#the others aren't anyone in particular :P

[dotsonthepage]

Sometimes Baker forgets that Greedy's not the only one he has to worry about.

[humming-fly]

Something I noticed is that when you see Ling shirtless for the first time he isn't very jacked despite his physical ability and looks like a twink. Then after the timeskip is when he gets absolutely ripped, and even Ed is jacked too. Headcanon: during the timeskip Ed and Greed do train a lot and spar with each other to get ready for the Promised Day. Logs make excellent weights. Greed also wanted his guns back.

pfdTT I mean given the crazy shit both ling and ed pull off I think they're about as jacked as they can be for their ages haha (the merch companies especially lean into that I don't think I've ever seen a shirtless ed fig that couldn't shred cheese like look at this shit what the hell)

so one of he biggest differences from that time skip is they both got a little older and ed in particular finally seemed to hit puberty so that helped him out a ton lol - that said I do imagine they sparred! ed's used to sparring with al and I bet ling had pretty regular bouts with his retainers to stay sharp too. the only one that probably Isn't used to sparring is greed but after getting his ass kicked by wrath he might've been easier to convince to at least try to synchronize with ling better, thus their much more merged fighting style on promised day~

and since you sent a few other hc's I'll go ahead and answer them here as well lol

yeah that sure matches the requirements for a sad headcanon! Personally I don't think you could willingly get greed in the general proximity of that bar with a 20ft pole after he had a meltdown that lasted a whole fuckin month, but maybe if he survived post-canon you could finagle something lol

oh this one isn't sad this one is Fun hahaha - we love a good problem-solving situation and also of anyone ling is the Best equipped to bullshit his way out of a problem in some way or another - @atomicpowered actually hit on this scenario a bit in their fic series over here, which I Highly recommend for some post-canon greedling fun :P

Cute! I bet that happened at least a few times, though harder to say how much grumbling was made on either party's side haha

Oh ling for sure was rambling at any and everything he could for a while while whittling greed down - even if the screaming ghosts aren't responding can still bother the evil possessing voice evesdropping on him! (or forced to evesdrop on him, I'd bet good money there were many times greed would have Loved to drown ling out)

[queenofbaws]

! Pride Month Challenge 2024 !

Well hi there, everyone! With May winding down to a close and June just around the corner, it's about that time again...the time where @jadedsunshine, @unicornaffair, and I host our yearly create-a-thon! 🥳

What's the Pride Month Challenge, you might find yourself asking? Well, this year it's a little bingo game we've put together, featuring some classic tropes. The aim of this particular game? Make something!!! Anything! Just get those creative juices a-flowin' and see if you can snag a B-I-N-G-O along the way!

This challenge is open to everyone and anyone who wants to take part, whether you know the three of us or not! We're going to be using the tag #pridemonthchallenge2024 for the stuff we create, so if you decide to join in on the fun and games, feel free to stick that tag on whatever you make, too! If you're interested in more details, you can check below the cut or reach out and ask ;)c

Either way, happy almost-pride, and happy creating!!!

I don't write fic - can I still participate?

Ab. So. Lutely!!! We've done this challenge for a few years now (we've missed a year or two for weddings and other life stuff, whoops!), but in the past we've had people doodle, sketch, draw, make edits, create props or other physical art, and even curate playlists! The three of us are writers, so you're very likely to see fic or ficlets from us...but you? Oh. Oh, you can do whatever your heart desires!!!

Are there word limits/expectations for a finished product?

NO!!! :D Zero. Literally zero expectations. We aren't putting together an exchange, we aren't holding a competition, we're just trying to get the spirit of creation in the air. That's it! So whether you're writing 50 words or 5,000, whether you've made a rough sketch on a notebook page or fully lined/colored a scene, you're good! You're so good. As long as you've made something, you've earned a stamp on that bingo card, baby!!!

What if I don't want to do something fandom-y? Can it be OCs/original work?

OF COURSE!!! 100%. You don't even have to ask!!! Show the world your OCs! Tell the world about your story's worldbuilding! It's all fair game :)

What if I don't want to post what I made?

Don't sweat it! Again, this is...the farthest thing from official. This is for fun, and this is for the sake of making something. Sharing your work can be nerve-wracking - don't feel like you have to! We'd love to see you playing along with us, of course, but as long as you've made something that you're proud of, you've earned that stamp! No ifs, ands, or buts!

Is it cool if my creations aren't necessarily pride-themed?

Totally! We host this challenge during pride month because (1) it traditionally works better for the three of us than NaNoWriMo because of our schedules, and (2) we're queer creators ourselves! But if you're feeling a prompt and can't find a way to make it relevant to pride, PLEASE don't sweat it! As I've been known to say (and then get laughed at for saying), this challenge is no rules, just right, Outback Steakhouse :P

Let's say I get a bingo...what do I win?

:) Nothing. <3

Wait, really?

:) Really <3 Hehehe, in all seriousness, this challenge has been a fun way for us to sit down, take our minds off of life and our bigger projects and just...make some fun stuff! In our humble opinion(s), being able to point at a finished piece and say "I did that! I made that!" is its own kind of reward. The bingo board itself is really more for bragging rights ;)c Which, of course, we encourage wholeheartedly. Nothing wrong with a little bragging!!!

We hope to have you along for our month-long adventure! Again, we're going to be using the tag #pridemonthchallenge2024 for our own stuff, so if you'd like to use that tag - or tag any of us!!! - in whatever you end up creating, feel free!!! We love seeing what everyone comes up with, and this challenge is always so much more fun, knowing other people are taking part! <3 Hope to see you along for the ride!

*The bingo board was made by the lovely @jadedsunshine 🥰

[luhafraser]

P keeps saying she has all this proof Sam and Sarah are dating. Why oh why doesn’t she divulge it? She can scoop everyone else and isn’t that her goal? And in a reel she put out yesterday, and is now gone, it showed her learning chess from her son with what looked like coasters. They were sitting in a large room and other people were sitting off on the side, an older, balding man in particular. So I guess it’s not too remote.

At this point, wouldn't it be really funny for Sarah's son to show up with a monkey balloon?! P would have an orgasm... 🙈🙉🙊🤣🤣🤣

But apparently he likes bears...

But does anyone seriously believe that? That a mother would expose her trip with her son if Sam was along?!

Aren't they afraid of a Brazilian fan catching them together in the pool?! Sorry, couldn't miss the joke... 🫣🤣

Thanks Anon 😉

It's not remote, it's not private, it's a hotel and there are definitely more people there.

Yep... #samarah 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[moonlitkilljoy]

michie ficrecs!

hi!! i saw @24-guy asking for michie fic recs for what to reread and figured i’d just post the fic rec list i made for my friends :-) i’m making my own post because it has some fics written by 24-guy and i’d feel really weird recommending those directly to zem, but i figured someone else might also be interested fjdjfnd

i've split this list into completed fics and ongoing fics for your viewing pleasure, otherwise they're in no particular order :] let me know if there's any mistakes or misattributions, i didn't get anyone to proof read this for me before posting ^^;

enjoy!

COMPLETED:

Max Jagerman's Socks by lab_trash / @lab-trash

"Max's socks start getting interesting, to the point where people actually notice. They don't even look like stuff he'd own, really."

~4k words, 1 chapter, rated T; pure fluff, 5+1 things, a really cute and cozy secret relationship fic

Dangling from the edge by Olive_of_Vanders / @oliveofvanders

"On that fateful day at the Waylon place, a certain weeb saved the bully."

~1.5k words, 1 chapter, rated T; richie saves max's life at the waylon place, plus bonus points for the uncle paul headcanon :] i actually stumbled upon this while trying to remember which fics i’ve been meaning to rec but it's VERY good so i just had to include it

Near Death Panick by lab_trash / @lab-trash

"Max and Richie panic when Max almost dies and they forget they aren't alone."

