#story of another us girl

[astranauticus]

Director of the False Last Act

[fictionadventurer]

Maybe the problem with Christian fiction is that it's non-denominational. People are just "Christian", with no effort put into showing what practicing that religion looks like for them specifically. No indication that there are other Christians who could have different beliefs. No wrestling with differing ideas and the struggle of how one should live out their Christian faith. And that makes it unrealistic and unrelatable.

[holocene-sims]

💪💙🎵

[worriesndoodles]

honestly i think maybe i love ace attorney because its so magical girl coded....the formula of a dumbass who has no idea what they are doing but have to roll with whatever comes their way and preserve out of goodness of their heart is so so magical girl (and a step further, pink cure) in essence, just done with evidence and objections instead of magical rods and mascots

*side note: weirdgirl assistants are essentially a mascot role in this reading as they provide advice/help/just moral support while being a very comedic character and also need saving at times

[they-didnt-last]

anyone interested in talking about the iconic 2000's middle-grade-bordering-on-ya book series gallagher girls??

[incorrectinfinity]

I saw someone say that the Gun Goddess would be akin to this America's 9/11 and I simultaneously do and do not agree with this take.

It isn't 9/11 because it is so much worse.

When the bullet was shot it was not just shot directly to Japan, it was shout through the US.

This means that possible hundreds of thousands to millions of people could've died. It is so much worse than 9/11, it's an international tragedy unlike anything else.

Also I just wanna mention this here but...

This panel.

I presume that this is the, uh, "shell" from the bullet fired from the God Goddess' shot. It's a trigger finger.

Is this her ammunition? How much does one bullet aquate to in fingers? HOW FUCKED IS POCHITA????

[evilwizardval]

i'm feeling like deleting every piece of art i've ever posted everywhere so instead of doing that i'm posting my oc marion bc he's one of my faves <3 he's like a magical girl if a magical girl was a boy and also an alien (i had a reference for the first drawing but i cannot find it rn since i made this last year </3, i'll try to find it tomorrow)

[lazy--lillies]

Ok so my Piper post was written on my phone and I didn't phrase it properly but I do want to talk abt her and Helen of Sparta's parallels bc- ohhhh boy.

So first of all, her being sent to boarding school. Now, this was a bad writing decision for Rick to make with his one Native character, but other people have talked abt why that was problematic so I'm just going to get this point out of the way bc unfortunately it's part of the plot and there's no undoing that. This could've been such a good initial parallel between the two. Helen of Sparta, forever known as Helen of Troy because of a marriage caused by a spell of Aphrodite. There was so much he could've done with Piper feeling out of place, and her wondering about the woman who used to own her knife. He gave her all this extensive knowledge of Greek mythology and then never let her put it to practical use. Bullshit! Piper being forced away from her home due to the designs of the gods (one god in particular - but I'll get to that in a minute) should've come into play from minute one.

Two: her beauty. Now, Piper is shown as the strongest and most "Aphrodite-esque" of her children. Her eyes change colours like her mom's (another bad writing choice, but I'm going by canon so just work w me here guys), her charmspeak abilities, and just the general role she takes up in the Aphrodite cabin with all her siblings. Hell, she's constantly being asked by random gods to be their bride and/or queen because she's just that beautiful. Unfortunately, because of the general writing of her character, this natural beauty comes off as being pick-me instead of an inherited trait from her mother. I genuinely hate the way Rick wrote her beauty because it could have been utilised so much better. If we're continuing with her Helen parallels, she should have made men drop when they saw her. Don't make her a bullied girl who doesn't know her beauty, there are already plenty of characters who were like that in the series. Instead she could still have been bullied by girls who were jealous of her, but have people know that she's beautiful. Have her know that she's beautiful, and let her be uncomfortable with that! Have it make boys have to look twice to make sure she's real, have girls jaws drop when they see her. Percy and Jason get all these godly comparisons with their looks, why not Piper? Have people genuinely think she's an immortal when they first see her because she's so gorgeous. Make her be mistaken for Aphrodite! If you want to really spice things up, add that to her mommy issues! There were so many options with her inherited traits from her mom, and instead they were just used to excuse the weird lusting after her that the men in the narrative and the narrative itself does with her, which is disgusting considering she's only 15.

