#so maybe the ghost thing is too niche but whatever

[broodygaming]

Hyperspecific Among us -isms

Travis runs solo and always seems to get engineer and hopping in and out of vents spooking people

Laura struggles with simon says and calls the killer early but no one believes her and then she gets killed

Marisha struggles with card swipe and always gets sussed early

Ash gets caught talking to ghosts and usually does hit and runs

Liam big brains it constantly but is wrong and gets overshouted by imposters when they kill in front of him. This works.

Sam is SUCH a marinator. He marinates the shit outta everyone. He'll kill you smiling.

Taliesins on cams. He's always on cams. He's not doing his tasks and is on cams.

[drunkkenobi]

Hi bb, ty for the prompt to write my thoughts!

So I can't get on tumblr at work anymore unless I go outside to get good signal on my phone so I have only been privy to what's going on here today from friends on discord. So maybe I'm missing some nuance or the what my mutuals think and I apologize in advance for that but I'm going to speak plainly.

This is the only way Watcher is going to survive.

The view counts have been steady through Mystery Files season 2 but they aren't, like, astronomical. A video with a million views nets a channel between $10,000 - $30,000. Guys. That's nothing for Watcher. They have to pay each of their 25+ employees a salary with insurance and benefits and for everything else their channel requires. Steven said in the video today that a season of Ghost Files costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don't think everyone is hearing that part and understanding how much money that is, especially compared to many other YouTubers they watch. I'm not an expert on other YouTubers but I look at the Sims people I watch. They are successful with views in the hundred k range because they are a company of one. Themselves and maybe paying a freelancer to help edit their videos. For one person, the stakes are lower and the potential for profit is higher! Especially for gamers that are filming in their homes. YouTubers like this, making niche content on the cheap, are who is going to make it in YouTube now.

Watcher is none of those things. They have, from day one, wanted to make high quality unscripted content. All of their shows are shows. They aren't just "Ryan and Shane do [thing]" or "Steven eats [whatever]". They are shows, like ones you see on cable TV or any streamer. And shows are not cheap. Unscripted is cheaper, sure, than scripted. But that doesn't mean cheap. Especially not with the sheer production value we've seen on all their shows, in particular Ghost Files (hundreds of thousands of dollars). That is how much something like Ghost Adventures costs, which is on Travel Channel, an actual TV network that puts up all those costs.

So. That's why Watcher has to pivot to survive.

I think it's a great idea, personally. And yes, I am in a position where I can financially afford it no problem, which I know is a privilege! I am very lucky in that regard. And I understand that many people are upset they won't see the boys as easily on YouTube anymore. That is valid! But they have openly said they are totally fine with password sharing and I think that's a great way to cut down on costs for some folks. Also right now there's a great deal on the yearly sub for early subscribers. $40 for a year is cheaper than any streaming service and it doesn't go to anyone other than Watcher.

I understand that people feel hurt and blindsided, but I think Watcher is also feeling this too. They have been so excited about this and being able to make whatever they want without having to worry about sponsors and now they're mostly seeing anger directed their way. Especially at Steven. Steven is not rich. You know who's rich? David Zaslav, a man who is single-handedly ruining Warner Brothers and making himself a billionaire while he's at it. THAT is the kind of person we should be directing our anger at streaming prices and quality of the media landscape at. Not one small business that is just trying to survive so they can continue paying their employees.

And one more thing. I've seen folks saying they'd rather watch more ads than pay and while I get that, that's not going to help Watcher make what they want. YouTube famously demonetizes videos with swears which is why I can't watch a video with DRAG QUEENS without every other line being bleeped and Watcher has been so good about not bleeping their content because they know we would hate it. And YouTube does this because of advertisers. Advertisers only want to appeal to the most broad of audiences so that means not supporting anything slightly left of center. Having to deal with ads sucks from the creator perspective and does not help them in the long run.

Anyway, this is all a bit rambling, but these are my thoughts on WatcherTV. I'm extremely excited to subscribe and make them make more Weird Wonderful World. I hope to see you all there.

[obae-me]

Hello, and welcome to another installment of niche content containing another mash of my two special interests. Written out of boredom at the airport. Today's edition, fueled with my excitement of being able to go to none other than Miku Expo 2024, I give:

The Brothers As My Favorite Vocaloid Songs!

Yes, I know, please, quell your excitement. I know everyone was waiting for this one. I will take no criticisms or judgments, only enthusiastic additions.

Warning: While nothing stated in this post needs a full content warning, if anyone decides to look up these songs, many songs themselves have plenty of individual warnings, so please search with caution.

Lucifer:

Now, the song I think he'd actually enjoy listening to is Daughter of Evil. It's got tragedy behind it, the song is a bit more classical/waltzy, exactly the kind of thing he likes. However based off his vibes alone, I'm gonna say Honey I'm Home. Mostly because I love Ghost and Pals but also because religious trauma. And I know other people agree with me because I've seen fanart of it.

Mammon:

I think Mammon would listen to Sand Planet. Oo, or Bring it On. Do I have a detailed explanation as to why? Not really in so many words, but it just seems like something he'd listen to, I feel it in my bones. I will not be taking any questions. Now the song I think he embodies? Wildcard. I mean, the whole motif is about playing cards, it's upbeat and fast paced and I love it and I love Kasane Teto even more.

Levi:

I will physically fight anyone who doesn't think Levi listens to Rolling Girl at least once a day (I won't actually fight anyone but I feel very strongly on this matter). It helps him get through hard times but it also makes him cry. Which...same, Levi, same. But if Leviathan were to be a song itself, I'd have to pass it over to Volt Tackle by Deco*27. Pokémon, talking about fighting and struggling at first to capture someone's love? Oo, or Digital Girl. It's got him written all over it. (Or if I want to be sad, give him Anthropophobia)

Satan:

See, Satan is hard because I never know if I envision him listening to heavy metal or if he prefers soft melodies. And, I mean, I know he can like more than one genre at once, but picking THE song I think he'd listen to is hard... but if I'm going off of what I like as well as gut instinct... Abstract Nonsense. Now, selected off his character, I'd have to pick Hikari Yo. It's just very emotional and desperate and the poor demon boi is like that on the inside quite a lot. WAIT or Pathalogical Facade! Oo, lots of options for Good Ol Satan.

Asmo:

Easy, he'd love Gimmie×Gimmie and I don't think I need any further explanation on this opinion. I actually think Asmo would unironically like a lot of vocaloid songs, personally. And as for his songification, I handpick Aishite, Aishite, Aishite. And I know there's a lot of different people's interpretations to this song and everything and people get very... I guess territorial when it comes to this song (at least from specific corners I've seen) but it makes sense to me. It's a really popular song and it's hauntingly beautiful and it's about wanting to be loved and adored and this is MY post so I can say whatever I want about it.

Beel:

Beel is another one that's hard for me to pin down... I think his music taste (joke not intended) is rather eclectic. He probably actually has no real preference other than more upbeat songs to make it easier to work out to. In which case I get to pick whatever I wish. For him I would make him listen to Happy Halloween. I don't care what time of year it is, it's cute and upbeat and about getting treats and it's one of my favorite songs ever. Now one to embody him?... Goodness that's even harder. I would love to say Appetite of a People Pleaser, but Beel's not a people pleaser... I actually don't know! Maybe I am a sham of a fan. I am open to suggestions for my baby Beel.

Belphie:

You know I have to pick Tokyo Teddy Bear. This mans is too edgy not to listen to it all too often. Plus, it's a classic. And, you know I have to make this all even sadder by giving him the song Error. Because I like to make myself cry. And Belphie needs a good cry, let's be honest with ourselves.

I'm also going to add the Distortanist as an honorable mention for unhinged Lesson 16 Belphie.

[adobe-outdesign]

I'd love to see a full-on review of Burlap from you! As a matter of personal taste, I do like it as a Plushie 2.0, but I also sympathize with your dissatisfaction in the loss of that creepy vibe. Which pets do you like best in it?

