? The angst, the FEELS. Stunning. A masterpiece. I start my days checking to see if you’ve posted I’m so obsessed XD. Might have to draw the scene… anyhow. I see you get a lot of requests to write certain ships now bc all the stories r so captivating we just HAVE to know more. But. I hope you don’t feel pressured or stressed about it, make sure to prioritize your own wants first. The quality is worth the wait <3 that said, I’m going insane over Martyn. oH also!!! Ren grabbing the wolf pendant!!!!!! He knows how much it means to Martyn my HEART they’re so AAAaAAaAaaaaA!! And he waited until he was between Martyn and the bandits to attack! To protect him! 🥺🥺🥺 the little details are so sweet I’m dying to know rens thoughts. He probably has the rage of a thousand suns in him after seeing Martyn tied up, hurt, crying, bc they would DARE lay a finger on the only one who protected him, who was nice to him. Just. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough. I’m def gonna draw this. Also side note love the new pfp

Hello!!!! Good to see you!!!!

I'm so glad you're still reading and enjoying my works!

Also very happy to hear you're enjoying the darker themes that have been coming up recently in both TTSBC and TT! You're exactly right, that's exactly the sort of thing I was trying to nail...oh yeah ANGST with Treebark right now!

I mean. If you feel inspired. I would LOVE if you drew this scene. Because like, I have that art you did of Ren asleep on Martyn's shoulder as the cover image to my Treebark fanfic doc 🥹

Thank youuuu I appreciate the thought about not feeling pressured or stressed, I promise I'm not! I know everyone is just excited for their favorite/most compelling storyline to continue! And like I've said elsewhere, I plan to stick to my mantra...when I try to write something I'm not in the mood to write, I burn out and don't feel like writing at all. That's what happened to me the last time I stopped writing, and I didn't post at all for nearly a year. I HATED THAT. So TTSBC and TT is the perfect situation for me! Lots of ships, lots of characters, lots of dynamics, and between the two I can write BASICALLY anything I feel like at any point in time! So yeah! I'll write what I feel like writing in the moment, because that's always when I come up with my best stuff!

THE WOLFS PENDANT YUP GOOD CATCH. Ren's a good guy, he pays attention to that sort of thing 💖

I'm glad you like my new pfp!!! I love it! It's by my same friend who drew my old pfp, but THIS one is of an original character of mine everyone who reads TTSBC is very familiar with and people very scared of, but I assure you, any resemblance to characters previously mentioned is purely coincidental, hypotheticals should be, should be, should be dismissed, and there is no need to be concerned. 😉

Thank you for coming by again!!!

[fallenhanari]

Hello! Sorry if this is abrupt, but I’m a new follower of yours, and I’d love to hear more about all of your Amnesia WIPs if that’s alright! It’s one of my favorite otome games and I love to see it getting new fan content 😄

Plus I’m also considering starting to write fanfic for it myself (but am still nervous about putting my writing out there lol)

Omg anon, you just made my day. I've been getting back into tinkering with a couple of these WIPs this past week actually, so they're fresh in my mind too. Amnesia was one of the first otome games I played when I was getting back into them after a break a few years ago, and I'm so attached to the worlds and characters honestly. And Shin unexpectedly became a big muse for me for a while, though I do have stories for multiple other characters even if he features most often lol. He's not even my favorite overall, but something about him just absolutely compels me to write, it seems. I'd also love to see if you get to putting any future writing you do out there!! Honestly, just the act of writing can be really fulfilling if you're not ready to share - I have some WIPs for other fandoms that probably won't ever see the light outside my docs since they're more for me than for posting - but there's such fun in sharing with the community too. Fandoms for specific console/PC otome games tend to be on the smaller side since most players spread themselves across many games with time, so all the writing we can get out there is exciting imo. Anyway, moving to what you're here for haha. So for Amnesia I have four WIP documents in various states of worked on. I'll break them down under a cut since I might just ramble on a bit much, knowing myself lol. Also heads up for mild smut discussion though there won't be much detail.

