#still remember bits and pieces of this but it was interesting to reread if nothing else

[chronologically-challenged]

When I first finished isat, I had a strange dream. Not directly isat related, but the feelings and ideas in the dream were obviously inspired by it.

At the time, wrote out what I remembered. Thought it might be interesting to share here (though I did some edits for clarity). Warning for character death, loss of self, grief, and intended suicide.

Time loops. Adventuring party is stuck in an endless tower. They're together. That's enough right? Except, the tower has a deep evil within it. One of their party members is slowly getting possessed. They become less aware over time, thinking both in fantasy and reality. They can't help it. They soon split into two different bodies, not exactly the evil in one or the other but becoming reality and pragmatism with the morals of both. They are the same. They are entirely different people.

But regardless of there being two of them with two different lines of thought, neither want to hurt their party. They will shift the world and lash out and yell, but they can't bring themselves to actively try to hurt their friends. The tower melts. Becomes less real. What used to be stone floors becomes a pier and a shipyard. Another floor becomes an office building that leads into an auditorium. Another becomes shifting hallways and corridors that expand and grow ever harder to navigate in each loop.

In the end, fantasy is stuck singing a lullaby. This lullaby is a mix of a song they sang to the group, a tale of the endless storm they've come to be, and a comfort for the coming days. Through this journey, the party ended up accidently killing one or the other between pragmatism and fantasy. But when one dies, the other eventually revives. It becomes clear that they're controlling the tower. That their reach is expanding. They're hurting people. They're even hurting their friends.

Pragmatism tells fantasy they both need to die. The party clearly was trying to find a way behind their backs to do it quickly. Putting a loved one out of their misery. It's surprising when fantasy agrees to do it freely.

Pragmatism and fantasy eat chocolates full of poison. They hold hands as they fade. Becoming a single song. Their bodies freeze. Turning to wax. But inside their minds they are singing.

This song repeats. Goes on forever. It combines. They drift. They sing and sing and sing and sing...

Until the sea in their mind shifts into a storm. Pain erupts in a way that never existed. Part of them goes dark. What is happening?

Outside the cursed one's mind, there is another adventuring party. One of them was the child in their old party now clearly aged to be an old scholar. Another is the immortal of their party, who hasn't aged a day. There are several knights around them. They are poking at the melted remains of the cursed one's body. They talk. It's clear that it's been a long time since the cursed one left, but while everyone was able to escape, the tower still has cursed problems. The surrounding areas are in trouble, shifting, and they need to deal with the cursed one once and for all. They need to kill their old friend for good.

The knights start the scrap the waxxed form of the cursed one.

The now-scholar is clearly having trouble with all this. They're shaking. The immortal has always only seen the worst in the cursed one. They say, "They're lost in a memory of greed".

In the mind of the cursed one they don't understand. They don't they don't they don't it HURTS. They lash out.

The tower booms, it shakes. The knights keep pushing to finish the job one scrap of wax off the frozen body at a time.

And the now-scholar starts to sing. An old lullaby. Familiar. One they used to sing so many years ago. The sparks start to die down. They keep going, keep scrapping.

In their mind, the cursed one clings on.

The scholar keeps singing, even as it becomes clear that they're holding back tears.

It's becoming darker in the cursed one's mind. The crew in their dreams are drowning they're drowning, fading into the water. Who is there? Why is this happening??? Help!!!

And the scholar in their gentlest voice tells the cursed one to rest. To rest in a name they haven't been called since before they've become this. Please. Rest. You can finally sleep.

The sparks fade. There is one last flash of color..... and then it's clear that the wax that was once the cursed one, once their friend is now dead.

The knights turn to celebrate only for the scholar to collapse in a heap of wails. The immortal goes to comfort them but the scholar isn't having it. They failed didn't they? They failed their friend.

If they looked harder, if they stuck to their guns and tried to keep looking for the bits of their friend that were left instead of giving up. Maybe maybe maybe-

The immortal tells them that they did try. They tried everything. They remember the scholar writing in the wax begging their friend to give them any sign they even know they're here. Whatever was left? These last few moments? You comforted the last embers of the person they knew.

The dream ends as it fades to the memories of a friend long gone and the dream tries to repeat on itself once more. Back to the tower. Back in these moments forever.

[cyberjello]

An Analysis of Alex Hill

Aka: "In Which Cyberjello Spends Too Many Words Projecting Onto One of His Favourite Characters"

If you're here from the SRS discord server, Hi! I noticed something neat about Alex, and because I either have nothing to say or way too much, I wrote this whole… thing about it. Enjoy!

On the other hand, if it's the future and you stumbled upon this post by chance and are still here because you like reading character analyses even when you know nothing about the character (like me), this is about Alex Hill. He's a main character from a webtoon called The Last Dimension, which you can read here (and should because it's great)! This pile of words contains some spoilers for the first and second seasons. Enjoy!

Alex is a pretty interesting character. Sometimes he's a massive jerk, and sometimes he feels really bad about having been a massive jerk. But 90% of the time he's a pretty chill dude (if a little insensitive) who doesn't seem to care about any particular issue. I've pointed out an example of this before; how in the span of a couple days he switched from harassing Phillip about not being normal, to telling him in no uncertain terms that his otherness didn't matter. At first I was a little mystified. It seemed weird for him to change his stance like that so quickly, yet at the same time it didn't feel out of character for him. So I thought about it a bit more, and then I had an epiphany.

Alex differs from the others in how he thinks. He doesn't worry about what could happen in the near future, like Fai does. He doesn't dwell on the implications behind pieces of information, like Phillip does. He's impulsive, quick to say whatever pops into his head, and rarely stops to consider the long-term consequences of his actions.

And gee, as a young fellow with ADHD who's only been medicated for less than ten years, that all sounds awfully familiar. And rereading TLD with that connection in mind has been quite interesting.

See, ADHD—or at least my particular flavour of it—does some interesting things with one's sense of importance. Past, present, and future are tossed aside in favour of a much simpler system: "Now" and "Not Now". Things that happen during "Not Now" are rarely factored into decisions made during "Now". Desires, ideas, and thoughts that happen "Now" are almost always a higher priority and given more immediate attention.

The most visible manifestation of this is impulsiveness: the moment at which you have an idea, something you could say or do, is Now. Anything else—be it a task you were just in the middle of doing, a favour somebody asked of you an hour ago that you should really get started on, or the possible future consequences of executing this idea—those are all Not Now, and therefore not important, in the unlikely event that they even come to mind. And you can definitely see that impulsiveness in Alex whenever he says something he really, really shouldn't.

But impulsiveness isn't the only thing that the Now/Not Now dichotomy is responsible for. One of the clearest places I've also noticed it is in how he treats Phillip. Remember how he switches from jerk to friendly almost on a dime? Yeah, he actually does that a lot in season 1, doesn't he? In fact, I've gone and taken SIXTEEN FRICKING SCREENSHOTS BETWEEN EPISODES 2-15 AND I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH AND TALK ABOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS BECAUSE I'M INSANE!!!

To start off though, I'm going to say what should be obvious to anyone who's read TLD: Alex isn't a mean person at heart. He cares a lot about those around him, including Phillip.

Anyway, in Episode 2 he acts like an absolute jerk to Phillip:

Clearly not the best of friends, are they? Well, you could have fooled me, because 15 minutes later, Alex is cheering him on and then looking out for him as he bluntly tells Phillip to "shift into [his] normal self".

And he proves to be a pretty good person after this. He's genuinely worried about Fai when she nearly drowns, and he's pretty friendly, if a bit cranky. But eventually it becomes clear how bad their situation is and all of a sudden—

—he's back to being a jerk.

But then Fai calls him out on it, and the effect is immediate.

He feels bad. He knows what he just did wasn't right. BUT THEN FIVE MINUTES LATER HE DOES IT AGAIN

Twice more this happens, where Alex is acting pretty friendly but then says something stupid, Fai tells him off, and he clearly feels bad immediately after—

—and then he acts like it never happened and he's genuinely friendly and nice again.

In fact, after that first day on Imash, he never says anything mean-spirited to or about Phillip again. Insensitive, sure, but not outright mean.

This isn't just Alex changing his opinion over the course of a couple days. This little flip-flop he does is a whole pattern that I'm going to go ahead and examine a little closer.

