#she's complex and does some fucked up stuff but also she's amazing and did her very best with the shitty hand she was dealt

[papergardener]

Sometimes I just want to throw hands about Lucretia. Like, in general and all the time.

She deserves love and peace and rest. Post-canon we see her just working all the time. She needs a vacation smh (and dammit I am going to make it happen)

[thecryptidgrey]

As an avid lover of his Dark Materials I have yet to see a BG3 daemons concept and that is a Crime. So here are some Thoughts below the cut :)

(Also something something about the representation of religion in HDM and how it correlates to BG3's depictions of faith and trauma. I have the Idea but I am too tired to do much with it; may return to the thought later.)

Shadowheart- a borzoi. Elegant, spooky looking, dramatic. Borzoi don't make much vocal noise but are very playful- instincts surpressed by Sharrens that thrive with the party (see that very cute night orchid scene specifically). Generally very sweet, loyal animals, like SH when you get to know her. Plus they look amazing.

(Act 3 spoilers- I also appreciate that she'll match it when she dyes her hair. Seems suitable dramatic for her.) Anyways, I also really like borzois and think it's be funny af to see in them trotting around in game like the weird willow tree ghost things they are.

Lae'zel- Githyanki don't have daemons; she finds them baffling. Very impractical to carry one's soul on the exterior, although perhaps an efficient companion in combat to have someone you share instincts with. After much discussion by the others she decides for them if she did have one it would be a red dragon. Nobody argues with that.

(She does decide she'd have to prove herself worthy of such a beast first, and if she trusts Tav admits that maybe she'd like if Vlaakith could give her a daemon bond with her future dragon. Would she get a dragon if she became Vlaakith's chosen? Idk, she would now.)

Karlach- Tieflings also don't have daemons. She wants one wholeheartedly. The party finds her a magic ring that allows her to summon a familiar- she gets a direwolf puppy as enthusiastic and adoring as she is :)

Said ring is obtained somewhere in the Shadowlands after she gets the cooldown upgrade so she can hug it as soon as she has it. Also it grows up absolutely massive. Its paws are the size of its head when it's a puppy. All the better for cuddling with!

Gale- Tara. Wizards, sorcerers, etc, tend to have magical creatures as familiars. This AU he had Tara since the beginning. He still summoned all the other weird shit he did as a kid, just with Tara's help. She is his voice of reason and holder of the braincells; he gets to keep one and it's all about Mystra. She's protecting the rest from its corruption. He gets them back when the party convinces him to tell Mystra to go fuck herself.

(I do chew upon the trans Gale headcanon sometimes. If anyone wishes to muse with me on how daemons, which are typically of the opposite sex to their human, would be incorporated into that, please do.) Edit- pls see comments for very illuminating interpretations of daemons and gender!! Very cool stuff!

Wyll- lanner falcon. Medium sized yet formidable bird of prey, the head of which was often depicted on Egyptian gods like Ra and Horus. Beautiful, noble and nimble creatures (good for a dexterity based build, which I focused on for him alongside charisma).

Mizora's pact significantly lengthened their tether; her devil-form punishment broke it and weakened their bond significantly, much to their distress- they hate to be out of vision of one another as a result. Halsin, Jaheira and especially my Tav Cerewyn helped him adapt to and understand the new tether.

Druids and their daemons are based on the His Dark Materials witches, who have significantly lengthened bonds. Druid bonds are just as strong in markedly different ways; each is more independent and their personalities more distinct. I will definitley expand more on this; I adore Wyll and really want to do his character justice. He's the knight in shining armour but he also made a deal with a devil to be said knight, so, y'know. His daemon should really reflect that complexity.

Astarion- luna moth (changed when he turned- he can't remember what she was before.)

Beautiful in a fragile, showy way. Short-lived. Desperate for the light. A silkmoth; silk for embroidery. He resents her for being such a reflection of the self he tries so desperately to hide yet is fiercely protective of her, so beautiful and soft and hopeful- moths exist to seek light, craving it like he longed for a knight in shining armour, like he yearns for the sun.

Cazador liked to pin her wings.

(I love my sad wet cat very much and so as payback for hurting my soul he is subjected to the tragedy that is my attempting to be poetic :) )

Halsin- bear. Druid daemons reflect their favoured Wild shapes. Strong, steady, reliable, protective. Optimal shape for snuggles, very nice and warm, overall :) vibes to look at and be around. (Bear is not present for That Scene. That Scene and daemons are not up for discussion, you degenerates. Thank you <3)

Jaheira- Eurasian lynx. Struggled a bit on this one- didn't think any of the wild shapes suited her as a daemon- so looked up the national animal of Romania (supposedly Jaheira's accent?) for potential inspiration. Got the lynx, which seems perfect. Medium sized, elegant, very dignifed and deadly hunters who inhabit forests. Notably very quiet and hard to track. Endangered, which resonated with me because of Jaheira's status as one of the last of the Old Guard, so to speak. Nocturnal, which I like because we meet Jaheira in the shadow-cursed lands. Ambush predator, which just goes with my Gloom Stalker build for her. Overall seems perfect for the legendary druid.

Minsc- Boo? Fuck knows man, Minsc gonna Minsc. I spent way too long thinking about Jaheira and now I don't have the energy left. If Gale can have Tara, Minsc can have Boo. I do love Minsc so I will be back to expand on him if the mood strikes me but also I think maybe I don't need to? Daemon Boo just seems Right. Will consult Minsc's backstory and update later if necessary.

Minthara- yet to recruit her so uncertain. Displacer beast seems apt, maybe? Something felinoid would really fit her tbh. Elegant and lethal, very aloof but loyal once you've got her. Input would be appreciated.

My Tav, Cerewyn, just in case ya'll are interested- a raven named Gwyn, short for something I haven't figured out how to spell yet.

Clever, calculating, very blunt and sarcastic to balance out Cere's generally stoic, quite, calm demeanour. Sharp eyed bird for a sharpshooter ranger's daemon. Cere is a beast master ranger/ druid of land multiclass; ravens are summonable both for wild companions and familiars and are a wild shape (Cere's preferred wild shape too).

A common species but not to be underestimated and generally unpredictable, which suits her. She romances Astarion and both she and the raven think he and his luna moth are the prettiest things they've ever seen. They're also very patient and perceptive of trauma due to (Extensive Backstory), so they're more than happy to take their time with earning his trust. Astarion is very appreciative of all the shiny things the raven likes to bring him, and also that it clawed one of Cazador's eyes out for daring to speak to Astarion like That.

CONC.; symbolism is fun and also painful :)

Daemon names are a work in progress; the muses gave me this then said lol nope and fucked off before I could ask them for appropriate names. Might post them with some sketches of the party and daemons together?

(I wrote this in Notes app at an ungodly hour with fuck all editing. It is incoherent, but if anything is genuinely incomprehensible, please tell me so I may at least try to fix it. Much love <3 if you made it this far you get to know I welcome suggestions for NPCs to give daemons next!)

First edit- I misspelled quiet so many times omfg

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

5 and 8 for Jason, and 19 and 21 for Tim?

Hello laufire :D I've seen you around in my notes a fair few times, thank you for the ask!

Jason first bc I am predictable 😌

5. First song that comes to mind for this character?

Dana Dan by Bloodywood! I had it as his theme song long before I started headcanoning him as religiously Hindu and the music video feels all the more appropriate now that I do!

There are a LOT of runners up, sixteen in specific I could name off the top of my head bc I made a whole character playlist for him and I listen to it every time I drive (burned CD in my car :3)

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Hoo boy, that competition is FIERCE lol I try my best not to talk about it in terms of complaints though. That's just not the energy I wanna have most of the time. That being said, since you asked for some salt ye shall receive hehehe!

I think the through line of the most annoying stuff is that people will point at something Jason did in his villain era and twist it wildly out of proportion into something unequivocally EVIL and then everyone else will (incorrectly imo!!!) claim that it's out of character and due to writers that hated him and we should throw it out.

The worst example of this by far is his fight with Mia Dearden

First of all, it was written by JUDD FUCKING WINICK so yeah this was not a matter of an unfavorable writer!! Second of all, I think it's a goddamned masterpiece of a comic, and THE successor to UtRH

So like you have the second Robin, born into grinding poverty, having to commit crime to survive, joining up with a vigilante mentor, and killing someone for the greater good, and then being utterly destroyed... and then you have the second Speedy, born into grinding poverty, having to commit crime to survive, joining up with a vigilante mentor, and killing someone for the greater good, and then growing from that to become a fully fledged hero in her own right! So similar and yet their paths have been so different with Mia healing and becoming even stronger and Jason having been isolated and pushed to villainous extremes.