Also, Sparta being such a famous place for it's war tactics. It being Helen's birth place. Aphrodite being a war goddess. One of Piper's main wishes being to be seen for more than her beauty, but for her strength in battle. Helen, who is only famous for her beauty, originating from a place famous only for it's lust for war. The way that we wish to be perceived versus the way we will eventually be known. Piper trying so hard to run away from Helen's fate and yet being unable to escape it. That fate mirroring the current perception of her mother. Her mother knowing this and being the key if Piper wishes to break the cycle. I could go on abt this but this post is already so long so I think you guys get the point.

Three: her relationship with Jason. So I didn't really explain this in the og post, but her being a lesbian from the start is kind of just necessary for this plot to work in my mind. She got retconned into being gay which pisses me off, but I won't say she wasn't queer coded in the og HOO series because she definitely was, even if I hate the way it was made canon.

This one is definitely going to be my longest point. From the start, her being paired up with Jason should have been done by her mother. I get that the whole "seeing where potential for romance is" thing was happening, but their relationship ended up failing anyway and the way it fails just makes the whole point kind of fall flat. Instead, it would have made more sense for Aphrodite to have included these memories for her daughter. She loves interfering in romance, and her using Piper's relationship with Jason as a way to get Piper's romantic life out of the way (separate thing of Aphrodite caring abt seemingly everyone but her own kids' romantic lives, but that's a different post) then that could've made this parallel so strong! It's what made me make the og post, and what makes this idea drive me so insane. Helen being already married and Paris being forced to fall in love with her, abducting her from her home and then marrying her would've been the perfect parallel to Piper's story. She has memories of Jason implanted in her brain, and for the whole of The Lost Hero we see her trying to figure out what's real or not, but that's so difficult to do in her situation. She's constantly on the verge of death after she finds out her memories are false, and if it's not her then it's Leo or Jason being in danger. This should've become an arc for Piper and Jason, and imo HOO should've ended with their amicable breakup. Make her slowly realise over the course of the series that she's a lesbian, and her feelings were manufactured by her mother (and reinforced by comphet). This honestly even works with Jason's death. Parallel him and Paris' death, have Piper then have a relationship with a girl after being "freed" from the relationship she was forced into by her mother. And, most importantly, USE this parallel! Have Jason die in his OWN SERIES, and have that cause actual character conflict!

Helen and Paris were torn apart by the war. Helen was from Sparta, she was taken from her marriage and betrothed to another. It's what cause the war, and what lead to her lover's death. Piper was the daughter of the oldest Greek goddess, while Jason was the son of the most important figure for Romans. HAVE THAT MEAN SOMETHING! Their relationship should have had WAY more tension when the camps were fighting, and it should have brought up the question of how much they cared about each other at all. It was alluded to, but Piper's doubts about Jason's allegiance never had any real world consequence. And if she did doubt him, only for him to die for his friends? Oh the tragedy it could have caused. Jason's role as praetor was also never expanded on. There should have been consequences for a praetor, the highest rank of a Roman legionnaire, to be dating a Greek, their sworn enemy. It should have caused conflict, it should have made the Romans feel betrayed by their former leader, it should have been one of the driving forces behind Octavian's dismissal of Jason's return. Piper should have been in the centre, looking at her knife only to wonder how much of this she could control. How could she save anyone when everything ruining her life seemed out of control?

Was Piper's life ever truly hers, or was she living out a tragedy that had been played out a million times before?

But, yk, that would require understanding that lesbians can have complicated relationships with their sexuality and go out with men without it undermining their own sexuality, and an understanding of female characters that goes beyond dating someone or eternal virign. Sigh.....

[front-facing-pokemon]

[queenlucythevaliant]

We see him come and know him ours

Russia: "Carol of the Russian Children," traditional // Kenya: The Nativity, Elima Njau // France: "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella," Nicolas Saboly // Haiti: Madonna and Child, Ismael Saincilus // Australia: "The Three Drovers," William James // China: Tryptic by Lu Hongnian // Canadian/Algonquian: "Huron Carol," Jean de Brébeuf

[unma]

My theory is that you've had (or currently have) a big thing for roleplaying, perhaps directly related to your aptitudes as a writer.

I feel like someone just sniped me through a buncha buildings and windows and still hit a head shot. How could you tell? I haven't actively roleplayed in at least a couple of years—not because I don't want to, tbh, I would if I could actually get back into it again—so I'm surprised anyone could tell. I still have a bunch of my proudest rp posts saved (it was mostly crp), and I was into it for at least 3 years or so.