~2.5k words, 1 chapter, rated G; richie saves max's life at the waylon place, with added secret relationship <3 a delight to read

Hatchetfield's Finest Breadsticks by KairiTheMango / @kairithemang0

"Richie was unsure if he regretted agreeing to be Max's Algebra tutor just yet, however out of the kindness of his heart (and deep down his desire to spend more time with him) he chose to take the job. How hard could it be really? Just a few hours of extra math, it wouldn't hurt anyone."

~1.5k words, 1 chapter, rated G; a short and sweet tutoring fic!!! real neat

class of 2021 by hatchetscandal

"living it, ten years were just that—ten long years. but looking back, ten years is simply the blink of an eye. or the hatchetfield high school class of 2021 is celebrating their ten year reunion, and things have changed drastically in that time."

~4k words, 1 chapter, rated T; cute future class-reunion fic :]

Michie short series - What the fuck happened last night by bonezthewriter

"Richie wakes up in the bed of Max Jagerman one fateful day. Follow them as they develop their relationship; and themselves."

series: ~5.5k words total, 4 works (4 chapters total), no ratings except for the last work (rated T); possible cw for misunderstandings of a somewhat sexual nature, nothing actually happens but they sure do convince themselves it did

Lost and Found by 24_GUY / @24-guy

"A Canon Divergent AU with Michie secret dating and a lot of suffering for Richie. (Less suffering in the sequel, I'm determined to have a happy ending.)"

series: ~21.5k words total, 2 works (18 chapters total), all works rated T; hurt/comfort + secret relationship, THIS ONE IS SO GOOD. it explores richie’s grief at losing max in a really interesting way and then manages to work in a happy ending <3 cw/tw for detailed depictions of the different stages of grief (especially depression)

cause i can’t help it if you look like an angel by pixelprotag / @milgram

"max finds a pretty cool cosplayer online. halloween rolls around, and it turns out he goes to his school."

~1.5k words, 1 chapter, rated T; a really cute fic surrounding the idea of richie doing cosplay, plus another win for "paul is richie's uncle" truthers :P

Paul Matthews and his many children by ThatStar_Guy

"Paul acquires his first adopted son when his sister kicks out his nephew, Richie, because of his sexuality. Richie goes to Paul for help, and he and Emma are glad to provide it. He acquires his second adopted son when Tom perishes in an explosion. Tim, having no other family, comes to live with them. He acquires his first unofficial son when Pete starts spending every day at his house. He acquires his first unofficial daughter when Ruth also spends every minute at his house. He acquires his second unofficial daughter when Grace starts dating Ruth. He acquires his first blood daughter with Emma when they are 32. He acquires his first son in law when Richie marries Max at 20. He acquires his first unofficial daughter in law when Pete marries Steph at 22. He acquires his first grandchild when Richie and Max adopt at 24. He acquires his first and second unofficial grandkids when Pete and Steph are 25."

~3k words, 1 chapter, rated G; a "paul is richie’s uncle” fic taken to the extreme in the absolute BEST way possible. mostly paul centric and focused on paul/emma, with background richie/max, grace/ruth, and pete/steph as far as ships go. THIS ONE IS OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES!!! lots of Black Friday references

r/TrueOffMyChest by lab_trash / @lab-trash

"I (21m) am in love with my roommate and former bully victim (20m)"

~3k words, 1 chapter, rated G; future fic, in-universe reddit post format. this ones clever and addresses just how shitty Max was in highschool

Maybe We Can Find A Home Here by 24_GUY / @24-guy

"Max confides in Ruth once, and gets a family out of it."

~3k words, 1 chapter, rated T; a really cute ruth and max friendship fic. words cannot express how much i adore it :3

UNFINISHED:

Won't you pray for me? by Whowillprayforyou / @whowillprayforyou

"Max Jägerman is as straight as a board, as per the norm with being who he is. King of the school, Star quarterback. He's got one weakness, Repressed nerds, and thankfully Grace chasity isn't letting up any time soon. Imagine his surprise when his focus shifts to a different not so repressed nerd, after a life changing event. Even more shocking, said nerd is Richard Lipschitz."

~17k words, 5 chapters, no rating as of posting; richie saves max’s life at the waylon house, slow burn ensues <3 i'm literally obsessed with this one

Zeek: The Fighting Nighthawk by lab_trash / @lab-trash

"Max strikes up conversation with their school mascot without knowing who's under the costume. Richie just goes with it, even through that massive anxiety… which fades so quickly for some reason. He learns so much about Max, and he'd never seen him so relaxed before. It's not so bad."

~9k words, 4 chapters, rated T as of posting; secret identity shenaniganery >:] I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH. it's probably one of my favorite npmd fics. plus, this one has the “trevor is richie’s twin” headcanon in a really prominent way which the author executes really well

Car Lights by 24_GUY / @24-guy

"When Richie takes Amanda - his best friend's daughter and his goddaughter - to the grocery store to fill their day, he least expects to run into Max Jägerman of all people."

~36k words, 18 chapters, rated T as of posting; future fic with background steph/pete and some really sweet ruth and max friendship moments :3 I FUCKING ADORE THIS ONE!!! another great twin headcanon piece as well. it should be noted that i've been a dancer for 15 years and this is somewhat of a dancer au, so i may be biased

Beanies by lab_trash / @lab-trash

"As soon as Max turned 16, his father began berating him to get a job so he could pay rent for his room. Actually, that’s a lie. It started a couple weeks before he turned 16. To “give him time.” He actually expected Max to have a job as soon as he was 16. It wasn’t so bad at first, since he didn’t have school and he could manage his part-time job and whatever sport practice he had going on at that time. But once the school year started… Max was always a bully. But in his junior year, he became a literal monster. OR: Max works at Beanies and accidentally sort of makes friends with a regular customer who just happens to be a nerd."

~16k words, 9 chapters, rated G as of posting; paul is richies uncle and theres a background focus on paul/emma. probably my all time favorite michie fic— lotta well thought out references to the other musicals. i've been rereading at least part of it every day for the last couple days, its just that good

thanks for reading!!

feel free to drop into my ask box to talk about any of these or just hatchetfield stuff in general ^w^ have a lovely day/night

[astronicht]

re: Mordor's location

I'm confused! I can understand being annoyed that Mordor is in the east (for me, it's because any new birth/new beginnings symbolism fails. BUT on the other hand, it works great with tolkien's biblical stuff - from study.com, "'East of Eden' is an allusion to the Biblical Book of Genesis. After Cain murders his brother Abel, he is exiled to the land of Nod, 'east of Eden' (Genesis 4:16)". I LOVE Tolkien's biblical symbolism, and smeagol murdering his brother is a direct cain/abel reference, so having the evil be to the east really works for me.

So I guess I'm just wondering if a) the symbolism thing is what irritates you about Mordor's location (or if there's something else I'm missing), and b) how does the evil being in the north resolve this?

Hey cool question!

Caveat that I’m literally just liveblogging my first ever read of LOTR, so while I read Hobbit as a kid and I know the movies and a good portion of the medieval prose and poetry Tolkien is drawing on very well, the only LOTR text I can reference is… from the Shire to Weathertop. Additionally, my perspective is as a medievalist, but I wasn't raised Christian and can’t speak to Tolkien’s personal faith, just to how he might use (and does use) historical Christianity (and a bunch of non-Christian narratives) in his work. At least like. Up to Weathertop.

