#so I'm gonna say a cult really REALLY wants her but she may have been stolen by a chaotic individual of neutral or good alignment

[illegiblewords]

Dungeons and Dragons-related thing! Heroforge updated, so I decided to try my hand at some Abyssal tieflings. From top to bottom gave influence tied to Demogorgon, Pale Night, Yeenoghu, Obox-Ob, Orcus, Pazuzu, Zuggtmoy, Fraz-Urb'luu, Baphomet, Graz'zt, Dagon, and Juiblex.

[oshinohoshi]

Oshi no Ko Chapter 165 thoughts

At this point we're just suffering.

I cannot get on board with Hikaru as a villainous mastermind. The fuck were we doing for the entire movie arc where he was shown in a sympathetic light? Why in ch 155 did he supposedly have a change of heart only for a plot twist to wreck everything?

It's not that Hikaru would have been absolved of responsibility for Yura's murder because he was abused. It's just that before the stupid Nino twist he wasn't an undeniable monster

Akasaka created someone more interesting, human, and who was flawed in a way that wasn't over the top, and then yanked it away

You're telling me that sad boy Hikaru who blamed himself for Ai leaving him began to manipulate Ryosuke and Nino mere months after the breakup? Please

Anyway... grief is terrible. This chapter was miserable to read

Some people are using this as an opportunity to shit on Kana which is ridiculous. Is slapping a corpse in front of his family not great? Yeah. Does she have every damn reason to? I'd say so

Heartbreak is not just a phrase. It actually hurts. It can cause chest pain, headaches, shortness of breath. There's something called broken heart syndrome which can be caused by grief or stress. It affects the heart's ability to pump blood effectively

Point being that grief is physically and emotionally painful and a breakdown is totally normal

I agree with Gotanda's reasoning about releasing 15 YRL, however the film is now inextricably tied to Aqua's death

Where is Ai in all this? Why isn't she on this poster??? I thought this was a film about her life

Her name may very well never be mentioned again despite being the backbone of this story

This is why cult leader Hikaru is the best character. He's the only person who has remembered her since ch 155

Judging by her white stars, Ruby is probably going to pull through. While I don't want a nihilistic end, we have ONE chapter left. Can this really be earned?

And can it be done in a way that doesn't accidentally portray Aqua's murder-suicide in a positive light in the sense that Ruby living on and achieving her dreams reinforces what Aqua died for?

Next chapter: So here we are, very nearly at the end of all things. I am glad you are here with me, OnK fan community. It's been a journey.

Send your good vibes to marillust, a super talented fanartist, who is really sad about losing Aqua. They're cycling between depression and denial and I really get that.

I feel like I have to defend my dislike of this ending by talking about previously established themes, bad twists, etc. in order to not be shouted down by the "what did you expect? This was always a tragedy" crowd, but I'm just gonna say it.

I wanted Aqua to move on and be happy! I wanted Ai's wish for her kids to grow up healthy to be fulfilled. I wanted Aqua to call both his mothers "mom." I wanted him to value his life and see that the people around him loved him and needed him.

I didn't want Ai's death to be meaningless. I didn't want Ruby to lose her most important person. I didn't want Miyako to lose her son, Kana to never get to say "I love you," and Akane to never rebuild her relationship with Aqua.

I wish we'd gotten this and this and a spinoff manga about this.

All right, it's fine. Deep breaths. Time to stare at Ai art until I feel better. Here's a sketch Mengo did of her riding a dragon. Isn't that cute?

[theplottdump]

EEP! My story queen wants to yap? Then yap we shall baby girl!

1, 7, 8, 10, 13 (or ya know, maybe a selection of these since ya girl went a lil wild and chose a whole bunch 😌)

1. Do you hide any secrets in your stories that only a few people will find?  

Scully you're not gonna believe this

7. Do you have any characters you believe might be misunderstood by your readers?

CLAP - CLAP CLAP CLAP Say it with me now -

OUR PHANTOM IS A NEW CHARACTER WE HAVEN'T FULLY MET YET 👏👏👏

8. Are there any plots or characters that have changed dramatically since you initially began writing them?  

(Proto-Poppy's Cult Fit circa late 2023, Root test shots from May)

For this arc everything has been pretty steady. I knew what information I wanted to get across, what points I needed to hit as set up for the Finale of Gen 6 and Gen 7. The biggest change has probably been the Bar scene.

Originally I had it planned as a little dance hall scene. The girls diffuse tension by getting the town to do a little choreographed line dance to Beyoncé's Texas Hold Em. But I didn't want to pose out a line dance, it felt like too much work. So I said hey- what if i made myself do three times that work instead? And it turned into a flashback clip show that took me three weeks to complete, but I think in the end it was way better cause I got to hop back and forth and show little scenes from the past. Revisiting the High School Prom post explosion was probably my favorite.

One Other Change: I originally planned the Christmas Ranch to roughly mirror the layout of Magic Town, with the Stables as the Big Top and the Gazebo as the Carousel. The original plan was to have Poppy chasing the Phantom as the ridiculous environment of the Christmas Ranch slowly morphed and twisted into the Carnival. This got scrapped because I lowkey forgot I wanted to do that, and yeeting her into a canyon felt more realistic than following a ghost for 10 miles back to the Ranch. Eventually she was supposed to catch up to our Masked Man, turn him around, and snap herself back to reality seeing she had turned around Alejandro in the real world.

( horse portkey! horsekey! )

This was scrapped because 1. It's a little confusing since the Phantom is NOT Ale. (see Question number 7 again) and 2. It morphed into more of a "I need to find something to get out of here before I'm corrupted" situation, so there was no reason for her to chase the Phantom any more.

Shoutout to @doctorsimcraft for suggesting Ale dropping his glasses and turning it into a little inter-dimensional meet cute instead.

And if you wanna be a freak about it like I am, technically he touched her hand before she could touch the glasses. :')))

10. If you could choose to be one of your characters for a day, which one would it be? 

SUNNY. I wanna explore underwater caverns with my shitty lil mermaid bestie.

13. What characters do you feel most connected to? Why do you feel connected to that character?

I'd say Poppy. Not like on a personal - IM JUST LIKE YOU / YOU'RE JUST LIKE ME - level, but on a - "I really like this character and oh baby girl you are just getting started I'm so sorry" way.

Also she's fucking on to me man.

[mcbride]

Daryl Dixon Rewatch S1E01 - L'âme perdue

i have some thoughts, but before we get to it and explore the episode, i just wanna point out that the writing is what stood out for me. after seasons of mediocre writers and writing on TWD, it felt like a breath of fresh air. that ain't saying much, but it's a big improvement. also the cinematography, plsss!!

i will digress, this will be long, boring and full of spec for s2!!! read more after the jump...

the best part of it for me was Daryl. Daryl is finally using his words, keeping some things close to the vest he ain't no longer wearing, but he is actually speaking up, telling shit how he sees it, being his observant self, and not taking that religious crap bullshit they trying to feed him. he is also done with it all, and his goal is always and will always be getting back home.

