#that I have any faith in executing anyway

[wickedtrio]

writing throuples is my bread and butter yall but I will never be able to actually conceptualize a gelphiyero/gliyeraba "fix it" fic because so much of the beauty of their relationship(s) is that it's doomed from the beginning AND the fact that this doesn't matter, because loving each other for even just moments at a time (and never truly all together) is still worthwhile (they're changed for good anyway)... and to take that away from them would be to take away their arcs and the footprint of change—and love through change—that they leave on each other forever. they would not be the same characters we love had they not met each other, but they also wouldn't be the same if they weren't able to experience both love and loss with one another

[historical-fashion-polls]

your blog is great but its a small sliver of the reason why studios will not care about period dress in film. like 9/10 before voting i already can pick which one is leading based on how silhouettes and other things that are consider more goofy to do in modern times. its not your fault and im not upset but i find it interesting even when looking at historical dress we still see it through a lense of modern styles and almost subconsciously probably prefer what looks more familiar. and well when you got hot actresses executives dont want them to actually dress like theyre speeve maxxing in 1896 bc sex sells of something idk

hi there anon,

I've spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to respond to this message, because I genuinely always try to assume that all asks are sent with the best intentions, but to be honest, I'm having a really hard time seeing this as anything but a bad faith reading of the blog

as I've mentioned many times, I run this blog entirely for fun and because people enjoy it. I've always intended it as a place for joy and whimsy where people can play pretend and imagine themselves wearing lovely garments from the past

if you read the notes of the polls and many of the asks that have been sent to the blog, I think you'll find there's actually a great diversity of opinion on garments from every era. many people have mentioned that the blog has even given them a better sense of the trajectory of historical fashion and has helped them improve their skills in dating garments

even if the majority of people almost always do pick the garment that is most resonant with modern sensibilities (which (1) I'm not totally convinced of, and (2) which is rather a subjective judgement anyway), the real goal here is that people have fun and get to enter an imaginative headspace where they can picture themselves wearing the various garments

there is definitely space for a conversation about what historical accuracy actually *means* and where we do and don't see it in media and why that might be the case, but to be honest I have a very hard time seeing how my little for-fun blog has any relevance to or influence over larger cultural tendencies in major media. if anything, people's responses to the polls are an outgrowth of opinions and ideas about historical fashion that are already extant in the cultural space, not something formed independently by the existence of the blog or by the experience of participating in the polls

I'm not sure how else to conclude except to say that I'm sorry that you feel this way about the blog and – at the risk of being too honest – I'm sorry you felt the need to tell me, because this did ruin my day a little 💔

[drabblesandimagines]

Hi there, I would like to request Cloud, if thats okay. A sparring session that leads into an unexpected kiss?

Just read you are feeling under the weather, hope you feel better soon!

Sweet anon, I'm sorry this took me literally months! Please lemme know what you think x

It’s late as you leave your room at Stargazer Heights, pulling the door closed behind you with a gentle click. The weight of your new sword still feels unnervingly foreign on your back as you head down the stairs carefully, not wanting to disturb any of your neighbours’ sleep with your heavy footfalls.

Just because you couldn’t sleep didn’t mean theirs should suffer in return.

Your beloved, trusty sword, after many years of faithful service in the Watch, had snapped clean in two after a particularly good thwack against a hard-shelled creature whilst on a job in the scrapyard earlier that day. If that wasn’t enough, it just had to happen in front of Cloud Strife, the blonde ex-Soldier who had joined the Avalanche ranks - temporarily, at least – and who you were somewhat hoping to impress with your mastery of the blade as common ground over the past few weeks.

“You’d be good for him, you know?” Tifa had teased over the bar one night, catching you staring a little too long as he sat down the opposite end, nursing a drink. You’d have told her to hush if Barret’s voice wasn’t booming around the establishment, meaning you were lucky to have even heard her comment in the first place.

Instead, you answer flustered. “What? I… He’s your… No!”

“I don’t like him like that, sweetie.” She’d reassured, patting your hand with a smile. “Plus, I’m pretty sure he likes you.”

“Me?” You scoff, shaking your head. “I don’t think he’s aware I exist, not with how Jessie has been all over him.”

“Mm.” Tifa purses her lips in thought before they pulled back into a knowing smile – she’d caught the merc’s gaze flickering in your direction before it settled back on the drink before him. “No, I think Cloud’s warming up to you. Let me see what I can do.”

“Tifa-“

Biggs’ warm hand wrapped around your arm and tugged you up from the bar and away from your protest in an instant. “Come on, you owe me a rematch and I’ve finally convinced Wedge to let us have a round.”

You concede, destroying Biggs at darts once again would be a good distraction from the blonde at the bar. Besides, what could Tifa do anyway?

--

What Tifa could do, apparently, was make it so whenever Cloud took on a job, Biggs or Wedge would insist you tag along to help him navigate the area – sometimes with Tifa, sometimes without – and that’s what had led you to today, stuck deep within the scrapyard with a broken blade.

You’d never been any good with your fists, nor could aim a gun straight – despite tips from Tifa and Biggs over the years – so, reluctantly, you’d been relegated to the back line for the rest of the outing. At the most, you could fling a spell or two from the materia still equipped in the broken hilt when you could.

Unfortunately, it meant you didn’t have anything really to defend yourself with whilst the materia recharged. A nasty hit from a retreating drake had sent you tumbling backwards, head literally over heels. It dived back down at you, realizing you were now easy prey, ready to go for a nasty bite when a certain blonde merc’s sword dug into its side, sending it flying over in Tifa’s direction who finished it off with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick – all before your life could flash before your eyes.

“Are you okay?” Cloud crouches in front of you, his sword already sheathed, and places a hand on your arm as he awaits your answer. His expression, usually stoic and unreadable, is marred by a slight furrow in his brow as he looks you over with concerned Mako-blue eyes.

He must find you at least tolerable, you’d decided, as he didn’t seem to protest as much when you joined them on jobs like this around the slums.

Though maybe not ever again after today’s pathetic display.

“Yeah,” you nod, feeling foolish. “Still in one piece. Thanks for that.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shrugs and gets to his feet, offering you his hand in assistance.

You take it, relishing the feeling as his gloved fingers wrap around your palm. He pulls you up with a little too much gusto – or maybe underestimates his own strength - sending you stumbling forward. You try and catch your balance, only to find your hand placed firmly against his chest, his other hand now on the small of your back in alarm.

“Uh…”

“S-sorry,” you stutter out and retreat back, bowing your head as your face feels horrendously warm. Somewhere behind you, Tifa poorly attempts to hide a giggle.

“It’s fine.” His tone is back to his usual curt manner. “Come on - we should head back.” And without another word, Cloud spins on his heels and storms off ahead.

“Cloud, wait up!” Tifa calls, threading her arm through yours to pull you along with her. “He’ll get there – don’t worry.”

--

You’d taken the blade in to the weapons store below the Watch’s HQ after reporting in, Cloud and Tifa following behind. The proprietor dutifully inspected it for a few moments before deeming it beyond reasonable repair - said he could re-forge it, but it would only last a hit or two before it snapped in two again and he didn’t want the bad advertisement. He’d offered some gil for the scrap metal value and waved to the selection of his ready-made wares. Even with the gil he’d proposed and from your own pocket, the prices made your eyes water.

“Can I pay in instalments?”

He scoffs.

“You know I’m good for it.”

“This ain’t a charity, kid.”

“Here.” Cloud had stepped forward then, placing a pouch of gil on the counter. “That should cover it.”

“What?” Your eyes widened in disbelief. Cloud had been hounding Tifa and Barret for his pay for days and you knew he still hadn’t received all of it yet. “No, I couldn’t – that’s yours.”

“You need a weapon.” He shrugs, Tifa bouncing on her heels behind him at his act of generosity, a told you so smile plastered across her face. “Pay me back in instalments, if you want. I don’t care.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods, crossing his arms. “You’re good with a blade, it would be a waste for you not to have one.”

Your scalp tingles at the compliment.

The blades all felt lighter - maybe you’d grown stronger over time? - though they were thinner in width in comparison to your old blade. You’d performed a cautionary test swing of each towards the back of the shop but they all felt off, unbalanced. Begrudgingly, one felt a little less odd to wield so you’d settled with that, thankful it was a mid-range price of the selection so you hadn’t needed the entirety of Cloud’s gil pouch.

