#theyre not very good but they get the story across so its fine for a backburner project

[arolesbianism]

The Joshua section of my oni playlist is looking great so far

[sw33t-oubliette]

Musics... what songs you like... I need... recs..

YAY YAY YAY YAY OKAY THIS MAY BE LONG

Steam Powered Giraffe . they're a robot band with a ton of lore but you dont have to know any of it to enjoy the music !!! if you wanna get into the lore i suggest listening to the albums in release order , but if not just shuffling em is good !! even if you decide to get into the lore later you can still just shuffle for now , the songs dont really spoil anything , theyre mostly connected to the robot's feelings and not events . except Vice Quadrant . if you wanna get into the lore i suggest leaving The Vice Quadrant alone until you listen in album release order . all of the lore is on the website below in the lore and comic tabs ! ^_^

Kabaret Sybarit . theyre a danish dark cabaret band with two narrative universes . the first narrative is in The Poodle and The Grand Finale , huge trigger warning for rape and sexual topics in these two . the second narrative is Akt 1: Rum Nr. 13 , the whole thing is in danish but google translate works fine for the lyrics . Akt 1 was unfortunately only act one of a story that was supposed to be longer , but the band separated and they never finished it . what it is is still really good though ! heres the music video for the first song in The Poodle:

Paul Shapera ! he has a few narratives over all his albums , but the only one ive listened to personally is New Albion . the New Albion trilogy is: The Dolls of New Albion, New Albion Radio Hour, and The New Albion Guide to Analogue Consciousness. there's also The Room Beneath New Albion but its not as long and not necessary to understand the main story . theres also more New Albion past those four but i havent gotten into anything outside the 4 . content warning for incest in act 3 for Dolls of New Albion (its not really explicit ever but the main character of act 3 expresses romantic love for his grandfather) . bandcamp link for the first one in the trilogy !

Will Wood and The Tapeworms ! ive only listened to Everything Is Alot , but its really good ! some songs i really like from it are White Knuckle Jerk (Where Do You Get Off), 6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro / Con), and Front Street !

Shayfer James !!! i recommend Counterfeit Arcade, it has definitely some of my favorite songs ever in it (like Weight of the World and Diggin Up Hatchets) ! and Room by Room !

Sarah And The Safe Word ! im more of a casual fan of them , but some of my favorite songs by them are Sick on Seventh Street, Formula 666, Old Lace, Bottom of a Bender, and Red Hot & Holy !

The Cog Is Dead ! theyre a steampunk band with some lore but its decently less than Steam Powered Giraffe . most of their songs are one off stories with no connect to a greater plot . you can go whatever order for them but i do suggest listening to the albums and not just shuffling them ! website:

Scene Queen ! i suggest just shuffling her it doesnt really matter how you listen to her music . warning majority of her music is very sexual though

Set It Off ! they have so many different styles of music across their albums , i suggest listening to the albums in full for the full experience but it doesnt really matter , they dont have a narrative . except for Elsewhere . for Elsewhere , i suggest exploring the website if you wanna figure out the lore ! its really cool and visually interesting .

The Mechanisms ! they have a ton of lore , most of which is in their albums . for them you kinda have to listen to the albums in full you cant really shuffle . unless you dont care about the lore then do whatever ! you can listen in whatever order , but i STRONGLY suggest leaving Death To The Mechanisms for last . i started with that and i basically fucked up my whole experience :pensive:

[yatgb]

Agent 8 crumbs PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASSPLSASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

Okay well i GUESSSS i can ramble about agent 8 🙄 if i mustt

He/She Eight forever and always ^-^ people (including herself) default to she/her but she doesnt mind! Either prns are fine any time. Also doesnt label her sexuality he's just balling

Aside from all the sanitized kamabo bullshit i think hitting her head after the fight with agent 3 actually did give her some Lasting Brain Damage, and she has problems with forgetting things. Her and Agent 4's apartment is PLASTERED with sticky note reminders, even for stuff like "close the fridge" "turn off the stove" because she WILL forget to do that part

Agent 4 made her a little cookbook that step-by-step tells her how to make her favorite foods with those menial reminders to turn stuff on and off and close doors

AND she and Agent 4 have made what they call Eight's Brain Board, whoch is a crime board style corkboard that lays out all her memories and how they relate to each other just in case she forgets again. Proudly on display in their room

Likes wood-and-metalworking just to make little trinkets, most of the time Octivus or Squidmas gifts. The definition of Hobby On The Side that keeps her hands sharp. The first one she made on the surface was a little Salmonid keychain she gifted to Agent 4 ^-^

Still writes poetry too. She doesnt mean for it to be 8-8-8 syllables they literally just. Happen like that. She'll write a poem about literally anything. she wrote one about Agent 4's freckles

I know Donny is the shopkeeper in-game but Eight is the actual store manager for the Ammo Knights in Inkopolis Square. Sheldon hired her before he moved to Splatsville and she proved to be a VERY good employee so he let her take over the store

She and Sheldon often have friendly races between who can take apart and put a weapon back together the quickest. Eight's record is less than 2 minutes for a Hydra Splatling

Eight takes her job SUPER seriously and absolutely Will Not Budge on anything like prices or weapon availability. No "i left my ID at home" or "i'm basically level 10 cant i just have that one" she does NOT care. Rules are rules and by jove she will not only follow but she WILL enforce them

^ that being said she also HATES Grizzco. She doesnt like their shady vibe and has heard many horror stories about the actual work from Agent 4 (who works there to pay off his student loans) and she really really REALLY despises how they illegally modify weapons for golden rotations. Every time she finds a modified weapon she instantly confiscates and dismantles it. It's like a spit in the face to her entire career and she will not stand for it

Very good with teenagers! Mostly bc thats the majority of who comes into the shop. She loves hearing about their battle tales and has been jotting down little plotlines that unfold in her store (like a kid trying a new weapon to impress their crush, or someone climbing up the ranks in Clam Blitz, that type thing)

She has a reputation for being super nice to everyone but really its because she just has a really long fuse. It takes a LOT to get her mad

Charger main! She's amazing with any charger you put in front of her and she's an absolute MENACE in an inkbattle. Her favorites change but "you can never go wrong with a good and standard Splat Charger"

Her favorite battle mode is Tower Control!

She also Is crushing on Cap3 but she will literally never make a move. Partly bc they live across the ocean in splatsville now but also It's Agent 3. The Legendary Agent 3. Theyre Too Cool For Me (Agent 4 has been trying to wingman them together ever since they started hanging out. the pining is mutual theyre both just flustered. Hes suffering)

Idol relationships!!!!!!! Since she is genuinely good friends with Agent 3 she's frienda by proxy with the squid sisters. They dont really have a lot in common and dont hang out much but she and Marie like being menaces in inkbattles together because theyre both cracked with a Charger and love causing problems. Imagine 2 E-Liters on the Brinewater ledge. Hell. She finds it easy to chat with Callie and they'll talk about literally anything. Callie just has that effect on people i think

She sees Pearl and Marina as cousins, partly bc Pearl started calling her Cousin as a nickname but they really are like family. She lived with them for a solid month learning the language and etiquitte before they couldnt put off their Idol Jobs any longer, which is when she started living with Agent 4. They check in with each other every day and fuckig. LOVE EACH OTHER. She always gets front row tickets to their shows

Has only met Deep Cut very very briefly while being a roadie for OTH's world tour. They indimidate her but she'll take Marina's word that Big Man is chill at least. She's also heard good things about their heroism in Alterna from Cap3 so at the moment theyre vaguely Okay in her book

Also besties with Acht ^-^ initially bonding over Side Order bullshit but she finds their practical blunt nature to be really refreshing and calming. They mostly parallel-play when they hang out together. Like cats. She really likes their new music (can't listen to any Kamabo songs without feeling Bad after :( trauma and all. Acht respects this)

Shelly and Donny absolutely LOVE HER. She always entertains their kiddie ramblings and helps them out if they need a hand at their store, and theyre always welcome to work at her store if theirs is slow and they want something to do. She teaches them more about the weapons in a hands-on way so they have more to tell the customers rather than just parroting Sheldon

Speaking of, she's also great friends with Sheldon! Technically he's her boss but hes a very chill boss and she's been invited to family gatglherings outside of work and such. A good friend to the Shellendorf family!

"Hey eight how are you so cheerful all the time you have a very busy job and lots of friends to keep up with! Whats your secret!" Shes literally just in love with life. Thats it. After dealing with so much shit underground and nearly losing everything in Kamabo she has a huge appreciation for life itself. She relishes in the good and accepts the bad because at least she has a choice to experience it all. That being said can trauma responses go away she doesnt quite like those

(Hiiii :3 watch out here comes the extremely thought out backstory i made under the cut)

The reason shes so good with Chargers is actually because she was training under a Special Forces unit in the Octarian Army

She was known in her class for being super smart and quick on her feet but she just CANT build up any muscle mass, and the wasabi supply unit were already thinking of allowing Certain Octolings to use Chargers and Splatlings without being Octocommanders or Octosnipers, so they decided to guinea pig her with a Charger along with a smattering of other similar Octolings

She became like. SUPER good at using Chargers and a lot of her peers would call her The Next Marina because she surprised everyone with how cracked she was at like everything they threw at her. She never liked this comprison due to wanting to just Be Herself

She was also known for being extremely caring and empathetic, which landed her in hot water for speaking out against the way she and her fellow colleagues were treated as faceless soldiers, and wondered if plotting against the Inklings was even worth it st this point. She famously got in MASSIVE trouble for insinuating that they let The Great Zapfish go and was in Detention/Jail for like a While and nearly lost all her progress climbing up the ranks

Alsooooooo :3 in my personal canon she was part of the squad to escort Callie into Octo Canyon. It was her first time ever on the surface and once she got a taste for the real sun she needed more of it

(I know Octo Expansion is likely happening the same time as Splat2 Hero Mode but it makes sense for my canon for it to happen After)

Also she's 18 st the start of Octo Expansion just to tie back into the whole 8 thing they had going on

The whole hypnoshade thing was also thrust on Callie as a surprise and like. It's not fun to be Surprise Brainwashed so of course she fought back before the hypnoshades took effect. Eight still has a scar on her shoulder from where Callie dug her nails in. That experience was also the final nail in the "i gotta get out of here" coffin

Even though she had made up her mind to run away to the surface, it still really hurt to leave her life behind. She had real friends and even something romantic going on with someone special, as well as having actual good standings in the army with a bright future ahead of her, but the surface was more worth it in her eyes. being able to have her own life instead of one she was forced into was so appealing. Her friends think she's selfish and definitely resent her now (even though theyre fuzzed and barely remember her in turn)

Oh and also her name used to be Maia Idachi :3 but since she doesnt know her old name she can't find her file in Cap'n Cuttlefish's dossier. She doesn't want to go by facial recognition in case she mistakes her fime for someone else's and remembers something that never happened to her yknow (got Maia from amai, the japanese word to describe something sweet to tie into her being caring and empathetic, and Idachi from Idako which is the word for a species of Octopus)

[bigbarabelly]

just wondering, since you use he/they pronouns are you ok with people using both in a sentence or how does it work grammatically?