"You deserve a happy ending, too." the ep starts with Judith voiceover, which is repeated in Daryl's feverish dream, and once again by Laurent. Carol isn't mentioned directly, but you can feel her presence throughout the episode. it's sort of a quiet energy that hangs in there whenever Daryl mentions he wants to get back home, he needs to use the radio, he needs to get to that possibly active port. and of course, her smiling face in his dream, with one of the last things he said to her "it's not like we are never gonna see each other again."

"witchy shit;" "dead priest and creepy kid," "you've been fucking with me," while putting his finger in Isa's face and storming out to borrow some cool weapons will always be hilarious to me, but it also felt like genuine Daryl is back. this is the Daryl we fell in love with. he is changed by his experiences, but he is still the OBSERVANT dude with the sass and zero tolerance for bullshit. i like this Daryl, so i will thank Zabel and Norman for bringing him back to us!

NOW let's get to the spec: i think the first episode tells us all we need to know about what is really set to happen, it's so in your face, you may not even notice and just assume they are talking metaphorically - i'm talking about the nuns, the nest, the kid, the whole conspiracy you shouldn't see coming.

for some reason it will probably never be clear, they think Daryl is the one, the messenger to deliver the new Messiah, and he's got an important role delivering the kid to the Nest, like he is the only one who can do it. i mean Isabelle watched Daryl fight and lose, and now she thinks he's Messiah's protector. PLEASE, bitch! maybe he is chosen simply because he is American, he made it across the Ocean, he must be special??? ok, i'll buy that.

now when Mother is dying she agrees Daryl is the one (to protect Laurent) and says "reasons are everywhere." YES, there's a reason Daryl had to come back to protect the kid, there's a reason he doesn't get on that boat to return home, too - and that reason is CAROL is coming. he cannot leave, she's coming to him, and i believe that TOGETHER they are the ones supposed to save Laurent.

WHY Carol, you ask? Daryl just may be to close to the Nest, their people to see them for who they are - some sort of cult who believes "the kid is the cure for a sick world," Mother's words. but how are they dangerous??

they literally tell you, if you're listening. the monk, possibly Losang, says the kid is special, says the kid is the NEW Messiah. Isabelle tells Daryl they need to take the kid there cause he needs safety, teaching and nurturing UNTIL he is ready. ready for what, Daryl asks. ready to be the new Messiah and lead the REVIVAL of humanity.

now Laurent said they had walker!Father Jean there because they were waiting for him to rise again. say what, kiddo? but Father can't rise again, cause he ain't special, he ain't the new Messiah. so there you go, i think the Nest, they're planning to turn Laurent and wait for him to RISE again (be the cure) with help from praying and poetry. maybe the good guys ain't so good.

and this is exactly why the kid is also valuable to Genet. perhaps she also wants to test whether the kid is special or not, knowing his history.

i can see Carol making it to France and figuring out their nefarious plans in like the first 5 mins. and that's why she needs to come to help save Laurent. that would pretty much bring their story full circle, and allow them to deal with the guilt and the trauma of not being able to safe loved ones.

[crossover-enthusiast]

EXPLAIN YOUR CULT IDEAS AS MUCH AS YOU'D LIKE MY DEAR FRIEND

-📺 (ceaarl/gang-with-hatz)

YAYYYY THANK YOU SO MUCH @gang-with-hatz

(under cut bc. This got really long)

Okay so I already made a post about my ex-cultist Mr. Wonder theory so I won't go into that here, HOWEVER-

I'm going to ramble about this specifically because guys. Guys you're missing the prime angst with John's wife guys-

First I'm gonna get Actor out of the way tho

This one is mostly on vibes + clothes, plus him being the only character in SM 1 to not have any sort of major significance as of yet. Also him being a movie star goes with a lot of the cult having jobs/occupations related to things kids like, if Actor's in the cult his movies are prolly meant to target the older teens/adults instead

Also his eyes do the funny when he gets spooked by Ooga Booga in the first episode

Like genuinely Why Is He Built Like That

OKAY NOW ONTO JOHN'S WIFE

John and Lila have a lot of parallels: traumatized widows with a single child. Hope is dead, and John blames himself. Skid has frequently brushed with death in part due to Lila's irresponsibility. They both have a friend who's dumb and reckless but ultimately cares about them

So logically, this would mean that Lila's husband and John's wife would also have parallels, and if Skiddad's part of the cult, then...

I will absolutely admit this was just a silly crack theory/AU-- until I saw her photo from the ARG. It's just incredibly striking to me that the first photo we see of John's wife, the first acknowledgement of her period, has her with her eyes out of frame, not visible, just like Skid's dad. Her clothes, too, a cyan jacket with a dark green shirt and gold hairbands. It just screams cult to me

I'm not saying she was like, the cult's co-leader or anything, but I think she's involved, somehow. Imagine the absolute crushing irony there too, that John has spent so long trying to find out and stop the people that have taken his daughter, his home, his life away from him, only to find that his beloved wife was one of them. That'd just be soul crushing.

Also while I'm yapping I want to briefly touch upon Rick and Frank since I included them here too

I don't think Frank's in the cult. His literal entire thing basically goes against the cult since he actually gives the kids back... eventually. HOWEVER, I've been really warming up to the "undead Frank" theory, particularly the idea that the cult revived him ala Frankenstein's Monster to use him for their own purposes, but Frank still had his own mind (either metaphorically or literally) and fucked off because he didn't want any part of it (I would also like to thank @nonbinaryshotgunman for giving me that idea)

TLDR: he knows the cult exists, but doesn't know the members or what they want

Now for Rick... genuinely there's two ways I see it: either the comedic route where he joins the cult in the last episode as a "job", or the more serious/character focused route where he's a former cultist, and his depression and apathy stem from his time in it

I've just been thinking about it and like. He's worked for Evermore. He's worked at the Candy Club, which we now know is owned by the Candy Dealer. He's worked at the mall, which is a hotspot to sell Happy Fellas, which may or may not be connected to the cult. The only job Rick's had in the show itself so far that is 100% not connected to the cult is when he worked at the theater, and Radford more than likely helped get him hired

Somehow someway Rick keeps getting jobs that are in some way connected to the cult. I feel like it has to mean something. Plus again, main associated color is red, cult colors. Something I also find super interesting is that his toy counterpart in the SM 4 credits has gold rims on his shirt, which aren't actually there in his normal/casual outfit, implying his original design had them at one point but this got changed sometime before the TT merch ad

Okay I'm done yapping (for now). Thank you again SO so much I LOVE just talking about theory shit

[colourfulbookdragon]

Heavy spoilers for season four, finally of the magnus archives

152 a grave diggers envy

Omg they all need to get allong no one fear will be able to do a ritual because some one eles will always want to stop it that deffinitly not what I was sposed to get from this episod but dam it's what I came to they will never be able to properly compleat a ritual it just busy work as they feed wait fuck that can't be right cause it ruins like so many of my other thoerys but they won't get allong I'm gonna have to wait and see arnt i. I love hellen and the buried Hezekiah just like the combind slow decent that Jon's compared to Helen's quick fall into madness jon relaising that he has to be the one to let go of the guilt witch I don't want him to do but we know he's capable of with the people he left in the coffin but should he and will he.

