#the other aspect of death is his brother btw

[antlered-prince]

what would reaper sans be like in the fae universe?

Reaper would be fairly close to his original au all things considered.

He would be considered an Aspect of Death (one of two), and would keep his raven wings. He is an occasional visitor, but doesn't reside within one of the Seasonal Courts. Rather, he is a part of one of the other currently undiscovered communities within the faewilds.

Rayne and I aren't really that knowledgeable about Reapertale, so sorry I can't provide much more than that ( •̯́ ^ •̯̀)

[somerandomdudelmao]

I hope this kills you and makes your day at the exact same time. I'm winging this btw and it's all improv in mah brain so it might be longer than expected, idfk, we'll see.

Thanks so much for existing and giving us this comic in the first place now suffer-

-{###}-

Leo watched as Donnie continued talking, his movements exaggerated and his words ecstatic. The holograhic screen lit up every surface within a 2-foot radius, the words big and bright against the darkened atmosphere. Beside himself, Mikey and Raph shivered on each side, looking anywhere but at Donnie's face. And even though Leo understood why they couldn't bare to look their brother in the eye right now, something deep inside of him still burned with annoyance. Because despite everything, it was still Donnie! They just couldn't see it yet!

Not like Leo could see very well past the hard, stable shell that his twin had built around himself. Not like he could tell how Donnie was really feeling. Not like his tireless efforts to reach out and help did anything noteworthy.

All it got him was...

"...Oh! And how could I forget the infirmary machinery as well!" Donnie continued, his voice raised in a professional manner that would make anyone else think he was just giving a regular presentation. "The infirmary duties will obviously be passed onto you, Leo, since aside from Casey, you're the most medically knowledgeable. Plus, I know you won't disappoint."

Of course, Leo wasn't anyone else. He could hear the manic cry for life and freedom and pain in his twin's voice, no matter how quiet. It was there, faint and far away, somewhere that not even Donnie could find it, but it was still there and it needed answering.

Donnie just kept refusing to look in the right direction.

---

It was well after midnight when Donnie pulled Leo aside for a chat about the affairs of taking on three positions at once. The leader of the resistance could barely piece together what Donnie was saying though, his words muffled by the bigger picture.

In the dead of night, as expected, Donnie's demeanor took a complete 180 shift, his expression barely masking the exhaustion and weakness he undoubtedly felt. His eyes were half-lidded and cloudy, a look that Leo's only ever seen thrice in those yellow and red irises. His shoulders, despite getting bonier and bonier by the day, were slouched in a lazy way that made the soft-shell look like a corpse. The purple hoodie he so much adored nearly reached his knees, the lost fat and muscle making the article of clothing seem bigger than it actually was.

But one of the worst aspects about Donnie's appearance didn't have anything to do with any signs of death or sickness. No... The thing that made Leo really want to throw up...?

Donatello was now shorter than Leonardo.

"C-come on, Donnie... Why would I need to learn any of this... Nerd... Stuff, if I already have you?"

A stupid question. Idiotic, dumb, foolish, stupid, demeaning, disgusting, stupid, gross, stupid stupid stupidstupidstupidstupid-

"Riiiiiight... Anyway, you'll need to remove that panel right there to get to the inner-workings of..."

But even though it was a stupid question, Donnie would've usually gone out of his way to answer it.

Why wouldn't he answer?

---

Two weeks.

It had only been two weeks.

But it felt like a lifetime.

Donnie wasn't dead yet, thank whatever god that's still out there that he wasn't, but Leo still felt like he was. Donnie was literally just there, he was just right in front of him, talking about the schematics of something or other, running his mouth like he's been doing for the past few days. Nothing truly notable about Donnie's health had really changed, no weakening brain cells or crippling disabilities. The only things that had changed were Donnie's height again and his now inability to walk.

His inability to walk. Just two weeks ago he was bouncing off the walls and biting people's noses off.

However, despite all of the physical evidence that Donnie was very clearly still here and alive, Leo couldn't help but feel like a part of him was gone. Dead, deceased, whisked away by the winds of time... It was hard to explain, even for him, how something inside of him just kind of... Faded away.

The Death, as Leo pessimistically liked to call it, was a slow and agonizing process, beginning all the way back when Donnie first revealed his worsening condition and then continuing on until now. It began with just a little click, a little pinprick of emptiness and loss and HURT that Leo didn't know how to fix. Then that pinprick slowly grew into a scab, then a paper cut, then a scratch, then a hole, and then finally evolved to a gaping wound that would take years to fix. It was just this... This agonizing feeling of emptiness and loneliness that Leo hadn't even felt when Raph first died. (Haha, funny. He's already died twice by now. Hilarious.) And no matter how hard Leo tried to heal it with potions and bandages and medicine and melatonin, it never went away.

Not even when Donnie stood directly in front of him.

And isn't that just hilarious? Isn't that great? Isn't that just Splendid? Isn't that just the coolest Revelation That LEO'S EVER FELT?? ISN'T THAT SO INTERESTING????

Isn't it funny?

---

Leo watched as Donnie continued talking, his movements exaggerated and his words ecstatic.

He watched the ghost wave goodbye with a dramatic flair and a little giddiness in his step, the small soft-shell turtle barely able to show his hand from inside the giant sleeve of his favorite hoodie.

Leonardo waved back, a sad, forced smile and a train track of dried tears gracing his face.

Red enveloped Leo's vision one final time, and soon enough...

The half of himself that somehow still remained...

Faded away.

-{###}-

Haha get Disaster Twin'd idiot-

DLFNRJRIFJJTG3OFOFJEVDKDOSGDEKEBSIFJEIBDJDJDNFBFKFBFKRBRJRJRJRJD

I mean. Thank you. This is amazing and I love it with all my heart💜💙

[a-small-writer-in-a-big-world]

I still find it odd that some people get mad when you make the CoD characters cry in fics or hc because it’s like have you ever gotten close to a real life man before?

Sure, there’s the social standards that say men don’t cry (which is outdated and rooted in misogyny, sexism, and patriarchy bullshit btw) and that they shouldn’t but have you ever met a man irl before?

My dad cries. Not often, but he sobbed when we had to put my two elderly cats down, he cried when I went to university , actually he cried when all of my sisters went too. He cried when my uncle, his brother, died and any time I comforted him about it he would get choked up.

