#this is more me rambling than analysis but it's going in the tag anyway in case i want to find it later

[shannonsketches]

something something foils moving in opposite directions Goku's always happy to seek and fight stronger opponents because he spent most of his life being the strongest guy in the room and Vegeta wants to be the strongest/is always exhausted to find stronger opponents because he spent most of his life having to navigate his survival around the whims of the strongest guy in the universe room and so Goku has a foundation of safety and stability and so spends his time craving challenge and adventure and Vegeta has a foundation of challenge and adventure and spends his time craving safety and stability and the overlaid section of their venn diagram is that the only way they know how acquire and maintain those things is through battle

[possessionisamyth]

So, while I do think a lot of the criticism of Remake Ada is in bad faith, I do think there is something to be said about how the design of the character does not match the personality they gave her.

They clearly want to portray Ada as someone who puts up a cold, professional front with a heart hidden underneath but the outfit they gave her still screams Femme Fatale and is in some ways even less appropriate than her original outfit. The animated direction doesn't help either with quite a few shots of her ass. Not that any of this is remotely the fault of Lily Gao who clearly knows what type of character she is supposed to be voicing.

Basically, the writing and acting for Ada aren't the issue, the design and visual direction are the issues.

I forgot I got this in my askbox! I can't really add much to this. You're right, but the problem isn't limited to Resident Evil. Many game franchises pull this shit no matter how nuanced they write the character's story and personality. If they have boobs, it's fair game to try and sell the sex angles. It's honestly their default most of the time.

The people who spend money and yell the loudest about the things they've purchased are the opinions that corporate will listen to. It's why we get the scene of Rebecca struggling in a wedding dress in Vendetta. It's why we got Claire tank top shot and then struggling while tied to a chair in Infinite Darkness. It's why we got that close up of Jill's cleavage with the licker tongue in Death Island. Hell, it's why you could look up Ashley's skirt in the original RE4, an aspect that a very specific group were so pissed about being removed in the remake. Maybe that's why they added all those close ups to Ada's ass and not her face. Who knows! I couldn't tell you. I don't pay much attention to the development side of media unless I have to fix a problem or it's an interesting factoid.

Also gotta take into mind who is behind most of the development process decision making. Is it mostly men? Yeah. Are there good men writers/directors who don't do this shit? Also yes. Are they the ones with the final call on all these decisions for the particular game/movie? Probably not. Which is why it happens, and why it happens so often.

I'm sure when it comes to outfit design and framing, thematically speaking, the stark contrast of Leon's old flame Ada to Leon's new flame Ashley could be used as a line of reasoning. Ada has to be the lusty forbidden fruit while Ashley is the pure fairytale princess, but I'm not here to spout bullshit with confidence. Ada was supposed to look hot and sexy in the original games. They did the same in the remakes, but due to her sweater dress they likely chose to improvise for the same effect.

Does it suck? Yeah. Is it good because woman hot and I do thirst for Ada? Idk! I'm still waiting on my fave youtuber to play Separate Ways DLC, and I'm avoiding spoilers like the plague.

I could attempt to go further into what design decisions define a femme fatale, gender expression, and how a woman and a man can wear essentially the same outfit but the woman's will be framed as more sexual or fragile due to how she's forced to move combined with the camera angles. However, I feel it's faster if you look up those mods where people replace the guy characters with girl characters in game cutscenes to see the sexism at play.

Batman and Catwoman wear the same outfit until they start giving him more armor in later iterations. But look.

Sometimes the clothes don't matter. I think there's a mod where someone switched Ashley and Leon's roles too, and you can see Leon doing Ashley's girly run versus Ashley doing Leon's manly sprint even though they both have shirts that cling to their fat tits. I'm sorry if you wanted something more nuanced than this. I'd say the only true solution to this problem if they're so insistent on selling sex is to give me more ass and bulging crotch shots of the men. It's only fair.

As for Ada's writing versus her depiction, her writing is just recently becoming stabilized and good. If they Remake RE6, we can see whether or not they learned their lesson or if these choices will keep being made regardless. Though they need to fucking remake Code Veronica first.

[asterythm]

on the ending of in stars and time:

an essay from someone who couldn’t sit with it at first, & a love letter to the fic that brought me here anyway. (…spoiler warning for in stars and time, naturally, but you knew that!)

if siffrin isat has taught me one thing it's that vulnerability is cool, actually, and being forthcoming and generous with love when there is love to be shared is how the coolest kids do it.

so. hello isat nation of tumblr dot com. i'm here because even after cutting out several chunks to shorten this significantly, i busted through the ao3 comment section character limit and still had more to say, so i needed somewhere to put it all that would let me go longer.

i’m pretty sure this post is for, like, three people, one of whom is me. but look, it’s been moved here to the webbed site so if you wanna read it anyway i won’t stop you!

=====

i think what it is, ultimately, is this: the ISAT canon ending was beautiful. it was an objectively well-written ending with so much love and hope and thematic satisfaction.

it also left me, for a period, with a deep and unshakeable sense of dread.

:)!!!!

now enter @faedemon's "None Forward & Two, Two, Two Steps Back" (hiya, fancy seeing you here), a two-chapter alt act 5 in which siffrin finds a New, Worse way to break the loops.

despite being, as mentioned, a notably worse outcome for everyone involved, this alt end managed to cut straight to the heart of that dread and settle it — and not in the sense of "oh, i like this alt ending better", or “oh, the canon ending looks better in comparison against this worse alt ending”, so much as "oh, thanks to this alt ending i am finally able to sit in a place where it no longer feels like the canon ending, as a beautiful outcome which felt impossibly lucky to get, is the only outcome in which life can go on — and my ability to accept it, and the game as a whole, is elevated for it."

which!! i mean!! i don’t know that that’s exactly what you set out to do; None Forward is explicitly a tragedy!! and one, as your tags say, written because the canon ending didn't ring true for you.

but I realized that the thing that was stopping me from enjoying ISAT’s canon ending was that ugly hard core that was still so, so scared after the canon ending of every way we (that is, siffrin + i as the player moving in that incredible ludonarrative lockstep with him, holy moly the harmony in this game) had not yet grown to earn it. 

=====

(I’ll take a sec here under the cut to say that when I played ISAT, and then for much of the month that followed, my main reason for engaging with it and its related content at all was that it was a piece of media that came fervently recommended by my incredibly dear friend @iconocat , who it had massively, violently impacted and whose media recommendations in general I trust more than anything.

so i played ISAT, and it was incredible. but even though it's a piece of media that just about hit on every point on my list of Things That Set My Brain On Fire, it failed somehow to. well. set me on fire — at least to the extent I was expecting it to. I still enjoyed myself in the few weeks afterwards of running through fan content and intentionally plunging myself into media analysis, but I was never convinced that I would be engaging with ISAT to the extent I was if it wasn't for the sake of trying to intentionally hack my brain to the point where I could share with my friend something so important to her at the same level of genuine investment. 

I’m telling you all this because, legitimately the same night I posted “nothing but a dull ache” (ie, if you're not charlie faedemon and are somehow caring to read this anyway, the epilogue oneshot I started feverishly writing the morning after reading None Forward), I realized through my rambling in my friend’s discord dms that reading None Forward was the moment the fire finally caught. I spent a month burying myself in ISAT content and asking myself “Is this natural yet?”. after None Forward, the answer to that question finally became a sure, wholehearted yes.)