Poor, poor Burlap. It was originally introduced as Burlap Doll alongside Steampunk, Toy, and Origami as part of a 2018 poll to pick a new colour, wherein it came in dead last, probably because it was by far the least cute option of the four. That said, us burlap lovers were annoying vocal enough that TNT eventually caved and released it anyway.

Unfortunately that was a small victory, as there's been a gradual shift in appearance and tone. Burlap's original intent, and the reason so many of us loved it, is that it was creepy. Burlap pets were supposed to be dolls haphazardly stitched together from sack cloth and whatever pieces of junk happened to be lying around, with dead button eyes and stitched-up mouths. It was a very distinct vibe, almost scarecrow-like, and that made it really stand out.

However, TNT has been softening the colour over the years. Bright colors were introduced; the junk and scrap materials concept was almost entirely dropped; straw-like elements were replaced with soft fuzzy tan fur; and so on and so forth. Compare the Burlap Usul, released in 2023, with the Burlap Ogrin, released in 2020:

And just to be clear, the more plushie-like burlap pets are by no means inherently bad; a lot of them are downright adorable or have very pleasing designs. It's just that, for a site that celebrates Halloween each year and has an entire land dedicated to it, there's a strange lack of creepy colours available. There's Halloween, Mutant, Wraith, Ghost, Zombie, Darigan, and... well, that's it. Burlap was not only a welcome addition to this category, but it filled a very specific niche, as there were no other creepy doll colours. We already have plushie as a colour, but we definitely didn't have anything like the original burlap.

Favorite Species:

Lenny: The original Burlap Doll design put up for voting, the Burlap Lenny is delightfully creepy. The fraying fabric on the wings is a great touch, and I love all the metal bits used here; some springs for the head feathers, random scrap parts for the legs. It's fun, distinct, and has a ton of personality. I also really like the eyes, which are not only black but have red string in the middle, something even the other creepy burlap pets didn't keep.

Bori: The Burlap Bori has less scrap parts and fewer black accents, but it's still well done overall. There's lots of good details here, like the fraying fabric around the claws, the stitch work and material of the back plates, and the way the tail haphazardly tied together with some loose rope.

Quiggle: This isn't quite as detailed as the other three burlap pets, but it still brings a lot to the table with its freaky twig fingers and casual rope around its neck. The texturing and warping of the burlap texture is truly well done here and the whole thing has a great sense of dimension. The only thing is that while I like the mismatched eyes in theory, the blue feels a little distracting; I feel like maybe a light brown or tan might've worked better.

BONUS: Like I said, the plushie-style burlap pets are still very nice looking, and it wouldn't be fair of me to talk about only the creepy pets while not mentioning the non-creepy ones. The Burlap Kau is definitely the best of the crop, with super soft plush fur that reminds me a bit of Highland cows. There's nice detailing in things like the corduroy snout and iridescent eyes, and while there's some colour, it's kept to light earth-tones as to not feel jarring against the browns. Good stuff.

Least Favorite Species:

Scorchio: Even by new-age burlap standards, the Burlap Scorchio is a trainwreck. The eye-searing teal underbelly is both over-saturated and too low-contrast relative to the brown, creating an eyesore that draws too much attention to a pointless part of the design. There's no real creativity in things like the spikes, and the eyes don't feel like they align to the face properly. The stitched-together wings are a little fun at least, but it's not enough to save this design.

[kn-1013]

Exploratory Surgery #1

Sal notices that Travis is a bit space-y like he is, but it's a bit different.

Rating: E Word count: A thousand and something Pairing: None/Gen Warnings: Use of homophobic slurs

A/N: welcome to my new series called exploratory surgery. idk how many more of these i'll post but the general concept of this series will be me posting plot bunnies, darlings or drabbles that i can't/won't/shouldn't otherwise put into full fics, or they just haven't become full fics yet. you can think of them like 'sketches' in the same way that someone posts art sketches or whatever. idk i haven't slept, this one's vaguely about a niche headcannon i have for travis being able to see ghosts. please enjoy, or don't

========

It wasn’t unusual for Sal to be found staring off into the distance about something, what with the ADD diagnosis, chronic dissociation, and now these new episodes, where he’s getting fucking visions from god or something. His friends had started calling him Space-y Face because of how often they had to wave a hand in front of him to get his attention. ‘Hey, Earth to Sally!’ It was a whole thing.

That’s why he noticed that Travis seemed to have the same problem.

Some teachers seemed like they didn’t want to call out Sal for spacing out, they seemed reluctant to want to put too much attention on him, which was kind of annoying when he actually wanted to pay attention in class, because then he had to get his notes from other people or ask questions after. At least he could kind of appreciate the thought.

But they weren’t afraid to call out Travis when he was staring out the window, and make him answer questions in front of the whole class when he wasn’t paying attention. Considering he was a known problem child, it seemed like some kind of sadistic humiliation tactic to try and push him back in line or to punish him for being such an asshole, or maybe even because they simply didn’t like him, and they used him as some kind of scapegoat. Some teachers certainly hated their lives enough to do that.

Though, there was one thing that kept bugging Sal.

When Sal zoned out, he could sometimes be like a mola-mola fish, floating through the ocean, going wherever the current takes him without a second thought, or even a first one. Eyes visibly unfocused, blinking slowly, speaking slowly, mouth sometimes left agape if he wasn’t talking, (which made him glad he wore a mask, because he sure looked stupid like that). The entire time, it would kind of feel like he was moving backwards through a brick wall; it was hard to think or move, and everything felt so distant. On really bad days, it honestly felt like he took something, his head was so fuzzy.

Other times, he could be like a possum playing dead: completely frozen. Hours could pass that left his body sore and aching, where he hadn’t moved a muscle or thunk a single thought. That happened a lot around August 16th.

Either way, the big thing about Sal’s zoning out, according to how Todd’s described it, is that he seems incredibly distant and unfocused. It looks like he’s ‘inside’, as he described it—inside his own head.

Travis wasn’t like that at all, in Sal’s observations. When he stared off in the distance, it was like he was looking at something far away, even when he was staring at an empty corner. When the teachers called him out, he sometimes did some kind of double take, or his eyes kept drifting back into the spot he was staring at. He didn’t seem like he was inside his head, he seemed like he was looking at something that was right there, but Sal couldn’t really be sure what.

It reminded him a lot of whenever Gizmo started staring randomly into the distance, like he was seeing something nobody else could. He always wondered if animals could see ghosts.

Now he was wondering if Travis could, especially with the way he was currently staring at that roadkill.

Sal had been going for a walk around town on a Saturday afternoon and had ended up in a nicer part of town, the part that Ashley lived in. He was thinking about stopping by to hang out with her, when he spotted Travis, who also lived in this area.

Travis was across the street from him, on the other sidewalk. He was completely frozen, staring straight down at a dead cat near the curb.

Sal decided he felt like being a pest that day, so he walked across the street nonchalantly to over just behind Travis, who continued staring at the ground.

His gaze, shifted near his feet as Sal began approaching, but Sal’s mouth moved before he could process it, and his subsequent greeting startled Travis out of whatever daydream he was having about that dead cat.

“Hey, Travis, what’cha lookin’ at?” Sal said, almost instantly regretting it. He should’ve waited a bit longer to see what was going to happen next.

Travis jumped hard enough that his hair seemed to stand on end for a second, before he realized it was just Sal. Then he slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes.

“What do you want?” He spat.

“Saw you blankly staring at a dead cat for no reason, thought I’d see what the fuss was about.” Sal tilted his head to the side curiously. “You know that cat or something?”

“No, never seen it before.” Travis’s voice was cold and bland.

There was a beat of silence, where Sal was staring directly at Travis. Silences like this tend to make people uncomfortable, and often makes them volunteer information they wouldn’t have normally simply by being asked. It was one of Sal’s special tactics for extracting information from other people, and it typically worked especially well, because most people already found Sal’s presence discomforting.