Short answer a) not exactly! b) Because I expected evil to be in the north, and it checked that box. So-- your particular interest in Christian symbolism is immediately relevant here, because about 700 years before the King James Bible, in the medieval literature (and medieval Christianity) among which Tolkien has settled his own Middle-Earth, people had very very strong feelings about the cardinal directions, and North was heavily associated with Lucifer — this being stated explicitly in an Old English retelling of Genesis called The Old English Hexameron. Here, Lucifer's fall starts like this:

"with a presumptuous pride (moodiness) he said that he would make his throne above the stars of God, over the height of the clouds, in the north part, and be like unto God." (p. 17; not my translation but my guy Henry Wilkins Norman nailed it)

mid dyrstigre modignysse cwæð ðæt he wolde wyrcan his cynesetl bufan Godes tunglum ofer ðæra wolcna heannysse on ðam norð dæle and beon Gode gelic. (p. 16)

In non-Christian stories (though written down centuries later by Christians), the Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda describes Hel as “down and to the North” (sorry, just a link wiki here). So, same idea, and beyond these texts, North is generally associated with hell, death, or evil in early medieval literature, much more clearly than East usually is (even factoring in Old English and Old Norse stories about Cain, Attila the Hun, and the more exciting fauna of the Indian subcontinent, all of which formed the early medieval idea of East). Thus, finding out that an original Big Bad, of whom Sauron was “but a servant,” had once made his throne in the north made me go “OH! He didn’t forget after all!” in utter frustrated delight. My confusion wasn't exactly with evil in the east; it was the lack of evil in the north.

(this reply is really long, but my main point ends here, for anyone looking to bail out)

Actually, Genesis retellings in Old English are absolutely fascinating; I’m not wedded to Christian-only symbolism, but if it’s what you enjoy a lot, I very much suggest looking into the Hexameron and Genesis A, both great examples and very well known to Tolkien.

Personally I suspect I'll end up reading the symbolism of Mordor in the east as a more complex and varied thing than solely a reference to Cain's banishment. But to be really clear, in saying that I'm definitely not saying that Cain and Nod aren't valid interpretations (especially when they work for you so well!). Just my guess and my perspective. Old evil in the north and Mordor in the east is really interesting! So was the story of how Hobbits etc wandered out of the east to colonize the Shire, in another early medieval echo. And with Aragorn's throwaway "In those days the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron of Mordor was but a servant, dwelt in Angband in the North" I got an extra point on the map, from which the story immediately unspooled into an even wider and richer thing. Which is so neat, I love everyone in this bar, etc.

Just a quick further note on Smeagol, because I happen to have just gone past this bit and it's fresh! As far as I know at uhhh this very early point in LOTR (maybe it's changed later), Deagol was not his brother but simply his friend: “He had a friend called Deagol, of a similar sort, sharper-eyed but not so quick and strong” (though if you like the Cain and Abel imagery, this doesn't change that much tbh! I can see how it hits that note regardless). They are under the same matriarch (perhaps implying family ties) who eventually throws Smeagol out years after Deagol's murder; I liked that bit, bc I have no idea where Tolkien's pulling proto-hobbit matriarchs from yet, and Smeagol later lied and said the matriarch had given him the One Ring, implying that she was a ring-giver like an Old English/Norse thane or king. Smeagol and Deagol (and Frodo) are also wrapped up in lots of different tropes and symbols; Cain and Abel, yes, but also Beowulf and Grendel, and probably some other stuff I'll notice in like 10 years and yell at the ghost of Tolkien about. I think these stories work so well because they’re layers upon layers. It’s stories all the way down, you know!

Much like this reply, which is endless, so sorry about that.

[swordswoman97]

So I've been thinking more about what's going on with the temple, and the hooded guys, and Owen and I think I've come up with a theory.

Now as I've said before, I don't think Owen is dead. For one thing, we didn't get a fallen message for him like we did Aimsey and Guqqie on twitter. For another would cc!Owen put that much effort into the casino if he knew he'd never get to build it? He's programmed two games, and started planning a potential third, he's commissioned Ros to build it, and had Luanne design a whole new get up for P!Owen in her "Miss Snapdragon" persona, so much effort went into it so far. Why if it's never gonna happen? And finally, I don't see them adding new members to balance out the factions when they're gonna kill someone else off so soon after.

So Owen is probably alive, possibly being tortured if my theory that the screaming is supposed to be her. Which then brings us to the question of why? What do they want with Owen? Why her? And why keep him alive rather than just turning him to stone like they did Guqqie, like they did that other dude, like they at least seemed to be planning to do to Eret, CPK, and Jojo.

Now I've seen some theories that they wanted Owen specifically cause of something in her backstory but I don't really like this explanation. For one thing it doesn't give much explanation as to why they want him alive rather than just killing him. And they're not using him as bait, they seem to be trying to get people out of that area quickly based on the invisible person who keeps pushing people down the hole back to the beginning. They don't want anyone else lingering there. Plus, when Owen first saw the hooded figures he showed no sign of recognizing their robes. Now while it's possible she ran into part of their organization that doesn't wear the robes, you'd think their non-robed uniform would at least be similar enough to have some resemblance Owen would pick up on. And finally, if they wanted Owen specifically... they sure left that up to chance. Whether Owen just fell into their hands on accident or if it was orchestrated by the hooded guys, it was left very up to chance. What if Owen didn't take the quest? What if Owen brought someone else along?

Which brings me to my theory. I don't think they wanted Owen specifically, they just wanted a pirate and Owen was unlucky enough to be the first to show up. As for why they wanted a pirate, you know how in the temple we see a shrine or something to the Sun God? What if the hooded guys worship the Sun God? Which brings me to the main part of my theory.

Now we know from Owen's and El's backstory that this is a world with homophobia and misogyny. But those aren't things on the isle, three of the four faction leaders are women, no one bats an eye at women in positions of power. Similarly, no one bats an eye at the idea of dudes liking dudes or girls liking girls. Gay shenanigans, women in positions of power, gender weirdness, all just... normal on the faction isles. And they possess what seems to be a very important artifact in the form of the Sunset stone.

If we assume the hooded figures hold similar views to society outside the faction isles, it wouldn't be strange to imagine that they view it as sacrilegious that the pirates have something like the Sunset Stone. If the hooded figures want the Sunset stone it would explain both why they set this particular trap and why they're keeping Owen alive. They didn't care which pirate they got, they just needed a pirate, and they have to have Owen alive to get the information out of her. AND if I'm right that the screaming is her, it would explain why he'd be screaming. He's being tortured to get the info.

Whether I'm right or wrong though, Owen is def not having a good time right now.

[ihni]

🌟Writer Appreciation🌟

When you get this show of our five of your favorite fics and five fics you like from other writers then send this to at least one other person.

(Since I was also tagged by @sanguine-tenshi to post my five favorite fics that I've written, I'm gonna smash'em together, because I don't wanna be too self-centered!)

My (current) five favorite fics that I've written (in no particular order): 1. Baby steps (a tumblr post that grew) 2. Taking Notes (bodyswap; longest fic I've written) 3. Birthday boy (made the most people cry, MUAHAHAA!) 4. Every weather is sweater weather in Hawkins (feelgood) 5. Over the edge (guilty pleasure, most fun to write)

And then about the five fics from other people ... you know what, let's make this interesting! I'm gonna rec SMUT, since you poor followers never ever get that, with my own writing XD (and since it's a rare, rare occurrance, let's do TEN): 1. On Billy by @sanguine-tenshi (because I just re-read it yesterday) (Billy&the basketball team basically, filthy filthy filthy, with a fantastic bonus non-smutty third chapter that I really enjoyed) 2. Mine Again by youllneverrecme (which, obviously I WILL rec you) (Harringroveson, mpreg - which, pregnancies overall freak me out but I'm a big girl and know how to skip the parts that aren't for me - and I really enjoyed the dynamics between the three in this) 3. this ain't a love song by @brawlite and @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (Harringrove, college au, drinking, King Steve comes out to play) 4. ¿Por qué no los dos? by @robthegoodfellow (Harringroveson, ARO BILLY!! Fantastic to be reading aro ANYONE honestly, especially in a ship and with smut! A+ Love this) 5. Feeding Your Hunger by @weird-an (Harringroveson, and I just love this dynamic they've got going on) (Also honorary mention to Clutching Pearls, which I recently re-read and was so enamored by the thought of Billy in a pearl necklace that I forgot it had fisting in it XD) 6. brainless by shippertrash140109 (Harringrove, through Jonathan's eyes. One of the earliest smutty fics I enjoyed reading. So prettily written!) 7. Secrets make this town by Oop (@thingsalexwrites I think) (Harringrove + Hopper. This is so surprisingly sweet and feels romantic, admist all the fucking) 8. The Stolen Sapphire by @billyharringson (Harringroveson, very obsessive and unhealthy probably but SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN) (honestly, anything by Jad3w1ings is bound to be good, I'm also very into Forged so far but that's not done so it doesn't get the MAIN rec :p) 9. .｡❅*⋆⍋* Warm Nights at Frosty Heights *⍋⋆*❅｡. by @bouncypickle (Will never not rec this. The most romantic and unproblematic smut you ever did see. Feelgod fic, with smut.) 10. Smell of Apples by @neonponders (Harringrove, Steve is a demon and Billy's a man of the Church. It's exactly what you think it is, but better. Plus, apple pie mention! Oh, and the most savage line ever; "We're older than your god". Love.)