153 love bombing

Cult ,cult, cult, people right just weird sometimes and not worshiping fear love that confirmation also daisy and jon being friends and her protecting him from Julie and Trevor who r also back and just like you stole our guide just to kill him wow.

154 bloody Mary

No, let them be happy please i know ther not it's deffinitly not going to be them probably not daisy either leaving Melanie and Basira as options honestly not sure witch of them it will be important can imagine both Melanie more so she is verry desperate to escape jon knows this so he may or may not tell her

Also my Elias is Jonah theory has just been ruined because apparently he was just a normal human who got promoted unexpectedly wtf did the eye think he would be easier to manipulate did he find one of Jonah journals or something that gave him more knowledge is someone eles pulling the stings he relly doesn't seem like the type to let anyone else but his perceived god tell him what to do but he's just a normal human apparently and being head gets him this power idk I spent so long with my theory it feels relly bad to just let it go all my evidence and he's just not Jonah Magnus he gets allong so we'll with the imortals to why

155 cost of living

Go, Melanie gets your freedom. i also really hope jon does not end up in a situation where it's his life or the world because that seems to be something hinted at in several starments

156 reflection

Martin is promised u u will be missed. Don't do it. Go be with jon or something. Do not kill yourself, so u need to live

157 rotten core

What the fuck i have no ideas good for Melanie and Georgie thought let them be happy together away and secret form the fears they r kindof immune to the fears now cause Georgie never could feel them and Melanie is under the eyes protection even though it no longer knows she exists that's nice for them i guess they will probably make it to the end alothgh that dose mean bassira and daisy r going to suffer more now. But pertaining to current events, I am as clueless as jon, and he already said any theories I have about what's happening

158 panopticon

I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT I WAS RIGHT

They dared to make me question myself, but I saw the signs, and I was right. The body hopping was a complete surprise though, but still he has the brain or shiuld i say eyes and that's what matters also I was right that also matters eliase is Jonah and I was right

On to the more seriuse stuff Martin is in the lonely probably going to be harder to free him then it was to get daisy out but hopefully still possible what Elias/Jonah will for in that time will probably be bad though so hopefully they make it in a timely manner also daisy no idk quite what happend other then her giving herself to the hunt to get Trevor Julie and the not them /not shasha but no also bringing back the not them /not shasha probably would have had more of an impact if the people who knew her were available to fight her /them also the lightner with his blood on it joke was funny but the fact that it is currently his death day as I'm lisineing is just ill timed do u think Elias wanted jon out of the prion so he wouldn't accendntily see his plan or that he is Jonah Magnus (wich I was right about) on acedent cause he knew that he would be more archivist then man

159 the last

Did jon kill petter is that what just happend he didn't answer and he kill him because of the pressure to keep quiet at least both Martin and jon are making it out but they deffinitly need some therapy rn right what the hell is Jonah s plan and how did he get jon how could peter leverage him I guess I'll find out

160 the eye opens

What the actual fuck remember when I said a ritual won't work unless every fear agrees I was half right and I verry much wish I wasn't. Why eliase why I know why it was explained well enough jon was just convenient and he got chosen to do this and be forced to bring about the Apocalypse of fear that will reach everywhere. dose Jonah even win in this situation will he even like the results he has brought oppon himself or will he be suffering just as much as everyone eles and be forced to a life of fear and regret I hope he regrets it and wallows in self pity at the things witch he has caused. Basira and daisy are fucked martins with jon maby that will give him protection mabey It will make things worst for him Melanie and Georgie should be as fine as they can be with society collapsing around them and Melanie being recently blinded hopefully she avoids infection and allready has mobility aids for her everyday life every one else is fucked are the other avatars going to have protection will they rule over parts of the world or get destroyed by each other because they can't cooperate in a world only they control. Also, so many quotes that I didn't realise were from hear were in this episod alone. The cows , hello jon, the whole world is affiaid. I Dint realise there are so many.

[goshdangronpa]

any of the warriors of hope because those little buggers have been on my mind for months and they won't leave help

(obvs no sexuality stuff because come on man)

Hi, friend! Any of the Warriors of Hope? How about ... all of them?!

Like-like headcanon: Masaru still thinks liking girls is icky and he's not yet aware that boys can like boys. Jataro believes that cooties are real and the grossest cooties are his own. Kotoko is clearly enthusiastic about girls but will have to really sort some stuff out as she gets older. Nagisa was never the type to think that like-liking someone is gross - he's always wanted to get married. Monaca sees the human heart as just another instrument she can play ... but she'll mellow out if given enough time and care, and then, who knows?

Gender headcanon: Masaru is the boyest boy to ever boy ... which is what I tried to be and look how I turned out lmao. Jataro is cis, but his takes on gender are so galaxy-brained that you wouldn't believe he's not on Tumblr. Kotoko will adopt more androgynous affects over time, exploring cuteness outside of traditional femininity. Nagisa can go on for a long time about his view of his own gender, but if asked to summarize, he'd say he doesn't have one. With little to go on besides my own intuition, I'm surprisingly confident that Monaca is a trans boy.

One ship I have with them: Eh, kinda weird to ship them with anyone since they're little kids. Even Kotoko, who at one point in her boss battle declares that she wants to have children with Monaca, probably doesn't like her as much by the end of UDG. Same with Nagisa, poor guy ... but they've all still got each other.

One BroTP I have with them: Gonna use this section to declare which DR teen they'd get along with (note: I haven't played much of DRS). Masaru would be thrilled by Kazuichi, a neon-haired, shark-toothed, funny-voiced goblin man who builds robots, and Kazuichi would rather embarrassingly treasure the validation from a pretty cool kid. Angie would love love love Jataro, though anyone who knows her will make sure someone else supervises them so that arts-n-crafts playtime doesn't become Baby's Second Cult. I think Sayaka and Kotoko would have a lot that they can talk about together, and I believe she'd do everything she can to nurture and protect the kid. Nekomaru and Akane would be a refreshing pair for Nagisa: they'd focus on training his body rather than his mind, but in a way that's actually healthy and clearly caring. Monaca should probably be kept away from most people for now, but Hajime is uniquely suited to be friendly with her ... so they can wax about Nagito's weirdness together.

One NoTP I have with them: I guess anyone? Since, again, they're little kids?

Random headcanon: When Masaru goes on long walks, he looks for long sticks to carry and will exchange them for even bigger ones he finds along the way. Jataro's reading comprehension is poor, but he can already do basic algebra. Kotoko's never felt safer on a film set than when she played a creepy kid in an R-rated horror movie. Nagisa can take catnaps on command for the same reason soldiers do: they never know when their next chance to catch some sleep could be. Monaca may be the rare person who would become a kinder and gentler human being by joining a school theater program.

General opinion: Suitably creepy in their roles as antagonists to Komaru and Toko, crushingly sympathetic in their motivations, and really fun on their own. The Warriors of Hope are just one reason why I'd urge people to try Ultra Despair Girls, even with all the game's faults (especially the ones related to the WoH themselves). It's incredible that Kotoko can be my favorite for her winning personality despite how tastelessly the writers treat her. Jataro also has one of my favorite character voices in Danganronpa, not referring to the vocal performance (which is great!), but to his almost Dadaist dialogue. Ah, I like 'em all!