My brother in law has cried in front of me before when he lost friendships (no deaths but it was a bad friendship break up)

My old friend cried because of a break up he had and because of his horrible family situation…in class around other people

My point is, are the cod men going to cry at every little thing? No, but they’re human and if they care about those around them, and have personalities (which they do) when something happens, when something goes wrong and they break down they’re going to cry

So make them cry more in your fics not only for the realistic aspect but also so people stop being weird about men crying

[dreamytfw]

Dean's emotional abuse is so interesting because he literally doesn't know any better. Not in a "🥺 poor bby he's so hurt and lonely it's not his fault" kind of way. Cannot stress enough that is NOT what I'm doing here. He's still responsible for the things he says and does to others. A tragic past does not absolve people of the abuse they do to others.

What I'm talking about is how he basically had no models for any type of healthy relationship while growing up. You really think John "almost all of my former allies have threatened to kill me if they ever saw me again" Winchester taught that boy how to communicate and deal with his feelings in a healthy way?? Hell no. And we know that John kept a strangle-hold on Dean into his mid-20s (we learned that in the pilot). And he had, what? Just under 2 years away from John before he signed his own death warrant to save Sam's life? During which he was grieving the loss of his dad, trying to process his survivor's guilt, trying to deal with the mindfuck that is "btw your little brother? The one I told you to always look out for even if it meant putting yourself in danger? Well, he might be the antichrist and you may have to kill him kay thanx byeeee" John left him with, and trying to figure out what the hell Azazel was doing and how to kill him. And then, after he got back from Hell, dude was being Apocalypse edged for, like, 11 years straight.

He literally did not have the time, energy, or any sort of emotional capacity to learn that you don't show care for others by yelling at them, trying to control everything they do, and manipulating them into obedience. So while the things he does to Sam, Cas, and later Jack are bad, sometimes bordering on horrendous, that root of Dean genuinely not knowing that he shouldn't do that shit to people he cares about is a fascinating aspect of his motivations from a viewer's POV.

[masha-nikita]

Better have a good enemy than a crazy friend.

A certain good friend of mine is preaching omegaverse on me again. BTW, her brother is a astrologer. Dunno why she comes to me. She says her brother is too New Age. What does that even mean??

///

Friend- Hey, do you do relationship charts?

Me- I am not a professional astrologer but you know there are composite chart and synastry chart. Composite chart is what this relationship as a whole is going to look like, synastry chart shows how the 2 people influence each other. Why?

Friend- You ever think of doing synastry on Rommel and Montgomery?

Me- But there’s no point doing that; historically they didn’t have a chance to get close and personal, and feel each other how the energy plays out. Not that I know of.

Friend- It doesn’t have to be all historical if you just mess around for some fanfic inspiration?

Me- You’re pushing omegaverse on me again, aren’t you?

OK, whatever, it's a good astrological exercise, so here goes nothing.

Positive aspects-

Rommel’s Venus opposites Monty’s Neptune.

We’ve seen what Neptune does- Manstein has Neptune opposite Sun, Rommel himself has Neptune opposite Mercury, both Neptunes exert a level of self-deception and illusion.

Here in a synastry, Venus person lures the Neptune person into thinking this Venus person is more charming, attractive, beautiful than he really is. It tends to blow Monty’s perception of Rommel’s charm out of proportion. In the bleary eyes of the Neptune person, Venus person appears unusually beautiful for no concrete reasons.

BTW, I still have not managed to find out what poster Montgomery had of Rommel. Anybody has it?? It is probably a very well-done portrait of Rommel and I need to see it!

Rommel’s Venus and Mercury in Monty’s 5th house-

In a heterosexual relationship this means these two wants to have kids and raise them. the Venus-Mercury person is a great source of creativity for the house person; the house person will try to have kids, or in a broader sense “make things happen���. This synastry aspect is good for business partnership. Bosses and managers run a company like raising a child together.

Neutrals-

Rommel’s Mars conjunct Monty’s Uranus-

surprise attacks, high tension, Mars person feels provoked and wants to lightning-strike jump onto Uranus person, but this provocation tends towards feline playfulness. Note that angry/painful provocations tend to happen when Mars feels hindered, threatened, and frustrated. So, Mars does not sit too uncomfortably with Uranus, because the electrifying and high-strung Uranus gives Mars outlet for self-expression, much like lightning tends to induce fires.

In sexual relationships, the pair has very little formality when it comes to doing it. They may go to the supermarket for groceries. Then without any warning, they’re having sex in the Walmart parking lot with zero protection.

Monty’s Mars and Venus in Rommel’s 8th house-

8th house simultaneously signifies death and sex, and anything in your consciousness that you have no control over. So a synastry Venus in another person’s 8th house is about sex, there’s no way around it. Even if two guys are just “totally straight bro-friends”, they’d still have some sexual vibes. 8th house Venus is like an orgasm that won’t stop until it obliterates your brain, your consciousness just melts, and you experience a small death.

On the other hand, you can call a Mars on a 8th cusp a bit problematic. It is possible to have obsessive hate-sex. Monty’s Mars is a methodical and slower moving Virgo Mars (same as Manstein’s; the two generals have similar problems with being too slow and meticulous), so the Mars person (Monty) may “rape” the house person (Rommel) SLOWLY~ until the house person gives up all his juice and inner traumas. It either ends with “I am totally cleansed of my hidden dark side” or “I fucking want to kill this arrogant British jerk”.

Negatives-

Rommel’s Venus and Mercury opposites Monty’s Pluto-

Possessiveness is rampant, this may create tension. Monty’s Pluto gets into mental fist fights with the Fox in order to “claim” him intellectually, and the Fox’s sharp words tends to etch into Monty’s mind long after Rommel forgets what himself had said. Capable of traumatizing each other by throwing arguments.

Venus person often gets forced to accommodate Pluto person’s jealousy. Pluto wants to claim everything for himself. For example, Monty may want to make it obnoxiously clear to everybody that the Desert Fox’s name MUST be linked to his own. These two Get into each other’s head like a psychosis and cannot stop. Should seek mental health professionals (?)

Saturn aspects-

Rommel is more likely the one who tells Montgomery to shut up, wake up and smell coffee. As the Fox’s Saturn is seen to reign in Monty’s Sun (a sextile) and Neptune (a trine), both beneficial aspect; this brings the pair back to earth and face realities.

But Rommel’s Saturn also squares Monty’s Moon. The Moon person has difficulty making his emotions be known to the Saturn person. Sharing genuine emotion is hard for Monty. This results in emotional distance, gaps in communication and coldness. Moon person pines over Saturn person, but Saturn person remains oblivious.

