#really raised the standard imo

[chryso-chryso]

both performances from the melody journey finale, ep 11, have been uploaded to spotify!

and with them, that's a wrap! it's been really fun; i hope everyone enjoyed the show as much as i did!!!

ep 1, ep 2, ep 3, ep 4, ep 6, ep 7, ep 8!

[hime-bee]

How would Leu be with M/C that has coily hair?

(speaking about hair won't Leu worry about his hair being damaged if he keeps dyeing it when he's older)

Hi, anon, black woman here who has worn natural hair for more than half of her life (not currently tho)- Respectfully, Leu doesn't give a fuck about what your hair is like 😍 Coily, straight, frizzy, wavy, curly, whatever. He'll wash it for you when you need it washed, making sure he's using the correct products. Even if you need help detangling, he's got you covered. Your hair doesn't matter, he loves you.

As for the last part, as a person who also dyes their hair, you kind of just have to be careful! The chemicals in dye are harsh, but as long as you condition and keep the dyed parts moisturized and healthy, you should be good to avoid too much damage. It's the same for Mr. Leu (though, I really don't see him continuing to dye his hair unless his partner is really into it)

[mistyycowoa]

I am not hungry. It's dinner time. I have no appetite. I await the impending hunger pains that will soon to be. For now, food is disgusting.

[strangesem]

hobie brown x shy/quiet!reader headcanons

spider-punk x reader this is not a drill

long as hell I’m so sorry

a/n: reader is mentioned as being a mom friend but imo that can be gender neutral so this can still be read by anyone!! if that makes you uncomfortable though please skip this post :)

I also imagine hobie as being 19-ish so it’s kinda implied reader lives alone but can def be read as younger!!

most people didn’t notice you at first.

you were quiet; really quiet. you’d mumble your thank you’s, whisper apologies, and generally go out of your way not to interact with people as a whole.

I feel like that gentleness/softness would almost draw hobie to you though?

he’d definitely first meet you as spider-man; saving you from some sort of robber or attacker. and then he’d see you be so shy about thanking him and apologizing as if it was your fault??? he finds it sweet but also kinda concerning for you tbh

and over time he begins to notice you more and more during his patrols; something about you just draws him in.

he definitely likes that you don’t try to tell him or others what to do lol

after talking to you enough as spider-man, and you start to open up, he begins to like you even more

you listen to some of the music he likes? your humour?? not to mention how genuine you are???

(also very useful if you happen to be a “mom friend” type who keeps first aid, candy, etc on you at all times!! he’d definitely appreciate a lollipop to help with the pressure changes while swinging around or a bandage for his cuts)

speaking of which if you ARE the type to have those things on you he may start seeking you out if/when he gets hurt

and after that even when he’s not tbh he’ll just pretend to have a headache and eat some of your candy on your couch lmao-

one time though he comes with wounds a little too serious looking for the standard wet cloth and bandaid treatment you had been used to; and it scares you

you raise your voice a bit louder than he’d ever heard, in a scared tone that was different than your normal anxious voice, and you tell him he should probably definitely go to a hospital

“but I like you so much better” he leans in a little too close, holding on to you a little too tight to keep himself steady, and you suddenly realize the reality of you situation

spider-man is in your living room. he’s bleeding a lot. and you’re the first person he thought to come to; because he likes you? not like that obviously- unless it is like that? NO. people barely even notice you, no one would ever feel like that type of thing for-

“you’re staring” you can feel the shit eating grin on his face; it’s practically burning through his mask

you stutter out an apology and after stammering around for a moment you get him to sit down and do your best to treat his injuries

you can tell the disinfectant stings by the way he flinches whenever you apply it, as well as his teasing that he “thought you were supposed to be nicer than the nurses” but he does his best to sit still and let you dress all of his wounds

you both remain still for a moment, and you think you can feel his eyes on you but you’re too scared to look up. your hands are shaking; they have been this whole time.

“that’s everywhere right? I didn’t miss something?”

he takes off his mask to look you in the eye and tell you he’s okay but you’re just like ????

:O

ANYWAYS you are once again staring bc you now know spider-man’s identity???

I feel like he’s gently hold your face and just give you a quick peck to make sure he wasn’t crossing any boundaries

but if you kiss him back? he’s NEVER stopping

he’ll start randomly crawling through your window with excuses of missing you or wanting to show you something

and soon he’s staying the night at your place or he’s swinging you over to his so you can stay with him

I think dates would definitely be super chill and more like hanging out at each others places than anything else

but if he does a show for his music he’d definitely want you there!!

he’d also probably pick you up and start swinging around the city with no warning just for the way you’ll grab on to him so tightly-

but ofc is you asked him not to he’d stop immediately!

doesn’t get super jealous or anything, he’s a pretty chill guy, but he will get sorta bothered if someone’s aggressively pursuing you even after knowing you two are together

like if someone doesn’t know and flirts with you he’s just like “yeah I’m lucky”

but if someone ever went so far to imply you should be unfaithful and/or should leave him he’d probably tell them to back off and either leave with you or put his arm around your shoulder and glare at them until they leave

either way he’s not starting any fights or anything though; he’s super comfortable in your relationship and hopes you are too

genuinely thinks you’re the most beautiful/handsome person ever like he WILL flex to the other spider-people if relationships come up

he’s really not in to pda though; he’ll put his arm around your shoulders/waist but that’s it. maybe hand holding depending on the situation.

but when you guys are alone he likes physical touch; don’t expect to be on top of each other or anything but having your/his head rested on the others lap or him just resting his hand on your leg is pretty common

he’s also not very big into gifts (he doesn’t buy into the capitalist need for abundance and all that) but he does like giving you jewellery/other wearable items bc he likes to see a reminder of himself/your relationship on you

pls make him a bracelet or something he’ll literally never take it off (also jewellery for any of his piercings is fair game)

he values small intimate things in a relationship; like painting each others nails, listening to each other rant about things you’re passionate about, etc

overall he may not be big and showy but he’s an amazing boyfriend and would love you like a lot

he’d also definitely write songs about/for you bc you’re so important to him and he wants the whole world to know that :((

I haven’t written fanfiction in forever but if anyone has any hobie requests I could write as headcanons I’m open to them!! :)

[officialspec]

can you pleeeeease post your dm sexuality/gender hcs on here.... 🥺 i don't have a twitter but i wanna know. it's like a pandora's box to me now i'm like scratching at the door. let me in

heres the link 2 the thread (mild spoilers btw) ill post a transcript under the cut for ppl who dont have twitter

first off i think laios relationship to sex is super removed for like 50 reasons without even getting into his actual sexuality

he grew up in a place with very repressed ideas about sex and has a lot of fear about asserting his presence in situations

his special interest takes precedent over any social interactions he has and the level of closeness he feels towards people

he has a hard time figuring out his feelings towards other people both bc hes autistic and bc he has freaky deviantart fetishes that make sex in his mind a very abstract concept <- this one is me projecting mostly

that aside, i feel like gender-wise hes attracted to ppl so infrequently it may as well be entirely case-by-case

the idea of him being gay appeals to me from the 'raised with traditional values he Does Not fit into/hasnt begun to question it yet' perspective, i lauve characters who put a lot of stock into performing a role thats expected of them and fail miserably for unknown (gay) reasons

from his perspective tho i dont think he would ever really label himself anything. hes going to pride parades in the shirt+shorts Ally Fit to clap for his friends

hes also 'cis by indifference' imo... i love tmasc laios hcs it just doesnt mesh w his personal history to me. i do think hes got some kind of therian gender thing going on (not trans or nb but a secret third thing) but i cant see him changing anything abt his appearance/pronouns to accommodate that post-canon. hes just doin his thang