To start, let's compare the first two scenes I mentioned. In their room the Institute, Alex is frustrated that he has to share a room with Phillip. There's a good reason for him to not be upset; he does care about Phillip, and sharing a room with him would really help Phillip stay hidden. But Phillip's predicament—and more to the point, the effect it has on him that Alex perceives—currently rests in the far-off land of Not Now. Meanwhile in the land of Now, Alex doesn't get to be in a room with his other friends. Phillip's visible otherness is a painful reminder of the perceived betrayal from when he revealed his true form. To top it off, there's the background noise of Alex's frequent use as a guinea pig. There's a lot going on, and only one target to lash out at.

15 minutes later during the fall to Imash, all those things have entered Not Now. On the other hand, "I'm no longer falling to my doom thanks to Phillip" and "Fai and Anne are coming and are about to see Phillip" become Now. Looking out for Phillip is the Now Problem, sharing a room with him is a Not Now Problem.

But that's fairly normal, isn't it? Of course Alex is going to be nice to the person who just saved his life. Let's continue.

After they swim the shore, Alex is actually relatively friendly with Fai, in contrast to the name-calling and snarkery he used with her and Susi back at the Institute. Because Now, Fai isn't someone annoying trying to get in his way, she's just someone stuck here along with him.

Speaking of which, he doesn't seem all too concerned about what just happened. Annoyed, maybe, but not worried. After all, nothing bad is happening Now. But then Anne finds a tablet with an alien language on it, and the fact that they're not in Kansas anymore suddenly becomes a very big, very obvious Now Problem. Alex finally feels the true gravity of the situation, and lashes out at Phillip. (This provides a decent example of that impulsiveness again, where Alex's brain makes a connection and he acts on it Now.) Which brings me to my next observation, which is that Fai, by intervening, basically gives Alex the opportunity to realize when he's in the wrong.

Now, this part brings back a lot of memories from before I started taking medication for my ADHD. I used to tease my sister relentlessly. As Paranatural's Ed Burger puts it:

As I myself can testify, that bit about the reactions is the key here, ESPECIALLY when one has ADHD and that immediate reaction, the thing that happens Now, is practically the only thing that matters here. When I used to mess with my sister, I hated making her sad and felt awful wherever that happened. But angry? When she got angry and chased me around the house I thought was hilarious. It was that brief but very much Now moment of entertainment that motivated me. However, we've seen that Phillip doesn't give much of a reaction when bullied. He freezes up and then afterward, he disappears somewhere for half an hour to cry where no-one will see it:

And I believe that LACK of an immediate reaction is just as important. Alex has a lot of crap in his life to move him to take it out on Phillip. He doesn't need a reaction to do it, but the absence thereof means he never immediately sees how much Phillip suffers because of it. It never becomes apparent Now, when he's able to notice. But then along comes Fai, who does react when he says something hurtful about somebody else. And it's her reaction that makes him stop and become able to realize that what he was doing. He genuinely feels bad because as I said earlier, he doesn't want to be mean, he's just never able to notice when he is.

There's one other things I want to point out about the Now/Not Now thing. When you have something that could happen or will happen in the future, something that could affect you in some way, it doesn't really seem real. It's not immediately affecting you, it's Not Now, so there's no need to worry. And I see this in Alex a LOT.

These are his thoughts about seeing a giant energy beam appear in the distance: "I'm tired; it's not a Now Problem, I don't feel like thinking about it right now." The reason I find this familiar is because it's exactly what my brain would tell me whenever I sat down to do homework with a far-off deadline. And later, when Alex and Fai tell Phillip about Fai's bad vision about him, he very clearly isn't thinking about the contents of the vision itself; they're not happening Now, after all. He doesn't seem even a little worried about it, unlike Fai.

Now, I'm not going to outright say "Alex might canonically have ADHD" because I'm not a brain biologist who knows how to look for this stuff, nor do I know if this was intentional. (I'm also never been one to form headcanons, I typically stare at canon and go, "yup, that's pretty cool!") But I will say that I have ADHD, and I see a lot of myself in Alex, which is pretty neat.

[annoying--moth]

No matter how many times it is explained to me or I talk about it with someone, I can't fully grasp what exactly is going on with art in the arc of a scythe universe. Because like,

It's stated multiple times that post-mortal art is "bland" and "uninspired" and "redone to death," and while I can certainly understand SOME art being like that, surely not all art is like that?? And I understand this in the sense that like, everyone's constantly remaking/repainting/making their own versions of famous paintings and such, but also there still has to be people who don't do that, right??? Like maybe I just have zero reading comprehension and somehow missed the bigger picture, but I feel like all this talk about art being redone to death implies that no one is making original art anymore? Which just. doesn't seem feasible to me?? Because as an artist myself, I can't see immortality taking away my ability to draw or come up with cool ideas. I don't draw because I'm going to die one day, I draw because I like it, and it's a form of creative expression. You can always come up with something new to draw- whether it's a cool oc, or someone you know, or just something random and abstract. The possibilities never end!

Of course, I suppose there is the argument then that people just aren't creative anymore, but I also find that hard to believe. I couldn't imagine ever truly running out of ideas. Like I mentioned above, OCs people??? I highly doubt there's no one in the post-mortal era still making weird, whacky, badass, or just cute OCs. Heck, I'd expect scythe ocs to be really popular! I wonder if it's like a thing for every kid to have a scythe oc phase..? Or at least kids in certain communities/fandoms (like scythe card trading- maybe they make their own cards for their scythe ocs!)

And also, it's confirmed that fiction is still very much a thing in the post-mortal era (I know zombies are referenced in one Gleanings story) so it's not like people can only connect to non-fiction. That's another thing that's discussed more in terms of theatre and writing- people not being able to connect to the themes because they're so far removed from it in reality. But my thing is, I've never experienced war or death (until very recently at least) and I still don't find myself unable to sympathize with people losing their loved ones to death or war or disease, although I suppose this could also have to do with the nanites. Plus the fact that death and war still exist in society as an actual thing that happens, but idk.

Also by the way- I feel like that one Gleanings story The Mortal Canvas has a subtle diss on digital art? And I have nothing against traditional art- heck I probably draw traditionally more often since I'm always doodling/sketching, but I feel like just because art is digital doesn't mean it's "uninspired" or whatever people were saying in the books. In fact, I've found myself moved emotionally by more digital pieces than traditional ones (although I don't see a lot of traditional paintings compared to digital ones tbf)

Also also I want to say- I don't exactly know how well this relates to my point but that one dude in The Mortal Canvas who made the others' artstyles into filters was a huge douchebag. AI art type shit, I was ready to strangle him reading that.

I remember the bit in The Toll about Ezra the artist, and how he said he was just "decent" or "moderately good" or something along those lines when we first met him, and I was going to make an argument about that part too but to be honest it's been a little while since I've read The Toll so I'll have to come back to that one once I reread it. But I think it also had to do with the emotional/creative aspect of art, which again, I refuse to believe immortality has such an influence on creativity that no art is original or interesting anymore. Sure it might make certain things harder, or make motivation worse, but I feel like if someone is truly creative it doesn't matter? Though then again, I'm not immortal so what do I know.

I briefly mentioned nanites earlier, and that is one thing that I do think probably has an impact, and I specifically mean emo-nanites. Since post-mortals can't feel as strong emotions as us mortal humans, perhaps that's also why their art seems more uninspired or whatever, because they can't put as much emotion into it. However, an excess amount of emotion isn't exactly needed to make art either. Like as I was writing this I was looking through my own art and realised that for some pieces I wasn't putting any emotional thought whatsoever into the pieces, yet there's still a clear emotion there when you look at them. Joy, wonder, whatever.

Anyway in conclusion, I think that it's unrealistic to say that all post-mortal art would be dull, uninspired, and meaningless, because I believe there will always be creative people who will make art not because they're gonna die one day, but because they want to and enjoy it, simple as that. Thanks to whoever stuck around long enough to read this far, I really hope it made sense. It's kinda late while I'm writing this and tbh I'm half-expecting there to be some huge detail/plot point that I missed that makes my whole argument totally invalid, whether that's me misinterpreting all the bits about post-mortal art or just being a complete dumbass with zero media literacy. Either way hope this was a fun read, I don't write long-form posts like these super often (note the lack of confidence in my media literacy skills) and if I made a really bad argument/missed something huge please be nice in the notes, I have a fragile ego :(

Uh yeah anyway I think I got everything as usual don't take my rambling *too* seriously, I just always found it confusing how post-mortal art is said to be so "uninspired" (I keep using that word cause I reread chapter 3 of Scythe today and Faraday uses it there) when I personally can't imagine not being able to be creative, though perhaps I'm just self-projecting. So uh, yeah.

