#they understand each other more than anyone. they're so fundamentally different they will never get each other

[comradeboyhalo]

i find the differences between skephalo and foolhalo so fascinating, because, while they both fundamentally understand bad as a person, skeppy is into it, meanwhile with foolish…well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. 

one of the crowning factors that make landduo so fun is the fact that there’s a degree of unrequitedness to it. foolish is less aggressive towards bad (it’s very rare that foolish bites back in general), whereas bad is more obsessive over foolish. foolish understands bad’s love language, but does he share it? well, he shares an immortal’s moral code - he views death in a more lax light, he misunderstands how other people view amoral actions (see: pac and mike’s kidnapping), and he generally lives his life, like bad, with the acceptance that mortals die quick. and it's in this understanding that we get the quintessential landduo dynamic: they can try to kill each other for all eternity, because that's just how it is. but that is not showing love, for foolish.

we see foolish's idea of romance in the way he treats vegetta. they take on a much more conventional romantic relationship, something that seems rather impossible for bad. foolish cherishes vegetta's gifts, he builds in his honor, they have complete trust in one another. they would never try to kill each other.

meanwhile skeppy? skeppy shares bad’s love language. skeppy routinely kills bad every valentine’s day. skeppy’s favorite hobby is terrorizing bad until he has a mental breakdown. skeppy teamed up with foolish, just to psychologically torture bad.

skeppy takes that foolhalo clash and turns it not into rivalry, but a married couple’s bickering. they'll try to kill each other, yet will also turn on anyone seriously threatening the other. they're both just fully in it together, regardless of anything (unless, of course, there's an evil egg, in which they will kill each other then the world). skeppy is the only one who speaks bad's love language and wholeheartedly reciprocates it to an equal, loving degree. and they're both so open about this, too. they openly will make their devotion to each other clear, all while knowing an argument waits right around the corner.

(and as an aside: this makes it especially hilarious how both bad and skeppy get offended and hurt when the other is mean to them. hypocrites. but it's all part of the dynamic for them).

[elvisqueso]

"Our warriors fought with courage, but none as bravely as Kocoum."

Pocahontas (1995)

long, rambling meta under the cut:

you know i've taken some light dips into the tags looking for content on kocoum and i never see anyone going into depth about him as a character. sure you see the posts that are all "omg he was so hot pocahontas should have picked him instead :p" but that has little to do with his character or his place in the narrative or anything. in fact, it's a further objectification of a guy who is already dehumanized in-narrative, which is so very sad to me. kocoum is a lot more than his looks, which is why they're the first thing about him you're meant to notice. he's handsome, and he doesn't smile. he's a warrior and a stoic kinda guy. but that's all surface-level stuff. he's a very complex person with an intense internal turmoil that circumstances aren't allowing him to deal with properly.

like, you really can't come to an understanding about his character and go on to say "and he should have been with pocahontas" bc the fundamental aspect of their relationship as characters is that they would have been terrible for each other. you could feasibly make an argument that, on some level, kocoum would have been good for pocahontas (the "handsome, sturdy husband" who could ground her), but there is no way in any universe that pocahontas would have been good for him, bc the one who actually needed and wanted a steady, reliable partner is kocoum and pocahontas is the opposite of that (which is one of the reasons she and john smith kind of deserved each other but that's a whole other post).

see, kocoum is like a hemingway protagonist. remember, at the start of the movie, everyone is returning from war; it's important to note how much emphasis the movie places on family as a representation of "the ordinary world." the same is done with the virginia company members at the top of the film. there, they say goodbye to their normal lives and start an adventure. here, the powhatan warriors are returning to theirs. but who does kocoum, the celebrated warrior, have to return to?

kocoum doesn't have a normal life yet. he still belongs to the battle. there's a lot to be said about PTSD as a character motif in this film: it affects a lot of the major characters in different ways. for kocoum, it means he's not allowed to depart from his wartime mindset until and unless he can start a family of his own, and for that he pins his hopes on pocahontas. why exactly he likes her goes unsaid; it's implied they aren't particularly close, but may be familiar with each other. pocahontas being the chief's daughter may be an element, but it may also be that he's harbored an admiration for her from afar for some time. whatever the reason, kocoum has a misplaced idea that being with pocahontas will bring him peace. like a hemingway protagonist, he's taken up with the notion that being with a woman, an angel, will fix him; but the woman he wants is neither interested in doing so nor able to do so, whether or not she cares for him.

and this is why his outburst of emotion when he finds pocahontas and john in the glade is so understandable. he's watching his hopes for the future being ripped apart before his eyes. he'll never get peace, and that breaks him and then kills him.

and when i say he's dehumanized, i'm talking about the way characters talk about him and then how he dies. he's fierce, like a bear. he's handsome, but doesn't smile. he's a tool, an obstacle, and ultimately fodder for both pocahontas's and thomas's character development (mostly thomas's). there's something to be said about how both kocoum and his foil john smith are objectified so differently. where john is the subject of pocahontas's female gaze, kocoum is also objectified through a masculine one (the tension-filled lens that marries fear and admiration for athletic, warrior men and rivals). and then, again, he gets 'fridged for plot reasons because he's also the paris to pocahontas's juliet.

basically what i'm saying is kocoum really needed someone to take care of him, and no one did nor could. and that's why he's so tragic and tbh deserves better treatment by the fans, too.

[fjordline]

ok i've been thinking about how to answer The Color Asks for so long now. Once I start talking about colors I never stop, it seems. This is just me attempting to explain my personal thought process and not any universal rules or anything like that.

None of this is going to look very realistic at all. You need to exaggerate a little. That being said, having fundamental knowledge on how shadows and ligh tsources work is very useful. Know the rules before breaking them and all that.

Boiled down to its basics, what I think of is: if a lightsource is cold toned, make the highlight bright blue. if a light source is warm, make the highlight bright orange. Then contrast the light with a complementary shadow color that does not compete for dominance with the light. Or alternatively make the light source more neutral with a complimentary tone for the shaded areas and then add a highly saturated color in the deepest shadows. Having both a highly saturated light source and a shadow color will compete with each other, instead choose one to be the dominant and one to be the um. submissive i suppose.