“I’ll pay you back as soon as I can – I promise.”

Cloud shrugs, as usual.

--

You swing at the tower of boxes you’d assembled in the middle of the wasteland, trying to be precise and knock out the one in the middle, but as soon as you release the momentum you nearly lose your balance, missing entirely. If you were in combat, it would’ve been a pathetic sight to behold. Thankfully, you were the only one to wit-

“Hi.”

You jump, spinning on your heels to face the blonde mercenary, holding your blade aloft in a defensive stance to an unimpressed face.

“Cloud! Hi.” Your heart is pounding at his sudden arrival – how could you not have heard him approaching? You lower your blade to rest on the floor. “Sorry, did I wake you when I left?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep so I heard you leave.” He folds his arms, looking a little displeased. “You shouldn’t be out here on your own, you know? It’s not safe.”

“I wanted to get some practice in, that’s all.” You look down at the sword in your hand in demonstration. “There’s been no more wererats here since you cleaned out the nest either, so it’s safe enough.”

“It’s not just fiends I’m talking about.”

That’s true – unfortunately, you weren’t a complete stranger to the troopers that often patrolled the slums. All it took was one to recognize your face and you’d be dragged to Shinra HQ faster than you could blink.

“I really need to get used to the weight, though. Barret wants to strike any day and-“

“Fine. I’ll spar with you.”

You weren’t expecting that. “Really?”

“Why not?” He reaches back for his sword, before swinging it out in front of him playfully. “Unless you’re scared.”

You bite your lip in a smile. “Bring it on, Strife.”

Cloud holds back at first, acting more as a training dummy for you to swing at. He doesn’t even need to deflect any of your blows at the beginning, but as you become familiar with the weight and how the new blade swings, finally he starts to raise his sword in return, the sound of metal clashing echoing through the air before one firm blow sends you toppling back, the Buster Sword now inches above your neck.

“Better.” He pulls back his sword and offers you his hand, which you gratefully accept, bracing yourself for his strength this time to avoid what had happened that afternoon. “Try again.”

You’re not sure how much time passes like that, but steadily your confidence in your weapon grows and it turns into a proper sparring bout, both giving it your absolute all. As your blades clash, crossed in front of each other’s faces, you risk a smile at the blonde merc. Suddenly, Cloud’s forearms lose their tension, meaning you get an upperhand you were not expecting. You swing your sword out to the right and fall forward, Cloud toppling backwards, his sword to his right, and his head smacking into the ground as you fall on top of him.

“Oh… Shiva,” you gasp, heart pounding, your thighs somehow straddling around his. “Are you hurt?”

Cloud doesn’t reply, staring up at you in bemusement as he tries to catch his breath.

“Cloud?” You lean down, planting your hands either side of his head for balance.

He lifts his head, suddenly, and presses a kiss to your lips.

Your arms go limp and you drop into his embrace, his arm wrapping around your waist to hold you close as you return the kiss, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, fingers curling into his blonde hair, blissfully lost in the moment until there is an odd, inhuman sound from behind you.

Cloud sits bolt upright, twisting you as he does so you’re sat in his lap, one arm still wrapped tightly around your waist and, somehow, the Buster Sword back in his other hand as he holds it out in defense.

A cat sits a few meters in front of the two of you, flicking its tail back and forth curiously. You feel his muscles relax beneath your touch at the realization. You get to your feet then, grabbing your blade as you do so and securing it against your back. Though you feel flustered, you can’t turn down the opportunity to offer Cloud an assisting hand this time.

To your delight, he accepts, somehow twisting it as he stands in order to intertwine your fingers within his.

“We… We, er, should get back.” He mumbles.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He leads you back through the tunnel, silently, fingers still laced, and back towards Stargazer Heights. You climb the stairs together before he brings you to a stop outside your door, hesitating. Your stomach twists – does he regret what happened? Are you just to wake up tomorrow morning and it will feel like nothing but a dream?

A firm squeeze of your hand brings you back to the present, as if he could read your thoughts. “I’ve been thinking about that for a while.” Cloud whispers, cautious of his voice carrying through the neighbours’ door. “It’s… unfortunate that we were interrupted.”

You place a hand on your door handle and smile, coyly. “Would you like to come in?”

Cloud smirks. “Do you have any pets?”

--

Masterlist . Requests welcome . Commissions/Ko-Fi

Comments, follows, likes and reblogs make my day!

[itsabouttimex2]

“You need to do better.”

(This gets vitriolic, and is a full-blown criticism of Macaque’s portrayal in Season Four and Five. If criticism of a character/franchise you like upsets you, I do not recommend reading.)

Wow. I had no faith in his character writing, and I’m STILL disappointed.

And it only took one episode! How impressive!

Macaque, who has put in ZERO on-screen effort to become a better person or make amends to his victims, is criticizing Wukong for being a bad mentor! And does Wukong criticize him back? NOPE!

After getting screamed at and berated, does Wukong defend himself? NOPE!

Ooh, but there was a second long reference in a dual yelling match that mentioned that Macaque was a genuinely bad person who took glee in hurting innocent people! Oh, fucking delightful! Ooh, Wukong even points out in one episode that Macaque goes without consequences!

Pointing out a flaw in your writing does not make it less of a flaw.

Macaque will always be allowed to do whatever he wants to anyone he wants- power theft, attempted murder, insults, deceit, assault-

And the narrative and characters will never hold him accountable or force Macaque to look inwards or become a better person.

Macaque will always fall upwards into redemption without any obstacles or pushback.

There will never be a struggle to goodness with a satisfying conclusion. There will never be a moment where falters in his newfound goodness and questions going back to his old ways. There will never be explicit remorse or regret. He will never have deep introspections on his crimes and atrocities that provide a reason for him to want to change.

The sum of his “arc” will always be “you were a good guy all along”, and that lack of depth is where it will stay.

RIP Seasons 1-3 Macaque. You were fun and interesting and cool and lovable.

But the man they replaced you with was destined to be a boring and brooding “anti-hero” who has no real connection to the actions you selfishly and violently performed with your own two hands-

And you will always be a less interesting character for it.

The execution of the actual arc boils down to a single heroic (but ultimately self-serving) moment and then Macaque is immediately forgiven for all the crimes he’s committed and is a magically better person without any effort and nothing he’s done is ever brought up again.

It severely weakens any character’s arc to cut them off from their past actions. If MK forgot his traumas every season instead of carrying them forward- we’d all agree that doing so was a case of poor writing.

It was the reason that people disliked Mei’s portrayal in Season Four- she immediately moved on from the Samadhi Fire arc and “no longer wielded it” after spending a whole season gathering and learning to use it.

Why can’t we agree that it’s bad for Macaque, too?

You can’t “develop” a character by dropping an entire plotline and writing it off with one line.

You can’t “redeem” a character by pretending that they were a good person right from the start.

Sorry, bud.

I really did like you. I just wish I could like your writing.

——————

And, what is more clear to me now than ever?

People only defended Macaque’s shitty writing because they think he’s hot.

I know this now, because I’ve seen white-hot Li Jing arc hatred from fervent Macaque arc defenders.

So we all agree that an “I didn’t really mean it!” isn’t an excuse to abuse the people around you? That you don’t get to mistreat innocent people just because you’re stressed and upset?

Hmmm.

Hmmmmmmm.

I wonder why people despise Jing for his dogshit “one nice thing redeems all your bad actions” arc but love Macaque for his??

(Because they think the monkey is hot.)

The funny thing, though?

Li Jing apologizes to at least one of the victims of his actions. He expresses regret and remorse.

Macaque doesn’t even have that.

——————

Anyways here’s a line that I hate because Macaque has in no way developed enough to have the right to deliver it-

AND NO, SUDDENLY HAVING AN AFFINITY FOR PERFORMING KIND OR SACRIFICIAL ACTS IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

HIM MAGICALLY OFFSCREEN BECOMING A GOOD PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT INNOCENT LIFE IS NOT GOOD CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

IF ALL IT TAKES TO “BE BETTER” IS ACTING LIKE A HERO, WUKONG IS LITERALLY A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER OF A PERSON THAN HE IS

THIS LINE IS DOGSHIT

“You need to do better.”

Really, Macaque? Maybe you should take your own damn advice- try apologizing to one of the people you tried to hurt and tried to murder in cold blood!

Like when you trapped MK under his staff after stealing his powers and tried to murder him when he was helpless?