Realistically this stuff boils down person to person with their own wants of how their pronouns are used. LMAO i was just talking to my neighbors the other day kinda about this cause they had questions about the general of being trans. For me personally you can ask whatever. If it’s (obvious to me at least rage bait lmao then ill tell u to fuck off but otherwise ill answer whatever i can cause i get it’s mad confusing and can be scary cause you wanna respect people but also if you don’t know stuff, then google is kinda useless lmao and it’s hard to say hey i have a personal question but i don’t want to make you upset if it brings up things that are hard for you to talk about.

Like kids don’t know what’s up and will ask point blank what are you FJDKLSFA which is so funny to me cause it’s never with malice, theyre just getting right to the point before usually going COOL ANYWAY WANNA SEE THIS BUG I FOUND LMAOOO. While i don’t care for being called she cause I’m female to male trans, even if you fuck up in person and say she a bunch, as long as you obviously are trying to not be an asshole then it’s all good. It’s the performative fake ally shit that’s so annoying cause you’re not letting people just be with the complex nuance of everyone has different opinions and niche areas their own identity falls into that no one will be able to comprehend but themselves. It’s how you start stereotyping ppl. You don’t need their life story, but like pretending key shit doesn’t matter for sake of your own compartmentalization is just dumb u know

ANYWHOOOOO sorry for rambling. LIKE idk my nonbinary identity is 90% just a dude so i put He first for the general assumption of He/They, the he is said first, at least in my head of how English works for my understanding and personal area of the USA vernacular and speaking patterns. So the He is the main choice it takes precedence. They is more the general catch all and androgynous for days i frankly just don’t feel like a person or a even male leaning, but its not often enough to make me want to commit to They more than He and do They/He instead. BUT that personal feeling shifts internally and i don’t have issues with how it affects me day to day enough that i need to specify if i want someone to just call me He or just call me They. Some do, but im not idk fluid enough in my gender to need for my personal comfort just one or the other, so im cool with both. Ive had a few gender fluid acquaintances that are he/she and will say hey im having a She day, to let us know to please avoid the other because their dysphoria is different than what i personally go through.

So like you can use it interchangeably per sentence. “He said this but then they wanted to do that” or whatever. But if it feels too idk jumpy then you can just go with one. Or mostly use one and then idk change it up in another paragraph or topic for flow sake. Sorry if this is all super confusing! Frankly it just ends up depending person to person and what you’re talking about. But unless someone is very adamant about the use of one, I wouldn’t stress about it. Like if you don’t know someone’s gender then you us They as a default anyway, and honestly unless someone is having a fit and issues they need to deal with, most trans people will not lash out at you for accidentally using the wrong pronoun or for using They as a default because you don’t know what they identify as.

English is a fucking mess and so many words cause be used interchangeably for others and mean different things depending on what’s being talked about or region to region since our states are the size of small countries being in the USA. So tone and whatnot can get misinterpreted easily, but most of the time not having ill intent will get communication across just fine and you’re doing great at respecting others.

[lesboygamzee]

ACT ONE - PART ONE

in reading homestuck again im going to try my best to analyse it to my fullest potential ; while i definitely like to enjoy homestuck Casually i think that doesnt necessarily mean i need to abandon fullblown analysis . i can acknowledge Hard Canon and The Implications in the same way i can acknowledge silly stuff + how im usually going to write characters . something something you have to know the rules to break them . thisll be half rambling half ( poor ) attempts at analysis and a bit of me going Hehe joke funny also i will use the characterses canon names and pronouns for simplicity + i feel its most suited . the exception is tavros because i have tried to not she/her tavros before and it was difficult and Painful i would never do that to her ... anyway .

[…] My intent was always to make the start date a very significant number in the story, recurring frequently. Consequently, I decided to make him thirteen years old, thus making the story about four thirteen-year-old kids. There are more references to this number than can be mentioned casually, some of which are serendipitous. Playing cards, which have a good deal of relevance later, are comprised of four suits of thirteen cards each, for instance.

(page 1 author commentary)

i wont point out every case of 413 occurring but i will point out cases i find particularly interesting or fun :o) the suit of cards thing isnt something i picked up on at first but thats interesting to know ! on page two john is incorrectly named ' zoosmell pooplord ' . zoosmell being a reference to an older comic ( series of comics ? ) of hussies . i read it to see if theres anything of value i can find in there ; even in the silliest and least plot driven media you can find some sort of significance to an authors later work . maybe an idea , a character archetype , or just the plot structure . zoosmells holds no value at all and is stupid though so

im not sure if i talk about it much but i do really like how each main characterses room is in homestuck . not only are they typically really good at getting across a characters basic interests but early on with the beta kids they really sold the whole ' webcomic pretending to be a game ( that is actually a game pretending to be a webcomic ) ' thing . the simplicity of it all , the items of interest scattered around in sometimes nonsensical places , even shit like how the walls are drawn just gives the impression of a guy who you can walk around and play as . and you can ! eventually .

Your name is JOHN. As was previously mentioned it is your BIRTHDAY. A number of CAKES are scattered about your room. You have a variety of INTERESTS. You have a passion for REALLY TERRIBLE MOVIES. You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT. You have a fondness for PARANORMAL LORE, and are an aspiring AMATEUR MAGICIAN. You also like to play GAMES sometimes. What will you do?

(page 4) time for analysing interests . while characterses interests definitely dont mean NOTHING in the greater scheme of things theyre probably not as important as most other shit . i find them fun to look into , though :o3

really terrible movies - i need to actually watch these , and i plan to ! im not much of a movie guy unfortunately . i dont think theyll be the end all be all of john analysis but i doubt theyll hold NO value . apparently theyre quite shit but i willing watch the big bang theory so i think ill be fine programming computers - john is the ' player character ' in a story that is currently quite programming-joke-heavy . the fact that hes kind of dogshit at it adds to this . guy doesnt know what hes doing yet and neither do you ! simple enough . paranormal lore - johns interest in ghosts is relatively significant but id consider it more ' iconic ' . the guy likes ghostbusters , his tshirt is a knockoff slimer , etc. i think all of the kids have one of these . it doesnt matter much in the greater scheme of things but i think its cool to see what interest a character is sort of built off of even if it gets overshadowed by other shit quickly ameteur magician - im a little lost on this one honestly . it can kind of go hand in hand with pranks i guess ? maybe theres something worth looking into with regards to characters and their relationship with magic . john seems to specifically focus on magic tricks which is opposed to roses interest in Real Fucking Magic . probably not though thats stupid

on page six is a rare appearence of the cursor . its a remnant from the homestuck beta where every panel was going to be a flash panel . it was ditched for good reason

its also one of the most blatant parts of the video game feel of early homestuck . thats a reader input interacting with a fictional world ! thats all there really is to say on it though i just thought it was neat

biggest plot twist in fucking history

You stow the SMOKE PELLETS on one of your CAPTCHALOGUE CARDS in your SYLLADEX.

(page 9)

i love sylladexes . johns is obviously based off a stack data structure . john rose and dave all have data structure inspsired moduses which i appreciate but i kind of like the silly ones that come into play later on too !!! like all of jades . unfortunate that they get dropped almost entirely eventually :o(

i should give characters that dont get one them . theyre pretty awesome i think

John: Examine Problem Sleuth Poster.

PROBLEM SLEUTH MENTION !!!!!!!!!!!

John: Read note on drawer. This note is rich with the aromas of FATHERLY AFTERSHAVES AND COLOGNES.

(page 12)

i made a seperate post awhile back on how dadbert is a sort of symbol of masculinity of fatherhood of manhood etc etc and more specifically how this interacts with reading jeggbert as transfem or otherwise Not A Dude . i still think that holds some decent value

In any case, you now feel like you have gathered enough things to get down to business and do some really important stuff. The next thing you do will probably be exceptionally meaningful. John: Squawk like an imbecile and shit on your desk.

(page 15)

snrk . anyway , since it reminded me : regarding analysis that strongly take timelines into consideration when i look at a lot of homestuck character analysis i see a lot of people try and make a point of ' oh the homestuck characters dont actually HAVE these specific character traits because in ANOTHER TIMELINE they did so and so ' and while i get that , timelines are interesting as a concept and its fun to think about , it doesnt exactly have a place in character analysis . homestuck is ultimately a story and the characters are less like people and moreso tools to tell that story . this is simple shit i am well aware i am not acting like what i am saying is revolutionary but it does lead to people losing the plot a little ( literally lol ) but like .. character a doing something instead of character b or character c sparing character d or whatever blah blah blah . did these all happen ? yeah sure probably . hell you can explore that in an au and ill probably go ' woah , cool ! ' because again its fun to think about . but it doesnt matter .. homestuck tells a story and while it focuses on multiple timelines . just because john took a shit on his desk in one timeline doesnt mean i need to be factoring in ' probably took a shit on his desk at least once ' to how i write him as a character . he would not fucking do that because he does not do that in homestuck . go and write your shit-on-desk-taker!john au but it has no place in canon analysis and you dont really need to think about it all that much

typheus is a wind god etc etc basic observation . i would really like to read more on the denizens and what gods theyre inspired by but the sources i find are really long and hard to parse .. ill have to look at other peopleses analysis if i want to understand anything i will be honest

on page 25 is the first pesterlog to appear in homestuck , between john and some loser nobody cares about . in a post i unfortunately dont have the link to , said loser is compared to a sort of tutorial character for early homestuck , similarly to johns status as the player character . obviously as homestuck goes on more characters become ' playable ' , as in you see the story through their perspective . but its a pretty neat observation for the early comic !