Just using a random doodle from my sketchbook for the purpose of throwing some color on:

^^^ Here the midtones and the areas in the shade are predominantly of a low saturated cool blueish tone, while the highlight is stark and warm with orange and red light bouncing off. The orange and red hues you often see in skin that is lit by a strong light is called subsurface scattering (sss), one of the most important concepts in art IMO. It livens things up so much.

^^^Opposite from image 1, here the shaded area is a saturated golden color while the light source is a dull blue with hints of more vivid blue throughout. the blue balances the strong yellows and browns. Since the shaded area is bigger than the highlighted area, the subject matter could look quite monochromatic without the blue hints.

^^^Get wild with it. Lets say your highlight is blue toned: instead of just using a blue, introduce purple, teal, turquoise, ultramarine, cyan, etc around where the light is hitting. Add several light sources in different colors, make it not make sense, get crazy.

Though what is important above all else is that the image reads clearly. Unless you're doing abstract art then you'd probably want the audience to understand what they're looking at. That's where values come in, probably the number one cause of confusing pieces of art. If you can turn the painting black and white and still see the subject matter clearly then the values are good.

I find that i love using colors that most people find garish, especially when they're on their own, for small highlights and points of interest. When paired with other more neutral colors, a bright orange or a chartreuse etc can really brighten up a painting. And colors are never what they seem, the human eye will interpret colors differently depending on what color they are next to. Make full use of this.

Hope this long ass post helps anyone who is struggling with color, I know I used to struggle severely myself xoxo

[lunaticli8rarian]

i don't know what temp takes these are, 8ut they've 8een on my mind all night. the whole thing that vriska figured out finally a8out how tavros and aradia live fundamentally different lives from her and literally do not understand things the way she does and quite frankly never will, is the same reason karkat fum8led terezi. for karkat, there is no real horrifying real8ty that you must enact violence in your life or else you're a failure. sure theoretically there is. 8ut it's more like a kid playing call of duty and thinking a8out how cool the military is. the real8ty is there's just scraping 8y. there is no violence to 8e enacted on his part, only surviving another f8cking day. whether that's surviving on alternia, or in sgru8. that's part of why he works so well as a leader. he just gets 8y. (this changes in the epilogues, 8ut that's complex and not what i'm talking a8out, i'm talking a8out original homestuck.) so like, he gets it to 8e on a similarly violent wave length as vriska and terezi, 8ut he doesn't "get" them like they get each other. this is why vrisrezi is literally the perfect pairing. they 8oth perfectly get it. no one else in their friend group gets it like they do. they more than anyone, have internalized every possi8le danger present for them and what they need to actively act on to survive. 8oth of them were raised on 8lood fearing a giant monster. whether that's a giant spider, or a giant monster judge guy. who will kill you if you do not properly give them the amount of 8odies they ask for. the 8iggest reason they didn't work out instantly is vriska just kinda accepted her life, and terezi denied it. she tries to pretend she isn't a killer like vriska. and tries to distance herself from vriska. until she gains the ultim8 distance from vriska, and realizes that this is the 8iggest misery known to man and the only one who could 8e close to understanding her is a f8cking murderous clown who a8uses her.

this is also why dave and karkat pair so good together. dave is not a fighter, he's a survivor. living in his own tiny world of daily violence that while he acts like he's super cool and tough and gets through, he's actually-just like karkat-scrapping 8y in a world that 8eats him down.

tl;dr vriska and terezi are endgame cuz they're 8oth killers traumatized 8y violence forced upon them.

side note: this is also why june vi8es 8etter with vriska than tavros. despite the fact she's also completely o8livious to the violence vriska's 8een through, 8ecause they're literally alien to each other most things are not so understanda8le. so there's a pre-existing understanding 8etween them which makes vriska just accept "oh ok on earth you can 8e a weenie and not 8e murdered that's crazy man." and june accepts "oh i guess trolls have to 8e violent murder machines. that's, scary 8ut i don't really have room to judge." same applies to june and terezi.

[some-pers0n]

Op what’s the ship you’re obsessed with? I’m curious now

These two idiots

Why? Short answer: their personalities reflect each other well and are really fun to watch interact

Long answer? Well... I guess you can read on

Engiemedic is something I still honestly struggle to describe. Funny considering the staggering amount of writing I've done in their name, but I suppose it's only natural to find it hard to define what you love.

I think one of the reasons they click well for me is that they're one in the same in many regards. I wouldn't say that they're "two halves of a whole", as both can exist and do fine without the other, but they flourish when together. They can properly be themselves.

They're two sides of the same coin in terms of presentation. Engie is more reserved and subtle about his nature and tries to keep up a good face. Medic doesn't care. Medic is brash and says exactly what he thinks, while Engie will oftentimes hide his emotions to try and win favour in a scenario. They're also obviously both scientists who study in fields that, while different, are very much similar. Something something...the flesh and the machine are not enemies but rather one in the same.

The enable each other, albeit in small ways at first. Medic influences Engie to get more in touch with his creative (i.e. maniacal mad scientist) side. He encourages him to indulge in every stray thought, whether it may be good or bad. Meanwhile, Engie gets Medic to lean more in-touch with his human side.

I don't think Medic has ever really been with another person, romantically or otherwise. Maybe that's just headcanons conflating with my thoughts (I like writing him as being a romance/sex-repulsed aroace)(cause projection ftw), but I never saw him as the type to get with anyone before Engie. Why would he? None of them understand him. Because he often comes off as rude, cold, and is generally pretty reclusive most people kept their distance. Good! He never cared for them either.

In Engie's case, I think he dated, but they never lasted long. Engie can't really keep up the facade of normalcy for too long. He's had boyfriends and girlfriends before, and while they were sweet, he never clicked with them. There was something fundamentally different about him that made them incompatible, despite being a pretty good boyfriend all things given. He never found a person who got him. Understood him, god complex and all.

It's why I think Medic and Engie work so well. I think them being together, doing experiments and whatnot, is what they love most. It's something they've craved. To be understood. To be seen, heard, and accepted. To be loved for who they are down to their very core.

I also just think they're fun lol. It's fun to watch these two pair up and do experiments. I love seeing them work on weird and wild projects, gossiping and chatting the entire time. I've mentioned before that I think they'd do parallel play sometimes, where they just work on separate projects.