[chrimsonfoxdon]

Ooh question, you mentioned rewatching as an adult, and I'm curious, what kinds of things do you view differently now? I'm rereading the manga after a long time too, and the big thing I'm noticing is that I have more compassion now, especially towards characters who I didn't realize reminded me of myself and not in the best ways 😂 And especially during part 1 I found myself wondering why we don't see their parents more often (for those who still have them) and who took care of them growing up (for the others).

I have felt similar!! Ok I’m gonna maybe list stuff out on what I’ve noticed I view differently.

Very long post under the cut of me rambling (again)!

1. My Opinion on What I Consider Good Media Has Changed

Starting with this one as I feel it’s a big overarching thing that’ll dictate all my other opinions and thoughts. I’ve watched, read, and listened to A LOT of other series and media since I first started watching Naruto (also you know life experience and such), so I have a better idea of what is “good” media and what is “bad.” When I was younger, I considered Naruto to be the best of the best, but I don’t think that now (as far as anime that title now goes to FMA:B it’s very good please watch it if you haven’t oh my god). It has a lot of flaws, some endearing and others… not so much. Granted that’s any piece of media. Nothing is perfect (not even FMA:B). But despite that, I’ve also learned that it’s ok to still enjoy it!! Imo it’s not all bad, I mean, we’re still here discussing it yea?

I guess the TLDR of this part is: it’s cringe but that’s ok cuz life is short and we should enjoy the stuff we like.

2. Female Characters/Feminism

I feel like, while these are different topics, they’re very linked together in how I watch Naruto now so I’m putting them together. When I was younger, I didn’t like really any of the female cast (except Tenten). I found them “annoying,” to put it simply. Sakura always chasing after Sasuke?? Lame. Ino being obsessed with her looks?? Shallow. Hinata losing to Neji? Weak. I began to think that I didn’t like those characters because I didn’t like female characters mostly as a whole (which is kinda hilarious cuz I did start making Chihiro back then who does in fact identify as a woman LOL!!). But this negative attitude towards female characters not only leaked into how I consumed other media, but how I saw myself and other women irl. Like I distinctly remember believing that a woman could never beat a guy in anything. Which is uh… not true!! And kinda fucked up!!!

Now that I’m older I just realize that kishimoto doesn’t know how to write women all that well. Imo, it’s not the girls’ faults, it’s their creator. Which is disappointing but also freeing almost?? Plus, I can now appreciate what good they do have to offer!! (I talked a little about the konoha 12 girls and what I like about them in this ask in case you’d like details on individual characters)

I think also being exposed to other fans with differing opinions and views has helped me with this as well. When I first started watching I didn’t really go online (wasn’t a thing in Cuba plus I wasn’t really interested), so I didn’t really have other perspectives to bounce off of.

Also wanted to add that there are definitely parts of the show I laughed off before but you know, just are not acceptable nowadays. Mainly thinking of Shikamaru talking down on girls/women, Neji made a rude comment about girls too (that Tenten corrected him on tho thank you queen), and some bits that could be perceived as a little transphobic (I’m not trans tho so I don’t wanna speak for them on that bit). Its viewpoints that I feel are a product of the time, but does not make the overall series bad per se.

3. Seeing Other Children as a Child VS as an Adult

Ngl since I grew up with Naruto, I feel as if I will always see them as my peers in a sense. If anything, almost like the “older kids” in school. Like I don’t know if this is a common perception, but I remember when I was like in 2nd grade I saw 6th graders as like tiny adults, but then when I was in 6th grade I saw 2nd graders as like babies. Does that make sense?? Anyway, it’s interesting rewatching Naruto as an adult and seeing my “peers” when they were younger. I remember thinking that 12 & 13 year olds were badass and cool and practically ready for the real world (I was like 8 or 9 when I first started watching leave me alone), and being amazed at stuff like the chunin exams. Nowadays my brain just kinda goes “why are we letting these CHILDREN go to war???” It’s a similar story with like the sensei. Thinking they’re so experienced and old and… now I’m the same age as them and I’m still young!!

4. Might Gai is Cringe and I Love Him For That

The way I didn’t appreciate this man when I was a kid is a CRIME. Teaching his students (and friends) that it’s important to find joy in life is SO IMPORTANT and Gai just does an EXCELLENT job with that!! He strives to be a source of light for the people in his life, and to show others it’s important to smile and laugh from time to time. It warms my cold dead grownup heart what can I say. There’s a line in OG Naruto after Lee beats Sasuke in their fight before the chunin exams, where Naruto turns to Sasuke and Sakura as their cringing at Lee and Gai and says, “actually, it’s kinda sweet how they’re all hugging and stuff!” And that kinda summarizes my thoughts on them.

TLDR Might Gai is cringe but he is free and I love him so much for that.

5. Seeing Myself in Characters I Didn’t Before

Off the top of my head, the three characters I see myself in more so now than when I was younger is definitely Choji, Lee, and Tenten.

I was never popular growing up, especially when I moved back to the US after living in Cuba. Kids just didn’t wanna play with me or have me on their sports teams, so I was purposefully left out oftentimes, kinda like how choji was when he was younger. Rewatching that part made me cry honestly HAHA I saw myself so clearly. I’m also plus size so the beauty standards he has to deal with really speak to me. I remember Shikamaru telling him one time that girls don’t have to be skinny to be pretty and I would be lying if that didn’t give me a huge amount of confidence in myself.

Rock Lee’s story has always been top notch, but as someone who chose to specialize in a path that I didn’t really have natural talent for myself it REALLY speaks to me now. I’ll be 100% honest, I was never really one of those “been drawing since I could hold a pencil” kind of kids. I liked it, but I didn’t really consider myself any good until like 8th grade or so. Anyway, there’s this scene where Lee is crying at the training grounds cuz he’s scared that, no matter how hard he works, it’ll all be for nothing and that he’ll always be a loser, and uh… had to turn the show off cuz that struck WAAAAAAAY too close to home for me as an artist with a… let’s be real, a failing art business. Anyway, he inspires me though to keep going cuz this is what brings me joy. I may take longer than most, but that doesn’t mean I’m less of a person for it.

Tenten I’ve honestly seen a lot of myself in even when I was younger! But there’s this filler episode that goes into detail on how she tried really hard to be just like Tsunade, since that was her dream since she was little. Turns out she doesn’t have the capacity to do that (not being able to do medical ninjutsu well, etc), but she finds her own strengths along the way. What really spoke to me was letting go of your childhood dreams. It’s hard. It feels like you’re failing in a way. But Tenten was able to persevere and find a new and even better path forward for herself. And that’s just amazing. I love seeing that, and it helps me feel as if I too and maybe find my path.

6. Final Thoughts and Random Little Things

I think it’s also safe to say that I can pick up on story flaws (I’m looking at you 4th great ninja war arc) and inconsistencies (how the heck does the hyuga clan work wtf). It’s a long series and nowadays you can binge the whole thing in one sitting (I don’t recommend that please take care of yourself). Back in my day I had to wait a whole week to watch the next 26 minute episode with commercials in between. Also I was a kid. AHAHA!! But again, long series, so I’m sure Kishi forgot about certain details while he was being pushed to continue the series.

Also my views on certain things that happened in the series changed based on what I know what happens later, which I find to be quite fun!

Overall I still enjoy the series, both for similar reasons as I did back in the day (Neji) and for new reasons!! Flaws and all. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

[dangerously-human]

As always, I'm a little behind on these things, and I was tagged in similar versions by @starspray and @dragonslover98 (thank you both!), so I'm combining them.

Three ships: John/Aeryn (Farscape), Joan/Morse (Endeavour), John/Elizabeth (Stargate Atlantis)

First ship: Oh, gosh, it might have been either Ash/Misty or Brock/Misty from Pokémon, but my Harry Potter phase started around the same time, so Harry/Hermione might be earlier.

Last song: The live version of Gloria by The Midnight

Last movie: A Walk to Remember

Currently reading: Actively? A study of Philippians and Good Bones by Maggie Smith. Planning to reread the Lockwood & Co short story sometime this week, while I wait for my UK copies. Might sneak in an extra TEG reread (I've been rereading bits and pieces pretty much daily anyway). And I've been very slowly making my way through a book on Pentecostal theology.