Or when you kidnapped MK’s friends and tortured the kid by forcing him to fight them?

Or you led a violent assault against a palace full of innocent people?

Or violently beat his dear friends until they were screaming in pain?

Or assaulted Tang, who posed no threat to you?

Or threatened to murder an innocent girl if you didn’t get your way, then ran away (and encouraged MK to abandon her) first thing when it put her into a life-threatening meltdown of raw power?

(Isn’t it cool how NONE of these people have interesting or varied reactions to him doing this and ALL immediately are cool with him like a gelatinous hivemind.)

(Oooh ONE mildly questioning line from Pigsy but no anger over his adoptive son nearly being killed multiple times over)

(Isn’t it cool that no one has complex or interesting thoughts on this.)

(Isn’t it cool that by robbing them of unique feelings on the matter they robbed Macaque and the Monkie Kids of compelling and interesting interactions that could’ve helped flesh out their personalities and strengthen their characterization.)

(Isn’t it cool that Macaque and the Monkie Kids are actively denied intriguing character dynamics so Macaque’s shitty “redemption arc” can happen faster.)

(Isn’t that cool.)

Why don’t YOU do better, Macaque?

(In a way that is more satisfying than “one kind-hearted speech from a kid that I tried to murder changed my mind and now I am a better person but all my character development happened offscreen and without personal introspection”, at least.)

Also what the fuck do you mean by “do better”?

Be heroic and put your life in danger? He already does that! He’s done it more than you have!

Just tell MK that he’s not alone? YOU COULD DO THAT YOURSELF, MACAQUE!

Help MK with his traumas and fears? MK doesn’t tell anyone about those! He keeps them bottled up, lock and key, and actively refuses attempts to help!

Wukong TRIED to reach out to him, and MK PUSHED HIM AWAY! Was he supposed to tie the fucking kid down and torture the information out of him?

He respected MK’s boundaries by not pushing any further and letting him leave!!

WHY IS THAT A BAD THING??

What the fuck, man

[coraniaid]

Buffy Summers is my favorite character on Buffy and (with a couple of exceptions that I prefer to put down to bad writing) I will always find her sympathetic, but. The only reading of the second half of Season 7 that makes any sense to me at all is that we are supposed to think Buffy is doing a pretty bad job of taking care of the Potentials, and that this is why they all end up choosing to gamble on Faith's leadership instead of hers. Like, yes, obviously Empty Places is a badly written episode and the central conflict isn't motivated very well and Dawn kicking Buffy out of her own house is absurd.

But I mean ... look, let's just pick a few of Buffy's inspiring speeches at random, shall we?

From Showtime, in which Buffy 'inspires' the Potentials by ... uh, fighting a powerful vampire while reminding them all how much stronger than them she is:

"Looks good [for the Turok-Han Buffy's about to fight], doesn't it? [The Potentials] are trapped in here. Terrified [...] and there's nothing they can do but wait. That's all they've been doing for days. Waiting to be picked off. Having nightmares about monsters that can't be killed. But I don't believe in that. I always find a way. I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em why."

Or from Potential, the very next episode, when Buffy follows that up by telling the Potentials over and over again how likely they are to die:

"You’re all going to die. But you knew that already because that’s the cool reward for being human. […] Don’t kid yourselves, you guys. This whole thing is all about death. You think you’re different because you might be the next Slayer? Death is what a Slayer breathes, what a Slayer dreams about when she sleeps. Death is what a Slayer lives. […] The odds are against us. Time is against us. And some of us will die in this battle."

And from Get It Done, speaking after they just found out that a young Potential called Chloe killed herself:

"Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just…think of Chloe, and do what she did. […] I'm the slayer. The one with the power. […] I've been carrying you - all of you - too far, too long. Ride's over."

See also, Buffy's speech in Selfless ("there's just me ... I am the law".) See also her admission in Conversations With Dead People that she thinks she's better than all the guys she's ever dated.

To me, it feels obvious that the intended arc of this season, however imperfectly executed, is that Buffy has a sense of herself as uniquely and especially "the one with the power'", but that she's never had any real leadership or mentorship role before and she doesn't know how to use that power to look after all of the Potentials. That she's afraid she won't be able to protect them all and so doesn't want to make emotional connections with them and tells herself (and them) over and over that some of them are going to die no matter what and they just have to accept that. That she tries to keep them at arm's length and hide how badly their deaths actually do affect her, and that she adopts a protective tough-love approach which backfires spectacularly. And that eventually she realizes this approach isn't working and that she should be trying to share her power with them instead of using it to tell them what to do.

And yet so many people on here seem to think that when the Potentials get (understandably) upset about this -- upset about being called weak and stupid by a woman who barely seems to know their names and can't seem to stop reminding them that she has power and that they don't -- that we're meant to think "oh, they are all so ungrateful and unpleasant and Buffy is a saint for taking such good care of them anyway". That her "arc" this season is that she is perfect and doesn't need to learn anything and doesn't have to change in any way, all while people keep giving her shit for literally no reason.

And I just don't see how that makes sense! I just don't find it an interesting narrative and I don't really see how the show itself supports it. The Buffy Summers who gives the speeches I quoted above wouldn't think of sharing her power with others. That's an idea she only comes to when she realizes that being "the thing that monsters have nightmares about" is no substitute for being a good leader and making real connections with other people.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

The anti-evangelizing attitude prevalent on progressive christian tumblr is problematic. And part of it most definitely has to do with a lot of progressive christians being universalists.

Now. I know this is a bit rich coming from me because I do not typically evangelize. My interest is much more in discussing the faith with people already in it. That said, it is one thing to not evangelize and it is another thing to be anti-evangelism.

And if you're a universalist, it makes sense why you wouldn't evangelize: everyone is going to be saved anyway right? If everyone is going to heaven why evangelize to them?

Except that's ridiculous. Not addressing the problems I have with universalism, assuming it's true that would not be a reason not to evangelize.

One of the definitions for "evangelize" is "convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity". But that's, I think, a poor tho technically accurate definition. A better definition is: "preach the Christian gospel." The gospel, ofc, is "the good news". More accurately this is "the good declaration". Because this isn't good news like "Oh the weather is 75 and sunny" this is good news like "Omg we have a new king who is going to execute justice, righteousness, and holiness."

In a lot of thought, sin is something inside of you that is wrong and depraved and etc etc. But that is not the only or even main way it's discussed in the bible. In Genesis 4 (where sin is first mentioned), it is a monster or beast that wants to devour you. One of Paul's favorite metaphors is that of a "Cosmic Tyrant". Sin is something that humanity and society on large is enslaved to, and Jesus has come to liberate them from that slavery so they can be who they were created to be: glorified images of God who rule and reign in the world through the power and love of God.

What does it matter if everyone is going to heaven after they die? Ofc on a certain level that matters, but that is not Jesus's concern, nor is that the primary concern of any biblical author. "Going to heaven" is not even a phrase used in the bible!! The focus is on life right here and right now. Union with God, the experience of his life-giving love and presence - that is available right now! Liberation from slavery to sin, the renewing of the mind, the enjoyment of the family of God - that is available right now and that is what Christ is offering people.

I understand not wanting to evangelize if your conception is "God is angry so God killed Jesus and not you so you can go to the good place when you die and not the bad." That's stupid and unbiblical. Plus, nonbelievers don't even know what "Jesus died for your sins" even means, so any conservative christians reading you've got to stop that it's also unhelpful.

I do not sing forever the praises of the God who didn't kill me. I dedicate my entire heart and being - my entire everything to the God who liberated me from slavery to Sin and Death by dying the death of a slave though he had no sin.

That is the gospel and should be preached to the ends of the earth.

[lady-redhaired]

On Veilguard and the Lyrium Dagger trick ending

Big Veilguard spoilers from here onward, obviously.

We all know the trick dagger ending is lazy and horribly executed. It's just a mcguffin you don't have to earn in any meaningful way and relies on the player not thinking past surface level about the viability or implications of it.

Of course Solas wouldn't ever fall for a random fake dagger made by a regular mage when he seemed to be the only one capable of crafting his own, which is made of pure lyrium (from Elvhenan), and has his own magical imprint.

But since I don't like to complain without offering my opinion on how a flawed concept can be improved, here's how I think the trick ending could've been satisfying and better earned. You would have to work hard for the chance to trick the trickster God.