“Anyways, bye.” Travis began walking away.

Travis was weird though, it didn’t always work on him.

Sal caught up behind him, patting him on the back of the shoulder to get his attention again.

“You stare at stuff a lot, you know that?” Sal said, walking beside him.

Travis walked faster. “What, are you stalking me? Freak?”

“Is that a question?” Sal cocked his head to the side, appearing nonchalant as his legs struggled to keep up with Travis’s long strides.

“You’re a freak, no question about it.” Travis huffed, adjusting his book bag irritatedly and turning his head.

“It’s not hard to notice things about other people if you just pay attention. You can learn a lot about people by just watching them.” Sal’s voice was calm, factual, as if it were normal to just watch people all the time.

Travis had felt dread before, but not quite like when Sal had finished letting that sentence out of his mouth. Sal was about to describe some of his unconscious behaviors, and it was going to make him deeply uncomfortable, and there was nothing he could do about it, because Sal seemed to just love making him as uncomfortable as possible in every imaginable situation. That blue haired faggot just had to stick his plastic nose in everything.

“Like, you read a lot—like a lot, a lot. You’re ambidextrous, but I��ll bet you’re naturally right-handed because that’s the hand you punch with. You’re not very familiar with computers, and you like to be outside, but you’re not really jock levels of athletic, so I think you kind of just hang out there, usually in trees, 'cuz of the callouses on your hands. You ever been hiking? You might like it.” Sal’s voice was way too cheery and overall normal to be saying these things. Nobody knew these things about Travis, because nobody paid attention to him. They all hated him, because he was an asshole, and that was kind of the point.

The fact that Sal could just swoop in and watch him like a hawk when he wasn’t paying attention and learn all these things about him without even talking to him was terrifying in the same way he was terrified of God.

Travis recoiled harshly. “Ugh! You’re such a creep! Don’t watch me like that, what’s wrong with you?”

“What, it’s a bad thing to pay attention to your friends?” Sal sounded a bit disappointed. After that, he was disappointed? Over what? That Travis didn’t like being watched? He sure hoped this was just God working in mysterious ways somehow, because he hated this.

“I’m not your friend, you fucking stalker. Leave me alone.” He began to walk faster, and Sal started to trail behind. “To be fair, I’ve kind of just been seeing you around for a couple of years, now. I’m not even paying that much attention to you.” Sal shrugged, shortly before tripping on something on the pavement.

“That doesn’t make it much better, you fucking weirdo. Stop watching me!” Travis began racing back to his house, his face burning red at how much Sal had seemed to learn from him when he wasn’t even trying that hard. What would happen if he tried much harder? He really needed to stay away from this guy.

Sal gracefully recovered from his trip and stared off at Travis’s disappearing form, head cocked to the side. He just didn’t quite get that guy.

But boy, did he want to.

[identityflawed]

this is such a niche fandom overlap and i’m only doing it for me and my bsf and maybe one other person on here but

STAR WARS PREQUEL CHARACTERS IF THEY PLAYED VALORANT

anakin — one of the rare duelist instalocks who actually comms and even IGLs for the team. the guy’s a war general so he def tries, but if they start losing he gets moody as shit. he only plays jett and if he can’t get his agent he will dodge the game; but you can count on him to always carry. also he’s a comp menace. definitely high immortal or radiant, has a smurf account so he can play with his friends. loves the reaver bundle.

obi-wan — definitely more relaxed, probably only queues unrated and plays whatever agent the team needs, though probably prefers brim. great PMA and is a decent player, always better on defensive half. probably plays cypher and is always exactly where he needs to be to win the round. bought no skins but can’t resist picking up the kuronami if he sees it.

ahsoka — prodigal raze main. probably plays neon on maps where raze isn’t compatible, anything she can to be moving around fast as fuck. she also likes ratting with shotguns, gets down on herself when she doesn’t play well. gold/plat rank and probably only does swift plays bc she gets impatient if they start to lose too hard. loves using oni phantom and complains that they don’t have a ghost skin.

rex — most clones are fuckin goated at this game, they’re trained warriors after all there’s no way the kamino sims weren’t like this. he 100% plays chamber exclusively, and is a rlly good player. solid IGL capabilities but prefers someone else to take the lead. probably diamond/ascendant, and loves the recon skinpack.

padme — idc what you say she is goated at this game bc she has to play w anakin all the time. he probably smurfed to play with her at the beginning but she got all the way back up to his rank. she and her handmaidens all share one account (which probably has a cringe matching username w/ anakin). asc/immo. mains killjoy — always accurate with her comms and util. has every skin in the game so her and her handmaidens can pick their favorites.

palpatine — has two accounts, one in bronze and one in radiant. his bronze one he uses to play w anakin where he just pretends to be really bad, and probably locks brim or sova bc he has no other characters unlocked. his other one is where he’s hella toxic and locks in phoenix just to sabotage his teammates if they’re too nice. top tier hater. uses sentinels of light skin on his radiant account so he can do the weird thing with the kill animation. or the champions melee so he can show off the kills he has

yoda — plays neon exclusively bc it mirrors his actual fighting style, and probably has not ranked out of iron. keeps himself in iron or bronze and will randomly carry people to higher ranks if they’re polite to him. definitely a rat player — him and ahsoka terrorize lobbies together. uses gaia bundle.

windu — probably doesn’t play all that often, and usually only does it with yoda or obi-wan. mains skye, bc he likes playing characters that help his team. not interested in winning, probably ranks in plat lobbies bc his aim is good. always ends up blinding his teammates and gets down on himself for it. likes the singularity bundle

dooku — instalocks kayo and never uses abilities other than his knife and ult bc he believes in aim superiority. scorns people who use characters that can heal and revive themself; gets ragey when people point out kayo can be revived. always plays alone or with ventress. if he gets into a lobby with a jedi he will do everything. in his power to make sure they lose. hardstuck ascendant bc he doesn’t use abilities. uses the forsaken bundle bc he considers it the most elegant of the skins.

ventress — hear me out when i say this girl mains breach, because she lives to make other people angry and breach is the most infuriating character to play against. she will always bait her teammates and she will always clutch in the most irritating way. her teammates can’t even be mad because she’s carrying them, but at their own expense. probably gold/plat max bc she only cares about her kills and not about the win. devoted prelude to chaos lover

maul — i am telling you with my whole soul this man wants to be a yoru main. and he’s not great at it, but he’s the only agent he will play. his aim is solid but he doesn’t have a good sense of how the other team plays, so he always ends up getting caught with his flash out or teleporting right into three different players at once. he also doesn’t comm, ever, unless it’s to curse someone out. only plays comp and only loses. if he’s in a lobby with kenobi he throws and spam reports him for cheating. bronze/silver but would be higher if he stopped playing yoru. uses the protocol bundle because he thinks it’s cool and it reminds him of his old training modules.

savage — fills sage and always revives maul when he dies in a stupid location. will only heal maul and will not communicate with the other team unless they are nice to his brother. somehow manages to avoid getting into gunfights but when he does he always crouch sprays. really likes the guardian and the elderflame bundle because the dragons are cool as shit.

bo-katan — devoted fade main, but could probably play any agent with ease. enjoys using voice changers to troll people and has a very low tolerance for sexism. literally just a solid player who doesnt top or bottom frag but is somehow the most capable person in the lobby at any given time. can and will disconnect from the game if people start being mean to her, and comes back 10 minutes later when they’re on the cusp of losing just to bring them back. diamond, but only because she keeps getting banned for disconnecting. likes the chronovoid bundle for the cool melee inspect

cody — sova main, and probably loves learning lineups. him and obi wan have combo moves and great chemistry in and out of game, and they probably duo together more often than anakin and obi wan do (anakin always plays with padme). probably ends up bottom fragging because he’s too invested in using his abilities than actually playing the game, but can easily clutch up when his team needs him. loves the ego bundle bc it reminds him of his armor, and doesn’t care for skins that change the gun’s sound effects.