Currently watching: Mostly Psych, plus my sixth time through Lockwood & Co. Also slowly rewatching The Bear, and doing my first chronological rewatch of New Girl in years (but I'm literally always watching New Girl)

Last thing I wrote: Last thing I wrote and actually posted was the post-canon chapter of Not Even a Doorknob Between You. Last thing I wrote at all was for the post-possession/ring fic:

There’s a small, fond smile on his face, one Lucy returns automatically when her eyes flicker open. “Hello,” she says simply, voice soft and slurred with sleep, and he wants to kiss her. In fairness, that’s sort of his default state of being. “Couldn’t sleep?” He shrugs. “You know.” His back is turned while he does the usual things with the kettle and teabags, but Lockwood can hear the frown in her voice as she replies, “I don’t, actually. Not unless you tell me.” He stiffens, and she sighs. “I didn’t mean… You don’t have to.”

Current obsession: Still solidly on Lockwood & Co. Nothing like a special interest that also helps you grow as a person (plus in your faith).

I tag @rillabrooke, @ioannemos, and @cakeyouareoh, with zero pressure!

[purefandomonium]

Connection Part 15-To Dream

“Hey, I forgot, but a while ago you asked me what dreaming was like.” She stopped working on her book report to glance at the GameBoy sitting beside her on the desk. After more pestering from her mother, she’d finally gotten around to cleaning up her room. She had to admit it was nice to be able to find stuff again.

RED: I did.

“Did you still want to know?” If he wanted her to talk about the history of cabbage, she would. Anything that got her out of writing a report on ‘The Great Gatsby’ was welcome.

RED: …Yeah.

Leann hummed. “I guess a good way to start is for you to tell me what you know and then we can go from there.”

Red had to do some thinking to piece together what little knowledge he had on the subject. Aside from knowing they occurred when people fell asleep, he didn’t have much info. 

He relayed as such.

“Well, ok,” Leann started, tapping a finger on the desk. “So, dreams can be a lot of things. They can be good, bad, scary… For the most part, people don’t usually remember though. Unless they’re really vivid, of course...” Dreaming was a difficult concept to grasp for those who experienced it—how was she supposed to explain it to someone who didn’t?

The rest of her fingers joined in the absent-minded tapping.

RED: People tend to fall asleep only when they’re tired, yeah?

“Yeah, it’s how we recharge. And dreams are just like… Well, they just sort of happen. They’re so wildly different and modern science doesn’t even have it figured out. Let me try this: Say someone is really stressed about their job. They might have a dream about something frustrating at work. It might make zero sense, but it still involves your coworkers and stuff. Or maybe they’re excited for something. Then all they can dream about is the thing? I’m… not qualified to describe this.” She glanced at the window as her tapping became something akin to a rhythm.

RED: You’re good. I think I get it.

“Do you?” So far all she’d done was confuse herself. And she wasn’t even the one who asked!

RED: It makes sense. So dreams are basically extensions of people’s emotions and memories?

How interesting. Red was fascinated at that, though he couldn’t quite pin down why.

Leann blinked. That was… easy. “Yeah, that’s kind of it. They aren’t always that cut and dry though. Sometimes they’re really just random nonsense with no meaning. But that’s the gist of it anyway.” So much for having a distraction from her report.

RED: Do you have bad dreams about the bullying?

Red heard the sudden silence like a gunshot, if that was even possible. He didn’t like to stick his neck out like this, but he wanted to know. Leann always downplayed it like it was nothing, but he just knew it bothered her more than she let on. He simply had to hear it from her.

“Like I said,” she began, moving to pick up the book and reread the chapter she was referencing, “sometimes they really are just random nonsense.”

RED: Having nightmares about your tormentors isn’t “random nonsense” and you know it.

RED: I can tell when you’re lying.

“Red, it’s not a big deal even if I was. Which I’m not.”

RED: You always say that about the bullying. That it’s not a big deal.

RED: Do you really think so little of yourself?

Why continue to let them get away with it? If she was unable to do something, why not have someone else settle it? Leann wasn’t like him. She wasn’t just some meaningless puppet that wasn’t supposed to think. She had every bit of freedom he could ever hope for and acted like she was nothing special.

Leann stared at the device, emotions boiling. Once again, he was reading her better than she could read the literal open book before her. She considered him a friend, someone she could trust, and yet…

“Do you ever have dreams, Red? You ever relive the glitches? Do you wanna talk about it?” The words were out before she could stop them.

He knew by the faint warble in her voice that she was upset. He could practically see the way it faltered, wanting to backpedal but unable to overcome the force of the distress that had propelled it forward. The way her breathing shuddered told him she regretted it immensely.

How he wished she could hear his voice if only to know how sympathetic he was.

RED: It’s going to take more than that to upset me.

RED: I’m sorry, Leann. I shouldn’t have pried.

Text boxes did a poor job of conveying true meaning. The answer was obvious anyway.

RED: Do you… ever have dreams about getting back at them?

Leann considered that. As much as she said she’d like to, she’d never actually dreamed about revenge. Maybe it was because she never really thought about what she could do to even things out. There just didn’t seem to be anything worth doing. She had other stuff to worry about and wasting time on a bunch of idiots didn’t feel worthwhile.

She sighed. “I don’t. Not that I can remember.” She gave a small hum at the ‘ok’ that appeared. “I’m sorry for what I said. That was just cold.”

RED: I know you didn’t mean it.

“That doesn’t make it okay. I’m sorry.”

RED: ………

RED: I’ve never had dreams before. I mean, I’ve imagined what the real world is like, but I’ve never dreamed it.

RED: Even when the game’s been off for a while, I don’t dream. It’s like I just don’t… exist.

RED: I don’t think I’d dream of anything interesting even if I could. I’ve never really seen anything other than this stupid game.

“Do you want to go outside?”

RED: …What?

“Outside. I can take the GameBoy in the backyard. Or I can carry you to a nearby park. It’s getting late so there shouldn’t be too many people left there. I know you can’t really… do anything other than hear the sounds, but it might be nice.” The room felt heavy, as though the air was weighing her down. If she didn’t get out now, she feared she might start crying.

She wasn’t particularly sad, there were just a lot of… emotions… right now.

RED: Sure. I’d like that.

Part 14: here

Part 16: here

[daystarsearcher]

Thanks for the tag @envexenveritas. Saved it for the weekend when I had a bit more time and brainspace:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

88

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

481,422 (Damn, if I wrote this much on my original fic, I could have a second novel done by now)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, Doctor Who/Big Finish and Holby. In the past I've written for Star Trek: the Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space, and I went through an intense Law and Order: Criminal Intent period in college.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The World Has No Place In Our Bed: Doctor Who, Kate/Osgood. You all love a fake marriage fic!

So Then This Happened: Doctor Who, Kate/Osgood PWP. There are things I'd change about the writing in this, but I guess you all like it!

Empty Spaces: Star Trek: the Next Generation, I looked at the whole Lal situation and decided to make it worse. People love being sad about Data, and who am I not to oblige?

Ghosts in the Machine: Doctor Who, TARDIS POV. One of my earliest fics and I still love writing her POV.

I Know My Sister Like I Know My Own Mind: Doctor Who, Kate/Osgood with Bonnie as the wingman. This was a fun one to write that I still have a soft spot for but kind of surprised to see it crack the top 5!

I do think it's very interesting how this differs when compared to comments. There's definitely a bias toward fluff for kudos (even the sad Data story ends on a hopeful note), while I get more comments on angst. (And I tend to get the BEST and most detailed comments on my absolutely unhinged stuff.)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! But I try to give it at least a week before I respond. If I respond to one right away, then I'll feel guilty for not responding to others right away, and then it starts to feel like a responsibility rather than a fun interchange of ideas and gratitude, and I don't want it to feel like that! Anyway, that's more info than you needed about my OCD but that is why I take awhile to respond. I do adore comments and often reread them when I am feeling down.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm, I have been trending towards endings with a tinge of hope, so even though Two Birds in A Cage may be my darkest fic overall, I don't think it wins this. In my Osgood Must Suffer verse, Nor Yet Favor to Women of Skill ends in a really dark place with Osgood totally brainwashed, yet the sequel It's True the Girl They Speak of Died sees her reaching for recovery. Similarly, in the Modern U.N.I.T Infernoverse, The Pieces That Get Sacrificed ends on a dark note, but Chess sees the promise of working towards a better self.