Shin/MC Sequel (E-rated, PWP, post-canon Heart World) This one is the oldest file, but I haven't actually worked on getting down concrete ideas for it until literally this week, woops. Last year I posted my first Amnesia fic which was a PWP/smut oneshot for these two involving Shin initiating a kind of sex game to try to ease MC into more direct intimacy then getting in over his head by the end with her. Right after finishing writing and posting I decided I wanted to do a sequel fic where MC proposes a similar type of game and gets a bit of a taste of her own medicine. Where the original focused on edging, this one would focus on overstimulation. At the time I quickly got distracted and in too deep with another WIP in this list, but I reread the posted story recently and got back in the mood for exploring those two in that vaguely post-canon verse. If the smut writing wants to cooperate with me I might be moving forward with this one soon enough~ And though none of them have documents yet, I have started considering some other ideas to explore in this series, mainly one for their first time having penetrative sex and one where Shin bottoms for MC for the first time. I just find the particular dynamic I wrote them with here weirdly comfy to settle into, so it makes me want to explore their evolution of intimacy more and more! Math Fools (E-rated, PWP, poly, tentatively Spade World but probably doesn't matter if there or Clover World or AU) This one has the least meat to it so far, but it's probably obvious who it's featuring by the name lol. There's a particular scene in Ikki's story in Amnesia Later that I was reading and made me stop to create a new document. Ikki, Kent, and MC engage in silly roleplay shenanigans and all get hilariously into it, so of course my brain went and extrapolated that into a potential smut scenario. In its current state the document is a literal single sentence: "So y’all are into roleplay now huh? Ikki, Kent, MC, I see all of you." And that basically is the extent of my thought into this one so far. I have no idea what kind of roleplay they might get up to, and it's even possible I'd turn this into a sillier comedy fic instead of smut if that's where the characters took me when I started writing. But they're all absolute goofballs together, and I think it'd be fun to explore one way or another! Not Even a Real Idea TBH (G-or-T-rated, post-canon Spade World, pre-poly, fluff and silliness) Despite the title, this is moderately more developed than the last one! I just didn't have a title idea when I made the document and have yet to change it since I still don't have one and didn't want to just make it a throuple title only lol. Since it's post-Spade World, Ikki and MC are our established couple here. Near the end of Ikki's Amnesia Later story, there's this part where the best way I can describe it is Shin being very earnest toward and observant and fond of Ikki and MC's relationship, while Ikki is a complete menace toward Shin in every capacity. I don't even remember the exact content of the scene as I think about it right now, but that was the whole vibe that came across to me. And I just think Spade World MC totally has the capacity to become a bit of a menace toward Shin too if she wanted. So these two start teasing Shin in various slightly flirty ways after talking to each other about their mutual interest in him. And Shin isn't really getting it for a while, too much a shipper on deck to realize they're individually and together flirting with him and sort of courting him in their strange roundabout ways. So they probably eventually end up having to be direct with him, and then the throuple antics can begin. This one truly is vibes-based and not so much concrete writing/scenes/ideas yet for me, but I think it'll be neat lol. It could be a longer oneshot or a smaller multi-chapter thing; I haven't fully decided for it yet. I think I'll need to go back and replay the scene that got me thinking on it to iron out their dynamic before I get into it.

And I'm now hitting a new character limit I didn't even realize Tumblr had, so uh. Look to a quick reblog to see the last WIP and the end of my message to you anon! Sorry for the weirdness lol

[altschmerzes]

oh i'm FASCINATED to hear what your thoughts on lost are so far

FAIR WARNING this is probably not going to be very nice to the show so if you're a big lost enjoyer and don't wanna see that this would be the time to keep scrolling. sorry for the delay also. guy who has been typing his thoughts and then getting distracted on a loop for several days.

basically: i don't know why, but i have been deeply compelled to watch the show lost recently. like, i genuinely don't have an explanation. i know i'd seen like, half of season one about a million years ago and have no memory of any of it so this is functionally my first go through it.

in short: i think it has its strengths and its weaknesses. to me, more weaknesses than strengths. i know opinion degraded as time went on but even just where i am now, i do not know why this thing has the like 'one of the best shows of all time' reputation that it has. i really, truly don't. like, it's fine, sometimes it's even good, but like. why do people talk about this like it is the pinnacle of television. it is however like, almost hypnotically watchable, and i keep going through like, handfuls of episodes at once.

more under the cut.

in long: so i'm on the early early episodes of season 2 and i already know that most of this show is mystery boxes inside mystery boxes half of which never really have a payoff that's satisfying and so i'm pre-emptively frustrated by that. it's like.... i would love to be excited by the mysteries that come up, but instead of getting to excitedly wonder 'oh wow i wonder what the explanation for that will be!' i'm instead sitting here thinking 'gee i hope that's one of the ones we get an answer to.' it's not a great feeling, and mostly i'm like. man why do they keep giving jj abrams creative authority over things. he's a good director, why do they keep ruining that by letting him WRITE too.

also there is so much weird racism and misogyny in here lmao. gd.

anyways. moving on to specifics.

i will confess i am a sucker for disaster survival scenarios. it's half the appeal of any apocalyptic thing to me, and this delivers. i'm enjoying the mystery boxes when i can put aside the fact that i might not get to see inside them at all, depending. i think the flashbacks are well structured and sprinkled in with effective timing and degrees of revealed information. i think one of my fave parts is how much of like... the Weird Shit in the flashbacks is just. not clear about whether or not it's related to the island? were the numbers hurley used to win the lottery actually cursed? does disaster and death follow walt around or is his former stepdad just an asshole and it's all a coincidence? what was up with the fucking psychic claire talked to? etc. that's one of the ones where i'd be fully comfortable with that question never being answered. it's satisfying as hell just to wonder.