TG: but who cares about this lets stop talking about it TG: did you get the beta yet EB: no. EB: did you? TG: man i got two copies already [...] TG: why dont you go check your mail maybe its there now EB: alright.

(page 26)

^ classic tutorial conversation . go do your objective !!! your first quest !!!!

[...] The red flippy-lever thing means you have new mail. And that means the beta might be here!

(page 28)

FACT CHECK : this is false === SHITTY ASCII 'BANNER' THAT OF WE ARE DONE HERE ===

anyway it is day two of me working on twenty eight fucking pages and it just hit midnight which means i am going to play miitopia . this is likely going to be one of the shorter posts but i hope i get less rambly as i go on so i can read more than an average of fourteen pages a day jesus fucking christ . Anyway

[sieglinde-freud]

for the ask game: 2, 4, 5, 9, 17, 24, 29, 35

OOHHH THIS GONNA BE LONG under cut immediately

2. Least favorite main title?

i think this may upset some people but just of the games that i have finished (i havent played or finished every single fire emblem game… i know i know bad fan shut up) it’s prooobably fe7??? not because it’s bad. i do love that game. i just love it the least of every other game i played? i love all three of the lords a lot!! theyre just not my super favorites. i like the story fine, just not as much as other games. the gameplay is alright, but i dont think it’s anything to write home about. it’s a perfectly average fire emblem game all across the board i think. and that’s probably why i dont think about it too much? though, admittedly, ive only played through it fully once and that was like. five years ago? i could give it another run. i never did try hector hard mode, tbf… also huge shoutout to my lovelies sain and serra i love them so much…

4. What games do you wish to play next?

i dont know how often i mentioned it but i had a computer a while ago that just stopped working. like completely. the hardware is fine it just stopped functioning properly and ive taken it to literally every tech place and handed it to every computer junkie friend i have and nothing can fix it. and very unfortunately, it broke while i was in the middle of playing path of radiance. i dont really have anything else i can emulate it on right now, but if i could it’d be that. and of course, radiant dawn right after :)

5. What games would you reccomend to someone new?

toss up between 7, 8, and 13. they all have their strengths and weaknesses as entry points, but theyre all fairly simple in difficulty, and 7 and 13 were entry points for a lot of people who still love the game today, so theyre pretty easy to reccomend. 7 and 8 are easily accessible being able to emulate on like. most things?? even iphones with little hassle. 13 was also, up until very recently, very easy to grab off the eshop. i guess if someone asked me now compared to last year maybe i wouldnt say 13 for that reason? idk. 16* is also an option though, if only because it’s on the switch and while fairly different from the main fire emblem formula, it is VERY good at grabbing attention. im biased because i have used it to drag a friend into fire emblem hell so. i know it works. personally i’d probably go 7/13, 8, 16*, {the rest} but yeah. those four. move awakening down if hardware is an issue.

9. Least favorite character?

IN THE WHOLE SERIES??????? man… i dont know i dont really dislike a whole lot of characters? i guess the first one that comes to mind is gilbert three houses?? i understand why hes like that for sure and can sympathize but i dont know. everytime that hes on screen i just frustrated. the fact that he treats annette the way that he does bothers me a lot even if i understand why, but then theres also the added fact that he only becomes story relevant to replace dedue, who was a MUCH better and far less ANNOYING character to listen to all the time. like why would you replace one of my favorite students/retainers with this stupid little old man who i really have no reason to be attached to? you cant even recruit him during white clouds! not to mention, hes force deployed with the most garbage base stats (THAT YOU CANT CHANGE. BECAUSE. HE WASNT RECRUITABLE IN WHITE CLOUDS!!) in one of the hardest maps in the whole game in a position you CANNOT EDIT. like just GIVE ME DEDUE??????? you know, the CHARACTER I TRAINED??????? god… anyways so its probably him. this felt good actually i dislike him much more than i thought i did.

17. How did you get into Fire Emblem?

this is really embarrassing actually but when i was younger i was really into kid icarus uprising (i still am but like less so) and i reeeally loved pit like you see me with inigo now? that was pit for me back then. and i wanted more of him but nintendo was not giving me any kid icarus content, so what i looked up his voice actor instead, and i went through a lot of medias just to listen to him (did you know antony del rio did this live performance of maroon 5’s “This Love” that’s actually way better than the original? look it up) (no i dont like adam levine) but the one that stuck the most was this silly little game… you mightve heard of it its called Fire Emblem Fates. and i saw silas fire emblem and i was like WOAHHH. HES CUTE and did a ton of research on the series, having only vaguely known of it from smash bros. bought birthright, having learned it was the easier of the two paths, and then i just. entire life changed immediately and i didnt even know.

24. An FE title you wish would be remade?

all of them in order, which is what they already seem to be doing! so, ideally, fe4 next? of course my bias would LOVE an awakening remake but i dont think thats fair to skip all the other games. plus, i think there are other games that need a gameplay overhaul more. …like fe4.

29. Avatars: yay or nay?

i cant fucking stand the concept of avatars in fire emblem. i like all of them as characters. i think robin, corrin, byleth, and alear as characters (i havent played shadow dragon and new mystery sorry kris!) are fine. but i hate how theyre all implemented into all of their games, to the point where the words “byleth” and “alear” are never spoken in their mostly fully voiced games. its so fucking stupid. and then you have writing problems, like other playable characters not being able to have meaningful and lasting conflicts with the avatars because you have to be able to fuck them when the games over, or even during the game in robin and corrins case. and also the weird incest that has to happen if you want your avatar to have familial ties? god forbid people who just think camilla or ryoma are hot have to justify incest to themselves and read some the dumbest fucking s support bullshit just to have their little otome romance. and then the plot bending around them? robin i give a pass because i dont think awakening was annoyingly centered on them (the grima thing was close but for the most part the focus stays on chrom and i think thats a good thing) but as much as i love these games, fates, three houses, and engage all suffer from being a little TOO player pandering. making your character a god? really? especially when the avatar takes focus away from other potential story drivers (xander/takumi, 3h lords, engage royals) and like for what? i like all of the “avatars” as characters. but the way that theyre used and what little that usage does for any positive story impact is just frustrating!

35. What’s something you wish Intsys would just stop doing?

avatars.

[asterssunzephyr]

Any fluffy stories of the Coffee Shop AU? uwu

Now that I finished my first semester uwu

WOOOOO WELCOME BACK<3!! Glas you finished your semester!

The day Kat & Shelby get together is filled with SOO many mess ups. First the coffee machine wouldnt work, then some flowers had to be reordered, then Katherine wasnt off in time to go see Shelby before the flower shop closed, then Gem pulled Shelby to a party(XorXor pulled Kat to the same party its fine).

So many little things that stacked ontop of each other, neither of them were sure they'd be able to see each other before Katherine left for a month(Shes going to see her brothers over in hermit city for the month!); when Shelby sees Kat at the party she knows she has to take the chance before she loses it(and she doesnt know if she'll ever get it back).

Kat is bored at this party. She doesn't want to be there, and Scott isnt making it any better while talking about his boy issues('Jimmys with Tango but Im in love with Jimmy! What do I do?!').. Katherine doesnt know how to help!

When she sees Shelby walking over and almost falling she has to stifle a laugh to go and help her stand on her own feet rather than leaning on a wall.

"Having fun, tripping over your own feet and all?" "Ha ha, very funny Kat." "You know Im messing with you. Cmon, lets go dance!" "Kat I just got done dancing with Pearl please-" "Well I havent had the chance to dance with you!"

The only reply she got was a sigh and the shake of a head from Shelby, yet they still danced together. Shelby wasnt about to pass the moment up(especially since "the moment" is dancing to a slow song with Katherine. even if the song is country, its good!)

Xor & Gem are watching across the room(theyre also dancing but no ones paying attention to them) & are lowkey fangirling over this moment.

"Ohmygod." "They're actually dancing together." "and so we succeed??" "Not yet, they havent talked since they started dancing" "ughhh"

When Kat & Shelby do start talking they fuck up & talk over each other

"So, I have-" "Can we-" Cue Kat giggling over this. "Go on, Shelby." "Ah uh.. I wanna tell you something, before you leave." "Mhm?" "...I like you. Like a lot, and Ive wanted to tell you for weeks now and I havent had the chance to."

Shelby braces for rejection but is instead greeted by a kiss, a chaste kiss but nonetheless!

"Wh huh wha-" "I like you too, Shelby." "You do?" "Would I have kissed you if I didnt?" "Good point."

A few days later, Katherine texts her brothers and tells them she has someone thats coming with her for the month.

Cub, Impulse & Scar get along great with Shelby.

(I am on mobile btw so colours are limited</3)

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Alrightyyyyy, I just watched the 2018 JCS Concert version and its probably my least favorite version of this musical so far and, unless theres another 'official' proshot of it that Im not aware of yet, I have little doubt that this will be my least favorite professional version. Its not bad, theres certainly things to enjoy but theyre mostly smaller details and I dont really think the whole managed to be greater than those smaller parts, yknow?