=====

so anyway, back to the essay.

don't get me wrong. it's really, really nice, to read a story where the moral is less “you should have asked for help", and more “there are people who will unselfishly give the gift of a love that saves even when you cannot save yourself".

but that whole ending also was only able to happen because 1. they broke in a way no one should ever have to break, and 2. everyone involved got lucky.

which, in media, happens all the time!! it is not inherently dissatisfying for a narrative to wrap by saving you with luck and love in the nick of time!! in fact it should be incredibly satisfying, after the unambiguously-negative downward spiral into Director Siffrin who had begun to learn what to say and do to make his family behave exactly the way he needs them to, for a stroke of unpredictable luck brought about by factors entirely out of his control to finally be what sets him free.

but like... I think it's because the story is set in a situation where it's no longer true that luck and randomness is a factor by which anything significant can change.

we're hammered over the head with it: until and unless you do something to alter the course of events, they will not be altered. when you are the only dynamic element the world is reacting to in an otherwise looping course of events, you don't get to rely, anymore, on the idea that at any moment something could happen to save you. you have to assume that nothing will happen unless you make it.

and siffrin?? siffrin's literal motto was "stick to the script"!! they spend the loops with a mouth that kept closing tighter and tighter and tighter until i got to act 5 and watched them implode. and then I’m saved, and I know I haven't earned this. I get to the end and I'm still not telling them anything!! I wasn't supposed to get the good ending!! but I get away with it anyway with open arms and acceptance and unconditional love, and it's. kind of nauseating?

how am I ever supposed to learn and grow, if I didn't manage to change my behaviour even then under the threat of Eternal Looping Torment, and still got the good ending anyway? how can I prove there was an alternative way I could have broken free if things hadn't turned out so lucky in that one terrible act 5 loop?

I can't. and that's terrifying.

(aside: I’m speaking in the first person here to emphasize that the thing that got in my way is not because I don't believe siffrin is deserving of this love — quite the opposite, I think the driving force behind the good ending is that siffrin went scorched earth and saw he was loved anyway — but because this is a game designed to frequently encourage the player to deeply feel what siffrin is feeling throughout its course and. well. as a thing to happen to a fictional character it's beautiful. as a takeaway for the player, it's... harder.)

and that's where None Forward comes in. (i’ve already written thousands of words in comments and epilogue fic declaring my love by now, but i mean. im hoping you won’t mind just a liiiittle more.)

None Forward shows a devastatingly written, all-too-believable version of what might have happened if siffrin didn't get lucky, and the loops continued, and they kept clinging to the script and refusing to Look At It and successfully stagnating and stagnating and stagnating as they were so determined to do. and it's bad, it's worse, it's way way worse — but there's no reliance on outside factors. it comes completely from within siffrin and loop, the only dynamic pieces in the world, finally breaking out.

it was the terrible, nightmarish unfairness of the loops brought to their natural, just-south-of-inevitable conclusion.

and yes, it's a terrible, unfair conclusion, but the loop still breaks.

in a roundabout way, it... gives me so much hope. if the outside factors were different, if the stars did not align just right to allow siffrin's family to get there on time to save them, if siffrin never learned to open their mouth, which by all means seems like the likeliest course of events... they'd still get out. worse for wear, and separated by a gap unbridgeable, but out.

there is a future. there is freedom.

=====

to speak more specifically on dull ache, if you'll forgive the indulgence, just since this was originally meant to be in a reply to the author in my own comments section:

I think I so desperately needed to write it with a focus on the family siffrin left behind because I wanted to prove, if just for myself, that in that barely-dodged alternative there still could be a future for everyone. (isabeau's just happened to be the voice in which dull ache came to me, but the point was to create an epilogue for all four.)

for the rest of the family, who was not quite so deeply ravaged but was still left in a bad way at the end of None Forward, and for whom randomness is not pretty much unequivocally good just by virtue of being better than the alternative like it is for siffrin and loop (more on that in a sec), I could see it mattering more to set specific pieces up precisely, and I could actually imagine the pieces I could set up that could have a meaningful impact in the immediate future.

so. y’know. I set them, in the way I happened to want to. granted, with some extra... divine indulgence, but siffrin's departure from their family's perspective at the end of None Forward was definitely Wrong but not so obviously wrong that I could believe that without it they wouldn't otherwise either (a) go hunting him down to force out the truth, which felt Worse, or (b) just "accept" that it was as simple as Siffrin not actually caring about them/brushing them off and thus intentionally fade him into the distance in their minds to deal with it. which felt like the WORST POSSIBLE THING.

you'd think it might make more sense to have done this for siffrin and loop, instead. they're arguably the ones who need it most, after all, so why not build them up from rock bottom as a sweeping show of "things get better"?

but... i think it doesn't need to be written to have faith that it will happen: the very fact that Siffrin is about to set out on a new journey in a reality where everything is a dynamic player just. immediately gives me hope all by itself. random lucky things that save you are so much more believable and wonderful when random lucky things in general are happening all the time, and you have all the time in the world for them to happen.

and anyway, I don't think this is the kind of future you’d write satisfyingly as a sequence of events at all. to heal from this is something that will take an incredible amount of time and nonlinear progress. 

until one day, through a series of disconnected small quiet gloriously-random lived experiences, without knowing when it happened or being able to trace it back, you realize, oh —

somewhere along the way, you came to know how to live again.

[yukimomodivorce]

Unecessarily long explanation/analysis of what Re:vale's name might mean

I don't know how to start this ok so basically this post and these tags from @nitunio

inspired me to try to explain my own interpretation and I maybe accidentally spent several days looking into the etymology in the process and now I have more to say about it than I did initially. So I wanna start by outlining every potentially relevant definition/use of re and vale that I found and then I'm gonna talk about how some of them relate to Re:vale. This post has sections and a reference list baby let's go

1: Definitions of re

1. In music terms, re is the second syllabic note in a diatonic scale (do re mi etc.)

2. Re: specifically with a colon at the end is often used as an abbreviation of 'reply' (especially in emails) and/or as the Latin re meaning 'regarding' or 'in reference to'

3. In most cases, re as a prefix/affix indicates 'back' (as in return) or 'again' (as in repetition)

2: Definitions of vale

1. The Middle English vale (pronounced like veil) is another term for valley (derived from the Latin vallis), used in literary/poetic contexts or place names to mean:

A low stretch of land surrounded by hills or mountains, usually with a river flowing through it

The world or mortal life (figuratively and often with connotations of sorrow or hardship, such as in the phrase "vale of tears")

2. In most modern uses, the Latin vale means 'farewell' or 'goodbye', especially in the context of death (apparently this is really common in Australia? I've never heard it before)

3. This use is derived from valeō (or present infinitive valēre), which basically means 'be well/healthy' - so vale in Latin means 'goodbye' in the sense of wishing someone good health, safe travels etc.

Valeō/valēre can also denote strength and worth, and it's the root of both valour and value

4. From what I can find, vale in Spanish is mainly used as a colloquial term similar to 'OK' or 'cool' in English, but it's an inflection of valer which can mean 'valid' or 'worth' and is also derived from the Latin valēre! everything is connected :D

TLDR two main uses of vale both derived from Latin: vallis meaning valley and valeō meaning to be well/healthy/strong/worth

3: What 1 year and 4 months of being a Re:vale fan does to a man

Yuki and Momo's symbols are both repeats, and the two dots (resembling a colon) are what distinguish repeats from final barlines in sheet music (more of me rambling about their symbols here - it's also where the design on their rings comes from, which is something that I keep realising and then instantly forgetting about).