characters! the extent to which i do not give a single fuck about jack, kate, and sawyer is amazing. like. they're all so resoundingly uninteresting to me. i actively think everyone here would be better off if sawyer was dead, because even for me (noted asshole with a heart of gold enjoyer, I KNOW, I KNOW) he is A Bit Fucking Much. if he does not ease up soon it's gonna be Bad. i mean it's already bad but. lmao. his best moments so far were telling jack about what jack's dad said to him in the bar and saving michael after the raft is destroyed. kate is just... everything about her is so overwrought and i'm just bored and a little embarrassed every time we have something focusing on her. i do like that she's abjectly doing shady shit sometimes, they should lean into that more. gaslight gatekeep girlboss etc. jack is so nothing it's amazing. he is baymax to me. he is not even baymax, baymax had more of a personality. why is he the protagonist of this show, he is such a generic white dude audience insert character.

i really love sun, hurley, charlie, claire, michael, walt, and - when he is not YELLING AT HIS WIFE - jin is okay too. i also really enjoy sayid and i have to say that like. i think they have massively fucked it up with his writing in several points, it's like. stereotypical and almost comically racist at times but i also have to like... idk, i do have a significant degree of legitimate respect for the swing they took with him in the first place, to be honest. it's like. idk. this was a show that aired in 2004, written and filmed before that, and i know his character made a lot of people Big Fucking Mad to have in a show about a plane crash as an unambiguously sympathetic and positively depicted character, missteps in his writing and all. it doesn't excuse the mistakes made with him obviously but the context in which he was written makes me like. idk. appreciate the fact that he exists, and kinda tip my hat to like. you guys Tried saying something here. i gotta respect that.

jin and michael's odd-couple friendship is extremely charming to me. hurley is the sweetie of all time and i really love how he just... is willing to interact with people on a straightforward level no matter who they are or what's going on? locke cracks me the fuck up. like all his magic healing disability and general premonition shit aside, it's extremely funny to me to watch grandpa survivalist finally get to LARP his dreams of being a hardcore jungle man. he is fucking insane gd blass.

i will say um. the less said about shannon and boone the better. eugh. literally why would you do that. like... it throws me so much every time someone finds out about That Whole Mess and literally does not react at all. before somebody screams and whines and cries about how IT'S FINE TO EXPLORE TABOO SUBJECTS IN FICTION STOP BEING A PURITAN YOURE BEING A FAN COP WAAAAAAA i'm not saying you can never write this sort of thing just like. literally why is the entire narrative framing of it a tragic starcrossed lover thing. why is nobody reacting like this is as nasty and weird as it is. lmao.

anyways.

here's some clips from my watching it, mostly based in how fucking funny i think jack's whole Situation is.

[ac-liveblogs]

since you've talked about your opinion on fatui, thoughts about archon's writing so far? (different anon but i'm curious)

Oh man, the Archons… I guess to put it bluntly, I'm not really impressed with any of them? I think Venti gets off the best, but none of the others got to put their best foot forward at all…

There are some general consistent issues that plague the Archons; HYV is bad at writing compelling character arcs. HYV is also bad at writing characters consistently, or characters interacting with each other in an interesting way. That makes the Archons... pretty boring! Plus, the general poor writing quality of the quests they're in tend to make them look worse by association, but that holds up over pretty much every character.

To be more specific;

Venti benefits from his… simplicity and consistency, I guess. Mondstadt in general has this. The throughline from Old Mondstadt/Decarabia -> Modern Mondstadt, and Wind Sprite Venti -> Archon Venti is very simple and effective, both thematically and like… emotionally? You can see how both Venti and Mondstadt got from point A) to point B) in a way that lines up with Mondstadt's ~Freedom theme, so it's all nice and consistent.

Mondstadt in general feels this way - none of it is particularly subtle and HYV often beats you over the head with what it's trying to say (Stanley lol), but it handles things well enough. It helps that Venti is generally a nice character to have around - he's fun and charismatic, and tends to stand out amongst a generally pretty bland cast when he does show up (Itto has this same boon).

Venti is a very active character in the Mondstadt Archon Quest - you two are working together, he wants to save Durin, it's not an exceptionally exciting quest but it's nice enough. Venti is solidly Fine. He's a solidly Fine if unexciting character.

Zhongli… god, okay. Zhongli is… confusing. The entire Liyue Archon Quest is a shitshow really, and REALLY badly thought out if you stop to think about anything that goes on there. Most of that reflects really badly on Zhongli bc, like, what was he even doing? Theoretically, he wants to fake his death and test the people of Liyue to see if they're ready to live without him. Okay, fine, simple enough.