Monty’s Saturn squares the Rommel’s Uranus and falls in the Fox’s 7th house. Compromises around sudden changes within a relationship are hard to reach, these incidents may result in petty breakups. Saturn delays results and enforces limitations, so Rommel is going to see a lot of things not working out with this classic British jerk- even general Patton hates Montgomery’s guts- therefore resisting commitment. But once commitment happens, it does not break. The pair tends to mate for life.

Friend- so it all boils down to Monty going- “Desert fox, beautiful, me wants to fuck him. Oh no, we are enemies, so many angsty stuff.”

Me- what kind of lousy TLDR is that??

[midnight-glasses]

Referring to your recent post. Considering carla age, I always wondered how is it possible that a random women got pregnant by the time he met yui, I also think he values his 🤫 that's why he didn't go around and do it with random women just to fulfil his desire I really think he avoids sleeping around because he doesn't think anyone is worthy, he even in his route multiple times said that no one is worthy of bearing his children except someone who is founder same can be said for shin both of them are proud and will not sleep with someone whom is inferior to them. The amount of disgust they have for all races do indicate that they don't sleep with other races women too. It's just a headcanon.

BTW love your analysis❤️❤️

Oh my God! I have so many comments to make about this, thanks for sending an ask~

I completely understand your assumptions about Carla and his approach to intimate relationships. It is indeed interesting to note that based on the events previously mentioned, Carla appears to have been highly selective and reserved in his personal interactions.

Considering his age and the time he met Yui, one can speculate that Carla maintained strict standards in his relationships, choosing to avoid casual or purely physical involvements with random women, especially given the weight of the situation you mentioned earlier. His personal values and the care in selecting partners worthy of sharing such a significant moment are not mere whims for him; they will dictate the life or death of his race, considering the gravity of their situation as the last of their race with his brother, and thinking about the fact that they are confined in Bandamen. These factors may have been key influences on Carla's decision to preserve his “purity”.

It is also understandable that Carla and Shin may feel proud and consider the choice of a partner for procreation as something extremely significant. This may also shed some light on an interesting aspect of Shin's character. As I haven't played his routes in other games yet, my source material is from Dark Fate. From what I have seen, even though Shin still struggles with mingling with other species, his choice to not engage intimately with someone could very possibly have been influenced by Carla. Shin tends to mirror his older brother quite a bit, making this possibility quite plausible.

Also, there is indeed a gap in the pre-confinement moments of Carla and Shin before Bandamen. It's entirely possible that during that time, intimate relationships were not their main focus, and they simply weren't interested in pursuing them.

I think it's funny to imagine them thinking: “I'm stuck here, possibly forever, there are so many things I wish I had done that I never did...”

Given their unique circumstances, being the last of their kind and facing the challenges of confinement, their priorities may have been centered around survival, understanding their own identities, and adapting to their new environment. The concept of forming intimate relationships might not have been a priority for them during that period.

Thank you for contributing, your train of thought was remarkable!

[jimmycarterghostland]

I'm currently reading Plague 12.8 of Worm.

Man, the Slaughterhouse Nine are some ruthless, cold-blooded people. They're what fictional villains should be: terrifying. And their lack of a conscience makes them so much worse. Like, how can Shatterbird even do what she did? Shatter every glass in a city full of innocent people, wounding them or killing them? So brutal, and evil. The good thing about that is that I can take her and the other S9 members seriously as villains. They're genuinely scary. BTW, Bonesaw is annoying to me, though. I would like it better if she didn't have that stupid goofy, childish personality. I guess it's supposed to be uncanny because of the contrast of how violent she is, but it annoys me instead of terrifying me.

Jack Slash hurt Tattletale. Now you've gone too far, JS. She's my favorite character in Worm. I wonder if she will finally reveal her backstory soon, something I've already spoiled a bit for a myself at some point before starting this proper, chronological order read of Worm. On the bright side, it's good that Jack has hurt someone. Now we have even more proof that the S9's violent reputation is real. Their leader just cut a teenage girl's face just because she revealed something that he wanted to reveal first. Jack doing that isn't a surprise, though. After all, in his introduction chapter, he throws a baby at her brother. That made it pretty clear that Jack is a monster, if the S9's reputation wasn't enough proof.

I still want to see Crawler.

Also, before Shatterbird appeared in Hookwolf's chapter, I thought her power of shattering glass was the only thing she could do. But no, she also controls glass. Can do things like move it around. That makes her even more of a threat.

Mannequin is horrifying. It doesn't help that I've got a doll and mannequin phobia. And the body horror aspect of Mannequin only unsettles me more. Someone being able to turn themselves into a mannequin, with much of their flesh and blood missing, is hard for me to comprehend. Mannequin doesn't even have eyes. Even if someone could survive having their body modified in the way Mannequin did to himself, who would screw their body up that drastically? What Mannequin did to himself is worse than what happens when someone's face gets ruined by botched plastic surgery. The dude practically isn't even human anymore.

I did like how Taylor insulted him to try forcing him to attack her instead of that woman and her son. Mannequin wanted to kill those two and he wasn't going to let a stupid insult get in the way of that. A less scary villain would have gotten offended and turned his attention back to Taylor, falling for the bait. And the fact that Mannequin can't speak makes him scarier. The funny thing is that I feel more fear whenever he shows up than I did when Leviathan did. Maybe because there were a lot of capes fighting him, and it was easier for a single cape to survive, because there were so many of them. When Taylor fought Mannequin, all of his focus was on her. And there were no other capes to provide backup.

And a few people in the comments of some Worm chapters were surprised that no one has killed Jack Slash yet. They were shocked no one ever put a bullet in him, considering he's not invincible or nearly so. Well, the guy clearly knows how to pick his battles. You see how he went to Purity's home when he knew she might be too weak to kill him with her power. Plus he has Siberian as a deterrent, which he used to his advantage when he confronted Taylor and the other Undersiders. A lot of the time preventing your death is all about taking precautions. Jack isn't one of those villains in badly written novels where the bad guys get defeated because they don't use their brains. Jack is genuinely clever. Not being invincible doesn't mean you can't be unstoppable.

The S9 are well-written villains. And their introduction chapters show how menacing they are, and that they're a threat to be taken seriously. They give a great, villainous first impression. Wildbow is doing a good job writing them.

I'm really loving this arc. The stakes in Worm get higher and higher, which is a sign of good writing.