falin is in a similar boat for gender. i LOOVE tfem falin but the village repression thing has been bugging at me so i dont think i subscribe to it anymore (canon purist sorry) BUT if u hold that hc i am clapping and cheering regardless

instead i was propagandised to a while back and i LOVEEE the idea that being fused w a male dragon and the residual traits she has after being revived have given her a type of gender euphoria she didnt realise she was missing. a little boygirl swagger if u will

sexuality-wise i also dont think she would care to label herself, shes a lesbian by virtue of only being interested in One woman and zero other people. without marcille i do think shes still exclusively attracted to women, and i like to imagine she might experiment around a bit during her travels post-canon (pre-relationship). hearing abt it might put marcille on the news though

marcille is very simple That is a transfem lesbian. she cant get pregnant, shes obsessed w being femme and all that combined w her half-tallman struggles to be seen as 'properly feminine' by elf standards reads very transfeminine to Me. also her bookboy crush REEKS of comphet its not subtle

i think a more comfortable marcy might have the space to experiment w being elf butch like her manga boys but thats mainly self indulgence for me. utena could have saved her

senshi is gay his whole thing is abt not being able to perform dwarven masculinity to a proper standard (soft hearted, not as strong or rugged as his peers) which is like gaycoding 101. also hes a bear. homosexuality be damned by boy can work a grill

adding onto this i rly think senshi got some type of euphoria from being an elf in the changeling chapters. he was feeling himself so much i think he was using it as an outlet to have fun being a little fem and fruity without needing to justify it. do u understand

i dont have any particular opinions abt him gender-wise beyond that. his bulge is an essential part of his character design but i also saw a transmasc senshi a couple days ago that made me nod my head thoughtfully so i could go either way

chilchuck is cis and bisexual this is just canon. not even just his old man crush on senshi altho i do think thats very funny but they put his ass on a cover themed like hes in a dating sim with all the men and women in the cast and then slapped it in front of a chapter called "bicorn". i simply cant pass up that kind of overt signaling. its so fucking funny what else is there to say truly

izu to ME is a transmasc aroace lesbian (this one has the least basis in canon i just know it to be true) shes a little genderfluid with it nd uses he/she i think. i like to imagine she consistently uses masculine personal pronouns to refer to herself either way tho (boku, ore)

i think izutsumis gender/sexuality is entirely secondary in priorities to her body dysphoria. she has a lot of learning and acceptance 2 do before that kind of self discovery is on the docket and in my mind eschewing gender on some level is part of that. get sillay

shuro is cishet but at least he feels bad about it. next listen listen to me i dont think he would ever actually examine this but i need u to put on ur tin foil hat with me for one second. i think estrogen could have saved her. i have more thoughts on this but im not gonna propagandise too much on this post just know that im right

kabru is a transmasc bisexual this is also practically text. his whole thing of being treated like a doll by milsiril to put in pretty dresses, plus i think it would be pretty easy for him to stealth in the west since tallmen are seen as inherently more masculine than elves

(i also think changing genders is just more common for elves. theyre androgynous enough that it wouldnt be hard and like who in their right miiiiind would be the same gender for 500 years. dwarves too)

i think he started presenting as male socially in the west but didnt need to consider medical transition until he moved to a more mixed culture where other races might see him as a woman

i dont have to explain the bisexual part. have u seen him

namari is a butch bisexual this is just canon straight up. shes not transmasc but i think the default settings for dwarven women is like 4 years of T regardless. shes a hit at all the local cruising spots despite her renfaire nerdisms i know this

and just bc im thinking abt em kiki and kaka are identical and kiki is tfem :} theyre both attracted to women but kaka is a sub so i forgive him

THATS ALL 4 NOW theres a lot of characters so i cant have thoughts abt all of them at once but i hope this was good. im right about everything forever as per usual

[irhabiya]

So I live in the US and due to that I had to prioritize English over Arabic and thus I don’t really know how to read or write it. I’m trying to incorporate more Arabic in my spoken vocabulary and my family has been helping with that. I’m currently using duo lingo to help with learning written Arabic. They have a feature where your just learning the alphabet and that has helped.

But what I’m trying to get at here is do you have any resources to help me learn reading and writing Arabic? I seen courses available but they are out price range and so I wanted to see if you could point me to anything that could help me.

hi sweetheart <3

unfortunately, since i was born and raised in the middle east and speak arabic as my first language i don't have any resources for someone trying to learn as a beginner but!! i can point you towards some users/posts who provide resources that could be helpful to you

my mutual @ayin-me-yesh has many resources for learning arabic under the #arabic and #alif baa tags on their blog. here are some posts compiling resources and you can look through the rest [1], [2], [3]

in general though, i would recommend you learn msa to an intermediate level so you can have a good understanding of standard arabic syntax and grammar and then move on to learning dialect to be able to actually communicate with people. the best way to learn dialect imo is by consuming media in that dialect and practicing with someone and it's good that your family is willing to help you with that. i saw in your bio that you're palestinian-american so maybe look into palestinian films and music specifically and levantine media more broadly.

[rayroseu]

I think I realized why I like Silver despite his character trope being what I hate lol No, its not about him being too boring, its about his character centering around "repaying your family"

In Filipino teleseryes iirc, there's always a character trope for the good kid where their entire motives centers around doing work for their family for their entire life, and the story makes that personality "righteous" "admiring" and should be "what all children should do"

I suppose I hated it as a kid because its trying to enforce a standard🤣 like its trying to influence its viewers that this is how you should treat your parents, even if its good behaviour that this character trope is trying to portray,,, they were annoying because it always portrays that "their effort for their parents was perfect"

But Silver's story isn't like that. I can say that the story reinforces that ""his ideal way"" of repaying Lilia often fails because of circumstances he cannot control. His efforts to repay his parent, often fails, and I think that's what makes Silver really relatable.

I think Silver is convinced as well that what will make Lilia proud and would be him performing splendidly as knight and student(?), thats why he always works hard and he gets saddened when his sleeping condition ruins that hard work (Silver Lab Vignette)

But "being perfect", or even a repayment for raising him up, isn't what Lilia wishes for Silver... What would truly make Lilia proud, would be "just Silver living."

Its like Lilia didn't expect anything from Silver,,, in a "just be yourself" way.... I think during Book 7, this is what conflicted Silver the most (other than the whole Knight of Dawn relateion), that his Father would truly love him no matter who he is or what he becomes.

I also love the fact that TWST added the tragedy of aging in Silver's motive of repaying his parent... Because that truly is a harsh reality 😭 if you want to repay your parents, there's always this looming worry that your parent might not make it in time for them to see you succeed and be proud of you because they'll pass away from age...

I think the way their story reminds that "your time together with your family is ephemeral" inspired me more to actually value my time together with people important to me ykk

So Silver's motivation to repay his parent often ""fails""" because what Lilia wants from him is to just live and be yourself, and that's what the story enforces Silver to do as well. 🥹

I haven't read many stories that dwells this topic as emotional as Silver and Lilia's story... 🥲 Usually the parents in teleseryes will expect something like "at least complete your studies so we can be proud of you 🥺" while that is a good expectation,, it kinda gives off the vibes that the parental love was conditional all along XD. Its never as unconditional as Lilia's imo... 🥹🥹🥹💖💖

Its also seen with what skills Lilia teaches Silver revolving around survival, because he wants him to truly live with your own morals ("own two legs" if you will).