Considering this, I think that the most relevant and likely intended meaning of the 're:' in Re:vale is repeat - we also see English words with the prefix used in this sense pretty frequently with Re-raise, 'revive' and 'rebirth' in Dis one., and 'restart' and 'reborn' in Period Colour. The 'back' aspect also has some significance here, especially in Re:member (the word remember doesn't mean you're like. membering again. it refers to memories. but the title re:member is very intentionally split that way because re:vale both gains and loses a member, so it works with both the again and back implications. anyways). This is also a bit of a recurring theme in i7, what with the whole "the ideal idol is one that doesn't end" thing.

Turning our attention to vale as in valley, once you look into it the whole "vale of tears" meaning doesn't really align with Re:vale unless you only interpret their story as a tragedy, but if you were to look it up and just see the definition "the world" with very little context, then it seems pretty fitting for the most famous currently active idols in the Idolish7 universe. But it actually symbolises how they mean the world to me and also to each other. And the figurative world of suffering that they have put me through thank you and goodnight. Just kidding there's more. I would say something about the valley (landform) and how Yuki is the river and Momo and Banri are the surrounding hills but you get the idea. Momo would live by the river...... he wouldlive by the river. I think about this every day

Anyways. So I really can't say how much of this is intentional but the 'goodbye' vale is especially accurate if you consider the underlying meaning - it's a way of saying goodbye, but it's also sort of a way of saying good luck and be strong. It's the same as how Banri has to say goodbye to Re:vale, but he also tells Yuki to "find a place to sing as yourself". And valour is kind of Trigger's thing (see: valiant) but reaching a little further for the 'value' meaning, it goes back to the whole Mikansei Na Bokura thing - all three of Re:vale's members had to lose something important to them, but the time they spent with it was still valuable and in the end they're able to retain those experiences and move forward to something just as valuable. In the end the name is a bit of a cluster of things vaguely related to them but I guess if you put it together it's like. The repetition of them saying this to each other. Yeah Momo after his injury getting that push from Yuki and Ban's concert to start saying goodbye and moving on and yeah like nitu said him affirming Yuki. Banri saying goodbye/I can't be there next to you anymore but I'll cheer you on from the sidelines and remember the time we spent together fondly and be able to smile once we meet again (<- from the end of his re:member pov). Yuki stabbing me 12 million times in the chest I mean um. Yuki... yeah I'm gonna need another 14 days to write that post let me get back to you on that one. But you get the idea. You get it

I think I had another point somewhere in here but this post has been sitting in my drafts for ages and I still haven't thought of it. But thank you very much for reading if you've gotten this far!!! As a reward you get a hug from me and the reference list :D

4: References

These aren't organised well at all but hopefully it's not too bad

Australian Writers' Centre: Q&A: The Origin of 'Vale'

Dictionary.com: Re • Vale

The English Idolish7 Wiki (my beloved)

Reddit: Contextual Use of "Vale"

Wiktionary: Vale • Valer • Valeō

also the google definitions of most of these terms but idk how to link those and I can't be bothered

[imagionationstation]

Hi! I read your TMNT 2012 separated au that you made with ellestrade and it really gave me brainworms so I wrote a small one-shot for it! The characters kinda ended up writing themselves haha.

anyways, wanted to share it with you and also make sure that you're okay with it. Not sure how you feel about other people taking inspiration from you ideas, so if you would like me to take it down, just let me know!

Thanks for sharing such fun ideas. Here's the post (I've also tagged you in it but sometimes tags are weird and don't always show. Also its on my fandom specific sideblog, but I am the same person haha)

Gotta love those brain worms! (Ironic statement from a 2012 viewpoint, actually-) HOLY CHALUPA, BRAIN WORMS IN THIS AU UNIVERSE, WAIT WAIT ACTUALLY WAIT-

*background rambles and spazzing*

Okay, I’m back.

I’m always a-okay with whatever fan things anyone wants to create with inspiration from something I made or helped make. As long as it isn’t containing some stamp that says “this I deem canon” when neither me (nor my partner) deemed it canon, no one ever has to worry with me getting upset over some story/comic/art.

I’m going to give some thoughts and I want to disclaimer.

When I discuss my thoughts on your POV of events in the AU, I will never, in any way, intend to diss or attack the story. I think the flow was excellent and Raph’s analysis of the events occurring was intriguing. I loved it! And nothing I say will be a statement otherwise.

But, since I have a distinct inability to keep my mouth shut when it comes to turtles and you asked, I have thoughts 🧐

My brain is now turning and ya’ll have to deal.

Characterization:

Donnie: Much distrust. Much sass. A strong sense of duty to defend his brethren turtles who don’t deserve it but he’s doing it anyway.

Very on point. Much approval 👌

Mikey: Could not be more perfect. I love him. Sweet soul ✨

Leo: He’s a bit less… Forceful. Cold and calculating. Than I envision.

I’d imagine that he had to learn to shut feelings down in order to survive. Fidgeting/smiling/visibly hesitating is out of the question. Staying in Shredder’s graces meant learning to play the game. His silence is what earns Raph the ability to be loud. The only times that he’s himself is when him and Raph are alone, outside of the sight of cameras, or when someone in is danger and fear/fury overwhelms all else. He seems bland to outsiders and it takes the Hamato brothers a while to see that that he’s just a scared little boi at heart that’s just trying his best in a cruel world.

He’s also set in his beliefs, so he’s going to assume that they’re being tormented mentally, if not physically. There’s no place in his mind that wonders if they were actually safer elsewhere.

I do like your POV, though. Plenty for me to play with.

Raph:

He’s ABSOLUTELY the first to question the differences between how Shredder treats them and how Splinter treats their brothers. He doesn’t jump the gun, but as devoted as he is, he’s never really liked Shredder. I love the implications that he’s been filing away concerns subconsciously and his brain keeps poking him like “HELLO?!”

He’s very deep. I can’t decide how I feel about that 🤔

Shredder would have wanted to fan that temper into something unforgiving and vile. Or course, that doesn’t mean he stops being a sensitive soul. It could… Have something to do with Shredder manipulating him into being angry when he wills it (basically all the time) and solemn and still when he doesn’t (such as during lectures, punishments, etc).

His brain registers this situation as one where he’s not meant to be loud and angry, and so he’s kinda… Shut down. Sassy, but mellow. Processing. Adapting. Letting what happens happen because he’s not meant to stop it.

It’s a reason that Leo gets so defensive when punishments come into play. It forces Raph to feel small. It make him vulnerable.

HOLY MOTHER OF MUTATIONS- I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS NEW TAKE ON THE AU @ellestrade TELL ME IF I’M ONTO SOMETHING

Anyway, commentary:

“in one of Takeō's strategy books he couldn't care less about”

It’s like Space Heroes. He claims so and YET he read, recalls, AND clearly has DEBATED the passage so I call sus vibes.

I get giddy when I think of Takeō discovering Space Heroes-

“Junkō and Kōta— or Donnie and Mikey, whatever false name they’d been given—”

My brain made connections. I don’t know if it was intended, but I always believe that they knew them by Shredder’s names through the beginning of season one, end of season one/beginning of season two they were associating them as both, and then by the time that the City is under attack, they’ve adapted to using their real names. (But the Saki brothers still keep their Foot names.)

So, now I assume this is somewhere in that middle plot.

Fun little Easter egg~

“Takeō and Akihitō were the offense, and Donnie and Mikey were the defense” “They held their own. In fact, they dominated.”

I’m in love with Raph’s simple acknowledgment of their roles in battle. It’s a very practical outline of exactly how their dynamic on the field plays out and he's so certain of his place.

On the other hand, I’m a bit uncertain about whether they’d dominate. I do believe that they are trained and can hold their own, but I don’t know about them being as impressive as Raph&Leo, simply because Splinter trained them to defend and Shredder trained them to kill. The Hamato brothers haven’t had much time to practice in the offensive, especially since that’s Leo&Raph’s job. (In non-AU canon, they are all offensive/defensive.)