[vacantgodling]

❤️❤️❤️❤️ ramble ACTIVATE

RAMBLE TIME ACTIVATED! i'm gonna do the same thing that you did and do multiple wips :D sooo wheel randomizer here we come lol

(1) atreyus and the black knight (aka the worthless war universe)

so i don't know if i mentioned it to anyone yet, however worthless war is kind of getting a league of other short stories centered around the entire situation and concept of worthless war. these stories are going to stick in specific tenses/POVs to communicate a specific aspect of the story and what it says about them and how they view the world.

so atreyus's pov is always second person (and is the pov character from worthless war proper)--his narrative pronoun will always be "you" because for him, the trauma of the war is an out of body experience; the person on the battlefield doesn't feel like him and he has a hard time connecting to his life after the war, so he uses "you" to create distance between himself and his memories.

the black knight (who will never get a name beyond this btw) is always going to have an "i" narrative pronoun because he is DEEPLY entrenched in his trauma. the ptsd is strong with this one. so every time he thinks about the war and what happened its like he's reliving everything. you can see that in this poem which is apart of the universe: knights on a dangerous quest

lucasta (atreyus's childhood sweetheart/wife) will have one or two short narratives in this as well, and she will always have a third person narrative; and following with the theme its because she didn't experience the war directly, so she has no personal attachment to it. she only sees how it affects atreyus.

(2) broken clouds

welp i was gonna try and find the old art that i had of green just for the sake of having something to put here, but tbh i searched through all my sketchbooks and whilst i know it is there somewhere i can't find where and that is annoying LMAO. ig the only thing i have to ramble about is i still am not sure if i want to add dulce to this wip or not; like i love dulce and he's such a fun character to draw and i do miss drawing him (since broken clouds is less of a wip and more of a bunch of unrelated doodles) but at the same time idk if he'd fit in with the crew. i also feel like i should redesign gator--i've had their design for years, but i just hate drawing their hair LMAO.

(3) the virgin of mt heredosa (aka the star child)

so, the star child and the universe of the virgin of mt heredosa, are something my partner and i recently combined into one universe so its kind of a cowritten endeavor. y'all saw my art of naseer, my ANGEL BOY i would kill for him, but he's the second kind of most important mc here--the main character of the first half of the star child is named hassan and tl;dr he's a demigod--his father is a god of war (who is actually verin from mt heredosa's eldest brother and the only one who did not shift the blame of their father's death onto him. he was unable to overrule the rest of their siblings so after verin was banished he left of his own accord and ended up becoming the main deity of the land that the star child takes place in) and his mother was a human, but became a goddess after she gave birth to him. tl;dr hassan had to be half human bc #prophecy shit.

the biggest issue with the land of the star child is that most of the ethnic groups and tribes are p much under forced occupation and slavery via a tyrant king and hassan basically is a chosen one not really but kinda is that overthrows said tyrant king and ends up becoming the new ruler of the place. he has a band of friends who help him out, as well his eventual wife and future queen, tisana who is actually a lovely trans lady :) they end up being chosen bc they were successful to raise the Actual prophecy tm child naseer because naseer is literally a young god birthed from the stars tm. hence the title, the star child :DD

i love these characters and this story a lot and i get to do So Much worldbuilding for it so i'm real excited about it :DD

(4) gothica

something about gothica is tbh idk if i'm ever gonna change the title the shit is just stuck now 😭😭 i originally gave it that (well, technically gofficka) as a temporary title because i was taking inspiration from kinda... shit written dark romance ya novels and my immortal LMAO and i remember when i read my immortal in one of the chapters she spelled gothic as "goffick" or something like that, so i named it that to be cheeky and then i started spelling it gothica and now idk what else to name it. like i could give it a more usual style title but i think it harks back to the campy roots of this mess so i'm kind of inclined to keep it. idk man LOL.

[bonefall]

i just read the tv tropes page (super cool btw) and was curious about something. it says that both Mudclaw and Ripplestar (who i assume is River ripple?) die due to "Bolt of Divine Retribution", why did it happen? what does it serve to the narrative? i'm SUPER invested in your re write, so i hope you don't mind the questions ^w^

The TVTropes page is so thorough and impressive I was blown away by it, I'm legitimately flattered like a pancake that @halogenwarrior made it, I don't know how else to thank them besides showering them in praise

On the topic of Bolt of Divine Retribution, there are three times so far that StarClan has smote cats. Only one of them recovered. Those three cats were Ripplestar, Mudclaw, and Darkstar

In this rewrite, StarClan has been shaken up a lot. In terms of morality, StarClan cares about the preservation of the Clans above all else and is a shifting entity, as old cats fade and younger spirits join. They also keep their godlike aspects from early supporting material, like Code of the Clans. They can strike with thunder, make trees grow faster, craft young kittens, etc.

So sometimes it's possible to piss them off so badly that they do something very emotional.

Ripplestar

He's based on Ripplestar of Code of the Clans, the underrated field guide that everyone should read imo. I'm a big fan of the field guides and I try to weave in a lot of their stories!

In the rewrite he leads rebellions against the other Clans, trying to make room to bring SkyClan home. His actions lead to this part of history being called the Ripple Era.

Eventually this culminates in him attacking the other Clans at a gathering and being betrayed by his adopted brother, Gorseclaw. In fury at his violation of the full moon truce, StarClan smites him dead.

Ripplestar's actions result in the surviving leaders adding three new laws to the Code and generally cracking down on their warriors, a major domino kicked over towards the abysmal state of clan culture during the events of TPB.

Ripplestar hangs out in the Dark Forest with a couple of his old supporters. He's one of the spicier spirits, but really not that bad of a dude if you're not shred-worthy.

Mudclaw

For the narrative I'm writing, I don't do the "if your intentions were good all along, we forgive you :)" type StarClan we see in canon.

It was fine in their eyes to cast doubt on if Onewhisker had lied, but StarClan saw the truth, and Onewhisker did everything in his power to lead his Clan fairly, even trying to negotiate with Mudclaw. He refused, and yet, accepted that they would know the truth when they were able to contact StarClan again. For Mudclaw's uncooperative behavior, StarClan was just annoyed. Not furious. Not damnation-ready.

But then, Mudclaw worked with insurgents in RiverClan and ShadowClan, promising to support them in kind if they helped him become leader. He plotted with them, implying the proud and great StarClan could be fooled by such a stupid and simple trick, and then he tried to kill Onewhisker. The rightful leader of WindClan.