Immediate problem though; HYV wants us to a) try and find out who killed Rex Lapis and b) spend time with Zhongli, bc he and Childe are the main characters of the Liyue patch. But, it's completely against Zhongli's aims to actually help us, so we don't really… spend any time on the mystery? We notify the Adepti that Rex Lapis is dead, and then just kinda… help Zhongli out with busywork because we want to look at the corpse for some reason(?)

And then Zhongli sends us to fight Childe in the Golden House, even though that also really goes against Zhongli's apparent goals? Why would he send us to fight Childe when he wants to test Liyue… by using Childe as the test? None of it makes much sense, and most of that is because HYV had no idea what they were doing. Most of Liyue's Archon Quest is messy, and a lot of time is spent on Zhongli that really shouldn't have been.

You get the feeling that Zhongli is meant to be a very wise, respectable character you're supposed to think is very smart and cool, but stopping to think about what he was doing at all just makes my head hurt. When you add in stuff like him imprisoning Azhdaha instead of helping him (or that he dealt with Azhdaha at all given he was supposed to be stepping back and letting humans handle things), or how he treated the contract in his first character quest… Liyue's general indifference to him dying that was supposed to read as "Liyue is very efficient" but instead comes across as "did these people even care at all"…

I don't know what HYV thinks they're doing with him, but it ain't working. Unimpressed. HYV also fails to use "contracts" in any interesting way. It's a difficult concept to use, so that makes sense, but... lol

Ei is a shitshow. I've talked at length about Ei being a shitshow. I've heard rumours she was originally just meant to be a villain in Inazuma and HYV changed the script to make her more sympathetic, and if that's true then HYV did NOT change enough of it because flipping from "Inazuma is in an awful state and it's pretty obviously her fault" to "Ei is very sad, please feel bad for her, also a lot of the bad stuff isn't her fault, she just didn't know or realise how bad it was? she's so nice actually" is WILD.

Inazuma drove me up the wall the first time I played it, and it still drives me nuts now. Ei's just frustrating. Everyone forgiving her so quickly, and Scaramouche never getting to confront her (deserved or not) just makes her feel like she got off scot-free in all regards.

Nahida is very boring! And HYV didn't write her very well either. This is where HYV's insistence on hammering in how very sad and tortured and sad but they're doing their best!!! the archon girls are, rather than actually having the Archons do much of anything at all during the AQ. Additionally, Nahida is written VERY inconsistently.

Nahida is simultaneously a bird in a cage AND very proactive in helping the people of Sumeru; she's meant to very kind and considerate and loves her people, but still thinks it's fine to psychologically scars Setaria for Nahida's benefit and her best idea on how to help one of her people struggling from depression caused by the economy is to tell him to decorate his tools so he has better associations with work; she's simultaneously a big part of the quest where Scaramouche gets to realise he does have a heart and yet thinks it's fine to possess Kathryne because she's a puppet, and not a real person? I have no problems a character being contradictory, if it's like… intentional. And has a purpose. But that's really not the case with Nahida - it's just extremely clumsy.

It doesn't help that a big part of the Sumeru quest is the playable Sumeru gang coming together to rescue Nahida from the Akademiya, but… none of them interacted with her at all during that time, so it's hard to buy them as really caring about each other (especially now, during her birthday celebrations). The fact we got a big emotional cutscene with Nahida and her predecessor instead of Nahida and… any of the people that fought to save her in the Archon Quest was a hilariously bad call. She also just wasn't a very fun opponent for Scaramouche. Boring Archon Quest, messy Archon.

Furina… ugh, okay. I think Furina got off better than the last three; her personality is consistent and they didn't accidentally write her as something she wasn't meant to be. The one saddled with all that baggage was Neuvillette, and he kind of... ruined a lot of Fontaine's worldbuilding by association. HYV was totally incapable of actually accomplishing what they set out to do in Fontaine. Exhausting.

Fontaine is such a mess in general. The Oceanid thing alone... and the payoff to Fontaine nearly being destroyed was" and then Skirk showed up and one-shotted it"... Furina is probably one of the stronger parts of a terrible quest.

I think if HYV was better at dynamic character writing, Furina would've been a lot more fun, but as it was she's just kind of... conceptually fun. In a vacuum, my main issue with her is that HYV went in with her tragic backstory waaay too hard, to the point that I lost any sympathy I might've had for her. Okay concept, terrible quest.

Mavuika... exists? I have nothing to say about her right now since she's been a somewhat minor aspect of the Natlan AQ (soon to change), but I do think it's pretty funny that Miss "we'll rely on our descendants to deal with this problem!" didn't rely on a future Pyro Archon to deal with the problem. Okay, sis.

[esther-dot]

In spite of GOT's shortfalls I was someone who found Sansa and Theon's relationship compelling. The show placed a lot of emphasis on what was in many ways their twin character arcs. What, if anything, might this mean for the books? Will the two of them become simpatico like that because Sansa is going to face another abusive relationship? I can't help but think of the "girl in gray" vision where she (?) is said to be fleeing the marriage they made for her. I wonder if Sansa and Theon are really only a fantasy of the show runners.