I dunno. They click for me a lot more than, say, Heavymedic or Helmet Party. I think it's mainly due to how well they work with each other. They compliment one another perfectly. They're one in the same in many cases. They see each other as gods. Together, they create miracles. They defy the will of nature and physics. This spark, this feeling of innovation and creation, it is there when they work. When they share ideas. When they hole up in Medic's lab or Engie's shop for days, sustaining themselves on snacks, coffee, and beer, all to create some affront to mankind.

They make me think love is real. I don't know how else to describe it. I think of them and I think that, whatever they have, it is potent and strong. It's why I like the QPR angle a lot as well. It's something different. Something hard to define and unfathomable to a lot of people. Most look at them and see them as one thing or the other, but they themselves know the truth: they're partners, and by god do they love each other.

I dunno. I think every interpretation of them is valid and good, whether they be friends, romantic partners, or in a QPR. I just find myself gravitating towards the QPR one 'cause I think it's fun and, as previously mentioned, projection.

I just think they're great and perfectly flexible. You can make fluff, angst, humour, hurt/comfort, whump, etc and etc out of them so incredibly easily. I just also think they're cute and sweet and them holding hands makes me think that everything is going to be alright with the world.

There's a lot of nuances I could go on and on about, but honestly I think it's better to just glance over my silly goofy fics of them to get a better understanding of my perception of them. Speaking of which, man I need to get back to that...

[roxannepolice]

I guess brainrot over the idea of an ineffable husbands style tensimm kiss won't let me sleep so.

I think, leaving aside the general collective unconscious and David Tennant in a telepathic mode of transport, the main reason the dynamic hit as so similar is this kind of. Absolute versus relational morality? I mean, this is what's on the deepest level, because the most apparent aspect is the idea that one of these semi immortal entities believes the other can be kind of restored to the state of goodness? And not just this person specifically, I think Aziraphale in general and the Doctor mainly as Twelve tbh just have this worldview where good is somehow definite and in a way natural for the universe? Oh yes, Twelve will be making speeches about whether he's a good man but the very asking of such a question implies "good man" is something definite, something that one can be. And oh yes there may be villains and monsters but you know if we all just sat down and talked then sure everything could be figured out. And this is more obvious than ever in his attitude towards Missy, where y'know. She just never heard the music. Whatever that metaphor means. Just as Aziraphale assumes Crowley can just be restored to the angelic status, because sure it was just a misunderstanding right he means he's not actually evil right? In a sense, pre-time angelicness and childhood are parallel in that they both assume a mind that hasn't developed individuality yet and I guess this is why Moffat is obsessed with throwing children at the audience 24/7.

And I find it fascinating that where everyone sees Aziraphale is wrong (or, indeed just needs to figure out Heaven is evil), Twelve's clockwork orange vault is generally hailed as reaching out to the truth behind the Master that Missy got closer to than any regeneration we've seen. For some reason, because sure as hell not because of anything that happened in EOT. And that's writing for you: if it's intelligent enough you'll look at something fundamentally similar and see completely different things.

Now, Crowley and the Master have more relational relational ethics - and relational is not the same as relative. And sure as hell don't think the universe or any individual will "naturally" veer towards good. In fact, they're both pretty cynical about, at least human, nature. Difference is Crowley needs to get drunk from Spanish inquisition, while the Master thoroughly enjoys letting future humans go murder their ancestors for fun. I mean, Missy even calls the Doctor out for his absolute and sentimental idea of good, except that's framed as her being in the wrong. And then there's the whole "Paradise. You've destroyed paradise! - They were lazy. I made them hungry" exchange between War and Saxon Masters in Masterful. Serpent in Eden, anyone?

And I think that this is why tensimm give off those vibes that they were closer to understanding each other than ever before. Obviously, the moral divide is still there, as it has to be, but I think Ten, especially in EOT, is more aware of how easily one can slip into a vengeful god, and all this to SAVE someone, than ever before. So while the moral divide is arguably widest it's ever been, the perceptual differences between the Doctor and the Master are almost gone in those episodes. And I suppose the metaphor of the Doctor hearing the drums is pretty pertinent here.

Now, before there's any accusation of moral nihilism on my part - no, there isn't. I specifically wrote of moral relationality not relativism. An action or attitude can be good or evil, the thing is that every individual exists in a net of their relations to others that they can't get out of through spontaneous epiphany. And at the same time the idea of absolute good is necessary, precisely because the general momentum is towards... the opposite. At the same time, there is nothing vile that hasn't been done in the name of higher good. Again, dialectics.

Which is why I say the Master (the Simm!Master, reduced as he was) fell where he stood no less that the Doctor in season 10. Like, this absolutely wasn't the intended point and I still say the mutual suicide was peak contrivance, but. work's intent. And all of this goes back to platonists vs. sophists, you know.

So anyway, it's still Ten that desperately grabs Saxon's lapels and kisses him in hopes of making him stay where they can be happy together.

[actual-changeling]

i don't know why i had such an intense, visceral reaction to the last two episodes. I cannot get past "I don't think anyone's waiting for me" I just can't.

Ed was ready to leave the Revenge and, what, be alone? On a fucking island for the rest of his life?

But Stede came after him. Stede stayed for dinner. Stede stayed and Stede came back and followed him no matter how much Ed pushed and tried to get him to leave him again. I 100% understand why Ed reacted the way he did and it fucking broke me because I am him, I fully get the mental bullshit he is working through, all the complicated feeling he has towards Stede.

My therapist would say Ed has a child part in himself that never grew past that stage of being five, six years old, when you know that the horrors will not disappear if you close your eyes and hide under a blanket. But you hide anyway because it's the only thing you know how to do. The only thing that helps. Closing your eyes and praying that when you open them again, the world will be different.

And Stede was there, Stede did his fucking love confession and ripped by soul out by doing so, but it was exactly what Ed needed to hear. I know what you did and I still love you. You're still deserving of my life and I will never leave you again. Not just I was waiting for you but I was looking for you and now that I have found you, there is no place I'd rather be than with you.