Then during that confrontation each of them know about the other through hearsay and research, but have never met before. Each make their own assumptions and then prove that they are more than what was assumed of them! Jason makes a deeply flawed but earnest attempt to try and connect with Mia and she rejects it because she has the support he never did and therefore has already long ago grown passed what has destroyed and consumed him!!

And some people REDUCE their fight to just "evil scawy Jason trying to hurt poor widdwe Mia"???????????????????????????? Might I challenge those responsible to a duel of paintball rifles at dawn?!?!?!?

Kinda the entire fucking point of an antagonist is to let the complexities and nuances of the characters shine, and that's doubly true of antagonists that used to be protagonists! Mia and Jason are such amazing narrative foils for each other, and tbh, Jason himself is an extremely good foil in general! On top of that the Arrows have long been foils of the Bats, so Bruce and Ollie also foil each other in the background brilliantly as Jason runs rings around them both!!!!

I would need to start pulling up pictures of comic pages and write a full length essay to get into proper depth with it (And I do intend to eventually!!) but the way they each interact with that fight and with their own histories going into it is great for both characters and it's just... gah... basically my favorite comic ever and it's stuck in this meaningless tug of war over "characterization" from two sides who both mostly haven't read the damned thing, let alone properly dug into the analysis of why Jason did any of that or what it might mean to Mia beyond just being unpleasant...

I would KILL to get DC to let me write a Mia and Jason comic. There's so much fun shit that they could do together, no matter if they were allied or enemies, I'm gonna have to write it as fanfiction tbh, but the fact that Green Arrow (2001) #69 - #72 is completely ignored until someone wants to use it as flat proof of 'Jason bad and ur bad for liking him' is just...

Le sigh...

Anyway what the fuck was I doing? Answering an ask lol??

Okay here we go: Timmy Time!

19. A relationship in canon that you don't like?

Its gotta be Steph simply due to how badly it was mishandled. As usual with female characters, I feel like Steph's nuance and strength as a character was in direct conflict with how the authors implemented her narrative role as a love interest. The fact that Tim was flat out casually misogynistic to her for her whole introduction and it wasn't treated properly as a flaw is a deal-breaker for me. The amount of Steph's Wikipedia biography that's Tim's love life makes me want to commit arson. The ship itself in isolation from much of the canon may have potential, and the canon material itself isn't all bad by any means, but to me the relationship still feels like a net loss.

21. I do indeed write, uh, a considerable amount of fanfiction about this dude, so: What's your favorite thing to do in fics when it comes to this character? Something that you don't like?

I like making him more unhinged. Or rather, I interpret his early actions as having been spectacularly unhinged, and like to imagine he kept that energy up into later years. I'm so not interested in Tim being a well adjusted person tbh I want him in my wonderful little Freak 4 Freak ship being spectacularly messed up and incredibly weird with nonsensical ideas about how boundaries work

For what I don't like... Hmmmm, this one's a little hard to answer because most of that falls into the neutral category of stuff I have no interest in writing at all, and so I just don't lol

I suppose I don't like to do apologies, though I have written one. I like to get down into the messy depths of sympathy and resentment by having him talk about those conflicts with the allies that have hurt him. However, I think the direct contrition and simplicity of apologies has less and less appeal to me the more I develop as a writer. Apologies retroactively cement an idea of fault and blame. I think there's more room for exploration in having the characters talk through all of the components of the issue without ever having that particular kind of confrontation.

Thank you very much again for the ask!!! I hope this was a fun read :3

[thebestofoneshots]

okok so i just wanted to compliment ur writing in a way i haven’t seen others compliment it and it’s smth that i never see in any literature ever w fem MCs especially fan fiction. i love the way u give the MC a personality and life of her own. i like that’s he can stand up for herself and has hopes and passions that don’t just correlate with the men in the series. this is insane for fan fiction ESPECIALLY cuz it’s x reader. i don’t think u understand how much i appreciate it and it’s one of the reasons i most look forward to ur chapters. she’s not just some dumb silly, small, boy-crazy, and perfect mc and i love that!! teen girls are so complex and u right that so well. anyway love ya 🤍🤍

Aww darling this is so sweet!

And let me tell you, (this is most def gonna be a small rant) I feel like reader-insert fics have a really bad reputation, and I know there are factions of the internet that absolutely despise them but I have to say some of the best fanfiction I've ever read, have been reader inserts.

So, while I do know there are some bad ones (I've seen them and read them), I also think the genre has the potential for greatness. I mean, just think about it, it's kind of like playing a videogame in which you get to choose the character you're playing as, customizing and all that. But nobody goes around criticizing video games where you get to basically self-insert into the narrative, do they? (I mean I suppose they do but that's because people like criticizing stuff)

If Dante did it, why can't we?

Either way, what I mean to say is that I'm trying to be one of those incredibly good writers I've encountered who basically redeem the genre by being single-handedly incredible. Writers like @wkemeup @kquil @embrassemoi @maiden-of-asgard @lokisgoodgirl @lokischambermaid @pseudonymmcwriter @matchavellichor @buckyskorpion @myfictionaldreams and many many more writers out there that time after time deliver incredibly amazing content, that never ceases to amaze me!

I'm starting a Defense Club for Reader fics, who wants to join in?

Also... I'm so glad you guys don't think MC is "miss perfect", because she might be talented but she's also dumb and stubborn as fuck and weaving that into the narrative has been so much fun! I didn't want a Jane Doe, I wanted a strong female character with actual fucking flaws and character growth because I want and need to see her struggle and improve. The whole "she's magically talented thing" does not vibe with me. Even if she is a little bit gifted, but then again, she has to be if she wants to keep up with the marauders.

i love the way u give the MC a personality and life of her own. i like that’s he can stand up for herself and has hopes and passions that don’t just correlate with the men in the series.

Ugh this! So happy this is the impression it's giving because since the start, I tried to have the series pass the Bechdel Test because I want to accurately represent women in the story. And while yes, they are teens and of course, they're thinking about dating, they also have their own issues. And while this is the story of how Vixen, Sirius and Remus end up in a throuple, it is also the story of how Vixen ends up in Hogwarts and deals with her new life there, and that aspect of the story is just as interesting to me as the relationship drama.

Either way, I want to thank you for your nice comments, I've had one hell of a week and this most definitely made me feel a lot better. lysm.

Read Gilded Constellations

[prismatoxic]

Thoughts upon finishing dungeon meshi? I didn't expect to fall in love with this series and about to reread it all over again cause I know there's tons of details I missed on the first time around

many thoughts... head full...

i was spoiled for a lot of the stuff in the end because that's what happens when you jump headlong into a fandom without finishing the media, but there were some things that took me by surprise, which i was grateful for. i was shielding my partner from spoilers the whole time as well, because they actively upset him and i didn't want any of the stuff i knew to ruin the reveal for him. outside of one thing (laios becoming king), he actually avoided it all!

but, like, on the whole? fuck, man. there aren't many medias i hold in such high regard.

i loved every single character in the entire story. yes, even the ones who sucked; they sucked in compelling and well-written ways. i fell hard for kabru and mithrun, and love them so much, which surprised me. like, i could write essays about kabru, i fucking love the guy. don't let the chilaios posting fool you. but i also fucking adore namari and shuro, who seemed so insignificant in the very beginning. i loved every break we got to see them, or the canaries, or kabru's party.

and our main cast... izutsumi exceeded expectations in every possible way and i can't get enough of her. senshi's backstory was heartbreaking and added a depth to him i hadn't anticipated at all. falin, despite being fridged for the majority of the story, was such an important part of it all that she permeates every inch of the tale, and her survival by the end is an emotionally momentous occasion--and she's so incredible in the moments we get to spend with her!! marcille is so richly complex and amazing to watch, whether she's struggling or dominating the scene, and her love for those close to her is beautiful; we all know she loves falin, but the depths of her affection for the others, especially laios, was amazing.

and, like, you know how i feel about chilchuck and laios. but i will say laios's arc by the end of the manga blew me the fuck away. the things he had to sacrifice to save those he loved... the way he was revealed to hate humanity, yet we know he's always kind? that the people he loves most are humans? the way he did, in the end, accept his role as king, to guide and protect people?

laios doesn't get fixed by the narrative. much like falin, he merely changes, and whether it's for the better or not isn't always clear. but his friends love him, and he's respected, even though the oddities that have been pointed out about him the entire time have gone nowhere. and i think that's fucking incredible.

ryoko kui is a master at showing and not telling. from the small actions characters perform that are never brought up in the text to the things you can trace back through the story as having always been implied, the story remains deep and compelling all the way through, building an entire world and the lives of its characters up as it goes. there was not an inch of this work that wasn't given thought and care.

i loved dungeon meshi from start to finish. nothing i've been into in the past long, long while has been so consistently well done. i'm excited to see what trigger does with it, and what else ryoko kui might do post-canon, and perhaps most of all, where the fandom takes it. it's been such a blast to engage with and i'm so glad i gave it a chance.

