#this is about like 4 different characters

[amplexadversary]

I've been saying this for over a decade, in particular about the classic ghostbusters.

I can tell Winston apart from the other three, 'cause he's black, but even he looks a LOT like the rest of the Ghostbusters in terms of being Hollywood Handsome, the prescription mens' short hair, and similar body types.

Like. If you're going to be putting your characters in a baggy uniform, you need to break up their silhouettes more or give them different hair colors. Get some guys in with more drastically different builds, someone with longer hair, someone really tall, someone really short, get the bespectacled guy some darker frames, please, anything.

I could *not* follow the original ghostbusters when I first tried to watch it because I could not differentiate between 3/4 of the main cast. Controversial opinion, but even for all its script failings, I still think the 2016 reboot is a better film for the casting and character styling alone. I was not confusing any of those women with each other! I could understand what was going on!

I know I’ve spoken about it before but I think I have a form of face blindness that makes it impossible to tell apart conventionally “attractive” white men beyween the ages of 25 and 45 and it makes it really difficult to watch movies sometimes.

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Editing Part 4: Worldbuilding Pass

Next up, worldbuilding! We're tackling this before structure, because you don't want to get too far into the weeds, realize a critical component of your story is wrong, and then throw your computer out the window in frustration.

Anyway, when it comes to worldbuilding, there's a lot of moving parts. There is no right or wrong way to worldbuild, but my preferred approach is to worldbuild as the story goes along. Any method works, and you can check out the worldbuilding tag for more. In editing your worldbuilding, you want to think about:

Trimming Front-loading/Info Dumps

When writing fantasy/sci-fi, getting down how the world works can take over the story. In first drafting, this is fine! But when you're trying to clean that draft up, it's better to weave this information in as you go.

Need to explain how the giant mechas guarding the city operate? Maybe your main character is trying to steal some precious alloy from one, giving you opportunity to explain how they work and how society feels about them. Have a magic system that relies on singing tunes? Show that off by having students practicing, or dueling rivals taking it too far.

You probably know by now that the thing you should avoid the most is "as you know" dialogue dumps - characters explaining concepts to each other that they both clearly understand. Another, weaker version of this is the "magic class" trap, where things are explained to the main character and the reader. A classroom environment is fine, but pair worldbuilding with action - demonstrations get out of hand, spells go wrong, etc. Make it fun!

Your World Needs Clear Rules (Sorry)

Listen, this is the part I hate. I have a WIP with the word "Rules" in the title and I'm still figuring out what those rules are. Argh. But the sooner you know the rules, the easier editing will be. The more clear those rules are to the reader, the more impactful breaking them will be.

If the rules of the world (you can't use warp speed too close to a planet's gravitational pull, the same type of magic cancels each other out) and the consequences of breaking them are clear, the pay-off will be satisfying for both you and the reader.

Use Your Environment to Your Full Advantage

You've no doubt heard 'make setting a character' and that's evergreen advice. Some of the best books out there are those where it feels like you could step through the page and into a real place, be it your childhood middle school or Narnia. Getting that feeling, however, is more than just describing a place really well.

Mood - How does the location make you feel? Does a dark, cramped room leave the characters with a feeling of dread? How would that feeling change if it was an overstuffed library with comfortable chairs?

Weather - Beyond the 'dark and stormy night' descriptions, weather impacts our daily lives and is often overlooked. A rain-drenched funeral scenes seems like it's the way to go, but how differently would that scene feel if it was a sunny day with birds singing?

City Versus Countryside - These books are a great reference for description, but also take a step back to compare how different situations would feel both in the setting and to your character. Quiet can mean very different things depending on where you are. A morning fog in the countryside might feel comforting to someone used to it, but to someone new to that environment, it might feel creepy. Think about both your environment and how your character reacts to it based on their backstory.

The Empty Room Problem

This is always a big challenge when moving from the first draft bare bones basics to fleshing things out. How much description is too much? (As a note, it's always okay to overcorrect - you'll have a chance to fix it later!) This post from @novlr has a lot of great questions - but you're still going to narrow it down to the most important details.

Escape the Movie Setting - You cannot describe the room like it's a movie set. Trying to do so is going to be overwhelming, and important details will be lost in the attempt. If you were to describe your room or your favorite coffee shop and could only highlight four or five details, what would you focus on? What gives the reader the essence of the place rather than a list of things that exist there?

Establish the Essentials - Is this your first character's first time in this room? Is it going to be key to several plot-important scenes? Some big, sweeping details when entering - how big it is, what's in it, where the windows are, how it feels, etc - are good to start with. Your character can briefly admire a full bookshelf in the first scene, and then study it in more detail in the second. If you have one scene in this place and spend too much time describing it, you're going to make your reader think it's more important than it is.

Engage the Senses - Does an old room smell musty? Does the coldness of the woods have a sharp taste? Does touching a shelf bring up a lot of dust? How does the lighting in the room make the main character feel?

Getting down the description of a room or setting is not something you'll nail in one shot, but if you approach each scene asking yourself "does this feel like a real place or a white room?" you can narrow down what's missing.

[el-bellanaris]

I find the fandom consensus that Solas and the Inquisitor going into the fade at the end of Veilguard being an eternal "banishment" really interesting because at least for me I feel like it ignores what the ending is supposed to mean for Solas overall. Solas in Veilguard is finally at the crossroads in his life that some other Inquisition companions and advisors were at in DAI. I mention Inquisition specifically because for me his journey is so much more reflected and connected with them, his journey might take two games but it narratively fits so well within the scope of Inquisition. 

Anyway as the player character, we are given the choice that will define the fate of these characters based on our emotions and logic and this will become the canon choice of that particular world state. For Solas, we aren’t told much information about his future and the results of his choice but we are shown it through visual motifs and more directly through the difference in the pair of remnants left behind by Mythal. We have the remnant that exists in the crossroads and has lived the last couple thousand years existing in a static state never leaving and never growing past her past. The other remnant existed inside Flemeth and we were told by Morrigan in Veilguard that this remnant was able to love and live many lives experiencing the world and living more fluidly.

Our choice is based on our opinion of Solas but the outcome is reflected in what it means for him and if your choice will have him continue the cycle and stay in a static existence without growth or go forward into a future full of new experiences, change and growth. If you fight him you are continuing the cycle of violence, leading to Solas to become as bad as the Evanuris and becoming static - stuck in his ways and as a result likely stuck in the prison of regret that he may never escape from because he refuses to grow. Thus Solas becomes like Elgar'nan and the other evanuris and Rook becomes like Solas in replaying the cycle of history of what happened when the veil was created. 

If you trick him and best him fairly in a battle of wits, Rook becomes his equal, his proper opponent on the chess board rather than just a piece on Solas's board. The cycle breaks because Solas has to come to terms with the fact that he has lost, this results in change that is confronting for Solas but he takes it with grace and falls into a brighter future. 

The last choice, the compassionate ending where Solas is able to confront his past but also be comforted towards the future by the Inquisitor, regardless of whether or not he romanced them will result in Solas actively and freely walking away from his plan and the game he has been playing against and with Rook. The cycle is broken, there are no winners or losers except the Inquisitor who vowed to change his mind and of course a Inquisitor who said that their love would endure. They are the winners here. (Obviously everyone has their opinions on if their love did endure for them personally so this is more so just me describing the facts presented in the game if that ending is chosen)

This ending is also representative of Solas finally reaching the moment that Cullen, Blackwall and the Iron Bull were able to reach where they could find themselves putting down their duty and moving forward with something new. All 4 of them are bound to some kind of organisation or duty be it the templars, the ben-hassarath, Blackwall’s duty to his lie and guilt or in Solas's case the revolutionary for his people. The other three in Inquisition were able to become something new, something in their heart they wanted to be but had to be confronted with the mortifying truth of facing themselves and following a new path. Solas doesn't get the exact clarity in his endings that these three characters get, however he does actively state that he will go to atone and then calm the anger of the blight.

He, like these other three and the remnant of Mythal that left their old lives behind, will now walk on a completely new path. So for me it felt incredibly clear that he would not be stuck in any way anymore because of this and being bound to the prison eternally would not even be an outcome on this path even if he is to go back there first. This ending is about completely forging something new for him, something that requires him to confront himself and accept himself entirely. And the Inquisitor is here as not a prisoner with him, but rather someone to join him on the path he is to take next.

So when people say the pair of them will make the prison into a home or just generally only seem to see a future for them in that prison by themselves I find myself compelled to ask why? Why would the ending that's about breaking the cycle and very visibly showing Solas making the choice for himself and freely walking into the future be one that leads to another eternal permanent state of being. It ignores the idea of what this ending means and I think focuses slightly too heavily on taking the ending slides just as face value. 

The choices you make as the person holding the controller/mouse happen in tandem with what you didn't choose. So they all exist as possible outcomes and you can occasionally get more information from viewing other choices then just focusing on the one you made. When you are given the ending slide for the romanced Inquisitor that follows him into the fade we are shown them hugging, with Solas who has shed his armour and is wearing an outfit akin to what he wore when he was at Skyhold. Aka when he is at home, at rest. This ending shows him at rest with the Inquisitor and we are told they are reunited and their story has come to an "end."

Now it's easy to get tunnel vision and only view this ending and think oh they're just in the fade forever, but if you view the others, especially the ones for where you trick or fight Solas they specifically show Solas falling into the fade. This is important because it shows the direct result of your choice through how he enters the fade and is indicative of the future that will follow for him. In one we see Solas falling into darkness because the cycle of violence continues and in the other Solas falls into a brighter future because he accepts defeat. So for the romanced ending it's not representing their permanent state of being but rather showing us the direct result of Solas entering the fade in the same way the other two I mentioned are. He doesn't fall; rather he finds himself stable, standing up and able to accept the Inquisitor's love in an embrace in a moment alone. That's what he does first, not what they do for an eternity. In the non-romanced option he is actively walking to a brighter future with his staff in hand and dressed ready to approach his next challenge. This is likely what he will do next in the other future too just with the Inquisitor at his side this time but after he gets his bearings and they are able to move forward together.

When I see people say well what about the Inquisitor's life, why is she throwing it away for a man or what about her friends and family deciding that it's absolutely certain she will never see them again I am again compelled to ask why. They are entering a bright future together, and that bright future is defined by you ultimately. For one thing, time in the fade serves to be convenient to the narrative it is in. Rook was in there for a couple hours but in the real world weeks had passed which I assumed was because that was how long the group needed to make the dagger and successfully be able to free Rook. For the Inquisitor they spend hours in the fade in a quest and return within minutes because they were needed in the real world to make a choice about the Wardens that evening. So if you believe wholeheartedly that your Inquisitor would never abandon the world right now there's no reason why the fade wouldn't let them out in whatever time is most convenient for the imagined future for your character. Maybe the two of them spend weeks healing the anger of the titan's dreams and then return to this world in an hour. Let's not forget these are two people who rarely sit on their ass and just wait for the world to fix itself. The minute Solas was out of the prison he was out there in Minrathous fighting Elgarn'arn and Ghila'nain whilst protecting the people of the city. The Inquisitor is helping lead the efforts against the blight in three different countries based on their letters so why wouldn't either of them join the forces to help the world heal. Neither of them understand rest truly, so this moment of love together with them is likely just a quick break in between making their next steps. 

In terms of where they end up, I personally believe any ending that shows Solas entering the golden part of the fade indicates both a brighter future for him but means he will not enter that prison again. There is no need to, the prison is figuratively a representation of Solas being trapped by his regrets and unable to move forward so when he walks forward into a new future this prison now has no hold on him. Even when he is tricked, I think accepting defeat is enough to free him. He would just need longer to find his bearings and move forward but still would not need the prison anymore. We see light in these endings and the only places that are bright and full of light in the fade are the Dread wolf’s crossroads and the lighthouse so most likely he is returning to one of those places. Especially when in the non-romanced compassion ending he is dressed differently and has his staff he would need to acquire from the lighthouse. The Black City is also the closest I’ve ever seen it when viewed from inside the crossroads so it would make sense for him to reach it from there.