Something that I enjoyed overall as someone whos watched and analysed three other versions of this musical before watching this one, is that there were a lot of points where I could tell that the people behind this were inspired by previous versions but still trying to put their own spin on it and not directly copy certain ideas, that was fun

The camera work was fine, there were a few shots that felt kinda awkward like one where Pilate or some other character I dont really remember, just stares dead into the camera with such a weird expression, it made me cringe a little, but otherwise I dont have much to say about it. I unfortunately dont have a whole lot to say about the staging or lighting or costumes either when I usually talk a lot about those so Im expecting this post to be on the shorter side just for that lmao. Like with the musical overall, those elements arent bad theyre more just lacking or dont quite come together as a whole. I did really like the set though, that sort of under construction cathedral looks really cool and it fits this more abstract telling of the story. It kinda reminded me of the 2000s version, which was also a lot more abstract than either the 73 or 2012 versions but was bogged down by these weird occasional half-hearted attempts at more modern political commentary, which this 2018 version doesnt have so I think its an improvement in that way. And just to be clear, I dont have an issue with newer versions of JCS trying for more relevant political commentary at all, I think its actually very appropriate, they just didnt do a very good job at it in the 2000s one and it honestly seemed like they were going to have the same issues in this version at the very start but they didnt, so that was good. The direction in the 2000s movie is wayyyyyy better though and I found it more enjoyable overall despite that and despite really disliking the lead actors

Speaking of which, I actually didnt really like most of the performers in this one. Judas started out great, he reminded me a lot of 73!Judas which is high praise from me since thats my favorite version and when I rewatched it I was metaphorically laying on my stomach with my head propped up on my hands kicking my legs back and forth like a middleschooler with a crush whenever he was on screen. Unfortunately I do think he got a bit worse over the course of the show to the point where he was 'just' good, which, hey, thats still not bad at all and pretty enjoyable to watch and listen to but still a bit of a disappointment because I honestly thought he did an amazing job with Heaven On Their Minds and even in Strange Thing, Mystifying (although that song had a bit of a weak start imo) and his part in Everything's Alright so the decline was still pretty noticeable. I did like his body language and the way he characterized Judas though

This Jesus was kind of a funny one because based on his appearance and vibes alone he probably has the most Just Some Guy energy out of all the Jesuses Ive seen which is saying a lot and yknow, I enjoy that. And then he opens his mouth to sing for the first time and its absolutely amazing and Im like WOAHH because his voice instantly makes me Get why people would wanna listen to this guy and follow him and stuff. Like, I think Jesus is a very difficult role because you have to balance coming across as detached from the people around him because hes experiencing stuff they genuinely cant understand with coming across as charismatic enough to make it believable that this cult of personality would form around while not making him come across as too much of a holier-than-thou asshole, and I think casting a pretty unassuming guy with a kind of stiff but fairly unremarkable way of holding himself but whose voice is very powerful wouldve been an excellent way to portray him. Im saying 'would have' because while hes great for his first few lines and has some moments where I think he really shines sprinkled throughout the musical, but overall he just kinda gets worse from song to song imo. Its not even like hes good for the entire first act and then gets weirdly bad in the second one, like the reverse of 2012!Jesus who was pretty weak in the first act but then randomly got really good in the second one, he just gets progressively worse its a real shame. But I still wanna mention those moments where he really shines, spoiler alert theyre mostly when he gets angry; when hes yelling at Judas in Strange Thing, Mystifying, hes pretty good in The Temple, both when hes yelling n shit and when he has that short quiet verse between the two parts and during his parts in Trial Before Pilate. Funnily enough those parts are also all parts I really liked in the 1973 german version and his delivery is very similar to that Jesus but thats just a coincidence lol

I also have a lot of things to say about like, the non-singing parts of his performance but in the interest of not talking about Jesus for too much bc I still have a lot of other stuff to talk about, Im just gonna talk about something I noticed during Simon Zelotes in this. In the other versions Ive watched it was pretty clear that Jesus was uncomfortable during that part and I noticed that he really wasnt in this 2018 one, which I initially found interesting (in a positive way) because I hadnt seen that interpretation before but then I thought about it some more afterwards and I was like, ohhhhhh yeah, theres a reason I havent seen that interpretation before huh. I think him being perfectly comfortable during this scene makes him feel a lot more, idk if this is the right word exactly, thoughtless ? he feels very No Thoughts, Head Empty, is what Im trying to say. And it makes him come across as less complex and kind of undermines a big running theme in this musical which is that no one really understands Jesus because hes mentally ill on a mission from god. Also, Simon Zelotes very much feels like its trying to comment on the hollow nature of praying to a guy whose actual teachings you dont really follow and that really loses its impact when Jesus just like. agrees, basically. On top of that it makes Poor Jerusalem kinda come out of nowhere so that makes for a weird experience

So, since Ive talked about Jesus and Judas individually I also wanted to spare some time to talk about what theyre like together since their relationship is a pretty big focus. I dont have a lot to say about the kiss that I havent already said in my first post about this version, its awkward I hate how the hug thats supposed to happen afterwards comes in weirdly too late, I did not like it. at all. And after I made that initial post I realized that part of the reason it felt so weird and awkward is probably because they have basically no physical contact with each other before (or after) this and like. Theres a lot of physical contact between Mary and Jesus and Mary and Peter and I think there was atleast an attempt from her to reach out to Judas and touch his arm at some point and when you pay attention to the extras theres a lot of touching going on too, especially during the The Last Supper which is yknow, the scene that almost directly procedes the kiss so its like, extra noticeable. And its extra weird because theres a lot more physical contact between Jesus and Judas in other versions and in this one its like they wont even stand too close to each other for some reason.

Anyway, moving on to a character that I usually dont have a lot to say about: Mary. I like her but shes not that complex and while her songs definitely definitely arent bad (bc none of the songs in this show are bad imo) theyre not necessarily songs I would listen to on their own, but again, I like her and I think she usually manages to seem interesting even when the play doesnt really focus on her. So it surprised me that they could make her so bland in this one. Ive thought about this for quite a while now and I still cant quite get a handle on why exactly she comes across like that, but I think its because shes lacking that bit of edge that Mary had in the previous versions Ive watched. Like, in the 1973 movie shes kinda grimy because everyone is kinda grimy (I think 70s movies are just kinda like that) and I remember her voice having a bit of roughness to it and she did come across as a bit cold on my first watch, like, I was obviously expecting her to be a pseudo-love interest for Jesus but thats just because Im aware of certain conventions that dictate that any piece of media needs some kind of romantic subplot, not because she actually came across as romantically interested in him. Then in the 2000s version she was pretty passive agressive towards Judas and they did some stuff to make them more obvious foils of each other and Ive talked about this before, this ended up making Judas come across as really weird and bad there but I do think Mary came out of it as more interesting so that was neat. In the 2012 version I'll admit its mostly just her outfit that makes her come across as interesting to me but idk, I also really like this actress and it was neat to see her do stuff with the rest of the ensemble in the background sometimes and she definitely never came across as generic in the same way that 2018!Mary did.

The most interesting things she did were, in this order: go up to Judas after Jesus yelled at him in Strange Thing, Mystifying and he walked away, her touching everyone and calming them down at the start of Everything's Alright and her sitting down between Jesus and Judas and holding both their hands for a moment before leaving to put a candle on the table at the start of The Last Supper. And one of those things wasnt even really interesting! And honestly, shes essentially the Token Girl Character of this very male-centric play and those almost always play this kind of mediator role, so this doesnt really help in making her feel less generic to me. Also, like, idk if this really makes sense as a complaint but I feel like encapsulates my issues with this Mary and its that, when she was doing I Don't Know How To Love Him and she got to the line "I'm the one who's always been/So calm, so cool, no lovers fool" I was just like "sorry girlie, I dont believe you, youve got massive Lover's Fool vibes" yknow. Moving on

I dont have much to say about Caiaphas, Annas and their goons, they were all pretty good. My main issue with them was that they were oddly quiet during This Jesus Must Die but honestly thats an issue with the entire production. Like, idk if something went wrong or if it was meant to be like this bit I was watching this on my computer with the volume wayyyy louder than I usually have it and it was still really quiet for some reason. The fact that the audience would applaud whenever a song ended or whenever a character entered or reentered the stage didnt help bc its like, most of these songs come one right after the other with nary a break inbetween bc they obviously didnt accomodate for that and it doesnt make for a very pleasant viewing experience. But back to the priests, I wanted to give a special shoutout to that guy that sings the line "A rabbel rousing mission that I think we must ABORT" I think hes great, hes absolutely insane, hes a white boy off the shits and I love him for it

Speaking of off the shits white boys, I also really liked Simon. I dont actually remember what his singing was like or if I thought it was good or not, I just remember him going wild on stage while looking like the older version of a Die Wilden Kerle movie villain (if youre not german or didnt watch those, please google "Die Wilden Kerle Gonzo", "Die Wilden Kerle Fabi" and "Die Wilden Kerle Darkside" to understand this joke) and sometimes thats really all you need. Also, during The Last Supper everyone is being very effectionate with each other and I love that Simon is included in that. Like, hes this horrible little man whos done nothing except advocate for violence and look, hes got a friend who hugs him, hes got a woman who hugs him and hes got a guy friend who comforts him when their spiritual leader/maybe friend? has a mental breakdown and starts yelling at all of them all of a sudden. Love that for him

I didnt like Pilate though. He did a good job I guess, but idk the vibes just werent right with him. Funnily enough I had the exact opposite of that issue with Herod, whose vibes were absolutely impeccable but whose singing was just kinda strange and underwhelming. I did like him going up to the audience during that dance break to be like "Whos your king?" or whatever, thats was neat

Thats it as far as my thoughts on the cast go, it wasnt great but I did really like the ensemble. I dont have too much to say about the individual musical numbers which is why I didnt split this post up the way I did my 2012 JCS post. I dont think they did anything particularly noteworthy or striking with the chereography or the lighting that wasnt done better in other version, the most interesting part was really the fact that there were two 'audience-walls'. What I mean by that is that, usually when you have a stageplay you have your set which has three actual walls and then one non-literal wall that the audience can see the story through, but this one has two, its like a rectangle with two sides missing essentially. But they still dont do too much with that, the staging of certain numbers is a bit more dynamic than it would be on a traditional stage (like Damned For All Time/Blood Money for example) and it seems like the performers have a bit more freedom to move and turn around and whatnot but thats about it.