[barananduen-blog]

Top Nine TV Shows tag game

Was invited to do this by @lovesickfolly I'm going to do it with cdramas, bc that's what I'm into lately, but if anyone wants to do this, you can do it with any kind of show.

My top nine cdramas, in no particular order...

Before I begin, I should probably point out that I'm more "plot" over "ship." I like ships, but usually as a means to showing character depth; they're not the thing I tend to focus on the most.

What these nine have in common is:

good plot and writing - not just the plot, but the storytelling

3D characters who are also likeable

hooked my attention - my mind didn't wander while watching, AND I wanted to watch more than one episode in a row

memorable

I'm going to include another indicator, too. If it "got" me good enough to make me make fanart: 🎨lol I mean, I'm SLOW. If I was willing to dedicate days/weeks to make a drawing out of it, that's SOMETHING. lmao

1 - Word of Honor🎨

Martial arts adventures (+ a steampunk sect), BL.

This was the first cdrama I watched, and I loved it and it still has a special place in my heart. I rewatched along later with @ginsoakedgirl80 and it was as enjoyable to watch the 2nd time as it was the 1st.

Awesome story and characters, beautiful scenery. And it gave me my first two favorite drama actors.😆*cough* My fav characters were, in order: Ye Baiyi and the Scorpion King. My fav actors, the same two, but reversed; I like comedians, OK? XD

Just a word of advice to anyone planning to try this: I don't know why the opening scenes character-dump on you; most of those people aren't even that important. Just learn Prince Jin and Zhou Zishu (a few others will show up later, but you can learn them then), and then start learning names only once Zhou Zishu becomes a homeless drunk man.

2 - The Taoism Grandmaster (technically, I have a drawing WIP, but it'll probably stay a WIP)

If the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter and a Final Fantasy video game had a child in ancient China, you'd get this, complete with items shop before boss battles (the store ox is so cute!).

No but look, this is like my gremlin child. I'm not a fast watcher, but this is the only one which I binged so many episodes in a row, that it made me lose track of time, and before I knew it, it was past 2am on a weeknight and I had work the next day. I may have made it to 4am one of those nights; I don't remember. After it happened twice, I had to set an alarm. Have also watched twice+

Yes, the CG is bad, the costumes were cheap sometimes, and the plants did not pretend to not be plastic, but I love the story. It's well written and has so many details and ways things tie together. And THE CHARACTERS! They're all lovable dorks AND I LOVE THEM!

3 - The Legendary Life of Queen Lau🎨

Romcom.

AAAAAAAAA!! I love comedy and this was GREAT in that sense! Really had me laughing out loud every episode! This is one to watch more for the funny and ingenious situations than for plot, but it was SO enjoyable, I'd even watch them do slice of life. So cute, so fun, love it love it love it!!🥰 Another one that I rewatch whenever I need something uplifting and cute. Also, one of my two favorite OSTs. So uplifting and danceable!

Alright, those are my top 3. The ones I'm sentimental for. The stuff I squee over. But I have 16 starred on my list as excellent / recommendable, so let's have six more.

4 - Song of Youth

Case-solving; mini-cases and the one overarching one.

I loved the format of one case per couple of episodes, so it was broken up into smaller chunks. Super interesting and creative - each case was solved in an unconventional way, which was fun and engaging. All the actresses did a fantastic job. The jewelry, props, lighting, etc. were absolutely beautiful.

5 - The Blood of Youth🎨

Martial arts adventures with a group of friends.

Story: 💯Characters: 💯 Fights: 💯 Visuals: 💯OST: 💯

Xiao Se as the tired babysitter I love him! Wuxin! OMG Wuxin as the sassy fake monk who monologues before every fight and people just let him. I love him! (Wuxin spinoff, please! and I love his theme song!) The whole cast is gorgeous and acted wonderfully, so no sacrificing talent for looks; these people had both in spades. The supporting cast, too. OMG Baily Dongjun and the thunder guy!😍 It had funny moments. Mr. Sikong! The fights were SO creative... how many ways can you design a martial arts fight?? Way more than I thought! No two were similar; it was amazing, the creativity.

As an artist, I really enjoyed the cinematography... the scenery, lighting!! composition, all absolutely gorgeous. Those shots of Xiao Se with soft backlighting? Chef's kiss. And, as a photographer, I know they're not as easy to achieve as it looks. Alright, this one got 2 paragraphs already; need to move on, but watch if you haven't. It's on YouTube.

6 - Till the End of the Moon

Doomed love fantasy; watch them struggle against themselves and their destiny.

THIS IS SO GOOD!! The story is great, excellent plot and pacing. Characters are 3D and always surprising. Gorgeous costumes (Tantai Jin's especially! And the clam clan makeup!), sets, and special effects. THE SOUNDTRACK IS EMBEDDED IN MY BRAIN IT'S SO GOOD (🎶favs: "Use my Body as a Shield" or whatever it's called, I keep seeing different translated titles for it; "Reborn" instrumental; and "Holding on to a Thought" instrumental).

7 - The Blue Whisper

Fantasy romance and adventure. Merman. Animal-spirit people. Angst, treason, and undying hope.

Gosh this drama is so beautiful. This, Till the End of the Moon, and Blood of Youth are up there as the top 3 visuals in dramas I've completed (there are others that have stunned me visually, but haven't been able to watch in full). Excellent story, too. It's a tearjerker, but it's SO GOOD!

8 - My Uncanny Destiny

Romcom. "Would you still love me if I was a worm?"

Lots of fun. Very enjoyable and bingeable.

9 - Guardian, the one with Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long

Modern urban superpowers type of thing, which is a genre I like, and the story is so good! By Priest, the same author for the Word of Honor novel. Never a dull moment. Tearjerker warning, but so good. Excellent theme song, too, btw. (I don't have any screencaps that aren't a spoiler, so that's what this is XD)

I ran out of slots, but I'll list the other seven in my Excellent and Recommendable list. Order is just as I watched them:

The Untamed

Legend of Fei

A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College

Be Reborn (modern, heist/police)

The Romance of Tiger and Rose

A Familiar Stranger (mini-drama; watch the movie version)

Reset (modern, action, investigation)

PS: I've been here one month, and have done two tag games and they both had the number "9" in them; is this a tumblr thing?

[somuchyoudontknow]

Please, open your eyes!

I have talked about this topic with some friends in the dms but as everyone knows I don't get myself involved usually in blog wars and stay away from discussing any topic that might create an argument against any blog even in a slight manner. I try to stay away from it. I don't publish any asks in which a name of other blog has been mentionaed and people have complained about them.

But I need to say this and I will say it because people are getting hurt and when I know the truth I will not stay quiet. Staying quiet is like encouraging these bullies. I don't care if I get dragged by anyone but I will say what I know.

I am going to make one thing clear for everyone here. No blog is being watched by Chris' team nor Chris' team is going after anyone to shut them down. If you guys trust me, I have it on good authority from my journalist friend that "No Blog Is Being Watched By Chris' Team or Being Taken Down By His Team" They are not involved in threatening or bullying any fan If you are led to believe this, this is not true!