The process should involve at least a couple of missions involving the process, until it's viable. And I believe the dagger should only be viable if it was made out of the fragment of Mythal they give you a chance to earn anyway.

You might get a choice to make the dagger out of lyrium, more easily, or out of her essence, with more difficulty. But in the end only one is viable because only one has ancient elven magic infused in it. Something like that.

The lyrium replica wouldn't work and would backfire on Rook at the end, so maybe you get an ending like the 'failing to fight Solas' one, where you're both trapped in the fade. Your overconfidence in believing Solas too easy to fool bites you in the ass. While the Mythal dagger allows you to successfully trick Fen'Harel. Of course, since you chose not to have faith in his ability to grow and redeem himself, and that is a flaw of your character, you're locked out of the choice to even attempt the 'good/redemption ending' this way. You win some, you lose some.

Idk, this is how I think it could've been improved and turned into a far more rewarding or engaging process and ending. Just my two cents.

[saveahorserideaneddie]

I wish I had remained as cautious as you this season cause I feel stupid for getting sucked in and having expectations.

listen i won’t lie and say that i am exempt from making exceptions too… im a pessimist- i got that from the amount of times i’ve been burned by network shows before, but even i have that small part of my brain that is like “but what if” which means even though i know something probably wont happen in an episode, i still get disappointed when it doesn’t

the thing is tho that i think fans should have expectations… this whole flying by the seat of tim’s pants thing that he does in terms of writing is something unique to this show and not in a good way (well- maybe not unique but definitely most prevalent here) it’s not fair to cast, crew, or fans, and to me it shows a lack of dedication to the craft, and in my honest opinion should get him blacklisted.

like- if he hates putting in effort on the show so much, why doesn’t he just leave? (we know why bc he’s a narcissistic pig, but ANYWAY)

i think what they’ve done with press this week **if nothing concrete happens with buddie (again- i’m literally stuck in limbo on whether or not i think smth’s happening) is really shitty and my hope is that fans start contacting abc executives, starting petitions, etc. to show them that we aren’t just here for whatever pops into tim’s brain. yes- to an extent there are things that we don’t expect and they work out and can be really good moments, i’m not saying he should do every little thing the fandom wants bc that would make a boring show (and only cause more derision among fans), but what i’m saying is that we need to show them that we are done falling for this formula of “oh, we need to build up ratings/viewership, lets write a buddie plot that really seems to stir the pot, tease it in interviews after the fact, and then completely drop it once we got what we want.”

something i personally find a little funny is that so many people this week have been going “if they wanted to shut buddie down they wouldn’t do all this” and im like…. but they dont want to shut buddie down… if they did that they’d lose too much of their main audience… they want to keep us around which is why they pull stunts like this. queerbaiting is an unfortunate part of media and it unfortunately is effective in what it’s used for, and abc, tim minear, oliver stark, and ryan guzman (no matter how much we love and want to trust them) are not exempt from doing it. i know they say they are, but lets be real who would actually own up to queerbaiting?

i love ryan and oliver but even i have to wake up and smell the roses that at the end of the day this is their job, and while they do genuinely love their characters, regardless of what their feelings are towards buddie or any other storyline, theybare going to do and say what they are told because it’s their job to do so- even if it means lying to our faces about buddie. it’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

i’m not gonna watch the episode live bc i’ll be in rehearsal, and honestly? i’m kinda glad bc even if something buddie does happen, i’d rather have the confirmation either way then forcing myself to nervously watch and getting disappointed in real time (again IF we don’t get anything)

i just feel like the fandom as a whole needs to realize that you can be optimistic and positive without placing complete faith in these people who in all actuality do not care about our feelings, and they need to understand that tim isn’t in this for the characters, he’s not in it for the fans, he’s in it for the massive paycheck disney gives him, and as long as they allow him to work unsupervised, the show is gonna be what he wants it to be

i don’t mean to bring anyone’s spirits down- i don’t want that to be my brand on here, but i do think this fandom can be a little (a lot) naive sometimes and while it’s okay and even sometimes beneficial to carry that bit of naivety, when you create expectations based purely on trusting a capitalist broadcasting company, you’re bound to be disappointed

i would not wish for ANYONE to have the viewing experience i donbc being entirely honest the way i navigated this season was utter HELL for me, and like most other people were having the time of their lives up until a couple weeks ago

so i say all of this not to be like “everyone should doom and close on buddie and never watch the show again” bc i don’t want that- i love this show and i want it to continue… but if it does continue then there NEEDS to be a change and i feel like fandom has to be the catalyst for that.

TLDR; don’t be like me, but everyone should learn to temper their expectations when it comes to queer ships on network television

sorry for kinda hijacking your ask 😭😭 i started yapping and a lot just spilled out

[hazbin-but-good]

another hazbin hotel rewrite/redesign?

yup! and i'm so serious about it that i made a whole blog for it. i'm a white queer ex-cath tran doing this as an art and writing exercise, so feedback from other creatives + jewish and/or racialized folks is especially welcome.

i'm putting this post and only this post in the main tags for visibility. also, not gonna link my main, but i do make my own original stuff, and i encourage fans and haters alike to do the same.

anyway, here's a mostly good-faith 1.7k-word essay on the original. i think it's pretty funny and brings up some less talked-about points. correct me on the facts, disagree with my opinions, and ask clarifying questions, but don't come at me with any piss-poor reading comprehension.

the hellaverse is garbage, and here's why

cw: strong language, stronger opinions, intersectional feminist critical discourse analysis

1. vivienne medrano, the person

medrano was born as a well-off white-passing latina (salvadoran-american) in bougieass frederick, maryland. while attending new york's top art school, she got popular on deviantart-tumblr-twitter by being a prolific multifandom fujoshi furry who's more into ornamental character design than storytelling. upon graduation, she leveraged her fanbase and industry connections to make the hazbin and helluva boss pilots, get helluva made for youtube, and get hazbin made for amazon prime.

like every woman online, she gets harassed for no good reason, and as a certified autist, i will defend her right to be dumb, weird, annoying, and bad with words. however, there are legit reasons to criticize her:

racism, misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, some antisemitism, past transphobia, past ableism

shitty boss, bad friend

cowardly, vindictive, manipulative, thoughtless behavior

skeevy friends

sucks at taking criticism

in short, i think she desperately needs a PR person and someone to clean up her digital footprint.

2. medrano's art

incurious

inauthentic

noncommittal

creatively stagnant

overindulgent, and the indulgence isn't even fun

shallow and childish framed as complex and mature

bland and boring framed as shocking and subversive

to be clear, i'm at peace with the existence of suckass art like this; i just think the money, attention, and praise it gets are unearned and should go to more interesting works, of which there are infinite.

medrano's had the time, money, and social cache to grow as an artist, learn from the best, and take creative risks, but she hasn't. if she truly has nothing more to offer, she should let her collaborators take the wheel, but she doesn't do that either. instead, she keeps getting more and more resources to make the same baby bullshit, and that pisses me off. she could be the nicest person ever, and this fundamental arrogance would still make her art blow.

stop with the pointless guilt: liking medrano's work does not make you stupid or evil. however, if you stay in the kiddie pool of culture, if you refuse to engage with a diversity of art, if the hellaverse is your point of reference for anything media-related, you can't expect to have your opinions on art, media, or culture taken seriously. you have not earned a seat at the table. you gotta hit the books first.

i cannot emphasize enough how much incredible stuff is out there if you're willing to look further than what social media and streaming services put right in front of you. if you come away from this blog having learned about just one new artist or piece of art, i'll be a happy camper.