[revenantghost]

Hey! So i must i adore you analysis on Wolfwood as you compared his story beats to maximum and how they got changed, something that I dont really see people commenting on

I must say however, do you think vash and wolfwood are bound to have the same kind of relationship they had in trimax? I adore stampede like crazy and was enjoying it so much until around ep 10/11 where it got cleared they were very much going a seemingly different route than what we thought. And to be honest the moment i saw they pumped Knives and Vash dynamic like crazy got me thinking tristamp will be completely about them and not also Vash and WW/others (which i think is as important as K and V for trigun to work out) or tristamp will be mostly Vash and Knives and WW and Livio.

You seek to have a super optimistic (lol) look for s2 and beyond so i wonder if you think (either by beats laid out by tristamp, maybe i am too blind or pessimistic to realize them) there may be something similar to vash and wolfwood’s relationship in trimax???

Oh man, thank you so much!!! I’m honestly so happy that people even read that rambling because it’s been driving me absolutely bonkers. (I’m just gonna link that post here in case anyone’s interested)

But tl;dr: I think that it’ll be similar! Honestly, I think the Vash and Wolfwood dynamics have to be similar, because that’s such an integral part of Trimax. I jokingly called it the Vash and Wolfwood show to a friend when I started reading it—and yeah, that sums up a lot. Though I REALLY see your worries about this. I think we got a much heavier dose of Vash and Knives to really make the stakes super personal, but I have a feeling Knives will fall into the more distant role he takes in Trimax because, as he says, Nai is dead. Long live Knives.

Tristamp season one is a prologue, confirmed by the team very purposefully calling the continuing work the final phase despite saying the sky is the limit on future content depending on fan support. It speed ran a lot of stuff, and I think that was knowingly done because the staff has stated multiple times that they needed everything to be as perfect as possible, but they didn’t know how it would do. I don't even know if they thought they could do a second season. Trigun has historically not been popular outside of the cult following ’98 had in the west—Trimax was just an afterthought that many fans hadn’t read before Tristamp grabbed us all by the throats.

To touch on the other relationships, I like that Tristamp is that it's already expanding on characters that I felt could have spent more time in the spotlight. Like, I'm very eager to see where they take the girls! Because Meryl’s falling into the same role but with a vastly different career in this, and she’s already way more present . Why are they following Vash? How present will the girls be? MILLY!!! With Meryl ripping down Vash’s wanted poster at the end of season one, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s her mission to clear Vash’s name, and hijinks ensue. She already has deeper ties to Wolfwood than any other version before, which makes both of them stronger for it. I’m nervous to see how this all plays out because change scares me and I love this story so much lmao, but I do think it’s good! I already went off about how I love how important Meryl already is in the story, she’s a foil to Vash and the faith in himself he never had, and I feel like that only strengthens and reflects against the foils Vash and Wolfwood have going on. And Milly! I’m so excited to see where they go with her.

But this does change everything with Wolfwood. I keep thinking that Tristamp has changed Wolfwood fundamentally and keep needing to go back and rewatch because he is Wolfwood. He’s younger and rougher around the edges, but he’s still that moron I know and love. (Sometimes I’ll be reading fic and I don’t even realize that the person’s only seen Tristamp because they just get him and the dynamic right—Orange is doing a good job even if it scares me deeply lol)

I do have complete faith that they need to and will let Vash and Wolfwood’s dynamic shine just as brightly as it does in Trimax. I think, actually, a lot of that comes from outside of the text, though I could probably do another rewatch to pick up on all the loose threads they’re laying down to grow Wolfwood’s character and his dynamic with Vash in particular.

First, a new bit of info I saw recently is that the director, Kenji Muto? Apparently hasn’t even seen ’98, or at least hadn’t seen it as of making season one. Of course there are other writers on staff, and the crew has admitted to being huge Trigun nerds, but if your only exposure to Trigun is Trimax??? Wolfwood is massively important to Vash. Doing that dirty would be greatest sin you could make against this franchise.

Second, Nightow is so involved in creating this. He was involved way before most manga authors are brought in on anime, and even said that pretty early on he basically gave it his blessing and said that they got Trigun. (Though he still approved everything from then on as well.) And Wolfwood and his story arc in Trimax is so powerful and so moving. Nightow obviously had some significant investment and emotion in it, in Wolfowod and Vash’s relationship and journey. Like, I cry at things sometimes, generally just ooze tears, but Nightow and this damn manga made me sob. I can’t imagine he would tell the crew they understood Trigun without Wolfwood’s character and his ties to Vash being a priority. I know typically Japanese creators won’t throw shade at adaptations like we see in Western realms, but I rarely see the level of enthusiasm Nightow has for this project.

Okay, because this is getting long, and I’m getting into Trimax spoilers next, putting this next bit under a cut, continue at your own risk.

It’s actually funny, because for the end of that Wolfwood post, before I started my rewatch for it, I originally had a pretty specific prediction about what would happen. Then the ‘sky’s the limit’ on future content came out, and idk what to expect. I thought that the next season was going to be the Vash and Wolfwood show ala Trimax, we were going to fall in love with Wolfwood, and we were gonna have him couched at the end of that season. Because the couch is so essential, it’s so critical, but my god do I want this man to survive the narrative, if only once, and have it mean just as much. (Can you tell I’m torn on this every second of every day of my entire life) And after writing up that whole post I’m even more confused because I have no idea where the fuck they’re taking him. But at the same time, we have major plot threads tying us to that scene so much earlier. The vials existing way earlier, Livio and Razlo being introduced, that line about grieving but still deserving to smile and eat that Wolfwood gives Vash in the episode he’s introduced??? We're making everything more coherent and tied together, and fuck, we're screwed.

For now, all I’ve got is that I think some shit is going to happen to Wolfwood during our two-year time skip, maybe something with Chapel, idk how they’re going to inevitably use Livio against us, but we saw a softer Wolfwood in Tristamp. He needs to harden to be who we know. Orange said they’re going to be more like their other selves here, and though Wolfwood already has some faith in Vash, but he does not have faith in humanity. That’s the growth we have yet to see, and that’s what is really at the core of their relationship and development. It’s still there.

Many people who read Trimax are absolutely gutted and wrecked by the couch. That defines a lot of readers’ experiences—Wolfwood’s character arc is an absolute masterclass in writing a satisfying and meaningful conclusion for a character. So for them to change this much about someone who is that important, they have to have a plan, and a damn good one for Nightow to sign off on it. I’ve seen folks talk about how apparently the team spent the most time working on Knives, Vash, and Wolfwood’s characters (this one I haven't seen a source for), but as you said, we can already see it in the brothers’ relationship. They have a plan for Wolfwood. It’s only a matter of time before we’re wrecked by it.

Yeah, they are gonna keep doing stuff that you or I won’t agree with, or that we think could be better. Every version of Trigun is pretty flawed in certain ways imo, even though it might be beautiful or a favorite piece of media. But all of the concerns of mine that Orange could answer in the first season, they did so with flying colors and blew me out of the water. So don’t get me wrong, I’m scared. I’m so fucking terrified. Both Vash and Wolfwood are my favorite characters in Trigun in such different, integral ways to me. I love them deeply. And Orange is changing so much.