One thing that I did really enjoy was the use of these white scarves. They show up during Hosanna for the first time and the ensemble members and Jesus all wave them around, they look cool and I like how actually wear them and put them around their heads during Jesus' second verse. Soon after that we get The Temple, which I think couldve been better, especially the first part, but during the beggars part the ensemble is also wearing scarves (I think theyre more of a light gray but its kinda hard to tell with the lighting) and I know its a stretch to say that this is supposed to be some sortof parallel or whatever between the two scenes because theres only so many ways you can wear a scarf but idk, I really like the idea of contrasting these two scenes where Jesus is surrounded by his followers. Im pretty sure the next time they appear its during The Last Supper scene where they all have them around their shoulders and then when they all use them as blankets when they go to sleep at the end, I thought that was really cute. Also, Mary puts a scarf around Judas' shoulders and Im pretty sure its light gray instead of white which could be a nod to The Temple scene earlier but I actually think its meant to kindof tie in to Jesus' outfit. I just realized I havent talked about the costuming at all but Jesus is wearing all white with a light gray jacket over it, so yeah. The next time the white scarves make an appearance is during Pilate And Christ, all the ensemble members wrap them around their chests like some sort of faux toga and then they take them back off for that mini Hosanna reprise and wave them around like they did during the song proper. The last appearance of these scarves is during Judas' Death, they're scattered all over the floor and he picks them up and hangs himself with them. I think I wouldve preferred it if he just kept that scarf Mary gave him and hanged himself with that but at the same time this is really good and interesting too, yknow, hes hanging himself using whats essentially a symbol Jesus-worship while telling god its his fault that hes doing it. good stuff

I was getting close to ending it here but remembering that I forgot to say anything about the costuming earlier caused me to remember all the thoughts I had about it but Ive already spent too much time writing this and Im starting to forget stuff, so here are my basic thoughts about the costuming in a quick bullet point list:

the outfits do an overall better job at actually looking cool and/or punk than they did in either the 2000s or the 2012 version, although i might just feel that way because theyre the most up-to-date fashion-wise

Pilates outfit was really weird and I still dont know what to think about it, I wouldve probably liked it more if they cast a different actor with better vibes

Herods outfit was great, no notes

I didnt like those background dancer outfits, they looked like bird-themed strippers and they wouldve felt more appropriate for the first half of The Tempel (that part was also in desperate need of some dancing, basically all they did there was rub their faces against a table full of glitter for about two minutes)

Judas outfit feels like an upgrade of the one from the 2000s version, he actually looked cool, h wore red and he showed some cleavage!! Not as much as the 73 version but still

JUDAS GOT TO WEAR WHITE AGAINNN well, he got to wear an outfit covered in white rhinestones which really looked more silvef but I dont think Im getting anything better than this at this point so I'll take it

I like that Mary wore orange like in the 1973 version and her dress was very beautiful but the lighting was kept very cool/neutral throughout most of the show so it made her stick out when she wasnt supposed to and it was really distracting

I like that all the ensemble members wear white and gray outfits for the crucifixion again, to tie in to Jesus' outfit

So yeah, Conclusion Time

I'd give this one a solid 6.5/10, for reference I thought both the 1973 movie and the 2000 recording were 7/10s and the 2012 version was an 8/10. Maybe thats a pretty high score for a proshot that I didnt have a lot of kind things to say about but idk, at the end of the day I still had fun listening to and watching a musical I really enjoyed

[wanderrlust0]

~.~

i love my bf lots, i do but !! there are certain instances bc the way that he IS i dont have the freedom i could have when it comes to who i wanna hang out with. i understand his concerns but D; cant a girl just hang out with any friend she wants. like with snow (their tumblr alias btw lol) weve been good friends for 2yrs now..and hes STILL threatened by them bc he knows i swing both ways and so does snow so this man swears somethings happening every time we hang out (which is very infrequent!!). he saw a guy comment on my ig post and one day i got a text from my friend with a similar name as the guy but he could only see the notif from across the table so he put those two together thinking it was the guy texting me and like noooo not the same person! i had to clear that up so quickly bc omg it was so wrong. i literally dont care about the guy. idk why he commented! people cant get enough of me i guess LOL jk but also the way he mentioned it.. we pulled up to chipotle, about to get our booritos/bowls for halloween, and he was like..are we okay? like wait huhh?wdym by that, ofc we are lol hes like nvm and i was like whatt you cant just say that & forget about it lmaoo and he asked if i was okayy like ME? man are YOU okay?? thats the real question. here i am perfectly fine&confused lol but yeah it wasnt until days later that he brought it up. ugh okay like one thing that annoys me is how longg he waits to bring up stuff he saw that bothers him instead of in that moment! like when i saw him get a snap notif and all i could see was a girl bitmoji and no name i brought it up to him right when he came back to his room. hell yeah i was scared to but i did ittt to get it out of the wayy so i didnt have to think about it all night and day! turns out it was just a story notif from antonio garza LOL so i was relieved obvi and we laughed. but also like why do you have notifs for her snap lmao but anyways, you see how i addressed it right awayyy like he needs to take some notes. ofc do it in a nice way! like no jumping to conclusions! omg theres a new development happening tho and he wouldnt believe it lol honestly neither can i. an old friend offered me an invite to join him and his gf to a diff light festival and said i could bring my bf and if its too awk we could go our separate ways LOL when i read the msg i wanted to scream with how crazy yet kinda funny it is considering everything weve been thru that is related to him being worried that im cheating. likeee…girl lemme tell you if things werent the way that they are, yeahh id consider going! either way i cant bc im not free that day but like knowing that this old friend of mine is fine with doing something like that & ESP knowing his gf is fine with that?! like it kinda puts things into perspective for me w how diff couples are when it comes to letting your partner do their thing and having that strong trust in each other. even if their partner makes a deal that they have to be there and you cant hang out alone. hey at least theyre open to it! my bf literally couldnt care less about meeting snow EVEN if it was with a fourth person there. i feel like hes a hard person to persuade bc once he feels something about a person he’ll keep it that way and if it does change then it takes lots of time. he knows this old friend of mine tho bc i went to school w him and we talked on tinder and went on a date while i was going on dates with my bf. LOL ik that sounds wrong. hear me out tho, me and my bf only went on 2 dates i think atp so we were not official at all. so i didnt dump him. me and this friend literally did nothingg intimate on this date lol the most we did was hug which wasnt too crazy bc he was a huge hugger. my bf is literally my first for everything besides a first date. he will most deffff feel threatened if i even mentioned that so thats off the table lmao but like it does sorta suck how this is the way it has to be:/ were going on six freakin years!!! like we are so old!!! we know each other like the back of our hand!! but i think he'll always be this way, unfortunately.

[hiduprakyat]

thank you @agentamethystelf for enabling me ily muah have some completed costume concepts of my best girl

this is part of the post-apocalyptic 18th century novel im writing for fun (and also to apply postmodernism and post-colonialsim from what i learned in critical theory class)

so. harriet branwell has two (2) friends in the entire world: her maid eliza, and her neighbour, george foster. her fathers family arrived in england for trade about a hundred years ago via the dutch from (dutch occupied) melaka (modern day peninsula malaysia) and settled down in hampshire, while her mother was a medical apprentice who left melaka to study in amsterdam (thanks colonisation on both counts!). her mother died in 1785 from consumption and shes been grieving since

the year is 1789, and theres been reports of giant rocks falling from the sky and wiping out whole towns across europe, but it hasnt hit england yet, so harriet goes book shopping with dad one fine morning. unfortunately its when the rocks hit england, and it hits their town. she gets separated from dad and trapped under rubble with george, and when they finally dig their way out of the debris, the whole town's been evacuated. while the rocks (theyre actually meteorites but they dont know it yet) have stopped, they realise that its not for good, theyll get pelted again soon and worse, its travelling up north. so they form a plan: they find a way to get to the cairngorms and take shelter in the caves

so they meet a lot of people on the way, whom they travel with and part ways from, until they meet a romani clan travelling to gateshead, who takes in people they run into on the way. harriet is convinced to join them when the leaders sons wife is also from melaka, and introduces herself as harriet branwell. and people start calling george mr branwell. its a very important plot point trust me. so begins harriet and georges journey up north, and the story mostly deals with grief and the discussion of colonialism as a solution to the apocalypse. theres a lot of discussion on gender roles and sexuality, and george hooks up with the leaders youngest son at some point and harriet makes fun of him

they make it to the cairngorms at the end, but they dont find out what happened to their families, and if theyre even still alive, but it's more of an exploration of grief, and how harriet, whose entire family only consisted of her father and eliza, deals with the loss of contact, on top of grieving her mother; compared to george, who had lived a perfectly charmed life before this, deals with losing his entire family (his parents, five siblings, three siblings-in-law, and seven nieces and nephews) all at once. most importantly we see some dumbass bisexuals be absolute disasters, even two hundred and thirty years ago

[xplrvibes]

live commenting starting in 3… 2… 1…

Today we watch… The Shanley Hotel (*crowd applause*)

Josh!! and the other one (side note, seth gives me the heebie jeebies)

“That looks—“ aww so pretty “—horrifying” oh ok nvm

I love watching colby drive ☺️ boys driving = happiness

“This looks haunted” no it really does actually

fr haunted places and gift shops makes me giggle idk why its like ahh big scary haunted place… and a gift shop

“alright lets sign a weaver to get choked” im… so incredibly down. oh they mean ghosts choking them not… not snc cho… nvm

theyre in a bedroom talking about being choked and i am in the gutter scraping my mind out with a rusty shovel… we are 4 minutes into the video. heavenly father forgive me.

“you can feel it. when i walked in… i’m uncomfortable” just empath things 💅

scotty the medium fan girl i love—- hold up this mfer is using a oujia board as a thing to lean against when he writes 😳

not the miniature raggedy anne dolls 🤦🏻‍♀️

I realise im not commenting on actual content just little things but we’ll get there.

colbys nauseous… strap in folks its starting. “I feel the same as i did in the conjuring” my brother in christ pls… you gon make me anxious thru the screen. i havent seen this episode yet!

ok side bar but officially if colby says he feels nauseous/anxious about a place, it is 10000% going on my ‘this is haunted fo shiz’ list.

he walked thru a door and he’s fine now?? its the floral wallpaper 💯

fr whatever rooms he felt anxious and nauseous in, they gotta investigate there.