3. the hellaverse

a. empty and confused

hazbin and helluva's content and marketing has no clear target audience. the subjects are inappropiate for teens, but the execution is too childish for adults, and lemme tell you what i don't mean by that, first.

not inherently inappropriate for teens:

sex and sexuality

violence, including when it intersects with the above

politics and religion

not inherently childish:

animation (any style)

comedy

episodic writing and/or loose continuity

young characters

fun, happiness, optimism, the power of friendship, cuteness, tenderness, sincerity, etc.

what i mean is that these shows are literally about adult characters who fuck, smoke, drink, do drugs, go clubbing, work full-time, manage their own finances, and deal with stuff like bureaucracy, sexual violence, domestic abuse, marriage, divorce, late adoption, and family estrangement.

however, none of these "adult" things are given enough specificity to create drama or comedy. it's all too stock, vague, flat, weirdly sanitized, and thus utterly banal—pure aesthetics on top of bad saturday morning cartoons. it's exactly what i'd expect from a sheltered disney kid who needs to log off and get into their local gay scene ASAP so their only contact with things like poverty, policing, addiction, and sex work stops being facile movies and TV.

if the shows were aware of this and played with it, that could be amazing, but they're not. they give you the mickey mouse version of the world with a straight face and then play looney tunes sound effects to try to make you laugh and sad_violin.mp3 to try to make you cry. now that's funny.

b. old and tired

let's make like americans and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. even within the confines of the USA, home of the hays code, the red scare, and reaganite propaganda, this neopuritan fascist state ruled by 1000 megachurches in a trenchcoat, the indie/underground animation scene has been doing crazier shit for decades. anti-war films in the 60's, bakshi movies in the 70's, the simpsons shorts and r-rated movies in the 80's, adult swim and MTV in the 90's, flash/newgrounds/youtube in the 00's, streaming in the 2010's—so what are we doing in the 2020's with this wet white rice drowned in expired ketchup? i feel crazy making this point because it's obvious if you've watched these things, but if you haven't, you're gonna be like "well, there's gotta be something new here". no! there isn't! in the words of jimmy "the scot" jordan, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!

c. ideological purgatory

actually, there is one thing in these shows i've never seen before: the presbysterianism. shout out some interesting or at least intentional presbysterian art in the comments, because the way these ideas are presented here is not compelling. it just makes the rainbow neoliberalism even more confusing and contradictory.

i guess the big presbysterian things are protestanism, calvinism, and, uh, big church government? presbysterians, get your shit together. get your brand down. catholics have BDSM and vampires, evangelicals have TV and corporatism; what do you have? celtic crosses? no wonder medrano has such uninspired ideas on divinity.

d. queer deficiency

when i look at a piece of art, i ask myself: "what does this give me that i can't get from the hunchback of notre dame (1996)?" if the answer is as limp as "uhh, gay people, i guess", i can probably look for my gay shit elsewhere and rewatch the hunchback of notre dame (1996) in the meantime.

but let's say that you have no standards. you've been waiting for ages for a show about gays by the gays for the gays, and by god you're gonna get it. this is it! here we go! time for some

generic twink obliteration

male sexuality as aggression and dominance displays

WLW (sex and chemistry not included)

a couple straight femdoms

and the stalest sex jokes known to man

...yeah, it's not very queer. and by "queer", i mean "questioning or subverting gender norms (including sexual roles) within a given cultural context regardless of creator identity and intent". i'm not a queer studies scholar so LMK if there's a more specific term for this, but whatever you call it, it's not in the hellaverse much.

there's not even any transness, literal or metaphorical, just ancient drag jokes. i guess the writers thought we would've been too controversial. so much for an indie animation studio that prides itself in the diversity of its staff both above and below the line, bakshi-style. i wonder how medrano, a bisexual woman, would've felt if told that a lesbian main couple in hazbin would be "too controversial".

4. spindlehorse and the vivziepop brand

spindlehorse toons underpays its overworked staff and keeps outsourcing more and more labor to even more overworked freelancers overseas to cut costs. a rainbow sweatshop is still a sweatshop, and just because these practices may be "industry standard" doesn't make them any more ethical.

the studio has also been repeatedly accused by current and former employees and contractors of creating a hostile and abusive workplace. AFAIK, it still has no dedicated HR person, and victims are too afraid of retaliation like blacklisting and online harassment to speak out.

this is exactly the stuff that unions exist to prevent. as i'm writing this, the IATSE (the parent union of TAG, which is the parent union of all US animation unions) is negotiating with entertainment industry executives for better working conditions, and if the execs fuck around like last year, it's strike time again. so watch this space, voice your support, and don't cross any picket lines.

i hope spindlehorse unionizes, but until then and for these reasons, i don't think you should give money to the company.

first of all, all content on amazon-owned platforms is ok to pirate, and all youtube ads are ok to block. everyone involved in making the episodes has (or should have) been paid upfront, so you're not taking the bread out of anyone's mouth.

next, let's look at the succulent offerings of the official vivziepop merch shop:

$10 pins and keychains

$15 sticker packs

$20 mugs and acrylic cutouts

$25 shirts

$30 metal cards (not even tarot)

$40 lounge pants

$50 mini backpacks

random $80 skateboard deck

forgive my latin americanness, but this is all stuff you can get made by a local metalsmith, print/sublimation shop, or just crafty people in your life. it's cheaper, customizable, and better for the environment to skip all the shipping and packaging. also, not painting your own skateboard is poser shit.

the hazbin website also has $15 pins, one $20 keychain, and $6 trading card packs. people are weird about trading cards, so if for some reason you wanna gamble for a mass-produced bit of cardboard, plastic, and tinfoil, at least bulk-order for all the vivziepoppers in your area so it's less of a huge waste. better yet, trace the designs and make infinite bootlegs.

at the end of the day, buying merch is not activism. your bulk order of trading cards will not save any wage slaves from getting evicted from their overpriced studio apartments. however, the shop links you to all the credited artists/designers, and more of your bucks will actually reach them if you buy their designs directly, then turn them into body pillows or life-sized bronze statues or whatever the fuck.

go through the credits of any episode of helluva or hazbin, and you'll find even more creatives you might wanna support. get jinkx monsoon's albums on CD. subscribe to actually good artist, animator, and composer gooseworx. lots of voice actors now have patreon, cameo, or self-hosted pages where you can write better lines for their characters and have them read it. these things may not look as shiny as Official Merch™, but we all need less plastic shit and more culture anyway.

[shima-draws]

OOUGHHH been thinking about Grovyle lately and how much I just *clenches fists* love him. Listen to me. Listen,

He is the character of all time. He’s introduced as a wanted criminal stealing something SO forbidden that even the worst Pokemon criminals won’t even touch. That immediately shoots his coolness factor through the ROOF. And the fact that nobody is able to catch him;; AND we see that he’s ridiculously clever and smart and can worm his way out of just about any situation with a bit of quick thinking. And he’s always surrounded in this air of mystery and intrigue and you’re set up to think well yeah he’s stealing Time Gears and stopping time everywhere OBVIOUSLY he has to be an asshole. Except during your first encounter with him he’s very calm and collected and shockingly polite, and even apologizes when he attacks you?? Basically just the opposite of what you’d expect from a criminal. And then to top it off you find out he’s from the FUTURE?? Which is SO sick. And he’s got some secret history with Dusknoir. And when he’s finally captured and being brought into Treasure Town all tied up he doesn’t even act out UNTIL Dusknoir mentions the planet’s paralysis. Which is the first hint you get that things are a leetle sus.

And when you get taken to the future and are about to be executed…he helps you? He has literally zero obligation to do so, esp since you’ve attacked him before. And there’s another subtle hint that maybe deep down he’s got a soft side, that he’s actually not a bad person. And it’s heartbreaking bc he finally knows someone else who is a common enemy of Dusknoir, and he clearly wants to team up with you, bc all this time he’d been by himself in the past and having people he can trust would make things so much easier (and it’s startling how easy he trusts others, too, especially considering everything he’s been through). But your partner isn’t having it and you can FEEL the disappointment he feels that he’s not able to convince you, that you aren’t going to work together, that he can’t have someone else to rely on besides himself. But that little spark, that glimmer of hope comes back when you catch up to him and you’re like yeah we’re going to decide for ourselves what we think about all this. And you find out from Celebi that Grovyle’s always been hasty, always hurrying ahead to try and achieve his goals, and it’s admirable but also regrettable bc he doesn’t ever have time for anything else.