No celeb goes after fans. This is not how fandoms are controlled by celebs and their teams. Yes, they leak some stuff to fans to clear some rumors up, they launch cleaner accounts to clear up mess but they have bigger problems to deal with than to obssess over fans and shut down their blogs. Chris' team has been involved in driving particular narratives about this pr since sm was involved in this pr but they are not worried what some blogs say about him or how they make fun of him. Yes, they have breadcrumbed since this whole pr rs was intended to be created using hints about online activity but nothing else has been done.

They have not gone after LSA stalkers who literally stalk his house, leave balloons at his property. If they had to go after someone they would go after those crazy stalkers first, not after blogs who criticise him or call him out. They would go after crazy twitter accts photoshopping his face on Nazi generals, why no one is trying to doxx them, why aren't they getting any threats and only a few blogs of tumblr? Use your brain people! Do you want to be part of bullies? Do you want to create bad Karma for yourself by supporting crazy people? You might know deep inside that who could be behind all of this, you might have suspicions but some of you are ignoring the signs and are supporting some mad people. It doesn't mean if you like to hear about a celeb and someone is telling you what you like to hear, you close you eyes for all the other alarming signs. If you have suspicions for someone who might be involved in these activities, stop supporting that friend. If you don't you are also part of what they are doing. Please stop giving them attention in any way, stop interacting with them! It's been enough.

Chris' team is not associated to any blog. We just got proven a few days ago when we got a sighting from a gym how they proved their non association with any fan accts. If you keep your eyes open and look for signs, you would see people claiming to have sources to his team or having insiders have been proven wrong in a subtle way many times and they have been sent asks telling them they were wrong but seems like even after being rpoven wrong some blogs don't like to take the 'hint'. And believe me, this is going to keep happening. This is how celeb teams work! They operate in subtle way without making it obvious it is them clearing things up. They never do anything that can associate the celeb to any problematic fan acct directly. That would be so stupid to do such a thing! That would only ruin their reputation if it gets picked up by media. Just imagine if an online mag decides to write a story about how a celeb is manipulating and leaking things about his own private life and maybe about a pr contract for which him and his team have probably signed ndas to stay quiet, how would that look? Would any celeb and their team want that? Leaking stuff about a confidential PR contract to fans can get the said celeb into trouble, they can get fined by the parties involved. Why would they do such an idiot thing? No celeb is involved in doing petty things against fans. Don't be fooled. You are better than this.

As far as I have read Chris' energy, he is not the kind of a guy who would like to see people getting harmed because of himself. He would rather get himself hurt. He got involved in this PR, he will get out of it one day but I have never got any ill feelings from him towards his fans. He knows its his mess and he is dealing with it. He thinks his fans are disappointed. And also, he is not reading any fan acct or following fan gossip. He has bad anxiety and his team is keeping him away from SM for the sake of his mental health. Please, do not use this guy's name to threaten or hurt anyone or make up lies. If he ever gets to know this he would never like it. No one is perfect and Chris is also not a perfect guy. He is many things, call him messy or whatever but please he is not someone who would like to see people hurt just because of himself. That's not him.

If you want this toxicity to stop in this fandom stop supporting bullies. Unfollow them, do not interact with them! This is the only solution to bring back fandom's peace. Please, don't be a part of fandom's toxicity. People come here to enjoy. You can disagree with someone, state your opinion and be on your way if someone doesn't agree but calling bad names, dragging other blogs and now we have people hiding behind anon masks threatening people, no we are better than this. Stop being part of their madness just because you are a fan of a celeb who might not even get to know about you ever!

Again if you are suspicions about anyone, just unfollow them, unfollow negative people and say your peace. Do not go and send hate on anons to anyone. Just leave them. When they stop getting traffic they would go away. Don't give attention to them since this is what some people are hungry for.

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Parental! Kanej x gn! Reader - Plain sight

A/n: More angst for the Ghafa-Brekker family

Summary: Y/n can't help but feel like an outsider as they see their family interact

Warnings: allusions to murder(s), swearing, it's dark, I think that's it? You have been warned!

The three P's:

[Pronoun used: you/your] [Pov: second person] [Pairings: (Parental) Kanej x reader, (sibling) Allea oc x reader, (sibling) Jordie oc x reader]

The barrel was a place where no one found solace, only the monsters hiding in plain sight did.

Monsters that don't creep into your bed but focus more on your mind, they'll stalk you and know everything about you. Your strengths, weaknesses, the particular way you blink your eyes.

You were sure that monsters existed, because you knew there were people who found solace in the barrel, even if your parents who are retired gang members had told you they're aren't. No one truly loves the barrel, in your dad's words; "It's impossible or their fucking insane."

You spot the kid across the street that delivers the papers to your house everyday, you're sure that he lives on the street over in the brown house that leaves the lights on all the time.

"Y/n, I got you some coffee!" Allea cheers as her and Jordie had just come back from a café run. Jordie, you, and Kaz were the only ones who drank coffee usually, but Allea and Inej despise the drink. Recently they had convinced the two of them by some miracle to take a coffee break. Though there was no convincing you.

You watch your little family like an outsider as your mom and Allea talk about their sea adventures and your dad and Jordie rant on and on about the Crow Club. At this point you basically were a stranger in your own home.

Perhaps this wasn't even your home anymore.

You couldn't help but analyze the way they were talking to each other, the quirk of Allea's mouth when she was about to burst out with laughter, or the way Jordie would place his hands on in the table before expressing disbelief.

"Did you hear about what happened to the paper boy's family?" Jordie suddenly interjected and something about their conversations finally grabbed your attention as it was not about the sea or a legal club.

"The one that goes to our house?" Inej questions and Kaz's hands twitch the slightest bit indicating that he already knew what happened.

"Ya, his mom was murdered and because she was a single mother he doesn't have anyone to take care of him."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Allea gasps and places a hand over her heart, she had always been more susceptible to emotions then the rest of you.

You roll your eyes and you glance over to the window again to see the paper boy right on your door step. A dark smirk is etched upon your face as you see the boy before it's gone in a flash and a horrifying emotionless expression comes over you as you stare straight at the boy.

His eyes widen in fear and he freezes like a deer in headlights.

"I'm going to go to go for a quick stroll." You call over to your family who barely even lift their heads to acknowledge you.

It didn't matter though, they didn't need to know what you were really doing.

Maybe after you'd dealt with the boy you would actually go home and stir up some more trouble, the thought sent elated shivers down your spine.

Monsters, who'd ever thought you'd be one of them?

Words 532

-thedelusionreaderbitch

Grishaverse taglist: @kaqua @rika90 @thefandomplace @musical-theatre-obsessed-dumbass @gallysonegoodlung @navs-bhat @sumsebien @dontjudgeabookbythecover @brekker-zenik @alohastitch0626 @brekkers-desigirl @emmsamultifan06

[anendoandfriendo]

Some New Guidelines on Askbox Accusations/Callouts Since We Have Had This Happen Twice in Our Life Now

...and would like it if it didn't happen again.

[The "Weird It Happened Twice" meme. It's Doofenschmirtz from the TV show Phineas & Ferb stating "If I had a nickel for every time I was doomed by a puppet, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice." while looking very confused or disconcerted over two image frames.]

Okay so like, here's the thing: if you tell us "X user is Y identity and that's bad," and you give us zero other details we will simply call you a cop and tell you to fuck off.

If you can detail to us "hey, I think you may not have known this. X person is part of Y movement. Here are links Z, A, V, and U along with their web archives detailing how X user is acting and here are links T, B, I, and O to add additional context. Here are links to articles C, F, R, P, and K plus their web archives describing how this is a hate movement that X user is a part of," then maybe we will listen to you.