[mekatrio]

literally so much has happened in tota jfsdjvnsjafk so here are some of my thoughts bc. So Much. has happened. and i think this is a good moment in gameplay to step back and review things before Even More Stuff Happens and i forget these thoughts. wanted to do this last night but i was too sleepy so 😗

where i am currently... literally just left the house and reached yulia city after lowering the outer lands like wow. the game was reallyyyy hyping up the battle with van to be The Last Battle but like theres no way right..... i didnt know what to expect but a one month timeskippy skip was not one of them so. this will be interesting. but ill babble more abt that later ummmm i think ill pick up from. natalia and her father making up.

that was a really sweet moment.... and Yes i did cry and also OMG the english voice acting in this game is amazing. i think its really cool how neither natalia or luke are the 'true' heirs to the throne although their situations are completelyyy different. though i do kinda feel like it came out of nowhere LOL while i love the story so far i do think it has some weak parts, primarily with its build up.. like the game is very dense with arte mechanics lore + politics and i dont think it does the best job of easing it into the story. theres a lot to take in and even now theres still stuff i dont completely understand like what. is an isofon. and also how come asch can make hyperresonances too Huh i thought only luke could cuz hyperresonances are when two 7th fonons collide and luke being a replica kinda made two 7 fonons in him but apparently no. what. huh. and also another instance i remember is like, as of Now i know that the score is a big deal, but before the legretta boss fight i didnt really get that cuz luke (and by extension me) was too busy learning basic societal conventions and the importance of the score was not one of them. so like yeah. still enjoying the game in spite of this but it could stand to be smoother

moving on um. let me babble abt guy. guy is a wonderfully complex character likeeeee the type of dude i love to rotate in my mind. skilled at hiding their negative feelings which is sooo interesting in conjunction with the time hes spent w luke and the fabres, bc he has a very valid reason to hate them, BUT he also genuinely cares for luke. probably. like its spelled out by the game that luke deliberately chooses to trust guy despite him having every reason to betray him and that is just SOOOO compelling and interesting like wow. and its also incrediblyyy compelling that guy is able to deeply sympathize with our main antagonist van bc they are both survivors of hod and its just like.... yeah very fascinating dude.

also interestingly enough i think tear's character narrative is the weakest to me despite being a character we've been around the longest? like shes similar to guy in that they both have close relations to the main antagonist, but guy had actually experienced the same thing that van had experienced, while tear had only heard abt it second hand. shes got her loss of faith in mohs / the score / the order going for her + her miasma sickness, but the story hadnt really touched on that tht much. with that said tho, i hold faith that the rest of the story will adequately flesh out the rest of her character, bc theyre gonna have to resolve her miasma sickness at some point and i think that's when she'll get her proper arc, along with asch's and van's characters which are also currently unresolved.

also my currently favorite moment of hers is from one of her training flashbacks with legretta, where in the present day she knocked out a monster that was about to attack luke, and in the flashback legretta killed a knight that attempted to attack tear. and legretta was telling her um... fuck i didnt take a picture so i cant precisely remember X( but it was something about the value of life, and showing enemies no mercy. but tear defied her and moved on from her teachings bc she chose to heal the monster bc it had children nearby. and that was a very sweet moment to me :') im looking forward to having more tear in the storyyyy

also speaking of legretta. jesus christ the sheridan massacre was crazy... and unexpected too. the antagonists are really crazy huh. like obvs they make a point abt freeing one self's from the score / "fate" but also like... the War Crimes.... idk ill have to see where the story is taking this but how it stands right now its like... compelling but also kinda weird because the question tota poses is... kinda theoretical?? but also not?? cuz a lot of whats being questioned is abt the score, which we, real world people, Do Not have a modern world equivalent for.. but its also not completely abt the score and is kinda like saying, "Is it ok to hurt others if it's believed prosperity will be achieved from it?" which is also kinda like saying "Is there any justifiable reason to destroy others?" and also when you throw replicas in there its like "For what reason are you alive for? If the reason for your life is already dictated, must you follow it?" something like that...... also im curious abt how the game will frame the church in the end bc like... ya mohs and the oracle knight are portrayed negatively, but our homie ion is shown positively like... its surprisinglyy nuanced but i wonder if it will steer around w that at the end. especially considering the numerous mentions of the church subsisting from donations which well... Can Be Problematic, to say the least.

speaking of the problematic church.... aniseeeeeee 🥺 at first i wasnt very interested in her character bc a young boy-crazy girl is a trope that im kinda sooooo over with.. but then it turned out that omg? anise isnt that at all but is actually a gold digger LMAO that is awesome?! and its very compelling how her reasoning for being one is very sympathetic, with how her parents are poor followers of the church and anise is trying to attain a better life for both them and herself. and the way we learn that shes not really boy crazy is really cool too with how she does a 180 and becomes completely (and justifiably) nasty to luke after akzeriuth, i think her meanness and brattiness is sooo awesome. but shes also very kindhearted like the.. oh....

this made me very teary eyed like T_T oh..... to see the first time we ever see anise crying is over someone who she probably used to be friends with.. and also how shes also been shown being sympathetic to dist, jade's former kinda maybe friend.. she is a very great character and not at all what i thought she'd be like initially, which im very thankful for.

also i fucking love her dynamic with jade it is SOOO awesome AND funny af cuz like, when u see these two you might expect a fucking, endearing older man looking after a younger child dynamic. but thats not what u get with these two at all, they are two very capable soldiers and jade is shown to rely on and trust anise and vice versa, and also jade is a very haughty and somewhat mean-spirited person, and anise can match with that perfectly. like when jade was being a well meaning douche casting suspicion on guy, which led to luke restating his decision to trust in guy, anise followed up with teasing jade like 'awww youre going soft on them teehee XD'. and also like this convo is so awesome

where epic observant anise points out to jade that 'Hey you care about these people dont you?' and its SOOO awesome that this is when jade realizes like 'LOLLLL apparently i do!!! 🤣'

and JADEEE like omg he is also a really cool character because like. during that moment where his sister speaks alone with luke to warn him 'hey my brother is Fucking Crazy and you are a Science Experiment so Watch out' i laffed bc it kinda felt like it came out of nowhere to me, but as the game progressed and jade's genius became more evident + when he admits this

thats when it really clicked to me that ohh..... jade is kinda Apathetic Af. and yet i find it very VERY cool that despite lacking empathy for others, jade is portrayed rather positively. like yes he's made unfathomable mistakes and has hurt others and yes he lacks basic empathy But he still cares about others enough to help everyone to save the world and he cares abt the party members in his own weird way like i think this is the first time ive seen a character that lacks empathy being portrayed positively like this and i think thats really really awesome.

i have a lot more to say but um i kinda wanna stop putting down my thoughts and play the game instead LOL so im stopping here yayy

[atticoratticus]

DISCUSSIONS OF THE JJK MANGA

Okay so I just got fully caught up in the jjk manga after binging all 220~ chapters in the span of a couple days. I went in knowing some stuff about the characters, nothing major, but enough to set up some expectations for the story

All I'm gonna say is that those expectations were absolutely SMASHED. The action is intense, the development is amazing, the characters are well written, the story is very well paced, and the antagonists are EXCELLENT.

Speaking of antagonists, I love Mahito. He very quickly rocketed to becoming my favorite character in the entire series. He does a bunch of fucked up shit and it's awesome, because he's so blatantly evil that anything else would be disappointing. Yes he kills some very popular characters, but it simply wouldn't be in character for him to just let them live. He's consistent while still being unpredictable. Every panel he was in, I knew shit was going to do down and that it was going to be a hell of a time reading it.

Geto (well, I guess I should say Kenjaku) is amazing too. I love how he's both manipulative and also very clear in his intentions. He offers a more deliberate approach to the antagonists of the series, being more meticulous in how he goes about tackling his plans. Learning bits and pieces about him and his motives as the story progresses is so much fun, because it leaves you guessing how he's going to go about making his goals a reality (and holy shit, I did not expect for him to rope in foreign militaries into making his goals happen.)

Of course I have to sing praises for the main characters as well, because they make the story what it is. Itadori is put into such an interesting position from the start, both by being thrust into the world of sorcerers and purely by being Sukunas vessel. The way he matures throughout the story is such a gradual change that feels so natural, and it's something I love to see. He's not a static character - he's always striving to improve and get shit done and it's amazing.

Megumi is incredibly interesting to me. From the start you kind of expect him to take the path of the classic troubled anti-hero (think Itachi or maybe even Sasuke), but as you get to know him as a character it becomes apparent that he adverts all of those expectations. He's not afraid to kill people if he needs to, but he doesn't revel in it. It's a necessary evil, and his view on morality is incredibly interesting. He's not explicitly good, but he's extremely far from bad as well. His mental turmoil when faced with the threat of his sister being killed for something she had nothing to do with was heartbreaking, and seeing how all of his effort amounts to practically nothing when faced with her death is as soul shattering for the reader as it is for him (especially seeing as his body was the one used to kill her).

