#something abt the phrasing of ‘other specific times’ is killing me

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

obsessed with this sentence. “she wore jewelry more than once, it has to mean something deeper.” ???????? necklaces etc are not typically considered single use!!

[superchat]

i rlly loved that first time experience in elden ring of figuring out just wtf was the golden order

like out first i thought it was the ultimate power of the land. like a part of the greater will

and then i thought it was an elite group of leaders, like marika, radagon, some others, who formed a pact or something

at some point i thought it was simply a philosophy

but then you kinda just realize it was the established authority of the land, an entirely self motivated dogma that was the driving force for a lot of brutality and war. it was simply just "this is how the way of the world should be, because it benefits me (marika) specifically. dissenters will be hunted, killed, massacred."

i think theres some wonderful imagery/commentary with using a phrase "golden order" and having this image painted with lots of gold, sunlight, warmth, dialogue like "honeyed rays of gold", its very positive. and then you learn abt just how brutal and oppressive it was and its like 😬 literally just a bunch of bullies

[mugentakeda]

mujin headcanons ?? or just samurai champloo headcanons in general,,

you have seriously no idea the kind of beast you have trifled with asking me this. most of these are specific and kinda complicated because im insane and put deep thought into everything abt samcham but some are just simple and silly. Lets begin

OK SO. i have deep reasoning for almost any of my headcanons because im a stickler for abiding by canon as much as i possibly can no matter how ridiculous the headcanon is. headcanons for ME personally esp with aus and stuff are like "how would this character act in this fucked up situation" rather than coming up with fanon bullshit based on absolutely nothing which just strips characters of their bare essentials which is stupid so yeah. im gonna get the big ones out of the way then get smaller as i go

-i use they/she/he for jin. my hc for their gender and sexuality is kinda hard to describe and idek if theres a label for it but i just phrase it as any gender and no gender at the same time. i think jin doesnt personally view their gender as anything specific and presents mostly neutrally and people just perceive them for what they choose to see. women like seeing jin as a handsome androgynous woman (like a bifauxnen). men like seeing jin as a beautiful man. vice versa. jin has no attachment to such things they just go with the flow and presentation doesnt mean anything profound for them personally other than like. an accessory or something???? idk. i like to see shino and jin as nblw because their story reminds me of something tragic lesbians would do. but tdlr no matter what gender you are being into jin is gay inherently -jin is a virgo, fuu is a libra, and mugen is a scorpio. common traits for virgos include loyalty, practicality, overly critical of self and others, dislikes rudeness and asking for help. they can be closed off and can be misunderstood by others due to this, but they have deep senses of humanity. traits for libras include social, gracious, desire for companionship, in a constant chase for justice and equality, a dislike for comformity and loudmouths. traits for scorpios include resourcefulness, passion, assertiveness, fearless, a dislike for dishonesty, small talk, superficiality. i originally based the specific dates (sept 4th for jin, oct 9th for fuu, and nov 3rd for mugen) based on the number of diamonds in jins mon, the number of letters in 'sunflower' for fuu (sunflower season ends in october!), and the 3 corners of the triangle on the back of mugens happi. EVERYTHING IS INTENTIONAL!!!!! -jin is actually left handed, but such a thing is forbidden for samurai, so jin had to force themself to use their right. you wouldnt know it at first glance but if you saw jins fancy kanji caligraphy using their left hand compared to their uniformed and almost robotically perfect handwriting with their right youd be able to tell what theyre truly most comfortable with -mugen and jin have to bicker about literally everything. like jin will say something and mugen sometimes will actually agree but he’ll say something purposefully contrarian and stupid just to get on jins nerves. it takes hard work to get an actual rise out of them but sometimes just the blank stare or the raised eyebrow is enough to make mugen cackle

-making clean kills is practiced for jin because the feeling of sticky blood and the stench makes them antsy. the night that they stumbled out into the dark after accidentally killing enshirou, itd been everywhere. soaking their clothes, under their nails, on their lips, in their eyelashes and hair. theyd thrown up and wailed hysterically like a wounded animal and then collapsed into an ice cold river to claw it off in panic and nearly drowned from the force of the river waves and the shock of the whole situation and then they just passed out on the bank from exhaustion and didnt wake up for 15 hours

-after the finale, mugen recovers (somehow) from his injuries after 2 weeks. however, this did not account for the chronic pain that sticks with him and worsens in the cold and rain. hed find later that jin, his perfect bird of a feather, gets debilitating migraines and back pain in the cold and rain. they can be in bed and in pain together

-jin doesnt force their meticulous and traditional routines onto mugen so theyll slink out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to do their weird praying and katas and meditation and mugen will sleep until past noon and he'll always complain about them letting him sleep the day away and theyll always just hum in response

-jin can NOT cook for shit but id like to think they work to improve as a way of remembering shino fondly. before meeting her they could brew a mean ass cup of tea and steamed rice. but that was literally it. but now they can make some simple things like clear mushroom soup and dumplings and they intend on expanding

-mugen is a closeted fine arts snob. he thought the shit was flowery and boring before but jin reads their favorite poems and epics to him and theyve furthered his education where sensei bundai left off so they do a lot of poetry writing as exercises. mugen likes haikus a lot. and he likes those weird noh theaters that jin loves. especially the vile ones with the drama and violence and cheating and death and betrayal. jin forces him to go to the romance ones too its just against his will those times

-jin will not let him hit until he has bathed. the first time he propositioned them they threw him in a huge hot bath like an animal and combed through every matted knot in his hair, scrubbed his back and behind his ears, carved the dirt out from under his yellow fingernails with a small knife, forced a wad of mint leaves in his mouth. jin plucks their eyebrows so maybe theyre kind of over the top about it but then mugen considers rinsing himself off in river water bathing so maybe theyre being perfectly reasonable

-they tell each other scar stories and random events that happened before they met each other. theres a lot of observing without words that they both do to get to know each other but they also do a lot of talking. it always happens at night when theyre both kind of tipsy on sake or wine because thats the only time jin feels loosened up enough to not clam up over memories

[felikatze]

binding blade thoughts (again), abt religion this time. so the elimine church is one of only TWO major religions in the ENTIRE FRANCHISE to not worship dragons, alongside whatever ashera's religion is called in the tellius games

and the elimine church is specifically EXTREMELY christian. elimine is basically jesus. she is considered to be the incarnation of god on earth and stated to have ascended to heave after her passing, which also tells us the elimine church has a concept of heaven as an afterlife

additionally from various supports we see that priests hold regular mass, and that proselytizing is also a part of the religion (though, fortunately, the bishop yoder frowns upon forced conversion, and will just leave anyone of other religions alone, cuz they already have something to worship)

yoder's supports also confirm that the elemental affinities are not just something for players, but rather the characters know about them in universe, and there ARE diverging theological beliefs in how they came to be. the elimine church state that the affinities were a gift from god (specifically, a nameless all powerful creator god, which drew me to the obvious christianity comparison to begin with), and the sacaen spiritual belief states that the affinities come from the earth itself and act akin to protective spirits

people also have some means to discern which affinity they fall under, as dayan directly states he is protected by the anima affinity

i dont think other games have this direct integration of game mechanics into theology? which is wild. it's so fascinating for support bonuses to have lore.

as a result of that, the elimine church also seems to have a strong "love thy neighbour" ethic, especially since belief in elimine is associated with the healing arts. staves are considered holy tools of elimine. all characters who start with staves are either direct members of the church, or troubadours. both troubadours (clarine and priscilla) come from etruria, where belief in elimine is a state religion

that casts a fun light on druids usint staves... call it a hunch, but i don't think niime is a very devout person.

ALSO! DRAGONS! so, yoder, our leading bishop, remember, seems to not mind dragons very much. he says that the return of dragons must be "prevented" and if it cannot, then dragons should "return to their own world", which is all very gentle phrasing.

however, our only non-mario kart depiction of elimine, in heroes, is WAY MORE VIOLENT?

"Never forget that dragons are but destruction given form."

Whereas Yoder seems wary of dragons out of a fear it may restart the Scouring, Elimine straight up advocates for killing em. It seems that her endless compassion does not extend to them.. huh...

It honestly seems like that aspect of her character just got watered down over the thousand years between the Scouring and Binding Blade. With dragons all but gone for the world, people stopped worrying about them, and they became objects of legend. Notably, the perception of dragons as demons does still exist - in Niime's support chain with Fae, she retells the Scouring just so, substituting demon for dragon, but soon drops that belief once she sees Fae is just a wee little baby, and just as much a person as anyone else.

Honestly, the belief in a god who created the earth, alongside the terminology of Divine Dragons - I want to know the relationship between those so bad. Unfortunately, Sophia and Fae have no supports with any priests. The only one who does is Igrene, with Saul.