“alright, ghosts, im coming down” reminds me of shanes “hey demons its me, ya boy”

this is long. imma make a part 2 - aussie anon

Oh man, I quite enjoy the Shanley. That's another really good one that has a similar vibe to Mizpah in certain respects. ;)

Yea Seth, not a fan.

I have to say, I've been to a lot of haunted places in my life of drifting around the USA. A lot. Any one of them that I walk into that has either a gift shop, or a big binder behind the front desk with stories/photos of all their guests' ghost sightings over the years are always my favorites. I know they're tourist traps, but they're fun lol.

Scotty actually does lives on tiktok a lot. I've come across him a couple times and he's always spoke so highly of them; said they were very nice and he'd gladly do another video with them. I always thought that was sweet considering thay have a whole part in this video where they're like "uuuuuhhhh...." about him lol.

And yea, Colby and his psychic gut strikes again. And it's always just casual throwaway lines that everyone ignores. Ugh lol!!

[asummersday]

22, 26 and 30

22. Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

This scene from chapter 6 of ataimw is so very near and dear to my heart <3

The kitchen is dark and the lair is quiet. Leo doesn't really want to let Donnie return to his lab just yet.

"Sit down," he says, snapping the first aid kit shut. "I'll make us hot cocoa."

Donnie doesn't protest. He cradles his burned hand to his chest and shuffles over to the kitchen table. Leo messes around the kitchen, picking out a pot and two mugs, cocoa from the tea cupboard and milk from the fridge.

It's the peaceful sort of quiet that only exists this early in the morning, when everything is pale blue and the sun hasn't risen yet. Donnie says nothing, and neither does Leo.

He barely bothers to make anything fancy, he just tries to be quick. When he's done, he makes his way to the kitchen table, mugs in tow.

“I don’t know how to make it as good as Mikey’s or Raph’s, but—” he slides the warm mug over to Donnie.

It’s a very nice mug— ceramic and plain white with dozens of flowers of varying sorts and sizes printed all over it. Leo’s mug is a dusty blue with ‘world’s best grandma’ written across it in neat print letters. Not nearly as nice as Donnie’s, but it’s taller and wider, so Leo’s not complaining.

“It’s fine,” Donnie replies, picking up the mug and taking a hesitant sip. “Thanks,” he adds as an afterthought.

Leo hums in reply, sliding into a vacant chair at the table. Neither of them bothered to turn on any other light in the kitchen, so they’re mostly sitting in the dark, drinking hot chocolate in silence.

Leo feels tired. It’s five in the morning, and he feels it weighing on him. His eyes sting a little and he misses how comfortably asleep he was back in Donnie’s lab.

Across from him, Donnie leans back in his chair, head tilted up toward the ceiling, eyes closed. He’s not sleeping, but Leo wishes he was. Donnie is never this careless with his tools, he’s never careless enough to use the more dangerous ones when he’s sleep deprived. He wonders, briefly, if Donnie would’ve gone knocking on his door after the fact had Leo not shown up in his lab, demanding his twin’s attention.

26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

Ohhh. I think I'd have to say when I decided to add Big Mama into the plot of ataimw. I know I've complained about it a bit but I just love to complain, I think its actually a pretty good direction I've taken the plot in.

YEAH cuz I was stumped for WEEKS trying to figure out the plot of this fic, because I suck at plots and I wasn't expecting this fic to require one. I have the angsty stuff going on alongside the plot (finding the cursed amulet) and I was like "well. Its kind of boring making Leo just like chase the foot clan around for 10 straight chapters especially considering that in canon theyre really not that good at what they do, plus its more fun to add something new to spice things up" and along came Big Mama. She's SUCH a fun character (but so difficult to write 😩) and having her in my story definitely makes my plot work better (bc bow Leo ACTUALLY has to work to get the amulet back instead of just chasing the foot clan around NYC. I got sick of that pretty quickly)

(Tbh a lot of people in my comments want leos brothers to find out what's going on but I HAVE A PLAN. and that plan involves no one finding out for at least a couple more chapters sorry.)

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

Ive got a handful of projects for 2024, but at the top, id say finishing all the ashes in my wake. I have two Rise oneshots i really want to write also, both angst and hurt/comfort of course, and that's all I'll say about it :3

Theres also a DC fic that's been sitting in my drafts since September last year that I really hope to get to, though since my hyperfixation's fully shifted into rise idk when ill get to it

Thank you for the ask!!!!

[colloidalamber]

alright here goes, the people have spoken, the spoiler free review/rant for metaphor re:fantazio in my opinion as an rpg boygirl (its long i have a lot to say)

lets start with the difficulty and pacing! This is a press turn game which is general very swingy and based on knowing exactly what the enemy is weak to and how to exploit it. thats fine! thats how these games go! However if you play on hard the enemies stats are buffed and also they get an extra turn which will destroy a lot of the knowledge check "use this against this enemy" fights because youll do the gimmick and they still debuff and crit you anyway getting more turns, this happens from the start and is very evident.

because the overworld combat got added before going into an rpg fight, it turns every encounter into "defeat them in one turn or you die or waste too many resources" and if you get ambushed you might as well be dead so you just escape and try again. but if you for some reason are in a fight and miss an attack or get repelled or something, you just start the fight over for free with an option you cant get rid of until ng+ so theres no reason not to use it.

Onto pacing! Theres a currency you use by fighting enemies to unlock classes as well as move skills from one older class to a newer one, neat! however they give you SO LITTLE of this currency that you need to grind your ass off to get enough to even think about grabbing the next class for your character which gets compounded when you realize there are 7 characters who need multiple classes to get their "ultimate class" at the very end of the game. you WILL NOT have enough of this currency to make a get to a class with skills that are impactful because the skills are scattered across multiple classes, so you might get one class with one good skill to put on another. This isnt just "hey you should grind more" i grinded my ass off several times and only had enough by exploiting a spawn point at the point of no return to get a power spike.

in regards to classes thats is a good lead in to talking about the social links which is where you get your classes from. Thankfully its not like persona where you can waste days in regards to building links, you just rank up every time which is good. whats not good however is that every social link boils down to "its bad to be discriminated against" aside from a few who actually do some interesting stuff but then walk back from it each time in a way that feels like "hah got ya!" you have to do every social link to get the best version of classes, since thats what theyre locked behind, but they are also gated behind large store sections that prevent you from a class being actually good for when you might need it in the story vs a boss (dont worry you wont have the currency to get it and you can grind in a meaningful way anyway)

Dungeons are divided into story and optional dungeons, story dungeons have you walking into a room to start a cutscene where the characters talk to the MC being like "look, the objective is across the room, but we need to be careful with enemies, beware the enemies and get the objective" in what feels like 20 text boxes, and when you get the objective it says even more. the story dungeons are decent for the most part exploration wise except for when they talk to you like that, they are kinda visually boring. Optional dungeons are either cave or forest, theyre boring, they exists to grind but its hard because enemies either respawn super slowly or you have to go back to the entrance with an item or walk all the way back to respawn them. also there are places that spawn extra enemies quickly but if you kill the spawner because thats what it kinda expects you to do it dosent come back.

Bosses are either puzzles or stat checks, thats normal, but if you dont have the puzzle pieces need to exploit the boss, see above about the grinding. That is until the end of the game where bosses turn into big health sponges you spend 50% removing debuffs on and getting your buffs removed and you wish you spent time getting a repel skill to waste their turns more.

Combat itself is relatively snappy aside from that except when you have to wait for enemies to just piss about and do nothing while you wait your turn. this is also super evident with the last few bosses which are huge ramp ups from anything you could possibly try to grind prior

The story itself is super masturbatory "Racism is bad! broaden your horizons!" which isnt a bad message but it feels like its trying to be the most self important game possible from the start to the very last line. also the church is cartoonishly evil. atlus also has the same twists as always, theres a few good twists.

Personally i dont care about visuals but it might be worth mentioning that even on the highest settings there are places where textures look like a ps3 game for no reason, if thats what you care about. visual effects are flashy but everything else is muddy.

theres nothing stand out about the music but i did get extremely annoyed at the monotone religious chanting that they play at every important event it felt like

game said it was 80 hours, i did everything in it and clocked 55 hours, if you want that to be any info

The persona calendar system feels like you never have enough time because by the end of the game they give you a full month to dick around and catch up so you will have a plethora of time if you even remotely do things every day.

all in all, its OK, hell i played it all the way through cuz i wanted my 70 FUCKING DOLLARS worth

if you like persona and are debating on racism is good or bad go for it. also all the characters are adult and nobody is even remotely horny which shows a lot about how persona is handled but this isnt a review for those games

Oh yeah I finished Metaphor re:fantazio last night and it was like, barely a 7/10, they did it again

[koeyohte]

It’s Tuesday and we’re nearing the first exam for most of our classes. I glance nervously toward the atrium as I sit on the floor outside the classroom, pouring over my notes. The professor threatened us with an impromptu exam last Thursday. The young man who usually sits near me wasn’t there to hear about it.

He arrives a bit later than usual, but still early enough that it’s just us left in the hallway. He comes quickly to stand across from me and sighs a bit loudly as he sinks back against the wall. His eyes are dark and he’s hunched over. He raises his phone to his face but his eyes don’t move. He looks exhausted. The dark circles beneath his eyes are purple.

“Missed you last week,” I blurt, purposefully leaving out the word “I.”

“...Oh,” he says, eyebrows raising slightly. “I, uh, my car… starter’s been going for a while and it finally decided Thursday was the day.”

“Ah. Your car decided it’d had enough, huh?”

A small, sideways smirk flashes across his face. Something clenches tightly in my chest and I feel both hot and cold at once. He lowers his phone from his face. “S’pose it did.”

I cast him a sympathetic smile. Growing up with unreliable vehicles, I know how frustrating it is to be caught stranded when you need to be somewhere - more often than I care to define.

“Sorry that happened,” I say. I tilt my head up at him. “Where do you live?”