It's definitely related to my aptitude as a writer though. Having to respond so often to some of the most detailed crp posts where you would and often did get technicality'd into oblivion (and would do the same back) definitely made me care a lot about the details, and I'm not gonna lie I do still draw on that still when describing combat sometimes. Getting technicality'd into oblivion doesn't sound too fun, but I assure you it was (once you got used to it anyway), and that community was definitely my closest set of online friends for a good bit.

[samarecharm]

i love makoto so much but fanon does her so much better (the good parts of the fandom) because in the game her character is so lack luster. they butchered her confidant it is so borning and not even about her. they made her a cop. A COP. they pushed this "canon waifu" role onto her (before sumire came along and did it Even Worse). and it SUCKS because SHE IS SO MUCH MORE!!! SHE IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!! SHE COULD'VE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER!!! the way i feel about canon makoto is the same way i feel about the canon ryuji events post komoshida where he's horribly mistreated and used purely as comic relief: i ignore them <3 my game now <3 never happened <3 my ocs <3

You are so right. I generally apply this to all characters in p5 bc the game does such a shit job of staying consistent with character arcs and personalities. Theres a desperate need to throw in perverse jokes at the expense of female characters and a need to show that the police (as a whole) are reliable people who are not influenced by things like money and power; only the BAD cops do that. Not to mention this obvious fatphobia and homophobia but i feel likes thats a given.

But back to Makoto. Shes a victim of bad writing just like everyone else. Ryuji during the kamoshida arc was fighting with self loathing and genuine anxiety, and aside from the like. One comment on Panthers outfit in the metaverse, hes more than well behaved. All of that is shelved as soon as Kamoshida is gone and replaced with him being weird comic relief (and the focus of alot of sexual jokes that were nonexistent in the beginning of the game). Anns arc about self love and empowerment is completely dropped as soon as the nasty bad guy is put away (so that its good to be weird about her w the Good Guys). Makoto loses her a chunk of her personality to be the mature waifu which is INSANE to me bc shes like. Not okay or normal at all 😭😭😭 she THINKS shes responsible and so does everyone else on her team, but its an act! She doesnt know shit! And she doesnt know that she doesnt know shit bc shes respectful and adults dont care about anything as long as u respect them!

Its very telling that for literally every single thief (and goro), you can see the exact moment the writers gave up on adding anything of worth to their characters outside of the social links. Its like they didnt know what to even do w the characters at their disposal after their main arcs were complete. No mention of friends hanging out without you, no mention of having group hangouts. Everyone is treated as a core, important member of the friend group DURING their arc, but outside of it, they are acquaintances at best. Theres nothing in the game that convinces you that these guys are legitimately friends who care for each other and do Friend Things. And i describe it like that bc there IS a game that treats them all as friends, and its strikers! Strikers/Scramble genuinely feels like the game p5 wanted to be; a road trip w your team where they stay up at night talking to each other and hanging out and doing things together that dont necessarily include you, the player. Its refreshing and lovely but it sucks that u get that kind of attention to detail in a ‘spinoff’ title

[constantvariations]

What was the point of giving all faunus darkvision if it's only used like. Twice in the entire series?

[seaweedstarshine]

Sometimes I think of Amy Pond, who grew up being called mad by those who wielded the word as a tool of exclusion and shame —

Amy Pond, who though forced into the hands of four psychiatrists, still clung to that which they called madness until those systems which elevate psychosocial conformity above humanity stripped it from her —

Amy Pond, whose imaginary friend reappeared for a single hour after twelve years and reignited that faith before disappearing for two more years —

Amy Pond, who spent those those two years under the same implicit threat ingrained in her through psychiatric violence, and thus began to believe the man who stopped the invasion was “just a madman with a box,” only for him to agree, and to also call her “mad, impossible Amy Pond,” reframing madness as non-negative for the first time in her life —

Amy Pond, who ignored the disembodied voice of her imaginary friend even as she ran away with him for real, who still lived each day with the traumatic internalization of deviancy dictated upon her by the psychiatric-industrial complex that shaped her from childhood —

Amy Pond, who wouldn't acknowledge the Doctor's voice, such that it took an Angel in her eye that was literally killing her to ensure she couldn't reality check herself —

Amy Pond, who stood before a room which muttered about “the psychiatrists we brought her to,” and though afraid, escaped their rigid parameters of acceptable existence.

[cakemoney]

ianthe 'false things have a piquancy which the real can never match' tridentarius and dulcinea 'oh, it was so beautiful! that drawing looked nothing like me' septimus

[macksartblock]

I know it won’t happen but what if Normal had a little Fabian Seacaster FHSY moment