But Orange adores Trimax as much as I do. Nightow is 500% on board. So I’m biting my nails about it, but I choose to have faith. We’ll get wrecked by this adaptation, and I’d bet money on it if I had any lol

OOF, THAT WAS LONG. I hope this was actually helpful/useful and not just incoherent feral rambling!

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

tumblr was being buggy today and this ask got deleted but i do have screencap of it, so i'm gonna answer it here.

hi! first off, thank you and i appreciate you being so civil about this.

i understand what you mean. i wasn't raised in a religious cult so i may not know the nuances of that experience but my problem does not lie solely with catra's toxic behaviour in s1-4. what i dislike is her redemption arc.

if you've read some of my previous posts, you might know that i was never against catra having a redemption arc. i don't think she's irredeemable. i do sympathize with her and i think it would be a powerful message if she really was able to become a kind and compassionate person, after all the hurt that she went through.

i just have a problem with how rushed and frankly unrealistic her redemption was. i wanted to see a drawn out redemption arc where catra makes amends for everything she has done, and earn the trust and forgiveness of the other characters. but instead of doing that, the creators decided that it was easier to have the other characters forgive her unprompted and to have catra act basically the same as she always did.

also, while catra was raised in a cult-like environment, what i find interesting is that the horde has almost no effect on her. catra was definitely very traumatized by shadow weaver's abuse, but there was nothing even close to religious trauma.

she knew from the beginning that the horde was evil, she wasn't taken in by the lies like adora was. i feel like the religious trauma reference falls apart there because catra was working for the horde in her own interest, not because she was forced or manipulated into doing so.

i have mentioned shadow weaver in my blog as well, i just don't go into detail about her abuse because i think the show was pretty straightforward and countless other people have done deep dives on it. shadow weaver was meant to be an unlikeable character anyway, we weren't supposed to sympathize with her or relate to her.

you said that catra was trying so hard to redeem herself. i would like to hear a clarification on that because as far as i can see, she wasn't trying at all. she went back to lashing out at adora, calling her names and guilt tripping her as soon as she was rescued from horde prime. not even a thank you. she doesn't address angella's death at all and glimmer seems to have completely forgotten about it. she still makes unsavory jokes about the princesses after she spend four seasons colonizing and destroying their kingdoms. her apology to entrapta and scorpia was half-assed, to say the least.

catra wasn't trying hard. the other characters just magically forgave her for all her war crimes because that's what the writers wanted. and she definitely did not deserve to get into a relationship with the person who she had been relentlessly abusing, both physically and emotionally, and trying to murder.

i get that a lot of people relate to catra and i'm not saying that anyone who relates to her is automatically toxic. even i relate to certain parts of her. but that doesn't mean she's a good character.

you said it takes time to unlearn toxic behaviours and i completely agree. (also i wouldn't consider 21 “a kid”. she's young, sure, but she's still an adult.) but if the writers cared about that, they would have redeemed catra earlier. they had five seasons to work with, most shows don't get that liberty. avatar the last airbender gave zuko an incredible redemption arc in just three seasons, the owl house wrote a believable redemption for hunter and amity in just one season each, infinity train wrote a good redemption arc for grace in only ten episodes! you can't use the “there was no time” excuse.

you have to keep in mind that a lot of people who hate catra and her arc are also people who relate to her. a lot of my mutuals relate to catra and her struggles, and that's exactly why they hoped for a better redemption arc. they wanted to see her work on her mistakes, face the consequences of her actions and change realistically. they didn't want to see her just get forgiven out of the blue. imagine if that's how we treated war criminals in real life.

if i was like catra and i heavily related to her, i wouldn't want to see her never face the consequences of her actions and be coddled. i wouldn't want that for myself either. if i made some serious mistakes (especially to the extent that catra had), i would be prepared to face the consequences of my actions and i wouldn't expect anyone to forgive me.

anyway, sorry about the long post but i hope this gives you an idea of why i have a problem with catra and spop as a whole.

[crystal-overdrive]

I wonder if there are a bunch of Banites annoyed with Tav being the second in command. You’ve been super devoted to your big evil cult and then all of a sudden your boss says ‘this is my gf, you have to do whatever she says, she doesn’t really know a lot about bane but she’s learning and she’s pretty and my favourite person😊😊 if you don’t like that I’m gonna gift her your head🙃’

As tavarina becomes more involved in the church of bane it’s gonna be really funny watching her, Gortash, ilyera and astarion doing evil shenanigans because I can’t see him taking it seriously at all😂 just annoying banites like

You've slaved away for years just to inch your way into the priesthood and Tav comes and stomps all over you with her heels! 👠She is learning 🥺 let her do what she wants!!!

Thank you for the ask! Super fun to chat about what's going on in the fic ☺️.

I'm not sure how much I'll explore her relationship with the wider cult in the fic but you've pretty much got your truth-faith Banites like Ilyera who can sense Tav's power and will be bowing at her feet to respect the hierarchy, then you've got your ambicious climbers (who for that virtue may be more faithful) who would not be happy with perceived favouritism.

I don't want to spoil too much, but when we meet Tamia Holtz properly at girls night she's going to tell us a little more about hierarchy and partnership within the Church and we'll learn that second-in-command maybe isn't a great position to be in. 😬

I hadn't planned to have Astarion join the Church but now I can't stop thinking about what an utter nuisance he would be 😂. That man would take nothing seriously, wouldn't participate in ritual, would have something snarky to say about all of it. He'd also patently refuse to join at the bottom of the hierarchy and insist he gets a title like Tav's even though that was given to her by Bane himself. He's praying to Bane for a title and Bane is just like...nah.

I genuinely think he wouldn't join. This is non-romanced Ascended Astarion, he's not dealt with any of his trauma surrounding Cazador and is repeating the cycle albeit with better decor, so I think the submission element would completely turn him off. He is not getting on his knees for Enver Gortash; their relationship is one of near-equals where they both think they're manipulating the other. As silly as I like to portray the character, I hope it comes across that his actions are motivated by self-preservation, a need to never be enslaved again and an unhealthy sort of care for Tav where he presumes her wants are his own. I'd like to explore the weirdness of Tav and Astarion's friendship more but I would also like to actually finish the fic at some point 🤭.