fives — he loves playing gekko and trolling people with his abilities and ultimate. always brings good vibes to the lobby but mostly plays with his brothers in their custom games. not the greatest with his aim but his flashes always manage to blind the entire team — he just misses all his shots and blames it on their weird movement. he’s a shit player because he wants to be, and because he likes being able to play with his shiny friends when they first start the game without putting them into hard lobbies. blatantly uses blastx odin.

barriss — probably an astra main. just seems like a very cool headed player but gets easily irritated when her team doesn’t play the way she needs them to. can’t adapt, and therefore ends up having a hard time with the game. silver/gold lobbies at best. ahsoka bought her the ruination bundle and now it’s the only thing she uses. not too much to say for her other than the fact that she’d be a lot better if she realized everyone’s gonna play a little different.

qui-gon — this guy loves playing harbor. he’s definitely a bad player and gets a kick out of making people angry at him and then bringing up that he’s trying to learn how to play so he can play with his son, which is true because he only learned to play with obi wan. also only plays unrated and his play style changes every single game and no one is sure if he’s going to kill 40 people or 4. he probably backseats, too, after he’s dead. probably likes the neo frontier skins because they’re retro as shit. he seems like he’d like cowboys.

plagueis — plays clove because they’re immortal and can heal themselves, and be fucks w that necromancy shit. definitely not good at the game but doesn’t get toxic with his team. god tier IGL but only plays for himself unless the team starts catering to his tastes. probably diamond rank just because he’s good but not great, and doesn’t play the game that much. uses the cryostasis bundle because he’s got a thing for cold planets.

jar jar — he’s iron and not because he’s stupid but because he literally doesn’t know how to play the game. probably plays deadlock because he thinks she’s cool and isn’t aware that she’s a bad agent. very positive teammate but people get angry at him because he makes silly plays. he’ll get better he just needs time. likes the neptune bundle for obvious reasons, and is infinitely delighted by the little fishes.

yeah this was pretty crazy no lie but i fw it lmk if u want a part 2 with the original trilogy or something else bc i got so much more

also shoutout to @circle-around-again for responding to an old post of mine like 7 months ago bc they inspired me to make this post

[queenimmadolla]

ooh, we are social this week, which i’m digging! please note this isn’t an attack on anyone, this is just me adding to the conversation. so on the status of the fandom being dead. it is. (and this is a lot, cause i can’t shut up when i get going)

we can like sugar coat it all we want and say people don’t venture out to read or maybe they’ve lost interest in writing, but fandoms usually go dead—and this term doesn’t necessarily mean like absolutely NO FICS—it just means it wasn’t as hype as it was when the last season dropped, and that’s a literal fact. it’s been two years lol. summer of ‘22, i could refresh the eddie munson x reader tag and like 16 new fics and blurbs and posts would load every time, there was just so much fucking content—it was glorious and positive because there was so many people, way too many for people to start whatever bullshit ended up happening (that occurred during the first phase of people losing interest).

now if i refresh when i dare venture out to the tags (and we’ll get to that next), it’s not as frequent. plain and simple. it’ll pick back up when the next season drops, it’ll be all hype, and then it’ll die down again as the years go by. hell, even the supernatural fandom isn’t as wild as it used to be, and they were around for YEARS.

this is coming from someone who’s been here and read (and when i was just a reader, i lived in those tags) a specific steve fic for like 5 years because there wasn’t a ton of stuff being produced, yes some, but not even to the amount that’s coming out now. and that’s again because of the YEARS long gap. and the proof of that is in stonathan. we all know the gay ships are some of the most popular amongst fandoms, and while stonathan was replaced with steddie essentially, it’s been a hot minute since stonathan owned the stranger things fandom because again, it died down. people moved onto other ships from other shows or outgrew fanfiction for the fandom. that ship was like the stranger things equivalent to destiel at one point and now it’s a literal ghost, proof that this fandom does die down and that’s fine. it’ll pick back up one last time, it’s not the end of the world.

now onto the tags, a lot of people here—i’ve noticed more so sexually explicit writers (and i love your work, thank you for your service) just think people are like lazy or something. but really? it’s because a lot of people don’t tag their fics correctly.

some people have dark kinks, some people have more niche kinks, more innocent, etc., that’s inevitable, people have their own tastes. but they won’t tag it. and that’s when people get vocal about kinks and not letting people post what they want and stuff. do you, just make sure you do your due diligence, because when you intentionally don’t, people are gonna speak up. you and i know very well all tumblr users have opinions.

and when they do tag their work, it’s usually after it’s caused a stir or several hours after its been up (this is a tactic for engagement purposes, it’s not tagged for a couple of hours and then magically it appears hours after people have seen it and spread it and it happens pretty routinely). this is also applies to REBLOGS. i’m not sure if people think that because the original was tagged, it’ll be the same when they reblog, but it’s not! in fact, a lot of people just slap the eddie x reader tag on it and send it out again.

i get it, whatever it is may be your thing, my thing, but that’s just irresponsible and it sucks the joy out of whatever moment people were in when they went into the general tag. i don’t think it may have triggered them to the point of a mental breakdown, though i guess that could happen, but it definitely could put them in a man, fuck this shit i’m gonna go do something else or read something else from some other fandom, blah blah blah, and that’s valid, too. running into something you filtered out through the tags because someone didn’t want to tag their work so they could get more engagement kills vibes.

it’s happened a ton of times with me and so now i don’t go searching, because i’ve encountered waaaaaaaay too many dead doves with no proper tags other than “smut”.

i don’t ever really leave the three tab thingies on tumblr mobile home screen, so now i just get whatever i see my mutuals reblog, or something with a tag i follow (another neat feature to utilize), but again, because some people dont care to tag their stuff appropriately, it’s not always something i can read or something i feel mentally safe reading.

i doubt, like i seriously doubt, people only want to read their mutuals’ stuff. like me, i will support my mutuals and i appreciate them dearly but like….its not enough lol, i LOVE to read and i’m not tryna use them to farm a bunch of writing i can read for myself, that’s just fucked so i’m always looking (as best as i can while trying to avoid other people’s hidden landmines so to speak, because if i happen to like someone’s fic to read, i go back and check to see the blog is now just ‘???’ for me 💀) for new stuff from new writers, writers i don’t know, etc. that fits what i want to read (please, no more white character sibling!reader recs for me, i think you guys are so sweet for tryna plug me with something you think i’ll like but that immediately takes me out of the reader insert, like i can’t imagine myself or someone that looks like me)

yes, you can say there are cliques here who only support each other, and we haven’t been blind to drama and whatever, but people can say the same about you and your group of friends here. it’s all viewpoint. everyone is a part of a clique or group unless they literally don’t talk to anyone.

that aside, i dont know how many times ive gotten on here and like begged for recs and have been desperate enough to jump back into the general x reader tag to search for something to read only to encounter those dead doves. i hate not being able to venture out of my little cave, but it’s what i have to limit myself to. after this last dead dove with no warning, its gonna be a hot damn minute til i try again but i guess the whole point of this is

PLEASE TAG YOUR STUFF APPROPRIATELY AT THE TIME OF POSTING IF YOU ALREADY KNOW BETTER.

[blazehedgehog]

How is progress on your Ghostbusters RPG?

Almost dead, unfortunately. I think about it from time to time but I haven't done any meaningful code work since my Mom died. At some point in the last year I decided I'd write out the entire game script, since I was coalescing around a story idea.

With making an RPG in Clickteam Fusion, planning ahead is your best friend, so knowing every story beat ahead of time would give me a clearer picture of what needed to be coded on the back end.

But naturally, the opening to the game is going to be the most text heavy, outside of the ending. I wrote about three chapters, encapsulating a teaser and a recap of how the original Ghostbusters ended, and have been too distracted with other things to write more.

The general gameplay flow I was gravitating towards was something like Metal Max. Not long after starting this GB fangame, I watched somebody stream all of Metal Max NES and the bounty system in that was really interesting. Basically, over the course of the story, you'll hear rumors about special creatures and bandits roaming around the overworld, and if you can kill them, you earn a big reward by turning in the bounty.