I think Mikey might learn that kinda strength at the farmhouse after being taught by Leo&Raph, and Donnie will step back from that, finally finding his place not as a fighter/leader, but as a scientist.

Definitely an interesting take, tho 🤔

“Only now does he think that, perhaps, there was a reason their master made their primary weapons blunts and not blades.”

I am chewing on this line so hard. It’s so powerful.

I can’t even tell you why. It just is.

“Akihitō knows that Takeō isn’t lying. He’d already tried to take tonight's blame all on his own shoulders, spare Akihitō of the punishment. But Akihitō knows all his tricks and he won’t let his brother suffer alone. Again.”

100% behind Raph learning to butt in when Leo tries to take the fall as they get older and punishments get worse.

“Seeing the situation, the evidence glaring at him, Akihitō cannot deny that this wasn’t exactly a great sell. Takeō and him are tied to the ground, trying to convince these two strangers that they would be safe with them. That their clan would not hurt them while that same clan was just about ready to beat them to a pulp.”

I was thinking the same thing 🤣

Leo, dude, seriously. Look around. Think for a second. You are not selling your point. You are doing the opposite.

In the end, it doesn’t even matter. Sensei will always find them no matter where they run. It was better to follow than be chased.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO TEACH THESE KIDS THAT THIS IS A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP. YOU SHOULD NOT FEEL MOTIVATED TO STAY WITH DAD BECAUSE HE WILL FORCED YOU TO REMAIN OTHERWISE. BRUH. RED FLAG.

These were Foot Ninja binds made specifically to hold them. Mutant strength and all.

It makes sense that Shredder would make these. But.

But man. He made those. For them.

Takeō tries to take control of the situation again, the bossy oldest sibling coming out in him.

HA. Got him. Leo is Leo in any universe.

“His name is Mikey.” Donnie glares. “The rat is lying and he has—” “Donnie, its fine.”

Absolutely how they view things. Mikey doesn’t care what they think or do as long as no one he cares about is paying the price. Donnie feels it is a manner of principle that they accept logic and truth.

Leo talking over both of them is valid. This kid, I swear.

“Then tell your older brother to shut up about—”

LEO IS IT OFFICIAL YOU HAVE BEEN DISOWNED

“Sounds like a you-problem.” Donnie stands. “Mikey, we saved them. It's time to go.”

Donnie would die for them <3

A hand lands on his shoulder, and he recognizes it. Takeō always knows when to give support. He’s a good brother. He hopes Donnie and Mikey will know that one day too.

OH. OKAY. WELL. 🥺

THOSE FEELS CAME OUT OF NOWHERE-

He loved his big bro sm hjkhkjhkjhjkkjhkjhkjhku

If Akihitō didn’t know any better, he’d say it was longing.

Oh, don’t worry, he is dying to have other people in his life who genuinely care for him, but as long as you guys are with the enemy, you’re a threat to his baby brother and daddy and not to be trusted

And, just maybe, it could be their world too. 

Oh, so that’s what pain feels like. Glad to be reminded.

[hero-nerd]

WHAT ARE SOME THINGS ABOUT MONOMA YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TALK ABOUT BUT NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO? GO FORTH, GIVE US THE MONOMA CITATIONS. RAMBLE.

- @veras-monologue

YES THANK YOU IM ALWAYS HAPPY TO TALK ABOUT MONOMA

I think the majority of my pre-established writing with citations for him has been posted already. Whether anyone read it or not is a different question lmao. And I never set up a tagging system so they are probably lost to the depths of tumblr anyway. So if you have any questions about those please ask!!

But today I’m gonna talk about something I only ever get to talk to about with one person, our ✨ballroom dancing au✨

So this started because me and my friend have a villain monoma au where he and toga are twins separated at birth that reunite when Mr Compress brings Monoma into the league. I’m like 87% sure I’ve posted about that but again I’m always happy to expand or make another post on it. The au is mostly slice of life things amongst the league with Compress trying to parent his chaos twins while Magne sips her drink and laughs at him from the background /lh.

From here I got really into this manga about ballroom dancing I randomly picked up at the library and I’m so fixated right now, so I messaged up that friend like hear me out, ballroom dancing au

Weve been establishing that au for a bit now, Monoma and toga are siblings still that dance together, Compress is their main coach but Magne is like an assistant as well. It’s super fun /gen

One thing I’ve been thinking about is that Monoma is a really selfless dance partner, always letting Toga really shine in the dance while tailoring his dance exactly to her. The manga series talked about this idea of the flower and the frame, with the lead dancer being the frame meant to emphasize the flower, aka the following dancer. Monoma really leans into this and does it to the point where you can barely see the frame, Toga isn’t just a flower she’s the whole damn garden.

I think this is where people would disagree with me saying that Monoma would want the spotlight, but this is also where I have citations!!!

Citation one is from the sports tournament, Monoma did not mind placing low in the beginning to win his strategy. Like he said, he wasn’t some idiot chasing after a carrot on a stick, he was thinking things through to win in the long run. Of course it didn’t work in that moment (something else I could go off about) but that mind set is still there!

And then citation two is from the joint training arc. Monoma knows he is going to get captured but lays the trap with twin impact anyway, allowing his team to win. He seems to have the mentality (not just here, but this is what I pulled for citation) that a win for his team is a win for him, regardless of whether he was the one to do the winning thing. My past analysis has emphasized that his unstable identity leads him to heavily put his identity into outside factors, specifically class b, so I think this stands.

Now this is not to say that he doesn’t want to be the center of attention, be in the spot light! He very much does, although I think his feelings on whether he deserves it or not / what that looks like are pretty complex. In the joint training arc he talks about being the side character that steals the show, more beloved than the main characters, and that’s how he sees himself. However even here he calls himself a side character.

Then of course there is his big moment recently animated in the show, which would change this analysis plenty. However, applying that to him in this moment is like applying season six bakugou moments to season one bakugou, that doesn’t work! There’s chat at after development that needs to be done. I actually have a scene that ties in that stuff to give Monoma some character development in the ballroom au but that’s for another post XD.

And then tagging @logicaldelta because 1 au and 2 I’m not sure I have been able to coherently express all this to you yet lmao

[i-didnt-read-the-b00ks]

Intro post

hiiii! so I have yet to read the Percy Jackson series (cardinal sin I know) and I figured I'd liveblog the TV show for Tumblr's entertainment!!! :D

editing this far sooner than I expected. sighs deeply. apparently my instinct to ramble about cinematography is unable to be contained. thus. tagging system.

"#liveblogging" for, yk, liveblogging,

"#film language rambles" for cinematography and related stuff,

"#reactions" for Reactions,

and "#asks" for answering asks.

Hi. So, first of all, there are going to be spoilers for the books and the show. That should be obvious, but I'm saying it anyway.

Second, and more importantly, this blog is a lie. The Percy Jackson books Formed My Personality. I am a huge fan. It's been a while since I read the books, but I read them enough times that that's probably fine. I did make this blog to entertain, though- the point is to pretend not to have read the books, to create a sense of Dramatic Irony and Sympathetic Horror for all you avid fans reading.

Also, uh, this has accidentally become a bit of a cinematography/film language analysis blog as well. That’s what I get for taking film classes I guess. Sorry about that. (<- not sorry at all) So yeah stay tuned for Extended Rambles. I am cheating slightly because I’ve already watched all the episodes up til the Ares one so I’m Rewatching Them, which allows me a better shot at noticing stuff. We’ll see how it goes after I catch up to myself. I can always just watch the episodes twice, I suppose.