To end this very long post I will say that even though we aren’t told exactly what happens to Solas and the Inquisitor in the end I will stand by the fact that this game isn’t telling us they are banished to be alone in a prison forever. The game doesn’t tell us everything in words, rather it frequently relies on themes, imagery, actions and our own interpretations to make up the rest however so much is said to us and I wanted to write it all out somewhere for my own sanity really.

[orelicia]

Hiee!!:D

I just read your post about the characters' periods and I love it so much!! I've already shared to most of my friends!!! Please make more!!😭/nopressure

"You get periods?!" By MC <3 (pt. 2)

Xeijun's Letters: Thank you so much for the love on the first, This is second one with the younger brothers line..

Pt. 1 || Pt. 2 || Pt. 3 || Pt. 4

Warnings: cannibalism, eating raw meat, mentions of blood and vomiting, poisonous plants, flowers, etc. Almost fem! coded reader? Because I'm fem...so. A bit OCC due to hormonal imbalance in our bois. This is a continuation, a bit different than @/tsukii0002's posts. Go check them out, pls. They're so good! I couldn't add the dancing part though in Asmode's scenario, SORRY! T^T

Satan

Taking the step down from the shop's raised platform, you place the antiseptic cream in the polythene plastic bag, before handing it to Lucifer.

Lucifer was seriously considering his life-choices all the time during this time of the month when Satan's on his period...But he adores his brothers, so who's he to judge??

Okay, maybe a little bit of a judge, BUT COME ON! It's raw meat! With the blood and all...

He deserves to judge a little, but rather not face a smack from your end, so he kept quiet while you two walked home. Satan stayed home from RAD, the others had half days, only you and Lucifer had full..so sad.

"And how long does it last?" he asks, feeling a bit ashamed that he doesn't know it so well, but then again when does Satan ever allow him close enough? But you also seemingly don't know,

"Just comes and goes.."

You and Lucifer sighed in unison, but perked when you heard a scream rip through some road and cross-section alleyway with a familiar green glow..Making you both run, Lucifer ahead of you, as he turned the corner, slipping almost as Lucifer's leather shoes squeaked, before stopping to face..

Satan holding a guy by his throat, against the wall, his tail lashing out, barbed beyond belief, dusty and slightly messy feathers ruffling out from his neck, the scleras of his eyes gone inky black, his fangs baring against the guy with his claws ready to slash him, before Lucifer grabbed him and you used your pact

"Avatar of wrath, STAY!"

You loudly proclaimed, Satan kept thrashing in Lucifer's grip, before freezing in position, giving enough time for the guy to escape, muttering a quick "I owe you my life" before hurrying down the streets, running away.

Satan growled, his claws trying to remove the pact mark's affects to slash whoever was holding him back, as Lucifer held tightly, breathing heavily, "Shhh, Satan...! Stop it this instant" he hissed, his muscular gently holding Satan by his shoulders and Lucifer's one hand was on Satan's head.

Lucifer subconsciously rubbed his thumb across the spam of the area..

you wouldn't mention it before you died, but Satan seemingly melted a bit hearing Lucifer's voice, but you know Satan'd rather DIE than admit that.

You gently pushed back his hair, the pact mark on the right side of your abdomen, right under your arm glowing green gently, as he finally made eye contact with you and smiled brightly, like a child, but then he realized his "prey" got away, so now he just seemed sad and annoyed, while you made Lucifer let him go.

You pact mark stopped glowing, as the pact mark's affected subsided as Satan pushed Lucifer off and clung to you tightly, smiling contently as Lucifer rolled his eyes, ushering you two home. With Satan trying to attempting to cannibalize anyone in the way home, if not you and Lucifer stopped him each time.

By the time you got home, Lucifer had aged 70 years, it seemed, leaving to run back to his room, so you also ushered Satan to his room, promising you'd be there since he was growling at Lucifer, trying to hurt him for being too close to you, poor thing was angry for no reason due to his hormones.

But since Lucifer basically ran away like Levi during a social event, Satan gently kissed you and snuggled his head against you walking off his to room before you went to the kitchen to plate the raw meat and keep the antiseptic somewhere in your pocket as you changed and ushered back.

You walked back to Satan's room, you placed the plate somewhere, pressing your nose, as you saw him scratching his sheets away almost as he pouted.

You gently ruffled his hair, pulling off a feather or two from his back as he shuddered, annoyed at his "nest" which wasn't working, as you fixed it gently for him, piling things, so it's a little deeper. Satan seemed happy enough as he settled as you handed him the plate of the raw meat, giving him the assumption you "hunted" for him, and hopefully, it won't end up with him vomiting over you after over-eating raw meat again.

Satan just seemed happy, his teeth now almost an inch longer and making it harder to close his mouth if not for him chewing on his tail for a comfort like a baby sucks on it's thumb.

You sighed, letting him eat while you plucked off the feathers on his back and neck, or pulled them apart because they were stuck, while admiring Satan's horns, which had gotten an bioluminescent glow which was between sage and sea foam green, just adorable!

Every time you touched it, it glowed in the darkness since Satan refused to turn on the light. Having his eyes already hurt from light, his pupils were so round, almost covering the colour of his irises, he kept his room dark, refuse to let anyone come in, ESPECIALLY his brothers or others, or anyone other than you, basically.

He was of-course fidgety, refusing to actually let you touch him at times or get close, like right now every few minutes, he tensed up,

"I'm fine, 'Tan.." you whispered, hugging his back and kissing his cheek while he tensed, but wiping the blood off your lips, as to not gag at the smell, while he ate and sometimes offered you the raw meat, his tail still sharp and sometimes got irritated by the mattress stuck on it.

You took chance to remove the extra scales from it too, which was rather satisfying, you had to admit..

As he extended his hand with a piece of some part of whatever animal he was eating, "No, thanks, darling" you smiled, or so simply put it in your mouth without chewing or anything before removing it and placing it back to his plate when he wasn't looking, poor thing.

After eating and getting him forcefully cleaned up, yo gently let him lean against you, his body warm and almost borderline burning and feverish, until he finally got assured you're be careful and wouldn't be hurt, as he laid against and his body seemed to cool within seconds, like ice.

His tail tightened around your thigh, a bit scratchy and a cut or two, but you hid it, assuring him you were okay as he snuggled against you, purring loud like a motorboard,

As you felt him smuggle a little piece of raw meat against your mouth as you grumbled, "SATAN!" as he smiled, only kissing you.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus had his feet tapping on the floor, so long...his wings, neon fuschia now as he filed his nails, but somehow only making them sharper as he worriedly pacd the floor, hoping you were coming home.

Asmo was covered in a blanket and fever high due to his periods, so he was tired and even more panicked,

Were you late?! Were you hurt...DID YOU FIND SOMEONE ELSE PRETTIER THAN HIM?!

Nononono...He couldn't lose you, you were...everything.The best experience, the best warmth..the best love, he couldn't bear to think of you with anyone. NO. You were his and he was YOURS.

He'll make sure of it, he knew..As Asmo stood up, wearing a jacket on as he pulled open the door, just in time to see you, holding a large bag with masks, gloves and glasses, like you had gone mining as he felt himself melt,

"You're home!" Asmo said brightly, as you remove your mask and goggles and he immediately pulled you into a kiss, making you place the bag somewhere on the side.

As Asmo pulled away, removing his jacket, he snuggled his face against yours, not even wearing makeup today, so you knew he was over the moon or something to see you, seeing as he never did that.

In his demon, Asmo's wings fluttered gently, brushing against you as you both sat on the bed, while he polished his horns gently, his wings and hors covered in velvety coating and translucent, letting you barely see the clear-pinkish mechanisms of the beehive like structure of his horns or diamond shaped structure of his wings.

You helped him gently polish, though he was skittish, "Ah-No...Thank you" he whispered gently, a blush coating his cheeks a he bashfully let you do it, ever so often pulling away to snuggle deeper, until he was asking you do it constantly,

"Over there, yes-! Thank you"

Asmo smiled, his wings flapping in delight.

You pulled away, letting him relax as you ran to get the bag, and run back to him, kissing his cheek as you get into his nest, handing him the bg as you pulled your mask tighter and your goggles tight too, as he giggled,

"Oh?~ What's this?" he asked, smilin, "Open it!" you said excitedly, hoping he'd like it. Asmo gently tore it, using his finger nails, to find a himself a supply of poisonous plants, fruits, flowers, raw meat, bottles of bodily fluids like blood or some animals and even mushrooms that he liked.

It had nightshade roots, arsenic shrimp blood, sulphur mushrooms, Momonin flowers, Henbane, Foxglove stuff like that...As his smile widened after every item he found,

And god, he was falling more in love as he smiled brightly to you, "Oh my Diavolo...THANK YOU!" he smiled, hugging you tightly and kissing your masked cheeks as you smiled,

"it's nothing.", "it's everything!!" he said brightly.

You pulled the bag towards you, as he smiled and possibly chewed on a little nightshade root, enjoying himself. As oyu pulled a neon bright glowing flower, his room's light were dimmed, seeing as he also couldn't handle light in his eyes.

The flower glowed bright pink with red spots and orange strips, the air around it was softly bubbling and boiling, giving off the smell of burnt plastic mixed with blood and quite possibly like sulphur, god forbid how much you had to beg Barbatos to find you one of these for Asmo.

Asmo felt himself bright ten times more, his white scleras going black as he hugged you so tightly, you felt like you were gonna pop, seeing as he couldn't kiss you because of the things you were wearing, he squeezed you in a hug.

Otherwise you'd be ravaged right here and right now.

He held the flower close to him, as you gently pinned it behind his ear, Asmo was taking the chance to gossip with you, he got even cattier on his periods, it seemed, who knew it was possible?

As you and Asmo spoke, his hands were travelling everywhere as he gently pressed himself against you. Asmo's fingers running through his hair gently, as he snuggled.

Rubbing his inner wrists against your neck as Asmo cupped your face, placing a kiss or two on top of your head as he spoke, rubbing his cheek against yours otherwise.

Finishing his third nightshade root and second vial of blood, his manicured fingers gently stroked your hair, before trying to pull off your mask as you held his wrist,

"I-I wanna kiss you..though!" he said, pouting as you saw his black scleraed eyes glow and get glassy and watery, "My love, Asmo..you just had three nightshade roots.., ", "So?" he whispered, almost crying.

You sighed, holding him closer as you shook your head placing the flowers right behind you two in a vase, "I love you, but I'd also like to live as well" you said, reminding him that you were human as he paused,

"...Oh.."

As he scratched his face gently smiling sheepishly remembering you would die if not for the mask, the goggled and heavy earcovers too.

As he sniffed softly, his nose burning as he realized what was happening, "Oh god...they smell too harsh" he whispered, almost feeling bad that you worked hard and he couldn't keep flowers in his rooms..

You worked so hard to get these things and he couldn't keep them because his nose would burn and eventually bleed and he didn't even want that and you felt even more guilty for forgetting that details..

You gently reached towards the items, placing them back in the bag,

"Let me enchant them-", "No! It's fine..You did so much already, this is just my bad luck.." he huffed stopped you gently, as you shook your head, cupping his cheek and taking the flower,

"you want to keep these flowers and these things in your room, you get to keep them." you said smiling, cupping his cheek and rubbing your thumb across the spam of the area, "I don't care if I'm tired, you're my priority right now!" you said brightly

You gently held the flower behind his ear and gently worked to enchant it, though it was hard, "But-..." he paused, feeling his face warm, feverish as it always was during his period, he felt like crying,

"It'll be less trouble to just remove them.."