Gojo is a character I probably knew the most about going into the series. Hes THE character in jjk, and it's hard not know who he is if you're even a bit active in the modern animanga community. But even then I feel like his character is very easily misread by many people. He's seen as this childish guy with a god complex by many people who either haven't gotten far into the series are aren't bothered to take a deeper look into why he is the way he is. Especially in the chapters looking back on his past with Geto, it's interesting to look at the parallels between how he acts in the current timeliness and how Geto acted before he became an antagonist. He's grows very subtly throughout the series while still staying very similar to how he was at the start, and that isn't a bad thing at all.

Sukuna, similar to Mahito, is very blatantly evil. I mean, how could he not be. He doesn't show up a lot like I thought he would, but when he does it always leaves a hell of an impact. He acts for himself and himself alone, but he isn't unaware of the people/curses around him. We've seen very little about his past, and honestly I'm so pumped to see a bit more into what shaped him into how he is in the current point of the series. Him switching into Megumis body was such an adrenaline filled moment for me, because holy SHIT things are getting serious. You're reminded just how much of an enigma Itadori is, because up until that point you're used to Sukuna not being able to take control of his body as he pleases. But now? Megumi is practically powerless now that Sukuna took control of his body.

I have a lot more thoughts on the characters and just the story in general, but that's just my impressions right now dhajdjjdj

Didn't expect to write that much tbh

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Excellent news from Grace Petrie's latest mailing list message!

I did watch Butch Ado About Nothing when it streamed on NextUp last year, it was one of my favourite shows I'd seen all year. One of the only three shows all year to make me literally cry (along with Josie Long and Ahir Shah, though actually that number goes up to four if you count Sam Campbell putting tears entirely of laughter in my eyes with a WIP), which of course is what you want from a comedy show. But it also made me laugh a lot, to be honest even more than I was expecting because while she's an incredibly experienced and talented performer, it was technically a debut comedy hour, I wasn't sure how strong her pure joke-telling skills would be. It turns out, she can do comedy better than many comedians, and she can write and perform songs and stories that'll make you cry (there are no songs in this comedy show, that's just a separate thing that she can also do). I didn't know before this email that the version I saw was missing some material, so I'm very excited to get to see an expanded version. Though even if she didn't say she'd missed some out the first time, I'd still be excited to see it performed again, just because it was so good that I'd love to see another performance of it.

In other news, her latest album, Build Something Better, has been out for a few weeks now and I'm still obsessed with it. It really love it, it's been a long time since I've gotten really into an album this way. In the way that when it first comes out, you listen to it from start to finish a few times, to get a feel for how it works as a whole (and this one really does work, the track order is clearly intentional and comes full circle from political cynicism to personal depression to personal optimism and then around to political optimism and it's lovely and beautiful), and then slowly get deeper into individual songs, and find something new to love about each one with repeated listens. For the first week or so I just had the first few tracks on repeat, I couldn't stop listening to The Best Country in the World and Meanwhile in Texas, but last week I've started to realize how Start Again might be the real masterpiece of the album, and have been constantly playing Earthwire and Cynicism Free and finding increased beauty and complexity in those the more times I hear them, and just in the last couple of days realized that actually Fixer Upper hits some lyrical highs that I barely noticed the first time around and English Culture has a melody that I can't stop listening to. It's amazing. It's an amazing album and I love having an album that's worth unravelling over weeks like this, it's been a while since I've heard a new one this good. Everyone should get her album. And watch her special when it streams again.

The email also mentions that her album achieved some sales goals, which is cool, I don't really follow the industry side of music but I definitely think if there are charts, it's nice if this is on there.

Oh, and then at the end of the email we got this:

She was here last year! And I saw her and it was one of the best live music experiences of my life. Possibly top ten in my entire life, which is a field with a lot of competition over a lot of years. At least top twenty. And apparently there's more stuff for Canadians? Fucking amazing.

[welcome-to-oslov]

Ok random question that tbh feels too personal now that I feel like I know Tilrey as a real person 👀 but.... what is your headcanon for things Tilrey discovers he *genuinely* enjoys sexually?

I guess topping, especially with women? He hated topping Malsha (even cried) but liked (I think?) topping Gersha (not sure about Bors). He physically enjoyed being with Vera, especially when he was youngest, but he felt a lil awkward that he wasn't emotionally close with her like he had been with Dal. He thought the straightup piv sex with Einara was mindblowing.

He mentions several times that he's hardly ever liked being fucked (even by Gersha, not sure by Bror?) but I guess he keeps doing it forever anyway? He was surprised by some things feeling good from the start with Gersha (the making out, the caresses?). He reminisced once about Bror's blowjobs being amazing. He liked the physical sensation of being spanked (me too!) but that worried him (it shouldn't!). I definitely don't think he actually liked anything he did with Davita, that was just trying to work through things.

Ultimately, I guess, deep down what turns him on is gentleness and emotional connection? As for more hardcore stuff, is that he can never even know if he'd truly like it (even though he does it, forced or not) b/c it's too tied up in the years of abuse and humiliation he had to figure out to survive, starting way too young?

Oh wow, that’s a very good and fraught question! I do have my head-canon, but I think readers should be able to make any interpretation they want based on the stories. Sexuality is such a complex thing, especially when you try to separate what is “natural” to someone from the effects of being abused.

All that said, my head-canon is that Tilrey does have a natural submissive tendency. It’s not all he enjoys—as you pointed out, he likes to top as well. It depends on the person and the situation. But I do think his enjoying spanking or even what he does with Davita and Einara isn’t purely the effect of abuse. He is working through the abuse, for sure, but he’s also trying to find and own the part of his response that is really his—to reclaim that part of him. I think we see a certain submissive tendency pre-abuse in his relationship with Dal, who takes the lead in their relationship and even dares/goads him into going to the rebel meeting. He feels safe with her and has a higher social position than she does, but within that context, he lets her push him around a bit.

One thing we see in Tilrey whether he’s being abused or not is an obsession with control. It’s not easy for him to relax, and I think that’s why he likes being in scenarios where he can give up control and be overwhelmed—but safely, within boundaries. When he has those responses within the context of abuse, as with Gourmanian, he struggles with them. He worries that he’s enjoying the abuse—which I absolutely don’t think he is, but it can be a hard distinction to make. So reclaiming those feelings outside that context is really important to him.

I’m about to write a scene that addresses his feelings about getting fucked, perhaps, re: Bror—I don’t think he necessarily dislikes it! But it’s another thing that needs to be reclaimed, because he’s so used to just enduring it.

[alelx2194]

This is gonna be some random rambling of me overthinking things too much for a gacha game that doesn't really deserve that much of my time. Okay so in the second arc of Fate Grand Order, seven bigass trees drop on the surface of the earth and simulate alternate paths of history, from freak ice ages to immortal rulers and superintelligent superhuman(superdino?) dinosaurs. Those trees have to be tended by a mage each so they can grow and establish that simulation as the next real thing™ but actually the plan is for a big surprise to pop up from the tree when it's done. Now, up to around LB5, it seemed like those bigass trees only "arrived" into those simulations alongside the aforementioned mages. Makes some sense, imagine leaving those bigass super magic trees hanging for the inhabitants to mess with. And we see what happens when they do, they're great powerups honestly. So at least two seperate cases the bigass tree is hidden so nobody can mess with it. But then. LB6 and LB7 happen. In those two the tree does exist in the "past" of the simulation and do get messed around with. Now, LB6 is a special case to end special cases with plenty of time fuckery to go around here, so maybe the tree is there cause of said time fuckery. But LB7 has no such time fuckery, and that tree arrived like 300 million years ago. Plenty of time for the authority over there to mess with it (big energy issues over there cause of reasons™) but it doesn't, instead a giant space spider arrived and ate it like 6 million years ago. Bummer for various reasons. Now granted the giant space spider is also super duper special in universe, so maybe it can ignore whatever told the simulated peoples of the first 5 stories not to mess with it. But I dunno. LB6 is a fun story overall, but the specialness of it does end up making me feel a little off. The queen bitch of the place is constantly praised for being absolutely amazing cause of the time travel and other stuff she did with her tree, but it feels like empty praise when the first 5 basically were forbidden from doing anything too different so the last two can be special. It'd be real funny though if they did. Sleepy mammoth probably isn't too good at messing around with the OS of the thing. Lonely goddess gets to maybe fix up her world more and remove a certain horny fire giant from the equation. Who knows what the hell the Chinese emperor would do with his. Indian catboy causes the planet to explode cause oops too many circles. Rich white boy with savior complex ready to thrust the problems of his big brave solutions to the people he forced them on finds that his winning card actually fucked off to space like 3k years ago oops?