If you ignore bounties, it cuts the gameplay length in half and you lose out a lot of level ups and gear. Taking/ignoring bounties almost ends up being kind of a difficult selector. Like doing a three heart run in Zelda.

For a Ghostbusters RPG, all of this just made sense, and it'd make it easy to reuse areas. You get calls about ghosts to catch, and you can either go catch the ghost (your bounty) or you can follow the story. Maybe the bounty is along the way to the next story event, maybe it's in a previous dungeon. It's up to you where you go.

I dunno if the game will ever get finished, but I'll let you peek on what I'd decided story-wise:

So it bothers me that a lot of recent Ghostbusters movies are kind of hero worship. Ghostbusters Afterlife is all about how these four guys were total legends that saved the world, and what a tragedy it is that they've been forgotten. "omg you kids don't know who the ghostbusters were? let me, paul rudd, educate you on the coolest, strongest and most epic titans to ever dress like sweaty service industry workers."

That's dumb. The Ghostbusters are working joes. They stumbled into this job, and saved the world kind of by accident. They are barely heroes and could have ended all life on earth as we know it just as easily. They just wanted a paycheck and were looking for a niche to fill.

And in the wider view of producing the first Ghostbusters movie itself, that too was kind of an accident. The movie got rammed through production, the script was an unfinished mess so they adlibbed a lot of it, and basically nobody expected it to do as well as it did. It is the very definition of lightning in a bottle, and it hasn't really been replicated.

So I wanted to push in on that. These guys aren't looking to save the world. They aren't actually that strong or cool. They don't have a sense of duty. They're just regular people, and they can (and do) make mistakes.

When Egon says crossing the streams is like "all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light", I imagine that means it's more than just a really big explosion. Ray calls it "total protonic reversal", which makes it sound more like the creation of a black hole, or something.

When the Ghostbusters crossed the streams and directed that into the doorway to Gozer's world, in my story, they effectively collapsed an entire dimension. Erased it, and whatever it inhabited.

I wanted there to be consequences for that. It was an impulsive action they made out of desperation to save themselves, and though it worked in the short term (sealing the door, almost certainly killing Gozer) I wanted there to be much worse long term consequences. They more or less punched a hole in reality, and there's really only two things that happen with holes:

They get bigger and deeper

They get filled in with debris

Ultimately I wanted to say that when the Ghostbusters crossed the streams, it was a mistake. They didn't know any better. They were messing with forces vastly beyond their comprehension. And the thrust of the game would be them figuring out what they did wrong and trying to come up with a plan to do a better job at fixing it.

But they don't know if they can do it. What happened with Gozer was a happy accident (that turned out to be not so happy). The scale of this problem literally dwarfs them. They are so small that they are barely even specks of dust. This is a supernaturally cosmic issue.

To me, The Ghostbusters are screw-ups that were in the right place at the right time and did the wrong thing. But not maliciously, just ignorantly. And the decision to take responsibility for that mistake is the grease that turns the gears of the narrative.

[yowyowyaoi]

The Akatsuki’s Favorite Halloween Movies

Deidara, Hidan and Tobi: Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981)

The iconic theme song. The silent killer stalking his victims in the chill of the night. The way he never says any words, never gives any warning sign of his presence until it’s too late. There are a thousand different reasons why these two movies are the favorite of this particular trio. They like to camp out in the living room and watch them back to back. Sometimes they’ll eat snacks, sometimes they’ll style each others hair, a couple of times they’ve carved pumpkins like the characters in the movie. Deidara and Tobi love the first Halloween the most, and neither felt like such a perfection in storytelling really needed a sequel. Tobi especially likes to argue on how Michael Myers is scary not because of the mask (while touching his own) but because you as the viewer don’t know the motivations behind why he targets this particular group of people. Hidan got them into Halloween II and insists that it’s still scary even knowing (some) of Myer’s thought processes. And Deidara has to admit the lab explosion scene at the end is “an artistic masterpiece, hm!”

Konan: Hocus Pocus (1993)

Konan doesn’t really like scary movies, exactly. She likes things that are light and childlike, and films that evoke a sense of nostalgia. No Halloween movie gives her that sense of fulfillment quite like Hocus Pocus. The story of the boy who was turned into a cat trying to save his sister  resonates with Konan, as she would have done anything to save her “family” (Yahiko and Nagato). The sweet teen love story between Max and Allison really moves her, and she has a soft spot for Max’s quirky little sister Dani. And speaking of sisters, The Sanderson Sisters holds a place on Konan’s heart as some of the greatest “villains” of all time. She’s made Deidara and Itachi sing “I Put A Spell On You “ with her more times than they care to admit, with her as the lead witch of Winnie. They’ve even dressed up as the sisters one Halloween, with Konan as Winnie, Deidara as Sarah, and Itachi as Mary. They looked fabulous but of course Hidan never lets Deidara or Itachi forget that they “dressed up like chicks”.

Nagato and Kisame: Halloweentown (1998)

Another nostalgic movie that isn’t really scary so much as it’s fun. For both of them, the notion of an entire town where “freaks” aren’t only welcome but are the norm, is very appealing to them. Kisame knows his shark-like appearance would fit right in to this mythical place, and Nagato imagines that he and his Pein bodies could really find their niche there. Kisame in general is a big fan of classic movies, and has long since been a fan of the work of Debbie Reynolds. When he found out that she played the lovable witch grandmother to Marnie in this movie, well, he was hooked. The two like to eat a lot of candy while watching this movie (it’s the only time of year that either of them truly indulges in sweets) and discuss ways they could improve the government of this fabled town.

Kakuzu: Beetlejuice 1988

Kakuzu admires the character of Beetlejuice. The man is long dead yet he’s managed to use his talent of being repulsive as a means to earn income by scaring living people out of ghosts’ former homes. Kakuzu’s always says that “Hell runs on money”, and this movie gives credibility to the idea that he’s right. He hopes that if and when he finally dies, he will be able to use his talents of bounty hunting in the afterlife to keep on earning money. Maybe wrangling up wayward spirits that don’t accept that they’ve passed on? Or souls that don’t follow whatever the rules of the afterlife are? Kakuzu sees the possibilities as being endless. Kakuzu has also always had an eye for architecture and especially buildings or structures that are way outside of the norm. He’s fascinated by the remodeling that Delia Deetz does to Maitland’s house, and secretly would love such a bizarrely constructed house to live in himself one day. 

Itachi: A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Itachi despises Freddy Krueger. In his mind, the man being burned alive was too light a punishment for the atrocious acts he committed against children. BUT the Uchiha was understandably drawn in by the concept of being able to control and manipulate someone through their dreams. Very similar to gengetsu, and some of the nightmares that Freddy gives to people have become inspiration for visions that Itachi’s given to his enemies. Konan likes to watch this movie with him, as she likes the character of Nancy Thompson; but she gets so scared during the movie that she has to hold on to Itachi’s arm for support the whole time. Itachi often comes away with deep fingerprints imbedded into his skin the next day.

Zetsu: Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

It should be no big surprise that a movie about a sentient plant with a rapidly developing lust for human flesh would be Zetsu’s favorite Halloween film. He loves how manipulative the plant Audrey II is with Seymour, and how easily he’s able to convince him to “feed” him. Zetsu also loves how campy this movie is, with the overzealous acting and the constant musical numbers. He’s tried to convince the entire Akatsuki to put this on as a play, and invite people from neighboring villages to come and watch. When Nagato questioned what they would do after the viewers realized they were all Akatsuki members, Zetsu’s solution was to invite them backstage to “meet” Audrey II … and never emerge again. Of course his idea was shot down, but he still loves the movie and watches it at least 10 times every October.