It was beautifully acted! That moment back in s5 when Sansa grabs Theon's face and yells at him about his "brothers" until he admits he didn't kill the boys has had such staying power with me. Loved their scenes together. Their s8 reunion was very moving too, and I know the soup scene in s8 was very exciting for shippers.

I can't help but think of the "girl in gray" vision where she (?) is said to be fleeing the marriage they made for her. I wonder if Sansa and Theon are really only a fantasy of the show runners.

I think what happened is that Martin told D&D that Sansa would be the girl in grey and return North, so they needed to write that story, but they liked Theon and Jeyne's storyline so much, they decided to weave them together. In the books, Theon and Jeyne have escaped and been reunited with Asha, so I’m not seeing the opportunity for Theon to create a deep bond with Sansa similar to the one they had in the show. Also, I’d assume Jon will be far less forgiving (without that incentive of Theon having saved Sansa) than he was in the show which would be a barrier.

Sansa does come up in Theon's ADWD chapters in relation to Jeyne as well as in relation to the hero/hero in a song idea so she feels kinda present which may be what gave D&D the idea to just go ahead and bring her into Theon's story:

It was not right that she should look to him for rescue. What had she been thinking, that he would whistle up a winged horse and fly her out of here, like some hero in the stories she and Sansa used to love? He could not even help himself. Reek, Reek, it rhymes with meek. (ADWD, The Prince of Winterfell) We are all dead, Theon thought. I told them this was folly, but none of them would listen. Abel had doomed them. All singers were half-mad. In songs, the hero always saved the maiden from the monster's castle, but life was not a song, no more than Jeyne was Arya Stark. Her eyes are the wrong color. And there are no heroes here, only whores. Even so, he knelt beside her, pulled down the furs, touched her cheek. "You know me. I'm Theon, you remember. I know you too. I know your name." (ADWD, Theon I) Theon grabbed Jeyne about the waist and jumped. (ADWD, Theon I)

Sansa loves Jeyne, so if Bran and Rickon turn up alive (she believes Theon killed them), maybe she would have a nice interaction with Theon once she is in the North, but I assume the GoT bond was largely a result of D&D replacing Jeyne with Sansa.

[queerfables]

911 || 8x01 Buzzkill!!!!!

Aaah the tone at the start of the episode gave me an immediate dopamine rush i'm so psyched

Oh we're doing sex trafficking narrative devices? sigh I'm really not gonna be able to take this seriously am i

that said as a catalyst for athena to reconnect with her fiance's killer i'm into that

Ad break 1. We're off to a solid start, I know where all the characters are in their own stories and we've got some exciting emergencies set up.

Oh it's a good thing I'm watching ahead of my wife, I think they will want some more specific warnings for this episode than just "bees"

Wow I spent the whole call on the edge of my seat, this is a great example of how a call doesn't have to be "big" to hit hard (though to be fair I'm always especially sensitive to kids and parents in danger)

Buck figuring out to use smoke and Eddie immediately backing his call T____T I love it so much!!! Honestly Buck slowly edging his way through the bees was very cool and sexy, a++

Ad break 2! That was intense and super compelling, I loved it

This Bathena scene is really strong and I love Athena being so tunnel vision about why this guy would request her specifically ie his entire existence revolves around hurting her. it's so her to assume the worst of people to the point of comedy, especially when she has a reason to write them off.

HOLY SHIT BUDDIETOMMY REAL NOT CLICKBAIT THIS IS AMAZING Tim Minear you are a blessing

Lmfao I love the dramatic pan up to the bees lurking in the shadows. Dumb horror movie vibes i love it.

Ad break 3. Keen to bounce into the next crisis.

Buck being clever about bees again! So proud of my special interest king.

And Chimney being clever about getting the stingers out, I love it

Gerrard is of course infuriating, but they've done a pretty decent job of making him, like, just this side of bearable (ie he's a fun antagonist rather than making the show miserable to watch)

Ad break 4. So far I am really enjoying the episode!!

Oh this is a really great arc for Athena imo. It's also kind of the inverse of the Bobby-Amir arc from last season, though I hope this plays out a little less infuriatingly.

Man I really hope Elaine doesn't turn out to be secretly corrupt I'd be so sad

Holy shit Buck snaps and murders Gerrard was not on my season 8 premier bingo card

(I'm also psyched about the ambiguity of was he reacting to the flying blade to protect Gerrard or did he just lose it? He definitely moved right after it came loose but did the sound just trigger him?does he even know why he did it?? I assume there will be an investigation and this will be a central focus)

Aaaaaah the cliffhanger ending was super rad!!