Side note: if there was an option for Silver to be raised by Knight of Dawn, I'd still would choose Lilia to raise him because Lilia can teach Silver what Knight of Dawn never did— speaking up for his own morals— even if the king and the nation displeases it— even if he was "alone" about his correct opinion. That belief that Lilia instilled upon him truly will make Silver live honestly to himself yk...🥹🥹🥹💖💖

translation by cymr on yt

[upinthecloudss]

HC Time!

saw a picture with the person's hc's of how people sat in the class and got inspired-

i've been having brainrot over mcl these past few weeks so here you go - a product of a semi lifelong obsession.

also these are spanish names so Karla = capuccine

I know that Farres' class is a free seating kind of thing, but I HC that they eventually fell into this arrangement by their last year of high school - i feel that beemoov could've juiced out more slice of life stuff with the class so here i am

lowk i get this from hints from dialogues but these r my personal hc's of how classes would be at Sweet Amoris' Class F (F for Farres, not the grades they get lmao) - ignore the a in the pic i had a brain fart and i'm too lazy to change it

i yap so beware under the cut

Class F

they share all classes in the same room except for science, arts and pe so this is them in their natural environment

the people in the first row kinda keep to themselves

its the last two which initiate most of the banter (ie the twins mostly) BUT others tend to join in most of the time.

the first row is the most 'serious' about their studies

genuinely the 'problem' class of the school - it's either peggy trying to camouflage herself with the couch in the teachers room, nath and castiel on the verge of killing each other, amber, alexy and rosa's costume fiasco, and CANDY capitalised bcus she's genuinely involved in everyone's life at some point (chismosavirus i love her)

they don't all get along in a 'family' sense, but they did grow familiar with each other over the years and there are some very close friendgroups in their class

when they need to, they definitely can unite (they even convinced amber, li and charlotte to help with the bunnies, which was insane to me)

ik that they are all ver cliche-ish characters, but mcl surpisingly made them work very well together

Farres

teaches geography & history but is also Candy's class homeroom teacher

ppl tend to walk all over him which is something he cannot avoid with students in any of his classes

loser man he's v funny to me

if nath or melody are not in class and he asks a question there is always a 10 second long silence AT LEAST

trying his best bless his heart

i hc that the class gave him a goodbye gift of sorts after graduating, thanking him for his patience with their insane antics

maybe something like them naming a bunny in lysander's family farm after him or something as bizzare like that - call back to the time they almost got him fired in ep 18 with the bunnies they let out

All these hc's are about them in the class environment, but there is sm more i have in my back pocket

Nath

his dad's pressure to excel in school is obv influenced him sitting first row

even after gaining his independence, we still see him become valedictorian on ep 39 (?) or 40 i forgot so i assume that he started being more relaxed about his studies AFTER hsl

that's why he usually stays in that seat for most of his hsl

imo best seat in the class if you want to pay attention - close to the teacher but also right in front of the whiteboard

not a teachers pet, but castiel likes to use his choice of seat in a free seating class as an opportunity to call him one lmao

doesn't really care about who sits next to him, choice of seat was solely out of the need to keep up with his father's standards

doesn't mind sitting next to melody, even if he feels a bit overwhelmed by her constant attention, bcus he knows that she's also a diligent student

doesn't answer every question, but tends to raise his hand more than once every class

straight a's - we all know this

doesn't interrupt classes if it's not school-related - so don't expect him to be adding onto any banter that may go on during class time (unless it's castiel provoking him, but he only tends to speak up after his independence from his parents in ep 23)

ppl don't tend to listen to him when he asks for silence in the class (when farres is also unable to shut ppl up prior LMAO)

some ppl tend to find him annoying - too perfect for their liking - but after the whole ordeal with his dad people cut him some slack and realise that their annoyance prolly came from jealousy

sm angst material but let's move on

Melody

(apologies if i'm too mean to her,,, i dont love her character and it's not even about the nath possesiveness, more on that in another post if i feel like it :p)

this simp would have sat on mud in a heartbeat if it meant sitting next to nath

i always hc'd that, even though she is a good student, having a crush on nath actually drove her to be even better as a way to impress him

so, she chose to sit first row mainly bcus she is a good student, but deep down (or not that deep down lmao) knowing that she could've chose any of the other chairs in the row, it's obvious why she chose that specific seat out of any other

since she sits closest to Mr Farres out of everyone and shes also class rep, she's usually the one to hand out worksheets or go on errands for teachers (given that it's not an important job that fits nathaniel's role better)

ACTUAL teachers pet - it kind of annoys most in the class (even irks nath at some points lmao) bcus she always seems to eager to prove herself in a super obnoxious way

straight a's but is the type of whiny girl to be upset at anything less than an a (i get her)

looks down on ppl that don't get good grades and is kinda condescending (i don't relate there)

type of girl to SHHHH people loudly even if they're literally whispering

candy and rosa are big victims of this given that they are (1) chismosas by nature (2) sit right behind her

her attitude doesn't really change throughout school life

if you are nath route i imagine she absolutely stares daggers at us or anyone else when nath sits next to them in class

Lysander

before you pull out the pitchforks telling me about lys and castiel being besties - this doesn't mean that they have to sit together in class

hear me out

lysander is more serious about his studies, even if he is quiet he is a diligent student.

nath actually respects and kinda resents him for this, you can see that he doesn't have the pressure to be a good student that nath has but he still tries his best and does very well in class (straight low a's / high b's student imo)

angst hc's another time i swear

best classes/ones he enjoys the most are lit and history

castiel tends to call him a nerd, lovingly, opposed to how he does it to nath

doesn't participate much in class, but when he does it's usually to give correct answers when the class seems to draw on a blank

or bcus he is asked directly by Farres, lmao

before priya came in their second to last year of high school (my hc timeline but idk) lysander sat alone in the table so castiel would go over and sit next to him if he felt like spending more time with his best friend every now and then

he tends to enjoy his peace, so doesn't mind sitting alone

gets along well with priya when they sit together, but they tend to sit in comfortable silence

doesn't write much of his personal writing during class, he learnt that people tend to be way too curious and try to take a peek

or ask him to read it aloud to the rest of the class - that one lit class was a living hell for him

tends to daydream in class if he's tired

Priya

my beloved,,,, they will never make me hate you

came in last of everyone in the class so she took the only remaining seat

is still a beast in studies so it doesn't matter where she sits - will get straight a's anyway

except for art lmao

type of student melody wishes she were

effortlessly smart - and when she gives answers she's not overly snobbish

shes so ,,,, marry me

who said that

is up to sitting next to anyone that isn't amber's witch crowd - but if she ends up near them she doesn't hesistate to put them in their place

offers to switch places with friends that may be struggling more with classes and sit in rows behind her- she knows that sitting closer to the front will force people to focus more (it's usually kim or candy who get these offers from priya, bcus she knows that they have the potential and priya hates seeing them fall behind - and candy yaps too much with rosa sometimes)

she's always looking out for people, helping with violette and kim in maths with difficult exercises etcetc

i see her calling out an answer umprompted if she sees that the person that the teacher asked to has no idea - if she likes the person ofc

Delanay: what is a mitochondria?

candy: uhhhhhh

priya: POWERHOUSE OF -

ik that answer is wrong shut up

doesn't give two shits about being a 'model' student, she is interested in learning so that makes her a good student by default

loves history - political side of it even more, and can go on long tangents on all the 'underdogs' of history and on giving a voice to the less fortunate

cannot stand when people blame teachers when its their own incompetence in a subject

e.g will get so angry when Li complains about 'how she was supposed to know that europe is not a country if farres never told them' in an exam on the european union

gets mostly a's, some b's big fat d's in art im afraid tho

she knows the struggles of teachers given that her mother teaches elementary students so isn't ever really too disrespectful (with limits, she sometimes joins in on banter)