[kelmping]

memory post incoming (last update: nov 7)

i don’t. remember much. pre-gowpenny. i only have a couple of memories, and they’re… weird.

i was born on december 13th, 2002. a friday. because fucking of course it was. my mom raised me on her own until i was about eight, at which point i started to tumble through the foster system. i don’t know what happened, but it was definitive that i would never and could never return to her care.

i know i was an undiagnosed autistic (which i. figured out later), along with some other stuff (anxiety, depression, adhd, ptsd, a separate complex ptsd diagnosis…) so i wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out i had memory problems. (the rest of my system does too, so.)

i know that i was kind of a loner, though. people tended not to like me, so i just stayed out of their way unless i needed something. sometimes that meant sitting alone to read at recess as a kid. sometimes it meant just staying low and quiet and hoping to whatever the hell is out there that nobody found me wherever i was sleeping on the streets.

suicide cw: i wasn’t. always. super crazy about being alive. i found out i couldn’t die the hard way. and even then, i tested it more than once.

i experienced psychotic symptoms, though not always with the same regularity. as i got a handle on my magic, they eased up, but i’d go through stretches that lasted for weeks without too much… intrusion? it was manageable. but then there would also be stretches of time where i didn’t trust myself with my wand and told my familiar to fuck off back to iowa. my friends were a really big help ;;;

jammer was my first best friend. k and sam started out as regular friends, but we all got closer as time went on. (i took after jammer a lot, heh. that’s social mimicry for you.)

he also had locs similar to lou wilson’s, with the bleached ends from mismag and the length from fantasy high.

k kept going by dream among the four of us, so i use their names (as well as she/they/he/xe pronouns) interchangeably.

i did have a silly crush on them. we dated, just like in canon. but i also dated jammer, and k also dated sam, who was… the label i would use now for the two of us would be an unspoken queerplatonic partnership.

i wasn’t really. as… giggly. as brennan played me being, when i first told philtrum i didn’t want to be magical. i was more, just. scared. apologetic. i was worried she’d toss me out on my ass with no help either way.

oh my god. you have no idea how stressful it was to listen to the first part of episode 4. i already knew i hadn’t given up my magic, but watching it play out was… whoof.

i think there were some minor differences between what happened in canon and my actual reactions. i don’t remember them very well, though.

i just. collapsed. after the whole thing with sam and the shadow. grabbed sam as tight as i could and broke down sobbing. and i was. really. really lucky to have such amazing friends.

the fuckingggg. stupid goddamn tournament arc. k is so fucking cool, and i was like. genuinely fucking scared i was gonna kill that guy from rosewood or rosewand or whatever the hell his school was called. that bravado was allllll me just channeling jammer as much as fucking possible. i was shaking as i got ready. probably still as the duel actually started.

the duel went differently than it did in canon. i guess the roll was low, or too high, or. something. i don’t know. but i didn’t just send that kid to hell, like, mentally. he was physically dead for between five and thirty seconds. time is. an enigma. and i just stood there shaking as he dropped.

as soon as i snapped out of it i rushed forward to… i don’t know, try to help somehow? but nurse stitchnit pushed me aside and resuscitated him. i almost sobbed when he started breathing again, even though he was coughing up blood.

the guilt of that ate away at me for a long time. it still does, sometimes. but he lived, and i’m very glad he did. and, frankly, glad he was able to tell me to fuck off afterwards. good for him. lord knows i deserved it.

needless to say, it was much less, uh. jubilant. i just wanted to sit down and be left alone, but i was lucky to have friends who understood that i both shouldn’t be completely alone and couldn’t talk about it.

jammer’s link with alexis had lingering effects that manifested both magically and as scars and chronic pain. most of the time he was alright, but overworking himself would wipe him out for weeks.

i love my friends. a lot. like, yeah, i was dating k and jammer, but. all three of them were my fucking family. sometimes we’d all end up sleeping on a couch in the common room, or in a single. twin. bed. with four teenagers in it. it was a mess, and physically uncomfortable at times, but i literally never felt emotionally safer than when we were all just hanging out and doing fuck all.

nurse stitchnit is like. almost a dad to me? like a surrogate, adoptive dad. he was always the adult that i trusted most. he offered to let me stay with him at the end of the school year, actually. i had plans, though.

the holiday special. um. the party? when i felt that darkness creeping up? instant panic attack. hence the, uh. freaking out. apologies for that.

pretty sure the icy water inside tad was, like. magical in the sense that it was cold enough to cause frostbite with too much contact, similarly to how human blood is hot inside the body. it “damaged” my hand like when i grabbed penfrew.

also. broken ribs. not fun. i was concussed too, and i just wanted my friends close, but it hurt to hold them too tightly.

i guess the “roll” of my timeline that dream did to heal me failed, because i remember that the recovery took a while and was pretty miserable. thankfully, i was also pretty out of it. and my friends and nurse stitchnit made sure i knew i wasn’t alone. they took good care of me.

i was asked at one point why i slept, like. curled up? i didn’t really realize i did it. something, something, autism, something, something, growing up really tall while trying to avoid being noticed Too Much. probably. i dunno.

at the end of the year, i went to stay with my friends for the three months of break. jammer, then k, then sam. i don’t remember a lot of specifics, but i know their families were at least nice.

i showed up in the background of some of sam’s streams by accident, while i was staying with her. i had a weird little mini-fanbase within her fans? it was. interesting. kinda flattering, kinda weird. that one comment section spell came in handy. (eventually i did a stream with her. it was a lot of fun, honestly.)

sam encouraged me to start my own channel, so i decided to document my experiences as a first-generation mage living with both psychological issues and genuine curses. it had a pretty wide range, from relaxed gaming streams and pictures of myself and my friends to dream’s multi-hour video essays about social issues that i’d helped write. (i eventually learned to separate that stuff out, though, considering i gained a sizable following despite still being fairly reserved.)

at some point, jammer effectively said this:

down the line, years post-gowpenny, we had a daughter named bailey. biologically she was sam and jammer’s, but all four of us were her parents. (sam was mom/mama, k was ren/renny, jammer was papa/pop, and i was dad.) we all loved her more than anything, and the day she was born was one of the best of my life.

at an indeterminate point post-gowpenny (after we’d all graduated), i lost my right leg from about the knee down. unfortunately for the others, i also Could Not stay still, and spent more time than i probably should have using them as makeshift supports. mostly jammer, since he was the closest to me in height, but sam and dream were just as willing to help me out. and i’m pretty sure stitchnit ended up needing to carry me a couple of times…

[mikeellee]

You think my dabi is more complex??? I thought you would see him as simple. My plan is to make dabi get revenge but not be as canon bc ....fuck you hori. Also he says screw you possum!

I love Fem Izu (hori treats Izu and women so badly that...I can't help by making Izumi! Hell he did an art where Izu is a girl and SHE IS SIDELINE FOR MALE OCHAKO who btw looks ugly as fuck)

Also your response about fictional ships is so level head thank you! I have meet so many antis that "you ship this fictional character with this other fictional character? DIE"

Ok I have two aus.

Doomsday theory is my darker one. I'm working on chap 1 where bk, aldera and A1 are in a trial.

Ok so before we go I need to say, I don't buy the whole QUIRKLESS discrimination. In this au, quirks are seeing the issue with people having different opinions. ReDestro is pro quirk but even people among his army are stating to see the dangers of quirks...the ration of healthy alive kids IS DANGEROUSLY LOW.

Izumi, an adult, is a famous photographer. She works for newspaper and has took photos of many heroes - never crossing the line of paparazzi even if some heroes do ask for more photos- does she hate heroes? Critical doesn't mean she hates them. There some good ones she supports but she is noticing how toxic the industry is.

I mentioned about the trial...ok. BK tanked his "lackeys" aka A1. All of them are ranking lower and well Izumi told HC- who IS pissed at BK and UA - how bk was in Aldera and...the shit show begins.

Aldera is not "we hate QUIRKLESS" but they sacrifice anyone and anything to put BK in UA in hopes he became the next am and they get fame ...like Somei. It backfires as they had quirkless students who moved away from japan. Healthy boys and girls who could have produced healthy kids...HC is anger.

ReDestro who is anti QUIRKLESS is also mad at Aldera bc aldera also sacrificed kids with amazing quirks who don't want to use their quirks and are traumatized.

Bk and Ochako are in hot waters. Momo, shoto, Iida, jurou, Toko and Shouji were spared the rest had their license destroyed, have a fine to pay, a heft fine and can't ever work as hero, supprter or sidekick...not even their kids can. They are shamed.

Bk who did all his canon stuff is now seeing by what he is. He has no back up plan...he is dumb enough to make threats to Izumi.