And THEN you discover the truth…that he’s been your partner all along…and he speaks of you so fondly and has such faith in you that he’s totally fine leaving things to you and letting himself get captured because he trusts you SO much. And the despair right after when he finds out you’ve been traveling alongside him the entire time. His precious partner is also going to get captured and executed and the world is doomed to fall into disrepair. But then your partner ignites that spark of hope again and it’s enough, and you make it back to the past, and suddenly things are different but in a good way because Grovyle suddenly has someone to rely on again, even without a memory to go with it. But he can also tell that because of your amnesia he’s no longer important to you, not by choice of course, but you’ve found someone else, a partner suited for you that brings out the best in you. And that’s fucking heartbreaking because everything the two of you shared is gone now, and you’ve moved on, and even though you’re THERE you’re also so far away and so different from the person he once knew. But he knows he has to let you go, had to from the start anyway, because of the sacrifice you were prepared to make. That BOTH of you were prepared to make. And despite the fact that you have no memory he still. Trusts you. Completely. Enough to sacrifice himself to take Dusknoir back to the future. And believe that you’ll follow through with the vow you made and prevent the planet’s paralysis. And he KNOWS you will so he doesn’t know how much time he has left but it doesn’t matter because he’s been prepared to disappear, to die knowing that he’s saved the future, that he made his mark and was able to shine in his finest moments. He can leave this world knowing he did what he set out to do and he made a difference and things will be better for everyone he’s leaving behind. Shut up. Shut UP. I care about him so much I am GOING to explode. THE character ever. You don’t understand,

[otherbug]

okay. here's the brief, rewritten version of The Yagami Record. spoilers for House Of Leaves, specifically The Navidson Record (you don't really need to have read it for context, but I recommend reading it cause it's good).

this was gonna be a lot longer and more detailed but I just Don't think I'm built for that. so now it's a lot more shorter for the sake of just telling the story/trying to see the psychological effects of the house on L and Light. it's only about 1.2k words. yay

warning for uhhhh liminal horror and (near) death? (as in close to death, not the character)

(Everything is canon up to this point except shinigami don't exist, just the notebook and the house)

L places cameras throughout the Yagami's house. He watches Light come home. At the top of the stairs, next to Light's bedroom door, is an anomaly. A closet that can't exist. Light is a little freaked out, but he just quickly takes a look inside and tries to move on. Maybe it's just the Death Note messing with his head, he has been experiencing more nightmares and nausea since he picked it up anyways. Being a god takes a lot out of a man.

L is confused and disturbed on a new level. It makes no sense. It's so bizarre and he can't get it out of his head. That wasn't there when they went to put up the cameras. Did Light do this to throw him off? No, they've been watching him the whole time. He tries to stay focused on Kira but the issue persists at the forefront of his mind. He insists on going back to the house with Soichiro to further investigate. There should be a quick, simple solution. He'll just figure this out, set up a few more cameras, and continue on with Kira.

He starts obsessing over the house's layout and blueprints, measuring the walls again and again, inside and out. And it still doesn't make any sense. He has to reel his mind back to the Kira case. People are dying and Light is still a suspect, Soichiro reminds him. Okay. Back to just observing the cameras. It's just a small thing. Don't worry about it.

Later that night they watch the Yagamis have dinner. Sayu asks their mom if she can stay over at a friend's place tonight. Obviously not, it's a school night. Maybe over the weekend, but not today, she answers. Sayu complains about the creepy hallway making it hard to sleep at night. Light and L both think to themselves: What do you mean hallway.

L returns once again to the house. He opens the door to find a dark hallway the same width as the closet. He enters, determined to see what lies at the end. Five and a half minutes later he exits, somehow more pale than he already is and noticeably cold. Soichiro asks what he saw. L only responds saying that they need to further investigate.

Light has been sleeping less. He feels the haunting yet absent presence on the other side of his wall. He can't bring himself to even look down that supposed hallway. His faith in his self-appointed godhood waivers, but he pushes the feeling down and continues to act as Kira regardless. Even if there are cameras, even if there is a doorway, a hallway, that disregards the laws of physics and reality itself, he needs to focus on creating his new world. He needs to feel powerful.

Light returns from school one day to find his father and multiple Task Force members set up radios. After slipping away and briefly panicking in the bathroom, convinced that he's been caught and will be executed in front of his whole family, he returns to find out why they're here. His father just says that it's for his work, and they didn't expect it to take this long. He gets interrupted by a sound on one of the radios, a distorted voice that Light recognized from the Lind L. Tailor stunt. A slamming door is heard, and L stumbles downstairs, distraught and disoriented. He quickly regains composure upon seeing Light and the Task Force. L introduces himself to Light, and Soichiro confirms his identity.

Light gets invited to help investigate. He's hesitant, but thinks about it as being a convenient distraction for L, away from Kira. He seems laser-focused on this. Maybe he'll get lost in there, and Light will be able to act freely as Kira and fully reign over his new world.

The two enter the hallway. Light realizes he might be just a bit claustrophobic. L takes some samples of the wall for further examination and tests his geology skills by tasting a piece (certain minerals can be identified by taste). It tastes like nothing. It has the taste of nothing. Light questions him but realizes Yeah this isn't the weirdest thing he's done. Anyways.

After some twists, turns, and backtracking, they find a great hall with a large spiral staircase that seems to infinitely descend. If Light was anxious before, he's terrified now. Of course, he doesn't outwardly express it, instead adopting a more uncaring and skeptical attitude. Light suggests they go back, but L persists. They get into a fight. Someone gets pushed down the stairs. The other instantly feels the weight of being alone in a place like that and immediately regrets it, running down into the darkness.

They are now split up. L and Light independently navigate through a maze of rooms and hallways, their location completely unknown to each other and themselves. L feels like a small child wandering the streets late at night, cold and alone. The (no longer) repressed memories of his life before Watari, Wammy's house, and the title of L itself haunt him. But part of him feels strangely free. Here, he has no title. He has no power. He has no knowledge or team or money to help him. He never really felt like a full person, just a collection of information and cases. But here, all he has is what he is. He finds a room with no door. He accepts that he will never understand this house. He accepts that he is not obligated to understand everything, no matter how much he or anyone else expects him to. He accepts that he will most likely die in here of either starvation or hypothermia. He sits and meditates.

Light runs through the halls. He panics. He cannot catch his breath but he cannot stop running. Where the hell is L. Where the hell is anything. He was a god on the surface. He is nothing here. He is neither Kira nor Light Yagami. All he has is what he is. His power means nothing here. The Death Note means nothing here. If anything is a god here, it is this house. He feels like a small, wild animal thrashing about in it's cage. He claws at the walls and digs at the floor. He cannot be overpowered by this thing. He cannot be eaten alive by it. Eventually, his legs give out. He crawls as far as he can before sitting up against a wall. He takes out the Death Note and pulls the pin on his watch four times. He feels something snap within himself. After a moment of sitting there motionless, he puts the watch back in place and pulls out a match. He burns pages of the Death Note one at a time, trying to keep himself warm as long as he can. He is not a god. He cannot lie his way out of this hell. He thinks back on his life and every moment that lead up to him picking up that notebook. He thinks about every time he was unable to be genuine, no matter how hard he tried. He cannot hide from himself here, no matter how hard he tries. He sits and waits.

ANDDD IDK !!! Maybe they end up outside maybe with frostbite or a few broken bones but they're still alive. Maybe they just die and the case goes cold as Light's family either accepts that their son was probably Kira or continues believing he's innocent and the deaths have just coincidentally stopped around the same time. Maybe they still cling on to the hope they either of them are still alive in there. idk thats as far as I got/wanted to get.

[cultofthelambdoodles]

Hi y'all! Lamb here! So, I wanted to show y'all a bit around!

So, these are the Lands of the Old Faith!

Ok so there's a lot to talk about.

First is Darkwood, right!

Not much to say about Darkwood, but its quite nice! If I had to pick where to live, this would be it. The climate is nice. Aaaand I'm getting out of track.

So Leshy's temple is around the center right there, then at the edge of the Branch Peninsula sits the Pilgrim's Passage! Which due to the many rocks and islands surrounding it is usually filled with shipwrecks.

Fun fact! There's only one way to get in or out of thr lands. By the Pilgrim's Entry. Any and all boats coming or leaving must stop there to do a full cargo inspection and visa check.

The passage and entry sit on the Split Ocean. My mother told me stories about a lot of the land, and this was one of them. Apparently, the first god split the lands from the world with an axe, and created this ocean. Cool, right? She also says that deep in the horizon resides his body, impaled by the bishops.

Ok ok next is Anura!

Here was Heket who was pretty hard to understand when she spoke. Ok so!

Dead center is her temple.

Now, over west is Spore Grotto! Here lives a friend called Sozo! He's an ant that just LOVES menticide mushrooms! Now, usually I brought him some once a year for decades but last year he told me to leave him alone for a bit. Weird but hey, his deal, not mine.

Then there's Midas's cave whichI HATE!I won't talk about it, just avoid Midas, he's a douchebag who just wants to steal your gold!