I don't wanna get overly personal so I will refrain from adding more but there's an entire fucking essay I could write about "You wear fine things well". He echoes Stede's words back to him, telling him I understand you, I see you, we're on the same page. I can't tell you yet and we need time, but I love you.

They're learning to love each other in the way they need, it's soft and personal and silly, and Ed has finally found someone who not just takes what Ed has to offer but gives back just as much. Someone who fundamentally understands him and does not want to change him, he just wants him to be happy.

I am absolutely in awe at the way they are writing mental health issues and trauma this season. Never in my LIFE have I felt so seen and understood, and while it is opening all sorts of doors in my head and forcing me to confront and process some issues I'd rather completely forget about, it also offers hope, offers light.

This is, at its core, a romance story, and they are balancing this in such a talented way I don't think I will ever recover from it.

[wifiwuxians]

what are three of your favorite songxue headcanons?

alternatively, if you're uncomfortable talking about that, what are three of your favorite xuechao headcanons?

(sobbing) fav xuechao headcanons as if i hadnt just come up with it myself meaning there's nobody to really talk to about it aaghh these are hard to answer. it's almost always easier for me to list what i don't like vs what i do, and also i have a billion AUs all radically different from one another. i'm struggling not to just list "things i like" rather than actual headcanons... let me see if i can cobble some kind of answer together

for xuechao:

(does NOT apply to revival AU) wen chao spoiling his partners rotten because he thinks it's a substitute for an actual relationship and thinks they're only in it for the money & xue yang having absolutely zero qualms about this. why would he care. wen chao is oozing money. this means wen chao is willing to drop exorbitant dough on him, but is constantly caught off guard by the fact xue yang just. wants food. food and like, a new mattress if we're in a modern setting. and he never thinks to ask for more than that at all. "baby we could have a lavish lifestyle, you could wear the latest fashions, have a huge apartment" "what for". doesn't even think to ask for money for college, not because he would find it demeaning but because he's so used to doing things his own way. he has no worries about somehow becoming indebted to wen chao if they break up because he has no intention of paying anything back if they do

(DOES apply to revival AU) them canceling each other's horrible behavior out and making each other better. wen chao has no status to hide behind and has to get by as himself (derogatory) and xue yang doesn't answer to anyone and only has this one companion who he is trying to use in his grandiose revenge plan. they each learn to navigate the other to not end up alone

in some cases, xue yang only getting close to wen chao to have access to his dad's resources and power and then ending up fascinated by this pathetic little leech of a person because how did THAT end up having THIS for a son

for songxue:

it's very simple. them actually having chemistry and attraction to one another without some third party involvement being the catalyst. this doesn't necessarily mean they LIKE each other at first, in fact a lot of the time i think it's more fun if they don't but still find each other aesthetically appealing, but in the end it always results in them becoming inseparable because i love gooey things. again this barely feels like a headcanon and more like a preference 😭

they initially fundamentally misunderstand each other and might think the worst of each other (in song lan's case it is very easy to see why, xue yang is difficult whether he likes it or not) but in the end understand and know each other better than most, because xue yang just absorbs everything about his surroundings and song lan works extra hard to understand people in general (echoes of canon with this one, yikes)

the third one that came to mind is nsfw LOL so putting that one aside, them being envious of, and eventually admiring, the other for things they perceive they lack. xue yang is charismatic, he runs around seemingly without a care in the world and can be wild and free, only bound to himself, and while song lan doesn't think he goes about things the right way, he longs to be able to exist with that feeling of freedom and golden touch with people. song lan is incredibly skilled, disciplined, respected and has this superhuman resilience as well as this upstanding moral character, and while xue yang thinks a lot of this is stuffy and boring and irritating and nauseating, he wonders what it would be like to actually enjoy being alive despite everything he's gone through and seeing the world with more than just contempt. they each feel like they have pieces missing and they find those pieces in the other

these felt super lame i am so sorry shfgdfj thanks for the ask!

[forgeofthenine]

I also wish to simp over the tieflings😁

So I have a question for you. In your opinion, which would be the fittest class for being each tieflings batchelor partner?

My best friend and I were playing bg3 yesterday (both sipping for Dammon so the conversation was more focused on him) and the question came out.

My bf defended that for our fav blacksmith a paladin would be the best option for going on a date. Cause they're usually loyal to their beliefs, tend to have a kind nature and they're always in need of good armor and weapons. It was paladin for her.

But I differ. I firmly believe that a nice ✨Bard✨ would be the correct answer. And here's why:

1. Dammon is a kind, polite and (probably) organised soul. Most bards have chaotic energy. I believe that a bard partner would be a nice influence on him and vice-versa. He calming his partner when they get too overexcited and them trying to get him out of his comfort zone.

2. They're both artists in a way. I think that a bard would admire and see the beauty in Dammon's job. Maybe even getting curious about it, ask him questions and see him work. He would be so happy. And also Dammon would admire and enjoy the Bard's music, singing, drawing, etc. (whatever bardic gift you got people, it doesn't matter to him. He'll love it)

3. We all know Dammon reads smut and I sincerely cannot picture a more smut reading class than a bard. Like I can perfectly see the scene of the bard discovering "A pleasurable deal" (I think that's the name of it, if not I apologise) and being totally chill about it, read a few pages with all the calm in the world and Dammon finding them out, grabbing the book terribly ashamed of it... Just to see them mock him a little bit to finally say "Hey and if when you finished with it you need any recommendations I have a few that might interest you". (Insert all the fantasy young adult with spice novels here)

And finally but not last:

4. (And this is a more personal one) I have the personal belief that if you play a bard you are personifying the need of a traumatised being who always tries to feel better through music and a charismatic behaviour while being in need of a found family even if you're in denial. I might be wrong, it might be me who plays bards this way but it's just a single theory I have.

But guess what, we're having a Bard here. And what better option to have a family with than Dammon.

I REST MY CASE! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

🤣🤣🤣But really, I would like to hear your opinion on this debate. If you had to choose what would it be and why?

(All classes are equally nice and fitting, no hate here to any of them👌🏻)

I know that this got long ah so thanks for reading it. I love your blog and I hope that everything goes perfectly well on your day-to-day. Byeee!!💛💛💛💛

🎻- Anon

This is actually a very fun question because I've never actually thought about matching people based on classes.