Several cats die in this skirmish, more than canon. He weakened WindClan at a time when it was more important than ever that it have unity. He insulted StarClan itself by taking matters into his own paws and breaking the code. StarClan was furious, and for this, refuses to let him live, dropping the tree on him to prove that he is NOT the chosen leader of WindClan.

StarClan does not care that Mudclaw tries to plead that he thought Onewhisker was lying; he is blamed for the death of every cat who died that night, and sent to the Dark Forest.

Darkstar

After the deaths of Birchface, Flowerpaw, Mapleshade's kits (appearing as the adults they were supposed to become; Patchpool, Larchface, and Petalstar), Ravenwing, Frecklewish, Appledusk, and finally Mapleshade herself, StarClan is VERY ANGRY.

They try to summon Oakstar and Darkstar to the moonstone right away, but Darkstar leaves god's texts on read so they zap her.

StarClan damns everyone even tangentially related to the incident to the Dark Forest out of blind fury, even sending the lives that Darkstar and Oakstar have lost so far to walk there as punishment. They're given a clear commandment; Protect kittens and never let this happen ever again.

Oakstar does not listen and eventually starts the Crusades that create BloodClan. Darkstar aces the assignment with flying colors and creates the Queen's Rights.

Oakstar goes to the Dark Forest for failing this so hard. Darkstar gets to go to heaven and also a lollipop.

[scarabjewels]

Why The Prince of Egypt Suceeded As A Movie , Not just as an Adaptation of the Biblical Story

I watched this so many times, that it awoken the complicated feelings of empathy, sympathy and conflict in me. I have watched so much reaction videos about this and no disrespect to Christians (I grew up Christian btw) however I think that a lot have missed the point of Ramses as Moses' family and instead took the original Biblical passage to heart so much, that the complicated themes were sort of thrown out the window.

Biblical stories are a little tricky to adapt. People who grew up exposed to the religion know what it was like watching those animated shows and videos of biblical stories and how in your face the religion is. I still remember watching the dubbed version of Super Book (if ya know, ya know). There is a whole subject dedicated to just studying Christianity, carrying bibles and learning and relearning passages, assigned reading at weekly masses, and having quizzes about the homily everyone slept on after the holy communion (it was supposed to be wine, but they probably made is drank grape juice with some water, the "bread" is a little piece of wafer that just disintegrates in your tongue the moment you eat it).

I speak for this very specific audience, I know. To the people who didn't, this is what it was like. But funny enough, not once did they play the Prince of Egypt for us. Actually, I remember some of my peers not liking it, and they were hardcore Christians, by the way, like voluntarily praying in cathedrals. Yet, I have also heard people who aren't even Christian LOVE this film. It's just a beautiful film of so many other aspects.

I found it ironic that the complicated parts of the story was the hardest part to really understand. Yet there I was, 12 years old, one of the ones who weren't so devoted to the religion, binging this movie. I wanted to understand those complicated feelings, especially with Ramses and Moses.

Let me discuss the emotional stakes here and how sad and sympathetic everything was.

First, I am glad that Moses was really portrayed to be part of the royal family. That's what a lot of the adaptations did not take on with creative liberties with, Moses was always portrayed as a snobby prince in the first act. Moses was Ramses' brother and best friend, and you can tell how much they trusted and loved each other. They were really a family. Ramses, despite being older, looked up to Moses, as he was there for him ALWAYS. The love they shared was so great that it made the movie so sad. Their destinies to be enemies were so heartbreaking.

Now Ramses. Hey, I do not condone any of what he had done. However, he was a result of his upbringing. Pressured to be Pharaoh, all his life, his belief that slavery was just hard laborers to a good cause they are building was passed down to him. I can not blame him entirely for growing up to be what he is. The tough love was so tough, there was NO love. That man got daddy issues, he really promised to make an even greater Egypt than what his father built by literally having a larger monument of him than his father's. Its like Homelander and Gus, the need for approval of a father was so rooted in Ramses, it lived on even after his death. Let me also say there was no changing him, even when Moses was still in his life. Moses was also brought up like him. The beliefs passed down were the same, and they were raised in the same environment after all. But like any other two people living in the same system, they were bound to be different, but no one could have prepared their fate to be against each other in the future.

No matter how many scenarios we can make up for both of them to still be brothers and not be enemies, there was really nothing that could change what was going to happen.

It hurt to see how happy Ramses to see his brother, welcoming him with open arms, not as Pharaoh but a brother. Moses, too, I could not imagine having to do that to his adoptive family, his beloved brother, and best friend.

But well, they OUTGREW each other, but damn they really just had to be enemies, huh?

I will say, making them brothers makes sense how Moses got away with the plagues of Egypt. Not just because he WAS royalty of them or just because the Pharaoh was so stubborn, but because even when Ramses is Pharaoh, he loves Moses so much, even with resentment. He could never imagine to eliminate or to imprison him. I appreciate the writers connecting that and it was so much more impactful for the story.

Only when Ramses' son was gone where the hatred overcame him to really attack the Hebrews.

Oh, the taking of the first borns. It was a brutal crime for Ramses's father and predecessor to eliminate the first borns of the Hebrews, but it was just as brutal for God to take the first borns, too. The scene where Ramses lay his son's body to be then mummified and Moses even trying to console him, only to be hissed at (UNDERSTANABLY). He set the slaves free, yes, but this is an important scene that no one really won. Moses broke down, we know he never wanted this, he couldn't get through Ramses but this didn't have to happen. Ramses was stubborn and prideful, yes, but he is still a father. He is overcome with extreme hatred at this point, that Moses is not his brother anymore, but a man who is responsible for his son's death.

Damn, Ramses loved his son the way his father never did. I feel like he raised his son like the way he and Moses had fun. Those small scenes of pure affection and adoration for his son, his son was always involved in the kingdom, always hugged and protected by him and just before the scene where Moses turned the lake into blood, you can see him and his son bonding and just having fun. That essence of fun literally could have only come from his bond with Moses, which DOUBLES the sadness. Man, my overthinking makes this way too harsh on me.

Nonetheless, that "death" scene should never have been glamorized and I am glad that it was portrayed like that. Its not sweet revenge, it was brutal. No one had to die, especially children. No one was really happy in this scene, even with the grant of freedom.

The animation, by they way, I learned that it was a mix of PAINTINGS and 2D animation, damn those animators should be proud of their work. This is such a masterpiece.

There is another animated adaptation after this, by Dreamworks as well. It was Joseph: King of Dreams. The animation is made to TV level but otherwise okay. I do wish they made one of Queen Esther. If you guys don't know or are interested, pick up the bible. I tell you now, as a literature enthusiast, the bible has stories that should be told in the way Dreamworks succeeded in telling the Exodus story. No fanatic air please.