Anyway I have rambled enough, I do love to talk about my blorbos! Thanks again for the ask! ❤️

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Monsters of Rock 1998 Hair Metal / Hard Rock / Arena Rock /Heavy Metal / Pop-Metal

Good lord, this had to have been one of the most heavily advertised albums of all time, man. I don't know how much ad money the Razor & Tie label shelled out for all of their 'As Seen on TV' comps back in the day, but the commercials for Monsters of Rock and Monster Ballads were fucking inescapable throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, especially. Like, you'd be watching something on cable, and the commercial for this album would come on, so then you'd change the channel, and the same commercial would be playing on there too! And then you'd just force yourself to sit through it, and eventually, through repetition, the entire sequence of little song snippets that gets played throughout the ad would become a permanently etched medley inside of your goddamn mind, destined to haunt your soul for the rest of eternity:

🎶Cum on feel the noize, girls rock ya boys…my, my, my, I'm once bitten, twice shy, babe…poison!…*synths from Europe's "The Final Countdown"*…round and round, what comes around goes around, I'll tell you why…she's my cherry pie, cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise…we're not gonna take it, no! we ain't gonna take it…she's only seventeen, seventeen…here I go again on my own…I'm no fool, nobody's fool, nobody's fool…so hold on loosely…🎶

Now, the hair metal era may have been the dumbest and most ridiculous period of mainstream rock that we've ever borne witness to—and it's very difficult for me to think of another commercially successful subgenre in which rank stupidity has been such an inherently defining trait—but thanks to a combination of my own nostalgia for these damn Razor & Tie ads and my sometimes weird and ironic affinity for bad shit, after listening to this album, there is really nothing more that I want to do than hitch a ride back to 1990 so I can live out a super corny fantasy as a badass suburban high school senior who cruises through town in a boxy, red sedan with the windows down as these silly songs blare out of my speakers 😎.

But like I said, I am also under no illusion here; I'm fully cognizant of just how patently absurd so much of this music was. And when it comes to the pinnacle of pure trash, I really don't think anything ever quite managed to top Warrant's signature 1990 anthem, "Cherry Pie," which is obviously on this album. Like, have you heard or thought about this tune recently? It really might be the single-dumbest song that's ever been recorded in human history. And as the single-dumbest song that's ever been recorded in human history, it has thankfully and, I guess quite fittingly, been memorialized in some way, since…*checks notes*…you can currently go see the pizza box that its lyrics were originally transcribed on at the Hard Rock Cafe in Destin, Florida… 😭.

🎶I scream, you scream, we all scream for her Don't even try, 'cuz you can't ignore her!🎶

Also, Winger's "Seventeen." Yikes; you can probably guess what that one's about! Talk about songs that haven't aged well at all 😩:

🎶She's only seventeen (seventeen) Daddy says she's too young, but she's old enough for me🎶

Yeah… This one's catchy and all, but, um…no. 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎 Really glad we've finally realized as a society that, at the very least, fully-grown adults singing lustily about minors is a very unacceptable thing to do. I mean, it took way too long for us to get here, but at least we've finally made it to this point, right? And I think "Cherry Pie" is probably about a minor too, by the way, but that's also up for debate 😑.

To be clear, though, not every song on this album is embarrassingly dumb and/or skeevy hair metal. I happen to think Living Colour's alt metal classic, "Cult of Personality," is a genuinely great banger. And I also dig the southern rock smoothness of a song like .38 Special's "Hold On Loosely" too; but most of the rest of these are just pure dunderheaded hair metal classics, and a key, overarching feature of this stuff was just how fucking maximally mindless it all was. It's hard to put a finger on what exactly allowed this madness to spread so widely and flourish for nearly a whole-ass decade in the first place, but thank goodness grunge came along when it did and dethroned this stuff from its perch as rock music's top subgenre in the early 90s, because, seriously, this shit was so excessive and outrageous.

All that being said though, and as good and necessary as grunge was back then, I can't help but imagine what a kick-ass time it would probably be to have almost any one of these Monsters of Rock songs come on at the bar while you and everyone else around you are in a highly intoxicated stupor; like, "Black Hole Sun," "Man in the Box," "Interstate Love Song," "Even Flow," etc., might be total jams in and of themselves, but songs like those are probably not gonna do the same trick as something like Alice Cooper's "Poison" can in that type of situation. I mean, when you're fully committed to annihilating some brain cells, it's good to have music that's way ahead of you in order to accompany your experience, right? 😅

Highlights:

Quiet Riot - "Cum On Feel the Noize" Great White - "Once Bitten Twice Shy" Alice Cooper - "Poison" Europe - "The Final Countdown" Ratt - "Round and Round" Warrant - "Cherry Pie" Whitesnake - "Here I Go Again" Winger - "Seventeen" Living Colour - "Cult of Personality" Twisted Sister - "We're Not Gonna Take It" Judas Priest - "You've Got Another Thing Coming" Cinderella - "Nobody's Fool" .38 Special - "Hold On Loosely" Autograph - "Turn Up the Radio"

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

14 for the religious ask tag

Thank you fro the ask anonie <333

14) Have you ever been discriminated against on the basis of your faith? I am blessed to live in a country where this has never happened to me.

I do remember, however, an incident that happened with a friend of mine. There are two girls so we're gonna call them Rose and Julian for the sake of the privacy and etc.

So there was this (jewish) lady asking why everytime Christians hear she's struggling with something they respond with trying to tell her about Jesus. To which Rose (rightly) points out it's because Jesus saves. Obviously. Like Christian theology 101.

Then some anti-Christian shows up. And I mean they are really anti-Christian. Like at the "Christianity is a death cult and Catholicism is her pedophile sister" level (as if Catholics are not also Christians but w t v). And they start harassing Rose, telling her she should kill herself (who, at the time was maybe 14) because she's Christian and therefore evil

(By the way, i am like 80% sure Rose has religious trauma. We haven't talked in depth about it before. Lil Sis, if you see this, I would love to to talk about it if you're comfortable). Back to the story

Julian (also 14) jumps in to defend Rose from this man.

She also gets told she needs to kill herself. Repeatedly.

(Also Julian does cut herself now. Not related to this but still. She is doing better tho, God is at the grave and ready to do the miraculous)

Now I am pissed off. These are my two little sisters (by love not birth) and some rando is telling them to kill themself. So obviously, I am not gonna let this slide.

Now, I hit post limit (curse you, tumblr) so I can't reblog or anything, only send this person some asks. The first ask I send is basically "Are you okay? You clearly have some trauma, do you want to talk? Is there anything I can do to help?" I write a pretty long paragraph that's basically this and also trying to humanize Christians (those girls were both teenagers; my little 8 year old sister is a christian)

They respond: "Christians being shot in the street would help my metal health".

(Okay i'll stop using that bit lol. Everyone go watch Overly Sarcastic Productions they are great. Mythology, History, Classics, Tropes, etc)

Anyway it is by the literal favor of God that I do not start screaming.

But I don't because I'm like "This person needs help, not yelling. I need to love on them." So I do, or rather not me but Christ in me as Paul would say (Lord knows if I was operating in my flesh I would've crucified this man). I try to point out that oppression is not unique to Christians (and also that he just said he wants an 8 year old girl to be shot). They're like "Christians are responsible for transphobia and homophobia and police brutality.". I'm like "I'm a bisexual African American. And unabashedly Christian." They say "Do you know what I have suffered at the hands of these people?" I say "No, I do not. And i am sorry for anything you have suffered and I would love to help anyway I can. But telling teenage girls to kill themselves is not an answer to that and will only make things worse for you."

They block me. I don't go to sleep that night and spend the quite a bit of the night praying for them. I still pray for them whenever I remember to. May the God of favor, our Lord Jesus Christ, God of motherly compassion and loyal love, be with them right now. And may Mary Mother of God, Full of Grace, pray for them now and in the hour of their death. Amen.

[unrealization]

⭐ !! / give me all the combos, no matter how out there they may be :D

@truethes MULTIMUSE MEME | Accepting!