Sasori and Orochimaru: Child’s Play (1988)

This one almost seems too obvious, but Sasori really, REALLY loves the character of Charles Lee Ray, aka Chucky. Finding a way to beat death by transferring his soul into a body that could never be hurt, or age, or die? Sasori was sold from the first time his grandmother let him watch this film as a little boy. Of course Chucky’s body isn’t without flaws; in fact carefully studying Chucky’s design is what’s driven Sasori to make so many improvements on his own body. When Orochimaru was still in the Akatsuki these two would watch Child’s Play and it’s sequels, and argue on whether Chucky had found the best path to immortality. One thing that Sasori can’t relate to, however, is Chucky’s desire to transfer his soul back out of a doll and into another human body. Sasori prefers to stay in his doll body for eternity. Orochimaru, however, was very, very intrigued at the idea of putting one’s essence into different bodies, and this movie opened up his mind to hours of research (and eventually trial and error) on the subject.

[inthebeginning-rebellion]

i do think people are taking djenks 'izzy is a father figure!!' comment a little too literally

ED saw Izzy as a mentor/'father' figure, a safe, codependent, but also deeply toxic and volatile bond. 'I loved you, as best I could.' he could never love Izzy in a way that was... better, because it was dependent on violence and repression of the true self. I don't think he really saw Izzy as a DAD, it was more that he was a sort of... amalgamation of a lot of things that Ed never had and wished he had but were still not what Ed dreamed of. Lucius says to Stede 'maybe the time with you is the best he was ever gonna get'. Izzy was... the best of a lot of bad relationships, but still not a relationship where he could be his true self. He had to be Izzy's ideal.

Izzy loved who he and Ed were together, the infamous notorious brigand of the seven seas Blackbeard and his loyal, deadly first mate. He loved this concept and this ideal and this comfortable niche they built together after a lifetime of not belonging, but he spent all of season 1 HATING Edward, pushing Edward down, wishing Edward would die. He loved an idea of a man that did not exist anymore, and Izzy knew that about Ed, he knew it long before Stede came around and was refusing to acknowledge the fact that he was beating a dead horse. 'I have... love for you.' I have love for who we are together. I have love for the idea of us as a pair. I have love for what we built. But not you, not what's in your heart.

They're still and always will be family, there still is and always will be love, but love that was unequal and dependent on things that did not match up to what the other loved. I think when Izzy comes back, in whatever way they bring him back 'cause look I'm sorry he's not staying dead if we get a season 3 are you kidding me? Buttons is a bird. Ed was dead long enough for the crew to resort to eating raw seabird. Magic is real and love is true and varied and comes in many many forms, and witches turn into seagulls, and widows paint lighthouses, and soup is good, and whim-prone men open inns, and to be loved is to be changed. I think I'd be a lot sadder about Izzy if I wasn't so 100% sure of the fact that he'll be back. I just don't see a world where Izzy isn't there in season 3, I really don't.

I don't think Stede and Ed are going to be staying as Innkeepers for very long. I think they're going to miss the sea and they'll have to get back out there in the great wide open sooner rather than later, and I think they're going to end up bringing Izzy with them in some form or another. I don't think they'll necessarily be pirates, but I do believe The Revenge is home and I do believe they'll find a place to meet in the middle. (I'm saying, Dinner Theater on the Revenge, docking in Nassau, Barbados, and the former Republic of Pirates.)

Anyway the point is. Ed and Izzy felt vastly different types of love for one another and it was tainted by experience and aggression and pain. They brought out each others poisons and when Ed got tired of the poison, Izzy demanded it continue. And by the time he got what he wanted, Izzy, too, had changed too much to want that poison. But he did ask for it, he demanded it. And it nearly killed them all- it did kill Ed. Imagine that, demanding your oldest friend, your family, to be their worst self, regretting it, and then killing him for it. And yes, he became a unicorn and came out of his shell and grew. But there's still... more, for Izzy to become.

His death will be his rebirth, I think, in a way that goes far beyond the unicorn. He is the spirit of piracy. He became that, in season 2. If we get season 3, fuck it man. Give me ghost pirate Captain Hands, the true and literal spirit of piracy.

[georgiapeach30513]

Scott pilgrim has an incredibly niche and dedicated fanbase and they were stoked for an anime series. Edgar Wright also very clearly thinks of this project as his baby (and Brian O’Malley, especially since he was the creator of it all.) I don’t think they were ever going to let it fail. Especially since they waited so long to do this AND the entire original movie cast basically signed on to do it asap.

The CE turned hater whatevers are hilarious to me at times because 25 losers on tumblr who spend 24/7 stalking his flights and soba noodle prices should have realized that a lot of Scott pilgrim fans also enjoy Lucas lee and a lot of ppl were pleasantly surprised he’d turned up to do this again.

I think Chris has a decent fan base in the comic book crowd (primarily for his Steve portrayal but also the random other things he’s done like Scott P, the losers, fantastic four, etc.) he has a whole fanboy fan base too and those guys are likely the ones tuning in to watch his Netflix movies (lol). One of my guy friends is a huge CE fan - he loves him and Ryan Gosling and the guy literally said one of his all time favs was Chris in the perfect score (LOL). He’s like “I’ve always liked him and his cap trilogy is the best in the MCU and he has a great Ass.” This guy is your standard football watching Vegas hopping guy who will watch stuff like the gray man but probably won’t care to follow up on people magazine lol.

Point blank there actually are a lot of men who admire Chris and his assets (LOL) and they tend to be typical dude crowd. Chris has that ability to appeal to nerds, comic book geeks, women, basic betches, teenage girls, and grown ass men. I think that’s a very special thing.

Say what you want about him but I think more people are upset he’s not doing better movies post MCU than whoever he is dating. Which means - if he starts doing more projects that get people excited you will see more people tuning in for him.

Just my two cents.

Oh 100%!! I love that Edgar Wright was true to Brian’s original creation. The cast, script, director, and animators did amazing! Bringing back the original cast was the cherry on top. They jived really well and it shows.

Those “fans” are seriously just whatever. This is the last ask I’m going to do on the subject. Ignore the trolls. If you give a mouse a cookie! Anyways, Scott Pilgrim has a solid fan base so it was always going to do well.

Ghosted wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination. I enjoyed it and watched it more than once. But I will say it didn’t crack my top 10 of his projects. He did well. The script sucked. But I also think the role should have went to someone much younger. I don’t know, is Jaeden Martell or Finn Wolfhard too young? Maybe Jacob Elordi or that other kid, Noah Centineo? It wasn’t believable as a “38” year old man personably.

Chris has a wide fan base that expands past women. I promise you. My dad has became a fan 😂 I love when he tells me about one of his movies and says, you would like it and I’m just like, uh huh. Yeah. He did say he wants to watch him be a detective and wants him in a western. So random. That man has watched many of his movies and not by my influence.

Chris has a universal appeal. And I think a lot of his fans want more from him. So many of us will support all of his projects, but don’t dumb us down. Give us good projects to work with. But we can’t deny that there are fans, like myself, who are a fan of him as well. No, I didn’t ever buy into this Prince Charming that Disney sold us, but I also can’t say I haven’t been disappointed in the past year. Am I “mad” at him? Nope. Just want more and better for him.

[electricbluebutterflies]

This for Jessica/Leto 🥹

❝  do you even know what it does to me?  every time i see you cry,  any time you’re hurt even the smallest bit it just— do you realize how deeply you’ve imbedded yourself into my heart?  ❞

Early-era, PG-ish, also on ao3.

He’s falling for her.