Kim

has a lot of potential, but tends to be demotivated when she compares herself with the 'smart' people

what she doesn't realise is that she could be as 'smart' as them if she also put in the same effort as them

she does let her grades slip at some point, but she never does so deliberately

complicated history with studying, i forgot if it was her mom who dropped studying when she was her age and then went back to it once kim was in high school (mentioned in the ep with iris' party), but tries her best to not let down her parents

sat next to violette who was too scared to sit on the same row as amber and company, but wouldn't have minded sitting further back

you will never catch her dead getting herself involved in class

during her time being tutored by nath, he challenged her to answer a question in class

he called her a coward, basically, so she did it ONCE to defend her honour

but then once became a few times as she became more confident with her abilities

graduated with b's, even a stray a in the mix

would never admit it but she's very thankful for nath and candy's help and appreciates the supportiveness from her friends + family to not quit on trying in school

if you look at her during class, you will know exactly what she is thinking about - it's all on her face

doesn't understand class? furrowed brows, pout and frustrated mumbling while she scratches away at her page

is annoyed at amber's stupid remarks? rolls her eyes to the back of her head so hard

got a good grade? her eyes sparkle just a little bit, "no violette what are you talking about i just got some dust in my eye-"

overall wins the idgaf war i love her

Violette

so debilitatingly shy bless her heart

will NEVER open her mouth in class

if she is asked to answer kim will jump to answer umprompted, a la priya

"sorry sir i thought you were asking me"

"is your name violette?"

all of her notes have a new 'doodle' in the margins

but the doodles are like

masterpieces

mostly portraits of her friends, kim and alexy taking the spotlight

as well as her dad

and maybe her mom? but she tends to get emotional so she reserves those drawing for outside the classroom

karla tried to pick on her one time for drawing in class and kim scared her into not messing with anyone for a whole week, and violette ever again

people are so supportive when she actually makes an attempt to speak, even castiel knows to shut up with his sarcastic remarks

but then the silence freaks her out and next time u will hear her will be in 2 business years at least

or karla laughs at her stuttering or something (looking for amber's approval) but that happens only once thanks to kim

amber and her friends don't pick on her much, simply because they prefer to go for girls that they are jealous of and she never draws their attention

Rosa

is the type of student to have 1000s of excused absences

leigh signs her permission slips and stuff and since the headmistress can't be arsed to do her job properly she gets away with it lmao

actually gets by well with exams

she already has a dream to move onto the fashion industry so she isn't too worried about her grades

chismosavirus #1 she will always be the first to be called out by teachers for trying to gossip in class

she's always super offended by the scolding even though its 100% true

"i was literally whispering!! besides, your date with [crush] is way more important than trigonometry"

"we had a map of asia on the whiteboard, rosa"

candy always has to stop rosa from strangling amber and co. everytime they pick on her best friend

"it's not worth it rosa"

"you are way too nice, if i were you they would be dead in a ditch by now"

"what?"

"what?"

does people's makeup or gives tips during homeroom if they ask her to

she loves it

or sometimes candy's hair during class

"this is not a beauty salon girls"

does it anyway

Candy

depends on the player ofc, but she's obviously shown to have high capacities in school if she applies herself - so her grades are entirely up to her

theoretically sits next to rosa, but since her best friend doesn't come to school too often people sit next to her if they feel like it (like our route or alexy hehe)

chismosavirus #2 bcus rosa infected her and also that how she is by nature

doesn't cause many problems in class, and only includes herself in the banter of the class if she is directly dragged into it by the back rows.

sits in front of the witch crowd and is sadly a victim of their annoying teasing

i love her but she cannot defend herself for the first 30 episodes of the series i swear

she does sit in front of charlotte, who is the 'chillest' of the trio so she usually gets peace in class if they feel like ignoring her

besides, she REFUSES to change seats because of them - she would never give them the satisfaction

Iris

the backbone of the class for sure

is surprisingly good friends with castiel so she's the designated 'peacemaker' if its a small thing (not if theyre literally about to punch each other, she's not suicidal)

and also gets along well enough with most people fine enough

"if someone is acting mean it's probably a mistake" my girl is too good for this world

genuinely tries her best but is lost in class like, 80% of the time

barely passes her exams but she passed so you go queen

she's not like, stupid, but school is not the path for her

laughs at stupid jokes that the more extroverted people make in the middle of class, but isn't usually the one to start anything in class

participates if asked to

doesn't mean she gets the questions right

isn't picky about who she sits with, was the only one who was willing to sit next to karla

so that's where she ended up

Karla

so she obv chose to sit next to amber's friend group, even though its obvious she's not really a part of their group

ALWAYS acting out to bully anyone as a way to 'prove' herelf to them

people tend to ignore her, like flat out

she's so forgettable that teachers even forget to rlly punish her for any out of line comments

actually good at school, but hides it as much as she can

because of this, and other things, charlotte respects her the least - shes basically dragging herself across the floor for their approval

plain annoying but forgettable

never really makes good friends with anyone - comes close to it with melody (but them both have self esteem problems and make it everyone else's problem, so ig that's why they get along better than others) and iris but because shes enemy to no one

Charlotte

most 'quiet' of the witches trio but doesn't mean she's not as cruel outside of the classroom

gets respectably high grades, but could get much better if she tried

also strong contender of the idgaf war

but you can never really tell what she's thinking of people when they speak in class

or at any point

keeps to herself and her friends but loves to jump at the opportunity to be mean to candy by whispering shit to her

is the more indirect type of cruel, will give karla the silent treatment, literally does not acknowledge her ever

she hasn't stuck gum to candy's hair by now because of rosa's presence, she's annoyingly perceptive,,,

when she leaves school Li takes her place

outright refuses to answer any question that farres asks her

"ms charlotte! would you mind sharing your answer with the rest of the class? it was exceptionally well written"

"i would mind, yes"

sat there bcus amber sat there

Amber

she is so annoying god bless castiel's soul

sat in front of him as "an infallible flirting tactic"

"trust me Li - doing it in the long run will have him at my feet by next month tops"

is the type of girl to throw her hair on top of the table behind her

castiel tried to cut it once in retaliation once he saw that she wouldn't get the hint when he pulled on it anytime she did it

"he was too shy to try to braid my hair, i'm subtly giving him chances to make him go crazy for me. trust me li trust me."

literally only sat there to try to get with castiel

he couldn't give less of a shit, is incredibly annoyed by her

and chooses to ignore her

has barely passing grades, but she lies about it to her parents

besides, they tend to pay more attention to nath's results

"what can i say, i'm just daddy's little girl"

... moving on

always sprays 2000 spritzes of perfume and chokes armin because she does it in his direction

"AMBER i'm going to die from asphyxia if you keep spraying that shit liquid on me"

"MR KEENAN LANGUAGE"

"i didn't know you knew what the word asphyxia meant bro"

"shut up alexy"

always has the most stupid things to say

it has candy sighing loudly

"SIR CANDY IS TELLING ME TO SHUT UP"

"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING"

"YOU THOUGHT OF IT"

"WE ALL DID"

outright annoying

tends to insult candy, armin, alexy, and kentin the most but her preffered pick will always be candy

Li

genuinely stupid holy shit

"europe is a very big country"

surprised she didn't fail her final exams

insisted on sitting next to amber but since there were no more tables she just pulled a chair next to her

farres tried to make her move but she ignored him lmao

if it's a more strict teacher she moves next to lysander before priya came in

after that she used the excuse that there is no other seats to stay there

took charlotte's seat when she left

out of the three, makes the stupidest remarks

doesn't initiate the bullying, but its always her just repeating anything that amber or charlotte say like a parrot

literally bird brain

not much to say, doesn't involve herself in class

mostly looks at herself in the mirror during class or browses high end clothing stores online

loaded asf so has convinced herself that grades don't matter

will be the death of her parents one day

Alexy

came in after most people and wanted to sit near his brother so they sat at the back where there were three seats available

armin sat next to castiel because he was more 'covered' by the three girls in the table in front of him to play his console

so alexy ended up sitting alone in the table next to armin for a little until kentin showed up

lowk a blessing for him bcus we all know he was defo into him

always one of the most talkative, or to join in on jokes that his brother screams out in the middle of class

not a class clown, but usually the one to start interruptions in class

he doesn't even intend to interrupt, but he likes 'commentating' on what is going on - his words

okay at studies, is indifferent to his grades and has no pressure to do well by his parents

this seating arrangement was the cause of him becoming closer to kentin - even if they never became anything that alexy would've wanted to, he appreciates their time spent together

teases kentin in class alongside his twin

peak 'people in the back row' meme type shi

brings snacks to share with the back row

armin, alexy (and kentin even if he likes to complain) are usually messing around a whole lot but tend to go unnoticed