[WELL there are a ton of possibilities with our muse lists! Obviously ANY DR muse will work with mine, but I'll list out a few specific ones I'd be very down to do! This... Is gonna be a long one I'm afraid. You did say ALL the combos, so I'm going to oblige!]

Normal picks:

Mukuro and Junko

This is the most obvious one, I think. Mukuro's dynamic with Junko is easily the most important one to her character. Ironically it makes it REALLY REALLY HARD TO GET INTERACTIONS WITH THEM GOING because of how far into headcanons their actual past tends to be. Definitely one I'd love to discuss or just mess around with at some point. I do absolutely guarantee it will HURT though.

Mukuro and Makoto

I jokingly said that I was considering offering a salary for someone who would do this one with me. Danganronpa If introduced a really interesting dynamic between them and I have ALWAYS wanted to explore it more. I don't even mean, like, as a romantic ship or anything. I have SO MANY plot ideas for this one that I've been rotating in my mind for ages.

Izuru and Hajime

Ok, hear me out. I know they're the same guy and all, but there are some interesting possibilities here. Hajime faces the thing he became. I even have a rough idea for a way to make them both technically exist after the ending of SDR2 as an addendum to my horrible postgame verse.

Tsumugi and Kaede

There are a lot of angles here, actually. A more direct confrontation between them in the early game? An AU where Kaede is around for the later parts of the killing game? A lot of interesting things we could do.

Tsumugi and Rantaro

Same as above. I am quite partial to the theory that they knew each other from a previous iteration of Danganronpa, but I'm not married to it if you're not fond of that angle.

Out there pick:

Sayori?

You asked for out there, so here you go. I have a Danganronpa verse for Sayori I've never really gotten to use. I've never even written it out on tumblr before so I'm technically debuting it here! I can't think of a specific combo for her at the moment, but if you wanted to do something very out of left field, I'd be very happy to.

The self-indulgent section where I talk about OCs:

Akira

So, quick note: I will literally write my OC Akira with any character. I'm kind of obsessed with this character and I very rarely get the opportunity to use her. A few ideas for interesting match ups:

Akira and Imposter

I think they would be interesting, especially pre-tragedy. Imposter's talent is actually pretty similar to hers, and more importantly I honestly think she might be unable to mimic him since he's able to change his whole identity so easily. One of the rare individuals she could probably have a face-to-face conversation with without her talent causing problems. Post-Tragedy I don't know how well that would go for either them.

Akira and Junko

Pre-Tragedy, Akira would probably pick up a bit of Junko's more sinister nature due to her talent working the way it does. Post-tragedy... Yeah, Akira has more or less stolen Junko's identity and is pretending to be her in order to run an Ultimate Despair splinter cell/cult. Junko being around and still alive would complicate her narrative quite a bit.

Etsuko

I'd feel bad if I didn't mention her. I'm kind of in the process of reworking Etsuko a bit, but the core ideas are still there. Anxiety-riddled Reserve Course student who's mind was shattered in a failed attempt to create Izuru Kamakura shortly before Hajime did it. Really dangerous post-tragedy as she's driven by an insatiable desire to feel and inflict the only emotion she's still capable of feeling. Namely, fear. Really dark character that will most likely inflict extreme violence upon anyone she meets post-tragedy or just avoid a social interaction pre-tragedy. If this basic description interests you I can talk about her a bit more, but I feel like it might be better to hold off until I'm happier with where she's at as a character first.

[invinciblerodent]

If you had to pick a song for Iona, Arvid, Petyr, and Mara each-what would they be? And why, if there’s a significant reason.

ooh, thank you for asking!

i was gonna say that I have pretty long playlists for each of them, but yeah, condensing it into just one song is harder than I thought...

If I can only pick ONE, right now I'd go with-

Petyr

.... which is to say, "yeah, I may have failed to live up to everyone's expectations of me, but, have you considered that maybe I'm an arrogant prick for a fucking reason."

this is one of the few non-instrumental songs on his playlist, and it just feels like his entire Thing, crystallized lol.

(.... the lyrics fit too. I mean he did also kinda cut off his family. Or at least hasn't spoken to them in a few years.)

Arvid

This one just really fits my little uncertain cleric boy, holding onto his faith with white-knuckled fists. (A lot of songs on his playlist are either in part about Gale as well, or they're kind of more vibes-based and less literally fitting, but this one has been his theme song since like... last September lol.)

I love that first line of the chorus for him, that "I am creation, both haunted and holy, made in glory".

Iona

Even just the line "this fire eats fire, and the fire is in you" hits very much like her.

Over the months I have gone so far into her that I kinda struggle to summarize her now, but this is still a very "Iona-core" song to me, specifically for those early game, reeling parts of her, when she's kind of trying to have her whole crisis of identity without anyone noticing, and while trying to keep her head straight and not get consumed by the sudden freedom she's experiencing.

My sweet little fucked up weasel-woman, oh how I love her pretty little messed up head. <3

Mara

This one was difficult to pick- her whole playlist, I kinda tried to make work by quickly switching back and forth between the "rip and tear, cult leader, blood on my hands, killing and violence" type of songs and the softer, gentler, kind of more mournful/scared songs, which kinda reflect her more as a very adamantly resisting Dark Urge character who is kind of terrified of her own urges, and actively wants to be soft and sweet, but can't fully deny her nature.

this one might still change as I get further into her playthrough, tho

..........

and though you didn't ask, my head has been chock-full of this guy lately, so fuck it,

heeeeeeeere's Raymond

It's just. Very that "noble boy was originally willing to do what was expected of him, but was painfully aware that it isn't what he wants, and that he just let himself be carried by the waves and whims of the world, right until he was forcibly made to take responsibility for his own life and grow himself a fucking spine".

This has been sort of his theme song for the past decade, ngl. I really like Radical Face either way, but I straight-up can't listen to this song without thinking about him, lol.

head in my hands I love him so much

[jacenotjason]

Unfortunately Eddith is one of the OCs I don't have any references for at the moment... I'm gonna have to go scrounging for picrews later bc I have a clear idea of her in my head I just need to get it on something first. Will get back to you on that!

However. Now I just kinda. Wanna ramble about all my OCs sdjnf sjfkn SO! Descriptions time!!! Not including Eddith and Teru since I already mentioned them to you

Margo - my girl, and the one I talk about the most! You. may have heard of her before?? Idk. ANYWAY! She's an incredibly anxious and paranoid cultist that Does Not Want To Be There. Her and Ignacio were childhood friends so she kind of just. Clings to him and fears everyone else kdsjfnsfsd. I haven't worked out the nitty gritty of their relationship yet but they are Fun, I will say that much

Also she got bit by a vampire and while the cult amulet saved her from turning I like exploring the idea that she's not quite human anymore

Blossom - Blossom is. Interesting? I've been thinking of reworking her character actually, originally she was going to be a priest, but then Gregor got introduced, so I tried to retool her to connect to him but it didn't really. Sit right? idk

After watching a friend play AA (and inspired by people headcanoning Richard and Garcia as lawyers) I had the thought of reworking her into an attorney bc that would be a very interesting thing to explore in this town. No matter what her base concept is the same tho, a woman that gives off a haughty exterior but generally cares about the people she tries to help