I agree with both of you that either a paladin or a bard would definitely work well with Dammon thematically. However, I raise the option of him being with an artificer. While I love opposites attract tropes, Dammon is a fiercely proud and passionate man, his dedication to his work is enough to scare off almost anyone. So, who would work best with such a wonderful but independent man? Someone who understands his thinking on a fundamental level. An artificer that knows what it is to be an artisan, to dedicate yourself to 'making', to spend late nights working on various blueprints. I just feel like he'd work well with someone that understands him and doesn't fault his dedication to his work.

For Zevlor, I'm a big supporter of the Zevlor x cleric idea. I feel like as a paladin, having him with a cleric just works so well thematically. He's a paladin who believes himself to be disgraced and what's better to help 'bring him back to the light' and support him other than someone else that understands his relationship with his patron god and his intense need to protect everyone. It's easier to accept help from someone that you feel understands your issues, and I feel like being with a cleric just really suits Zevlor.

Rolan with a sorcerer. That's it. Imagine the sass, the cat fights, the endless bickering before they even realise they're attracted to each other. Rolan definitely does the whole 'sorcerors just can't control their magic and tried to make it a thing', specially with a wild magic user. It never quite ends either, even after years of seeing each other Cal and Lia still walk in on their little sarcasm spats. I don't feel like there's a deeper reason to this, other than the fact I feel like Rolan had very little guidance in learning magic (much like a sorcerer might) and is doing a bit of light projection to start with.

So here's my humble opinions, I'd love to hear everyone else's and I hope everyone is having a lovely day <3

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

Two questions; is your current fixation still Shingeki no Kyojin?

Secondly, if you have time, I want to hear your thoughts about a recurring thought I have. Would you agree that men don't tend to take media made for women seriously? Doesn't matter if it's made by a woman, but media or things in general made for girls. The two main things I think about is the Barbie movie and anything by Jane Austen. A lot of conservative bros I see have a legitimate hate for both of those things and ...Why? I think they're both really important for different reasons and I don't understand the perception of "silliness" around them. I mean, Barbie obviously is silly in a lot of ways but.... It's a Girls Girls movie, like how Braveheart is a Mans Mans movie and also is a bit silly in the way that men are (but it's still one of my, a girls, favourite movies).

Maybe it could be said that girls don't generally understand media made for men either, since a lot of girls hate reading Charles Dickens or Mark Twain. But neither of those author's really made them "for men," it's just that men seem to gravitate towards them -- and at the same time, you don't hear women saying they want to take Mark Twain's jawbone and beat him over the head with it (quote from Ben Shapiro about Jane Austen. He was joking but it still rubbed me the wrong way).

Yes, in the sense that I'm not fixated on anything else, but no, in the sense that I'm avoiding SNK content until I can reread/rewatch before (finally) viewing the finale.

Next, I think men do have a hard time taking women's media seriously, but part of the reason is that media geared toward solely men or solely women isn't generally setting out to be the most serious thing in the first place. I don't know anyone, male or female, who takes chick flicks and action movies seriously, and if we get the sense that a new film leans toward one or the other (even if it doesn't strictly fall into that genre), we reach a conclusion about it in that moment because there's only so much time in the day and money in the pocket we can devote to entertainment.

But then, not taking something seriously is very different from legitimately hating it. I can understand why a man would hate the Barbie movie, especially if he hasn't seen it. Like all feminist media, it's going to be about how all men are oppressors and all women are their victims, right? And that's obviously a despicable message worthy of hatred. And if he's already decided that's what it's going to be about, he's probably not going to change his mind when he watches it, because as I've previously explained, Greta Gerwig failed to send a consistent message, as she has failed to do in all her blockbuster movies. I've described her to my mother as "a conservative trapped in a liberal's body." She just can't reconcile the two belief systems that drive her. (Conservative men aren't the only people who hated it either, I know plenty of conservative women who hated it. And I know conservatives of both sexes who enjoyed it immensely.)

Very rarely do I see a man's film morally disparage women the way that so many women's films do to men, and this probably contributes to more men hating women's films than vice versa.

I think it's true that neither men nor women can fully understand the appeal of media made for the other, but because we are complementary, I do think we owe each other at least an attempt to understand. Which, by the way, is never going to work for you if you've accepted the premise that we are fundamentally the same in spirit and our differences are merely social constructs.

Finally, as concerns Ben Shapiro and Jane Austen, he actually was quoting Mark Twain in that segment, and this is a delightful background of Mark Twain's self-proclaimed--but spurious--hatred of Jane Austen. But for any guys out there who do think Austen is "chick lit," just about every homeschooled boy or homeschooling father I knew loved Jane Austen's work and considered Pride & Prejudice an invaluable tool for the raising of honorable men. Here's an article about why.

[willow-schmillow]

Hello, all! I'm writing this about how in-system relationships function for me, in hopes of opening discussion and also perhaps offering clarity to anyone who feels confused by why a relationship between their alters appears the way it does :3

In-system relationships, for me, are dynamics that do not exist for me "externally" - i.e. as I am treated as one person interacting with the world (which doesn't know I have parts :P ). The most obvious example in my system are the familial relationships between alters.

Externally, I have a good relationship with my brother. I also have in-system sibling relationships occuring:

- Kit and Lee were (past tense due to a split + dormancies) brothers in the same way that best friends would consider themselves comrades in arms at the world's shittiest job. They were siblings and equals in the same fight to survive, and supported each other like they were dragging each other through Hell to the finish line.

This is fundamentally different from my external brother: I never want him to feel like he has to support me, and I never want him to understand how much I'm suffering.

Also:

- Gabriel and Monika are a big brother and a little sister: they protect each other against the rest of the world, and, to Monika, Gabriel is the princely big brother who saved her.

This is fundamentally different from my external brother as well: he's younger than me, and *I* feel a duty to protect and support *him.*

On familial relationships, we also have a parent-child dynamic:

- Ethan is the dad to Valentine and Kailey: he's supportive through their difficult emotional struggles, and reassures them that they're safe and capable.

... Given that I'm posting here, you can take a guess as to how this is different from my actual relationship with my parents.