This isn’t quite supposed to happen, he thinks, but it isn’t quite-

If this is the most reckless thing he ever does, so be it. If this becomes ruination…

The realization that he is capable of such emotions comes too slowly to be a shock, the creeping warmth of it all, of caring so deeply about another living thing who must have her own reasons for tolerating him but-

Whatever they’re doing, whatever this is, is already more than he expected and it’s only been a year and a half. What will the rest of their lives look like if they go on? He wants… he wants-

There are routines, in these years. The late-afternoon project of trying to figure out what that woman is up to, time slipped away from the endless pile of things he ought to be doing, the weight of power and the endless paperwork and the need to clear his head and-

He has spent his whole life within these walls and somehow she already knows the complex better than he does. Which hallways offer quiet, where to go if one does not want to be found, always perfect safety but there is something reclusive about her that he has not discouraged as he wonders if he ought to. If anything, her unpredictability shows personality. If she were what she has been accused of, he thinks, her behavior would have more of a flow to it than he’s actually seen. The occasional reports of her activities line up with this; the guard already ignores her, maybe too much, but-

Unpredictable to a point, but there are routines. A certain place he’s learned to start on these afternoons as the instinct hits, a niche under a near-unused staircase, a hiding place he’d suggested to her and she has claimed for her own and the ghosts of his own past are replaced with hers now and-

She is there, yes, and she is not in expected condition. Something has wounded her heart, something even she cannot hide. She looks up at the sound of his footsteps, yes, but there is something hurt in her eyes, something-

“Do you need something?”

Her voice sounds wrong, he thinks, as if she has cried too recently, but she still uncurls her body. She looks unstable on her feet and she’d still do whatever he asked, recent stubbornness be damned she is still thoroughly programmed and-

“Only your presence, if you will tolerate me.”

“I can’t say I’m good company right now, but-“

He has come to suspect she does not admit weakness easily, and even the slightest vulnerability, the catch of her voice and she would still-

Oh, they are going to need to work on this. Whomever tried to socialize her absolutely failed, and this is the kind of project that takes lifetimes and he’ll still do it, still try to see if there’s an actual person under there and the flickers he gets sometimes are pleasing enough and-

“You realize how little-“

“I don’t know that I believe you.”

It’s as if they play a game every time they interact, how fast can she casually say something to make his heart break, to worry him, to-

At least she seems aware her emotions are compromising. She’s displayed less regret when vaguely implying murder, and perhaps he will learn from her too, how to be calm about things normal people would never be calm about, and-

“I won’t ask that either. You do have little incentive to trust me.”

And a year and a half of what at least feels like enough effort on his side, he’d point out if he thought she’d hear him, but that would sound like obligation and she does seem too responsive to that and-

“I do. But in my current state…”

He won’t ask what’s wrong. He wants to and he won’t. He suspects he doesn’t want to know, and there are decent enough odds it would go right over his head, and-

“Do you even know what it does to me? Every time I see you cry, any time you’re hurt even the smallest bit it just… do you realize how deeply you’ve imbedded yourself into my heart?”

He doesn’t know why this seems like the right moment for such fragile words – at least it is not during or after intimacies, at least he has not crossed that line – but it is, somehow, it is-

“You don’t need to feel that way about me. You don’t need to feel anything at all.”

“This stopped being about need… I don’t know when, but-“

“I will not destroy you that way.”

Skies, and he thought he had a pessimistic view of emotional attachments…

“What if we don’t destroy each other? What if-“

“You’re not supposed to fall in love with me.”

Well, current unclear emotional state is… whatever it is, but at least she’s perceptive, at least-

“Does it bother you if I have?”

“It’s a complication. But not an undesirable one. I will… figure out how to move forward.”

“I won’t pressure-“

“I know you won’t. I know I’ve had your heart for a year and you haven’t done anything improper about it. I don’t assume you’ll start now. But I am not… I am not sure if I can ever-“

“I wouldn’t ask. Your tolerance and patience are enough.”

“You say this now, but-“

“You could stop me. I know you could stop me.”

She laughs, and oh that is as rare as anything about her and even in her current-

“Why would I ever want to do that?”

[improbablecarny]

oh my god ya'll are so fucking people to people who don't like horror. it's great if you enjoy it but some of us just get scared too easily so we can't enjoy in the same way! there's no reason to write paragraphs upon paragraphs about how we're judgmental and don't appreciate the genre and are making "asses out of ourselves" just because some of us have a lower threshold for fear than you!

I specifically said it's okay if you don't like horror movies and I could not care less if you personally do not like them, especially if it's for reasons like this. What I WAS objecting to was people being belligerent, ignorant assholes over subjects they know nothing about. I used horror as an example because it was what I was dealing with (guy getting on my case for being part of the "lowest common denominator of weirdos" for liking fake movies about ghosts and monsters), but it absolutely applies to ANY subject where people have to deal with cruel and ignorant remarks directed at them for a profession*, hobby or general interest.

(*I'm talking about people being snobby to minimum wage retail workers or, idk, telling librarians that all they do is "read books all day" or something, not being a cop or designing military weapons or whatever)

Anyone who's owned a pet bug or gotten into specific music scenes or have a niche interest in, idk, doll collecting or something, have come up against people who know nothing but act like they know everything for the specific purpose of being mean to someone for no reason. This is not the same thing as having actual criticism or just not liking something because it doesn't fit within your interests or preferences. There are much more malevolent manifestations of this in, say, people who deny climate change and say climate scientists are lying/don't know what they're talking about because "the weather is normal where I live".

I don't care about superheroes, I think the MCU is a blight, but I'm not walking around being a jackass to people with encyclopedic knowledge of comic books and personal investment in these characters! I'm not making asspulls about half-remembered badly-received story arcs or pointing at Rob Liefeld to make the claim that all superheroes suck and you're stupid for liking them! Why? Because I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about, and though I'm not particularly interested in learning much more, that doesn't give me the high ground to mouth off at people who know this stuff better than I ever will. In fact, a whole ton of the notes on that post are people discussing their similar experiences with mindsets like this, but in different genres/media/topic/etc!

like I'm sorry but if you read the "paragraphs and paragraphs" of what I wrote, but missed this part:

If you’re just not interested in horror, or if you dislike certain subgenres of horror, then that’s fine, you’re not obligated to like anything at all. but smugly announcing that you don’t like horror because you dislike a handful of VERY specific non-universal tropes is just as stupid as saying that you hate comedy because you don’t like adam sandler movies.

Then maybe you can go back and read it again, this time trying not to get offended over the fact that there are people out there more knowledgeable than you on subjects you aren't even interested in.

"I don't like horror because I get scared easily" that's cool!

"I don't like horror because everyone who likes horror is a regressive freak and a danger to society because i saw one that i didnt like in 2006" is not!

[animebw]

If you asked me to describe the appeal of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it would be this: it feels like it was written by a kid.

Admittedly, that sounds like a backhanded compliment. And in some sense, perhaps it is. But for better or worse, no other story, in any medium, so perfectly captures the feeling that it was brought to life specifically by a child’s active imagination. Hell, even saying it was “written” by a child feels too concrete a description. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is like one of those colossal, ongoing make-believe sessions you’d dream up with your friends on the playground, a story you would all craft together on the fly as you pretended to be heroes and villains and wield whatever nonsensical powers you could dream up. I shoot you with my energy laser! Nu-uh, my magic vampire ice powers make me immune to lasers! Oh yeah? Well I punch you with my magic punching ghost who can also stop time! Not so fast, I also have a magic punching ghost but when he punches things, he heals them! And you just keep going, making up new characters, new powers, new settings and new stories to tell within them, coming back day after day to continue the ongoing saga with second and third and fourth generations of your own make-believe heroes. Plus there’s a lot of pointless gross-out humor because you’re all like seven or eight and some dude almost being forced to lick a dirty toilet seat is still the height of comedy.

That is the appeal of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. That is the special sauce that makes this series truly one-of-a-kind. Yes, all long-running shonen are written for kids to some extent, but only Jojo’s truly captures that primal, lizard-brain euphoria of seeing your actual childhood imagination play out before your eyes. And while that style is responsible for all this franchise’s weaknesses and lowest points as well, it provides a niche that simply is not being filled by anything else. If you want to revisit that very specific feeling of being a kid and making up grand stories with your friends, in the days before you were fettered by the expectations of professional writing and could just let your imaginations run free, then Hirohiko Araki’s almost-four-decade-long magnum opus is by far your best option. Who knows, maybe Araki actually is immortal and his childlike whimsy has remained immortal with him. It would explain a lot, honestly.