"but YOU want them HERE."

you said simply, enchanting it and putting it behind his ear, pinning it to his hair again as he smiled softly, while you continued to enchant every single item to have no smell..

He was glad somebody atleast loved him like this..What he wouldn't give to have it all to himself all the time?

Beelzebub

You huffed as you walked out of the house to the garden, to Beelzebub's nest. Beel's nest was dug out in the garden, underground LITERALLY.. At first his nests weren't in the house, in his and Belphie's room, but now it in his middle of his period, he shifted to gallery in garden.

You gently knocked on the little metal door, the brothers got installed for Beel, as asoft clicking chitter came out, as Beel pushed the panel, looking into your eyes and smiled, as you smiled back. His skin had gotten a bit transparent now, so sometimes you could see the bones and skeleton if light faced him directly, so he looked somehow hotter..

You gently crawled into the hole, and slid into it, landing on a little pillow as Beel stayed flying gently above the ground to help you settle as you smiled, showing him the bag of snacks you got specifically for him..

As he sat down beside you, crawling, his fly-esque wings fluttering to produce a softer, buzzing sound, not the annoying one, and it shined with coloured of orange-red and with extremely complex patterns..

His horns iridescent and glowing soft red every time peeks of light hit him, the gallery was built like a bunker, but light still came in from outside..

As you shifted, you felt a little lump under you, you shifted only to find-...Luke! You almost screamed if not for Beel shushing you, softly letting out clicking and buzzes as if to say don't wake up the boy! while you huffed, quickly handing a text to Lucifer as you made Beel wake Luke and put him outside.

Poor Luke was scrambling like a puppy, scared but you calmed and assured him he was fine, Beel did get reprimanded, but he ignored Lucifer like it didn not matter which shocked Lucifer as you apologized on Beel's behalf to Lucifer.

"Beel...You need to apologize" you said to him, giggling as he buzzed as if to No, I won't! as he looked away, huffing.

Beel continued to brush his wings gently with his large hands, so delicate and soft it was mesmerizing, but occasionally he got too rough on no occasion, so now you were adamant on watching over him and his grooming, even helping him out..

"Gentle..Your wings are super delicate at the side" you told, it was like Beel didn't know how his wings were at times.

You placed the large bag of snacks you got on the side, looks like the two month's worth of food he accumulated before his period was finished already, but THANK DIAVOLO his appetite decreased, did not mean he wasn't eating insane amounts...just less nowadays.

Beel softly buzzed, reading the packet of "grape chips" and opening it as you closed your nose, disgusted by the flavour choice.. as Beel extended them to you, feeding you, till you were almost bursting..That's just how it was to you, as you denied it weetly,

"they're for you, sugar" you said, smiling.

Beel let out a sad chitter and you knew you couldn't deny him, so you took a few in your hands and ate them..not too bad, just a weird taste, it was neutral, really.. as Beel happily clicked, watching you lovingly eat..it filled his hunger when he saw you eat, honestly.

After almost bursting open by food, Beel chose to sleep...first he wanted to sleep upside down with you, but after a little debating with the little critter, he finally agreed to sleep in the corner.

Beel's head on your collar bones near your throat, while you hummed to let out soft vibrations to comfort him while your fingers ran through his hair and his wings gently, while he softly let out clicks to tell you about his day as you hummed in acknowledgment.

As you kept humming your favourite song to comfort with the vibrations of your throat since he was leaning against your throat basically, as time passed in silence when Beel's chest filled with slight worry and sadness, wondering if his brothers and Luke were okay..

Did they need food? Did they eat? Did they do their homework? Was Lucifer okay? Was Mammon wasting money safely? Where Satan and Belphegor doing anarchy safely? Every question about his brothers...

As he let out soft worried humans nd chitters, was if debating between standing up and laying against you, so it was like heavy weight lifted off and on top of you every few seconds.

"Beel, sugar...Beel, baby! You okay?" you asked, snapping him out of it as he chittered panicked, as if he was late to some event or forget something important, but you knew him well enough by now, as you sighed, pulling him against you, though he resisted a bit, but laid against you,

"Beel...Your brothers and Luke are fine. Mammon is safely gambling, Belphie and Satan are also committing anarchy safely too!" you said quelling a few thoughts before he piped up, letting out a buzz, before you stopped him,

"Yes, they ate. I just had lunch with them before I came here. Don't worry... Lucifer is with them… and the others will take care of Lucifer for you..."

you smiled, stroking his cheek gently with your nails of your right hand which was hold his face and the pinky finger of you left hand strokes his nose-bridge to silence him,

"And...I'll care for you..." you asurred and smiled, hugging Beel close.

Belphegor

"FUCK!" You annoyed kicked a blanket, looking around to find your shirt to get to RAD this morning, only in your bottoms and pants, you stood there, searching for your teal shirt, grumbling..

You huffed, walking out, just topless, only to see Lucifer also there, searching for his jacket, before he made eye contact and covered his eyes, "Why are you shirtless? This is inappropriate, ou know?" he said, making you scoff

"As if I don't know that! I can't find it!", "I can't find my coat either" he said, grumbling as he continued to look around his room, while you huffed, running around to the brothers to see everyone had a shirt, jacket, blanket or plushie or something missing..

"Ay, hand my Ruri-chan blanket and plushies back, STUPID MAMMON!" Levi yelled, tackling a shirtless Mammon who punched back,

"I don' have it, ya stupi' Otaku!" Mammon yelled back, as you groaned, walking upstairs, to the the twin's room to see if Beel or Belphie had it. You found Beel, and lifted Belphie's blanket iple to nt find making Beel panic,

"BELPHIE!" he said panicked, as you assured him that Belphie's probably fine and let him go to go to the attic to find Belphie, hoping he'd know something about this.

You found Belphie, alright...In a blanket fort with 5 of Levi's ruri-chan blanket, one of Lucifer's custom silk and fur blanket, Asmo's expensive shirts, and everyone's RAD shirts and jackets..

As you grumbled, shaking Belphie, who was sleeping under a patch of sunlight since it was one of those days where sunlight came out, it was increased by Belphie using a spell, s he lazily laid there.

"Belphie, get up!" you grumbled, gently shaking him as he woke up, his shirt riding to show his chest with fluff on it, all spotted with dark blue and white like his hair, and his tail was also spotted now; dark blue and white as well.

Belphie grumbled as he woke up, but smiled, not caring how mad you looked, as he held your hand bringing it to his lips to kis your knuckles as you tried not to smile at this spoiled brat, as he laid it on his head while you scratched his head,

"You're using RAD shirts, you know? We have classes to attend, Belphie" you told him as he rolled his eyes,

"so what?"

he said, smirking...the audacity of this brat...

All while he showed his round eyes like a little calf, while you scoffed. He must've really wanted you to smack him, as he rubbed his neck and wrapped his arms your RAD shirt, which laid crumpled beside his bed..As he huffed,

"Come onn, pat my head and tummy, you're so warm" he huffed in a voice high-pitched than, spoiled brat, as you gently rubbed his tummy, as he smiled.

You felt better he wasn't annoyed at everything that moved now, like he was a few days ago, having no sleep meant Belphie was so irritated, he almost hit Beel too gently, but he stopped and apologized wholeheartedly to beel..Only beel, not even you.

Belphie gently yawned, and held your wrist, pulling you with barely any energy but so much strength, you almost swung over, as you laid on top of him, huffing..You were LATE TO RAD and this is what he wants to do?! And not only that, you were burning..god he ran too warm during his periods...

He gently kissed your cheek, trailing them down to your collar bones, gently licking and biting, but not anything sexual..just because, and you could smell a rather unique smell as you groaned, you knew the brother would bitch on end about Belphie's smell on you now.

"What? Don't like it?"

he asked, smiling and eyes bright as Belphie gently tapped in rhythm on the back of your thighs and continued to kiss your cheeks or nose and neck, it might have been his mating moment,

but you couldn't care less, not right now atleast..Lucifer was gonna bake you and feed you two to Beel if he learnt this is what you two were doing..

You gently got off of him, making him grumble, as you huffed, trying to search for you and the brother's shirts, promising him, he can take your spare ones. But you seemed to have offended him, as he simply turned over and rolled his eyes..

You grumbled under your breath, working around until you heard small sniffles and turned to him, glaring at you, but teary and crying into his pillows as you sighed.

You gently put your arms under his arms and gently pulled him up and into your arms,

"Now..Why are you crying?"

you asked softly, as Belphie hiccuped, which almost made you awe if not for his tears.

"Tell me honestly, do you even love me?!" he demanded, pouting, "Yes!" you sighed, "but you rejected me?!" he said, bewildered and upset as you sighed, gently kissing him as he hummed back,

"I'm sorry okay? I love you, but I'd rather not be today's dinner if Lucifer finds us doing this.."

you whispered as he came to realization and nodded, kissing you a few more times, rubbing himself on you for good measures, so his brother REALLY smell him on you.

© orelicia. I do not give permission to modify, translate, copy or repost ANY of my works. Reblogs are very much beloved!

[gangstalkerbarbie]

i wish i could internalise this but you see the problem is that the fandoms are all american and so is much of the source material and there are just things that... don't translate across cultural contexts that would be essential to doing this? when I try to write my little guys being like me, people think they're overbearing and intimidating because there is a completely, completely different script for how to be a woman in the west, especially among non-jewish people

and that doesn't go away just because everyone wants it to, it's a subconsciously irk that i have to actively mitigate by playing so nice, the most nicest, nicest in the world. i hate playing nice so much it's hardly conceivable

having ocs is about community to share them with and if the community doesn't really want to bother to think about that there are un-American realities where people think and are motivated very differently, then where you end up is that can only play true representations of yourself when they are literal aliens :") literal grey aliens in my case

Anyway this likely sounds like I'm mad at you which I'm not, so below the cut here's some actionable ways to support your friends when they want to introduce you to ocs dealing with their cultural identity:

1. Be normal about it, we're all just blokes here, treat them the same way you'd treat any other person's little player character

2. Ask questions and engage with all their silly little fanon that explains how they're like that in a world where xyz is not textually real

3. When you're close enough people fucking love it when you want to play their ocs family, they don't care about the cultural distance, people marry people from different cultures all the time, they will coach you about how to do this, you will learn so much

4. Thru interaction with them you will gradually realize we're all just blokes and your friend can explain any difference in mentality that could matter

5. There will be such differences and they will be narratively significant but it's possible to be normal and encouraging about it and engage like a normal human with the challenging themes that can come from foreign upbringings

6. There will almost definitely be challenging themes because American imperialism has a very wide reach, and beyond that other imperialism exists. The night is dark and full of terrors out there past the core. Things you can brush aside as too political with your American friends are just part of life in some places, and that's not your fault but it feels pretty surreal to have to elide it for your comfort

This is just like a fact and the sooner you stop being guilty about it as if its your fault the sooner you'll be able to appreciate the poignancy of your friend's oc, the world's dumbest coyote

7. You're allowed to check your foreign friends for getting heavy on you out of nowhere, they're not made of porcelain. You're also allowed to joke.

8. Try to take this as an opportunity to read more widely. Read media from that country and reference it even — your foreign friends have to do it to fit in with you, why not make your ocs aware of the sources of their jokes and cultural memes? One of the most charming irl interactions I've had recently was with a random Michigan guy who knew who Verka Serduchka was

9. All of this applies to intercultural competence in general, armed with the ability to understand how to not make people feel weird and lesser for not being American you will do numbers on Xiaohongshu

Hey. You. If you're a second language English speaker. You should make more of your ocs your own nationality. They don't all need to have inexplicably English names. They don't all need to somehow conform to American cultural conventions. They should speak your first language also. Holds your shoulders and looks you deeply in the eyes. Okay? Okay.