The real sticker for me is in-system romantic relationships. These are so very, very different from my external relationship with my boyfriend:

- Kit and Cal's relationship allows them to work in tandem and fluidly switch, something that is an exception within this system. They're very attuned with each other's needs and limits: the separation between them is necessary at this point in time, but I wouldn't be surprised if they fused when we're more stable.

No matter how close I am with another person, I'll never be able to feel exactly what they feel and need - the in-system relationship fulfills a need for quick reactions, flexibility, and emotional validation in what's an awful job (the two of them are in charge of dealing with our parents).

Also:

- I (Kylee) have a relationship with Gabriel. For us, it's about supporting each other through the most difficult times. When we comfort each other, it feels less like leaning on another person for help and more like teamwork to make the whole system feel better and run as smoothly as possible. We're here to support and comfort *us*, because we're one team that has to get this done and we might as well do it in a way that we get along well in.

I hope this all made sense! I'd love to hear about y'all's thoughts on in-system relationships, as well :3

[the-everqueen]

001: Sandman - A random thought

002: Rose/Corinthian

003: Rose Walker

sandman - a random thought if the corinthian has multiple apartments, does he hire cleaners? or is there like, dreaming magic that keeps the places dust-free? or does the corinthian have a secret assigned cleaning day? (imagine him in an apron and rubber gloves scrubbing the kitchen.)

send me a ship - rose/corinthian when i started shipping it: i think it was after reading heavy lies the crown? that fic is just...mm. delicious.

my thoughts: coco/rose plays with so many themes i find fun. what does it mean to be a person. what do you do after a narrative has ended but you still have to live. what is the difference between devotion and love. can you ever truly love god or is that relationship fundamentally fucked. what if god was also just the girl whose brother you saved and she thought you were some kind of potential guard dog. what if god held your leash and you liked it. what if you bit the hand that feeds you and it still came back for pets.

what makes me happy about them: the thing is, i think rose fundamentally understands the corinthian as a person, in a way that dream never will, because dream knows what he really is was made to be. meanwhile the corinthian understands rose as both human and Endless (because that's his whole function). they get each other. also i'm a diehard believer in giving the corinthian to one of sandman's female characters, because frankly anyone is going to be better at handling him than dream once coco is outside the realm of "favorite" and it leads to Fun Shenanigans.

what makes me sad about them: the thing i'm grappling with in the la guard dog sequel is that, while they get each other, i'm not sure they can...fix each other. like, none of us can really "fix" each other, and both of them have deep-running trauma that goes beyond the other's capacity to heal. there's a part of me that could see a bad ending au where essentially the corinthian makes rose Worse, whatever that might look like. also, at least in canon, that they don't talk again before dream unmakes the corinthian. what does rose think about him, really, in the end? it feels very much like he's Trying with her, even if that's tangled up in his attempts to overthrow dream and save his own life, and even if inherently it's performative on some level.

things done in fanfic that annoy me: a lot of the wider fandom treats rose like a kid. which feels unfair, given that she's a) in her twenties, so a legal adult, and b) shouldering adult responsibilities plenty of her peers don't have to worry about. [insert rant about how Black girls aren't allowed to have childhoods but are also not seen as capable once they're adults.] most coco/rose people are already thinking about rose as a consenting adult and someone with very real trauma, but i guess the other thing would be it's easy to forget the corinthian is an inherently hungry thing.

things i look for in fanfic: ...fics of them at all? authors grappling with categorization of "thingness"? the absence of hob as some kind of uncle figure to the walkers.

my kinks: debates about personhood. pain play. unequal power dynamics. (this is a whole bhol characters thing, i think i just want someone to tie up that white dude.)

who i'd be comfortable with them ending up with, if not each other: again, too poly for this question to ever apply to me. i'd like to see more Rose ships in general.

my happily ever after for them: well, that's just the la guard dog au.

give me a character - rose walker how i feel about this character: big. i care about her. i want to hold her in my arms. i want to bite anyone who looks at her as just a prop for morpheus. tv!rose is SO fucking interesting, the show fleshed out so much of her character in relation to her positioning as a young Black woman, and that is DELIGHTFUL, and i want more people to engage with her.

all the people i ship romantically with this character: obvs i'm writing coco/rose. there's a whole other unwritten thing that is cori/matt/rose as a poly triad. rose/calliope has Potential. rose/barbie, of course, is adorable.

my non-romantic otp for this character: i think rose and lucienne could be such good friends. another storyteller for the librarian??

my unpopular opinion about this character: rose is a lot less naive than people think she is. she's young, yes, but she's experienced, she's intelligent, and she knows her values.

one thing i wish would happen/had happened in canon: i hope we see more of rose in subsequent seasons! she features as a recurring character in the comix. i do wish comix rose had been more nuanced as a character - she's so much the coming-of-age archetype that she's basically not really a person anymore.

my otp/ot3: apparently i am a coco/rose truther. (let the everywoman fuck the eyeball eating nightmare!) but mostly i'd like more people to engage with rose as a subject in general, rather than relegating her to the sidelines or ignoring her altogether.

[dumbdomb]

people will say they're into "hard kinks" and then leave it up to each individual person's interpretation to decide what "hard" means. is it the types of kinks, the intensity of play, only ethically and socially immoral kinks...? who knows. (the person saying they have hard kinks.)

i keep seeing the use of "hard" or "soft" kinks as categories to separate the socially taboo and more popularly acceptable kinks. this seems to have stemmed from people using "hard kinks" as a general label because it contains most of the kinks that are often found in someone's "hard limits". a hard limit is not about categorically taboo kinks, it is a firm and strict "no". it's a "red light". it means those kinks are not open to negotiate. there is no such thing as "soft kinks" the way it is being used to imply "acceptable kinks". using these labels does not actually inform anyone of what kinks you are, or aren't, interested in.

also, i get the feeling people think that having boundaries with some of the popular kinks, like rape and incest, is being sex negative. having personal boundaries and limits are never about kink negativity, being prudish, judging others, or being puritanical in any way.

you're allowed to feel uncomfortable with anything, and placing a firm rule for others to not go against your consent (which only applies to your own personal boundaries and comfort level) is not "shaming" anyone else. everyone has different interests and levels of comfort.