I think we have to reach back to some of my earlier, more edgelordy work, like Snuggle for LO:CI, which is just an autopsy of the two main characters, or Goodbye to Ugly Words and Yesterday and Everyone You Knew and Were, which sees Odo losing every bit of his hard-fought individuality and identity. Oh, or Vermin in the Lower Zoo, my AU of an evil First Doctor, that's a pretty dark ending.

Oh, wait, no Plaything, my AU of Pyramids of Sutekh where I slowly strip away everything the Fourth Doctor loves. Oh wait, no, final answer: Careful the Wish You Make: Wishes Are Children, in which I do the same thing to Sarah Jane, but worse.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, what makes an ending happier, the overall level of happiness or the contrast to the sadness or pain earlier in the story? I think this question is going for the former, so I'll say either Come to Me Softly, Come to Me Sweetly or The Completely True and Canon Story of Oswin Oswald Seduced Jo Grant, or Jo Seduced Her, or Something.

(Or if you want *waggles eyebrows* happy endings, maybe Respectful Discourse on Power Dynamics in the Workplace?)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really! I feel like I've maybe got one or two mean comments on a fic on FF.Net over the years, but nothing memorable. Edit: oh, I remember! One person got sooooo mad at my characterization of Goren and Eames in Give and Take. Sorry, buddy, people are going to have different opinions about characters than you and write porn about it!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Fuck yes I write smut. It's one of the great joys of my life. I write predominantly F/F these days, though I've written quite a bit of of F/M, and a sprinkling of threesomes. I've made liberal use of the BDSM tag, and I like things that play with power dynamics and trust.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

A few! One of my first fics was a cracky crossover, The Good Ship [Name of Ship]. I also did a LO:CI/X-Files crossover so Eames and Scully could have sex. It's not my favorite genre, but I'll do it for humor and/or smut.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of, but it would be a great honor!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really, but The Good Ship [Name of Ship] was written with the input of my best friend from high school, and she (with her fanfic author name) and some of her favorite characters do star in it. This is an important developmental stage for teen fic authors and I refuse to be embarrassed about it.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Impossible to choose. But have this handy summation:

Picard/Crusher, Odo/Kira, The Doctor/Sarah Jane, Bernie Wolfe/Serena Campbell: these ships changed me as a person and filled my heart to overflowing with yearning, making me believe in love across time and space and alternate universes

Kate Stewart/Osgood: I want the older authoritative one to top the shy nerdy one. A lot.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I am fully committed to eventually finishing every WIP. That said, it has been over a decade since I updated Loyalty's Price and that one has some intense worldbuilding that I would have to recall or rebuild from scratch, so uh, don't hold your breath for any updates soon.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel good about my ability to replicate character voice and to situate emotions in the body as physical sensations.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My god, the amount of times characters speak hesitantly, as if their words are testing a fragile sheet of ice, or touch each other carefully, as if the other is wet paper that might tear, or a dozen other metaphors that my brain has just decided to go to constantly. You absolutely see this with published authors all the time so I don't feel bad about it, though, just amused at my dramatic-ass self.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Not something that's come up a lot for me, but I would treat it the same as using another language in original work--seek out a real human to proofread, offer something in exchange for their time.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

My first fic was a Star Trek: Nemesis fix-it fic written in a spiral notebook in high school.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

This changes all the time depending on what mood I'm in, but right now I quite like Chess.

Tagging @ktlsyrtis and @bonnissance if you're up for it!

[galaxythreads]

Heyo! love your work and I've run into a bit of a writing pickle and wanted another opinion: you see, I'm about 200k into a fic at the moment and pushing that number any higher is like pulling teeth. Have you ever chewed a piece of food for so long that it becomes entirely unappetizing? Yeah, that's about where I'm at with this story right now. The concept and story beats are still, in the abstract, interesting to me but the physical act of writing is near torturous. Have you ever ended up in a situation like that? How do you maintain momentum and find joy in working on a project that is no longer interesting by sheer virtue of overexposure?

Hi! Great question! Thanks so much for trusting me with this. <3

First, Ive gotta commend you for writing something that long. That's absolutely incredible. In all my years as a fic writer, Ive never written anything over like 170k. Ever. So amazing. Fantastic. Wonderful. You deserve to be recognized for what an amazing achievement that is. I'm proud of you.

Second: yes, Ive had this. A lot of you probably don't remember this, but I started the Blodig Skog and got like 4 chapters in before just stopping completely. The world I'd built exhausted me and I didn't want anything to do with it anymore. I thought about deleting the story. I thought about posting the ending. I thought a lot about what I was doing wrong to make me hate it. (Nothing. I was just overworked)

Ultimately, after trying a lot of writing tricks and tips, what actually helped was taking a hiatus for over a year. I didn't think about it. I didn't write in it. It just existed along side me. After the break, I came back, I reread what I had in it's entirety, reread the plan, and then started writing. I finished it in less than two months after that. That story was one is the worst to get through. I hated it at first. There were a lot of concepts I liked and I still wanted to do, but, as you said, it was near torturous to work on it before I took the hiatus.

So don't.

Don't work on it.

You don't have to. Fics are meant to be fun. You always have the option of coming back and finishing it later. Maybe you can take those ideas and use them in another fic. You're allowed to reuse ideas and concepts as many times as you want to.

You need a break. Stop holding the fic so close to your face. As frustrated as you are, it's probably hard to remember why you enjoyed working on this fic in the first place. I know I did with the Blodig Skog. Time will offer perspective. Maybe you'll figure out how to finish it, maybe you'll figure out what's making you hate it.

I wrote the rest of the Blodig Skog in two months because I wanted to. The joy of working on that story was unlike anything I can describe to you, but it was only because I stopped working on it after my mind begged me to. That hiatus saved the story, and I mean that genuinely. Sometimes keeping momentum means we give ourselves time to breathe instead of trying to push through the entire time.

So please, please give yourself a break. And I mean a break. A minimum of a month, ideally between 3-6 months. Then you can come back and reread and try writing again. Your brain is telling you something - I do not want to work on this, I am tired, please stop - and you should listen.

I am so, so, so proud of you for getting this far, please give yourself some rest. The fic will still be there. Write down any plan details you might forget and then stop for a while.

Let me know if you need clarification or want me to answer this another way, I'd be happy to help. Hopefully this was a little helpful.

[elevatorladylady]

Critical Reread of ACOFAS - Chapter 7

Join me on a critical reread of A Court of Frost and Starlight

Chapter 7 - R/hysand

“The Illyrians are pieces of shit,” he said too quietly.”

Welp. At least Azriel is not directly in charge of Illyria.

“the fact that the human queens have not returned to their own territories. They linger in that joint palace of theirs.”

I’m oh so curious what their territories actually are and what joint place they have. 

“And with the wall gone, who knows what other Fae territories might make a grab for human lands?”

And of course, the humans are too stupid/greedy/etc to do what’s in the best interest of their population

“So we might need the Illyrians again before it is over. Need them willing to shed blood.”

And this reasoning might be why the Illyrians feel as though R/hysand only cares about them when they are willing to die for his causes.

“And perhaps we should wait to tell him. Until after the holiday.”

Or maybe Cassian would want to know what his army is up to? Maybe he could spend the holiday with them to create some goodwill amongst the people who feel like cannon fodder for their high lord.

“I’d never seen such spell work. I’d sent my power over her, Helion too, hunting for any possible threads to unbind it. I found none. It was as if the curse was woven into her very blood.”

Is this an admission that there are people more powerful than R/hysand?

“We need the humans in other territories to trust us, if we can ever hope to achieve lasting peace.”

It’s weird that the territory furthest from the human lands seems to be more concerned about the fae enslaving them, then the humans that actually live there.

“The humans must be given a chance to rule themselves. Decide for themselves. Even our allies.”

I guess F/eyre tells R/hys this, but it doesn’t seem like he’s actually listened. Also, why isn’t F/eyre more involved in what happens to humans? I guess maybe it has to do with the fact that F/eyre isn’t allowed to know anything that R/hysand didn’t tell her. 

“He was still in love with F/eyre. I couldn’t blame him for it. Even if it made me want to rip out his throat.”