And in that one, she says that she doesn't believe in god anymore, but that before she became an atheist, she specifically believed in a different god. Alongside statements that Sophia is a priestess of Nabata, this clearly indicates that Nabata, and perhaps dragonkind, have a different main religion, with a different god. There is like, zero lore, on what they would have worshipped, but i do wonder if that is where Divine Dragons come into play.

From the Igrene/Saul support we also see how the god of the Elimine Church is characterized. Mainly, as a kind god, yet one who will not intervene in mortal affairs out of belief that humans can make their own path. If you don't believe in god, god still believes in you, that type of stuff. Works well with the healing angle that priests do good in the name of god and all that jazz.

I ran out of things to say.

TLDR; the cast of the Binding Blade and the Blazing Blade are the only FE characters who can and will say "Oh my god"

[spring-lxcked]

taking a small break to ramble incoherently abt my portrayal of william in what will be a very confusing post lmao

i'm thinking about how my portrayal, which draws inspiration from two specific characters at times, and how i apply that inspiration to william (which started off as the focus of the post before it derailed how did this get so long i'm sorry)

the first is (and i do hate to make this comparison ngl) my portrayal of kok.ichi over on @takinghisbow. i mean, one of the running themes of the blog is the "mask" kok.ichi wears to conceal his true emotions and i've consistently tried to keep myself from falling into that exact turn of phrase on this blog for the most part. these are two characters who do not want you to actually know anything about them and hide everything from intentions to feelings to expressions (yes hello i have realized in the last year that i mask in public thanks for noticing). the obvious differences between these two are motivation (kok.ichi is motivated by trust issues and self-hatred, william is motivated to try to cover up his misdeeds) and method (kok.ichi acts antagonist/annoying to push people away, but william acts falsely kind to draw people in while still keeping them at an arm's length). kok.ichi has questionable morals, but tries to be good where it counts. william is a terrible person and has no intentions of changing that, although he can be kind to those he likes if it isn't "a burden" to him.

the other character (who i also tentatively write) is hann.ibal lec.ter (specifically the NB.C portrayal). and i've said it before, but "you're not a person, you're a monster wearing a person-suit" is william-coded lmao. they're both monsters, and yet capable of caring. they are not incapable of empathy or sympathy, but choose how to wield it. outside of their very horrific hobbies, nobody would ever think they were killers. both are surrounded by death, and yet not suspected because nobody could ever believe they'd do it (until it's too late).

going into making this blog, i was very adamant that i wanted a complex portrayal that didn't fall too far into generic movie serial killer stereotypes. we don't throw around potentially offensive terms like "psychopath" or "sociopath" here. we don't suggest that lack of empathy = bad person here. i also was very, very loathe to do the whole "evil guy looks Totally Evil and is so obviously creepy" because it quite literally made little sense to me. how is this guy killing so many kids and not getting suspected if he screams "Serial Killer" just by looking at him? if he's antagonistic and creepy and clearly threatening? and in that same vein i wanted to avoid "bad person is bad all the time 24/7, never does anything decent ever" because i live for nuance, not the chr.istian fund.amentalist black/white thinking i grew up in. i wanted him to be irredeemably, unmistakably evil without losing the fact that evil people are humans, and humans are capable of great evil if they choose.

i want the moments where he's being decent—a seemingly good friend, father, or romantic partner—to be almost disarming. because, while william is perfectly capable of caring for people, his actions (both in what he does and what he doesn't do) are intentional. always. his sense of humor with his adult friends or romantic partners is half because he genuinely enjoys joking around and half because he wants to be viewed a certain way. funny. normal. just one of your buddies. him doting on his kids is because he loves them, but also because he needs for everyone—both the kids and the community—to be able to say, "What a good father, he would never hurt anyone (and especially not a child)." when he resists showing anger (whether entirely or just the full extent of it) toward someone he's upset with, this is part of the persona. when he pretends to like someone he dislikes, this is part of the persona. when he agrees to something he doesn't want to do, this is part of the persona.

it's part of what makes sprin.gtrap seem so different from william prior to the springlo.ck incident. william is throwing everything behind his persona. he's a calculating man, even when he's genuinely enjoying himself. he can be truly having a nice time with someone, but the thought of how this is benefitting his persona is always in the back of his mind. you're just another character witness to william. after the springlo.ck incident, there's no longer a point. the persona is gone. get ready to meet the real man beneath it.

[cloudslou]

rant anon again, hiiii! thank you for replying :)

"but it can be very exhausting when its the only lens ppl use to look at their art. not only is it just a tad annoying, i think its pretty dismissive and reductive to take that approach every time." -> yes. YES that's exactly what i was trying to say, thank you for putting it into better words.

"there is so much more to a song (or any piece of art) than its "true" meaning (and i say that liberally because even when larries connect on of hl's songs to the other or their real lives, this is no more "true" than connecting a song to a girlfriend, etc, i think there's too much certainty by fans in this fandom) and it limits ur enjoyment of a song i think to not push to break out of that box." -> omg thank your for bringing that up, i actually had that in mind too and wanted to discuss it with someone. i know, I KNOW!!!!!! it feels like some people in the fandom present their ideas and their interpretations (is that the right word?) as the only correct ones when it comes to song meanings and lyrics and references and it makes me so mad. i totally respect people having opinions and being passionate about the meaning of something but thinking YOUR viewing of something is the only correct one is so. bleh. we don't actually know the true meaning of a song (or as you said, any form of media) because 1. it doesn't exist!!!!! there's not just one meaning in art!!!!! 2. the only one who knows the "true meaning" in something are the artists themselves. yeah, fan theories are fun and stuff but not when you're like okay guys i got it!!! this means this and that means that and you have to think the same as me!! also, in my opinion, over-explaining and over-analysing "kills" x piece of art. (in our case, songs and mvs and whatever else) you don't have to find a certain meaning behind every song, every lyric, every word, you know what i'm saying?

thank you again for the time and patience! nice chatting with you 😊

yes u have it right w interpretations!!! i think many ppl, and not thru malice or intent, end up w the attitude of "my interpretations are the only right interpretations" (if you dont see the clear mean of the sushi mv, ur wrong! if you dont think X t shirt is a reference to Y, you're not looking closely enough! etc etc)

i think its quite fun when we actually have a wide variety of interpretations and different parts of songs/mvs resonate with us, and for different reasons. it would be so much less fun to exist on 1d tumblr if everyone always came to the same conclusions and had the same ideas about art. and i also think its quite fun to take a piece of art (song or mv or what have you) and let it sit on its own, regardless of who is singing it, what album its on, and ask what it could be telling us. what story is there? what story COULD be there? i think its fun to be moved to different interpretations based on ME and my own experiences and life and what kinds of art connects w me.

but i also agree with you that not everything needs to be explained, or over-explained. there's a lot of things abt their lyrics and lyricism that i think gets hyper-focused on, as if its autobiographical, verbatim truth, and its helpful for me to remind myself that songwriters often change facts in their writing; taylor swift originally had "brown eyes" instead of "green eyes" (a lyric that predates even the earliest recording of sparks fly), and didnt niall say that his song san francisco is actually about a different city, but san fran fit better in the song? or did i make that up? AND even w that, many lines end up being phrased how they are, or exist at all, because a verse necessitates it. the melody necessitates it. some or a lot of specific references may be accurate to real life (for example, i dont think "princess park" was inserted for songwriting purposes, thats a very specific reference that doesnt need to be that specific), but i think its better to look at a whole song rather than zero-in, if you want to talk about meaning.

[dip-the-stick]

Feel free to ignore!! I just saw your post I wanted to reply (on anon bc i'm shy) I've seen the gay panic response used in like, relation to crimes, but I have been seeing it used like that less and less. There's been pushes in some areas to make it so it's not considered an acceptable defense under any circumstances, so hopefully one day that usage of the term will just be piece of history. For years though, I've far more frequently heard it used in a positive light. Like specifically, that moment of panic when you realize you have queer feelings for someone, whether it's a crush or just seeing someone so attractive you start fumbling your words. Like, at least 95% of the times I've heard the phrase in my entire life has been this sort of context, both online and offline. I think it's a matter of like People want to reclaim what's been used against them, and turn something that's ugly into something beautiful And there are people who'll only know it in those more positive context and not realize some people still remember are still uncomfortable with it Those who have the right to want to reclaim it have every right But it's still reasonable that some people are uncomfortable with it and those feelings are valid too And that always gets a little complicated because people can feel very differently and very strongly about it but neither side is wrong about it I think those who have taken it to be something positive and meaningful to them are okay to do so, but if they encounter someone who communicates that they personally aren't comfortable with it, they don't have to stop using the term but should be mindful around those who would prefer not to hear it I know some slurs I technically have the right to reclaim but I still am uncomfortable with them, but I also don't blame those in my community who want to reclaim them despite my own discomfort It feels like it's a similar situation If that makes any sense?