Armin

sat at the covered seat next to castiel so that his teachers let him play his games in peace

type of person to put his console behind an upside down book

has a surprisingly peaceful coexistence with his table buddy

castiel hates that he calls him irl table moot

catch him playing on his console 90% of the time - the 10% is Delanay's classes

calms down with it over the years but never abandons his gaming

he's gets frustratingly high grades considering the little attention he pays in any of his classes

speaks in brainrot

can't stop himself from spouting out the most chronically online shit in class

it's so strange one would think he is playing videogames and not paying attention and then will just

"can someone tell me what is the name of the city that is being covered by my finger right now?" "LMAO KID NAMED FINGER"

all while having his eyes glued to the screen of his PSP

only candy sometimes laughs if shes his route bcus she's equally as nerdy

if not it is met with the most awkard silence

he's so unfunny bless him

everyone but alexy question his sanity but eventually get used to it

likes to have 'back row basketball' competitions with his brother (and kentin, who they always manage to pull at least one attempt out of him) where the first person to get a piece of paper into the bin next to mr farres' table wins

mr farres has given up on trying to stop them

he's just used to flying balls of paper whooshing past his head

atp who cares, as long as they don't hit him

or they also try to see whoever manages to land a spitball on amber's head without her noticing for the remainder of the class

castiel likes to join in on that one

Kentin

came in a bit after the twins so had limited seat choices

didn't really feel like sitting first row with lysander and also wanted to have candy in his line of sight so he went for the seat next to alexy at the back

says he regrets it sm because the 'twins are so annoying' but never made an attempt to change seats

"oh kennykins~ when will you ever let me give you a style change from those horrible military style pants??"

"you can't escape from my brother on a fashion mission kenny"

"IT'S KENTIN i can´t stand the two of you"

also okay at his studies, his dad only cares about his results in p.e tbh (angst material again but ill ramble in another post)

is kinda iffy aboout sitting in the same row as castiel but will never admit it

besides the twins are like a buffer zone so it's okay

doesn't stop castiel from laughing at them bullying teasing him

kentin gets so defensive bless him

"WHAT DID YOU SAY- SAY THAT AGAIN IF YOU DARE"

"KENTIN GO OUT TO THE CORRIDOR RIGHT NOW AND CALM YOURSELF DOWN"

and it was just castiel releasing air through his nose to laugh

he pretends he hates the back row but he has to admit that he has the most fun there

made his best friends there literally (not castiel tho sorry king)

and its kinda a release from the expectations to be a 'man' from his dad and just to be silly with his friends

and now im getting angsty lets move on

if candy is kentin route and he sits with her some time,,,, oh lord

when he goes to sit at the back row the next day he is received as some kind of cheating husband coming back to his unstable wife

"so i see you finally got bored of us"

"its okay kennykins *sniff* we understand that we will never be her"

"you are breaking our hearts and you don't even seem to care"

"the betrayal,,, how can you even come back after all that you have done?"

this continues on for the rest of the day until kentin agrees to buy them lunch

Castiel

does not give af

bad boy cliche - sits at the back, feet on the table and doesn't write down a single line of writing if he can

chose to sit at the back simply because he doesn't care for classes

finds armin entertaining, even if he calls him 'irl table moot' and generally doesn't really understand any of his jokes

does find the twins´ jokes funny if its them making fun of kentin

also doesn't care for kentin being scared of him or trying to pick a fight in class

is on the verge of strangling amber anytime she tries her weird ass flirting on him

him being salutatorian at graduation is so funny to me because he proved that all that his teachers gave him shit for "because you will never get passing grades with your behaviour" and here he is

only time he contributes to class is to throw snarky remarks at people - mostly nath ofc

sarcastic man apocalypse and he is their king

will sit next to lys if he feels like it sometimes but he is mostly allergic to breathing the same air as 'first row smarty mcfuck boy" (one of his many loving nicknames to nath <3)

[kagoutiss]

So I am having SO MANY thoughts about the twinrova and how they’re a couple centuries old and so would’ve lived through multiple rulers before “serving” ganondorf.

Like they raised him, what was their agenda? Did they have plans spanning multiple sovereigns to secure their power over the gerudo? Did they have the Omni man “what’s another century we’ll just raise the next one” kind of feelings towards him if he didn’t become their puppet or weapon?

So much thot not enough brain space this rot is taking over me

ooooooogh twinrova brainrot is strong in me too…..yeah because if they’re ~400 years old and OoT ganondorf was still just in his twenties at the time, and a male gerudo child is born every century, then presumably they could’ve been in the position of raising said children multiple times? i think i remember seeing a take somewhere that considered the idea of twinrova’s role in the gerudo being similar to that of impa serving as an attendant/mentor to zelda, and i think that’s a really cool idea. there’s probably also a lot of potential angst to be found in these little old witches who may have cared for previous gerudo princes, and would have had the incredible responsibility of keeping them safe in childhood, while also training them in witchcraft and war strategy, and advising them in their kingship as adults. because if that’s the case, they would’ve seen those princes live and die multiple times too

it kinda makes you wonder if their love for ganondorf is so obsessive in part because they know firsthand how painful it is to lose a child, to live long enough to outlive to your children multiple times. tbh, i feel like them using ganondorf as their proxy for everything, and trying to make him an all-powerful being at any cost, is more a product of their love for him, than it is a litmus test of whether they‘ll love him or not? and by this i don’t mean they’re like,,, a healthy family by any means, like you can still easily apply terms like abuse and trauma-bonding to parts of their dynamic, imo. i think kotake & koume love ganondorf genuinely, and always have, and that the sentiment is mutual. it’s just that they’re willing to go to very extreme lengths to protect/empower ganon in the ways they believe are necessary, because they are very aware of how important he is, to them and the gerudo as a whole. and ironically, a lot of the time, this desperation ends up being not at all conducive to his safety, or sanity, or happiness

like…raising him with expectations and standards that are completely unreasonable for any human being, that turn him into an ambition-driven nutjob who invents lightning magic & masters all types of weaponry & plays a pipe organ, while also having virtually no ability to form genuine relationships with people other than his mothers. or them trying to make him into an impervious, all-powerful being by trying to take divine power, which sometimes inadvertently turns the rational parts of his brain into soup and sets them on fire. or them trying to revive him after death in the downfall timeline by sacrificing themselves, inadvertently bringing him back wrong, and sentencing him to an existence he never would’ve originally wanted

idk. they’re really fun and also heartbreaking to think about. he engraves their names into his weapons, they willfully die just for the possibility of allowing him to live again. their familial relationship seems to be the most important bond in the lives of everyone involved in it, at the expense of any other kind of connections in their lives. he’s their figurative puppet in a few ways, and will break himself over and over if it means meeting their expectations, but i doubt any of them see it that way. everyone involved gets extremely hurt in one way or another, no matter what, often in an attempt to do the opposite, out of love and fear. little fucked up witch fambly……it’s so much

[swiftthistletea]