Izumi claps back at Aldera in a silent way as she can afford nice brand shoes while all the staff of aldera are using knock offs. Oh they noticed it...

This is chapter 1.

Izumi does have gigs too.

Eri's life is different here. Her grandpa is very much alive and a super doting one- he spoils her as to make up for what his foolish daughter did- Kai wants to use her blood but refrains as pops is not onboard on this idea.

Enters Izumi, who does photos for rich kids's bdays. Eri took a like to Izumi and ...grandpa has no problem in getting more photos for his sweet Eri.

(they are loaded like Momo maybe more)

Well Izumi and Eri bond (not in one day, it come with time) and pops sees this and....look, he is a healthy quirkless man but he won't live forever.

Eri needs a mother figure...

I repeat, this is not a decision he decides in one day. He took his time and Eri adores Izu and Izu seems good with the girl. She has no idea this is Yakuza.

A deal is made...Izumi as a babysitter (a deal that only happens thanks to Izumi be a woman) and she agrees after putting some conditions. Its Doable by both sides.

Kai is not happy. He keeps an eye on Izumi...he is plotting on what to do.

"you talked bout dabi and Izu" this fic would have Izu being flirted by more than one person bc...why not.

One thing you need to know is how Izu is quirkless here...but she is a martial artist. Dude she is mf Chun Li.

Izumi is even plotting to take Kai down. She can do IF SHE PREPARED HERSELF ANS STUDY HIS QUIRK AND HOW HE THINKS. AND HAS THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE.

(Izumi has to relay on the element of surprise. She has to make herself small, she hates it but this woman has patience)

Dabi is doing his stuff. Not sure if would be a villain or hero...

Then he fights this unhinged woman, who is as unhinged as him and shows no fear. Why they are fighting...she is in search for infos and dabi is in the way.

Izumi has no fear, not even if his blue flames. "There a lil girl who needs help!"

(Kai still wants to use Eri...and Izumi knows)

Dabi is amused and while he could burn her to crisp...that would be a fine waste.

If he is a hero...Izumi now will have a famous hero trialing after her. Dude will make innuendos (I mean, their fight is with her strangling on him as she bluffs saying how she has bombs looking so feral to his eyes...dude pop a boner)

If he is a villain ....he shadows her, super curious about this woman...who defeat overhaul ( yes, she defeat him quirkless...nighteye is seething) and well...dude pop a boner.

I'm not even the biggest fan of Dabi in terms of looks, but always found very weird how the anime constantly makes him look way more defined and with bigger muscles than he has in the manga.

Isn't a bit contradictory for his character to look super ripped? Horikoshi clearly drawn Dabi in that specific way because the story makes emphasis on his body being more frail due having a weak constitution, also contrasting him to the rest of mens in the family who got the big and strong constitution of Enji, Natsuo especially. The anime just lose all the meaning behind that.

And this is more of a personal preference but I find Dabi's body in the manga to look much more attractive and less generic than in the anime. Skinny guys can look attractive as well.

Hi @nyc3

Thanks for the ask bc it's so fitting as I was thinking about how the fandom sees dabi and mr. Possum.

Let me start with this. Have you seen how in the Tumblr the tags of dabi x reader and shig x reader there a HUGE contrast in quality? Shig is depicted as a creepy and weirdo incel while Dabi IS "I'LL STEAL YOUR WIFE😏"

now on a controversial take. I do like the idea of dabi losing his scars. Why? Would increase his quality of life...I find odd how everyone in LoV accepts Dr. Evil's word and never try to take a second opinion. Also, without the scars Dabi would look way more like Endy making his claim be more powerful.

(not a fan of erasing Shig's scars nor the "crusty" jokes. Shig is handsome with his scars)

Now onto your ask: I think Bones just like to make characters hot in a conventional way, JJK men got to be hotter than the manga. But I do notice how bones lacks in translate the manga to anime. Some of the scenes of the manga were done so dirty.

Dabi became hotter aka buffer bc of this. Btw, many dabi x reader like to make the reader have a healing quirk (it should be a trope by now) just so it can heal dabi...which no one account that dabi IS self destructive, a healing quirk is nice but he would do again...unless he changes his mindset (I'm trying to explore this in my fic called besties)

Ask yourself: did shig NEEDED to be buffaraki? Was afo the quirk really need you to be buff?

(was necessary for Izu to gain muscles? Maybe, maybe not)

So to answer: Dabi is attractive in any shape. His writing trumps over shig any day even if shig IS more attractive than Dabi.

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

The Thrilling Saga of Connie paying real life money for the Worst Sonic TV Show

Let’s begin with the simple fact that me and my sister, @birdsareblooming​ “Cori”, have both been hyperfixating on Sonic the Hedgehog since last March. During this hyperfixation, I was on Sonic Wiki to copy-paste song lyrics onto my stolen mp3s, and I called my sister in and pointed at the template at the bottom. 

“What is this Sonic Underground thing?” I asked. “It has one shit billion songs.” 

So we clicked on the page to read about it, and each sentence we read was a punch in the gut and this quickly became the funniest thing we’d ever read. Highlights include:

It looks like this:

“Sonic[...] is known to be a prince” 

Sonic has two siblings who actually have good characterization but their names are literally just Sonia and Manic. Like. Sonic split into two names. jesus christ 

Also Sonic and his siblings all share a voice actor. honestly Jaleel White does his best with it but 

“The three siblings possess enchanted medallions that transform not only into musical instruments, but also into weapons.”

“Some fans consider Sonia to be a clone of Amy Rose, minus the attraction Amy feels for Sonic.” YEAH I SURE HOPE IT DOES

“Manic is the most often captured of the siblings” himbo king 

Knuckles shows up, and for the first, like, two sentences his description is very similar to the game, and then you get immediately pulverized by “He has a pet Dinosaur called Chomps.”

Literally so many sentences on Sonic Wiki are lowkey salty about this show. The page features lines such as “Sonic Underground bears little relation to the often complex Sonic universe (including previous animated series, as well as Sonic comics and games), and shares only three established characters” and “many of the characters in the Freedom Fighter group that were in Sonic the Hedgehog are completely left out (including Tails).”

“The show met with mostly negative reviews.”

*checks air dates* It only lasted two goddamn months

So after seeing this we thought it was the funniest thing and we showed our older sister, @patema-introverted​ “North.” To our surprise, our at the time “knew nothing about this sonic bullshit” sister recognized the show. Turns out she’d seen trailers for it as a child and that was her sole exposure to Sonic canon. 

We were in quarantine at the time, so we ended up finding it on YouTube and binge-watching it all together as a sibling bonding activity. It was just as hilarious as we thought it would be- some stuff was legitimately good, like the sibling dialogue for instance, but good lord were the character designs ugly, the plot all over the place, and pretty much every song, um, not great. Also there was one episode that we skipped because it got, um, I think “stereotypical” is the nicest word I can use here. 

But the point is, we had a jolly good time watching it, and afterwards we binged all the other Sonic shows and bonded as a family. 

After quarantine, North and I go back to college. My roommate gets groceries at Walmart, while I get them elsewhere, so while she and North collect food I wander the DVD aisle to look at the cool movies and also dumpster-dive in the bargain bin for Cats (2019). I am also short as fuck, so the top shelf of movies I cannot see, I can only read the labels. 

So one day I was browsing the DVDs, and glancing over at the labels for the top shelf. I read over the final one before the shelves end. 

And then I stop, do a double take, and have a heart attack, because there is a label that reads “SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74″

I immediately climb the shelf but there aren’t any DVDs atop the shelf. However, the label is still there. I excitedly tell my sister and roommates, freak out with them a bit, and then give myself a mission statement:

I will buy the $4 Sonic Underground DVD from Walmart

I did not want it as a gift, I did not want to find it online. I wanted to walk into a store, pick up the Worst Sonic Show on DVD, walk it straight to the checkout, and in front of the cashier and God, pay for it with my own money. I did not care if it was the whole series or two episodes; I needed to do this for my own serotonin.

We would go to Walmart about once a week. Every time, I would go to the DVD aisle, and go right to the end of the shelves. I would stare at the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74 and empty space above it and wonder who the fuck was buying this other than me. I would occasionally ask employees if they had any copies in storage. I would build a shrine to Manic in my room. Okay, no I didn’t, but only because my RA would have murdered me. 

Christmas break comes, and we have to go home. We have a nice Christmas, and Cori and I infodump at each other about how we would make Sonic Underground a good show (note: we’re both galaxy braining) and also play Bendy and the Ink Machine. Fun times. 

When we finally get back to College, it’s late January- long story short we have a very long winter break. My roommate who gets food at Walmart got food without us the first week cause she showed up first, so we take her out to Walmart the first time in the year of our lord 2021 on January 29. 