( this is abt this post btw)

Yes! this is mostly the sort of thing i was thinking of before making that post tbh. for most of my life i had no idea where the term originated and had only heard its positive connotation, so i would use it whenever i saw a pretty girl at the grocery store and suddenly i didnt know how to form words

but bc i recently learned the original meaning and how people have used it to defend themselves for killing queer people in the past, i just started thinking abt it and whether or not other ppl knew about it. its fucking horrible that its still legal some places i did not know that idk why i thought things would be better now so that sucks.

anyways, i think its rlly great that younger queers or just people who weren't aware of it while it was at its height dont really have the harmful connotation in their minds when they use the term. im glad that they can use it as a way to express their excitement (and overall dorky fluffy feelings) at being attracted to ppl in a queer way! i was just a bit shocked when i learned the original meaning bc its so completely different from the positive version of it.

overall, obviously its super important to be informed about queer history (there's a phrase that went along side gay panic called trans panic btw. christ alive) but it also makes me super happy that we are able to take this stuff back and use it for ourselves to be happy and expressive about our identities while dismantling the anti-queer sentiments they held in the past.

[erdarielthewhumper]

Hey, just wondering, where is your profile pic from? I absolutely love it! 😍

Oh thank you!

It's from an old tv show I quite like called Robin of Sherwood, from s1e6 "The King's Fool", and that's Robin of Loxley who has just been punched in the face by King Richard Lionheart (spoiler alert, but Richard's not a super good guy and his return fixes nothing in this show. And then he goes to war to Normandy again and dies there offscreen during the second season)

Here's another screencap from the same scene so you can appreciate what a pretty boy Michael Praed's Robin of Loxley was 😆

This is from another episode (also the quality of the picture isn't great, sorry), but it seemed relevant to add here :P

(More abt the show and its contents in terms of whump under the cut. It gets pretty rambly, and I'm sorry about that, you just asked me about something I really really like so I can't help but ramble about a lot of things about it that you never asked)

Now, the show's actually not super whumpy, because it was a family-friendly show that aired in 1984-1986, which apparently meant that you can have a character (not Robin) give a backstory exposition rant about how his wife was raped and murdered and he's in jail waiting execution for killing three of the men that did it (okay, he did not use the word "rape", specifically, the phrasing was "Soldiers. Drunk. Mercenaries. They took her from me. And when they'd finished with her, they trampled her to death with their horses." but I don't think that makes it any better) but god forbid you show blood on-screen when people get hurt. Like, with Robin of Sherwood, it's a pretty good indicator that the injury is not super serious or dangerous if there's blood, if someone gets killed you never see blood.

And honestly, the show kind of tends to avoid injuring the main characters super seriously most of the time. Various outlaws get possessed/mind-controlled to turn against their friends from time to time, but even then it's not super angsty most of the time and people usually don't get badly hurt. And the villains obviously don't tend to get to truly hurting them.

To be fair, I don't know how much of that comes from it being a family-friendly show, and how much comes from the writers being aware of the fact that you can't injure the characters super badly before it gets to a point where it would kill them or permanently disable them since they're a bunch of medieval outlaws living in the forest and don't have access to medical care (the show has magic, tho, and there's a character who's somewhere between "very powerful wizard" and "a straight-up minor god" in power level who sorta watches over Robin and the crew and does create some deus ex machina interventions on occasion, but you can't use that to heal the characters too many times before it gets stupid, either)

So yeah, there's more angst really than there's characters getting physically hurt, and there's not all that much angst there either. Although for its own time, it apparently was relatively dark and serious take on Robin Hood, and like, it's not a comedy or anything by today's standards either. The episodes vary a bit in style and seriousness (and quite frankly, quality too, although most of them are fun enough to watch), and while there's a few two-parters, it's pretty episodic, there's some basic continuity (although actually for continuity, some of the episodes should be watched in a different order than they originally aired in, but other fans have done the work to order them in a way that makes more sense continuity-wise and you can find those fan-recommended watching orders online if you're curious) but there aren't really any big overarching plots really.

Like I already said, the show has magic and fantasy elements, it's not a purely traditional Robin Hood in that sense. How much there's fantasy depends on the episode, and it tends to come up mostly in the form of new villains who appear in just one or two episodes, the Sheriff of Nottingham gets tangled up in the magic stuff sometimes too but usually he's not the main threat in the magic-focused episodes. And there's some episodes that don't have magic or where magic is more in the background that have one-off villains too. So overall, the amount of episodes where the main conflict is between the outlaws and the Sheriff and those under his direct command remains pretty low.

Which I would say really ends up working in the show's favor, since it helps the Sheriff's character retain his credibility as a capable villain worthy of being taken seriously. As does the fact that even in most of the episodes where the conflict is directly between the outlaws and the Sheriff, the outlaws' goal isn't to kill or overthrow the Sheriff, and killing or capturing Robin and the outlaws usually is secondary to the Sheriff, like it would be nice but it's not the absolute main goal he's striving to achieve, so it's possible to write some of the episodes in a way where both parties manage to achieve the goal that was most important to them. Like I just personally really appreciate it, because in episodic shows like this, when you have a regular villain, it's really easy to end up writing it in a way where since the heroes must always win at least enough to keep their lives and their freedom, the villain always loses and therefore ends up losing all their credibility to a point where it's hard to take them seriously anymore. So writing it like that, where they're not the only villain in the show, and even when they are the main villain of the episode, most of the time it's possible for both sides to win some and lose some, is just a really great way to avoid having that.

Now, "is Robin of Sherwood good, or do I just like it?" is a harder question to answer. (Also a question you didn't ask, I know, but I feel like it's worth answering.) It depends a lot from episode to episode, but I would argue that as the kind of show it was intended to be (that is, fun fantasy adventure, intended as entertainment first and foremost) it is very good! It definitely fills that purpose. Plus, it's one of those shows that pretty much the whole cast genuinely enjoyed doing (to be fair, who wouldn't like to be given a cool costume and a sword or a bow and arrows and be sent to forest to play epic heroes and devious villains?), and that enthusiasm does shine through to the finished thing, just adding that little bit of magic that nothing else really does.

It doesn't necessarily win any points for originality on most of the plots, especially the more fantasy-heavy tend to be somewhat predictable, and like I said, the quality does vary from episode to episode, some of them I really love and some of them I hardly ever rewatch. But then again I doubt that originality was ever the goal for those episodes, and I honestly don't mind a predictable or even cliche plot as long as it's an entertaining one. Some of the special effects they use seem a liiiittle bit outdated, but hey, it's an 80s tv-show, what do you expect? And honestly, there's not that many effects that stick out even then, CGI in early 2000s tv shows sometimes sticks out more often and worse. And yeah, it does also in some of its themes and elements carry the biases of its time so there's things that wouldn't be considered right if a tv show did them today, but as far as I can tell, it's not really any better or worse than most other stuff from the same era.

So I would say that if you like, say, BBC Merlin, or that sort of episodic fantasy or adventure show, you're probably gonna like Robin of Sherwood!

[veryspecialfungus]

oooh i just noticed those tags abt the next arc being more morris-focused (+raz) that sounds cool!!! we need more morris content in the world (which i say about every junior agent but especially him)

i'm curious now (but feel free to ignore this bit if its spoilers) will each arc focus on a different junior agent/pov or will it be more focused on a few specific ones/the general intern group?

Hope you have a great day!!!

Morris never gets any love, it's honestly extremely sad. And not just because he's my favorite of the interns, he's just a really fun character with a fun gimmick that gets no development (why are you even in the Psychonauts if you just want to run a radio station all day, sir? Sir? Answer me sir.)

...I guess fun gimmick with no development is actually true of all the interns, but, y'know, mustn't dwell. That's what fanfic is, right? If the powers that be won't feed you, feed yourself.

As for the second part of the question, it might help if I go into my creative process a little: Generally when I start, I write down every single idea I have in the moment: This could be broad concepts, certain images, scenes that I want to have happen, vital plot points, themes and even some phrases that I'd like to have as runners through the story, and what characters I need to fill what narrative roles and if I need to make an OC for something that a canon character won't work for, and then I start putting them into a rough chronological order and that becomes the rough outline for the entire story. I don't really outline too strictly though, because a lot of the story comes out through the writing of it.

As my old writing teacher used to say: "Only writing is writing." I always took that to have two meanings: 1. outlining and planning and plotting have their place, but the only way to actually write is to do the mechanical action of putting words into sentences and 2. You have no idea what's going to come out as you actually start to put things into concrete words. As a fer'instance I never actually planned to have Linda involved in the first arc, until I realized that she could probably rumble the psitanium thieves just by sticking her head out of the lake, and that changed the tone of the fic considerably in a way that I think is better (Linda's just so friendly she softens things considerably.)