[brie-is-cheesy]

Obey me incorrect quotes #6

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | previous

masterlist

Lucifer: MC, you’re supposed to follow my orders.

MC: I thought they were more like… guidelines. Suggestions, even.

Leviathan: I hate crowds.

MC: Levi, there’s only three other people here.

Leviathan: That’s three too many.

Satan: The library is my sanctuary.

Beel: Cool. Does it have snacks?

Satan: You’re banned.

Asmo: Beauty is pain, MC.

MC: Then why are you so dramatic about paper cuts?

Asmo: How dare you—

Beelzebub: Why is there no food in the fridge?!

MC: Because you ate it.

Beelzebub: …I feel attacked.

Belphie: I’m not lazy, I’m conserving energy.

MC: You’ve been “conserving energy” for six hours.

Belphie: And yet, I could sleep longer.

Diavolo: I value peace in my kingdom.

MC: Then why do you invite me to meetings?

Diavolo: For entertainment value.

Barbatos: Careful, you’re getting crumbs everywhere.

MC: I’m adding character to the kitchen.

Barbatos: You’re adding work to my day.

Simeon: Good deeds make the world a better place.

MC: Then why does Solomon still have free reign to experiment?

Simeon: …An oversight.

Solomon: I tried a new recipe today.

MC: Should I get the fire extinguisher or just call an ambulance?

Solomon: gasps dramatically You wound me.

MC: ...

Solomon: ...the first one.

Lucifer: Why is there glitter everywhere?

MC: Define “everywhere.”

Lucifer: glaring You know what I mean.

Mammon: How do I look?

MC: Like trouble.

Mammon: smirking That’s the goal.

Leviathan: I don’t need social interaction to survive.

MC: You cried when I didn’t join your raid.

Leviathan: That was different!

Satan: You’re insufferable.

MC: You say that, but you still hang out with me.

Satan: …Unfortunately.

Belphie: laying on MC You’re comfy.

MC: You’re crushing me.

Belphie: That’s just my way of saying I like you.

Diavolo: What do humans do for fun?

MC: Break rules.

Lucifer: Lord Diavolo, don’t encourage them.

Solomon: Want to help me test this spell?

MC: Will I survive?

Solomon: grinning Let’s see.

[ur-dad-satan]

OM Character heights HC

This is based on fuck all and their general heights. This is how tall I see them all in my brain when I write. I'm also playing more into the fact that they're demons so they're tall as fuck. Take this with a grain of salt <3 Drabble under the list

SO! From tallest to shortest:

Diavolo - 7' / 215 cm Beelzebub - 7' / 214 cm Lucifer - 6' 10" / 208.5 cm Solomon - 6' 6" / 198.5 cm Barbatos - 6' 5" / 196.5 cm Simeon - 6' 4" / 195 cm Satan - 6' 4" / 193.5 cm Leviathan - 6' 2" / 189 cm Belphegor - 6' / 184 cm Mammon - 5' 11" / 181 cm Asmodeus - 5' 10" / 178 cm MC - 5' 8" / 173 cm Luke - 5' 5" / 166 cm

I don't take criticism. Let me enjoy my silly little demon and angel men. And Solomon.

I made my MC taller than me irl because I can. In actuality I'm just shorter than Luke. HOWEVER, these height differences are so funny to me because like... I can a hundred percent imagine this tiny human goblin getting mad, about to fight some random demon and having to be carried away so they don't get themselves killed.

Or they're out with like Levi and his order is wrong so they go up with this big ass man behind them and they're just like "he asked for mashed potatoes, not a side salad."

MC regularly just like sitting on Beel's shoulders or whatever would just be normal because that's a HUGE height difference. Like I have a tall bed and when I measured, I would only be eye level standing on my bed when my mattress alone is over two feet (over 60 cm) tall.

How would Beel and Dia be able to see me over their MASSIVE FUCKING TIDDIES?!?! Sorry. (No I'm not)

Standing up to Lucifer would be so fucking funny from an outside perspective. There's literally over a foot difference in height but babe, we do not give a fuck.

I'm over here laughing and giggling and kicking my feet seeing how the height difference would look to my 5' 4" ass and oh my fuck!! Luci, Beel, and Dia would literally have to DUCK to get into my actual room...

UGH I wish they were real!!!!

[hollowed-theory-hall]

I'm writing my first fic, so are there any tips to write Harry so I don't Butcher his character, lol

Like, I can try and give advice, but writing is such a personal journey, and it can work very differently for every writer. Like, what works for me and helps me to stick to his character might not work for you.

What I can tell you is that the first HP fic I ever wrote had a Harry I will now consider OOC.

It's not the worst I've seen, but I know I'm better at it now than 4 years ago when I wrote that story because I know him better, and I became a better writer. But that first story has an OOC Harry, an OOC Voldemort, and, well, a lot of other characters are OOC there, too. I'm pretty sure Sirius is the only one I consider somewhat in-character in that story, lol.

I can explain what I do, which again might not work for you. The only way you'd know what does work for you is if you try different methods, experiment, and learn. Becouse if you know what you're doing and you're a good enough writer, there aren't a lot of rules you can't break or characterization you can't pull off. And to become a good writer there is no way other than writing. And reading. A lot.

You just gotta start writing and figure out what methods work for you to get the characters the way you envision them.

Also, please remember fanfic is supposed to be fun. I might be super picky about Harry's characterization, but I promise you there are a lot of readers who aren't and would be happy to read a good story even if Harry isn't characterized perfectly. As I said, I wrote some bad OOC fic in my life (40+ bad wips that would never see the light of day). These bad fics were necessary so I could get good. Becouse to get good, you need to start somewhere. So, as I said, write, don't be scared of making mistakes, figure out what works for you, and trial and error your way to victory.

That being said, this is my list of what I do to write any character consistently and in character, not just Harry, (and some writing advice in general, really):

1. Get the mannerism right

What I mean by that is that characters, like human beings, are capable of a lot under the right circumstances. When writing a fic a character isn't going to stay the same as in canon if their situation changes, so I find it more useful to think of how characters do/say things rather than what they do. Basically, any character can do anything and it would feel in character if the circumstances and how they go about it make sense.

For me, I know dialogue is one of my strengths as a writer, and I put effort into learning characters' dialects and speech patterns. Harry would use the word "bloke" and not "guy". He never uses "Bloody hell" or "Blimey". Harry's swears are often censored from the books, so I take it Harry says "fuck" or "sodding hell". When he thinks mid-sentence he says "er..." often. Harry, in general, doesn't speak as often as Ron or Hermione.

Ron, on the other hand, says "bloody hell" and "Blimey" often. He also says "mate" a lot. Hermione rarely shortens words. Often in the books, she would say "we are" rather than "we're" and is generally more formal in her speech. She also uses more words than both boys to get the same point across.

All these little patterns of speech add a lot to the characters feeling like themselves. The choice of words matters more than what they're actually saying, a lot of times. The what can be heavily influenced by the circumstances but the how should be familiar.

Let's take a reaction of surprise to the same good thing happening:

"Blimey, I can't believe it," said Ron, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Hermione said, smiling and turning to Ron and Harry, "You can see this too, right?"

"That's brilliant," said Harry, grinning at the sight of [thing].

So, these sorts of details just add a lot to characterization and I find that if you can pull the voice and mannerisms off, you can pull off almost any actions, and the character would feel in character as long as it's not outrageous.

2. "Character Bible"

I usually have a little "character bible" which is like 6-10 commandments of how the character needs to behave (key personality traits and behavior), and when I'm editing, I go back to it. What you choose to put in your "character bible" can change depending on what matters to you more as a writer. For Harry, my character bible is something like this:

Says more in his head than outside his head.

Snarks back when threatened, hot-headed when in emotional distress, doesn't say anything if it's a possibility (unless he likes who he's talking to).

Wit. Wit. Wit. (add witty remarks in narration or dialogue if the opportunity arises. Sarcastic humor is good for Harry's narration).

Very talented and smart, very low self-worth

Awkward, but no one but him knows this

"I won't!" (He does not do well with authority or direct orders. The quote is from GoF when he resists the imperious curse)

Trust issues galore (he doesn't really trust anybody besides Sirius. Only in HBP does he start to tell Ron and Hermione everything).

Selectively observant (Harry observes what he cares about. If he doesn't care, it might as well not have been there) and super judgmental in his narration.

Wants to be left alone and be content and safe.

3. Edit.

I'm sorry to say it, but reading through your own writing again and again and fixing it up every time helps so much. After I finish writing a chapter I take a break to go to bed and then come back the next day and reread the chapter with new eyes and correct everything that seems out of character, any phrasing that feels awkward, spelling and grammar errors if I notice them. But this first go-through immediately after is mostly for characterization, voice, and plot.

In general, during a first draft, your goal is to get it written, making it good is what editing is for. That's why my mantra during the process of writing the first draft is: "I'll fix it in post".

4. Let the character take the wheel

This is more specific to my own writing method, but, you know how there are method actors? So I'm a method writer. Sorta, I'm half-joking.

What I mean by this, is that I get to know a character by writing them (a lot) and then I don't really need to think about it. Like, I just write what feels right to the character. Like, whenever I'm unsure about a scene, I'd go: "Harry take the wheel" and just type what the character thinks, in my mind. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's sort of discovery writing in small limited doses, essentially. I sort of let the character take over for the scene. Like I'm not writing the story, just typing it. Kinda like demonic possession, just, not.

I know it's not really the characters and that I'm writing it, I just find this process hard to explain. When you write a character a lot and often, you can become capable of writing them naturally. Almost like breathing. Like writing your own narration, except, it isn't. But it takes effort to get to this point.

Again, this won't necessarily work for everyone, but it's what I found works for me.

5. Unsure? Open the books

The books exist and if you're unsure how Harry would react to something, just, check. I have an ebook version of GoF open when I'm writing my fic, which takes place in GoF. So, if I'm unsure how Harry would phrase something or react to something, I just check.

6. Get a Beta Reader

My best advice though, is to find a fandom friend to beta read for you, someone you trust to tell you if you're writing OOC and help you fix it (preferably they would also be a writer). Becouse sometimes you don't see it yourself after you just wrote it. My beta for my fic also helped me write my novel, and she knows me as a writer, I know her as a writer, and she knows what sort of things she needs to pay attention to in my writing and vice versa.

That first OOC fic I mentioned? I let her read it, and she told me that the pacing is crap and Harry is acting off (in nicer words, she was very polite about it, but that's what she meant). And that sort of feedback is invaluable for improving and I'm incredibly grateful to her.

Sometimes, you need to hear the truth, even when it's unpleasant, that's how growth happens.

(Now she practically never comments on characterization or pacing, improvement!)

7. Perfect is the enemy of good

I don't think my characterization of Harry is perfect. I don't think my writing is perfect. Whenever I go back to edit, I always find more stuff to fix. But there is a point where you gotta stop fixing it and just post it. Because you'll never know how it will go if you don't do it.

At some point, after all the editing, you just need to declare your work is "good enough" (having a beta really helps in telling when "good enough" is, especially at first, since most writers tend to be hyper-critical of their own work). You'll always reread your work and think "oh, I could've wrote this line better" or "oh, that sounds wrong" even after you post it (but so could the best authors to ever live, I'm sure. It's just how it is).

So, It won't be perfect, nothing ever will. But it can still be great and amazing and make someone's day, even if it isn't "perfect".

So, don't be scared to make mistakes or butch it up on your first attempt, you're human, you're learning, and you can improve. But that can only happen if you start writing because nothing teaches better than hands-on experience.