I wander the Valentine’s aisle, immediately grabbing a sequin puppy. I go to the DVDs and see Animaniacs Season One, also grab that. 

And then.

There it is.

The Holy Grail. 

Above the label SONIC UNDERGROUND $3.74, is one DVD left. 

Already I am losing my mind. It’s roughly seven hours of episodes- I couldn’t find an episode list, but I think that’s half the show, for $4! And the cover is amazing. 

That’s a png of Sonic from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) with a medallion badly photoshopped over it. The medallion is too small. 

Manic is shoved into the corner. He doesn’t have his medallion at all. 

Sonia isn’t even pictured on the front cover, probably because they realized she was the worst designed of the bunch. I’m not ragging on her though, because she’s still one of the better designed characters of the show. Those background characters make me cry 

So you bet your ass I finally paid my hard-earned $4 for this shit. Upon getting home, I discovered that there was even wilder shit with this DVD than I thought. 

For starters: the bonus features listed are as follows:

Original Concept Art - did not expect that these character designs were the final draft

Storyboard-to-screen - did not expect they bothered to storyboard this 

Music Video Jukebox - that’s cute, they thought we liked the music 

Interviews with original screenwriter & executive producer - I fully expect the only questions to be “why.” 

On the left of this list are screenshots from the show, where people can finally see Sonia, who we Know™ is a girl because she is pink and has hair and also an actual body shape instead of just circles like her brothers. 

But wait... what’s that in the lefthand corner? 

That looks like some kind of robot. But it’s not a robot from Sonic Underground! That didn’t appear once. Why is it here? 

The mystery continues upon opening the DVD case: inside are advertisements for other collections, including other Sonic DVDs: two volumes of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) and the final episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog “SatAM” (1993)

First of all, the first volume of AOSTH has the exact same PNG of Sonic as the Underground Volume 1. Not even trying to hide it. But second... the second volume of AOSTH also has this robot on its cover. 

And THIS ROBOT IS ALSO DECORATING THE THIRD DISC IN THE SET?

So you may be asking, who is this robot? Is it from AOSTH or Underground?

IT’S FROM FUCKING SATAM. The one show that doesn’t have it decorating the DVD covers.

Also, not only is it from SatAM, it only appears in one fucking episode. Not a major character! AND IT HAS A DIFFERENT DESIGN ON THE PROMO ART, WITH HAIR AND FANGS.

Why is it showing up everywhere? What is going on? 

I have not yet had the opportunity to watch this glorious piece of animation, but I am so glad at the confusion I have felt upon receiving it. 

But before I go, I must share with you the best part of this DVD purchase. And it was flipping to the back, scanning the details, and discovering the exact runtime of the episode collection. 

Guys, gals, and enby pals, friends and enemies, Nintendo and Sega, the first Volume of Sonic Underground has a runtime of...

420 MINUTES.

Maybe I’m wrong and this IS the best Sonic show. 

[namtanlovesfilm]

axelle judges non bl shows > Remember You

summary: A genius detective teams up with a colleague to investigate a case that hits close to home, but the duo becomes entangled in a cat-and-mouse game.

where to watch: netflix | dramacool

grade: 8,5/10

pros:

- the acting was really solid. I had only seen petch in his role as gus in diary of tootsies which was EXTREMELY different from his role here, and even though he already demonstrated some talent in that, here he really impressed me. I loved seeing the shell around tanwa slowly melt away, and petch played him incredibly well & in a very nuanced way. bell was also great, though her character is less nuanced, she still did great in emotional scenes. but probably the biggest surprise for me was tay tawan, who for me was BY FAR at his best in that role. he managed to capture the volatility & fragility of the character SO WELL, while also looking mysterious & scary at first. it gets me really excited for his future roles bc it’s amazing to see him finally coming together as an actor. and finally, kudos to the actor who plays inspector thanat who was lowkey my fave & really well done as well.

- the characters were all very nice, as I said tanwa was a very compelling main character, paytai was also so fucking layered & complex I was crying over him, and aye was also a really great feminine presence that I enjoyed very much (even though everyone else hated it her for no reason than the fact that she was annoying for like 2 seconds at the beginning & that she’s a woman.) I even greatly enjoyed the side characters.

- the ship was really cute tbh. I loved how slowly but surely they evolved, with no drama, no betrayal, no weird morally grey stuff, just longing & trust. they had just the right amount of screentime imo, enough so we root for them but not too much so we can still focus on the investigation.

- the cinematography & filming was good, not life-changing but that was definitely a really nicely executed show for sure :)

- the writing was honestly really solid. the plot twists are weirdly not surprising at all, yet you’re still on your tiptoes for some reason? I think this show is more about watching stuff unpack rather than being surprised about the stuff that’s being unpacked if that makes sense, which changes a lot from most other thriller/investigation shows. and once again, the balance between the characters & the crime stuff was done really well imo.

cons:

- the beginning of the show is a bit slow, and it could’ve easily been 13 episodes instead of 16 without sacrificing anything important. it would’ve greatly helped the pace & overall made the show feel more polished imo.

- there were some inconsistencies that made me feel like this wasn’t the most tighly run show tbh. it only half bothered me, but does keep me from giving it a higher grade.

would I rewatch it: honestly yes

Overall even though the first few episodes are kinda slow, this is a really good show! I genuinely really enjoyed it & would absolutely recommend it :)

[joannasteez]

Headcanon request:

The guys going shopping with their girl while she is trying on more and more hideous clothing trying to make her man crack and say “what the fuck are you wearing?”

Not sure whose included when you say “guys” so I just did the Reyes boys since I only really write for them at the moment! Also, comedy isn’t my strong suit so hopefully this isn’t completely cringe LOL, if it is forgive me! Haha

𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒

Shopping is no simple endeavor, never has been, never will be. There are far too many components to just offhandedly consider the process easy. Color scheme, sizes, fabrics, the cut of the clothing, the energy of the store, the weather outside, all these factors and many more play integral roles in making or breaking your shopping experience.

But you never considered Angel to be such an influential factor, but he was, and his far off nonchalant mood was putting a damper on your shopping.

He’d been occupied by the bright screen of his phone, scrolling and tapping away vigorously, texting EZ or Coco or Gilly no doubt, or hell maybe all three at once, which was no problem any other day, but considering you wanted his insight on the things you’d picked from the lined up racks, it was becoming a tiny bit of an issue.

Every other thing you showed him he barely looked at, giving you a short nod or a thumbs up, and these outfits were GOOD mind you. Like dinner date, catching the eye of every other person around you good, baby making till 4 AM good, and he was giving you these half assed responses.

“I’ll fix you”, you thought. Grabbing a bunch of random pieces and leading him to the fitting room.

The first couple of outfits you put together aren’t horrible but they aren’t amazing either, but that’s purposeful because you want to see how much he’ll notice. And you’re actually surprised, because he does notice, the upturn in his brow telling you he isn’t that into the outfit. “Yes? No?”, you ask.

“Try something else”, he mumbles before tapping away again at his phone.

You try again. Coming out the fitting room. “What about this?”.

He looks you up and down, taking the time to look over the fit of the clothes and the colors before he speaks. “The bottoms don’t go with that top”.

You try once again, a smile giggle emitting as you throw together the craziest, most random things. ‘Time to up the ante’, you think, as you move from out the door, clearing your voice to catch his attention.

He double takes when he sees you, and it takes a lot not to burst into a fit of giggles. “You being serious? You look like a Y2K red carpet”, he scrutinizes and you tilt your head not sure of what he’s getting at, so he clarifies as he texts away on his phone. “That’s not a compliment baby”.

You roll your eyes, making quick work of changing the top of the outfit. “Ok is it better now?” You hands smoothening over the top.

He sits his phone down, brows coming together in deep thought. “You know that word people use to like describe stuff that’s unpleasant? Stuff that’s uneasy on the eyes?”

You think for a minute..... words unsure as they leave you. “Ugly?”

“Exactly”.

“Ass”, you gripe lightly. Throwing a nearby shirt his way before you make your way back to the fitting room. His voice carrying over toward you as you close the door. “Don’t even hang that top back up on the rack, just toss that shit in the trash”.

“Excuse me J. Alexander”, you mock.

He’s confused at your reference. “What?”

“Nothing”, you say, piecing another outfit together another outfit, more ridiculous than the others. “I have one more outfit, it’s good this time I promise”.

“I’m at the edge of my seat”, he deadpans.

You come out and it takes a moment for him to respond, eyes stuck on the jarring contrast of color and patterns. He rushes to you, holding your face as his thumbs pull at the skin just below your eyes to get a better view of them, expression dramatically worried.

“Are you color blind?”

You swat him away. “No Angel, what are you talking about”.

“You must be because what the fuck are you wearing?”