So basically my answer is...I sure wanted each intern to have their own story, but I'm not sure that's in the cards. The fanfic has a plot, but it's not directly told, exactly? Pieces of it will come out as the characters just do things in episodic chunks, which gives me some freedom and is restricting in others; It lets me go explore fun tangents but also risks meandering. I think Norma's character arc may just end up threaded through the entire thing rather than having her own chapter because she has a unique role in the group? And I was never confident in the idea I had for a Lizzie-centric story, and eventually I just had to kill that darling when I realized I wasn't enthusiastic about it, and right now I don't have anything to replace it with. Even this upcoming Morris arc was supposed to be two stories that ended up being too similar, so I merged them into one. And I never came up with anything for Sam.

But then I may end up changing my plans entirely depending on how things develop. It's also part of the funny nature of fanfic that the audience gets to watch it written in real time, so if you notice something that looks like me changing gears in the middle of something...that's probably what happened. I'm not perfect as a writer and this format lends itself to some challenges, but I think I've got enough pieces to make this fic fun anyway.

[headofhelios]

I am lovingly infecting you with Death Takes a Holiday disease <333

DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY IS SO EVERYTHING OHH MY GOD OKAY THIS MIGHT GET LONG AND MAYBE INCOHERENT (I DID NOT TAKE NOTES AS I WAS WATCHING EXCEPT FOR WRITING DOWN SOME QUOTES THAT GOT ME NEAR THE END)

okay ohh my GOD first of all from a purely visual standpoint i ADORE it... old films already look so 💗♥️💗💗💕♥️💗 i LOVEEE them i love how everyone has a faint otherworldly glow to them its so 💗💗💗 and i LOVEEE death's umm Death Form hehehe LOVE how he's either a literal shadow or a sort of formless cloak (AND THE WAY HE'S SEE THROUGH IN HIS FIRST APPEARANCE? HELLO? HOW DID THEY DO THAT like ik how they did the invisible man effects but this is like. different and idk how they did it im so enamored!!!) and i love the other costumes in the film!!! all of grazia's dresses, death's uniforms as prince sirki, love the costumes SO much!!!

next thing i really really super big love is just... death going through the mortal world and reacting to and learning about everything. i mentioned in another post abt how that part of this movie tickles the part of my brain that loves the day the earth stood still and i stand by that!!! there's just something i love so much about an otherworldly being coming to earth/the mortal world to learn about humans, and doing it specifically by staying with a human/mortal family while keeping their otherworldliness secret. and death talking about war, how it's just fighting over flags or pieces of land neither side wants, DEFINITELY reminded me of klaatu and how he comes to earth to learn if humans would be a threat to the rest of the universe and what his thoughts are on war. day the earth stood still x death takes a holiday crossover when!!! but also the humor bits wrt REALLY GOT ME HELP i laughed SO loud at death's reaction to hearing himself be called The Old Man it made me lose my mind hkfkhk

AND OKAY. I NEED TO TALK ABOUT DEATH AND GRAZIA. BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME SO!!!!!!! LITERALLY HELP the way death sees her and is Immediately so struck by her is very endearing but what really got me was the next morning in the garden when grazia is like "haha here you should take a rose for your jacket :)" and death is like "oh um no i cant 👉👈 roses wither on me! there are people like that you know who make roses wither its totally a normal thing" (but also the way he phrases it, "there are people like that who make roses wither" (not an exact quote bc i didnt write it down 😔 but you know!!) makes me so sad for some reason tht i cant quite articulate) and grazia is just like "haha don't worry!! it's not even opened yet, it'll last a looong time! 💗😊" before putting the rose on his jacket... and death's reaction? GODDD HELP ME!!! ITS SUCH A SWEET SCENE!!!

and then. ohhh my god. on death's last night of his holiday. HELP!!! the juxtaposition between the one lady (AGAIN I CANT REMEMBER HER NAME APOLOGIES) looking into his eyes and going from "yes i would do anything for you, i'd give you my soul, i don't care as long as it's you you hottie!!" to "GET AWAY FROM ME PLEASE DON'T HURT ME" vs. grazia telling him "when i'm with you, i see depths in your eyes that are like the worlds i visit in sleep" THAT GOT ME! when grazia says "i think you've been holding life in your hands, as i do sometimes. i think you've been a little afraid of its beauty." THAT GOT ME TOO!! and the way death says "oh, you DO know!" do that last quote? like he's so surprised but also relieved bc she does know, she does understand at least some part of him? WELL, THAT GOT ME TOO!! same w the way he says "oh, grazia, grazia, don't be afraid of me!" jesus christ!!! + the way he like. flips between "no i want to take grazia with me i love her!" to "NO i cant take grazia with me, i can't kill her i can't do that to her" made me SO. GOD. "to go with me now, in love, would be triumph!" vs. his panicked "i cannot tell her!!" this is a movie TRYING to kill me!! AND THE WAY GRAZIA DOES KNOW? the way everyone assumes she has no idea, even death, bc how could someone ever love death? how could someone love death so deeply and genuinely and sincerely? "but you — you don't know who i am!" "you are my love. my love." SHE KNOWS! SHE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE SHE SEES YOU SHE HAS LOOKED IN YOUR EYES AND SEEN HER DREAMS SHE SEES YOU AND LOVES YOU STILL! "now you see me as i am." "but i've always seen you like that. you haven't changed." "you have seen me... like this?" "yes. always." I AM GOING TO CURL INTO A BALL AND ROLL INTO A SMALL CAVE!!! literally its so everything to me its about death going from "i love her so much i want to be with her forever" to "no i couldnt do thay to her" it's about grazia seeing him for what he is EFFORTLESSLY it's about grazia seeing him for what he is and still loving him and choosing to go with him even though it means her death ohh my GODDD films of ALL! FUCKING! TIME!!!

[florvinhara]

my detectives (part 1)

kjahfjhsj i can have a little infodumping... as a treat... anyway this was originally gonna be 1 post but then i got carried away so part 1 in the series of me ranting abt my detectives!

Kira Isabella Song

Romances N, F, or M

Age: 25 at the start of book 1, currently 26

Birthday: February 7

Star sign: Aquarius sun, Taurus moon, Scorpio rising

Height: 5’7”

Hair: Short, ash blonde, a little longer than chin length

Eyes: dark brown

Race/ethnicity: Korean-American

Other appearance details: Several beauty marks on face and body. a few subtle scars on face/legs from falling out of trees, etc. fingers are callused from band practice and left hand fingers are a little crooked from being broken.

Languages: English, Spanish, a few basic phrases in some other languages

Stats:

Charming/Intimidating

Impulsive/Cautious

Sarcastic/Genuine

Friendly/Stoic

Easygoing/Stubborn

Heart/Mind (equal)

Optimist/Pessimist

Team player/Independent

Primary skills: Science & combat

Strengths: Trustworthy, strong, courageous, calm under pressure, compassionate, thorough, clever, good intuition, self-sufficient, sure of herself

Weaknesses: Petty, caustic, distrustful, secretive, lackadaisical, insubordinate, emotionally unintelligent, can be disdainful, uncommunicative, contrary

Personal:

overall body language is casual and unbothered, lowkey her posture is kind of yikes RIP but she has a very fluid way of moving

her voice is smooth and somewhat low in pitch, very even in tone

Loud and/or jumbled sounds sometimes overwhelm her; she usually has noise cancelling headphones with her just in case

Rebellious as a teenager; she started skipping school and getting into fights, did some graffiti and one time she stole a street sign that she may or may not still have

When she wasn’t breaking rules, etc. she was taking boxing lessons, chilling in the library, going on runs, or playing bass guitar in her band

Wanted to get out of Wayhaven as soon as possible after college but was arrested after she came back because she was selling fake IDs and stole a car; absolutely did not want to be law enforcement but Rebecca and the captain essentially made her

The deal was that she would work at the station for 5 years and if she did well/stayed out of trouble she could then quit- she's 3 years into it

deep down if she wasnt a detective she would want to be a paramedic

She shares a lot of mannerisms with Rebecca and they’re way more similar than she’d like to admit

Birds FREAK her out seriously; she’ll deny that she’s afraid of them but she’ll cross the street to get away from them, also hates crowded places and deep water

Scary resting face and has a habit of just... eerily staring at people who are bothering her until they get spooked, but she's not actually that angry or grouchy, she's really just Vibing u know? she's not gonna correct anyone's impression though or they might start like... Talking to her :/

Loves any book/movie/show with a secret society or spy element and stories about a Hero and their Journey, also loves angsty philosophy books; her favorite movies are cheesy but feel-good (The Mummy, Pacific Rim, anything with big CGI monsters)

Doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth but would kill someone for strong coffee; if she’s really tired you can catch her drinking it cold straight from the pot with a straw

Emo/pop punk teen and she definitely cried when MCR broke up, she also listens to a lot of Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash, Dottie West, Patsy Cline, etc

She’s been drawing since she was a kid- mainly works with charcoal and sometimes pastels. her sketchbooks are like her diaries and she’s never shown them to Anyone Ever

In her spare time, she still plays some guitar, draws, or reads; her library is extensive because she keeps every book she’s ever read or intends to read (it’s one of the few things she’ll drop real money on)

Very tactile person and fussy about textures, she prefers ultra soft blankets/pillows and her bed is basically a nest

Practical, efficient, frugal- she doesn’t necessarily find joy in cooking or anything but she can do it well enough, quick showers, uses cheap soap/shampoo, cuts her own hair

Her hands get super dry/chapped in the winter and it hurts very much :(

Never yells; when she gets angry she’s very cold & will Not hold back; every word is designed to hurt bc she’s purposefully poking at things she knows are sore spots

At the start of the books, she’s kind of... sleepwalking through life? like, she was in a not-great place mentally for most of her teens and didn’t really have a plan for the future but law enforcement was definitely not it? She isn’t feeling super passionate about what she’s doing and it kind of sucks to not have joy in purpose :( luckily that’s changing and is gonna be a significant part of her journey through the series!