Now, south there's The Frog's Neck, a teeny tiny passage where not much happens, and off shore is... lemme check the name.., RAKSHASHA'S PLACE! Dear Narinder what a name. Anyways the dude makes GREAT food!

And off east there's a giant pumpkin patch but nobody cares.

Up north is Anchordeep! I really like the place, when I mapped it out, it had the shape of a squid!

This is Kallamar's domain, his temple sits in the head gulf. Honestly. You'd think Anchordeep is a desolate no man's land, but when festival season hits its absolutely amazing! And don't start me on the food!

Off Anchordeep are The Depths. Basically, the borders of Anchordeep are a giant cliff that is so deep you can't see the bottom.

Then there's Silk Cradle, former domain of Shamura. They used to have their temple dead center too. Silk Cradle connects to the webbed sea, which has that name due to the amount of foam that forms in it. There's also that lonely island which people say a god resides in, but if there is, they're probably long dead from the bishops.

There's also the northern peaks!

I've heard that was the old domain of The Twin Gods, Brutus and Plight. However they say greed was their demise, and now what's left of them is their lifeless body and their temple, the prettiest in the land. Sad, but hey, bigger they are, stronger they fall.

And finally there's the Dead Savanna! This used to be Nari's domain (which, I see why he wanted more). I was brought to his old temple and now we have a cult there!

Now, it wasn't ALWAYS dead. It used to thrive with. Problem is, most were lambs and... yeah...

There's also some other spots like that place I labeled the start,which was the family farm! I grew up right there! Being between 3 kingdoms helped business a lot. And at the end, they executed me like 10 minutes from there... Quite poetic isn't it?

And then there's also a lot of uncharted territory down south-east, which is the continent the old faith supposedly split from. Might have to check some day.

Anyways, that's that. Lamb out! Gotta show Nari around! And his kits too IG.

[swiiivet-screamathon]

Waffled - Another Shadow Milk Redemption One lol

Shadow Milk followed Pure Vanilla back to Crispia and found out being powerless, bored and influenceable makes you really bad at staying villainous.

Content: Non-Linear Short Stories & Art

Themes? Genres? Whichevers more correct: The chance for redemption, the autonomy required to become better, being granted the opportunity to make our own choices, the time needed to rehabilitate, the evolution of change

Premise Summary: After Pure Vanilla (Pv) became the Cookie of Deceit and accepted the "corrupted" Souljam it turns out the reason why it was turning from blue to white wasn't because he was losing his faith in the Truth, but because Shadow Milk (Smilk) had inadvertently given it some of his own powers, resulting in him becoming significantly weakened compared not only to just Pv's newly acquired awakening but also the Souljam's Smilk infused power he now held, causing Smilk to flee after his valiant effort. Once he notices that his tower is crumbling and Pv planning to leave he makes a very brash decision due to being emotionally raw and very angry; so he decides to follow Pv when they depart from Beast-Yeast so that he can potentially get a new opportunity in the future to regain his powers and get his revenge. Pv however knowing Smilk so intimately knows that him following them back home is incredibly likely and plans accordingly. That plan being to not return to the Vanilla Kingdom but instead lead him to the Cookie Kingdom with the intent of executing a friendship plan as an underhanded, sneaky redemption arc right under Smilk's nose, no matter how long it takes.

After a long, methodical process Smilk slowly recognizes that in this weakened condition on top of being surrounded and outnumbered means that he cannot get what he wants in the present moment, that scenario on its own makes any villainous plots difficult to execute. So with nothing else to do besides stare at Pv for more months he allows himself to get distracted by one inquisitive cookie, who seems to not be all that dissimilar from him fundamentally. But yk, this distraction and intrigue doesn't mean anything at all, obviously, he's toootally still planning on getting that souljam back and return his powers, thats fully on the agenda and it's frankly embarrassing you think that plan has just been dropped-- just uh, yk, it doesn't need to be right now, does it?

Predominant Characters: (Primary) Pure Vanilla, Shadow Milk, Strawberry Crepe (Supporting) Espresso, White Lily, Dark Cacao (Notable Mentions/Tertiary) Black Raisin, Candy Apple, Black Sapphire, Golden Cheese, Gingerbrave, Strawberry, Wizard + Frequent One Off Cameos

AU's Goals: Primarily a canon compliant/in character method for Smilk to be redeemed. Secondarily get Smilk and Strawberry Crepe in the same room together + Analysing Smilk's character when pushed and stretched. Tertiarily to get Smilk to interact with most of the other cookies.

Ships?: Yes and No, shipping is not canon compliant which goes against the main intention of the au, but for funsies I wanted to anyways so I have a tag for when the shipping is intended. The reader is never obligated to view any posts as either explicitly platonic or romantic, the tags are just for authorial intent; you can have your own opinion about it lol.

White Lily, Dark Cacao, Pure Vanilla, Shadow Milk-- all in a fun pile together :p

Will you roleplay?: I mean I never intended to, but I can dust off my roots if anyone wants me to, sounds fun; but it'll probably not be "canon". If anyone does I'll prob add a tag for it

Can I contribute in any way?: Sure lol, its not like I can stop anyone but if you're someone who needs permission this isn't like, my baby or anythin, I'm not gonna be mad if you want to create off my ideas lmao. Would be neat not to yap to myself though

Tags: #waffled au -> for the "main story" - #syrupy waffled au -> authorial intended shipping - #waffling waffled au -> if anyone else ever makes content I'll reblog it but I'll have super scathing comments beware /lh

Additional Comments: Read the tags if you want insight on how I'm thinkin lol-- Also I the op is heavily disordered and not the greatest of writers, so hopefully any mistakes don't ruin anythin for any o you

Also just to clear my own conscience, "Why do they look different/have a redesign? That's not very canon of you." Disregarding that I don't think havin new costumes automatically makes them incompatible w canon, I think it makes a better story to see their appearance change and evolve as they evolve, so I'm gonna do that-- which tbf would make it non compliant cause crk isnt a good story HA (/j ofc lol)

[coraniaid]

I'm pretty critical of Buffy's final season (because ... well, I've watched it), but there are some things I think it does well and, since I'm trying to talk myself into working on my S7 AU fic again, I thought it might be worth trying to write down what they are.

I like the sense of completeness there is in going back to some of the show's beginnings. I like seeing Buffy in school again, but this time as an adult with a job. It doesn't just let us re-examine the high school years from a new perspective, it gives Buffy's arc over the last few seasons a nice sense of direction. I like what little we see of Dawn in high school. (I wish there were more episodes like Help.) In principle, I even like the fact that this season's Big Bad is a supernatural threat we've seen on the show before.

While I think there are a lot of problems with the execution (and even with the wider concept) of making the First Evil the primary (frequently the only) antagonist, the First being around does give you a lot of possibilities for having characters literally come face to face with their pasts. I like the final scene of Lessons and I like Conversations With Dead People and I like seeing the Mayor on screen again. I wish the show had done more with this concept.

I like meeting new (Potential) Slayers and finding out more about past Slayers. I like Robin Wood. I like Kennedy. (I wish the show did a better job making the audience care about any of the other Potentials.) I like that Faith comes back. I like that there is a focus on what it means to be a Slayer this season (compare how the show opens, with Buffy taking Dawn on patrol and telling her "it's about power..." [which Dawn doesn't have], to the scene in Chosen where Buffy asks the Potentials "what if you could have that power?").

I also (sorry) really like the fact that the writers resisted the urge to make Dawn a Potential or have her suddenly develop any magical powers as a result of being the Key (which there are at least rumours they were talking about doing). I like that the show stuck with the idea that Dawn is the part of Buffy who gets to be an ordinary girl.

For all its flaws (silly CGI battle against monsters I don't care about which is resolved by a random mcguffin from a different show; weird retcon about Sunnydale apparently being inland; a bunch of other unfortunate writing choices I won't get into here) I really do like Chosen a lot. It feels very fitting that the show ends with Buffy both finally getting to leave Sunnydale and with her no longer having to shoulde the burden of being "the" Slayer (or one of only two Slayers, anyway) anymore. I love how open-ended and hopeful that manages to be.

And speaking of Chosen, I like Buffy's "cookie dough" speech. I like the fact that the show lets Buffy end the series single, and recognizing that she doesn't have to be in a serious romantic relationship if she doesn't feel she's ready for one right now. (I like post-S7 Fuffy as a concept a lot, sure, but I think I prefer it as something that neither of them rushes into.)