[danmeicoffeecat]

The point about how binging all the seasons together is so true.

Me and my mom watched all the 4 seasons together in Feb 2024. Although I have heard about stranger things and the hype during 2022 in yt and all, I didn't watch it then. Like, I could tell it was a show I would really love if I just gave it a watch, but still I couldn't start watching it (me and my watchlist have commitment issues).

Anyways, when we started watching, from the first season itself when Joyce went to Hopper to file for a missing complaint; the moment she said Lonnie basically bullied his own child for being queer, I was convinced about Will being gay. My mom also clocked in on it and asked.

I was still not sure about Mike's queerness. But it did stick out to me how emotional he was throughout S1 -- worried out his mind for Will, his outburst at how Will can't be dead, him staying up at the hospital waiting for Will to wake up. Similarly, in S2, wherever Will was Mike was there, giving his at most care and concern for Will's well-being.

I was so flabbergasted at how in S3, they became distant. We both were like why did they drastically change Mike's character?? His character was all over the place, at times being the same old Mike we knew then pulling 180-degree shift.

S4 beginning was also like this. Then after El was taken to the NINA project and Mike and Will start talking to each other, like really have a convo, things seemed back to normal. (I'm so sorry if this is all over the place).

But still mind you, although i did feel the chemistry between byler, I was not sure if it was just me reading to much into. My mom completely missed it, the romantic undertones.

When I started watching the different analysis vids and all, that's when I really felt, okay maybe I did clock in something substantiable.

We're planning to rewatch them again soon and wish me luck on getting my mom also aware of it.

Now about Mike and El's relationship, I remember being so irritated about it in S1, because up until that point their dynamic was so compatible as friends or siblings and this romantic twist completely took me out. But then I thought, maybe as a queer person myself, I was unable to pick upon it(lmao). S2, it was pretty clear Mike cared for El, but still didn't convince me it was something romantic. S3, I was not at all interested in their relationship. I could see Mike was not really putting much effort into the relationship as much as El. It felt like he had a gf because that's what they were supposed to do. Honestly, El not being Mike's gf really suited her character. I didn't expect them to get back together again. And ohboi that was one awkward kiss, that too not even adorable, just straight up uncomfortable. Second only to the airport-half-hug-fist-bump kinda situation.

Where I'm going with this is, although I picked up very few really sus moments while binging it, I did not fully register it. But as I liked to immerse myself with analysis vids and edits after finishing a show, I started to register those moments more clearly. My mom though, enjoyed it but completely forgot most stuff; she didn't check it out after watching. Also, she is kinda slow on clocking in on queer relationships. We were watching a series with a lesbian couple, and it took her 4eps to realise that. But kudos to her, becoz they were like side characters who were providing info and stuff to the mc; no scenes of them being physically affectionate, just domestic living-together-vibes. I'll take whatever win I can get.

So, yeah, binging all the eps together really makes it hard to pick up on stuff unless u are a really sharp viewer and is familiar with reading into subtext and cinematography.

ex milkvan ride-or-die shipper and i am convinced the majority of modern day milkvan shippers are people who didn’t watch the show until it became super popular in 2022 when s4 was coming out.

like, there is a difference between binging all four seasons of a show and having years of wait between each one.

the time between each one gives you time to reflect on what you might see next season. as a milkvan truther after watching the first 2 seasons of the show in 2018, i was super excited for season 3 because we could see mike and eleven finally be together after their sweet reunion in the s2 finale.

and then…they literally break up in the first 2 episodes 😭

all my expectations flew straight out the window. i remember sitting there like “oh…wait what?” not necessarily disappointed (probably idk i was like 13) but super confused. even when they kissed at the end i hated it because it was just such an awkward kiss omdsssss😑

fast forward 3 years then i’m 16 and in a lesbian relationship and milkvan is just not hitting any spots. can’t remember what my expectations were for them, but i hated their reunion and didn’t have high hopes for them after that. (high hopes looked at the “i love you” scene, laughed, and left forever)

it was after vol2 was out and marinated when i started to see byler for what it was, because much like milkvan itself, each new season broke down all the expectations i had for them whilst byler only thrived.

binging all four seasons completely in one go strips this kind of trial and error experience away from you, you’re less likely to have grown accustomed to the writing and predict what will happen next time. (not suggesting bingers who joined in 2022 and post cant have picked up on byler too, it’s just a bit more difficult for the average person so pat yourself on the back if that’s your experience)

hence why i see so many new milkvans claim s5 is gonna be the season where they’re finally the power couple we thought they’d be back in 2018…and they weren’t.

“they’re gonna get married and 🤫 and have superpowered babies!”…what in the muthr fokc?

the only power they ever had was the power of heteronormativity

still love their pairing, but they’d be so much more powerful as friends like they were in the beginning

[schmergo]

My controversial opinions about the current trend of highly minimalist Shakespeare:

I like a minimalist approach to the Bard, but I think it has to be done within certain parameters.

Too many theatres seem to think that either everybody already knows the play and they don’t need to worry about the audience understanding everything OR they assume that nobody cares about Shakespeare and massively cut down everything except the celebrity leading actors’ lines. But if you play your cards right, audiences might actually enjoy other aspects of the play besides the stars!

1. A smaller cast is fine, great even. I’ve heard the estimate that Shakespeare’s plays might have been originally performed by about 15 people. A cast of 11-15 tends to work well in most spaces.

You can do an enjoyable Shakespeare play with 8-10 people (with significant cuts and doubling), but it doesn’t do anything to IMPROVE the theatergoing experience. And under 8 actors? It better be done for comedic effect or highly avant- garde, or it will be incomprehensible to most.

2. If you’re using a lot of doubling/tripling/quadrupling, you need to differentiate characters with costumes. Having everyone wear plain black minimalistic outfits or military uniforms only works if half the actors aren’t playing 5 different people.

As originally staged, Shakespeare’s plays didn’t have much in the way of sets, but costumes did a lot of storytelling. Even if yours are simple and modern, they should tell us something about the characters. The humble Friar Lawrence and the powerful Prince Escalus probably wouldn’t dress the same.

3. Similarly, if you’re doubling, tripling, etc. and significantly abridging the script, do not cut dialogue like “I have disguised myself as a monk!” or “They will never know that I’m secretly Bob!” Otherwise, they might think this is a whole new character they need to keep track of if clothes/accessories are the only signifier for that!

4. Also, try not to cut too many lines that establish a sense of place if you don’t have actual sets. Lines like, “Here we are in the forest” or “We’ve finally reached France!” are Shakespeare’s audience lifelines!

5. If you’re combining small roles to create composite characters, pay attention to those characters’ arcs. For instance, if combining all the minor lords in Macbeth into Ross and Lennox, maybe one starts more naive and the other more jaded, maybe one turns against MacB long before the other.

Don’t assign them lines that don’t make sense for their role, like if Lennox teleports between Scotland and England from scene to scene or if someone reacts with shock to news they already witnessed firsthand in an earlier scene. In general, treat your supporting characters like characters, not just vehicles to move the plot forward for the lead actor’s star turn, even if the lead is played by a celebrity!

6. Relying on voice and facial expressions only to tell the story, absent of sets, costumes, props, ensemble characters, or action scenes only works in a suitably intimate space. I don’t want to sit in the nosebleed seats in a 2,000 seat theatre and see a huge bare stage with only 9 people sitting or standing, emoting to only the first few rows.

Sitting through a play without following the story at all will make lots of people hate Shakespeare who may have otherwise fallen in love with his work after attending your play. “Stripping Shakespeare down to its bare essentials” can be raw and invigorating, just be careful not to remove binding ingredients or the whole recipe falls apart. The text can be tricky enough to comprehend, let alone with next to no visual signifiers to guide them. Work with the text, not against it! So many helpful tools are built into it!

[meichenxi]

The known-ish words of intermediate Chinese, or: What does it mean to know a word?

We all have this intuition, especially in languages like Chinese, that there are words we 'kind of know'. These are the known-ish words. In the case of Chinese, most people would recognise at least three axes:

1) Do I know the meaning? 2) Do I know the pronunciation? 3) Do I know how to handwrite it?

You might answer yes to some, but no to others. Voila! You know the word - ish.

And then you can also add the dimension of passive and active knowledge:

1) Do I recognise this word passively? 2) Can I use this word actively?

Great. Even more ways of kind of but not really knowing a word. But that's far from all. There's also the different domains of listening and reading, writing and speaking.

So passively, that looks like:

1) Do I know the meaning when listening? 2) Do I know the meaning when reading? 3) Do I know the pronunciation when reading?

Once we add in the active dimension, it all starts to get a bit more complicated. This is far from an exhaustive list, but consider the follows ways you could define 'knowing' a word:

1) I can read the word out loud (but I don't know what it means, and I can't use it in a sentence) 2) I know what the word means, and I can use it in a sentence (but I can't handwrite it) 3) I can use the word in a spoken sentence (but I don't know how to type it, or which character it uses) 4) I can recognise the word when reading (but don't know how to read it out loud, and can only guess at the meaning) 5) I can use the word in a written sentence (but not a spoken sentence) 6) I can type the word and recognise the word (but I don't know how to handwrite it) 7) …

Okay. What else?

Chinese is a compounding language.

Have you ever had the experience that you can't recognise a character individually, but as soon as you see it in a familiar compound, you know what it means? So:

1) I can recognise the word individually 2) I can recognise the word as part of a compound 3) I can recognise the word as part of an unfamiliar compound

Chinese is also a language with a long and storied tradition of writing in Classical Chinese as a literary language and a lingua franca across the whole of East Asia - even two hundred years ago, people were writing in Literary Chinese. 'Mandarin' as a concept did not exist.

So often the meanings of familiar characters can be quite different in formal language or chengyu in the modern language, which uses more classical / literary structures and grammar.

Take, for example, the character 次. The first layer of meaning in modern Chinese - the most foundational layer - is its meaning as time, like 'I have been to Ghana two times'.

But its second layer of meaning is secondary, or next best, or just next. For example:

1) 次货 - substandard goods 2) 次子 - second son 3) 次年 - next year

And so on. Many common words have this kind of polysemy.

So we can add another dimension:

1) I recognise this word's common meanings 2) I can use this word's common meanings 3) I recognise this word's less common meanings 4) I can use this word's less common meanings

Add in the reading and listening dimensions, and things get even messier. I am familiar enough with this basic secondary meaning of 次 to fairly quickly be able to understand that it means 'next' or 'second' rather than 'time' if I see it in a written unfamiliar compound or chengyu. But I am most definitely not quick enough to do that every single time whilst listening to the news, for example!

And what about pronunciation? Once you know a fair amount of Chinese characters, you can often guess the pronunciation of new or unfamiliar characters. How?

Because of phonetic components.

For example:

请

清

情

Notice how these all have the same component on the right? This tells us that these characters belong to the largest group of Chinese characters, phonetic-semantic characters. That is - some part of the character gives a clue to the meaning, and some part gives a clue to the pronunciation. In this case, we know they are all pronounced some variety of qing.

But it isn't always that easy. Some phonetic components tell you the tone and pronunciation - some tell you the pronunciation, but not the tone (like qing above). Some phonetic components, to go even further, are only really decipherable if you have a particular interest in phonology or historical linguistics, or learn the patterns. Consider:

脸 - lian3 (face)

险 - xian3 (dangerous)

验 - yan4 (test)

剑 - jian4 (sword)

签 - qian1 (to sign)

捡 - jian3 (to pick up)

There are far more. If you look down the whole list on Pleco, they all show a similar pattern of variation. You can see some patterns, but also numerous exceptions - most end in the -ian final, except for those that are yan of various tones. All begin with l, x, y, j, q. Most are pronounced jian3, but that is far from a rule.