if you're going to say you're into kink, separate from just being a thrill seeking or horny person, you should know that not everyone is going to feel the same way about things as you do. (kink itself is not always a sexualized act or intention.) some people will have an extremely greater tolerance for pain, psychological play, or immorality than what you're comfortable with. some people will be far less into any of the interests you have. everyone is different, but everyone should be respected. and someone who is not comfortable with your particular kinks is not shaming you. they are not viewing those kinks in a negative way. they simply don't consent.

i've also noticed people who seem to think there's a difference between kink and bdsm. they are literally the same thing. kink is bdsm. bdsm is kink. 🌠

from what i've personally experienced with all of this here, it really seems like some people are upset that i don't consent to some of their kinks. they choose to send me messages and reblog my content by playing out kinks i've specifically stated my boundary with. they act as though not having my consent is a challenge to them, some disapproval they can rebel against, or something unimportant they can ignore entirely. (consent is always required.)

consent, boundaries, rules, limits, and negotiating are all part of kink. we like to communicate everything, and consent is especially- even more- important to US than vanilla people. (although consent is always necessary.) so when i see many young people here talking about all their kinks and leaving out the fundamental foundations of What It Is That We Do, it makes me feel uneasy and like people are pretending to be something they aren't. kink is not just what physically arouses you. there are many kinksters that do not involve any type of sexual play in their scenes, roles, or lifestyle.

i really miss being able to follow more blogs with a variety of interests that i don't share, but could understand. i'm talking about years before this blog, but it seems like it has gotten to a point now where most people are not accepting of personal boundaries- and even more worrisome is the lack of seriousness around consent in general. we should be able to follow and interact with each other without having clearly stated lines being deliberately crossed. there ought to be a sense of accountability, respect, community, and understanding with one another. i've learned so much from people who were different from me, who liked things- passionately- that i never had any interest in whatsoever. PLUR 🖤⛓

[thesamoanqueen]

A lot of people bring up the terrible Matt/Jeff rivalry for why a Jey/Jimmy story wouldn't work but the thing is the Jey/Jimmy story has a lot of elements to their story that a lot of Brother Vs Brother fueds never had. I think one important one is that it's not coming out of nowhere as much as people want to say that. They just haven't been paying attention even when Roman and Paul has spoon fed it to them. Not just that, but there's been elements to this story sprinkled through for THREE years. They have history on their side. Especially the tragedy of Jey, always choosing Jimmy and Jimmy doing this to him. It's not going to be a sound bite. We saw this shit. Second, these other brother feuds were single stars or had established a singles career. The Usos are so interwoven they share a wiki, a theme, merch, and a Twitter. They have functioned as a tag team only, so one of them getting that shine is going to produce cracks even though those matches were never about singles glory. Third, in a lot of these stories, one was clearly the favorite, more preferred brother. For a long time, that was Jimmy and now Jey but never at a Matt vs. Jeff kind of level. I mean,until broken Matt Hardy, no one cared about Matt (except maybe Edge/Lita feud, but they stopped caring real quick).Fourth, both Usos are not afraid to be emotional, especially when it comes to each other. They are going to make this shit hurt. Fifth, their BOTH excellent Mic workers with different strengths and I think those strength will fit both their roles in this story.

The Usos are not the Hardys. They are no other couple of brothers in the wrestling history and this is a fundamental point thats difficult for most fans to understand because they are used to making comparisons and with this storyline you cant make comparisons with no f*** one period.

The Usos have shared everything and have always showed a level of partnership unlike anyone else. For them its normal to be one, work and present themselves as a being with two heads, but the two heads are there for everyone to see. Jey has shown it over the years, Jimmy will prove it now, they are as valid alone as they are in tag. The fear of the fans comes from many things, the biggest one I won't say because its shameless and has nothing to do directly with them, I'll say the second, third, who knows, let's say the most valid: will this breakup/separation be a bad step for one of them? No. They're beasts with mics in their hands, they're amazing in the ring on their own (plus, they've had a total of matches and singles victories for three years to scare all the singles wrestlers inside the rosters), they both know how to demand the attention of the crowd, both are equally supported by fans. There's no one that is less valuable than the other, so neither will go down with this feud. The point of this Bloodline storyline is to explain who they are, all of them, and how they're going through this journey. We know about Roman, Jey, we don't know about Jimmy because let's face it, Jimmy was always just the funny guy, the good one of the gang, the release button for Jey. What do fans know about Jimmy? nothing more than that, so I think it's necessary to understand what and where he can get too. The disappointment because Jey is the most deserving of taking away the title from Roman remains, but the reason for the choice is there, it makes sense and it's also right.

The arguments honestly make no sense, in any case and for any of the questions that people out there are asking. Anyone who was shocked, not touched, but shocked by this, clearly didn't understand anything about this storyline before and surely won't understand after because the hints were all there long before WM39, they were there since 2021, but after April Roman and even Heyman had to make them shameless, realizing that people weren't understanding anything and even when they took them by the hand, slamming the whole thing in their faces, people didn't understand, they didn't even understand the Usos who were announcing this feud. So I think the inability of the average wrestling viewer to understand obvious concepts should be addressed here, not why the Bloodline made these choices and where the Usos will go from this feud.

[itiaskia]

how do you write fanfiction? what is your process? do you have tips for new writers?

My process differs slightly between oneshots and multi-chapter projects. For oneshots, usually I write them when I have a vague concept with some sort of punchline to them, and multichapter fics are when I want to explore something that will take longer than just a couple thousand words and maybe need some scene breaks over a longer period of time. Usually for oneshots I write them in one sitting, I'll just open the document and take a crack at it. I bounce around the document writing whichever scenes appeal to me first, and then I go back in later and fill in the gaps. This does sometimes mean I leave ideas and even sentences incomplete if I suddenly get the urge to work somewhere else on the document, so usually when I pass it to my friend to beta read I have him check that I've completed every sentence. For my oneshots I usually try to keep the plot simple so it's easy to tell what the "point" of the story is. I like writing in a closed third person style where the narration is described as the character would see it. I don't know if it's super obvious with my writing or not, as I've mostly just written from shu-nazuna-mika perspectives... but maybe it is lol.