I really do not believe that alternative pedagogies are worth it over traditional schooling. There are plenty of problems with traditional schooling sure. And I think that the only alternative type of schooling that has any sort of merit is Montessori but there are still problems with Montessori that I do not like. I like the focus on independence and calm environments within Montessori, and I think Montessori toys and furniture rule. My lead teacher/mentor came from a Montessori background and its been really interesting listening to her describe why she decided to leave. For example, if youre doing Montessori properly youre not supposed to praise children when they achieve something. Self motivation is a big part of it. Personally I believe children thrive when praise that's earned is given. It's not a bad thing to hype up a kid when they zipped their coat up for the first time, especially if its something that they've been struggling with for a while. Now Waldorf is just a fuckin mess. I think the method and schools lull a lot of parents in with the anti-tech sentiments, the focus on art and imaginative play, and heavy reverence and importance placed on nature and children experiencing nature. But Rudolf Steiner was a big esoteric occultist theosophy head before there was a schism and he formed his own philosophy/spirituality. This philosophy/spirituality informs the Waldorf teaching method even if it doesn't seem so overtly. The delayed academics and importance placed on Preserving the Magic of Childhood seems nice. Until you learn that they believe children should not be introduced to any kind of reading readiness (aka letters and phonics) until their baby teeth fall out; which means children that go through Waldorf education will not learn how to read until 1st through 3rd grade. That is way too late from a developmental standard imo; it wont fuck them up but if they switch to a traditional school they will be behind their peers because well, they ARE behind and this is intentional. Teachers and parents are told to discourage children from seeking out more academic pursuits until they are deemed to be old enough. How is that "child focused"? Also a lot of the things they teach like their specific obsession with wet on wet watercolors and eurythmy IS occultic in nature, the Waldorf true believers will tell you this. They believe that preschool children shouldnt use the color black in art or use any sort of "sharp" art tools like regular crayons and pencils until a certain age because it it's damaging to the soul. Preschool children forming basic shapes and symbols in art like hearts and smiles too early is considered an attack on their innocence. How could an educational method that bills itself as being "imagination and arts focused" say that while herding children into making very specific types of art with very specific colors? It's interesting that a lot of big tech people send their kids to Waldorf schools, Hollywood families as well. It's getting more popular recently. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donates to Waldorf organizations. I still believe that parents have a fundamental right to seek out schools they think is best for their children, and they have a right to raise their children as they see fit barring like, abusive situations or whatever. But I think parents should also be cautious. And I 100% think Christian parents who are interested in Waldorf/"Forest Schools" because of the anti tech and nature walks need to be extra cautious. Anthroposophy and eurthymy ARE absolutely spiritual in nature and Waldorf is NOT "just about nature and art".

[khattikeri]

honestly my case for aro/ace Jiang Cheng stems heavily from his list of traits he'd want in a future wife.

like putting aside the fact that his "pickiness" got him canonically blacklisted from a majority of their world's matchmakers, we have this:

naturally beautiful

graceful and obedient

hard-working and thrifty

coming from a respected family

cultivation level not too high

These are all just Standard Things That Ancient Chinese Society Says It's Good For Women To Be.

A woman who is too strong will surpass her husband which is a huge no-no in their society. Too weak and she's a disappointment (read: Jiang Yanli). Marrying within or above your own social class is just expected common sense, especially if you're born upper class.

Then you have these next three points:

personality not too strong

not too talkative

voice not too loud

Of course these are also generic Standard Things That Ancient Chinese Society Says It's Good For Women To Be, but they also stood out to me more than the previous points because all of them remind me of Yu Ziyuan.

Jiang Cheng is very similar to her, and of course even without that he still cares about her. But she was very difficult to please and nurtured his inferiority complex for years. Growing up with her volatility hurt everyone in that house.

AND THEN TACKED ON AT THE VERY END OF THE LIST:

must treat Jin Ling nicely.

So almost all of these bullet points are generic, intangible societal ideals. Rather than being actual preferences for a marriage or to fall in love with, his list reads to me more like this:

Things Everyone Says It's Good For A Wife To Be IDFK

Actually Now That I Think About It Don't Be Like My Mom.

BE NICE TO MY NEPHEW.

Even the 'must treat Jin Ling nicely' can be tied back to Yu Ziyuan if you choose to view it a certain way. A new wife might dislike Jin Ling since he was already there prior to her marriage to Jiang Cheng, even if he's a blood relative rather than a good friend's orphaned child.

An official wife could easily get angry or misguidedly jealous. She could distance or mistreat Jin Ling, an elder male child born to people who are now dead. Who does that remind you of...?

Really all this list proves is Jiang Cheng really, really cares about his nephew + Wei Wuxian and wants the child to be raised with sincere kindness and love. Everything else is just like a dart thrown at a dartboard blind. Sure, write that down. People say it's good for women to be like X and say Y and do Z, right? Sure. Okay.

TL;DR - It's easy to view Jiang Cheng as actually being that arrogant and holding people to every single standard in his list, but IMO he just can't think of traits he actually finds attractive in a person beyond Be Ideal, I Guess. Which is painfully relatable and a primary reason why I see him as aro/ace.

[slotumn]

Actually fuck it some more thoughts on heteronormativity and marriage in Fódlan + Crests + class

Even if heteronormativity is stronger for noble houses with Relics, the Crest-bearers themselves can probably afford to flip it off for a while in a way non-Crest bearer's can't; as long as they're capable of wielding the Relic and fighting, their houses can't just disown them for not producing heirs, because then you are throwing away the only person capable of using the handheld nukes

The only feasible way for noble houses to disown their kids on the basis of them not doing heterosexuality for heirs is if they have other family members of the same generation with Crests... but this seems to be a pretty rare thing as of canon era, and even if that were the case, is it really a smart move to throw away precious backup nuke wielders? Don't look at a gift horse in the mouth etc

For any additional pressures (heteronormativity or otherwise) Crest-wielding nobles face, they'd also get a hell lot more leeway on their behaviors compared to their non-Crested counterparts

And for any pressures all nobles (Crested or Crestless) might face, they'd get a hell lot of more advantages in life compared to commoners

Like the main problem for nobles in this department is whether their marriages and offspring are politically optimal. The problem for commoners would be 1. whether they can afford to get married at all, and/or 2. whether their spouse and kids can survive the winter

The real curveball on all this, and what would reveal the exact importance of Crests and strength of norms related to it, imo, is how an average commoner who was born and raised a commoner but somehow turned out to have a Crest would be treated.

Would they suddenly face the same kind of marriage and offspring-related pressures as nobles? Do they yield more leverage over non-Crested/minor nobles who want to marry them just because Crests are that precious and the number one most important thing? Or is it easier for those nobles control/exploit the commoner through other means (economic security, connections, etc)?

(I know Mercedes comes close to the suggested example but she was born a noble and still retains some connections to nobility; Byleth also comes close but they're not a regular Crest-bearer, they're overpowered in all kinds of ways even by Crested person standards and has a really weird life trajectory so it's hard to point to them as an example)

(Yuri fits but his other thing aside from being a poor commoner with a Crest is that he's a pretty boy desired for his beauty as well. So I guess the question is "how would Yuri have been treated if he was mid rather than pretty" lmao)

Because the thing about the class system in Fódlan is that yes class/inheritance and Crests are correlated and connected by design, but it's still not 100% one and the same.

So on the rare occasion that those things are separate, what holds more power? Crests or class?

[footytea]

Hi, i accidentally stumbled unto ur page & spent hours scrolling thru cuz i was bored , luv it tho keep up gods work sis🙏🏽😂

Just curious, what’s ur opinion on Jude as a player?

*Disclaimer, I’m a Man United fan but I’ve got a soft spot for Barcelona*

Cuz I’ve been watching la liga matches & the Euros, and saw a couple of Dortmund games when Jude was playing. Imo, he does have really spectacular moments like that bicycle kick or a silky assist & he’s great defensively too but his overall general play is ordinary. The England matches have been boring af, as a midfielder it doesn’t look like he has much chemistry with the other players but that’s probably Southgate’s fault with his game plan. But overall, I’m yet to see a game where he has truly controlled/dominated the midfield.