Rachel - probably the first SM OC I created, right before Blossom. She works at the mall and is a classic "bitch in sheeps clothing" sort of character, acts nice and sweet but is actually super spiteful and petty, and loves gossip. She hates Radford because they were high school sweethearts that had a horrible falling out, and has a rivalry with Streber over the stupidest shit

Blondie - my silly cyptid hobo man!!! I don't talk about him a lot but he's always there. In my head. He's a werewolf that lives in the woods and frequently sneaks into town to steal clothes/food. He barely talks and is missing an eye, and is taller than Jack (to give scale). Speaking of he's wanted by the cops for multiple counts of theft and trespassing

Shugo (name tentative) - Teru's older sister! I have no idea what she major's in but she's in college. She really cares about Teru and tried to help her make friends before she went off. It. Didn't really stick-

Tessa - my most recent OC after Eddith, I actually got her from @/bulldog-geckorahhhhh! She's really into scenecore and collecting niche shit, is best friends with Rachel and is also close with Streber from their high school days! It also uses she/it pronouns :]

Sorry if this is longer than you were expecting, they've been rattling around for a g e s

aaaAAAAAAA

WOAHEIH LOTS OF INFORMATION

I LOVE THEM ALL Tuktuka and Blondie should be friends lmfao. Blondie watches Tuktuka get adopted by Patty like "D:< bro."

SORRY random thought aNYWAYS

THESE ARE SO FUN. I LOVE THESE. I LOVE RACHEL LMAO. The idea of an oc hating Radford makes me giggle and i dont know why. hes so silly how can you hate him. hey she should meet op radford *i get shot in the head*

I'm pretty sure you talked about Margo to me! She was the OC you talked about when I was developing Vito right? think so!!

THESE ARE SO COOL!! I'd be happy to make you some refs or anything if you want!!

[youdontlookautistic]

Inspirational/motivational/religious speakers and being autistic:

This can apply in any sort of religious or political context, I'm currently exploring it from my personal experience angle because I am so far behind on the human train 😭(Strap in cos I don't think this is going to be very motivational)

I wanted to be a speaker for about 30 years before I finally woke up. Growing up in Law of Attraction made me see how motivational speakers were so.... invigorating and alive. They pulsated with so much energy it filled the room and everyone rode the wave (gotta ride that walrus amirite).

Context: I grew up in LoA. This stuff was taught to me from age 4. I believed nothing else.

I wanted to be that person. I felt like I had energy and words and lessons to teach others. Ngl. Still want to be that person.

But there was always that one thing that stopped me. That one little tiny thing that I just couldn't get over in order for me to commit and go. That liiiittle niggling thing at the back of my brain that was

cognitive distortion.

Motivational speakers and their lessons as they grow:

If you're someone whose entire brand is to transform others, the you must do as I say and as I do. You must be the example of your teaching.

Look at Tony Robbins. He has been on this pedestal of glory as the perfect example of how to overcome your challenges and LIVE.

That Oprah gif? My mum did that (like 15 years ago). She went to Tony Robbins, and called me randomly and in happy tears to tell me she loved me, and then walked over hot coals. For real. What a legend.

But Tony Robbins is just a dude. A tall, deep voiced dude who knows how to use his body and voice in a way to convey an idea that gets others to take action. This is a separate post but the cult vibes and techniques of motivational speakers are El Primo.

The catch:

What happens when motivational/life speakers realise they're autistic?

Example: the last author/speaker I really connected with was Mel Robbins.

I read her book 3 years ago and there were answers in it I'd been struggling with for my life. Things around the action and motivation cycle, things like routines and countdowns. She spoke to me. Those techniques still work today.

Well since then Mel has found out she's got ADHD.

I've also found out I've got AuDHD

There's something about the motivational speaking circuit that says neurodivergent to me. Sorta like Silicone Valley, there are certain areas/topics/cultures that naturally attract our kind. It may seem odd, motivational speaking, especially if your idea of an autistic person is someone who doesn't communicate well or is too shy or gets overwhelmed by all that.

No no no, not for me. Speaking is different. Speaking means:

I am in front, and separate to, the crowd

They are specifically here to see me and listen to what I have to say and it's about my special interest so really you're gonna have to drag me away.

Because I love helping people and have a passion for teaching, all that + my excited adrenalin overcomes any hesitancy. I have no issues standing in front of a crowd/group of people, I've done many talks and workshops in my past. I feel like I'm at my best then.

If the lights are bright enough I can't see shit, so I could feel like I'm in a room alone.

I can leave the stage when I'm done and essentially disappear.

With the right set up it can feel like a wonderfully safe and incredibly validating place to be.

A good motivational speaker:

On top of that this is sorta what's required to be an effective and successful motivational speaker in today's day and age (in my humble Tumblr opinion):

A very clear business head to be able to do both business and speaking. Along with marketing, promotions, tours, live streams, admin, etc.

Ability to remain emotionally and mentally detached from your audience and the media, keeping the bigger picture in mind, so that you don't get influenced by them but remain true to your own path. All while interacting with them one on one all the time.

A deep understanding of reading human behaviour, especially on a day to day basis where motivational speaking topics often lie

A constant need to question and probe the reasons why we do what we do. A need to FIND ANSWERS AND FIX THE PUZZLE OF HUMANS.

Belief in what you promote.

Be your authentic self.

That #5 might be a killer cos I believed 150% in what Law of Attraction was. I wanted to be out there and help people and transform their lives.

So what happens when #5 changes for the speaker? What happens to a speaker when they look back at all they've said and done and promoted and realised it was for a specific, niche crowd and not the masses? That some of their lessons weren't helpful and possibly actually quite damaging and hurtful?

I'm really interested because these people are in a role that they themselves have promoted as being self aware, accepting growth, being your authentic self.

Thus the cognitive distortion. I couldn't commit to being a motivational speaker when I didn't ever truly feel like I could live my own truth. Be my authentic self. On stage it's 100% masking. It's still me but I'm numbing a lot of myself so that only certain portions are visible.

How many public people of interest, across history, have had that sort of reflection and then gone on to rectify or change their approach vs doubling down, ignoring the damage behind them, and pretending nothing changed? I'd really like to know this.

There are many authors and 'gurus' I've reflected back on that I loved, and wondered if I connected with them because on some lower level we were both neurodivergent.

Wayne Dyer (RIP), I loved Wayne Dyer. He spent his life in pursuit of spiritual and emotional freedom and I still massively respect him for that. However he came at it from a 'manifesting' angle, since he was LoA, and he passed away from cancer. The guy suffered and died from cancer and all I can think is 'Did he blame himself for that? Did he tell himself that he manifested that cancer because of something he couldn't overcome in himself?'

It's so painful to think those thoughts of someone you so admired. Because what if he was autistic? What if he realised that this desperate need to find answers was actually a scientific, realistic suffering that he never explored? What if he wasn't autistic but something else just as valid?

Not saying Wayne Dyer was autistic. Just using him as an example because of how much he affected me (positively).

History is a pattern of religion/spirituality until it's science.

What happens to the people who are in the positions of power, when the foundations of what they understood now becomes concrete and something totally different?

I want to knoooow