This blog will be somewhat like an in-character/rp/gimmick blog- the persona will be kept up, and just... yk, Be In On The Joke. Standard procedure, you know the drill. I think that's about it? Yeah, enjoy! This blog is as much for my enjoyment as for yours. (I'll be sad if nobody follows, though.) I think that's all? More will be added as necessary. Merry tv-show-ing!

TL;DR: This blog is me writing as if I haven't read the books, for entertainment purposes. It’s basically an in-character/rp/gimmick blog.

[captainnait]

(Decided to reuploded this post because literally no one saw it. . . Oh well. Might as well tag @whocaresifwearecrazy since they could be interested in this idk)

Something that literally no one asked for - a TTwM compilation!!

I enjoyed gathering all the questions for this one. I'm not sure if I found *all* of them, but. . . Yeah. Some clips (4 out of 13) aren't mine, so I left the source in the description.

Also I wrote a little analysis/commentary thingy for all of these, which you can read down below. It's mostly just me rambling about Bob and Milan and how stupid these two are, so don't take it too seriously. I just— I just need to get this off my chest, okay 😭 also sorry for the broken english in some of these. I was half-awake when writing lol

Anyway, would really appreciate if you watch this compilation. I might do some others in the future idk. Enjoy 💖💥

As for commentary, here it is ✨

"Ode to a Garbage Can": I put this one first in the compilation, because (imo) it shows Bob's and Milan's overall dynamic perfectly - Bob tries to be as positive and supportive of Milan as he can (although with a mild success), while Milan. . . Well, he's just being himself - extremely forward and harsh, but, in the end, not minding Bob's attitude, and even engaging in a playful back-and-forth with him. It's simple, it's nice and it's going to be a repeating pattern.

. . . Aaand it's probably the most analytical I'm going to get here. Probably.

Anyway, can't say much else about this one. They're silly

"A Crappy Question": Bob here sounds so genuinely guilty 😭. And the fact that he immediately tries to make up by helping Milan with his classes— it's pretty wholesome. . . Milan slapping the living shit out of him in the end isn't tho lol

"Get Your Finger Out of Your Nose": Milan calling out Bob on literally anything is also the main point of a lot of these. And, tbh, if I worked as a janitor somewhere, where mfs like any of ydkj hosts work, I wouldn't be so happy either bruh

Anyhow, the gross out humor in the end is nothing unusual for this game. But damn, the way Milan said "chucklehead" at the end. . . He loves that idiot I'm sorry 💥💥💥

"Urinal Chips and Dip": Bob being an idiot and getting what he deserves will NEVER not be funny to me

"Wait a minute, is this a trick question? 😠" "For you? Yes 🙄" I can't with them—

Also Milan helping Bob out a bit at the end was surprisingly nice. . . And uncommon too

"Swapping Spit": Milan calling Bob "host boy" at the start caught me off guard completely when I first heard it. And yet, somehow, he gets even more wild with the nicknames later on in the other questions lol

"Moron? Hey! >:[" Bob sounds so hurt here 😭 i like to imagine that before that he wasn't catching any insults from Milan at all up until this point. He's clueless like that

"Ugh, Milan! Why do you say things like that?" "To make you blush" Okay that's just straight up flirting—

Also Bob doesn't sound so opposed to that huh. . . Interesting. I wonder when this is going to come up again—

"Things Nobody Wants To Lick": OKAY FUCK I'M SORRY THIS ONE IS JUST INSANE. MILAN JUST CASUALLY RIPS HIS SHIRT AND SAY TO "LICK UNDERNEATH HIS SWEATY ARMPIT"? AND NOT ONLY BOB IS IMPRESSED WITH MILAN'S BODY (as he says himself), HE ALSO ISN'T OPPOSED TO HIS REQUEST IN THE END (even though it wasn't even addressed to him btw)? AND EVEN ADVICES TO SAY "THANK YOU!" AFTER THE PROCESS?? HELLO?? WHY SO 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂? WHY NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT—

Ahem. Anyway, "Bob-friend" is such a great nickname, 10/10, amazing job, Milan.

Bob's "MILAN! WHAT? 😨😳" is literally my favorite thing ever

"Please? Look, begging is not gonna help, my friend" yup, I figured

(I'm not even going to comment on the last few lines lol this is already too much)

"Seven Minutes in the Broom Closet": And just when you think it can't get gayer than the last one. . . This title. What the fuck are they doing in the closet—

Bob mistaking alliteration with liter is just so him

"Haha, you said pee :D" this man literally has a mind/humor of a toddler

And yeah, Milan leaving Bob confused with his words/sayings is. Everything

"I'm Not Your Chew Toy": I'm pretty sure this is the shortest question in this category in terms of dialogue

I love that this one highlights just how patient can Bob be with Milan's rather snappy attitude (which, to be fair, is pretty reasonable for him to have)

"Gift Ideas from the Bathroom": This one. This is my favorite question in the whole game probably. . .

Milan calling Bob "Robert" (which continues running joke of Milan calling Bob different nicknames). Milan sharing his collection with Bob, who seems to be not only interested in it, but also wants to implement it in the question. Bob being a clumsy ass moron and dropping the jar, with Milan following with his (almost) catchphrase "I'm not cleaning that". Milan sharing his culture with Bob and feeding him a homemade soup, with Bob being absolutely joyful and excited to learn new things from his favorite person (while also being taken care of by said person). Milan's little "jerk" at the end, that sounds just a bit too soft to sound like an actual insult, and more like an affectionate pet name. I love this. This is amazing. If this isn't not one of the most wholesome moments in ydkj series, idk what is tbh

"Little Red Outhouse": "Hey Milan, how you doing? Good to see ya 😁" "It's a pleasure for you to see me 😇" "Yeah, i— Uh what? 🤨" This is one of my favorite exchanges between them. Milan has such a way with words sometimes idk. . .

Not much to say about this one, except the fact, that Milan washes Bob's microphone in the toilet bowl, becomes much more disgusting when you know, that in one of the questions Bob smooches his microphone. You're welcome 😇

"It Happens to the Best of Us": Crying Milan is the last thing I expected from this game, but here we are ig. As much as I feel sad for him, I can't deny that his crying voice is incredibly stupid (/pos)

"It was a horribly sad incident which took place today" I like how even when he's distraught he still tries to flex his english skills. What a king

The way Bob instantly goes "yes sir" right after Milan tells him to shut up is just. . . 😭 no comments

"Don't Forget to Wipe": Ah yes, the one where Milan blackmails Bob. Anyway

"Hm, would you like to know" THE WAY HE SOUNDS HERE I— 💥💥

Also the way Milan interrogates Bob here is just so funny to me. He's like an annoyed and slightly disappointed owner that find out his dog made a mess in the living room again. . . Weird comparison, but oh well (I've been writing this commentary for way to long)

"There's a Swosh™ on My Tush": I love this one. Mf just plays basketball in the middle of his work day and that's it. No disgusting twist, just basketball

. . . Well, except the last few seconds, where Bob straight up drools on Milan's shoes. . . Like a dog—

Okay, nah, that's it, that enough of these guys for me today istg

[ash-muses]

How do they talk to small kids? Is their tone demeaning? Do they go down to their level? Do they feel at ease? (Loki. u know i had to send it)

♡ Question from Minor Details About The Muse ♡ Additional tags: @mythical-muses (I thought you might find this interesting since we've been discussing Loki's reactions + relationships with kids, too) ♡ Notes: I'm excluding Avengers-era Loki because of Thanos' influence over him at the time (all debates about whether Loki was tortured by Thanos aside, we already know he was at least influenced by the Mind Stone). Also, no, I haven't watched The Office (I know, it's blasphemy, especially using a GIF from it *sobs*).