𝐄𝐙𝐄𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒

Ezekiel’s a bit different from Angel when it comes to your shopping experience, and so despite his lack of knowledge or interest even in the complex goings on of such an endeavor, he realizes that it makes you extremely excited. He gives as much attention as he can muster, which is pretty hard sometimes, especially when it’s been a long day and his feet are hurting or if his muscles are sore. But there’s still a bit of an issue when it comes to him, a tiny issue you come to realize as you walk through racks of clothes.

No matter what you show him, even if it’s not particularly your style, he gives his approval.

And it’s kind of sweet and endearing, because he doesn’t want to dampen your mood by expressing how he doesn’t like a particular color or pattern on some dress or shirt or another, but honest opinions are crucial to the shopping experience. He’s hindering more than helping and he doesn’t even realize it, so now you’ve got to fix the situation a bit. Nudge him a little into the right direction.

So you pick up a couple of ok outfits, some not so great outfits and a few that are just completely awful. Even looking at them as you lead him to the fitting room you’re wondering why they’re even in the store.

You change into the first outfit, coming from behind the fitting room door to show him, and his head tilts. Eyes taking you in but he’s unsure of how to express what he’s thinking. “It’s...... nice”.

“Nice?”, you ask before looking down at your self. And again, it’s not awful, the cut of the top and the bottoms go together pretty well, but the colors are just off. “That’s it?........ nothing else?”

“It’s cool. If you like it, I like it”.

“Forget what I like, I want honesty”.

You’re changing again, into something a little more ridiculous, lips turning a bit at this little game you’ve been playing to see how long it’s take till he cracked and gave you some truth.

You come out again. Twirling to give him a 360 view. “Yes? No? Be honest”.

His face is scrunched, brows pulling in dislike. “It’s alright......... would look a lot better if you left it on the rack”.

You gasp, tone of the comment taking you back a bit and he throws his hands up in defense. “What? You said be honest”.

You try again, upping the ridiculousness with some janky looking braided belt and it’s taking more and more not to laugh at how good you’re putting these bad outfits together. “Ok ok..... this is better I think. Thoughts?”

He gives a once over fairly quickly. “Are we still doing the honesty thing?”

“Yes!”

“You’d look better in a burlap sack”.

There’s a near by piece of some cotton shirt that lays idle, you throw it his way. “Harsh......”, your hands slipping off the ugly belt. “And for the record, I could pull off a burlap sack if I wanted to”.

He nods. “Exactly my point. Anything is better than this”.

You’re turned now, slipping of the belt and walking back to the fitting room. “Who knew Mr. I Only Wear Plaid and Sleep in my Jeans was such a critic”.

“At least I match”, he shot back. Readying himself for the next outfit.

You’ve completely thrown caution to the wind, mixing patterns and completely destroying any sense you have of color theory. Patterns clash and the contrast of the color is just despicable at this point. A four year old could do better than what you have on, you’re sure of it.

You step from the fitting room, giving a strut and face that just might make Naomi Campbell proud. And honestly you were kinda selling it..... till Ezekiel really took a good look at you. His features dropping.

“Ok babe forreal, what the fuck are you wearing?”

Taglist: @appropriate-writers-name @est1887 @xladymacbethx @blessedboo @brownsugarcoffy @elektriknachosss @queenbeered @sesamepancakes @superhoeva @witching-hour @noz4a2 @withmyteeth

[vivithefolle]

Hermione is a terrible friend to Ron

Hi Viv (I hope you don’t mind that nickname, sry). As you, I am a big fan of Ron, but not Ronmione (especially not Hermione). Even though the slowburn is amazing and they have great chemistry, I think Ron deserved much more. But anyway, I’ll start my point with the plot, cause you can see plain author favoritism (especially after book 3, probably because JKR did it out of spite cause a small portion of fandom liked her bushy hair character then; she was annoying and boring (look at the moments in PS before they became friends and how Harry sees her, and in CS where she didn’t had time to have much positive moments cause either she was fawning over Lockhart or being a stone, or POA)) towards Hermione (she doesn’t get an arc or any development, she is just a teen who reads and studies a lot, which is used to get some deus-ex-machina scenes to get the trio out of trouble). I think it’s sad, cause she would have felt much more human to me, if she had AT LEAST ONE moment where she had to make amends and grow (if you think about the Firebolt and Scabbers, she apologized but she stills stay the same until the end) and not to bring it all down on Ron who constantly grows and never ceases to amaze us. Hermione was always nudged by the plot to portray her menacing/vindictive actions in a positive light, even her traits too (The hat considering Ravenclaw and not Slytherin is an example of that). The plot wants to keep the trio together, but it’s much more favorable towards Hermione than it is towards Ron when it comes to fights. When she does something wrong in plain view she just cries.

Anyways I am going away from the point, so lets begin from the start. I think Hermione is a really bad friend to Ron, and that she should be feeling lucky that he considered remaining friends with them after she took some stuff to far. Still that makes Ron even a more amazing person, to rise above her faults( and his) and remain there for her, being the best that he can be. Most of the incidents between them (the only exception I can think of now is the Yule Ball) were Hermione’s fault. Hypothetically “you” in the following sentences is Ron. Imagine your best friend’s pet “killing” your own, even after the thousand times you told her to keep her pet away from yours, and still having audacity to not apologize (even that nudge from plot by Hagrid who said that they should consider their friends more than brooms and pets is a terrible way to nudge like Ron (and Harry with the Firebolt) are wrong to be mad with Hermione. LIKE WHAT THE FUCK.). Imagine being hexed by your best friend,  because she drew you into the arms of another girl, just because she doesn’t think that you have that amazing Quidditch skills and that Harry used Felix Felicis to cheat (even though some credit goes to Ginny for telling him that Hermione snogged Krum). Imagine your best friend not thinking it’s possible for you to get a prefect badge (and hell even by the plot it’s nudged to be Harry’s title, but DUMBledore didn’t want to overwhelm Harry with more responsibilities). “Ron needs to grow up in order to deserve Hermione” my ass. As a character, he already outshined her. I would have liked for the scenario after the canaries to be a Hermione’s arc where she needed to realize that she is not that great friend towards Ron and that if she doesn’t start acting up better, she would lose him to someone other (but itsy pretty bushy haired JKR self-interest can’t have a character arc, can she).

In the end, I get that they are teens and everything, and teens don’t know how to deal with emotions sometimes, but still the fanon conception of Hermione is laughable.

I first started writing this post thinking that even ‘Ron is a better friend towards Harry than Harry is to him’ but I can’t remember other than DH moment where they had that big fight (I can’t use that prefect moment where he laughed when Fred’s thought popped up in his mind about Ron getting a prefect badge, cause he was ashamed after). I still believe that if Ron had 'normal’ friends or just had been duo with Harry, he would have even grew into a better Ron (if that’s even possible). I would write some fanfictions, but I am a terrible writer and give up cause I have no idea how to navigate a long plot. But, who knows, maybe I will pluck up the courage and give it a go :).

I hope you are doing well in these pandemic times ^^

———-

First off - yes, I agree with your point that Hermione is not that good a friend to Ron; and yes, her character development is really, really, really lacking, practically nonexistent. Same goes for Harry and Ron’s friendship, Ron pulls a lot of himself into this friendship and Harry mostly takes, takes, and takes. Which becomes “fun” because then Hermione gives to Harry too (more than she gives Ron, because there’s no romantic insecurity with her friendship with Harry) and Harry… also takes, takes and takes. Harry doesn’t do much for Ron and Hermione. He just receives. You wanted an example, well how about ALL OF FIFTH YEAR when Ron was being bullied to hell and back and all Harry had to think about that was “at least he gets to play Quidditch :(”, yeah fuck you too Harry. This is why I love fanfics where Ron is at the center of an OT3-1 and gets to receive a monstertruckload of love and happiness and everything is beauty and perfection- ahem, yeah…

Honestly, it’s just… it’s just that Ron couldn’t “grow” because Hermione “needed” the spotlight more in Rowling’s mind. It’s not really Hermione’s fault, she doesn’t choose how she’s written, she’s a fictional character. It really is Rowling’s bias fucking things up and making her out to be some superheroine… and, of course, if you just breeze past it without thinking twice on it you’re just going to think “oh Hermione did that ok” instead of “wait now Hermione did WHAT”.

It’s kinda fun, really, because I just… I like Romione for the sake of nostalgia it feels. I do like their tender moments, rare as they are, since Rowling likes STUPID POINTLESS DRAMA better. But I still like Romione… I guess, I’m just too attached. I’m planning on writing some more Romione fics, but I already have other projects to finish first. Honestly, do it, take the plunge, write some Ron-centric fiction. It doesn’t have to be a super long one with a hyper complex plot, one-shots and drabbles are a thing. The only way to get better at writing is by writing, so just try!

I wish you well and hope everyone you care for is doing fine <3