CAN I ALSO JUST SAY HOW HOT EVERYONE IS

I think my type was born here, the men were good looking, Moses got that good beard and Ramses had age with him actually, the jawline and those sculpted cheeks?

But, Ramses' mom though? GODDESS. Zipporah? HER EYES AND SPARK and Miriam, girl, I think my type came from her. Jawline, smile, kindness damn.

[tispygnostalgia]

I JUST READ THE MOST JAW DROPPING HOMESTUCK DIRKJAKE FANFIC ON AO3!!! And I’m here to rant about it cause i need somewhere to rant!!!!!

OKAY FIRST!!!! The fic is called ‘Wondrous Adventures of Harley, English, and Strider’ by ‘spectralPhobia’

ITS A FIC FROM 2016 AND ITS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THINGS IVE EVER READ!!!???

I believe their tumblr is s-opal!!! :33

THIS RANT WILL HAVE SPOILERS BTW!!!!!

Okay to start off the whole plot was absolutely amazing and brilliant and beautiful!!!! As a fellow writer I can see how much time and effort was put into it!!! I cried a few times and screamed and cringed!!!! There were so many plot twists!!! Not to mention the art was beautiful!?????

The ships were very cute!!! Dirkjake Janeroxy Karkat and Terezi and my lovely’s Rosemary!!!

The plot twist about where space was trapped shocked me to my core!!?!! And hope was so silly along with light and eventually time at the end, the way they up and left made me burst out laughing!!! Though Hopes execution did make me sad :(((

The slow progression of Dirkjake and them coming to understand eachother slowly hurt me!!!!

Old Jake from the other timeline made me so angry though I was rolling my eyes almost every time he talked!!!??

Eridan was so silly I definitely wish we got more of him I for sure thought Erisol would be included because of how close they were and the talk about them in the future! But they weren’t tagged so I should have expected it not to happen!!!!

I didn’t understand how Horuss was Equius brother but also his like great grandchild? Unless I miss read something…BUT THIS WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! The posessions being of the characters who have the aspect in the comic was so cool!!!! I was cheering for either Eridan or Jake to be possessed cause I luv both of them and want to see them in pain cause im high on the love of angst!!!!!!! ;3

I pulled one all-nighter and stayed up till 4am to finished reading this and it did not disappoint!!!! I’m so happy I found this!!!?!

The epilogue actually made me cry cause I had spent so much time reading this and it’s so beautiful and cute I’m gonna crash out!!!!

Becs death I will never get over!!?!) Dirkjake marriage was what I needed tough!!!! But jades just like me seeing no point in marriage and loving science!!!!! And though Gamtav wasn’t canon in the fic they were so cute I swear!!!!!!!

As a person writing her first long and big thought out homestuck fanfic this gave me a lot of motivation!!!!

But anyways end of rant!!!!! I loved this so much!!!! Please give it a read!!!!

[mimicofmodes]

Before he married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, King George III set his sights on marrying Lady Sarah Lennox, the daughter of Charles Lennox, the 2nd Duke of Richmond. Lord Bute, the King's advisor, reportedly vetoed the engagement. Why was Lord Bute against Lady Lennox as a royal bride?

So, the first thing to mention is that it was fairly normal to be against a monarch marrying a subject, particularly in England. This was rare in post-conquest English history, and would be mainly associated with some not-great periods/events - Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, which played into the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, and of course most of the wives of Henry VIII and their sad fates. The proper thing for a monarch or even an heir to do was to marry someone else considered royalty in order to strengthen an international alliance and to prevent an imbalance of power in the aristocracy.

Another aspect of the situation was influence. As a young man of about 20 with little experience, George depended greatly on his mother (the dowager Princess of Wales who would never get to be queen herself, whose only hope of being in any kind of power was through her son) and Lord Bute (formerly George's tutor, definitely close to the princess, possibly her lover). If George was married to and infatuated with Lady Sarah Lennox, he would obviously listen to her above all others. A dutiful international match, on the other hand, could eventually produce companionate love but was unlikely to rupture George's interest in listening to those around him. This was particularly a concern because her brother-in-law was Henry Fox, a Whig politician and so Bute's opponent - as a queen consort with her husband's ear, she could have funneled information and opinions from Fox directly to the king, and Fox did promote the match for this reason.

However, we need to be careful in assuming a grand passion and broken hearts. Sources differ on the extent to which George was fixed on Lady Sarah - some say that he was forcibly detached from her by Bute's manipulation, others that he understood the problems with marrying a subject very well himself and would never have done it. We have an account of George making statements implying that he wanted to make Sarah his queen and her turning him down as directly as politeness and subjecthood allowed (ie, by not saying anything) ... from Henry Fox's memoir of the period, not exactly neutral, but at the same time it suggests that a major bar to the marriage was that she simply did not entertain the king's affections.

The 1837 memoir of Sarah's son, Captain Napier, likewise passes down accounts that George liked her and tested the waters but was shut down at first by her own refusal to engage; then after Sarah broke her leg and George had an opportunity to be kind to her rather than just flirtatious, she did accept a second offer of marriage (Napier says), but ...

Then came all the arts and intrigues of courtiers, of clashing interests, of politicians and ministers; then arose the pride and fears of family, then envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness reared their secret heads while they openly bedecked themselves in smiles and flattery.

Bute et al., of course. Still, according to Napier's recounting of what his mother told him, she was not in love with the king, and in the end she was more upset about the way he never let on that he was secretly contracting a marriage with Charlotte until it was officially announced, letting her think they were still engaged, than she was about actually not getting married to him. Supposedly she was also more upset about her pet squirrel's death around the same time. (Fox agrees with that, btw.)