Ahhh, thanks for sending this in, Ghosts! ♡ Just a heads up, this post will probably be a bit long~

Most of you know how I am already when it comes to talking about my favorite little beans. ♡ For those of you who don't, I'm so sorry in advance and good luck.

Firstly, his own children would be an entirely different story than some random child(ren), so we'll focus on kids in general.

Secondly, I have to start with a short analysis (well, shorter than what I would like, because I could write for days and in-depth about this topic).

If you don't want to read the character analysis, that's totally fine! Feel free to skip down to the next banner under the cut ("BREAKDOWN").

Lately, I've received more questions about Loki and how he would interact with kids (his own or otherwise), which is really interesting to me. He has such a versatile nature, but something consistent I and many others have noticed is that Loki tends to put others before himself, although maybe not in the ways we would expect or consider to be in that vein. There are a few posts that I absolutely love that go into more detail about that (here and here; future ones will be posted under this tag for anyone curious).

SIDE NOTES (you can skip this, it's just my ramblings & other observations) While the second post talks more about how Loki didn't want the throne, I'd also like to point out that he was trying to do what he thought was best for Asgard and its people by protecting them from Thor's reckless and impulsive, albeit mostly well-meaning, behavior at that time (excluding his attempts at Jotun genocide, despite their realms having a truce at the time, as @mythical-muses and I have previously discussed). A lot of people will point out how Loki did this to further his own agenda. While that certainly may be a part of it, that post also mentions an important piece: Loki looks shocked that he was handed Gungnir, indicating it was an after thought (if it was ever considered to begin with). Mostly, it appears that his goal was to prove that Thor might endanger Asgard — as well as the rest of the Nine Realms — by being hotheaded. Ultimately, this gives leverage to Loki genuinely being concerned about his home and its people, even if his actions lead us to believe he was doing it selfishly; this is a pattern he displays frequently throughout the MCU, although in my experience, tends to be overlooked (I can't speak on the comics since I'm not well versed in those yet, so this is mainly for MCU).

Anyway, my point is that we already know Loki does that for adults. So for children, who are tiny beings that potentially (if not explicitly) feel more intensely, aren't as experienced, struggle expressing themselves, might feel insecure (whether it's about their appearance, skills, heritage, etc.), and may not have decent coping mechanisms yet?

I think that Loki would very much try to meet them on their level, down to the most minute detail and most respectful way that he could manage. I believe that he would want to be better than Odin, better than Laufey — really, better than whatever other adults in his own life seemingly, or flat out, failed him.

SIDE NOTES That isn't to say that the God of Mischief wouldn't occasionally blow a fuse or that he's perfect or that he could handle every situation with grace. There are probably times when he's embarrassed himself with an angry outburst or times when he's played a 'mean' (subjective) joke on them for not listening. I'm thinking about when he summoned that snake with the guard in the deleted scene in Thor 1 (something tells me that children wouldn't be immune to him pulling something like that, particularly if they were rude or ill-mannered).

So, with that character analysis out of the way, we know that...

♡ He's cunning and observant (that's a given, considering who he is) ♡ One established pattern is that he shows concern for others (despite his actions sometimes appearing as selfish) ♡ He tries to handle things diplomatically and/or respectfully (we see this numerous times: when he tries to gently tell Thor they should leave Jotunheim in Thor 1; when he approaches Laufey privately later on - this is debatable because of his intent, but ultimately, he approached Laufey with respect unlike Thor had previously done; when Loki tries to talk to Thor about getting on the Grandmaster's good side; when Loki meets Valkyrie; etc.) ♡ He's still a morally grey character (and will probably play 'mean' jokes on children who are rude, obnoxious, ill-mannered, etc.) ♡ He's understanding, to an extent (remember that he's motivated by various means and highly analytical, so he's probably already mapped out why others choose certain actions, speech, etc.)

Applying this to Loki...

Mostly, I'm talking about my version of Loki for my roleplays. However, this is also a general take I have from the character analysis I've done on MCU Loki since 2011.

He's been taught to be a Prince, so he's keen on manners, discipline, bartering/negotiations, etc. This also includes carrying himself in a certain way in public (this plays a bit into the next question below). With that being said, he has a sort of complex already built that has become a main part of his personality. Frigga has also played a huge role in building said complex, teaching him compassion, kindness, respect, that he doesn't have to be what others make him out to be, that it's okay to be different (fun fact: Seidr magic is typically used by women, whereas Loki learns it from Frigga), etc. Additionally, Loki seems like the type that would show respect until he had a reason not to (even when it comes to the Warriors Three, we still see him addressing them respectfully, despite them mocking him, threatening him, etc. so I feel like this would still apply with children or other adults; it seems like a part of that complex I mentioned above).

Do they feel at ease?

Generally when it comes to children, he's probably going to feel a bit uncertain yet maintain a steady confidence and/or an air of sophistication, although probably diluted or softer compared to his typical demeanor. After all, an adult typically knows who they're addressing (with some exceptions), including royalty/status, name, etc. while a child might not have all the information.

How do they talk to small kids? Is their tone demeaning?

I think he would address them as slightly lesser beings, but not unkindly and, for the most part, not carrying a sense of superiority. I think the superiority part really only comes into play when he's dealing with adults, particularly people who might challenge or threaten the amount of respect he's already earned, especially because he's had to fight for almost every ounce of it. His usual tone would most likely have a steadiness to it, yet an underlying gentleness. I feel like he would try to withhold his annoyance (if he had any; again something that's situational) because it could make it worse. For situations that require discipline, he may use a stricter tone or carry an air of authority (depending on severity, relationship with said child, etc.).

Do they go down to their level?

If the child is one he's unfamiliar with, he's probably not going to physically put himself on the same level. However, I think there's a few exceptions, such as if they're scared, hurt, crying, etc. Then, in order to hold their attention and make a sort of connection, he would probably kneel on one knee and make light contact (one hand on their arm/shoulder, holding out a hand to see if they're comfortable to take it, etc.) — something that provides comfort, support, and/or reassurance (that trait would, undoubtedly, come from Frigga).

[hazellvsq]

frank/hazel/leo most popular pjo ot3? an analysis

okay so the love triangle poll had me thinking. i knew frank/hazel/leo had ship content on ao3, and i was curious to see if other love triangles or popular trios got the same treatment.

(this is very long and rambling)

this is the amount of ao3 content frank/hazel/leo has:

these are the other trios i was looking at:

last one is crazy lol. anyway, other potential trios like jason/reyna/piper or different combos of percy/annabeth/piper/jason all had less than 20 fics each. its possible i missed one but i'm pretty sure i tried of all of them.

for context, the general state of pjo character and ship content looks like this:

the vast majority of tagged fandom content with frank and hazel has them as background characters. finding content that centers them takes digging. aside from calypso/leo, they have the least popular canon ship, and the only other character that either has any substantial fan content with is leo. the pjo fandom has shipped leo with literally any character he was in proximity with, and hazel was a canon love interest of his. in addition, the pjo fandom has incredibly popular mlm ships and has gone through the time-honored tradition of finding ways to sideline, if not villainize, the canon female love interests. which makes these next stats so interesting to me:

a decent portion of works in both of these tags are frank/hazel/leo fics that got crosstagged. obviously, frank/hazel have more fics than frank/hazel/leo:

however, its impossible to figure out how many of these fics actually center frank/hazel, as opposed to them just being background characters. so i did a test and filtered out all of the more popular ships in their tag:

this isn't a perfect representation, because there are definitely frank/hazel centric-fics that had other ships in the background, and frank/hazel/leo aren't the main couple of every fic they get tagged in. still, though. that's less than the frank/hazel/leo fics.