I bring all this up to put my own feelings toward Jojo’s in context. I like Jojo’s. At times, I love Jojo’s. But when I see so many Jojo’s fans who treat it like gospel, who attack anyone who enjoys it the wrong way (*cough* let people watch parts in whatever order they want *cough*), who embody all the worst aspects of toxic, possessive fandom, and I just can’t help but think... really? This? This, of all franchises, is what you’ve chosen to devote your entire personality to defending? The show that, again, feels like it was written by an actual child? This is the show we’re treating like holy text and excommunicating people for daring to criticize it or see it from a different perspective? Like, guys, come on. This is the show where Araki forgetting how powers work or retconning stuff he no longer likes is literally a running fandom joke and some of y’all losers still treat it like this sacred cow that must not be defiled on pain of death. Get over yourselves already.

Anyway, my point is, as much as I’ve enjoyed Jojo’s, I have never once taken Jojo’s seriously.

Until Stone Ocean.

Stone Ocean is the first time that Jojo’s has felt like an actual fully realized story. Not just a collection of especially dynamic poses or an often logic-less stream of consciousness, but filtering all that insanity through a narrative with genuine stakes, with characters who genuinely grow and change, all building to one of the single most bonkers endings to any anime ever that nevertheless feels like a more meaningful conclusion than any other Jojo’s has managed. It’s so good it honestly makes all the previous parts look worse by comparison. You’re telling me we could’ve had the lovable cast of Diamond is Unbreakable with a plot that doesn’t wait half the season to show up? You’re saying we could’ve had the sheer propulsive energy of Golden Wind with a protagonist who has an actual arc and presence in the story? You mean all this time, Jojo’s could have channeled its childhood-imagination stream of consciousness into a genuinely compelling story without losing that free spirit at its core? Araki took thirteen goddamn years to figure out how to actually write, but the result is so goddamn entertaining it’s hard to care. Stone Ocean is peak Jojo’s, and until Steel Ball Run comes along to show us anime-onlys why it’s apparently the single greatest work of art to ever exist, Jolyne Cujoh will remain the queen of this ridiculous franchise for quite some time to come.

[avatarvyakara]

Let’s just say the saga continues, and the work will too…

The beginnings of Crimson Shades.

4. Acharné

(adj) fierce, bitter, stubborn, furious, keen, determined

The only way to keep sane in this world, thinks Chase, is to think about it in terms of black and white. One side moves, another side is moved against. It doesn’t have to be equal. It almost never is.

The job of Interpol is to be the reaction to the moves. To chase down—aha—those who consider themselves beyond the reach of the law, and show them that their actions have consequences. Chase started as a gendarme and worked his way up—his whole career has been about the beat. Understand the crime, catch the criminal, let the Justice of the People take its dutiful course. In recent days, he’s found his niche in the middle ground—in the hunt.

(It makes him feel alive.

It lets him live.)

A new criminal—an international super-thief breaking all the rules. Out in public, dressed head to toe in bright red, seemingly incongruous and inexplicably linked robberies from countries across the globe. Theories abound at Interpol, from publicity stunts by a very ostentatious insurance saleswoman, to the superhuman delusions of a colourblind kleptomaniac schizophrenic, to the machinations of a secret organization using the distraction of their ringleader’s antics to perform more low-publicity operations without detection. Smoke hiding fire and so on. Chase, naturally, is above such petty speculation.

(Although the ringleader argument does make the most sense, when you think about it.)

And now, a partner. A rookie, more like. An English woman—well, that’s hardly a crime. But an English woman who speaks only English, well, that makes things awkward. An English woman with doctorates, skipping all the steps along the road in becoming an officer, treating it like a game. An English woman like all English, seeing in France a cultural marvel, a museum—a mausoleum—for its decadent beauty and debauchery-filled history, instead of a living, breathing entity that must be cared for and loved, sins and sainthoods alike. An English woman who treats the job like a puzzle, marvelling over antiques and pieces of art as if they will mean anything at all to the criminals seeking them out, instead of the straightforward plan and the risks the work carries. La vaurienne en rose certainly won’t care, whatever it is she has in mind and pocket tonight.

Ms. Argent has to learn to turn off her ramblings and focus on the street. But the infuriating woman won’t speak up for herself and won’t listen to what he’s trying to explain in the English he’s had to brush up on for this assignment. She just won’t budge.

“Dull facts about boring things” is the nicest way he can find to say “Focus on your damn job so I don’t have to bury you too”.

No point in taking it out on her, though. He just has to remind himself of that.

A mint to the mouth. Fuel for thought. Keeps him awake. Alert. Ever-vigilant. It’s an old trick, and it’s been invaluable on stakeouts for years.

“Sit back,” he says, finishing his speech (like he said, he’s been practicing his English). “Watch, and learn how to catch a thief.”

“She’s right there!”

…maybe he needs to take more mints these days.

The night air is cold against his face as Ms. Argent finally bucks up and points out their quarry.

“Remain here!”

“And radio for assistance?”

And scare The Blood-Thief away again? When full contingents couldn’t pin her down in Shanghai? This needed a different approach. One that a fast-lane newbie wasn’t going to be able to help with.

“No! The Crimson Ghost is mine!”

(A more sensible Chase, from the long-ago days of last month, would have appreciated her letting the local police know about their movements so that if the chase did go awry, the Thief would be caught.

So sue him for wanting to make a clear demonstration as to how real policing works.)

And now it’s up to him to chase down La Femme Rouge.

Just another thief, he reminds himself, she’s just like any other thief. All thieves run, and all thieves fall, even when he has to push them himself. And when Chase Devineaux puts his heart into a hunt, he does not let anything like mere physical pain or death-defying parkour get in his way. And really, how many thieves actually bother with anything but guns these days? Pitiful. Bullets are painful for two kind of people, civilians and dead men, and Chase is neither. Not now. Not ever. (Not yet.)

And so the night begins.

(Perhaps Margo would have told him to take it easy. To remind himself that he didn’t need to prove himself to anyone. Not to let himself become consumed with one pesky thief. Not when he had people who loved him at home.

Well. Margo made it perfectly clear what she felt she was capable of taking on.

So will Chase.)

[ginevralinton]

5 things you never get tired of writing

Tagged by: @ailendolin  (thank you!!!!)

Rules: List five things you never get tired of writing. It can be tropes, themes, characters, phrases, whatever brings you joy. Then tag more writers!

Some of this might be in my original writing along with my fanfic!

1. Small moments in life 

Sometimes I wish I was into writing big, sweeping, interesting plots, but let’s be real, I’d rather write about someone’s trip to the supermarket and have them think about the big things while they do it 🤷��♀️

2. Stuff without any proper resolution 

You know, when a character sort of reaches a realisation but doesn’t quite get there, or when something almost happens or almost begins but not quite. Perhaps I’m just bad at committing; perhaps I just do not like sticking to an ending; maybe I just like staying the the media res to purposefully oppose that one critical essay I had to read in my first year of uni

3. Death

In various forms. I start writing something and someone will be dead. I feel like this is inevitable when you write Ghosts fanfic but I find this in my original writing too. Maybe it’s the finality, the big questions it poses, all the gaps it leaves, emotions and fears and resolutions etc etc 

4. Food 

I like describing it and researching it and having other people enjoy it (or maybe have complex relationships with it) and this has nothing whatsoever to do with my mental health, obviously. No, but in all seriousness, I like food writing and the memories and joy and conflict that can come with food.

5. Ginevra Fanshawe and Julian Fawcett

So Ginevra is a bit more niche but she is my fave and I adore getting to write about her. And from anyone who’s read any of my Ghosts stuff, it might be obvious that I like writing Julian a lot. Maybe it’s partly because they’re quite different from me?

I’ll tag @thelastplantagenet @sonnet-of-anarchy and @natequarter - no pressure!!!