For multichapter fics I usually try to have little arcs within the fic, something that gets resolved but something else that crops up new, so that it's not just one big buildup but a bunch of steady little buildups along the way. These fics are a lot harder for me to write tbh because it's hard for me to keep an update schedule unless I pre-write the entire fic. I actually have a whole bunch of multichapter WIPs I've been poking at for the past year that I've been hoarding until they're complete so I can do weekly/biweekly updates so people don't have to wait lol. I guess multichapter are also hard because if I don't pre-write them, sometimes it's hard to find motivation to finish it if no one really cares abt it, so I want to make sure my opinion on the fic is not clouded by anyone else's judgement (or lack thereof) so I can enjoy it myself to the fullest.

Tips for new writers... Honestly, besides the whole "write often" + "write what you're passionate about", the biggest piece of advice that helped me was fundamentally understanding the "purpose" of the story you want to tell and how to use that to your advantage. It's something that can lace the entire story and really help create some conflict / interesting angles. The way my beta likes to describe it is "it's what the story is really about". I'll just use an example, my shmk fic "the walk home" is a simple concept of shu and mika walking home in the cold/snow, shu slips and ends up holding mika's hand. That's the set up for it, and initial idea. But the "purpose" of the fic is less about that, and more about the fact that neither of them can be open about their feelings for each other, and make excuses for being affectionate. Shu slipping and grabbing onto Mika's hand? Cute. But the implication that he might have done it on purpose to grab Mika's hand, and then continuing to hold it later and never verbally acknowledging it play into the purpose of the fic. The fic is told strictly from Mika's pov, so we see his internal reactions to it, but never Shu's. Mika, like the reader, doesn't know what's going on in Shu's head, so it's all up to interpretation what he's thinking. Did he do it on purpose? Up to you. It adds another layer to it, instead of just telling you "these are events that happened", it invites the reader to think just a little bit more.

[shihalyfie]

Wait wait, WHAT Ken hot take!? 👀

Okay, this is going to be one of my spicier takes here, so please go easy on me ^^ But yes, I do actually believe that the American English dub's take on Ken was arguably more accurate to his original Japanese characterization than the way a lot of the fanbase portrays him, even when they're going off the original Japanese version.

So for context, while the degree and nature of characterization changes in our dub varied from character to character, the part that was most consistently applied was that most of the characters got a lot more outspoken (in terms of criticizing things, speaking their mind, and being sassy or even outright dunking on things). Fundamentally speaking, this is an understandable concept due to cultural differences; anyone who doesn't really have a grasp of Japanese seniority or politeness culture might read the kids as extremely stiff if their dialogue was brought over unaltered.

The part where this posed problems was that our dub overdid it way too much at times, so the kids would just dunk on each other or get really condescending for no good reason, and that often caused quite a bit of damage to character arc integrity or the portrayal of character relationships (or pose issues for characters like Takeru or Hikari, where them not being entirely honest about their feelings is part of the point of their characters). But it's not a fundamental problem at its core to make the kids mouth off or banter a little more; I think Diablomon Strikes Back and Kizuna's dubs did a much better job pulling this off while still staying true to the characters, and I generally consider them my reference for how I'd have been perfectly fine with a lot of things the TV series dub was doing already if they'd only been executed a little differently.

Our Ken was voiced by Derek Stephen Prince, and I suspect they casted him more for “the Digimon Emperor" than they did "Ken". (This happened with a lot of 02 dubs, from what I hear -- the Kaiser having that drastic of a 180 is really that big of a plot twist, so I doubt very many casting directors had enough warning about that. Our Wormmon, voiced by Paul St. Peter, is also a bit too obviously casted and directed under the concept of "evil villain's minion" than the more "pitiful" character he ends up becoming, but he did do his best with what he had.) DSP is an incredible voice actor who adapted to the change very well; he's voiced an absolutely unreal number of completely different roles across the Digimon franchise, including even Veemon in 02, who sounds very distinct from Ken. But since his tone isn't as "soft" as Park Romi's, and because Ken got a certain degree of "sassiness" treatment like everyone else, it's easy to get the impression that our dub's Ken is much harsher while the Japanese version is a soft-spoken kid. That's probably how it seems on the surface, but...

Even in Japanese, even post-turn, Ken was never a saint or anything. Park Romi's delivery may have a bit of a soft timbre to it, but that doesn't preclude Ken from having some choice words or complaining about things when he feels like it -- at most, he's the kind of person who holds his words back until the right time. (In fact, if you look at their speech patterns, his is actually slightly rougher than Takeru's, and he is certainly more likely to be blunt or open about his feelings than Hikari, Takeru, or Iori.) And yes, it's true that our dub made him a lot more vocal, but it's well within the range of necessary localization procedure; his occasional formality would probably be seen as way more stiff in America than it would be in Japan (where he's closer to "well-behaved"), so this level of change is reasonable. There were definitely some hiccups in the first half when they went a little too hard on portraying the Kaiser as more of a composed villain genius rather than a pathetic eleven-year-old throwing a tantrum, but as far as his second-half characterization goes, the dub writers definitely seemed to understand that he was not in a position to harshly criticize or look down on the others when he was trying to patch things up with them, so he actually still comes off as one of the "nicest" kids in the group by virtue of not giving his dialogue the same degree of condescension the others often got.

The problem is, it's unfortunately very common in fandom (in Japanese and English, so this isn't a language-specific problem) to portray Park Romi's Ken as a saintlike doormat who, post-turn, is incapable of doing a single thing wrong, impeccably polite to a fault in all circumstances, and constantly pensive and sad about everything to the point he's completely reliant on other people to snap him out of it. And that's just not the case at all! Throughout the entire latter half of 02, Ken is consistently portrayed as resilient, oftentimes far more put-together and assertive than Daisuke, and still capable of being cold or fierce when the time calls for it (the Kaiser came from somewhere, after all). So even if you do take the dub changes making him ostensibly more aggressive into account, that's still more accurate to the original Japanese portrayal than completely flattening Ken into that kind of saintlike doormat. He chooses to be kind, but the operative word is chooses, and that nuance is present in both versions.