All this to say - you can see a character, and know vaguely how it is pronounced. If I know that a character is pronounced qing definitely, 100%, but don't know the tone - does that mean I know the pronunciation? Or would you only say that knowing it 100% means knowing it? And in that case - how can you account for the fact that learning a character when you already know 90% of the pronunciation is significantly easier than not knowing it at all?

Let me add just a few more scenarios. Bear with me!

1) A character has more than one way to be pronounced. For this word, you read it incorrectly (but you usually know it). 2) A character has more than one tone. Some people pronounce it always with one tone, and some alternate between the two pronunciations. You only knew it with one - but you're half right? 3) You make the same mistake that a native speaker would make with tone or pronunciation of a rarer character.

In some way, these are all more knowing than not knowing anything at all.

And none of this is even taking into account different writing systems, traditional and simplified.

Here are some more scenarios:

I recognise the character in traditional (but not simplified)

I can type the character in both, but I can only hand-write in simplified

I know the Taiwanese pronunciation, but not the Chinese

etc

And of course Chinese characters are used across multiple different languages.

So you could conceivably have these kinds of situations:

I know the pronunciation and meaning in Cantonese and Mandarin

I know the pronunciation and meaning in Cantonese, and the meaning in Mandarin

I know the pronunciation and meaning in Mandarin and recognise it in Cantonese, but know it means something different

I know the pronunciation in Mandarin, but don't know what the whole word actually means in Mongolian (Chinese characters used to transliterate Mongolian words)

Plus there's handwriting and calligraphy!

Personally, I can't read a lot of calligraphy and have accepted my happy illiteracy in many styles. All Chinese learners and heritage speakers know the feeling of sitting in a Chinese restaurant or museum and having a well-meaning friend say, 'Oooo, what does that say?' It's depressing! So let's add some more nuances to our known-ish characters:

I can read this character in common fonts

I can read this character in less common fonts

I can read this character when handwritten

I can read this character when handwritten quickly / by a child / by a doctor

I can read this character in grass script / seal script / etc

Then there's the question of naturalness.

I frequently add words to my Anki decks that I would be able to understand, no question, if I were reading or listening - but I probably wouldn't have thought to say it in that way. So:

I recognise this word, and would have said it exactly like this

I recognise this word, but would never have thought to say it like this

I can use this word, but didn't know you could use it in such a metaphorical way

I can use this word in a metaphorical way, but didn't realise it corresponded so closely to English / was so different from English in its meaning

And finally there's the simple question of memory.

I know I've seen this word before, but I can't remember it right now and I want to drown myself pathetically in the vast uncaring sea

I know I used to be able to use this word actively, but now can only use it passively

I can still type it, but have forgotten how to handwrite it

I can still use it in writing, but I wouldn't be able to use it in speaking

I can recognise it in set expressions, but wouldn't remember how to use it on its own

I can remember the simplified character, but not the traditional

…

So how many ways do you know a word?

I often feel embarrassed to post my vocabulary lists, because I feel that people will be surprised that I don't 'know' certain more foundational words. I think they will be confused as to why I have very 'advanced' vocabulary alongside 'simple' vocabulary. I feel a lot of pressure to be 'advanced' because of the amount of followers I have, but there's a lot of more basic characters I still don't fully know in a holistic way.

And the truth is that all of those characters and words are in Anki for different reasons. I might have a vocab list that looks like this:

略

松懈

星光

缕缕

薄雾

博览

I don't know any of these words in exactly the same dimensions as I know the others! Let's look at my reasons for including each in detail.

略 - lve4 - slightly. I have this word here because although I know it well in set expressions like 略有耳闻 'have heard a little about'，略有受损 'has suffered slight losses' etc, I wouldn't remember the pronunciation if I saw it alone or with another verb apart from 有. I would still know the meaning - but I wouldn't remember how to pronounce it. So even though I 'know' this word, it's still there in Anki.

松懈 - song1xie4 - to relax, lax, slacken. This is a rare example of a totally 'new' word - most of my Anki words aren't. I know 松 already well, but have never seen the character 懈 before: I didn't know its meaning, or pronunciation.

星光 - xing1guang1 - starlight. I know both characters, pronunciation and meaning, and I can easily understand this word. I just never would have thought to say it so simply. I want to use it actively, so I put it in Anki.

缕缕 - lv3lv3 - fine and continuous (i.e. rain, drizzle). I know 缕 already on its own as a measure word for sunlight, thin hair, gossamer, mist, smoke, fine threads etc - I often forget its pronunciation, but I know its meaning reliably when reading. But together the compound 缕缕's meaning isn't quite extricable from just knowing 缕, so I put it in here.

薄雾 - bo2wu4 - mist, fog. I know 雾 well, but hadn't come across 薄 before (or wasn't sure if I had or not). This is an example where I knew its pronunciation, because of phonetic components, but I didn't know the meaning of the character.

博览 - bo2lan3 - to read widely. I know this word very well. So why is this in there? Literally just because I remembered the pronunciation and meaning of 博览, and when I was racking my brains trying to see if I knew the 薄 in 薄雾, I thought it might be the same character. I looked it up, and it wasn't. So even though I know the word, the meaning and the pronunciation, I had to put it in - because I didn't remember which character was used for the bo2.

When you acknowledge all of the different ways of knowing a Chinese character, it makes sense that your learning after the beginning level is going to be full predominantly of known-ish words.

Accept this! Form your own relationship to it! For me, a huge part in my motivation to return to learning Chinese after a year-long break was just to accept that I was likely never going to 'fully know' most of the characters and words that I partially know.

But that's okay. Think about your native language.

If your native language is English or you speak it very well, consider a word like monadic. Could you say you knew this word? Fully knew it? Like me (I learnt this word in the context of Linguistics yesterday), you might have an idea that it has something to do with one - mono, monorail, monotropism, monologue, monolithic etc. But would you be able to use it in a sentence? Would you be able to explain it to a child?

Or let's say you're learning two new English words: lithology and dreich. (The latter is a Scots word, not English - you would hear it in Scotland frequently.) Neither word you completely know. Which one is going to take you longer to learn?

It's likely going to be lithology. You can form connections with words like monolith or paleothic or maybe even lithium - even if you couldn't say for sure what the Greek element lith means, you're passingly familiar with other words containing it. You also know -ology, and you know how to pronounce the word. If you learn that it means 'the study of rocks', that is probably quite easy to remember.

Dreich, on the other hand - what is there to tell you a) how to pronounce this, or b) that it means 'dreary' or 'bleak', as in, dreary weather? You can't form any connections with similar words at all, and the [x] sound at the end - like in German or Hebrew - might be unexpected to hear if you don't live in Scotland.

That's what Chinese is like in the beginning. All words are like dreich. But the more you learn, the more words begin to be like monadic or lithology.

Learning ten new words a day like dreich would be very difficult. But if you've seen monadic a few times over the last few months, know vaguely when to use it, know how to pronounce it - it's not so hard to imagine that you could learn ten of those a day.

I find all these known-ish words very overwhelming.

And I also find recognising the potential for overwhelm in the Chinese language - because of its unique properties - very helpful in letting me feel less guilty about my current known-ish words. I do know them - ish.

But when I finally get around to properly learning them, all that ish-ness will make them that much easier to remember!

Now I try not to stress out about these types of words. I recognise that, in many ways, they are inevitable. Unless you're a poet who composes out of thin air, you're not going to ever say a literary word for emerald green as frequently as you'll read it in descriptive passages in novels.

It's natural to know certain words in a spiky profile: to know them very well in some ways, but not at all in other ways.

The more you read, the more pronounced this can become.

So here's what I've learnt, and here's the message of all this big, long, rambling post:

Putting 'easy' words that you feel you should know into Anki isn't regressing. It's adding another dimension of knowledge to your understanding of the word. You shouldn't feel ashamed or frustrated when you find you don't know one aspect of an otherwise 'easy' word. I'm still trying to learn this.

Because -

Having lots of known-ish words is not a unique failing on your part. It's a reflection of Chinese as a language and its unique complexity -

And it's part of what makes it so uniquely beautiful.

Have a nice day, everyone. meichenxi out!

[low-budget-korra]

The lies Arcane Fandom likes to believe

Okay, I've seen a lot of awful takes in other social medias but now they are getting here too and I just can't. So I will talk abt the truth a lot of the fandom chose to ignore. And I'm saying "the truth" because different from a lot of ppl, I've actually watched the show and paid attention to the scenes.

1. Jinx is the only one who has been traumatized

Half of the worst takes about characters like Vi or Caitlyn, wouldn't exist if ppl realize that Jinx WASN'T the only one who got traumatized. Vi spent 7y getting beat up in prison, without eating properly and confined in a dirt cell. And no, she is not the one to blame for the person Jinx became. Jinx has to be held accountable for that, just as much as Silco for feeding her paranoias and manipulating her for years.

2. Caitlyn was a evil character and manipulated Vi

Season 1 Caitlyn shows nothing but empathy and patience, y'all like to say Jinx was a revolutionary but s1 Caitlyn was a revolutionary. "Oh but she was rich, she can't be" oh my sweet summer child...

Anyways, she wanted to end Silco cartel - that was destroying Zaun. She even managed to get a council meeting to talk about this. She wanted to change things and she was acting towards this.

Then she got kidnapped naked, tortured for hours, didn't take the shot that would have saved her mother's life, her mother was murdered, the memorial ceremony was attacked and yet she REFUSED to follow the council's ideas to use full force and invade Zaun. Which led us to

2.1 Caitlyn used the grey against innocents

She DIDN'T. She said it herself that the plan was to capture Silco's goons and destroy the slimmer factories. And we see that in the Hellfire sequence.

So stop spreading that she was using the grey against innocents bc the people she used against it were Chembaroons who provoked a civil war on Zaun for power, and used children labor in its factories. They are far from innocents.

2.2 Caitlyn manipulates Vi

I don't even know where this fake news came from bc I've already watched Arcane 3 times, watch at least 4 reaction channels and a few analysis on yt and no one apart from some of y'all in fandom sees this. Jinx manipulates Vi way more than Caitlyn, for example, she is the one that makes Vi believe that her becoming Jinx is her fault.

3. Viktor and Jayce did nothing wrong

Jayce basically built a Chernobyl above Zaun just bc if Hextech goes bad, people from Zaun would be the ones suffering the consequences and not Piltover.

Y'all like to call Caitlyn a genocide (even tho we didn't see any kill directly from hr actions), when Viktor is literally the one willing to kill people in the thousands just because he believes it's the best call. "I want to evolve all those willing to" excuse me? Sir, what "evolve" even means in this scenario? Bc those "evolved" ppl became nothing more than marionettes with no control over their actions and completely brainwashed.

4. Caitlyn was a dictator, she knew everything that was happening on Zaun and did nothing

Caitlyn was actually a pawn in Ambessa chess, a face to Ambessa actions, a face to take the blame for. Noxus could not just simply invade Piltover and install an Martial Law without the support of a major house like house Kiramman.

Essentially what Ambessa did was promote Caitlyn, and hide behind her status. Because if any other Piltie house questions, she could be like "but I'm just here to support the Kirammans, I'm just doing what Im told"

We see in episode 4 that the Noxians are the ones dealing with Zaun's turf wars. Do y'all actually believe their reports on what's happening was legit? Of course not. Caitlyn made her decisions based on those false reports that she didn't even give two fucks about bc she was still too focused on tracking Jinx. That's why when she started to really see what was going on and questions Ambessa, Ambessa quickly pulls the "mom" card to push Caitlyn back into her web.

Sure, she was still powerful and privileged but she wasn't in full control. And the fact that a lot of the fandom dismisses Ambessa's manipulation shows how good at that she is.