The teaser for next episode looks super good. I loved Bobby being like "of course my wife is flying the plane" delightful!! I'm also very interested to see what happens with Gerrard omg. Buck not being able to cope with being berated by him was pretty interesting, it definitely gave me c-ptsd vibes but idk if that was intentional or just my baggage lol.

[evelhak]

Hi ! For the character ask game, could you do 1, 7, 10, 15 and 18 for Kise ?

Hi ~~It's so funny that you sent this the exact moment I was writing my fic and Kuroko was just about to answer a phone call from Kise, thinking that he had been too harsh on him about something. (It's funny because Kise hadn't appeared in several chapters.)

Why do you like or dislike this character?

I have a soft spot for Kise, for sure. It's initially because he resembles the type of person I have a soft spot for in real life. Basically it's people who can just show up, act exactly as annoying and self-centred as they please, and yet, a lot of people just can't help but like them (some obviously and some reluctantly). First of all, because they are so pretty and charming, and second of all, because it's like they don't know better, so you feel compelled to forgive them.

On a more specific note, I like Kise because he brings a light-hearted feeling to the story where most characters could not. I like how he can decide to have his act together when it suits him, and then be a big baby with his true friends, there's something disarming about that. Even though I don't particularly love that he seems like the kind of person who can sort of dehumanise others when it suits him, I also understand that it makes sense as a defence mechanism against the overwhelming attention he gets. So, it also makes sense that he would feel more at ease with people who don't fall at his feet just like that. Um, my point was, that I appreciate that he doesn't feel like he owes anything to anyone he doesn't have a truly reciprocal relationship with.

Also, I just can't help but like people who move through the physical and social world with ease.

Okay, basically Kise is a lot of things I wish I could be but never will. :D

7. What is something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I'm a sucker for all shenanigans there's not that much room for in canon, so I love that the fandom never gets tired of putting Kise in silly situations and having him act like a goof ball with characters who have that side in them too but wouldn't have it brought out of them so often or in quite the same way without Kise.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I wouldn't say best friends, no, for that our comfort zones would be too different. Good friends, yes. There's a lot that I lack that a person like Kise can bring into my life and strengthen in me, and I'm fairly certain the same is true in reverse.

15. What is your favourite ship for this character?

I don't have any canon character I ship with Kise, since I see him as the sort of person who keeps friends and lovers separate to avoid drama. Like, his friends are too important to him to risk conflict because of sex which he can get anywhere, anyway. Possibly he's even aromantic. I don't know, I have a hard time picturing Kise at least traditionally in love. I've written him in my fics for a long time, and so far he has casually dated two OCs which both have some good chemistry with him, and I think in this little head world of mine he seems to be opening up to a closer and more genuine connection in that department, but I don't know if I see him in a long term relationship or not. So, I can't say I have a favourite ship.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

This is a difficult one, no one pops into my head as special to me. It's more like I admire an aspect of Kise's closer relationships in general, and it's how unconditionally he uplifts and admires the people he really cares about. He's not egotistical or insecure in that sense that he would withhold his admiration when he feels it, which I find very sweet and healthy. Also, he has no ulterior motive, he's just genuinely excited about his friends. Sorry if that's not a good answer, but I don't have a particular relationship that speaks to me more than others.

I hope there was something worth your time. ☆

[cool-island-songs]

Craig for ask gamee :3

Sorry this took so long but tumblr kept chewing it up in my drafts

Sexuality Headcanon:

Gay gay homosexual gay. Fem Craig? Staunch lesbian.

Those are my preferences in writing Craig, though I do also enjoy shoving him back in the closet because without yaoi magic, abrupt PCness, and the comfort of meth bf's twitchy hand in his, I can really see that being a longer struggle for Craig

Not-totally-gay slut Craig has a fairly long legacy some younger fans may not be aware of. This fandom is old and Creek only became canon in 2015 so it's like a form of culture shock for me to see artists getting yelled at for drawing Craig with girls. It's not like he was usually with girls, but there's this thing in the old yaoi tropes where the one who is presumed to top is less flamingly homosexual and more interested in sex generally. He was also frequently a menacing gay villain back in the day though lol

"I'm not just gay, I'm a catamite." - Craig Tucker, 2003

I do personally love reading his earlier aggression and posturing on the show as internalized homophobia. He's NOT gay! Don't say he's gay or he'll beat you up, completely un-homoerotically!!! This is a fun retconning thing though. The intentions of the showrunners earlier on likely were not that he is posturing extra hard due to being closeted. But authorial intent is not relevant to how I might want to thread the needle between older Craig characterizations on the show and more current ones

I'm a bit more fixed with Craig than others due to the presentation of his autism and generally see him demisexual, monogamous, traditional in a learned, rote sort of way. He's very favorite person-y with Tweek to me

Gender Headcanon:

I've only ever written him cis but I have enjoyed trans Craigs of all stripes (get it????), and I actually do have some t4t Creek planned!