We might vent about anti-endogenics being bigots for example but we aren't going to like, send specific callouts about specific anti-endogenics or whatever and invade peoples' spaces telling them to not talk to that person or reblog without sourcing our claims that the person or system is anti-endogenic because that would be fucking rude at best. The person we are sending the accusation to may not even know about it!

In addition:

If we are going to be entering someone's inbox to tell them X person is part of Y movement then articles/posts C, F, R, P, and K plus their web archives cannot just be random vents directly from us unless the vent contains pertinent information. We are allowed to be mad, but you probably want to know we are serious about what we are claiming. We expect the same of you.

Regarding the above: this does mean we do not want to hear "and if you support Y then I hope you die in a fire," or similar on a serious discussion post. A vent post might be a much better option for that language. Please see the previous point about vent posts.

"A lot of people accept D bigoted thing in Y community therefore it is a hate movement" nope, wrong! By that logic everyone in your rather benign but possibly uninformed community is actually part of a hate movement down to the last person who does not use the "right" language around you. We hope you realize why this is a very bad path to go down and it is one we are personally trying to heal from.

Screenshots do not count if something is supposedly publicly available where a link would suffice. Unless it is either about something horribly and-or urgently dangerous or we have directly asked you about it, we really do not want to see your personal beef with anyone as seen through the screenshots of DMs/PMs.

Please expect us to fact-check your statements if and when we manage to find the time/energy/motivation to do so. We may not get back to you immediately or even ever but that doesn't necessarily mean we have done nothing either lol.

Hopefully this will make it clear what our standards are when it comes to looking into movements, people, organizations, and groups we know zero information about.

If it is not: we are essentially asking you to put together a cohesive argument defending your opinion the way we were taught (mix of formal and informal with a hint of critical-synthetic thinking). We are not asking for your inferences about what the words in the DSM mean or your assumptions about what a particular group of people are like. We want you to use your resources to do your own research and then explain the most basic, most important points to us along with the footnotes to turn those inferences into an opinion with weight behind it.

For example: if the DSM V says "associated with" trauma when it comes to DID, and you take that to mean a causative relationship, we have some very bad news for you when it comes to science. And here's an extra source for good measure for all of the hateful sysmedicalists out there who believe DID is the only way to be plural and/or that endogenic systems cannot have DID.

Therefore, anything that even infers that DID is proven, beyond a doubt, by specifically trauma and only trauma will be seen to us as anti-science. The DSM says "associated" and we can speculate about the reasons why all day. Speculation still isn't the same as scientific inquiry. How about, instead of letting your hatred over some systems not being the same as you get in your way, you go and do some anti-saneism advocacy in your local neighborhood so systems can exist in public spaces without discrimination?

We are not putting a double standard on anyone, this is the same reaction most people would very reasonably have if you screamed the word fire in a movie theater and there was no actual fire.

-----

Now that this is all cleared up, we can confidently state as follows:

The biggest elephant in the room since we see discorse pop up about it once in a blue moon and it is also the reason we had to bring back the "don't be a cop and assume we are pro- or anti- anything just because we reblog from someone we don't even know" post: we do not know what a radqueer transid is and do not fucking give a shit for the most part. Preliminary conclusions tell us we are likely to be staunchly against anything that is transhateful; that we see no difference between transbodic versus aldernic or chronosian and transage as even if people try to assert there is a distinction, we just don't see it we guess; transspecies and transgender when they are opt-in (and the key phrase IS, in fact, opt-in) are fine we think; and that everything else is on thin fucking ice at best. As soon as you hear a word combined with another word and it's anything besides derogatory you start assuming we are pro-whatever-the-fuck-this-is. We can see this debate going on in our periphery and the hostility and vile attitudes all around is making it fundamentally unsafe for us to say we don't know or do not have enough information. We have seen how groomer accusations go down when it comes to LGBT queer people. Stop it. If these people are just trying to exist in peace we don't want a part in the harassment. If they are harmful then we will find the proof of it one way or another but you are not going to be sending unsubstantiated claims and ad-homniem attacks to our askbox. C'est la vie — keep it on your blog and shut the fuck up if you cannot calmly substantiate your claims while bringing it up to us.

The same goes for random fucking statements like "well I guess I should just die then lmao," about anti-psychiatry stuff. Especially if you are pushing yourself into our notifications and making that sort of claim, and especially if there is nothing in the text stating as such. You are the one who is barging into our space and making umprompted accusations and the onus/burden of proof is on you, not us and not anyone else.

This is also the reason that we tend to lean more pro-ship than anti-ship to be honest? Saying "we don't give much of a damn," is not accurate in the slightest but is also the best phrasing we can come up with for this one unfortunately. We simply think that a lot of folks were not taught media analysis skills one way or another. While the curtains may actually just be blue, we also do not think people should get to say "the curtains were just blue," until they can understand how rhetoric works. This is the mystery "second time," we had this happen to us and it was when we were back on our old (probably termed by now tbh) account @/thatoneweirdhumanisback. It was the same as before but with the added annoyance of this particular system having asked to be our "friend" not more than a month ago. That by itself felt incredibly manipulative weather or not it was intended.

Just because we come to a decision or conclusion that you do not agree with does not mean that we did not listen and if you imply that, you are essentially using the same tactics our abusive former-stepmother used to accuse us of "misbehaving" and being an immoral person for the supposed "misbehavior". We sincerely hope you understand why that is not a great look. Please look up the acronym DARVO and the term gaslighting if you do not. If we see even a hint that is the direction any conversation is going you're getting an immediate block. It isn't a moral judgement on you, it's for our own safety (and possibly yours too if that is how you handle your interpersonal relationships generally — we also get like that when we have a sense we have lost control of our life and we hope you get better if that is truly your situation).

If you are going to send us an accusation about another being in our askbox or DMs and your own emotional investment leads to a failure to follow these guidelines, we're also probably going to block you on sight for that as well. That is not something we want to get involved in. That tells us you are clearly incapable of basic decency at the time the message was sent.

We also hope it is obvious why the same result will occur if you do this in reference to us but if it is not clear that also tells us you are clearly incapable of basic decency at the time the message was sent and in addition you're...probably also pulling something out of context. If we are venting we probably won't be giving any nuanced thought to something. If we are not venting, we think scrolling around our blog for five or so minutes will make it a little more clear to most people how we generally act and react. If someone or somesys didn't even bother to do that they probably aren't worth our time anyways.

Basically, this is a very long-winded way to tell you to not ask us about our opinions, interject and try to influence our opinions (particularly if you are using shame and guilt in doing so), or debate us unless we have openly and clearly invited you to do so.

Guidelines and our opinions (the opinions listed here or elsewhere) can and always will be subject to change dependant on new information we find to be credible.

Find a different blog to satisfy your bloodlust writhing need for hatred.

[destinationtoast]

How to address non-binary characters in fandom stats about gender

@once-a-polecat asked a thoughtful and interesting question in response to my post about Canon gender representation & shipping:

So, I know this is a VERY small number of characters (statistically speaking), but how do you deal with, or plan to deal with, the increasing numbers of characters who are non-binary in canon? (Jim Jimenez in OFMD, or Desire in Sandman for instance.) If you’re documenting how prevalent it is that fans introduce gender diversity to binary characters at some point you have to address the question of canon characters who do not have a binary gender. And I understand how much of a tricky question this is because it’s less easily traced across fandoms and some characters may not have a binary gender in ways that do not track with Western human society (they may have culturally significant genders or be non-human beings etc…), but small numbers and diverse types of genders gets difficult for data visualization purposes.

I wanted to give a long-ish answer (or really, to discuss a number of possible answers, all of which sometimes apply but aren't complete on their own), and I also wanted to open it up to others for ideas, so rather than reply in the notes, I'm replying here.

One answer is to say that I'm limited by the data I have available about canon (e.g., in that past 2018 work I was pointing to about Gender representation in canon vs. fanworks, I was working with someone else's movie data set, which didn't contain any data about canon nonbinary characters). That raises a question for future analyses -- does anyone know of a reliable list of canon nonbinary characters that is kept up-to-date? How good is Wikipedia's List of fictional non-binary characters, e.g.? Also interested in lists of canon trans characters.