5. Vi choose to have sex instead of helping her suicidal sister

Vi DOESN'T watch Arcane. She doesn't know how bad Jinx was and mind you, last time Jinx was acting weird she blew up things instead of being suicidal. We, the Audience, watch her whole journey and change. Vi only stayed with her for a short period of time and she was in a coma for days. She doesn't know what happened after Isha sacrificed and how much this affected Jinx.

"breaking the cycle" could mean a lot of things and if you listen to her words when Caitlyn arrives, you can see that she clearly thinks Jinx is out there abt to blow something. She is blaming herself for believing in Jinx change of heart and not sad for her being suicidal, this prob actually never crossed Vi's mind.

6. CaitVi was forced

I can't with this ""argument"" CaitVi is the couple that has been built since s1 😭. I take that sometimes they were toxic (like when Cait hit Vi) but to say they were forced...please use it 🧠

7. Silco was a revolutionary and a good father do Jinx

Sure, in the past. There's nothing glorious or revolutionary in running a cartel, having business with corrupted cops and child labor. "But he was getting money to his revolution" my ass. He spent 7y doing nothing but becoming more and more powerful while Zaun became like the Pride Lands when Scar took over. He only gets back to his revolutionary ideas when Jinx stole the Hextech gem.

His beautiful speech doesn't match his horrible actions.

The fact that so many ppl see him as this perfect father figure, is the reason so many ppl so easily fall into abusive relationships. Yes, he took care of her but at the same time, he isolated Jinx from her sister , fed her paranoia and instigated her violence tendencies. And it's so clear bc the moment he was no longer in her life, she started to get better in her mental health.

Anyway to finish this long ass post lmao, I want to say that you are free to dislike and hate who you want and what narrative choice you want. The only thing, that ain't that hard, is be fucking honest abt it. There's no need to create bullshit expectations over your hate, ignoring the CANNON.

[the-way-astray]

lyrical breakdown . . .

(Verse 1)

There once was a boy from a series for kids

Fan favorite, created as comic relief

exactly!!!! he was created as comic relief!!!! actually he wasn’t even supposed to exist, but. anyway why did shannon give him the legacy plotline . . . please . . . go back to when he was just a side character . . .

But there was a girl who didn’t find him comedic

Her name was Stria, his name was Keefe

accurate.

(Verse 2)

So let’s just say for this song they’re the same age

And either she’s fictional too or he’s real

he should be real so i can put him in the very real dirt

And Stria for some reason is her given name

lmfaoooo i have definitely explained this one. it comes from astray, like my username. astray -> astrya -> strya -> stria . . . we ignore that it means stretch marks. i did not know that

Just wait for what their story will make you feel

hopefully unadulterated rage. that's what it's making me feel

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to love

LOVE IS CRAZY . . . and yes we are unlikely. in fact we are extinct

She was nothing to him

Now she’s more than enough

keefe would not give two shits about me . . . i would be nothing to him. actually

She thought he was toxic

i still think that. actually

Now she understands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

MY HEART IS COMMANDING ME TO HATE KEEFE IRWIN SENCEN

(Verse 3)

She wrote a whole rant about everything wrong

With how he would talk and the way that he’d act

this is correct. almost the only part of this song that isn't slanderous lies

The day they met she said she was right all along

Told him off and rolled her eyes when he said he felt “attacked”

how did we meet in the song's lore . . . and okay keefe. feel attacked. see if i care. in fact this should encourage you to consider staying away . . .

(Verse 4)

But Keefe had this thing where he hated himself

He was going through it, that much was for sure

pro keefe propaganda in a strieefe song? fork found in kitchen . . . *stops myself from ranting about how i don't care if keefe is going through it, he still faces no consequ-*

He thought long and hard about Stria’s words well

Decided she was right and he should thank her

are we talking about the same keefe. i think you may be singing about a different keefe than i am

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to friends

i love how the first chorus goes "hatred to love" and then decides to dial it down a notch with "hatred to friends" in the second one

He was nothing to her

CORRECT!!!! RAHHHH!!!!

We’ll see how it ends

this song's ending is slander and lies. don't listen to it

She thought he was toxic

But she’s soon to understand

One must always follow

What their heart commands

KILLING KEEFE MAIMING KEEFE BITING KEEFE EXPLODING KEEFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Verse 5)

Stria couldn’t believe he would own his mistakes

yeah there's no way i'm believing that because it didn't happen

But he swore he got it and promised to change

. . . did he though. did he really . . .

She didn’t believe it and thought it was fake

it probably is. waiting for the other shoe to drop (it will, trust) (don't listen to katie's propaganda, this song is leaving some stuff out)

He took in stride, which Stria thought was strange

he would never . . .

(Verse 6)

Alayda watched from the sidelines and was grinning

yeah, sounds like her

And Katie (that’s me, I’m Katie) took notes furiously

and then warped and skewed the notes beyond repair and put them into rhyming verses and sang it in a song. but i guess that's too long of a line to include

Alayda said, “Katie it looks like we’re winning”

alayda is also a traitor to the sokeefe nation. in case anyone cares

But I ship him with Sophie, so I said “who’s we??”

YOU LITERALLY ADMITTED TO WRITING A STRIEEFE FIC AND YOU WROTE THIS STRIEEFE SONG DON'T PRETEND YOU AREN'T A TRAITOR TO THE SOKEEFE NATION

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to something

"something" is still hatred. hope this helps

He was nothing to her

Now he’s surely more than nothing

actually, he's less than nothing

She thought he was toxic

But soon she’ll understand

One must always follow

What their heart commands

my heart is commanding me to beat katie up with a shoe. and i still think he's toxic

(Verse 7)

Keefe day by day proved he meant what he said

. . . what version of keefe is this song about????

And Stria rethought the whole rant that she’d made

rethinking some parts, but definitely not the entire thing

She said “fine okay, I guess we can be friends”

i hate his sense of humor i would never be able to get along with him

He wanted more than that and asked for a date

can i please leave now

(Verse 8)

She said before they could be something more

She had a condition, he must be okay

i would never consider this. this is stria slander

With sharing her eternally with four times four

Just like the amount of letters in his name

THIS SEEMS LIKE A WELL-INTENTIONED SIXTEEN MENTION BUT IT'S JUST AN EXCUSE TO BRING UP THE FACT THAT SHANNON HATES ME AND WANTS ME DEAD AND MADE KEEFE'S MIDDLE NAME HAVE FIVE LETTERS SO THAT HIS FULL NAME HAS SIXTEEN LETTERS THIS IS KATIE MANIPULATION I'M NOT CRAZY

(Chorus)

And he said yes!

he could never live up the the very high bar that my true love, the number sixteen, has set

An unlikely couple

Hatred to love

THIS VERSION IS BACK

Just him and sixteen

Now that’s more than enough

just sixteen is more than enough. sixteen and keefe is less than enough

She thought he was toxic

Now she understands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

my heart is commanding me to elope with sixteen and leave keefe in the dirt

*ridiculous electric guitar solo by Katie’s brother*

the best part of the song. also you forgot some key lyrics. here, i'll fix it for you

*katie laughing*

okay, that's enough of that

i agree. that's enough of strieefe for a lifetime

As promised, 8-verse song about strieefe!

featuring my brother at the end 😭😭

For those who don’t know the joke, Stria @the-way-astray HAAAATES Keefe Sencen. So naturally it’s a ship! And after this memories post happened, well, I had no choice!

LYRICS UNDER THE CUT

(Verse 1)

There once was a boy from a series for kids

Fan favorite, created as comic relief

But there was a girl who didn’t find him comedic

Her name was Stria, his name was Keefe

(Verse 2)

So let’s just say for this song they’re the same age

And either she’s fictional too or he’s real

And Stria for some reason is her given name

Just wait for what their story will make you feel

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to love

She was nothing to him

Now she’s more than enough

She thought he was toxic

Now she understands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

(Verse 3)

She wrote a whole rant about everything wrong

With how he would talk and the way that he’d act

The day they met she said she was right all along

Told him off and rolled her eyes when he said he felt “attacked”

(Verse 4)

But Keefe had this thing where he hated himself

He was going through it, that much was for sure

He thought long and hard about Stria’s words well

Decided she was right and he should thank her

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to friends

He was nothing to her

We’ll see how it ends

She thought he was toxic

But she’s soon to understand

One must always follow

What their heart commands

(Verse 5)

Stria couldn’t believe he would own his mistakes

But he swore he got it and promised to change

She didn’t believe it and thought it was fake

He took in stride, which Stria thought was strange

(Verse 6)

Alayda watched from the sidelines and was grinning

And Katie (that’s me, I’m Katie) took notes furiously

Alayda said, “Katie it looks like we’re winning”

But I ship him with Sophie, so I said “who’s we??”

(Chorus)

An unlikely couple

Hatred to something

He was nothing to her

Now he’s surely more than nothing

She thought he was toxic

But soon she’ll understand

One must always follow

What their heart commands

(Verse 7)

Keefe day by day proved he meant what he said

And Stria rethought the whole rant that she’d made

She said “fine okay, I guess we can be friends”

He wanted more than that and asked for a date

(Verse 8)

She said before they could be something more

She had a condition, he must be okay

With sharing her eternally with four times four

Just like the amount of letters in his name

(Chorus)

And he said yes!

An unlikely couple

Hatred to love

Just him and sixteen

Now that’s more than enough

She thought he was toxic

Now she understands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

An unlikely couple

Hatred to love

She was nothing to him

Now she’s more than enough

She thought he was toxic

Now she understands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

One must always follow

What their heart commands

*ridiculous electric guitar solo by Katie’s brother*

If you made it this far, congrats! Check out my serious kotlc songs by looking up #kotlc songs or #original music on my blog!! Or not. You could always just judge my musical abilities forever and ever by this recording of me making Stria angry, which, okay, valid.

@the-way-astray @alaydabug2 @thishumanformislimiting @worldsunlikemyown @permanently-stressed @lisalovesapplesauce @jeannefostergoriot

[karasukarei]

Wind Breaker DVD/BR Vol. 6 bonus content – Boufuurin Vs Shishitoren Maruhi ㊙ Talk and Battle - Part 1

This is the translation of the vol. 6 bonus with the DVD/Bluray! I did not buy it for the bonus. I did buy it because Umemiya is featured on the cover. I have my priorities right.

There's 3 (4?) main parts to this - (1) Boufuurin x Shishitoren talk, (2) Hiiragi x Sako talk + (3) battle, (4) Boufuurin x Shishitoren battle. The battles are kinda hard to understand without the video, so I'll leave that aside for now and focus on just the talks.

As these are more like talk shows, there's quite a few areas where multiple people are talking over each other; in such instances, I will be omitting some of the stuff being said if it's repetitions or if they do not add on to the main stuff being spoken.

Important: A lot of what NakaYuu says will seem very cold/ indifferent on paper, and unfortunately this is one of those things that get lost in translation. In context, he's actually playing the deadpan fool like his pal Sugitan.

For the rest of my translations, see this post!

Boufuurin x Shishitoren talk

Sakura (CV: Uchida Yuuma - Yuuma)

Umemiya (CV: Nakamura Yuuichi - NakaYuu)

Choji (CV: Totani Toya Kikunosuke - Toya) (t/n: there's this running gag that has an origin I'm unaware of, apparently some people read his name wrongly and called him Totani instead and I admit that for the longest time I really thought it was read as Totani. The 谷 in 戸谷 can be read as either "ya" or "tani", and both are pretty common readings, hence the confusion)

(if anyone wants to hear me ramble about multiple readings for names please DM me I will be so happy to go on this long shpiel about meeting 3 people with 3 different readings of the same character before)

Togame (CV: Umehara Yuuichirou - Umechan) (t/n: yes I'm here to confuse the heck out of you)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuuma: Hello everyone! I'm the voice actor of Sakura Haruka for the television anime Wind Breaker, Uchida Yuuma!