Her apartment is cluttered but clean and she knows where everything is, if someone moved one of her things she would not be able to find it and it would bother her until she located it

She’s not stubborn exactly? Like she’ll concede an argument if it’s not super important to her and has no problem with losing or backing down in many cases; she’s pretty open minded in that respect, but if something is central to her values then she will Die before she backs down

On that note she’s overall a very logical person but when it comes down to it she'll follow her heart/first instinct

Does not care about rules or procedures At All, she'll follow them if it suits her end goal but otherwise... nope

Lowkey she… did not care about the reveal? it was a surprise but not her first priority in the moment- she kind of already thought UB was sketchy and didn’t trust them, so mainly she was pissed off that Rebecca had sent them to babysit her instead of actually help solve the murders

Speaking of Rebecca their relationship is kind of yikes. Kira isn’t exactly mad that Rebecca was gone so often, but she does think that she kind of forfeited her parenting rights and was annoyed that Rebecca was interfering with her life; first by getting her on the force and then by dropping UB on her. So now it’s Very Awkward between them because Kira doesn’t want to be like… mean but honestly what is there to say?? They’re trying but neither of them like to share personal information so it’s rough

On the subject of sharing, she just… genuinely doesn’t like to open up. Like, it doesn’t come naturally and in her mind it’s just… nobody else’s business what she’s feeling/what’s going on in her life

Genuinely does not realize that people care about her unless they openly tell her lmao... sad hours but at this point in the story she honestly doesnt think that any of UB cares abt her beyond their job besides the one she's dating :(

"Everyone should be allowed to feel things and rely on the support of the people around them, their emotions are Valid. not me though, this is my personal problem and as such its dumb so i have to get over it alone"

Her primary love language is acts of service, she wants the people she loves to have everything they might need; she’s Soft and really just wants snuggles but also she does not want to address it out loud

Her way of asking for affection is to just... stand/sit there and occasionally glance at the person... hovers like a sad ghost until she gets a hug... literally like 🥺👉👈 sjdhdkn Clown girl

She’s sarcastic and makes a lot of snarky comments, but generally she’s pretty honest unless she doesn’t want to talk about something (in which case she’ll brush it off and deflect or change subjects) which is why it annoys her so much when people are willfully dishonest or conniving

Pretty adaptable and capable of rolling with the punches but she generally dislikes surprises and being the center of attention

genuinely she's pretty chill! and a Huge enabler of chaos as well, like unless it's specifically bothering her she's gonna let it happen and mostly she thinks it's pretty funny to watch from the sidelines

in short she's basically like a feral cat who stares suspiciously at everyone from a distance until they successfully pspspsps their way into her heart and then she would die for them <3 but if she's mad she will make direct eye contact while shoving glasses off the counter

ahdgsksg ok last one i swear she Cannot Sit Properly, always has to be some flavor of lounging or leaning or sitting twisted into a pretzel

[sothischickshe]

1! 6!

1. has a comment someone left on a fic of yours ever made you laugh out loud?

Yerp!

Another example: @mego42‘s time 2 reread comment included:

 - Rio: oh no but see I have to fuck her but I won’t let her enjoy it but actually I mean I have to I have a reputation to preserve with the all of what? three shared acquaintances we have and whatever it’s a fantasy I’m not actually going to do it so what does it matter - Me: uh huh - I mean it’s a fair concern, with Beth’s tendency to blurt shit out at Mick she would p much definitely end up talking him the next time she needed a quick distraction or subject change

and, knowing what was coming, it made me cackle!

6. what is your favourite sense to incorporate in your writing and why?

i’m not sure i have a fave yknow! they’re all good!! 

i think maybe some might come a bit easier to me than others (e.g., i don’t have a v strong sense of smell, so it’s not my go-to necessarily for scene-setting unless it’s abt something badly stinky, whereas a combo of bad hearing + constant music + loud life i think might actually lend itself to describing things like volume, intrusive noises, specifics of sounds etc etc).

i’m not necessarily one for detailed (visual) scene-setting, and i think with reasonably tight pov + a fair bit of interior monologue stuff, the challenge is inserting sensory detail in a way that feels natural. there’s definitely been times where ive thought i should include more e.g., visual detail (say with the (not) safe house in time to kill, or the club in do you like drugs) but then i’m like...would they be taking it in/commenting on it (n respectively: it’s a familiar location to rio/beth’s totally out of it; d r u g s) so it’s kind of a toss up btwn what info do i think the reader NEEDS / what’s lost if they’re imagining something a bit different to what i am? 

but what i think is kinda cool abt that, is it means i’m not necessarily primacying (appaz not a word, but should be!) sight vs. other senses.

n then also, the five-sense sensorium is a kind of narrow view at best, so i’d say some faves are:

balance (n motion!)

synaesthesia/attributing things to the ‘wrong’ sense/multiple senses in tandem

pain

(lack of) spatial (as distinct from touch)

“6th”/vaguely premonitory/unsure of what specific sense

fashion (as relates to ‘robes’)

panic / overload

and then also like overarchingly, i think just DETAIL. i think what’s fun abt trying to find a more interesting way to phrase something, is that you can also get at the specifics of what you’re intending to convey, which a lot of sort stock phrasing doesnt quite?

say: ‘he grabbed her hand’ - that could mean like palm-to-palm or clutching at the fingers or holding wrist-side or interlnked fingers or idk using his giant lobster pincers or litter picker or something! if it’s not super important that i the reader know what’s intended here (maybe cos it’s abt someone dragging someone else out of somewhere however they can...?) then cool. but if i’m supposed to know it’s aggressive or sweet or gross or some combo or something entirely different, then maybe a bit more detail to the movement or placement or conditions or impact or whatever is helpful?

fanfic writer asks

[kogo-dogo]

i’ve never heard of the video game series u talked about in that last ask, but i loved ur character analysis for torque! i’m very curious to hear abt dr killjoy if you want to share ur thoughts there too? even just the name dr killjoy is bitching as HELL

You do not know how happy it makes me to talk about Dr. Killjoy.

Torque may be one of my favorite characters of all time, but Dr. Killjoy is… he’s up there. And he’s a lot more fun to talk about because he is a fabulous disaster, as well as the poster child for the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Since Torque is such a vague character, whose personality and backstory are revealed gradually and oftentimes subtly over the course of two games, Killjoy is really the motherfucker who steals the show and is very obviously the favorite of the creators. Even the other sentient spirits on Carnate Island take a backseat to him, and he ends up being a massive driving force in the plot and the one who actually helps the player unravel the man they’re playing as.

(I can’t even say “the guy who you’re put in the shoes of” because Torque doesn’t wear shoes.)

Spoilers follow, but I’ve already told y’all you probably don’t wanna actually play these games. 

Dr. Killjoy is the most well-intentioned, terrible person you will ever see in a video game, probably.

Dr. Killjoy is the spirit of a deceased alienist who was the head doctor at a facility known as The Carnate Institution for the Alienated in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Basically, he’s a psychiatric doctor who hails from a time when lobotomies were still in high fashion and experimental procedures on the mentally ill were less than savory, to put it lightly. Killjoy specifically was known for being rather extreme even at the time, having a very experimental mind and extreme delusions of grandeur. While it’s never outright said he was anything beyond “insane,” he operates in a perpetual manic state and is very, very animated and melodramatic.

How melodramatic? He acts like he has a live studio audience at all times. His whole schtick is that he appears from old film projectors. In a game that is mostly mired in the realm of realism (barring the ghosts and monsters), he creates a fucking weird-ass magic machine that lets you cast spells and basically says, “Ta-da! Look! I made brain magic that will cure your psychosis, Torque!”