I do have high standards for Jude cuz the media constantly talks highly about him, & some make it appear that he’s like the next Zinedane.

This is just my opinion as a football fan, pls don’t attack me Jude girls😩 🙇🏽‍♀️

ngl i feel like i haven't watched him play enough to form a valid opinion on jude as a player, i never watched dortmund besides their games in the ucl and same with real madrid besides el clasicos and ucl games.

but i somewhat agree with you, i definitely think certain media people and fans have been overhyping him and it's not that he's a shit player, it's just that even when he plays well they're exaggerating the hype, which raises the expectations for him even more and i just feel like the overhyping is the reason he's also got so many people hating on him and making it out like he's a shit player and doesn't deserve any of the praise. he has intelligent plays at times and scores crucial goals and yes maybe some of his goals have been simple, but it's also a matter of being in the right places and finishing (which isn't as evident as it seems, just look at lukaku and the amount of open goals or tap ins he's missed).

but again i can't really go too much into his playing style or whatever, because i just haven't seen enough of him, besides the few games and clips here and there

also people need to stop comparing young players to legends, it's literally just setting them up, they did the same with ansu fati (comparing him to messi) and look what happened. let them just be themselves as a player, not every rising baller has to be the next messi, ronaldo, zidane or whatever

[cluescorner]

Little Bits I got from the hangout (Spoilers for Kaeya’s Hangout)

-------------------

Things in parentheses are my own thoughts rather than canon stuff. 

- Kaeya is a very kind person at his core. Both to those he loves and total strangers. 

- So many people love Kaeya. From the staff at the Winery to the KoF to the citizenry of Mond to mild acquaintances to total strangers, Kaeya is truly loved by those around him. 

- The KoF are all co-parenting Klee together, though they disagree a bit on exactly HOW to parent her. 

- Kaeya is a great schemer but he TERRIBLE at coming up with fake names (Albert Rich...really?)

- Kaeya was a very shy child while Diluc was rambunctious. Diluc would get them into trouble and Kaeya would go along with whatever Diluc wanted. (I hope that we get a bit more of their dynamic when they were younger explored and that we see more of what Diluc did to be a good brother to Kaeya)

- The entire winery loves Kaeya. Not just Adelinde, not just Adelinde and Elzer. Everyone. They watched him grow up into the man he is today and they consider him a member of the family. 

- Adelinde has covered for Diluc and Kaeya’s antics in the past. (probably why she’s so adept at covering for Diluc’s darknight hero stuff.)

- Tunner knew that something bothered young Kaeya, that there was some sort of deep-rooted issue that it’s implied Kaeya never talked to them about. (If Tunner knew, it is very likely that others at the Winery knew that this kid had TRAUMA. My guess is that at some point somebody brought it up to Crepus, who had noticed something similar, and he then asked Kaeya about it. Whether Kaeya confessed at that point...IDK)

- Klee is the cutest thing to ever exist and she loves Kaeya so much (that is not opinion, it is fact). 

- Kaeya sometimes forgets which lie he has told to a person before and uses it twice. Diluc WILL call him out on this, before inevitably capitulating to whatever Kaeya asks. (Standard older sibling behavior, you put up a fuss but ultimately you will do literally anything to make them happy. It’s why I think Diluc is the older of the two, even if Kaeya also has many older sibling traits). 

- Kaeya got sick fairly often as a child, but has grown up to be healthier. Adelinde took good care of him whenever that happened. (Chronically ill Kaeya truthers rise up! Also, he was probably sickly because of a few factors: not having the immune system for Mond’s diseases, probably living in the Abyss, probably having malnutrition, he was abandoned in the MIDDLE OF A STORM, and because winters in Mond are harsh).

- Adelinde knows exactly how Kaeya likes his food.

- Adelinde cares a lot about how maids are supposed to behave, but only on the surface level. If Kaeya can word something correctly, she’ll happily capitulate. 

- Kaeya knows a lot about the winery business. (Supports my personal headcanon that Kaeya was supposed to take over the Winery’s business after Crepus’s death, but then the fight happened). 

- Kaeya loves to act and would consider doing it full-time. He is also apparently very good at it (wow shocker. Boy who was raised as a child-spy and is constantly lying is good at acting.)

- While onstage, Kaeya is allergic to subtlety. (I love this. 10/10, throw off the shackles of destiny and toss a prop into the audience). 

- Kaeya doesn’t like to bask in the glory of the good things he does, sneaking out just as songwriting preparations are getting good (Kaeya is also fairly shy at his core, but the persona he’s formed won’t allow for that). 

- Kaeya is known to be thoughtful and is a good gift-giver. 

- Venti wholeheartedly accepts Kaeya as a child of Mondstadt, considers him a friend, and wants to see him throw off the shackles fate placed upon him. (I actually liked Venti a lot this hangout. We get to see him be silly but also wise, understand how he feels about the whole ‘worshipping Barbatos’ thing, and watch him encourage the creativity of others. Plus, imo this hangout basically confirms that Venti 100% knows about Kaeya’s predicament and more than anything wants to see that Kaeya is happy and cared for in Mondstadt). 

- (Kaeya at least suspects that Venti is Barbatos. The way the english VA acted things was a little too pointed to seem like genuine lack of knowledge about Venti’s identity.)

- Barbara cares about family the most, to the point that she will suggest that over even the worship of Barbatos himself (this is unsurprising, but also very sad considering how rarely she and Jean get to interact as sisters). 

- Diona will sing hymns about fish-related foods and Venti 100% supports singing about that over Barbatos (also unsurprising). 

- Diluc CAN AND WILL kill anyone who harasses his staff (somebody please draw fanart of Diluc fucking bumrushing poor Captain Wu to defend the maids, the image is simultaneously sweet and HILARIOUS). 

[skyeoak]

Tmagp 30 thoughts

Vocal performances all slayed. 10/10

I think there’s a lot of good and bad in the finale! But overall, it feels underbaked. (Or overplotted/overplanned?)

I’ll save my finalized thoughts on the hilltop center to see if it’s developed in further seasons, because uh, hmm. Jonny said in the live drop that carousels of horrors were his favorite to write, but they sure are not realllyyyy my favorite to listen to. They’re kind of thematic scattershot. And yeah, one of my critiques about TMA is that I don’t love how we only rarely see how the fears combine and interact. Having multiple creepy things in a curiosity cabinet -com shopping center doesn’t really solve that problem for me.

The idea of a character turning a blind eye to an obviously creepy job is still interesting, especially in how it parallels the staff of the OIAR. But that’s kinda the start and end of my interest in the custodian? It feels like this story could have been shrunk to 1/3 length and had a better effect. I just feel like this should have been a midseason statement, and the finale could have focused on having some sort of action or tension. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the finale to have a statement at all, to be structurally in line with early TMA. Maybe a full statement/story from Celia, giving the non-TMA audience some idea of why she thinks there’s nothing to go back to in her universe. Hell. Maybe she could just. Tell Sam, uncompelled. I would have loved to see her try to convince him to jump. Convince him that her new life matters more than his (perceived) failure of one. Instead… this is another episode where I feel like the double meaning titles weigh down what the statement could be. And it’s the season finale.

I wondered early on if the finale for this season would feel more like setup for future seasons, and yep. Yep it did. It just felt like there was this inherent tension between the stakes of the story, which are already at interdimensional travel, and the level of danger it feels like everyone is in. Not to mention how Celia just drops a list of alchemical balance things out of the blue. Magnus Protocol is in a tricky situation: they need to set up a new conflict and new characters, and at the same time, Magpod has already done mega-apocalypse hellscapes and so TMagP might feel the need to go bigger. (Imo I don’t think sequels always need to raise the stakes but I understand that’s industry standard). It’s also tackling alchemy, a notoriously complex subject that’s probably hard to explain to an audience in any way that feels natural. You can’t just throw murder worm lady and screaming main character in the finale and call it a day. There’s a lot going on, less time, and I don’t know if the characterization this season was consistent (/consistently good) enough to hold the full weight of it all.