NakaYuu: Umemiya Hajime's Nakamura Yuuichi! (t/n: he was drawling a lot here wwww)

Toya: Tomiyama Choji's Toya Kikunosuke! (t/n: he is really so cute I want to protecc) (I also cannot emphasise enough just how talented he is; he sounds NOTHING like Choji irl)

Umechan: Togame Jo's Umehara Yuuichiro, thanks for having me.

Everyone: Thanks for having us! (t/n: it's the usual yoroshiku onegaishimasu greeting and I can never figure out how to properly translate it)

Yuuma: Speaking of, to everyone who bought the anime package (i.e. the DVD or blu-ray), will be receiving this special bonus, ehhh. ~It's Wind Breaker~ (comes with sparkles too) everyone.

NakaYuu: That's right.

(everyone chuckles)

Toya: We've even worn these jackets!

NakaYuu: Why are you doing it? (t/n: LMAO)

*everyone laughs*

Umechan: On the other hand, *points at Yuuma and NakaYuu* you're here like this?

Toya: It feels different there. (t/n: this is not an entirely accurate translation, but i'm pretty tired today and don't feel like explaining now. What he said was 気合違いますよ which has a bit more nuance; I'll explain in an edit next time.)

Yuuma: This is my regular...

Umechan: Gakuran? (t/n: this is the style of school uniforms worn by Boufuurin)

NakaYuu: It's not that. *very seriously*

Toya: Yuuma-san's clothes actually of give off a bit of the feel of gakurans...

Yuuma: It's not a gakuran ^_^

***

Yuuma: With that, the four of us from Wind Breaker, Shishitouren and Boufuurin will have a talk with each other.

Everyone (i think): Yes!

Yuuma: It's been a while since we've recorded our lines, and I think there'll be lots of memories we'll be reminiscing upon, but in Wind Breaker, there's often talk of speaking with our fists; Nakamura-san and I first joined from the PV, it's been a while, hasn't it? (t/n: They're referring to a special video they recorded for an event in Shibuya in 2021)

NakaYuu: It's a while back, isn't it?

Yuuma: Around 2021, yes.

NakaYuu: About two years before the anime, I think.

Umechan: It's from before the anime?

NakaYuu: Yes yes yes, when you get to our level it's like that. (t/n: this is absolutely dripping in sarcasm fyi; NakaYuu can only get away with a joke like this cos he's the oldest here) You start getting involved even before the anime is announced.

Yuuma: As for the two of you (Shishitoren), you guys auditioned?

Umechan: Yes...

Toya: We auditioned and received our roles.

Yuuma: You two make a great combo, how was it like performing together?

Umechan: It's my first time working with Toya-kun.

Toya: Yes it is.

Umechan: It was really refreshing. The other cast members, I've met them quite often at other places, so I sort of know how things will turn out with them. It's only Toya-kun I don't know anything about.

Toya: For me, it's my first time meeting most of the cast members, I remember that during the first recording I was really really nervous.

Umechan: I didn't know how it would turn out, but he was very Tomiyama-ish.

Yuuma: That's the matching being done (t/n: this might be a mistranslation; he literally uses "matching" in katakana, I'm not sure if there's an alternative meaning I'm missing out.)

NakaYuu: There's difficulty in reading him. (i.e. in reading his character)

***

Yuuma: Next is the visual commentary part, where we watch the anime while giving comments on it. First up, is this match!

T/N: I'm going to skip some parts and summarise some parts, as it's going to be pretty much impossible to match the dialogue and scene one on one without video

Sakura vs Togame

When Umechan first recorded for Togame, he spoke so slowly he was surprised, and in the end that take was used for the anime. It got easier to speak slowly as he practiced more, but at first he had to make a conscious effort to go slow.

Togame's script also had a lot of markings at the end of words (e.g. dashes), to indicate that the words should be drawn out / spoken slowly.

While filming the fight scenes, they thought quite a lot about what to ad lib and how to draw breaths in between lines. They were told it wasn't necessary to do it for everything, but on the day of recording they decided that they did want to include the ad libs and breaths for the whole thing.

NakaYuu, at the point when Sakura is kicked by Togame with his geta on: Getting kicked by the geta looks bad. (t/n: NO SHIT SHERLOCK)

Umechan: I would've preferred him to wear sneakers, it can absorb the impact a bit.

Yuuma: The geta is really hard.

NakaYuu: Of course it is.

NakaYuu, at the point when Sakura's head is stomped on by Togame with his Geta: That looks bad.

Yuuma: He's a real beast!

Umechan: Everyone, this is fiction.

Yuuma: Please don't try the same thing at home.

Umechan, at the point when Togame took off his geta: If he hadn't taken off his geta, I think he would have won. (t/n: LMAO)

NakaYuu: This is a power down event.

Umechan: His reach is now one geta shorter.

NakaYuui: His reach and power have both dropped. But his grip is stronger now

Umechan: It would've been fine if he hadn't taken it off.

NakaYuu: It's probably cos it feels strange using a weapon when he wants to fight fair and square.

t/n: WHY ARE THEY FEEDING INTO EACH OTHER'S CHAOS

Everyone in turn, when Sakura and Togame kicked each other in the face: The geta. the geta!

Yuuma: It's a good thing he's not wearing the geta.

NakaYuu: If he was wearing the geta he would've won.

Yuuma: Togame is a really great guy, fighting for Choji's sake. Thanks for the great battle! Next is this battle!

TO BE CONTINUED

[doomed2repeat]

With US Tiktok ending, my hot take is this-

Bridgerton content on TikTok is probably the #1 reason why expectations are so skewed. Content creators take ship content and make edits there that play into the romance angle FAR more effectively than the show does. I’ve seen clips of Nicola and Luke from the tour edited in such a way that it removes the context or reorders it to make it romantic or sexual when the original clips hosted by the journalists were not. Best example of this would be a clip of the compliment battle I saw edited so that Luke put a picture of Nicola in his pocket, when it was actually a tweet about himself that he wanted to keep. It was done seamlessly, but it wasn’t what happened. Shipper content goes more viral than clips of Nicola or Luke saying they’re just friends, to the point where people fully claim that they never said it, when they have, multiple times, and the written interviews from articles don’t make a dent either.

I think this disconnect sold an idea I’ve seen where people complained they got more Polin from the tour than the show, or that the tour felt more romantic than the show, but it’s because of this constant barrage of Nicola and Luke content where it’s just the two of them, highly edited stylistically, set to romantic music, designed to create an effect. This is not to negate their chemistry, because they have TONS of chemistry, but this is to say Tiktok fan content set an expectation that the show- which has been designed to prioritize drama and conflict over romance despite the genre- could not match, as good as the season was in the end. Nic and Luke’s natural friendship is more open and modern than what Polin’s 1815 friendship can look like, leading some people to go “why don’t they have the same energy in the show?” Every clip of Luke and Nicola on tour was a fun, cute clip, and we got HOURS of content of the two of them. The season had subplots and fights and arguments and less screentime for Polin as a couple than the world tour had for Luke and Nic as costars. I get that.

But the effect knocks on to the actors, with people chasing the high they got from watching edited tour clips into the actors real lives. The tour BECAME the show for some people, that was their entertainment, even more than Polin (which I’ve also seen people say, that the WT was better than the season because it had more Polin) and because of this it contributes to Nicola and Luke not being treated as human beings or actors, but as content themselves. This culminated in the end of the WT being treated as a betrayal by some fans. It wasn’t the end of a promo cycle of a show, it was their favorite characters not giving them their favorite show anymore AND they didn’t get the ending they wanted.

Instead of going back to watching Polin content, they locked in on Luke and Nicola IRL, with the Polin fandom and the Lukola fandom being very distinctly different things. Those TikTokers are not making Polin content, they’re not excited about Bridgerton season 4 or moving on to Benophie or Luke T and Yerin, and they’re not even interested in what S4 means for the fictional characters of Colin and Penelope because that’s not really what they’re here for in the first place. Their content is Nicola and Luke, because what they like is what TikTok gave them, not what Netflix and Bridgerton gave them, and they won’t be satisfied until reality reflects the content that’s been fed to them. They’ll continue to seek it out, and nothing will ever be enough because the lines have been so blurred from the characters to the actors that there’s no respect for privacy or personal lives, just entitlement to access over a relationship we only saw so much of in the first place because they were promoting a show.

[yourresidentstanlover]

I can't sleep and I have to get up in less than 4 hours for school n shit, so have some of my thoughts about fiddlestan and fiddauthor.

DISCLAIMER: I have not read the entirety of The Book of Bill, or Journal 3. I've only seen snippets online. I want to get them both, tho. I'll get my hands on em once it gets less cold and icy around here.

Sooo fiddlestan. I like it, and it has a loooot of potential for angst. HOWEVER, I don't like when people villainize Ford just to make Fidds get with Stan. I do think that Ford cares deeply about Fiddleford, he just doesn't really know how to express it, and is entirely oblivious to any feelings Fiddleford may have for him (c'mon man, he left his wife and kids to study weird shit in the woods with you).

Now for Stan with Fiddleford, I don't really see that relationship lasting, at least not healthily (is that an actual word?? Whatever, you know what I'm sayin). If going the angsty route, I think Fidds would at first try to replace Ford with Stanley in an attempt to regain the man he lost. And Stanley would be open to the affection Fidds gives him cause he's touch-starved, and I don't think anyone's said "I love you" to him for a minimum of ten years. But Fiddleford would realize that Stan isn't Ford, no matter how much he tries to delude himself into thinking he is. And Stan would realize that Fidds just isn't his type or somethin.

Ok now fiddauthor. I love this so much, both when Stanford and Fiddleford are young and when they're old (people are sleeping on that old man yaoi!!). I also headcanon Ford as asexual. I looooveee the thought of fiddauthor in the 70s while they were in college, breaking up for whatever reason (or just kinda drifting apart if it wasn't a committed relationship or whatever), and Ford's lil heart breaking when Fidds marries Emma May.

Alternatively, I do kinda like the thought of a poly relationship between Fiddleford, Emma May, and Stanford. That would be a fun au to make a comic about. I have been wanting to make an Emma May design for a bit now lol.

But when they're older and working in Gravity Falls, oh god sooo much angsty potential with infidelity and unrequited feelingsss (technically they're both in love with each other, but neither are good at ✨️ communication ✨️). Ford would probably be so absorbed with Bill, and listening to his manipulations to actually recognize Fiddleford's feelings for him.

And when they're old ass men? Ugh so much fluff can happen from them finally making up for lost time or somethin. People really sleep on the true old man yaoi lmao.

On a slightly separate note, I do ship Billford, and I have thoughts about it that I'm not gonna get into here. But I'll give ya the abridged version: I like shipping it, I don't like romanticizing it, and i like seeing how the relationship had a lasting effect on Ford. I don't like shipping them post-weirdmageddon, and i don't think Bill can truly be redeemed. I have mixed feelings on those redemption au's. I also like triangle fucking jokes. I'm sorry but that is comedy gold.

Also I'm gonna (eventually) make a post talking about my oc x canon ship (Kyle x Stanley). I personally love them (obviously), they're two gay old criminals who have shockingly similar pasts. What's not to love? Also it's a fun way to explore writing older characters with different body types, since before, most of the characters i drew were young twinks, beefed up guys/girls, and skinnier women. Drawing these old men has really helped with diversifying the body types I draw.

Alright, ramble over. Goodnight everyone.

(Also while writing this, I broke into a coughing fit. I hope i didn't catch my dad's cold lmao. God is trying to stop me from talking about yaoi, but dammit, I can't be stopped >:3)