Very into fem Craig. Excited to write her being so regular about Tweek's twiddies <3 In short, give me all the Craig genders

A ship I have with said character:

Well... I guess I like Creek a little bit 👉👈

I like exploring other dynamics but I'm always going to conceive of Creek as a unique bond. They get something from one another they can't get anywhere else, even when I'm putting them in horrible circumstances. That's what I'm here for, babeyyy

A BROTP I have with said character:

Honestly love thinking about Craig/Tolkien, Craig/Jimmy, Craig/Clyde (though I think I see that last one quite differently from most, or at least I'm most interested in the SoT vibe with dumdum traitor Clyde and amoral opportunist Craig). Really love writing platonic Crenny but I generally see Kenny as gravitating to other people so when I write these two as closer friends, it's usually based on particular circumstances. Craig/Bebe reluctant gossip hoes is also very funny to me

A NOTP I have with said character:

Yeah, I don't really NOTP anymore. There is a version out there of any ship I might find compelling. Being so Creek brainrotted, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about other Craig ships in any endgame capacity but I'm always curious to see the different ways people view Craig. I've noticed his characterization tends to vary depending on who he's with. One example is his socioeconomic status. I've noticed his family potentially being worse off than most others is stressed in Crenny fics, socioeconomic status tends not to play a huge role in Cryde or Creek fics, and he is often more ambitious and upwardly mobile in Cryle fics. As my friend @phantomchill put it: "he's absorbing their financial status. autism masking has gone too far!" This is not a negative or positive thing, there isn't one correct way, but he feels very malleable as the love interest guy

I'm very much a Tweek-relater first and foremost and early on in my time in fandom came up with the very novel theory (lol) that people tend to project onto one guy in their OTP more and thus multiship that guy, while the other guy isn't allowed to have other boyfriends. I have since moved beyond this theory for myself at least, because I relate to Craig quite a bit too and I think sometimes people have other boyfriends and that's pretty normal and okay. Striving for realism in my homosexual erotic cartoon porn writings

A random headcanon:

Honestly don't even consider autistic Craig to be a headcanon at this point. I think they're doing it on purpose now. His special interests are ancient animes and space. His favorite person is Tweek. He is also canonically very hairy

This is very specific but I like headcanoning Craig as Mediterranean. Peruvian Craig is cute of course and honestly I don't care where he's from as long as he's hairy, tan, and big nosed. Big nose/big eyebrows Craig 🛐 Are these just my aesthetic preferences? No. I have Matt Stone tied up under my bed and he says it's canon uwu

General Opinion over said character:

I want to beat him up

Also a bit bored by Craig discourses (bad boy VS. dork??? Leather jacket and cigarettes as a personality IS a dork I'm so sorry to burst your bubble) so some new proposals:

Craig actually doesn't like TOS. He doesn't really get it (too campy). TNG is his favorite. I'm talking about Space Trek u fake ass nerds

Craig weeb loser dub v sub opinions???

Red Racer is just Speed Racer. Sorry it's not a great discourse it's just how i feel

Craig STEM smart vs. Craig not naturally proficient in any subject

This is crazy but what if his penis was just regular. No okay that one is too far. I- *is shot dead*

[croik]

I'm curious now to ask what you like/dislike about Yellow (different anon)

I'm trying to reserve judgement on Yellow until he comes back. I don't think what we've seen so far is particularly well written, in the sense that he comes out of nowhere, he leaves very abruptly. His heel turn is clunky and leans hard on the Faust reveal, which I'm also not a fan of (man I'm a negative nellie I guess!). And Arthur is sooo determined to remember him as a pitiless villain after the fact, way more than he actually was, so learning that he's paired with the villain now worries me. If he really does become that terrible villain, does it mean Arthur was right about him all along, even though Arthur had no reason to be right? Malev is kinda falling into a rut of characters magically knowing things just for the plot's sake.

BUT, I sure do like the IDEA of Yellow! He's the one thing I'm actually excited to see again and learn more about. I have so many questions about how he and Larson fit together, what their relationship is as compared to Arthur and John, if he'll even still want to be called Yellow, if he has goals now outside of Arthur. There's real potential there, things that can be pondered. Kayne's motives are utterly unknowable, no point wondering what he's up to. Collins is just following orders. But Yellow, we know enough about him to base speculation on, but not enough to know for sure, and that makes him way more compelling to me.

We've seen him vulnerable. That matters so much in terms of villain writing, and I hope he comes back soon.

thanks for the excuse to babble about Yellow <3

[blazichu]

I really love your fics and snippets with special emphasis on how you write Ingo and Emmet. You are very consistent with giving each of them interesting emotional development without diluting it into just sad times for sadness sake. I'm not saying it's bad to write things just to feel a strong emotion, but those emotions are more interesting and compelling to explore when characters get to feel them and come back stronger or even just learn from them in general.