the other thing about hazel and frank content is that they are the two characters who are most frequently headcanoned as straight. it's died down some in recent years but it used to be CONSTANT (it happened to leo too, but not as much). most fans thought they were the two most "traditional" characters, value-wise. so i was thinking, if frank and hazel got this much content for a poly ship, then the characters that this fandom actually thinks are gay have to have more:

and then i was like, hmmm well okay i'm very surprised there's not more for those three. but there's so many people who ship some combo of nico/percy/jason/will. i've seen so many big 3 edits that leave out the girls. there's no way frank/hazel/leo is beating out the white slash ship industrial complex.

frank/hazel/leo beat out the white slash ship industrial complex (big threesome is a very funny ship name tho).

my biggest guess would be that there was some sort of beef between the percy/nico and jason/nico crowds that has led to this lack of ot3 content. i wouldn't know. i'm wondering if they're going to catch up; its not far off right now. as far as i can tell will solace has no popular ot3's that broke more than 20 fics and is pretty much only shipped with nico.

other potential ot3's like jason/piper/leo...i have a theory that a lot of jason/piper shippers only really shipped it in conjunction with percy/annabeth because they were were a good secondary couple for percabeth-centric fics, and didn't care about leo as much (which could explain why there's more overall content for jason and piper than for leo). also, i think historically a lot of leo fans thought jason and piper were bad friends, although these days there's a lot more renewed appreciation for their trio. piper has also been commonly written as a ship obstacle since the inception of her character, when people thought she was homewrecking jason and reyna (the jason/nico crowd uses this trope too), which might be why she's not commonly put in ot3's despite having chemistry with most of the cast. on the other hand, the "ship wars" between hazel/frank and hazel/leo shippers in the mark of athena era were pretty mild, because most readers liked all three characters and didn't have strong enough feelings about either pairing to fight about it, whereas other ot3's don't get written because fans have a very strong preference for their other ships.

i know frank/hazel/leo has its origins on ff.net, but it was mostly one author and mostly just kink. there's a much bigger variety on ao3. i'm wondering why people liked it enough to make it a side pairing for other fics, and at what point the bulk of content for it was written. i'm wondering what people get out of combining the three of them that you don't get from just two. is it because all 3 dynamics are so clearly defined in canon? some of them also are based on kinks like mpreg that historically exclude women, so why do these authors include one? this is also interesting because the rest of the fanbase, including both fans who ship frank/hazel and fans who think that shipping hazel with anybody is problematic, refuse to write about hazel or frank having sex to the point where it was a fandom meme for a while. except in frank/hazel/leo fics, where a large percentage have explicit content. i'm wondering which of the nico/jason/percy or frank/hazel/leo tags has more mpreg, but i'm okay not knowing.

if you made it this far, there's not a real point to this post, except pointing out that for characters who barely get shipping content, frank/hazel/leo is unexpectedly popular considering how much content exists about them otherwise, and also goes against popular fandom perception of the characters in interesting ways.

[lingy910y]

Gallavich Questionnaire

Thank you @energievie for tagging me to do this! I get too unhinged when talking about these two boys, so warning for very elaborate ramblings 🙏

1. What’s a fic you’ve read more than once?

This fic is the prime example of why you should write a fic even if you think nobody’s going to read it, because it’s my favorite gallavich fic even though most people don’t want to read about them getting a divorce. But I do, okay, because a normal break-up doesn’t cut it (especially since we already see those in canon, but post-canon is up to our interpretation) and it’s just more serious. I think they will work out their issues before it gets too far in canon but it just hurts so fucking good. The reason for their divorce is so realistic too, in fact it’s not one but a lot of problems piled on top of each other. They think it’s only going to hurt everyone involved including their children, which is arguably true in context, but they can’t resist each other and it’s this back and forth push. There’s parallels to canon, the writing is so good without being drawn out, and there’s so much nuance, emotion, and subtly hinting at something beneath the surface. The pining is just delicious because it’s not “I don’t know if you feel this way about me” or “I’m not allowed to be with you,” it’s “I want to be with you so badly but I’m trying to resist that because it’s going to hurt everyone.” Then the trying so hard not to care because “we’re over, but you’re in trouble and I’m trying to move on and I’m never going to love someone else like I love you” 😭😭😭 anyway I actually had to stop myself from rereading too often for comfort because it was too much LOL

the author said they were going to update it January of this year so I’ll be patiently waiting 😔

3. What's a headcanon you can't stop thinking about?

You know that post abt how when you're sleepy you imagine your favs sleepy? I keep imagining Ian wrapping their comforter around Mickey like a cocoon when he has a nightmare and cuddling him, it's cute

4. What's a fanart you love looking at?

The first image of this by @gallavichonly JUST GETS ME SO FERAL. THEIR FUCKING EXPRESSIONS.

5. What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration?

I want to draw a character concept art sheet for their outfits/weapons/mechanics for kinda a zombie apocalypse AU. Designing that sounds fun but I need to research more

6. What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else?

The jealousy trope, especially jealous Mickey. I guess in other fandoms, people write jealousy in a really possessive, cringy way. Not saying gallavich aren't possessive as fuck but at least they earned it, you know? There's too many ships where one of them is breathing down the other person's love interest's neck but they don't even know you exist, like calm down 😭 Meanwhile gallavich tease and try to get each other to admit it first, and Mickey is biting his tongue trying not to say anything and then "Fucking cheat on me, Ian?!", "Whatcha doin' here then?" AND THEIR EXPRESSIONS WHEN THEY EACH SAY "WHEN YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW" ARUGHHHHHH I'M SO GONE

7. What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of?

Touched on this earlier but basically the more tragic/gritty ones—a huge argument, break-ups, unrequited love, falling out of love, hanahaki, amnesia, MCD...

10. What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough?

Eh I think we've dissected the shit out of every scene lmao, but probably their s4 reunion? The lap dance?

11. What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship?

Obviously "I'll take care of you. / It's rotten work. / Not to me. Not if it's you."

12. What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale?

I want Ian to go back to being an EMT no matter what :( but their current security gig fits Mickey a lot. Ian also gets really into gardening, he'll be so good to the point where he'll be known in the neighborhood. And Mickey has a little hobby for drawing. They'll adopt a pitbull because Mickey was actually enthusiastic about that idea, which meets Ian halfway by still giving him something to take care of. Now for the elephant in the room: I think it's okay if Mickey never wants a kid, and there's a lot of issues ingrained in them that unless they go to therapy for a couple of years, hinder them from becoming perfect parents tbh. Now I'm not saying they'll be bad, but will their best be enough? Will they be content? Idk, I don't have any experience and I see them with more issues/flaws than the majority of the fandom? Honestly I just don't see that future for them (but I do enjoy kid AUs because who doesn't.) They'll stay on the West Side because I want them to get out but not stray too far from their family. I also can't think about them getting old or I'll sob, but I wrote a fic about how they'll retire and just live comfortably because it's what they deserve, and they'll take tons of vacations when they save up enough money.

oh my god that was way too much but in my defense i rarely get to rant abt them ok!! anyway now that I went through the whole spectrum of emotions, i'm tagging @michellemisfit, @lupeloto, @jademickian & @softmick 🚶‍♀️

[artofmimi]