(It does not, in fact, cure his psychosis.)

The problem with Dr. Killjoy is that he’s very much a product of his time, and obsessed with the idea of scientific progress over all else. He firmly believes that what he’s doing will further a cause that will eventually work out to help people, but the lives lost in the process are just par for the course. The remnants of his hospital (still used as of the first game, albeit as a hiding spot for COs to smoke, drink, and party) are littered with the mummified bodies of former patients and captured corrections officers that Killjoy decided to experiment on.

He will gladly tell you about all of the dead shit laying around his house, too. He loves to hear himself talk.

In the first game, he fixates on Torque as a special interest case and is absolutely obsessed with figuring out how to “fix” him. Most of the time this involves testing him in positively batshit ways. Sure, it probably seems like bad form nowadays to lock a guy in a burning cafeteria or a room full of monsters with shivs for hands, but to Killjoy? Makes perfect sense, since you can really see a man’s character based on how they react to high-stress situations, and what’s more high-stress than a near-death experience?

But whenever he shows up, whenever he has anything to say, whenever he decides to grace Torque with his presence, it’s always under the belief that he is doing something good for the guy. While he never outright says anything to the effect of “I care about you,” his chipper attitude and his absolute determination to coax Torque into doing what he feels will be for his benefit makes it obvious. He’s adamant about every death trap he lures Torque into or every “diagnosis” he tosses out or every “treatment” he devises, and is even the only character from the first game to follow him into the second…

… Because he feels like Torque isn’t well yet, and he cares enough about this random guy that he’s just going to tag along and try to find a way to help him out. In all the worst possible ways.

He’s equal parts a perfect foil to Torque and a driving force to the narrative, being the one who lays down most of the scraps you get about Torque’s mental health (though a lot of it is conjecture, outdated, and wrong), the island, the monsters, and even the drama in Torque’s life. He’s like a weird, gossipy old lady with a very out-of-date medical degree, and he is delighted whenever he sees his favorite patient and excitable about pretty much every goddamn thing he sees.

And it’s funny to watch Torque and Killjoy interact because Killjoy is so exuberant and loud, and Torque is just Very Done With This Shit. In the first game, Torque mostly responds to him by glaring at him stone-faced until he stops talking, and in the second game he seems actively annoyed whenever Killjoy has the audacity to open his mouth. And Killjoy? Does not give a single iota of a shit, and will just gleefully quote Othello at Torque as he’s trying not to get himself killed, or idly chit-chat with him while he’s struggling to figure out how to get out of a room Killjoy locked him in.

But I cannot overstate that despite how annoying, how unpredictable, how dangerous, and how utterly in love with himself Killjoy is, he is absolutely dedicated to the idea of curing Torque. There is actual good intent in what Killjoy is doing, and he seems to legitimately give a damn about Torque and vouch for him to pull through all of the trials thrown at him. Again, this man essentially built a magical machine to try to cure schizophrenia and, even if it worked about as well as shining him with a UV light, that’s some dedication.

Hell, when Torque escapes Carnate Island, as previously stated, he follows him just to double down on helping him understand what is going on and making sure he gets a shot at treatment. He’s so fucking flippant and apathetic with literally anyone else he encounters (all the people Torque is trying to save mean nothing to him), but he is rooting for this man so bad. So bad. 

There are hints dropped that Killjoy has known Torque for a while longer than even Torque was aware of (and even an implication that he was acquainted with Torque’s dead mother), and he’s just so disdainful of Blackmore, Torque’s nebulous nemesis, and when compared to the other spirits across both games, he’s actually the only one attempting to offer any assistance at all. Horace Gauge (the “good” spirit) mostly just whines about how much pain he’s in and how unfair life is, and Hermes (my EXTREMELY PROBLEMATIC THIRD FAVORITE of this series) is actively trying to kill Torque or convince him to kill everyone around him. Creeper and Copperfield in Ties That Bind are just irredeemably awful and… yeah.

Yeah. Don’t look up either of those last two.

Killjoy is of the mind that he and Torque are a team, it seems, and this ghost would follow him to the ends of the earth for no reason other than to make sure he succeeded at defeating his inner demons, basically.

… Ugh. Okay. I can’t really do Killjoy any more justice in words. Here’s every cutscene involving him from the first game. Ignore how ugly this game is. Also, I know I linked it before, but he also has a really good boss theme. 

[powerbottomblake]

This is about that ask about the portrayal of the Faunus and how rwby handles racism stuff, I have a sort of overarching theory that bc miles and Kerry are not super experienced with writing long running plots and what not a lot of missteps can be reasonably attributed to them trying to keep back a surprise or thinking they can address something later. I completely agree with all your points in that post, but I sort of suspect they felt they could not emphasize (1)

The Faunus treatment in mistral bc they could show how badly the Faunus were treated in remnant when they got to atlas if need be. In volume 5 since they brought up people at ilia’s school laughing at a mine collapse killing people that must have been on their minds, but sort of like how the reason raven didn’t trust ozpin sort of being made out to be the grid thing instead of how Salem couldn’t be killed, it feels like something that got punted to be handled later

I think you misunderstood me. I never had any qualms with how much of the Faunus storyline we’ve seen in Mistral, it’s how certain scenes were portrayed that I think denotes at least a certain tone deafness. The scenes I’ve brought up in my post had nothing to do with narrative beats, it’s the wording and the framing of said scenes that lands wrong. The way we never see Weiss reflect and actively apologize for what she said isn’t a pacing/planning issue. Same for the phrasing of the scene in V5: it was never abt them taking the fight to Atlas right there; it was about the implication of the phrasing they went for. 

As far as how they’ve paced the White Fang storyline up till now, I actually think they’re doing good so far. We’ve had time to see the WF under Adam in V1-3, which had turned into a grotesque afterimage of what it started out to be; and we’ve spent enough time in Menagerie in V4-5 to see how Ghira’s passivity isn’t really a good answer to the Faunus question either, all the while having building blocks for the racism in Atlas storyline being set with Ilia and Adam’s backstory reveal. As far as I’m concerned this isn’t a planning issue; they’re actually doing great on that front. It’s certain scenes and the way certain beats within that storyline are framed that’s awkward or downright tactless at times.

But we’ve seen them handle a subject as sensitive as abuse with a grace and emotional intelligence I’ve personally never seen in any other media so I know they can grow and learn and write well the moment they know what works and what doesn’t. It’s not that their inexperience with overarching plotlines that’s to blame; it’s a type of well-meaning ignorance and inexperience with racism specifically. I just hope they’re really aware of past mistakes and how to correct them in time to stick the landing in Atlas, so to speak. 

[faunusrights]

‘AFTER THE FALL’ - LIVEREAD

I say ‘liveread’ but there’s a pretty decent chance this’ll turn into a RWDEread.

So, After The Fall is finally out in the UK and my copy has landed arse-first on my desk, so I’m gonna read it and post my observations here so that you can experience it with me! And also experience whichever stages of grief I go through as we go!

I will preface this with a warning: as much as I love the characters of RWBY, canon is currently the target of all of my spite, so I’m approaching this novel with HANDFULS of wariness and also salt! Most people who follow me already know I don’t pay attention to canon, nor care for it, nor listen to it, and most of you also know I headcanon Velvet as a 6ft+ trans and queer beefcake who can bend your spine into a pretzel, so I’m already at odds here. As such, if it seems like I’m not approaching this liveblog with the benefit of the doubt: that’s because I’m not!!! Yay!!!

So with that said, let’s enjoy Murphy Wishing Velvet Were Big, But Isn’t, And So Suffering Never Ends:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Firstly, this book is thicker than I expected, whilst the font is bigger than I’d have thought. I know it’s for teens so it’s not as if this was gonna be, like, 1000 pages in a size 10 font, but this probably won’t take me long to read (although it’ll take longer by virtue of me adding to this as we go). There doesn’t seem to be a chapter list, though, so I have no clue how long each chapter is. Guess we’ll find that out when we get there.

Secondly, the cover of this book sure is, uh, a Thing. What’s going on with Velvet’s face?

Thirdly, the cover is Not Nice to Touch. This is a weird observation, but trust me, I’m tempted to laminate the cover just so it doesn’t feel so... dusty.

PROLOGUE

Velvet’s the narrator, and Murphy isn’t surprised! Velvet’s such a fan favourite that having her not be the narrator (at least for some of this book) would have been an absolute crime.

Okay, halfway through the first page and I did laugh at ‘a terrible place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there’. I may pass that line along to my dad, because it’s a, how you say, big mood.

Fox’s Semblance is Telepathy, which is... a thing, I guess? I’ve seen some pretty creative thoughts on what Fox might have, and this seems kinda lackluster, but the phrase ‘special teamspeak’ IS funny and I love the concept of them acting like it’s a voice channel on Discord. That’s good, and for that I accept this.