The bigger man would feel some bit of pity or sorrow for him. But R/hysand is just another fae male.

“If Lucien kills Graysen, then good riddance.” I was inclined to agree.”

The Night Court really wishes death on a lot of people they need as allies to be even somewhat successful with their foreign relations.

“Are we supposed to get the sisters presents?” “No,” I said, and meant it.”

Honestly seems rude to celebrate together and not get them gifts. Especially R/hysand not giving them gifts. (Actually I don’t remember if he gets Elain anything)

“that Tamlin either might not care to enforce his borders with the human realm or might be open to letting anyone through them.”

I mean why would he? He literally has nothing to live for.

“Let Bryaxis enjoy the Solstice as well,”

This is irresponsible.

“I still need to do some shopping before I go.” I offered my brother a crooked smile. “Buy her something from me, will you? And put it on my account this time.”

Is this for Elain then? I guess he does get her something. But less cool to outsource the gift giving job completely.

[whaleji]

girlblogging like kafka; entry 1

nice weather in Istanbul. refreshing. visited the cistern basilica. lunch was delicious. I hate the feeling of men's eyes hovering over me like i'm food, ready to jump, only stopping themselves not out of respect for my existence and individuality, for the soul that's withheld within my jail of a body, but merely because my father is walking by my side. he could be anyone ; an uncle, a grandfather, a teacher, a lover, a brother ; he could be anyone, and yet they'd still stop no matter what, not because they see some things in me aside from my boobs and my face, not because they feel the shy shape of opinions and hobbies and drives behind my skull, or a purpose to my being on earth besides the role of a pleaser, no. no, they stop because of the knowledge that his being of the male sex and me of the female one makes me property. his property. and overstepping property would be uncouth, wouldn't it ? it wouldn't do. and so they limit themselves to wandering stares and disgusting smiles. smiles the opposite from angel's smiles in renaissance paintings, smiles full of vices and thoughts of violence. smiles twisted and tainted of superiority, smiles i want to violently peel from their faces and run over with my bare feet, smiles that make my blood boil and make me think of all those years being subtly told to allow men. to allow them my thoughts, my body, my life. to allow them everything by denying it to myself. strolled in a park for a while. was nice. read a bit. it was "les justes" by Camus. very interesting. 65 pages in as of now. explores themes of political commitment and insurrection. i'm feeling overwhelmed by being in my parents' constant presence for days after living by myself for a year now. i'm feeling suffocated. claustrophobic. inside and outside alike. listening to lana and mitski is what's helping the most, no matter how cliché. i see a lot of cats on the streets ever since we arrived in Turkey. i want to kidnap them all. i feel so bad for them, straying all day long, not knowing where to go, where they belong, fed only based on the rare acts of kindness of passing strangers and locals. the same goes for dogs, and people. it breaks my heart to see a homeless man dumpster dive while i pass by with the shameful knowledge that i eat more than i need in a day ever since i arrived. i fear the future. ten years from now and tomorrow alike. i want to get a job and then again i don't, not really. i've already worked before, and i know the feeling will subside, but i feel it still. i feel it at a very deep point within myself, always chasing it with a broom, trying to sweep it from my system. it's a bone crushing feeling that leaves me blank in the head and my heart hurting. it's the reason why i try to push back the time I get out of bed in the morning, fleeing responsibilities in the shape of friends and clocks and the sound of traffic. it's the reason why i withdraw inside myself at times, with the childish thought that my body disappears along with my consciousness, like a child that believes she's become invisible to others by closing her eyes. it feels like the issue here is that i'm like a self destructing piece of paper, a page that goes blank everyday, no matter how much you write in it. what's in the past remains in the past, i don't learn from my mistakes. it also has perks, like me being able to enjoy my favorite materials, books and movies alike, like i never experienced them in the first place. music is different. music i feel in my bones, and so it sticks. it never leaves my body. the same goes for literature and cinematography, but what i remember are feelings, nothing about the plot or content. i remember an experience rather than words on paper. rereading a favorite book feels like greeting an old friend. i'm filled with the memory of old feelings as they mingle among the new, confronting me to the person i was last time i read it. it gives me a singular glimpse into what i was, what i am, what i may become. today was hectic, but then again when is it not ?

[bookwyrminspiration]

yes, that's exactly the difference! and particularly in the talks about quality--it was really strange to hear people talk about the quality standard being so low when i personally grew up in the junior section with really well-written and designed books that still hold up upon rereads. of course there are books that don't appeal to me at my age now: i read a book recently by an author i used to love and it was almost as if i could physically see the difference between my life experience and the intended demographic, but at the same time there are still a lot of books i read back then that are still fully capable of taking my breath away.

i know at thirteen would not have picked a book with this cover up from the library without the prior knowledge that this was sophie and fitz!!! because i was a child with Taste^tm and almost always judged books by their covers (which, tbh, i still do! is that saying actually meant to apply to books too because if so, the entire graphic design industry says a collective ouch). especially when so much of what i read was from artists like Kazu Kibuishi haha, there was a lot of criteria i remember having! so i was absolutely disappointed when i saw the graphic novel cover reveal and it was just like any of the ones that you'd see on the side of the shelves at the end of the week when all of the older kids had taken all the interesting books, and then you ended reading the entire Geronimo Stilton series in like half a year (there was a borrow limit) instead.

to backtrack a bit though, from an artist's standpoint i don't think it's terrible! i don't think it's badly designed or maliciously designed--i think it's the job i probably would have done if i were hired to do something like that without any prior knowledge of the series. i don't even know what's in the first issue to make sense of what scene they "should" have illustrated for the cover, so it was kind of just like.... well that's a thing. that happened. and i talked to my friends about it privately instead of posting because in what way would it be productive to complain publicly about how mediocre a book cover is, but then people started bringing up the children's media arguments again and it was just so frustrating to me. i'm sure they didn't mean to belittle children's media, but it was just like... i am struggling to articulate but just a why are you here, in the children's media playpen, saying "yeah these plastic toy guns mass-bought from dollar tree suck but it's okay the toys don't have to be manufactured with great quality because the kids won't care!" like to some degree yes but there are also i didn't spend my days searching for the best quality my little pony toys for nothing? if that makes sense.

(2/2) i am concluding that long thing with um. i have just eaten a piece of the most truly awful mango i have ever had. is this what the mango haters mean when they say they don't like it. this tastes like coconut

(and also thank you for adding your tags to my post! i am glad you did because i hope it helped people look at it with a more attentive eye and didn't let them take my words at Face Value. and my brain is now melting from all of that writing haha but yes, as much as there is a huge difference between the majority of us and the age of the intended audience, kids also deserve quality things and that was what i was trying to get at! + hope you are doing well and that you have a lovely day)

----

Thanks! I'm doing alright and hope you're having a lovely time as well. You articulated yourself very well in this, so I don't want to detract from that with a long response. But you make several great points, and I agree that I don't think I would've picked up this book as a kid without already being invested in keeper. Which isn't meant to criticize or be rude to those behind it, just acknowledgement that the cover is what draws you in to a book, and that doesn't have the elements I look for or typically find appealing--or in this case what I found appealing at that age, as my tastes have changed.

Based on what I know, I do think the scene they chose is an appropriate one and makes a lot of sense! It's the huge transition in Sophie's life, leaping to this new world where "magic" is real and there's so much fantasy and otherworldly yet mundane things to discover. It completely flips her world upside down, but that's not really reflected in the image itself. It's just two tweens smiling with a burst of light; I think that could've been represented better, but I don't have the technical skill or knowledge to do a truly thorough and meaningful critique.

But getting to your overall point: children deserve good media, you're right. I don't think anyone here (at least that I saw) was truly trying to make that argument, but there can be a fine line that takes some awareness that you walk in these kinds of conversations. The distinction between not liking it because it's not for you, and not liking it because it's lower quality regardless of it's for you is an important one--I don't know if I've worded that well, but I hope you get my meaning.

I think something like this may also remind many of us of the trends we seen in books overall recently: the booktok book. The appeal to tropes and popularity instead of creativity and care taken with the medium. More generic and impersonal designs, which one could argue the cover is. So perhaps the cover isn't bad, but in it we can see evidence of a wider trend and how it could continue, and that's bad.