OKAY, WHELMED THOUGHTS OVER, now for the good! Surprise surprise, it’s all the little character payoffs!

Gwen and Lena’s confrontation was EVERYTHING. Gwen is kicking anthills, and Lena is so content to let her stand in them while the ants crawl up her legs. I won’t lie though, I’m not sure if this plotline will be interesting to me. I think it depends on how fast the OIAR staff can get Gwen to actually be on their side.

Sam deciding to protect Celia by pushing the archivist into the void is SENSATIONAL CHARACTER PAYOFF. (This is my interpretation of the scene, audio was super unclear once again, and there was a line change from transcript to podcast that made this super ambiguous in the actual canon audio.) My poor guy has ZERO self esteem, and still wants to be a hero. He probably realized that if what Celia just told him was true, an archivist could actually kill her on the spot. My guess is that (tma spoilers) this balanced the rift not because Celia replaced her own missing soul (plenty of folks got sent through hilltop road in that same incident) but because an archivist+a person were pulled through to replace Jon and Martin. Truly excited to see where they end up, and if this archivist gets developed more as a character next season. Also the implications of interdimensional balance on what happened at the end of TMA are… interesting.

Oh Alice. Everything in this intricately balanced house of checking up on people and soothing them and deflecting tension with jokes is about to come crashing down. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.

And yes, this is a super lukewarm episode review but I do wanna say I liked this season a lot, and TMAGP is still a cut above a LOT of horror I have read/listened to this year. I’m hoping seasons 2 and 3 will either steer further into a direct TMA sequel, angle OR steer clear and become their own thing. TMAGP is stuck uncomfortably in the middle right now. Just be the good parts of her. But completely new.

[pebblysand]

Why’s fan fiction so bad these days.

hi anon! i can't tell if this is a dig at my fics, a dig at other people's fics, or just a standard observation. having said that, i typically don't answer asks that don't say hello/thank you/some sort of minimal human acknowledgement but i did find this an interesting question to raise, so.

i don't necessarily think fanfic is "bad" "these days". IMO, the ratio of good v. bad fic has been pretty much equal in most of the fandoms i've been in overtime. about 30-40% are so bad they're unreadable (i'm talking: awful grammar, terribly OOC, plot that makes no sense, etc.). about 50-60% are "a bit meh", meaning that if you're in a very small fandom where there is nothing else to read, you'll probably read them out of sheer content starvation, but they won't really give you anything of substance. if you're in a big fandom with loads of content, you'll probably pass on them. then, you have probably about 9% that are really good. this, to me, is the stuff you would recommend if you were building a rec list for others, which you believe everyone should read. and lastly, you have the top 1%. those are the fics that have taken your breath away, are imprinted in your brain forever, you've re-read them ad nauseam and have written love letters to the authors about.

i find this ratio pretty much invariable. it was the same when i was writing for Silk, for The Good Wife, and now for HP. it also seems to be the same per HP niche. to me, there's a top 10% of post-war fics, there's a top 10% of harmony fics, etc.

but the major thing to note here is that what is top 10% for me might not be top 10% for you. that's why you don't have everyone reading or reccing the same things, and that's the joy and the beauty of diversity of taste and opinion, as far as i'm concerned. it's why i disagree with your general assessment that "fanfic is bad" "these days". that's something you think - not necessarily something someone else would think, on the basis of the content published. to give you an example, in hinny circles, i see floreatcastellum and northumbrian recommended a lot. on tiktok, i see manacled recommended a lot. having skimmed through these works, they -- personally -- do not do anything for me. but that doesn't mean they're "bad" fics. i'm sure they're great fics. they are loved by many, many people. they're just not something i vibe with, and they're not in my top 10%. just like loads of people think my fics are not for them. and that's absolutely fine. as long as you don't come in screaming in all caps insulting authors whose works you don't vibe with, we can all very happily coexist.

having said that, i have to admit that as far as my taste goes, i'm currently building a massive Google Sheets rec list (yes, coming soon, i promise ^^). one of the things i'm tracking in this rec list is the date of publication/completion of the work. and from what i can see at this stage, the average date of publication of my top 10% works is 2016. which, i think, does also say something. while i do still find loads of fics published semi-recently that i like, i also do have to acknowledge the fact that if we're looking at my own personal taste... you're probably kind of right.

so, why is fanfiction so bad these days?

i think a large part of it is that my personal taste doesn't necessarily align with that of the wider public. i'm not on-trend, let's say. AUs are pretty much the gold standard now, and particularly what-if AUs (e.g. what if Harry was a Muggle? what if Ron was in Slytherin? what if Sirius survived? etc.) you see tonnes of these recommended on reddit/being published all the time. loads of people are also interested in more exploration of characters and niche ships i'm personally not interested in (marauders, death eaters, etc.) there is also a prominence of fluff (or low-stakes romantic angst), particularly in the hinny, dramione and drarry fandoms. it's escapism from canon (and possibly, escapism from the harsh reality of our world), that i just personally don't vibe with/am not looking for. we see this in original fiction as well, with the drive towards fantasy/romantasy in recent years, and more recently still, with "cosy" literature. i don't particularly enjoy these genres in original fiction either, so i think that's probably also why i don't particularly vibe with the fanfic in that same trend.

i also think, just overall, there is less content being published in the HP fandom in general. thus, proportionally, less fics people will vibe with. this is in part simply due to the age of the source material (this happens to TV shows a lot: once a series is over, people tend to gradually drop out of fandom). it's also, i believe, due to the fact that there was a boom of fandom involvement during covid (as people had nothing else to do), and that people have now gradually dropped back out. lastly, it is probably also due to the fact that a large portion of people who used to be in fandom have dropped out due to JKR's controversial opinions. all of these things combined means that there is less overall content, and thus less content you're going to like as an individual.

additionally, globally, many countries are currently experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. this matters because, as i always say, "fanfiction is a rich person's hobby". meaning that: if you're going to truly make an effort in writing, and truly get involved in fandom, you need to have time on your hands. time you won't have anymore if you're struggling, having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. writing at a high level is a massive time suck and very few people, right now, can afford to spend hours upon hours producing free content. it's sad, but it's true. so, of course, that's inevitably going to drive good writers out of fandom. and, sadly, it will disproportionally impact good writers, because they will be the ones who will spend the most time on their craft. it's very quick to write shit fic with loads of grammatical mistakes, much harder/longer to write something high-quality. it also disproportionally impacts, of course, marginalised communities, who will then not produce the high-quality content that represents them.

lastly, i also think that one thing that demotivates writers at the moment, is an overall drop in community engagement. i was very reluctant to buy into this up until very recently because, tbh, i always get the ick when people try and argue that things were "better before" but i have to admit... i've been getting loads of comments/DMs lately from people telling me things like "i never typically comment on fanfic, but...[your fic is great]" or people coming out of the woodwork telling me they've been reading castles for years, without ever making contact before. and, not to criticise any of these people, because i truly cherish every single comment, and i understand people might feel very nervous engaging, but you have to admit that if So Many People do the same thing, you end up in a situation where many good writers get demotivated thinking no one is reading their fics because they're not getting any engagement. and, while yes, people should write for themselves first, it's easier said than done when you're just posting into the void.

so, yeah, idk, maybe instead of complaining, we should be looking at making writing conditions better for online writers and encourage more diversity in fandom. you're always going to have trends and writing styles that you more ore less vibe with, that's immutable, but creating the conditions for more voices to be able to participate is definitely a very large factor in that.