(A quick aside, because I'm about to talk about limitations: I'm incredibly grateful for the AO3 tagging system, and everyone who makes it work! In part because it allows me to do far more complex stats about all this stuff than any other fandom platform -- or other media platforms, period. And because it gives us all some pretty outstanding sorting and filtering superpowers. Hallelujah! Okay, now onto some limitations. :) )

Another possible answer is to say that my stats are about how people tag things on AO3. So for the most part, I just follow however people are tagging things on AO3 -- and if AO3 users start tagging more ships as "Other" as they often do when a canon nonbinary character like Jim Jimenez or Desire is involved, some of my tag-based stats will pick up that kind of thing (even though I'm currently investigating F/F and M/M specifically, about which more below, I do often include more shipping categories than that). However, this is also only somewhat satisfying, since tagging practices differ between fandoms and change over time (e.g., I *think* more people used to tag some ships involving nonbinary characters, like LaFontaine/Perry from Carmilla, with gendered tags like "F/F" rather than with "Other" -- though maybe that particular example was just because L/P was often a background ship). And I know the use of "Other" can also be touchy; it can be frustrating to lump together human-only ships like Oluwande Boodhari/Jim Jimenez with ones like Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, for one thing. (And AO3 could even change some of these tagging options in the future, which might make such data even less useful.)

Another answer is to say, "Nonbinary characters are usually just noise, statistically, because there are so few of them -- I can ignore them most of the time." (Which you nodded to in your question, though you didn't suggest being so dismissive about it. :) ) There are some times when I make those kind of omissions or oversimplifications, though I avoid it when possible. For the purposes of my upcoming "F/F vs. M/M" analysis, this answer and the previous one both come into play -- my initial goal is to look at how explicitly queer fic differs between fanworks tagged "F/F" vs. "M/M." Which will unfortunately miss a whole bunch of queer fanworks featuring nonbinary characters. But I am going to simplify things by initially focusing on those two largest and most explicitly queer ship tags.

A final answer is to say that I've tried to make up for limitations in my other work by explicitly seeking out and analyzing gender diversity in some of my stats, like my analyses of Trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse characters on AO3. [Edit: and then I addressed the possible visualization complexities by looking at each of the common tags -- like "Nonbinary Character" -- separately.] At the same time, because I don't know which characters are trans or nonbinary in canon, those stats have been vague about which gender diversity is coming from canon vs. from fandom -- see my above question about good lists of canon gender diversity. (Also, this doesn't capture types of gender diversity that aren't reflected in the tags.)

Finally, a shoutout to @centrumlumina who does a fantastic job hand-labeling the gender and race of all the characters for the annual top AO3 ships analysis. I am in complete awe. Canon race and gender are both things I wish were easier to analyze/find data about -- but at least for the characters in the top 100 ships each year, Lulu has provided a great data source!

Thanks for the question -- curious to hear if/how others think about this topic.

[blackjackkent]

Hector:

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Rakha:

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character

(Weirdly Specific But Helpful Character Building Questions)

Wheee so many questions! c:

Hector!

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

Oh, man, there's probably a lot of these. :P Hector grew up in a super insular environment and the social norms in the monastery were almost certainly very different from the "real world".

One of my favorite random little Hector headcanons that I came up with a while back was that despite being very reserved in other regards, he probably views communal bathing as a natural thing and has zero embarrassment about it and consequently shocks some people accidentally by just stripping down for the purpose without thinking about whether anyone else is around.

Just in general, really, I don't think the concept of privacy was really heavily emphasized in the monastery - but he's also not stupid, so he doesn't do anything really egregious. But this is one area where it doesn't occur to him until it's caused a bit of havoc.

I think Lae'zel and Karlach aren't thrown by it although they do enjoy the view, but Shadowheart and Gale get somewhat flustered, Wyll gets VERY flustered, and Astarion makes snarky comments, and all of this combined makes Hector much more careful in future because he would feel very bad about accidentally making anyone uncomfortable.

Who would / do they believe without question?

It's occurred to me on more than one occasion that it's a REALLY good thing that Karlach is a very good, kind person, because she can smile at Hector and tell him absolutely anything and he will a) believe her and b) do whatever she says. XD

So Karlach is at the top of this list. He also pretty much implicitly believes Jaheira and Wyll. (And Gale for factual things, but maybe not always for advice. :P )

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

I have talked a bunch already about how Hector is really hard on himself for moments when he lets himself get emotionally overwhelmed and not properly #stoic and #disciplined.

One particular speculation I had a bit back really intrigued me, though, which is that I think he is actually way harder on himself than the senior monks actually demanded of him. He's definitely aware that his father was also a monk - and a very bad one, who was super lax and ill-disciplined, got Hector's mom (whoever she was) pregnant, and then bailed on them both and disappeared entirely. I suspect that Hector's heavy emphasis on his own self-control, and disappointment with himself when it's not up to snuff, comes a lot from him wanting to be NOT like his deadbeat dad.

With this in mind, I suspect there were a lot of moments when he was a kid/teenager where he really felt like he was failing his teachers (such as his breakdown flashback in The Center Cannot Hold), and his teachers basically saw it as completely minor growing pains and part of the learning process and not actually a failure at all.

Rakha!

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Answered here.

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

This one's kind of funny bc I had to sit and think for a while on what qualifies as "professional gain" for Rakha. XD

I think it would be fair to say that she originally only stayed with her companions at all out of a sense of self-interest. They had a shared struggle with her, so they might be useful to keeping her alive long enough for revenge and to figure out what had happened to her.

It was only after she started to get to know them (and herself, really) that she started to think of them as people beyond their utility to her in a practical sense.

Even in those early moments, though, I'm not sure her attitude would have qualified as malicious. She's just incredibly, intensely, ruthlessly practical and was even more so at that point. She didn't actively want harm to come to them - or to anyone, really, except the people who put the worm in her head.

The beast, of course, had other plans.

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

Once again... there's probably a lot of these. Literally everything that Rakha experiences is completely new to her. (And of course in trying to actually think of one my brain goes completely blank. XD )

Off the top of my head... I just pictured a scenario where the group would have to travel by horseback for a longer distance, and realistically... horses are SCARY up close if you're not familiar with them, or at least have the potential to be.

(I've always wanted to properly learn horseback riding, but I've taken a handful of lessons and am always surprised realizing just how big a horse actually is when you get up close to it in real life.)

And horses are also (as I understand it) jumpy creatures when faced with something threatening, which Rakha kind of is whether she wants to be or not.

So I could see a situation where everyone else is mounted up and ready to go and Rakha and her horse are just having an intense staring contest with both of them freaked the hell out by each other. XD

[tea-and-conspiracy]

One Ishgardian's Unsolicited Take on DT

...Which is a bit of a misleading title, I realize, because I did DT on Laelia first (cowboys and cyberpunk, I had to) and I'm only now doing it on Eliane, but this is my main XIV account here on tumblr, so whatever.

Spoilers and Opinions below the cut, obviously! If you aren't prepared for either, please don't read. :)

I guess I'll begin with the good.

Tural

I really liked the first half of this xpac. I enjoyed how casual and low-key it was, I loved how it was about engaging with people and getting to know them rather than racing to save the damn world again. By now they've established narratively that the WoL really needs a break and I'm glad they got to get it for a bit.

To this extent, the first half of the xpac felt like ARR in a good way. You were back to being a nobody (why would anyone in Tural know or care who you are?), so the most that was ever asked of you were random, easy tasks. You got to adventure. There was worldbuilding aplenty. Every once in a while you punted a threat that got too big for its britches. That's what ARR was too.

It's hilarious to me that the WoL was there to basically be advisor to Wuk Lamat, because our cute little fragment of that goblin Azem is simultaneously the best and WORST qualified for the position. And I also loved how we would just be pointed at whenever somebody went, "Or else what?" Or else her, obviously.