From a letter by Lady Sarah Lennox to her friend, Lady Susan Fox Strangeways (best name), July 1761:

To begin to astonish you as much as I was, I must tell you that the --- is going to be married to a Princess of Mecklenburg, & that I am sure of it. There is a Council to morrow on purpose, the orders for it are urgent, & important business; does not your chollar rise at hearing this; but you think I daresay that I have been doing some terrible thing to deserve it, for you won't be easily brought to change so totaly your opinion of any person; but I assure you I have not. I have been very often since I wrote last, but tho' nothing was said, he always took pains to shew me some prefference by talking twice, and mighty kind speeches and looks; even last Thursday, the day after the orders were come out, the hipocrite had the face to come up & speak to me with all the good humour in the world, & seemed to want to speak to me but was afraid. There is something so astonishing in this that I can hardly believe, but yet Mr Fox knows it to be true; I cannot help wishing to morrow over, tho' I can expect nothing from it. He must have sent to this woman before you went out of town; then what business had he to begin again? In short, his behaviour is that of a man who has neither sense, good nature, nor honesty. I shall go Thursday sennight; I shall take care to shew that I am not mortified to anybody, but if it is true that one can vex anybody with a reserved, cold manner, he shall have it, I promise him. Now as to what I think about it as to myself, excepting this little revenge, I have almost forgiven him; luckily for me I did not love him, & only liked him, nor did the title weigh anything with me; so little at least, that my disappointment did not affect my spirits above one hour or two I believe. I did not cry, I assure you, which I believe you will, as I know you were more set upon it than I. The thing I am most angry at is looking so like a fool, as I shall for having gone so often for nothing, but I don't much care; if he was to change his mind again (which can't be tho') & not give me a very good reason for his conduct, I would not have him, for if he is so weak as to be govern'd by everybody, I shall have but a bad time of it.

This is followed a week later by an account of how she was freezing cold to him when he spoke to her at court, and her desire to be asked to be train-bearer at the coronation because "it's the best way of seeing the Coronation".

As for asking her to be a bridesmaid, Fox suggests that it would have "seem'd affected" to neglect her: she was enough of a fixture among the unmarried, high-ranking women at court that she merited being asked, and if he hadn't asked her after dumping her it would have looked like a very deliberate snub. Both Fox and Napier agree that she took it very mildly and wasn't bitter about appearing as bridesmaid rather than bride, and Napier says that while Charlotte was very gracious about it, George stared at Sarah through the ceremony. Sarah's letters explain that she thought turning down the offer might have opened her up to gossip - "I was always of the opinion that the less fuss or talk there is of it the better." (Her sister Caroline was very much against her accepting, and they fought about it; Sarah was pretty angry to overhear Caroline complaining about it to a friend outside the family and asked Susan, who was also against it, to keep her opinions to herself because she was sick of being criticized over the decision.) It was after the ceremony that Sarah was mistaken for Charlotte by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmoreland, who was 75 at the time, hadn't been to court since Queen Anne's time as he was a Jacobite, and could barely see - since she was first bridesmaid, she was at the head of the line and was dressed very richly, so it wasn't so strange for him to make the mistake. Napier attributes her correction to embarrassment rather than fear of Charlotte.

You can find the primary sources I referred to reprinted together in the early twentieth century, which is very handy. It's interesting to read Fox's and Napier's recounting of events for posterity, which strongly uphold Sarah's virtue and wisdom, and compare them to Sarah's actual letters, which show a real human personality so much more strongly. Unfortunately, the letters skip from August to October in 1761, so we can't read Sarah's own description of the wedding and coronation, which took place in September!

(reposted from AskHistorians)

[wildflowerteas]

i’ve slowly been getting my brother into bsd (we’re on s2) and after trying to explain kouyou for a bit (he likes kyouka too much to tolerate any mistreatment 😭 we are having the same issue with aku. letting him form his own opinions abt this is difficult. he says anything understandably negative and it’s -100hp) we got to the first mark appearance!!! everyone cheered!!!

INCREDIBLY BASED. My little brother was also like 'This (aku) is the clown you talk about every day?' until he got to the end of the Guild arc and also watched Dead Apple with me

Sometimes I forget how much I disliked Kouyou originally too until her backstory dropped ( Like chapter 27 of the manga I think ) and we got to see how much she did to ensure Kyouka's safety and happiness in the aftermath of the Guild arc ( like stealing the document about her from the SDUP and negotiating with Atsushi and Dazai )

I really like Kouyou.

I also think the anthologies, side stories, and Wan! lighten the mood regarding Kyouka's relationship with Kouyou and Akutagawa, so it makes sense that he's got a different perspective. Especially coming out of the Guild Arc--I feel like Cannibalism is when we all looked to Fyodor as the Big Bad and realized hey, maybe all these PM folk are fun and interesting too. Also, the first major SSKK working together event. People Died.

Wan.. im aobut to throw up.

and also Dead Apple-- god they(sskk) are so stupid. I need this trio back so bad.

The lack of animosity ( between Kyouka and Akutagawa ) in DA really sold me on the fact that she understood him fully after their confrontation. It was also really vulnerable of Akutagawa to admit that to her??? My jaw was on the floor when i first read it. I don't think people recognize Akutagawa's almost suicidal tendencies ( because how could 'those who desire death have an equal desire to die' and him seeing himself in Kyouka who quite literally asks him to cut her down not imply that ) as much as they do the vengeance(BEAST)/survival(canon-'I must see others as worthless if I am to survive') aspect of his character.

I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING FUN WATCHING IT WITH HIM BTW. Isn't it so fun sharing your obsessions with your little sibling whenever I get into something I become so obnoxious about it I've spent hours lying on the floor in my brother's room while he plays FPS games just talking about my newest media fixation ( he does the same to me it's why I have extensive secondhand knowledge of the Ant Megacolony war currently going on in California that suffers 30 million casualties yearly )

also congrats on making it through 15 and dark era alive. After that, BSD is a breeze.

MARK. EVERYONE ( me ) CHEERED!!!!!!!

[moorishflower]

Wanted to let you know that I LOVE the conversation with Desire in Here there be dragons (which, btw, the title, the meditations on how to make the map infinite again in the face of like, current small/limited-world angst, woven together SO well). First off, excellent emotional beat, of course it would be Desire themself who could make Hob most clearly go "forget what everyone thinks is reasonable or possible for me, I *want* to understand wtf is happening right now". But honestly just kinda delighted at the other viewpoint into the Endless family drama about, apparently, this whole entire universe's existence.

Like, the whole multiverse premise (if I read it right), of a world in which Dream comes out the other side of being able to pursue what he wants AND change, AND do what he needs to do without self-destruction, the idea that he chose to do this so that he could have a universe within him where those two versions of him were one and the same, and maybe even possibly help bridge gaps between those versions of him in other realities? Fantastic.

But like, having Desire there for it for a bit also brings out some of the inherent comedy in the situation too because like. It is Just Like Dream to be on a universe reset and go "what would it take to make a universe where I circumvent the most tragic aspects of [canon events]" and to (somehow) go "ah yes, clearly the only solution for this problem is that we all be sea creatures". I just love love the irritation in Desire here as they all regain broader understanding/consciousness of their function and take a new form and then look around at this universe with new eyes and now have the context to go "Yo, Dream, what - and I cannot stress this enough -- the FUCK?"