I know I probably touched about this in the fic comments on AO3, but MHIMH was a wonderful example of this. I thoroughly enjoyed the ups and downs of Ingo's learning process where he has to push forward in an unfair situation. In the end he not only survived, he is now stronger and more in tuned with his ideals than ever while still holding his emotions and resolve to go home close to his heart.

I am so excited to see Emmet's side of this story in AGAS. I love the start and how it talks about how, while the pain is still there, he manages as well with life even if it is with a heavy heart. Emmet is also a very strong person and I will enjoy seeing his emotional development through his side of the story. As he learns of his brother's trials and resolve.

It is so rewarding to see that even when they are so far apart they will find strength in the other to move forward.

Oh, thank you! It's really kind of you to go out of the way to share your thoughts, and I'm very happy to hear that you enjoy my writing enough to break it down like this!

I agree that there's absolutely nothing wrong with a fic where bad things happen just because that's the story someone wants to tell-- and frankly, I see shades of that in one of my own pieces-- but in general, I believe that the depth of angst, horror, or what have you will always be enhanced by giving the piece moments of levity and hope. I think that probably contributes a lot to characterizations, too-- allowing them to fall into both extremes.

Admittedly, I do get a bit self conscious about my interpretation of the twins, because there are certain fanon conventions that I've started pulling away from in the past year. I feel like it's more visible with Emmet than Ingo, and that's going to be coming up in AGAS. As to your hopes for seeing him develop as a character, I think that definitely does happen, but I'm not going to go any further into that for now.

Ingo in particular… it's funny. I know you described Emmet as an "unstoppable force" in an earlier comment, and I see Ingo as being very similar, just in a more subtle or gradual sense-- like an inevitability. They have two very different connotations, but at their core, are very alike; it's an interesting interplay and part of what makes the characters fun to work with. Idk, maybe I'm being pretentious again xD

"It is so rewarding to see that even when they are so far apart they will find strength in the other to move forward." Just wanted to repeat that, because I love the way you worded it. I absolutely agree!

[lettherebemonsters]

Your love and dedication to make both canon characters and original characters with so many details, love and lots of stories and extras is such an amazing experience. You're really inspiring! Also to know that every interaction with you as a writer is very pleasant and not pressured at all, just here to have fun and write. I just feel grateful to be a mutual of yours!

@disasters-of-dbd

I love your dedication to your slasher muses :) you do so good with bringing them to life..

@verratensduo

I AM NOT ONLY SLIDING IN, BUT I AM WIPING OUT FURNITURE IN THE PROCESS. Spooky, my clown sibling in crime, I ADORE seeing you on the Dash and all of the conversations we've had together! Your approach to Ken as a character takes a previous one note, and frankly pretty underdeveloped idea of a character (I'm sorry the devs haven't given him enough exploration, I wish the tomes covered more than they did!) AND MADE HIM INTO THIS WHOLE PERSON WHO IS UNDERSTANDABLE-

But not forgivable! You've made Ken into this character who I can really understand the cause and effect for, who I can feel empathy and pity and shame for! ISTG you've main me a clown main fr /lh. ALSO LIKE, the plotting we've done and the relationship we've built up between him and Sally just goes to further show how far and how much you can write and adapt and make so engaging! I live for it! AND THAT'S NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR ORIGINAL STUFF

I will just come out and say it! Ringmaster is one of the best, most compelling and frankly awesome original monster characters I have seen in far, far too long! Someone here explained it better but they harken to the best parts of classic Universal monsters and I could listen to you info dump about them for hours without getting bored!! You're just such an engaging story teller and such a sweet mun and I'm so glad I get to call you my pal!

@dcwnthercbbithcle

Best friend! My darling! My platonic soulmate! You’re amazing. You’re so creative, both with your OCs and the headcanons you write for your canon muses. You’re so talented. Both in writing and drawing. You’re amazing and fun to talk to. I adore you! I’m so glad we found each other here.

@songbirdsandsugar

I love your monster designs! I love all the little details that tie back into their story. Your idea are always super interesting to read and I love how they always feel classic universal monster at times. It's really fun.

@bells-of-black-sunday

(*aggressive excited clown honks*)

I've been holding onto this post JUST so I can react to all the feedback and I just????? Love you guys so much.

And I love how everyone caught the influence of the Universal Monsters on my muses. I'm a huge fan of the classics and many of my characters are straight up based on Mr. Hyde (yes I know he's Paramount but shush he still counts meh), Frankenstein (don't even start with me on the bullshit about Frankenstein being just the doctor) and the Wolfman (doggo!)

So obviously the influence is DEEP and I love using them along with literary monsters, games, etc. Like sometimes I love mixing slashers with universal monsters lol.

Honestly y'all rock and here's me sending you interact XO's!