His curious expression shatters and becomes guarded.

“Why?”

“I just… if you ever need a ride….” I pause, unsure of how to proceed. It’s a genuine offer but I realize a little too late that I’m not thinking with my head. I’ve never offered to pick up someone I don’t know before; and I hardly know him.

I stand, deciding that he’ll just turn my offer down if I’m too cavalier about it. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable by my proposition, but he doesn’t seem to want to answer me, either. I tear off a piece of paper from my notebook and write my number as neatly as possible across the corner.

“Here - if you ever need help, need to be picked up or something -” I hand him the piece of paper. He looks stunned.

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Slowly, he takes the paper, eyes studying it like it’s going to be on the exam.

Then, his lips form my name. Softly, he says it.

“Matilda?” He asks, looking up at me. I know I wrote it perfectly legibly. I nod, smiling at hearing him say it. He hesitates, then holds out his right hand and steps closer.

“Castor.”

His hand is surprisingly warm. I’ve never been good with handshakes - they’re not something most people in my circle really do. His grip is firm and tighter than I expected. I get a selfish thrill from the contact of his skin against mine.

I fight the flushing in my face as I look up at him. Castor. His name suits him.

He’s looking back at me with a soft expression I’ve not yet seen him wear. He looks calm, relaxed even. I step back to my spot against the opposite wall, feeling relieved. I’m about to return to my notes when Castor leaves his refuge and instead comes to stand beside me.

“So… is that how you ask all the guys you give your number out to...?”

I immediately feel a swell of irritability at his comment. When I look up at him, his subtle grin falters.

“I don’t do that,” I say simply. I can feel tension in my forehead and my voice sounds sharp and unamused - a little more than I meant for it to.

“Sorry,” Castor says, and looks down at the space between us. I see his eyes glance at my ring and he backs up a step. “I didn’t mean it like that - it made more sense in my head.” He rubs his face, hiding from view. I can see his shoulders are stiff and he’s leaning back from me again like he’s afraid I’ll do something to him.

“What did you mean?” I ask cautiously. I start to wonder if he really is just that awful at socializing. He did warn me last time.

“I - uhh - it was just… it’s nothing. Forget it.” He leans off from the wall and begins to walk back across the hallway, but I reach to touch his arm.

“Wait. I thought you were trying to suggest something - I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

He freezes when I touch him. There’s a bewildered look in his eyes and he’s staring at me with an air of unease. He looks frightened. I pull my hand back from him and though he returns to my side, he rubs his sleeve where I touched him.

“I deserved it,” Castor mutters after a moment. He’s holding his arm now, like he’s wounded. “I shouldn’t have said that. I meant it to be humorous, but I didn’t mean to insinuate anything, I swear.” He’s looking up at me from under his bangs. He looks anguished. “I meant it when I said socializing isn’t something I’m any good at. I should’ve just kept it to myself. It won’t happen again.”

I feel pity for him and my anger subsides. I’m also impressed with his apology.

“It’s okay,” I say, hoping he’ll believe me. “I shouldn’t have jumped on you… I just….” I glance away and forget not to sigh loudly when I think of all the times people have tried to get me to “just give them a chance.” I trace the ring on my finger.

I look back at Castor. He’s waiting patiently for me to elaborate. I raise my hand to show him the silver band.

“I’ve had a lot of people try and get me to give them my attention. But I don’t want to do that with anybody I can’t be serious with and who won’t treat me that way as well. I don’t do casual relationships, it’s just never felt right. I know it’s weird, but… it’s just what I feel,” I finish with a shrug. Sun always gave me a hard time about it back when we were just talking over our computers. Castor’s looking at me like I’ve said something touching.

“I understand,” he says. His voice is low and soft. “It sounds nice. Knowing what you want and expect in return.”

“I think so.” I’m glad he’s not still upset. I no longer feel angry or belittled. Instead, I feel myself smiling, glad for his company again.

“So,” Castor says, shuffling closer again, “I saw the announcement about the exam online… do you know if she’s planning it for today, or…?”

“I’m sorry. All she said was…. Sometime.”

“Helpful.”

I laugh. “I’ve been up for days trying to study… hardly slept at all last night. I have a hard time remembering what people performed which deeds and when they wrote what papers. Or died.”

“You look tired,” Castor says. A moment later, he glances away and crosses his arms more tightly across his chest. “I just meant… you seem dedicated is all.”

“I’m trying.” I’m not sure how he thinks I look tired when he looks like he’s in physical pain most of the time, but I decide not to bother him about it. Instead, now that he’s this close, I find myself tracing the yellow in his eyes. When he turns to look at me, I allow my gaze to linger just for a moment. His eyes are beautiful.

“So,” I mutter, glancing down at the small space between us, “you have any study tips? So I won’t always look this tired?” I tease him, but when I look up again, he appears embarrassed.

“I… I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean -”

“It’s okay,” I laugh. “I’m kidding. But really, this doesn’t come easily to me at all. I have to spend a lot of time studying. Got anything?”

“Yeah, actually,” Castor says, straightening himself up. “I could… if - if you want… could meet up sometime.” He sets his hand at the back of his neck, nervously dropping his gaze. I wonder as I watch his movements if my interest in him isn’t entirely one sided. I don’t know if realizing that makes it all better or more terrifying.

“I’d like that.” I could use the help. Plus, if it gives me more time to meet with him, I can’t find a reason to say no. It’s a purely selfish motive, but I can’t help it - there’s something about him that draws me to him and makes me excited to see him again. “I’m sure my mom won’t mind - if you’re okay coming there.”

Castor looks surprised that I’d suggest it. “You sure? I could never invite anyone to where we live.” He makes an odd strangled noise that’s sort of like a laugh and sort of like a tired groan. “I just assumed we could meet up at the park or… something.”

The way his face reddens makes me forget that we were talking about finding a place to study. I tilt my head at him.

“The park sounds nice.”

“Hmm,” Castor hums, setting his hand at the back of his neck again. He doesn’t meet my eyes. More students are arriving now but we stand close in silence. I lean against the wall and he stands there with his hand at his neck. My heart is throbbing in my chest.

“You have my number,” I remind him. I see his hand holding the paper reflexively rubbing it as if to remind himself it’s there. “Just let me know when and where.”

Castor seems unable to speak. He’s biting his lip and nods at me, finally making eye contact before he leans away and picks up his bag from the floor. If we were alone, I’d remark on his lighter situation from last week, but decide against it. I get to the door first, once the professor arrives and unlocks it, and hold it for him. He looks as though he’s never seen an ounce of kindness in his life when I beckon him through.

I’m both pleased and touched when, rather than sit two chairs away, Castor takes the one right next to me. We once again manage to escape being called on in class. Castor sits with rapt attention like he always does, and scribbles down copious notes. His handwriting is tiny, cramped, yet incredibly organized. It’s pretty to look at. I hide mine from him as best I can. Mine is… sloppy.

Throughout class time, I find myself studying his hands as he writes. They’re square and rough, with little nicks and scars laced across the backs and wrists. There’s no way to notice them without looking closely, but now that I see them, I realize how many he has. I wonder what kind of work he does. He said he worked for a metal shop, but I wonder where the scars are really from. He always wears long sleeved shirts, but when he writes, he impatiently yanks them up and out of the way, exposing more of his wrists. Thick blue veins cross their backs, and the inside of his arms are not much paler than the rest of his skin. I glance from my own to his. I notice how his skin is golden, and much darker than mine, now that we’re so close.

When class ends and we stand to leave, I don’t pretend to be on my phone while waiting for him. He gathers his things and walks to the door, much less anxious than he seemed last time. I give him a mock bow when he holds the door open and I’m amused by the scowl he gives back.

Outside, I’m again waiting for my mother. I see Castor digging around for something but whatever it is, he keeps hidden in his hand.

“Your mother coming to get you?” he asks, tapping his hand against his thigh.

“Yes.”

“Alright.” He’s grinding his teeth and shifting his weight but he keeps whatever’s in his hand hidden from me. I give him a look and he avoids me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Nothing.”

“I may be sheltered, but I know that’s not nothing.”

Castor gives me a calculating glance, then slowly opens his hand to reveal what he’s hiding. It looks like a cigarette but from the subtle scent, I recognize what it really is.

“That’s it?” I ask, quirking a brow at him. It’s his turn to look surprised.

“You… know what it is?” At my expression of amusement, he tucks it back into his palm and holds it stiffly at his side. “Just thought… you seem so….”

I set my hands on my hips, tilting my head sideways. “Yes?”

He shakes his head. “Just didn’t think you were into that.”

“I haven’t tried it myself. I have friends who do, though.”

Castor seems both intrigued and disappointed by this. When I ask him why, he frowns.

“I wish I didn’t need it. Wish I didn’t need anything, but… some days….” He looks up over my head at something distant. “They can be unbearable. It’s difficult to explain.”

I’m not even thinking. I reach out to touch his arm. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”

There’s something credulous in his features as he looks at me, but despite it, he pulls his arm away from my touch.

“I hope you don’t ever have to experience what this feels like,” he mutters. I’m disappointed when he moves a step away. I begin to apologize but I see my mother’s car turning into the drive.

“I hope things will get better for you,” I say as the car comes to a stop in front of us. Castor isn’t looking at me. When he’s silent, I move a step closer so he’ll look at me. “I’m sorry if I pushed you. It won’t happen again.”

I leave him there, sliding into my mother’s car, hoping that I didn’t do something uncalled for. To me, it was a simple gesture of friendship, but maybe to him, touch was something less genuine and more destructive. I had read things written by people who hated physical touch of any kind. There were dozens of reasons why someone would hate to be touched. I grimace when I realize that there was no way to tell what he was okay with, and I had allowed my own desire to get ahead of me. I apologize to him silently, in my head. I don’t have a way to contact him until he reaches out to me. It’s likely he never will, now.

Part 3 (next):

Part 1 ^^^

[melancholiaenthroned]

dc pride ratings

Super Pride (Jon Kent): 2/10

it sucked so bad… no idea why it was the first in the book bc it definitely prepares you for disappointment. damian came across as homophobic, jon wore a straight pride flag, and jay barely did anything. the art was lovely but overall it just sucked.