Idk, it was just such a fantastic little extra moment of levity I was reading into the wonderfully somber vibe of some of these moments that is just so fitting for all the characters involved.

Ahhh hello hello! I am SO so glad you liked the fic, I've got a lot of feelings about the "change or die" aspect of Dream, and how that's his tragic flaw is that he either CAN'T change or can only change very slowly! He's set himself in a fixed narrative and, because stories are all he is, he doesn't have the authorial power to change it!

But you know who WOULD? Daniel.

I've made a big point to say that Daniel DOES NOT appear in Here there be dragons, because he doesn't! But there's another reality out there where everything proceeded according to canon, that Dream prepared his elaborate suicide attempt, that Daniel Hall the child became the vessel for Dream of the Endless and meanwhile Morpheus was allowed at last the chance to rest. Leaving behind people who loved him.

And what if Daniel, who was once human, who has a spark of human imagination and free will in him, decided to try and change that? There are countless aspects of Dream of the Endless, of which Daniel is only one, so what's the creation of one more? All that's needed is for someone to dream it hard enough. Say, someone like Hob, grieving his friend? Someone like Death, grieving her brother? Dreams only need a little push to become new stories. Stories very easily become reality.

Daniel doesn't appear in Here there be dragons because Daniel, in another time and another reality, is tapping his fingers together and wondering why the FUCK everything turned out sea monsters, but this is the most successful iteration of Morpheus-merged-with-Dream to date, and so he's just. Not going to poke at it too hard.

(The difference is the satiation of hunger and longing. Being allowed to be monstrous in your wanting. Being encouraged to be too much!)

(In another reality, Desire is HATING this entire thing because the thing that's allowed their least favorite sibling to actually grow and flourish as a creature? Is fulfilling his DESIRES? Is indulging his WANTS and his HUNGERS? What the FUCK, Daniel? Daniel shrugs. I don't know why you're so upset, he says. Look how much happier this other version of Dream is!

I don't care if he's happy, Desire says, I want LEGS again.)

[thelordofgifs]

Celegorm! I fell in love with tfs with your depiction of the Second-Worst Feanorian (I still owe you an ask for the most recent part, btw), and I'd love to hear how you are constructing his character!

(character ask game!)

Oooh thank you so much!! He's a character I'm still developing my thoughts on - he's very fun to write in tfs though, so I'm so glad you like him there! and of course you don't owe me an ask - although I always love hearing your incredible thoughts ❤️

one aspect about them I love:

Love his feral energy. He's so unpredictable. He reminds me of a lion somehow: golden and majestic and with this very restrained, very dangerous energy. At some point I need to work that comparison into some Maglor-POV fic (it sounds like a simile Maglor would come up with).

one aspect I wish more people understood about them

He. is. not. a. dumb. jock.

one (or more) headcanon(s) I have about this character

It was Celegorm who went after Maedhros' ill-fated parley when it failed to return, and Celegorm who brought back the news of Maedhros' disappearance and (potential) death to his brothers. Part of the reason why he was so vicious to Maglor about the decision not to rescue him (which he was. SO vicious) was because he blamed himself for not chasing after the Balrogs who had attacked Maedhros immediately.

one character I love seeing them interact with

Celebrimbor!! They had such a sweet and also complicated uncle-nephew relationship, I just know it.

one character I wish they would interact with/interact with more

as above - I am OBSESSED with the Celegorm-Maglor relationship. I headcanon that they were never very close (too different) but the way they might have tussled for power during Maedhros' captivity makes my brain burr. Intra-Feanorian politics are SO delicious to me. They aren't the united front they're sometimes portrayed as!

one (or more) headcanon(s) I have that involve them and one other character

hmm I don't think I ship him with Aredhel exactly but there was Something Intense going on there. I generally favour a qpr interpretation but whatever it was it was messy and fierce and they loved each other deeply and hated each other passionately and were the two people who understood each other best in the world. And they make such fun parallels!!

[sunnytastic]

Hi Isa! I was wondering how you got into watching Mythic Quest? Who's your favourite character so far? Fav episode? Have you seen Dark Quiet Death yet?

About your Ian/Poppy question: NOT a spoiler dw! The MQ showrunners Rob, Megan and David have stated in multiple interviews and podcasts since S1 that Ian and Poppy will never be romantic. They wanted to write an intimate platonic m/f mentor/mentee working relationship/friendship(?) b/w two people with different skills who need each other to achieve their goals. Rob's also said that he thinks the age difference and power dynamic would make it very inappropriate and not what they wanted to explore at all.

Since they've been saying this openly since the beginning, it's not spoiling anything to lyk rn not to expect that type of development in future seasons (ofc non-canon shipping is totally valid, not judging!)

Btw, there's definitely aspects of Rob in Ian and Megan in Poppy, but it's not straight-up self-inserting. Megan gets frustrated when people insinuate that in podcasts/interviews. Poppy's experience working under a difficult arrogant male boss (who still helps her career and whose opinions she respects even as he disrespects her) has influence from Meg's time working for Dan Harmon, but I'm sure lots of other writers in the MQ room have had those experiences too, esp women, and the characters are developed by all the MQ writers, so we shouldn't discredit them just because we only know Rob, Megan and David.

Sorry this is so long, idk if you'll even read this haha, but anyway the first two seasons of MQ are surprisingly good and I hope you like it!

hi thank you for the ask!

im about 2/3 of the way done with season 1 and I really like it so far! it's a lot different than what I was expecting but that's definitely a good thing

my favorite character is easily brad. he is just so goddamn funny and i think i have a thing for the asshole™ character. and danny pudi is just a fantastic actor

so far, my favorite episode is in fact, dark quiet death. it is so fucking good and I was not expecting it at all. i mean that episode itself should have been nominated for an emmy. im sure there is a reason they included it in the season and I am excited to see how it ties in.

as for ian and poppy, i took back my shipping statement after watching a few more episodes. they are very cute, but in a big brother/little sister kind of way.

i can see how poppy might be influenced by Megan but I agree, it's definitely not a self-insert. I saw a video on here a few days ago where david said that a lot of brad's lines were inspired by megan which I TOTALLY see. megan is so funny in a cutthroat way.

overall, i pretty excited to keep watching. hopefully I can finish it today or tomorrow.