There's a lot of ways to look at this and things that can be considered. At the end of the day, children deserve good media and that cover doesn't seem fully representative of the story---in my opinion, but I don't have much familiarity with graphic novels so take it with a grain of salt. And your welcome, I hope my additions help as well! I feel like I've inevitably forgotten something or left something unsaid because of the length, but if anyone thinks I've missed something or wants to continue this conversation further, my ask box is open! (just please be respectful, I'm a real actual person)

also oh shit just remembered there's two mangoes in the kitchen i sure hope they haven't gone bad because i totally forgot about them

[valleynix]

I've seen the game twice! the moment it was released but it didn't got me then (perhaps cause it was disappointing which could have cooled down my hype) but recently my brian decided that yo remember those three fly women? They're your new hypefixation good luck!

(Dani was so damn right when she said everyone falls for her in time)

So here I am🧍a bit late to the party

With how long the chapters are I'm making notes while reading if something in particular catches my attention, so I won't forget hah... It might be a bit messy but that's the comments I have for chapter 3&4!

^ I've never seen anyone mention the daughters' wounds/scars on their heads I like the little detail.

^ It really feels like we're time travelling/see the glitches as the two worlds/timelines collide.

Especially with the dying maid, scene with Alcina playing the piano and the magically disappearing food.

I want to know so badly how it looked like in your head while you were writing it. And all the missing puzzle pieces.

^ THE LITTLE BONDING TIME WITH BELA AS THEY READ TOGETHER *screaming begins again*

^ DANIELA SHE SHE–

My God I feel like the lvl of the happy chemicals in my brain goes up every time she's mentioned.

^ Cassandra certainly knows how to make a DRAMATIC entry (the breakfast in ch.4)

^ The Cass/Dani moment in the forest *cries* so soft

I love to see the daughters interact with each other and get an insight in their relationship as well

^ I absolutely adore how they might be bloodthirsty cannibals who torture people now and then but draw a line at SA and are respectful of the personal space and boundaries

see, i wasn't too hyped with the game when it first came out (mostly because i hadn't finished Biohazard at that point), but i got into it, like... a little over a year ago?? and it has been both hell and joyous since :') but i'm really glad you've joined the party!! i hope you've enjoyed it so far :D

god, yeah, the chapters range anywhere from, like, 15k-30k? it's a WILD mess out there, but i prefer that over short and pointless chapters, if that makes sense? it gives me a bigger project to work on, too >:)

(let me asterisk each point you've made to talk about it :D)

*i LOVE the detail of their scars and each sister having a different one (like Dani's being the messiest/biggest of the three and Bela's being the most hidden), and i do wonder why more people don't talk about it? it makes them seem more... them

*hehe, i am most interested to hear what you'll have to say on this subject if you continue reading on >:) i can't reveal too much since you're still early on, but i will say that it'll make sense soon enough (and as for wanting to know how that scene went in my head, i could definitely write it out better if y'all want, but i'd have to go back and reread that scene to be sure sdkjfhs)

*GOD I LOVE BELA SO MUCH, she's such a nerd

*DANIELA!! i adore her to little pieces and i definitely feel she gets mentioned a lot LMAOO, i am slightly (majorly) biased when it comes to her and what scenes she gets <33

*Cass is the queen of dramatics and no one can change my mind

*god, i wish more people wrote them as a family instead of fighting with each other over some measly, easily replaceable human. like, i believe it's Cass that makes it very clear Reader means nothing when it comes to her family, and i love that for her

*y'all don't even KNOW the HATRED i have for people who write them as SAers. like, you can be a murderer and NOT be a sexual predator! i know Alcina raised them right and taught them what it means when someone says no (cue her exasperatedly explaining the difference between torture no and spicy time no)

anyways, i'm very happy to know you're enjoying it so far, and i look forward to what else you'll notice on your journey >:) <333

[loderlied]

thank you for tagging me @dujour13 !

Last song: Ride into Obsession by Blind Guardian. Don’t know why but i listened to it like a billion times and i’m still not sick of it. For sure gonna be my top 1 most listened song in this years spotify wrapped haha

Last movie: Wendell & Wild. The big amount of different ideas and plots in this make it feel unfocused and kind of messy, but it was a super charming and fun watch nonetheless.

Last show: 1899. I enjoyed the first episode a lot, but then i learned that the shows creators blatantly copied a small artists comic. Read the original comic Black Silence by @/marycagnin on twitter if you’re interested in this show!!

Currently reading: Nothing by Janne Teller. I read this ages ago and absolutely hated it, but i recently saw someone talk about it again so i’ve decided to reread it. I’m almost finished, don’t know what past me was on but this book isn’t half as bad as i remember. It’s definitely not perfect tho. A bit edgy at times, but still an intriguing exploration of nihilism.

Favorite color: Red

Sweet/savory/spicy: definitely spicy

Coffee/tea/cocoa: i really can’t stand any hot beverage, but if had to pick, it’d be coffee.

Craving: A bakery in my town has the best chocolate cream cake ever, but the pieces are ridiculously overpriced…

tagging anyone that wants to do it!!

[talesfromtrigadora]

The Inspiration of Philosophy

I am currently reading Philosophy of Mind by Jaegwon Kim, which I was originally introduced to through college studies. I remembered not liking it, though until I started rereading it, I couldn't remember why. This was the first text book I had read that defaulted to "she" when describing a hypothetical person. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, but it still does; however, this isn't the point of this post.

The point of this post is the ideas that this book has been giving me. I'm a generally competitive person, and one of the ways that competitive nature comes out most consistently is when it comes to my writing, and there's nothing quite so satisfactorily challenging to me as a creative writer as someone claiming that something is impossible. This book is about the Mind-Body problem (not the fiction book/Netflix adaptation of said book), which is the question that first drew me to philosophy. What is a mind? What is a soul? Do we have these things that are separate from our physical bodies? How is that possible?

The question that specifically has my creative writing brain plotting is this idea of teleportation. It would seem that the ability to teleport would be impossible if there was an immaterial mind/soul, which is responsible for making you, you, as many philosophers (especially those who believe in God in the Christian sense) believe. Logically (realistically, philosophy of mind would say), it makes far more sense that we are just a collection of material bits and pieces that can be so thoroughly broken down to the molecular level to theoretically make something like teleportation possible, and that science just hasn't progressed far enough yet to discover all the electrical and molecular bits that make us who we are. Which raises an interesting question, I think, for the sci-fi writers out there (myself included, though I tend to lean toward fantasy and the past): what do you think? Do your characters have an immaterial soul/mind? And if so, how does it stick with its given body through teleportation or light-speed?

I'm already plotting an idea from my Gallison College short-story collection to talk about this (which I will be posting here), but I'm thinking more ideas will come as I continue to read this book that is liking to challenge my creative mind.

[10moonymhrivertam]

*cracks knucles*

Okay gotta admit I do not remember what I followed you for so what might already be familiar to you but I'm gonna aim for a smorgasbord here and hope I hit some new stuff for you. I was trying to skip around for variety but I know I repeated some stuff :P I've got more fandoms on offer and I'm coming up on 2k bookmarks total, so let me know if you want more of anything specific or just. More in general lol

The Stars Move Still by BeautifulFiction

(BBC Sherlock)

"What could I want so desperately that would make me sell my soul? What could possibly compel me to surrender the part of myself that makes me who I am: the source of my magic, my self-control, everything?" Magic has been a part of Sherlock's life for as long as he can remember. Most people view his abilities with suspicion, their own power pale in comparison to what he can do. Jealous rumours dog his footsteps: accusations that he sold his soul in exchange for his talents. Then John Watson enters his life, all ease and acceptance, and Sherlock will do anything – will pay any price – to ensure nothing brings him to harm.

10moonymhrivertam's note: The one with the souls where Anderson is a dick and gets burned for his trouble. (There’s much more to it than that, but that was a personal note to help me keep it straight for rereading - that part stands out)

Skeletons by flawedamythyst

(BBC Sherlock, ✨Mystery✨)

Sherlock's refusal to talk about his past hides far more skeletons than John could ever have guessed at. Halloween-esque AU. Now complete. Actually a fusion with another (well-known) fandom, but I feel that knowing which in advance spoils some of the story, so I have put it behind a spoiler-cut in the End Note. I don't feel it's necessary to have knowledge of that fandom to read this fic. 10moonymhrivertam's note: I love this fic to death - the fusion is well done and aims in a direction that I think most of us wouldn’t aim for (I know I certainly haven’t when writing crossovers of the same fandoms), which just makes it harder to guess in the best way.