Confessions (Nubia): 8/10

frankly i dont read a lot of nubia stuff so i cant speak to characterization but i really enjoyed this one! gorgeous art and very fun and silly story, i so wish there had been just a bit less action and more of her and and Io. will probably read some of her solo stuff after this because she seems great.

Think of Me (Connor Hawke): 10/10

im not a connor hawke fan or arrow fan in general, but oh my god this comic was so good. actually about the characters relationship to his sexuality! fun action scenes and villain! i really liked the music metaphor i thought it was well done. and damian wasnt homophobic in this one! also loved the art style a lot.

Up At Bat (Alysia Yeoh): 9/10

you love to see her again! hope dc actually commits to using her in more stuff now. the story was fun and i like that theyre setting her up as a vigilante. my only issue is a bit of a nitpick with the art, i just dont really like how the bat moves when she uses it haha. it looked curved and therefore looked like it hit weaker. i really liked the message tho and related to the feeling of just. fighting the same battles forever and never getting anywhere. dont know how much i relate to the “beat up supervillains instead” solution but its comics so. duh.

A World Kept Just For Me (Jackson Hyde): 9/10

i dont read a lot of aquaman, but ive heard that they drew his boyfriend skinner in this comic than he normally is, which, upon googling him. yeah. so point off for that. other than that is has got to be one of my favorites. the art and atmosphere is gorgeous and i love the different color palettes between the underwater scenes and the above water ones. i think the story was very very cute and nice and the ending was sweet.

The Gumshoe In Green (Jo Mullein): 8/10

LOVE the noir detective vibes. possibly the funniest instance of biphobia in the world. unfortunately also the most confusing. were they planning to eat her or fuck her? were they bisexual? not really being clear on that sort of lessened the punch of the story for me but frankly it doesnt really matter when the art and vibes are this good.

Public Display of Electromagnetism (Ray Terrill): 7/10

i have no idea who this guy is so that probably effects my ranking. i was bored! who are these people? for ray fans this was probably a big win but i literally have never even heard of him before reading this. i liked his internalized homophobia. that was different from the rest of the stories in this book where it seemed like everyone already was completely happy and secure in themselves. but unfortunately he got over in like a minute so i didnt really feel like it was anything other than cheap conflict. however maybe if ur a ray fan this is like, really deep for him. idk. the art was fine but i didnt love it either. very good light/magic effects but the ppl looked a bit odd. not to pit gay ppl against each other but they couldve put a midnighter and apollo story here instead.

Bats in the Cradle (Kate Kane): 6/10

literally the opposite of the last one. i love kate i read a ton kate so this… like ive heard it all before. this is nothing new. also i hate her dad so i dont care that hes proud of her. i wish it was more kate and her own self acceptance rather than her fathers but i guess they did that last year. and god last years kate story was so fucking good. art was fine and kate looked rlly good when she finally showed up.

INTERMISSION: Ghostmaker splash page: 10/10

is he kidnapping that guy? ok. sure. so confusing bc it genuinely looks like he just swooped in and stole this dude but thats also hilarious so.

Special Delivery (Tim Drake): 9/10

ok as tumblr user bernarddowd you can all guess by stance on comic character bernard dowd. hes perfect to me. i love that he acts and looks more like his 2004 self. i wish he had scars from his pain cult but when have comics remembered scars. i wish he had been there more! less tim. get ur bf on page. tim was fine tho ig. they can get away w not kissing in this story bc i figure they will in the tim drake pride special.

The Hunt (Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn): 10/10

very sweet and funny story. love their insane sex life. i love love love the romance manga art style and the color palette. surprised that it doesnt seem related at all to poison ivys new series but i guess theyre broken up in that so it makes sense. and i will always love to see jester harley even if shes an evil hallucination or whatever.

Are You Ready For This (Jesse Quick): 7/10

too much happened in too few pages, but that could be seen as a meta commentary on their powers? no i idea what goes on in teen justice so just reading this it seems like raven gets hit on and then gets so embarrassed hes like “i can NEVER join teen justice” but im sure he must be talking about something else. felt less like a pride story and more like pride as a setting which isnt a bad thing but it also felt less like a jesse quick story and more like a story where jesse quick was there, which, again, i think is just cause too much stuff was going on. still had fun w it.

INTERMISSION 2: Galaxy and Dreamer splash page: 10/10

WOOOO cheering forever. literally just read Galaxy last night and i LOVED it. never saw supergirl but Dreamer’s actress’s foreword was very nice so im a fan. they look very cute here together.

Finding Batman: 10/10

save the best for last. very touching and upsetting and real. glad for the more nonfiction stuff in this and im so glad that he was able to tell his story through dc. definitely deserves to be the most talked about part of the anthology and it is (other than homophobic damian).

[itonje]

How did you get into Arthurian legend? I don't know where to start!

hi omg sorry for getting to this late but uh i alwaysss recommend my mutual @/gringolet's post on an intro to arthuriana which covers most of it but hmmm if you're asking me how i went about it i started semi chronologically with uh some early arthurian adjacent docs irt to subroman britain (i dont recommend this. dont do this have fun) and made my way up to historia regum britanniae (i do recommend this one but you can just read the arthurian parts if you dont want to read anything else lol..) also i recommend reading other pseudohistories! layamon's brut and historia gentis scotorum are my favs but wace's roman de brut is good as well..then when you get to romances most famously there are the romances of chretien de troyes. my favorite is lancelot, knight of the cart but it is...a lot. yvain, knight of the lion is also very good i recommend that as well. perceval, or the story of the grail is unfinished so fair warning but there are lots of other grail narratives if thats your thing (my personal favorites are parzival, peredur fab effrawg, and the didot perceval. i really like perceval stories lol) also theres the epigonal romances and like thats an entire thing in itself but my favorite of all of them has to be meraugis de portlesguez it is so entertaining it is more entertaining than a lot of modern stuff ive read honestly.

if you're looking for prose romances, there is...the lancelot grail cycle, or the vulgate, which is really long and has a lot of content it is where most of the most popular arthurian traditions originate. then there's the post vulgate which is a sort of a condensed version of it? ive not read either i dont know how much they differ lol. i know that it features more tristan and iseult stuff which is like, if you like or want to read tristan and iseult stuff this post is really good also by my mutual @/tillman i personally am not really invested in the tristan and iseult stuff but like. that is a personal thing lol. also irt to prose stuff the three romances of the mabinogi + culhwch ac olwen + breuddwyd rhonabwy are the arthurian stories in the book but i just recommend it in general it is so good. it is so good please god read the mabinogion im a big fan of welsh arthuriana in general so if you want to have more recs for that specifically lol...

also yes i will talk about the english stuff now cause thats what people like well layamons brut is in like..extremely archaic english but there's also the prose merlin (highly recommend but it is hard to find a translation online that's in like. contemporary english), there's also lancelot of the laik which is great, the alliterative morte arthure which is probably one of my favs it is excellent but then again i like the iliad so maybe i'm a biased slut for war epics (also yeah its a war epic lol). um also theres sir gawain and the green knight which i know is like the most famous of all of them and theres a movie coming out and whatnot and like its fine. its a good starter because it tells a very contained story on its own it doesnt expect you to understand everything ab arthurs court its very entertaining but imo i would read other romances featuring gawaine before this one (which is basically like. all the verse romances lol hes a popular character. my little meow meow). speaking of gawaine the dutch romances (which feature him. heavily) are good. theyre very good and i recommend them highly they also tell contained, highly entertaining stories um id start with moriaen (which is what i started with) and then skip around from there they're all great tho.

um now everyone's wanting me to say it which is uh. lets talk about le morte darthur! i dont recommend it as a starter text even tho i read it like really early on myself so do what you want however id say get one of those like, condensed versions like howard pyles king arthur, andrew langs book of romance, beatrice clay rodger lancelyn green and henry firth bc they all tell condensions of it and id keep it on you while youre reading the original thing just in case like things dont make sense or whatever lol plotwise. le morte is a very late text, and it is very strange for an arthurian text so like idk why people say to read it first because. if i had to say read any arthurian medieval text last. it would honestly be this one because there is such a beautiful finality to it.

i do recommend it though but fair warning that things presented in le morte are like. not the same across all texts? thats something you should keep in mind in general like a lot of these texts are from diff cultures diff languages with their own shifted traditions of arthurian stuff so just in case theres contradictions or whatever between them even in the texts itself (i am looking at you geoffrey of monmouth and anna's family tree) like, dont sweat it or whatever theyre just weird like that. its like comics or whatnot.

anyways this is all to say you have a lot of places to start and pick around from id recommend shorter stuff first and stuff whose translations are usually pretty accessible and contemporary (this is why i highly recommend de troyes' romances in the beginning) just to get used to it cause the 'plot' structure of these things esp in the verse romances is like a bit different than modern lit so i know that can be offputting for some people. like i said like modern condensions of arthurian stuff are invaluable, so are um indexes? there's a couple i don't know if there are any pdfs floating online but i know they usually carry them at libraries and whatnot...

there's a lot of modern modern stuff i dont know about any of it. i couldnt even tell you about bbc merlin i am quite stupid in regard to it. i do know a fair bit about victorian stuff which is modern tho! i should make a post on that but like tldr victorian arthurian poetry good. most of it. victorian arthurian content tho is really in a whole different world as compared to medieval lit so like. well leave all the generally post medieval stuff off for a min asjkldfskld

so like. yeah have fun i know i didnt leave any links on this post (mostly) but if you want any text i mention here please please ask me i WILL send you a pdf guaranteed except for the vulgate and the post vulgate i have not read those and afaik they are hard to come by. i dont know of any pdfs of arthurian indexes if you want one but i could try to find one..?

anyways yeah if this is confusing im sorry 😭😭😭ive answered a question like this a couple times as well jic ehehe https://itonje.tumblr.com/post/641224624484581376/could-i-ask-how-you-got-started-in-arthurian

https://itonje.tumblr.com/post/651581606366265344/hey-finny-im-so-sorry-to-bother-you-but-a-week