I like that Amy comes back? I mean, I don't like anything the season does with her, but still: points for remembering she exists, I guess.

I like the fact that Willow gets to grieve Tara but also move on with her life and start dating again. [I don't know if I would have killed Tara off if I was writing S6 -- I think probably not -- but given that Tara did die I think this is the only good option.]

Empty Places is a good .... name for an episode?

For all my (many, many) issues with Andrew Wells this season (and in particular with just how much Andrew Wells is in this season, which is ... a lot), I think Storyteller is ... pretty good? I liked Jonathan, I think it's sad he dies (and his speech about missing high school now that he's left is another good moment from this season) but I wouldn't really have wanted to have him turn up and help save the day either. Having Andrew kill him (and then have to face up to the fact) feels like the right choice, to me, if you were going to bring either character back [I'm not really sure I would have done that though, to be honest].

Equally, for all my irritation at the time wasted on the "is Giles the First Evil?" subplot and at some of the other character deaths the writers did go for, I'm glad that the Core Four all survive. What the season actually does with Giles isn't very good, and neither Xander nor Willow are in this season enough (especially not in its second half), but at least they all get to live.

Oh, and Anya. I'm glad the writers didn't give in to the temptation to kill off Anya for some sort of cheap shock value, the way some leaked early drafts of Chosen suggest they were thinking of doing. Can you imagine how infuriating that would have been? I don't know if I would ever have accepted it. I might even now be living in denial. Thankfully common sense prevailed there and Anya definitely survived.

[fishymom-art]

So I have her pre corrupt form drawn already, and I was gonna wait until I made her corrupt/dejammed forms, but I don't want this ask to get too long 😭

Here's her pre-corrupt form, since in the main timeline I have her in, she was the only not corrupted Beast. But I also very much enjoy the timeline where she Is corrupted, especially since Rose Water exists there :]

Anyways, long story short, after she was corrupted, she took justice into her own hands, deciding that all Cookies were full of sin and all deserved to crumble, so she basically became a nihilist. She adopted an 'eye for an eye' type ideology. You steal something, she'll have your hands cut off before executing you, etc. Even thinking that the Witches themselves aren't above judgement. She holds herself and the Beasts to the same standard though, thinking that their all deserving of crumbling as well. Even Shadow Milk, who she was closest to out of all the Beasts. I can imagine them having a mega fallout after their unsealed. In my mind, Shadow Milk goes to her, and she treats him harshly, which gets harsh anger from him in return, and then she straight up denounces him and any scrap of friendship they had before. Calling him the weakest of the Beasts, etc. I can imagine her denouncing the idea of redemption, and being 100% willing to crumble rather than that. But I can imagine maybe Smilk doesn't give her a choice. Either out of initial spite of not letting her get what she wants, or a small reluctant scrap of him that doesn't want to see her crumble, or maybe both. I can imagine Rose Water immediately jumping to help her with her redemption, since, Paragon of Redemption. Hes a Cookie that believes anyone can change, that nobody is past redemption, even someone like her whos committed *many* atrocities. (I can also imagine him showing a lot of kindness to the other Beasts if given the chance.) So, he'd be the ancient shes assigned to. I can imagine her being assisted by Rose's royal advisor/royal wizard, Peppercorn Cookie, who Rose successfully redeemed. He would 100% be a snarky little shit to her, especially considering I imagine her MEGA traumatizing Rose, but that's a whole other story/yap and I feel like this is already long 😭 But I can imagine him having reluctant faith in Rose's judgement, being willing to trust him, since for lore reasons, he would trust him with his life without question, no matter what he says or does. I can imagine Rose and her having hour long debates that don't really go anywhere at first, having philosophical conversations about morality, principles, beliefs, what is truly right and wrong, etc. But Rose is patient with her, and isn't really all that uneased by her philosophies at this point in his life, since he's seen a Lot, and has already seen the depths of her darkness. So he goes into their conversations with an open mind (and a pot of tea and food so she doesn't Starve), and tries to get to the root of why she believes all these things, how she became the way she is. I can imagine him taking a similar approach with the other Beasts as well, if given the chance. Looking past their actions (though not ignoring them), and trying to figure out why they corrupted in the first place. Not being pushy, just lending an open ear if they want it. (And possible snacks.) She also has her minions/helpers, Black Cherry Cookie and Maraschino Cherry Cookie, who would absolutely not be happy about this at all, but would still be loyal to her. I can imagine them both needing to be imprisoned as well, since they would 100% try to break her out. Their her 'executioners,' so you can guess that they are absolutely Feral. Anyways, I have a lot I could say, but this has gotten LONG. I hope you enjoy the info dump lol, I love my nuggets :] And your Dejammed au has given me a LOT to chew on in my brain. I'll definitely send in her corrupted/Dejammed appearance when I've drawn them!!

WAIT HOLD ON I LOVE HER!!! She looks like a starry sky but a cookie, she’s beautifuuuuul

And the LOREEEE

Mate, this is a BANGER!!!

[possessesnightshift]

regarding the beautiful bisexual italian man who allegedly is responsible for the uhc shooting...

look, i totally get the impulse to obsess over this random guy and turn him into some kind of a working class hero. we're all desperate to root for someone who can take direct action against healthcare tycoons who make our lives so much harder.

but lately i've noticed a shift in the gravity of this discourse away from "why the hell did a man need to die to get pharmacies to stop rejecting all my claims?" and more towards "i want to hear the cute italian twunk moaning and gagging on it..." and like...

i do get it. not only is he just a very clearly attractive man (despite all the media trying in vain to find the worst pictures of him to show), but he has a grab bag of random personality traits that manage to make a lot of people relate to them, even if the claims are dubious at best

he was an avid reader, he was an elon musk follower, he went to an ivy league, he was a chronic poster, he had anxiety, he was a stemcel, he was bisexual, he had mein kampf on his goodreads list, he wanted a white girl to go bug on his dick...

all of these things combined are enough to make this man fascinating to almost anyone. some of them even make him sympathetic to a lot of people (even if stuff like the bi thing is most likely unfounded)

but i want to make something absolutely clear.

this is not. about. luigi mangione...

hell this isn't about ANY suspect that could be the perpetrator (we do not KNOW if luigi mangione can be found guilty until an actual jury goes into deliberation. otherwise we're just putting our blind faith into the nypd which is definitely sketchy, even if the evidence does seem to indicate it's him thus far...)

no this is about one man and one man only:

Brian. Motherfucking. Thompson.

even if this act had been done by some unglamorous 60 year-old trailer trash person instead of a fit, attractive 26 year-old, this shooting is still not about him or his politics or whether he should or shoudln't face justice

no this is about the fact that brian thompson was valuable enough to his company to be a multi-millionaire, but not so valuable that the meeting he missed due to his execution had to be postponed. not so valuable that his position wasn't filled in a matter of days.

this is about the fact that the unceremonious death of an "innocent" man was a better policy in terms of increasing people's access to health coverage than anything the democrats or the republicans advocated for in the past decade. it's the fact that brian thompson's death apparently hurt people very little and helped people a lot.

it didn't have to be this way.

they made it this precarious on purpose because they assumed they could get away with it.

gun to my head? i personally think luigi mangione doesn't deserve to see jail time even if he is guilty. daniel penny executed a black homeless man and he doesn't have to go to prison. kyle rittenhouse is a free man. meanwhile marcellus williams was proven innocent and executed anyway for the crime of not murdering anyone. you can't convince me there are no murders the state wouldn't just unconditionally support if it's in their class interest. if that's the way it is, we deserve to allow this man his "legal kill" that serves us in our defense against the violence of the capital class.

but even if he goes down, even if they make an example out of him, it does not matter.

because this story is not about the killer.

it is about the man who was killed...

and the question of why he had to die for our healthcare needs to be properly addressed...

enjoy the memes for this brief moment in time. but once the glamor and intrigue dies away and we can stop drawing horny fanart of the alleged shooter, we need to circle back to talking about brian thompson. he needs to be the centerpiece of this story. his actions. his ruthless drive to turn a profit. the community of billionaires looking out for themselves. THAT is what this should be about...

we are brushing up against severe disempowerment in the new trump administration. we CANNOT fumble this opportunity for class solidarity...

get it all out of your systems

and turn right back around and demand to know whether these ceo monsters are planning on rejecting our claims the moment this story has faded into the background