I'm a Doctor, Dammit, Not Casper the Friendly Ghost by Bethalous

(Star Trek: TOS)

Leonard McCoy is dead. Don't worry, he's fine with it. But after over 200 years, Earth starts to get a bit boring so it's time for an adventure. And what better place than the USS Enterprise? It's got a cute Captain, a dashing First Officer, and plenty of opportunities for pranks. So what if something is always going wrong? He's dead; nothing's going to affect him. No note from me yet, but I should reread it and leave one.

Consequences by LizaGreen

(A:TLA)

Sokka and Master Piandao sit and talk over cups of tea. Sokka gets a revelation too many that makes him rethink his perspective on the Royal Family. 10moonymhrivertam's notes: A really cool piece with lots of Piandao subtl[t]y - and I always forget to think about what Zuko would've been trained in while fourth-in-line. Assassin is a really really cool choice

Brave New World by MoonFox

(Merlin, SG-1, Doctor Who)

1500 years after Camlann: Merlin has made a life for himself when a surprising twist of fate and alien technology brings him face to face with friends he thought he lost. Gwaine is saved unexpectedly by his own past and future. 10moonymhrivertam's notes: Oh, hello, this is the fic that made me interested in Stargate!! I still haven't figured out where to start despite the fact that I've had this bookmark for a while XD This is a really sick fic, though, I love the whole Gwaine time travel thing. [I should add this to the AO3 note, but it's definitely readable with no Stargate knowledge, though I will admit there was a big feeling of 'oh I am for sure missing stuff', I still followed it and really enjoyed it. I still-still don't know anything about Stargate XD]

the reactions of a dead man by agloeian

(Thor, MCU)

One second, Loki is fading out of consciousness, and the next he’s staring at the ceiling of Asgard’s great hall with air in his lungs. --- Loki wakes up in the past with all the knowledge he needs to stop Thanos ever coming to power in the first place. This somehow doesn't stop him from getting into trouble. A Post-Infinity War Time Travel Fix-it Fic. [No 10moony notes]

Because Designation: Roxanne Ritchi Asked by setepenre_set

(Megamind)

The evolution of Megamind and Roxanne's relationship, as told through brainbot code updates. 10moonymhrivertam's notes: Terribly, terribly cute 💙💙💙

Happy Endings Verse by Della19

(series bookmark, Doctor Who & Star Trek: AOS)

(Because it's a series bookmark, it has no summary, but my note was: The title is exactly the reason I bookmarked this ^_^)

Salvage by MuffinLance

(A:TLA)

Mid-Season-One Zuko is held for ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father. [No 10moony note]

Live Through The Rain by Dont_call_me_Carrie

(MCU, Iron Man, WTNV)

Maria Carbonell was born and raised in a friendly desert community where the sun was hot, the moon was beautiful, and mysterious lights passed overhead on a regular basis. This...changes things. 10moonymhrivertam's notes: I go feral for this fic! It has such interesting things to say about Night Vale and the rest of the world, does some cool stuff with the Avengers side of it…somewhere in my google docs is self-indulgent recursive fic for this because djdjjwjxjejwjshddh it just ends so neatly and opens itself up to furthering of the story.

dream to me by weatheredlaw

(GOmens)

“You know, angel. Sometimes I think we’ve been bearing witness to a very great love affair, and we didn’t even notice.” or: an angel and a demon fall in love. but a bookshop and a bentley do it first. 10moonymhrivertam's notes: Oh I will definitely be using these ingredients to bake my own cake sometime, if that metaphor makes any sense.

I haven't read fic before bed in a while and that directly corresponds with my life satisfaction. I want fic recs of ppls absolute favorite fics. I've read the same fics over and over it's time to expand

[tokiro07]

I just remembered that Undead Unluck came out in 2019. So it looks like you where hit by Apollo’s dodgeball when you coined the tag ‘Fouryearsandananime’

Impressive

I think that the one-shot was 2019, cus the serialization definitely started January 20, 2020. At the time my New Years Resolution was to keep track of all of the media I consumed that year and my opinion on them, and Undead Unluck was the second manga I did of that year the day it started (the first was 100 Girlfriends on the 5th). You can also find that date from other sources, that's just the main reason I remember it

Anyway, four years isn't actually a shot in the dark, it's a trend I've noticed reading Jump for as long as I have. Obviously, you have your perpetual manga like One Piece which go until they're good and ready to end, and you have countless manga that get canceled by chapter 20, but the ones that are only intended to go for four years tend to strike that balance between “goes too long” and “died too young” pretty well in my experience

Anything less than that and I tend to feel like there's a lot of story left to explore, anything more and I start to feel fatigued. My Hero Academia is eight years old now and I for one definitely haven't felt the magic I once did in the last couple of years. Jujutsu Kaisen just turned four, and while I only really started getting an interest this year, I'm still not exactly grabbed by the current arc. Whether that's because it's an incomplete story and it will hold up better on reread or because the author's habits are informed by the length of the story, I don't know, only time will tell, but if it goes past year 6 I would definitely say it overstayed its welcome

Katekyo Hitman Reborn used to be my absolute favorite series, but guess where it started to lose me? Around chapter 230, at approximately the 4-and-a-half-year mark. It got me back at the beginning of the next arc when it introduced *dreamy sigh* hiiim... but then it botched that arc so hard and officially cost KHR my top spot in lieu of...

Medaka Box! The current king of manga in my heart, and Undead Unluck is the only thing to even remotely challenge that assertion in almost ten years. Medaka Box ended at EXACTLY four years with 192 chapters (48 chapters a year), and clearly covered every topic that the author actually wanted to. There were more things that I wanted to be explored, but there's nothing that I think still NEEDS to be. The characterization of the two leads, their relationship with each other, their relationships with other people, the commentary that the author wanted to make about Jump manga as a whole, it all wrapped up so well and it holds up amazingly on reread for me

Assassination Classroom and Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, two works by one of my favorite authors, Yuusei Matsui, both went for four years and ended perfectly. Could more have been explored? Sure, but again, they were both so satisfying with what they were

Demon Slayer, while I think it has some unexplored ideas and probably should have given Nezuko a bit more focus by the end, definitely told the story it wanted to and anything beyond that would have most likely started to drain the good will it had built up

Of course, just going for four years isn't enough. If something is canceled at the four-year mark, it's still canceled, and that means it's missing something inherently. Nurarihyon no Mago was canceled at around chapter 200 because it clearly intended to go for at least another full arc and wasn't holding peoples' attention well enough to last that long. It was popular enough that Jump allowed that final arc to be condensed into four chapters released seasonally across the next year in Jump Giga, but that was so unbelievably rushed that it almost felt like it would have been better to just cut it off midfight like they'd done in Jump proper

Ending at one or two years is also fine so long as the author actually intends for that to be the case. Enigme was definitely canceled, but the story it told in just 55 chapters doesn't leave any room for how it could have possibly gone longer aside from just stretching out the story beats. Chainsaw Man, despite only being part 1 of however many, could have left off at two years without promising a sequel and I would have been satisfied. Death Note ended at 108 chapters, just over two years, and I don't think I need to elaborate on that

Ultimately, it's the opportunity to tell a complete story that aligns with the author's vision that makes a solid manga; writing the ending that they want rather than trying to tie up loose ends because the rug was pulled out from under them without warning, but even then, going for longer than four years so frequently feels like too much for me

Haikyu, Shokugeki no Soma, Toriko, even Dr. Stone (four and a half again!) all lost me past the 200-chapter mark, regardless of how fondly I still regarded them

Sometimes manga are forced to go on longer than they want to! Hokuto no Ken was only supposed to go for three years, and had the PERFECT ending to the story it had told at that point, but then was renewed for two more years and those years were DREADFUL and ultimately ended on a hollow note

TL;DR: as much as I'd love to have Undead Unluck in my life as long as possible, ~200 chapters across four years in my experience gives the author enough time to tell a complete story without fatiguing the audience. Undead Unluck hitting that mark should allow Tozuka to tell the story he wants and leave me satisfied rather than wearing both of us down and ultimately souring the experience retroactively. If it ends earlier but clearly wraps up all of the plot points and character moments, fine, but at the pace it's going, I can easily see it lasting another ~45-90 chapters, ending between Summer 2023 and January 2024

Also, #fouryearsandananime is a joke on Community's #sixseasonsandamovie