(I will note I trust the author of this novel. He seems neat and I already like the humour. I don’t trust M+K but we already knew that.)

‘As [Yatsu] stepped onto [Velvet’s] linked hands, she heaved upwards and stood, boosting his jump as he catapulted high over her head.’

Velvet, bridal-carrying Yatsu: idk he weighs the same as a couple of grapes

I will say, it’s nice having CFVY content at all. They might be Fools but I do love them,

‘[Velvet] pressed the stitched heart emblem to open it and then removed Anesidora, her high-tech camera that used special Dust--’

Anesidora???? That’s the name of her camera??? Of all the things I expected, that was probably the LAST thing I expected. What??? Wikipedia says it’s Greek for sender of gifts, but why that’s the name I am, Not Sure,

‘Combined with her Semblance--photographic memory--Velvet could wield these 3-D replicas with skills and moves that otherwise would have taken years of training to master.’

That’s no surprise, really (and I did already write a short about Exactly That) but I probably wouldn’t have called it photographic memory. Muscle memory, more like? But yeah, that’s pretty expected.

REESE GOT MENTIONED ILU REESE,,,, when will my gay child return from the WAR. LITERALLY. WHERE IS SHE.

Velvet’s thinking abt Weiss dustbun confirmed!!!!!!!!!!! But seriously when will Velvet kiss a small gay Schnee??? What must I do. Whomst must I kill.

OUGH VELVET LOSING THE PHOTOS OF FRIENDS SHE ISN’T SURE HAVE SURVIVED,,,, OWIE. THAT HURT MY FEELIES MR MYERS,,,, but I AM enjoying this angst and that I shall not lie about.

Ruby and Coco, leaders in arms... I will say that the moment of them kinda regarding each other as equals would have landed considerably better had they ever really, uh, interacted in the show. I tend to write Ruby being Coco’s little protege, but we don’t actually have a ton of canon evidence of that really being a thing? So even though I’m enjoying this li’l tidbit, it’s really lacking some foundation, alas.

Fox’s tonfas (is it tonfa time? I think it’s tonfa time) are called Sharp Retribution. Which MMORPG did he get that from?

“We’re Shade Academy’s newest star pupils.”

The sheer cockiness of it all. Ilu Coco.

Okay so, y’all know that Murphy’s about to say: I HATE that Velvet gets treated like a goddamn marshmallow. I’m trying my BEST, I SWEAR, not to complain abt canon Velvet because everyone knows this is my biggest sticking point, but god I hate that she’s written to have such a specific semblance and be so squishy. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa--

Also: we’re having a case of a jumpy POV, particularly with the conversation with Glynda. I know this tends to be something that happens with writing for younger audience, but woof am I noticing it.

I’m liking Yatsu!!!! He had like, no lines (at all) in the show, but he’s actually more of a smartass than I had dared hope for, so that Something.

Oh yeah, Fox is a Vacuan boye! I do like that he’s very chill with everything whilst Velvet is begging for seven different types of death (but could I make a comment abt my Velvet here? Yes. Am I going to? I’m trying not to).

CHAPTER ONE

Owie wowie this is already gettin’ kinda long. If chapter one causes a lot of commentary, I may have to add on in a reblog so the people don’t have to suffer.

Coco is our narrator now! Let’s see how many times the word ‘sunglasses’ comes up (hint: probably enough times that if I took a shot for every one I’d be very dead).

/sees the name Alabaster YOU aren’t a big chunky polar bear Faunus! Leave!

“Who’s your tribe?” “I’m from Kenyte,” Fox said. “But it’s been a long time.”

Vacuan tribes, baby! I’m tempted to see how I could work this into anything, but my lore is pretty stick-stuck so I’m probably just gonna jot this down as a ‘cool thing’. Oh, wait, they’re tribal nomads, which means it DOES fit the lore!!! Nice!!! Murphy guessed it!!! Cool!!

‘A perky Faunus waitress with a pig snout came over.’

With a what. Canon, where are we with traits? Also, like, I feel there are multiple childhood movies that scared the crap out of me with people getting pig snouts so I’m making the executive decision to ignore this line. Never happened.

Racism incoming, so I’m getting a cup of tea.

And we’re back! This guy also has a mace and a mohawk and is he just the combination of team CRDL or what?

‘Coco couldn’t take her eyes off the fit, dark-skinned woman.’

I presume they mean fit as in physically fit but my BritBrain is like ‘hell yeah shes fit’ and now I’m envisioning Coco as, like, maybe a scouser. Can you imagine her with a beehive? Anyway, moving SWIFTLY on.

‘--chain mail crop top--’

I’ve never seen a worse combination of words, which is impressive when I wrote Velvet as wearing bright yellow boardshorts with a neon-blue tank top that one time. And by one time, I mean, every time,

I’ve seen this outfit in pictures ‘cause of Amity Arena but god it sounds even worse in words like. Nobody is hot enough to pull off this absolute jumble of clothes. Nobody is.

I do enjoy big lesbian Coco though, so there’s that.

People have already mentioned the ‘could you picture me in a uniform’ line w/ Thirsty Coco so I won’t give it more screentime but it is a mood, and now we know coco has a uniform kink,

“We’re doing this for school credit,”

fox: i do not want money i want an a+

Velvet POPPIN OFF for Mysterious Reasons... is this gonna be like Qrow’s bad luck Semblance only someone has the Semblance of ‘Will Piss Everyone Off In Vicnity’? I think we call those anons,

CHAPTER TWO

I think I’ll stop after this chapter since this chapter’s a little bigger, and this liveblog is already too dang long. It’s a flashback!

‘Vale has been [Coco’s] home all her life.’

I’m quietly ignoring this line in favour of Atlesian Coco. You cannot stop me. But Coco does have a younger brother, so that’s neat! Kinda! IDK what to do with this information but it sure is there existing!

‘And to top it off, [Glynda] was also hot--’

This is the only bit of canon I will accept, because it’s true and Coco should say it.

‘[Velvet and Coco had] both come from Pharos Combat School--’

Another tidbit ignored because I favour Menagerie-born-and-bred Velvet, but I do like hearing the names of other combat schools outside of Signal. Looooooore.

OH there’s a GOOD PARAGRAPH HERE that I don’t really wanna type out, but Velvet is mentioning how she doesn’t like bunny jokes or puns (’hop to it’, she classifies as ‘harmless-but-hurtful’) and THANK YOU, oh my GOD. I’ve written about this before but if I see one more person have Coco make a bunny joke in a fic I will fight Them Myself,

Oh, Fox’s Scroll has an ‘Accessibility Dialogue Assistant’ (ADA)! That’s quite cool, actually. I’ve been wondering how tech might have functioned for Fox, so we have some confirmation about a Scroll’s use for accessibility stuff! That’s neat! I like that! Also, his telepathy also lets him sense people -- pinpointing them exactly the better he knows them -- so that’s a cool little side-effect, too. Although, I swear these Semblances are getting more poorly named by the minute.

Coco’s weapon is called Gianduja, which is... a type of chocolate! Unsurprisingly.

‘Besides, Coco wasn’t looking for a girlfriend--’

yet.

Coco and Fox have a fun dynamic, and I enjoy it immensely. They’re bros...

Also, how does Velvet procure this very expensive Dust for her weapon, anyway? I wonder if we’ll find out later.

“You’re from Mistral,” she said. Yatsuhashi blinked. “So?” “Your people don’t tend to like my people.”

That’s an interesting tidbit that Mistral as a whole has a reputation. I suppose they mean the Kingdom and not the continent (of Anima), but still.

“Don’t worry,” Velvet smirked. “I’ll protect you.”

ah, that is, how the kids say, hott,

“So it’s a Death Stalker den. Only an idiot would go in there.”

Jaune found dead from a sneezing fit.

Awh, I like Coco describing the temple bit. Already she’s looking out for her Best Boye. Also, playing cards are a cool thing, and they’re the King of Hearts! That’s ‘cause they’re gonna win a lot, too,

Okay, I now understand Coco’s Hype Semblance. It’s interesting! I’m curious how else it can be used, aka how versatile it is, but it’s a neat concept.

Velvet dabbled in fortune-telling when she was younger and I am enamoured with this idea. Also, picking the Queen of Hearts ‘cause it’s the only one w/ good vibes? Love it.

Okay, end of chapter! RIP Velvet who constantly looks like a squishy baby, and even though that still Irks Me As a Person And A Gay, at least it’s. Maybe gonna be a plot point or smthng idk. Anyway, I’m stopping here for now because this is slow going when I’m adding commentary, so I’ll probably reblog this and add onto it later. Less RWDE than expected, but it’s still early chapters yet.