Tural is breathtaking and might be the team's best round of environmental design yet. I find Urqopacha especially striking, but as a whole it was so refreshing to be back in colorful and vibrant environments again. This includes the dungeons, especially the earlier dungeons.

The Characters

Wuk Lamat started to exhaust me and I still love her. She's sweet, she's genuine, and she's a nice departure from...well more or less every other character in this game. I have a weak spot for shonen protagonists and that's basically what she is. Hell yes, Power of Friendship.

It was hard not to be on Team Koana after the rescue scene. Boy is that cat hot when he's mad. His VA really nailed the subtleties of "guy-who-is-super-intelligent-and-thus-can't-People-as-a-result", and while I can't claim to be particularly bright, I identified with his awkwardness. :P

Otis. Nuff said.

I, uh. I'm definitely confused about the Bakool Ja Ja love but I think I get it. :P Internet Things <tm> aside, I do love a good heel-face turn, although the execution of his turn was, uh. Hm.

I guess it's time for the bad.

The Scions

Didn't need to be there. They didn't add a single thing to the story and were clearly shoehorned in for marketing purposes. A case can be made for Krile obviously, but outside of her, only G'raha made sense because of his specific experience and expertise.

"What about trusts?" A lot of early trust dungeons use random NPCs. We're out here to engage with other cultures, why can't I have a Hanu healer or a Yok Huy DPS? That makes more sense to me than forcing Alisaie to heal.

Mad we didn't get to duel Urianger and Thancred though. >:(

Erenville was done completely dirty and didn't catch a break this entire expansion. Thanks for coming with us as a guide, buddy! One of your childhood friends turned evil, your village is now destroyed, and your mom is dead! That's it, that's all you get. :)

The Story

Like I said. The first half of this story was nice. I really wish the rest of the xpac had stayed that way.

The problems began around about the time I hit Yak T'el. Unfortunately, there's some content there that started hitting a little too close to home for me, and yeah, it hurt me a lot. I don't think the devs realized what they were engaging with, which is kind of par for the course for this particular subject matter. :/

That aside, I agree with others that the Mamool Ja's story is a bit of a stretch in general. Part of the reason the Yok Huy and the Mamool Ja exist -- at least to my understanding -- is so that the game can explore what fundamentalist cultures look like without them being linked to any one culture in the real world, and I think that's a good thing. But the writers seemed to lose either their nerve or direction with the people of Mamook, and it undermined Bakool Ja Ja's character progression as a result.

We didn't spend much time in Shaaloani, and I had a feeling we wouldn't, even if I was hoping for more good ol' fashioned spaghetti western tropes. But more importantly...where tf are the Whaalaquee (sp?)? Erenville even mentions them but they're not physically present? Wasn't the whole conflict there due to ceruleum being dug on their sacred lands?

But anyway, let's just get to the elephant in the room: the latter half of the story. Why. Why did we have to do any of this? I don't understand Zarool Ja or anything about him. He had a loving family, he had everything, and instead turned into Varis 2.0 because he felt...inadequate? How do you go from, "Man, I'll never measure up to my dad" to, "I need to fucking take over the world?" Shit, even Varis was at least a little sympathetic in that he was hoping to free his people from Emet-Selch. I never bought into Zarool Ja and found him a really shallow and boring antagonist.

ALSO WHO DID HE FUCK? I'M AMAZED HE WOULD EVEN TAKE THE TIME TO FUCK. WHAT OTHER MAMOOL JA WAS EVEN UP THERE? FHEJAKRFGHJKE

This might be a weird take, but I'm tired of the leadup to the endgame zone being the people you previously helped out coming together to get you to a place you cannot reach. That was *incredibly* moving in Shadowbringers, because you spent the entire game getting to know these people personally. And a callback to it in Endwalker worked because this was the culmination of your adventures on Hydaelyn. But we had to do it with the train again and it just felt...lacking. Like, "here's the obligatory cooperation scene!" We don't have to keep rewriting Shadowbringers, guys. Also, these scenes work better when it involves individual characters; since Dawntrail was more about getting to know the cultures instead (and that's ok!), it unfortunately lacks a bit of that more personal connection.

We didn't need Alexandria. I am so. Tired. Of the end game zones being megatech. It was a fun and wild shift ONCE in Heavensward, but you can't keep doing that on repeat, especially when you keep amping up the technological advancement. What made Alexandria/Solution 9 worse is that there's way too many hints of real life in there. You know, government employment offices and recycling bins and advertisements and stuff. I play this game to get away from real life, not be reminded of it. And yeah, Garlemald had cars and stuff, but it at least felt justified because the Garleans can't use magic. They are a mundane people, so of course they'd be more like us. Solution 9 feels like it belongs in another game.

I found Sphene exhausting, not sympathetic. We've already done this before with Emet-Selch and then again with Golbez, and she didn't have a fragment of the depth of the former. I personally dislike the trope of "the leader so universally beloved that they're practically worshiped". I can never buy into it and it always creeps me out.

While I love Vrtra and the first brood, I was mega bummed that getting outside help was the solution to protecting Tuliyollal. Like, Koana's been hyped up as a brilliant engineer this whole time, I was fully expecting him to engineer a defense for the city. I guess time was a consideration but there's some kinda eeeehhhh implications in the Turali being unable to defend themselves, and it's a little cheap imo that the solution was apparently Draco Ex Machina.

But what made Alexandria most exhausting of all is that we literally just finished this storyline, almost beat for beat, in the 6.X patches.Right down to having a flashback dungeon set in a medieval kingdom in the middle of the calamitous war that destroyed it, like what the actual hell. Do we really have to keep doing a narrated dungeon at the end of every xpac, btw? It worked for Amaurot. It was already a bit much with Meteion. But we're just rewriting Shadowbringers again forever, I guess.

I didn't like the end zone at all for the same reasons: another reconstruction of a long-dead place and long-dead people for the third expac in a row. Please stop. I loved Shadowbringers but for the love of god please move on from it. By the end I was just rushing things along because I was just so tired of it all. It's lost its emotional impact by now.

Which is all a very long way of saying that I wish we didn't have to save the world again, I guess. We were supposed to be done with that but either the devs (or more likely the execs) didn't trust that we'd remain engaged if the stakes stayed low. I wish they would trust us like they used to.

ARR wasn't about the end of the world. Heavensward wasn't about the end of the world. Stormblood wasn't about the end of the world. We already know they can do it. We already know people enjoy it. It's safe to relax and take your time building back up, dammit. It was kind of disappointing.

In Conclusion

Despite all my whinging, I actually enjoyed the xpac a fair amount. I'm not hooked, but I didn't hate it. There's a lot of good, and a lot of endearing things too. But ShB was clearly too successful, and I'm wondering now if we'll ever get away from it. The new writing team is proving very hit and miss and I really do miss Ishikawa.

We'll see where things go from here. :think:

[allthishumanityforfree]

sorry if you’ve already spoken about this but there’s this huge paul and daisy account that is literally everywhere that is so disrespectful to p+d and the people close to them yet i never see anyone mentioning it ??? i’m definitely jealous there aren’t loads of accounts dedicated to paul and andrew as well but i’ve never seen any of us disrespect their real lives, family members, partners etc. nothing new from #those fans that account In particular just irritates me. if you know you know lol

If it's on Twitter I know the one.

I don't want to shit on anyone's ships, I know I have my weird niche on here that some people won't like (I know one Andrew-related Tumblr has me blocked).

Yeah, I try to be respectful of them. They are real people, and I think we sometimes touch on kind of complicated subjects as well. It's a hard balance to get. The only thing I get frustrated with is the trying to out people or being annoyed people aren't out.

I just wish I saw what they see with Daisy and Paul. I just don't get any romance there off-screen, especially when you see how he was with Phoebe and later Andrew. They seem good friends who care about each other, but people need to embrace platonic male/female friendship.