[flandesuka]

Yo you should answer all of these scene questions👀👀

:OOO

you think so lad???? shit dawg i was thinkin just a few at a time but if that what u want my dear nonnie i will supply

1. wats ur scene name?

i was thinkin maybe ‘gods mistake’ would be a good one but then. i found a way to make it both danganronpa related, and, even better, a fucking pun as well. ‘kamukura kamukura jasqueen’, or just ‘kamukura jasqueen’ for short is good k thxxx

2. describe ur dream outfit!

oooo gosh this ones trickyy!! there are so many good outfits out there, especially in the scene community!! but it’d have to have a few tiny elements of dr cosplay to add a lil of my dangan-weeb culture in there ofc! more specifically, id really love to get one of kazuichis jumpsuit and just wig out and add shit like this just because i could:

(id just rlly love going out in all those glowy/shiny things at night like all that haha..and yes the shoes would probably kill me/my fuckin feet if i tried to walk in them but shut up i love them theyre cute as fuck)

3. describe ur dream haircut!

oo another tricky one!! i do like my regular hair, and honestly id be lying if i said i didnt love ibuki’s hairdo too but id defs have to go with something like this!!

yaaaassss, so pretty and spikeeeey! maybe id dye my natural hair colour black and/or add some funky colours if i ever actually got this style down!

4. describe ur dream room!

i have a lot of ideas for dream bedrooms actually, but heres a visual image of one of them i found!!!

MIKU ROOM MIKU ROOM MIKU ROOM MIKU ROOM

(this specific idea arose mainly just for the aesthetic but i also find it super cute and a good environment to be in general hhhnnggg)

5. if u could make anything out of kandi, wat would u make?

oh you mean those colourful beads and bracelet things??? i love those man!!! theyre so visually appealing to me aaaaa…id probably just make a fuck-ton of those and most probably use the little letter beads to say random words/phrases like ‘aubergine’ and ‘despacito’ knowing my shitposter self lmaooo! id definitely make a sansmaeda themed one too thoo fr

6. wat would u write on ur shoez?

it’d probably range from things like a simple kaomoji doodle to something randum and stupid like ‘seesaw’ bc yes asjnd

7. wat kinda piercingz/tattooz do u hav/want?

i dont think i rlly want any real piercings (at least not atm) but id totally go for those fake stick-on gemstone lookin’ ones! and as for tattoos, i cant rlly see myself gettin one of those rn either, but id want something like a mario power-up, preferably the bell one/cat suit powerup!!! its my favorite powerup and its sooo cute!!!

8. fave genrez?

i dont rlly have a specific genre, i like most kinds of music, but i rlly like energetic music that i can dance tooo!!! >w

9. fave bandz?

im a big fan of gorillaz and botdf!!! i like p!atd as well but havent listened to it in a while.. gatta catch up loool

10. fave songz?

my favs alternate a lot, but atm im super into ‘slow dancing in the dark’ by joji!!! so much emotiooon quq…also rlly hooked on botdf and jefree star’s ‘sexting’ tooo lmaooo

11. fave lyricz?

‘The world keeps spinning Among this sinning Oh what a cruel and disgusting place The purest moonlight Is bloodied by plight And screaming resonants But somehow I know That it’s all for show The world will reveal it’s true beauty soon And we’ll all reach towards the moon ‘

its so deep but its from a fucking kaito momota fansong and i love that asnkjdnefe

12. hav u evr been to a concert?

not in a damn long while my lad,, rip australians not havin many artists they like from other countries tour there ;-;

13. do u wanna be in a band?

ive always thought thatd be pretty cool ngl!!! tourin around with ur bandmate friends, makin awesome fuckin tunes, people lovin u and ur music, just livin the dream in general,, nice

14. wats da best soda/energy drink flavour?

havent rlly had any as of rn  my lad so i wouldnt know :/

15. wat do u miss most abt old internet?

i loved that we could all just be ourselves and act like the kids we are inside without bein reprimanded at all.. it aint rlly that much of an issue for me but i still think itd be a lot nicer if it was like that again sometimes,,

16. wats da best old meme?

ooohhh there are so many i still miss man! numa numa ermagerd and doge still remind me of the glory days…when old animeme was good and you could still haz ur cheezburgers in peace. also rage comics! rage comics were good what happened

17. best place 2 buy clothez?

i dont think theres any hot topics in australia but if there is. i will hunt it down you hear me

18. wat r ur fave accessoriez?

OH THERES SO MANY GOOD ONES??? as i stated b4 i rly love kandi bracelets and other glowy/led things!!! also rlly love ties with cute and fun patterns and long colourful and/or ripped socks like ibuki’s too hehe

19. wats ur best tip fr ppl that just got into scenecore?

im not rlly the best at advice, but my main point would be-just hav fun here dudes!!! dont let anyone else bulli u abt it, we’re supportive people, u can talk to me or anyone else whos willin to listen an/or help for reassurance ofc

20. opinion on furbiez?

oOH MY GOD YES. FURBIES. MY BABIES I WANT 10 OF THESE CHILDREN…I ACTUALLY HAVE A FURBY HE LIKES SLEEPING IN HIS SPECIAL DRAWER AND HIS NAME IS TINGLE I ADORE HIM I’LL POST A OF PICTURE LATER MAYBE

21. opinion on funko popz?

i like em and ive seen lots at eb games, but i dont buy em much..i do have a megaman pop with a broken arm tho loool

22. wats ur fave pattern? (zebra/leopard print etc)

i looove a lot of patterns but not gonna lie im always a sucker for rainbow checkerboard patterns yknow hehe!

23. fave color combo?

i dont have one rlly…soooo many possible comboooos…cx

24. sumthing u liked as a kid dat u still like?

im still going on girlsgogames and recently, ive finally mastered sues beauty machine!!!! its so good and fun all of ya’ll should try it my dudeeees

25. wats ur most used emoticon? 0w0

as most of ya’ll probs alredy know i spam ‘:O’ a lot, but one of my bigger favs is actually ‘x3′ and my fav kaomoji is ‘ଘ(੭ˊ꒳​ˋ)੭✧’ (both of them are so kyooot >w

26. wats ur fav typin quirk?

i luv talkin like dis, but i dont rly do it that often loool…i awso wuv tawking in ‘owo’ speak wike dis >//w//>

27. do u wish ur fllwrz talked 2 u moar?

hellz yeaaa!!! i luv followr interaction my dudee! it makes me super happi when u all talk to me heehee! x3c

28. tag ur fave scene blawgz!

:O !!! oh gawd!!! i dont know many atm but heeereee!

@xxadam-antidotexx (op of the ask meme)

@glitchkichi (not sure if this counts but their stuff’s rlly cool >v

@otonashi-banana (scene boyf…wuv im more than anythin >///w///>

29. wat got u into scenecore?

i dont remember exactly how it happened but i’d always sorta wanted to go back to the glory days that was the old web and the scene era, and that, coupled with a bright, colourful aesthetic that i could really enjoy, drew me in like a moth to a neon colored flame ig looollll

30. how long hav u been scene?

i’ve only been officially apart of the community for about a few months now (at time of writing) i reckon so some things are still a lil new to me ig ^^;;

31. wats da best thing abt being scene?

the freedom of bein able to express myself 4 one thing, and its just so fun being so ‘out-there’ yknow???? it feels so great really

32. do u hav a fursona?

i…actually used to but ive moved on from the furry fandom and ive grown more attached to my human sona anyway sooo :/

33. r u in sum “cringy” fandomz?

YEA man!! i dont rlly think dr is inherently considered ‘cringey’ but undertale is and im in that one for sure!!! i also kinda technically never left the skylanders fandom(?) so theres that too ig??? oh yeah and who wants to let me draw my old moshi monsters characters COWARDS

34. do u liek plushiez?

YASSSS QUEEEN!!!! i have HEAPS of them in my room on my desk with my gonta shrine

35. do u liek stickerz?

also a big yaaassss from me dawggg!!! i love them and i love those ones that you stick on your fase like this!

its so cuuute!!!

36. do u hav a friendproject?

i dont, not at the moment a least, actually! didnt even know what it was til recently but it looks kewl haha

37. do u hav any other scene account?

well, i haz this one, and i also have an emowire account for shuichi if that counts!!

38. do u make art? (drawingz, blingeez, etc.)

YES!!! i love to draw and i also make blingee edits sometimes!!! ITS SO FUN XD !!!

39. wats da most scene thing? (anything!)

hmmm, weeell…i think the most stereotyped thing would be that kewl, suuuper big hair like this;

its really prettyyyy, and i love all that colouuur!!!

40. ask ur own randum question!!

hm, oh wowie, since the anon didnt specifically ask this one…POTATOES!!! X3

phew, finally done, that was a lot of typing! this was so fun to do though, so thank u nonnie!!! :3