Hi idk if you ever go on here but Twitter confuses and scares me . I saw you retweeted some art of Sethos, and I really like that guy and I also think ur opinions on stuff are really interesting, so I wanted to see if you'd said anything specific about him. However, Twitter confuses and scares me, and I scrolled through some of ur tweets and realized that i'd only made it to June 30th and did not have the mental fortitude to keep going. All that to say, if you have any particular opinions on Sethos I would like to read them here on Tumblr. Obviously ignore this whole thing if you just don't want to respond , and sorry that this is weird

hello there! first of all, i don't think this is a weird ask at all. there is nothing wrong with asking questions so please don't apologize :)

secondly, i really like sethos – a lot! i feel like i don't talk very much about cyno but he is, in fact, one of my favorite characters from genshin. the opportunity to learn more about cyno's backstory and the fact that he gained a new narrative FOIL really excited me. juxtaposing the physical and personality differences between both of them (sethos with his green eyes/brown hair/inviting smile/sociability vs cyno with his red eyes/white hair/resting bitch face/social awkwardness) really highlights their character traits, i feel.

one of the things that drew me in lot about sethos (and this may be a tired comparison so apologies in advance) is that he reminds me a lot of claude from fe3h. not just the physical similarities or the fact that he's an archer, but it was mostly his sense of curiosity and his disposition towards other people. the lines he says, i can see coming from claude's mouth. he gives off a strong sense of intelligence and cleverness.

but honestly that's really as far as i can do for (admittedly very surface-level) analysis for sethos! i haven't played cyno's second story quest yet so i don't know anything regarding the temple of silence plotline or what role sethos plays in it other than what the version update trailer teased. i know that sethos is a reference to the egyptian god, set, and he juxtaposes with cyno, a reference to anubis. i know that set is the god of disorder, violence, foreigners (out of many things) and one of the main stories he is known for is how he usurped his brother – so i have my guesses as to how the genshin storyline goes. however, obviously, my knowledge of egyptian mythology is very shallow so i don't want to make too deep of an analysis unless i really know what i'm talking about haha

anyways, i'm glad that you find my opinions interesting and that you at least tried to scroll through my twitter LMAO i do check tumblr semi-often bc i do still like reading the tags people read on my posts. i still find tumblr's askbox system and archiving system by far the best out of the "big" social media platforms these days but i've gotten really accustomed to just saying out inconsequential thoughts on twitter and rambling out analysis threads on there. they do get lost very easily though so alas. once i do finally finish cyno's story quest, i promise i'll come back to this post and share my thoughts on sethos, just for you anon <3

[hesbianyaoi]

I want to thank you for that one dazai atsushi post it made me look at bsd in a new light and im genuinely so happy about it??? so thank you very much and i hope I get to read more of your thoughts because i looooove love love when people analyze characters it lets me understand them more and uh what am I saying. ah yes bsd found family is real and everywhere and I’m going to consume lots of it and think of you and smile because I’m glad to feel like I know the characters a bit better okay will stop rambling. unless more is okay anyway would love if you shared more opinions on anything ever whenever you want to so consider this a push .!!!! also I find it funny how every time I come check back on your tumblr your pfp is different but i still know every guy

THANK YOU!! this is very sweet; i honestly really appreciated your message giving me the chance to properly ramble, sometimes you just really do need a push! i love character analysis a bit too much (which feels a bit obvious with how i go crazy in tags when i post/reblog) despite my reluctance to share my thoughts. it does make me happy that you liked my post about dazai-atsushi because they mean a lot to me and i love talking about them whenever i get the chance. bsd analysis is particularly more fun than any other characters i've made posts about in the past because the fandom here is pretty chill from what little i've seen of it

also don't worry. i love rambles especially when they're directed to me. i'm a very talkative person and i love getting asks about characters or how i feel about things

(AS FOR THE ICONS, YES UNFORTUNATELY I LOVE TO CHANGE MY PFP TOO MUCH. i'm so happy you recognize them though i'm a simple guy)

[stick-named-figure]

somewhat long winded and ramble-y musing below the cut. tenuously related to ava but mostly personal.

i think another reason that ava/m (ava especially of course) appealed to us so much is that it's very obviously an interaction between art and the artist. And also creation and creator (which is a separate but similar category) which is something that I've craved in works for a very long time but only recently really came to that realization through trying to see why AVA stuck around with me for so long.

I think it's this sort of idea that art says something about a person (Which is not an invitation to try and make statements about me from my art by the way) but the emotions I try to throw out through art.

This post kind of materialized because I was thinking about whether I should tag my self shipping art as AVM ships, since of course my sona is not canonical [citation needed]. I then figured that blocking the tag "sona" would accomplish the same effect, since I have no real intention of drawing said sona outside of self ship art.

And then I started thinking, this sona exists only in relation to another. I am someone who has had sonas in the past that were very much individual from others (as in had no prerequisite others to include for their existence in art) but Eve, as a sona and a self, exists as a necessity for others. My canonical pronouns are not known but Eve's (sona) are meant to match King's.

(Because I'm about to just start saying things, I have to mention that I'm well aware my relation to identities [especially my own] is not the average experience).

Along these lines I've also realized that the rest of my self perception is primarily built out of the way I am experienced by others, and thus my self is then a group project. This is reminiscent of egregores but I can only read so much on occultism before I start seeing conspiratorial lines of thought that trouble me. However, the point remains that I perceive myself as non-human but rather than in a "diminutive" manner (such as common things as animals or small things) it's in more of an abstraction of behavior and perception.

Which is then maybe a long winded way of saying that I have introspected the self out of myself. I was rather obsessed with labeling myself a few years ago (or, pointedly, finding "respectable" terms for myself that were not too out there) and have since long passed into a label-less state. This seems to have come about at the expense of my identity then as well, down to the point where I was nameless for a few months[1][2].

I'm not so sure I find myself distressed by this lack of self, since it seems mostly other's prerogative to label and classify me to whatever is most convenient for them. So it's that way that I think I find myself basing myself on others perception. Because I don't really have the time or energy to find a self in here that I can pin down and make into a solid object. If I try it will slip away eventually anyway.

I think that I change every day. And if I tried to find something to cling to then it would dissolve so quickly I'd be trying to hold water in my hands. And for a very long time I have been ashamed and nervous about how I treat myself and my interests since they never seem to stick around (which is in great part because of my ADHD and autism from what I understand) but understanding it like this seems much more relaxing, that I am what I need to be in each moment and then allow myself to change when the path is the one of least resistance.

---

I might as well start using footnotes. As offline life often requires, I still went by some name. However, even in my most "genuine" states I found a lack of a name appropriate.

It should also be stated that Eve was picked as a rather quick choice because I had jokingly adopted another friend's name and was soon going to be visiting her. I could probably make some literary analysis on that choice because I'm already treating myself as a character.

[allisonreader]

In writing that last post and all of my tags, now I want to continue to expand upon some of those thoughts and it might get into rambling on, but we'll see.

I definitely feel desperate for validation about my writing. But while saying that, I also don't want it to be all rainbows and butterflies "oh this is wonderful" it needs to have a little more substance than that. I want to hear what works and doesn't work, while not going into something overly negatively critical. A fine line to balance for sure.

I know personally that I'm more of a cheerleader type reader/hyper. Analysis of writing is not my thing. I will enjoy whatever it is for what it is unless something really takes me out of it. (Like reading a Titanic fic that supposedly takes place either still in the 1910's or 20's and Rose wearing a dress with a zipper before they were in common use. Or someone who clearly has no historical knowledge and thinking that they can use the term supermarket and iPod in the 30's and not realize that most people would have had ice boxes more than refrigerators at that point. I mean I know it's fic, but I personally couldn't finish either of those two stories.)

Anyways I lost the point I was making there.

Back to more my writing/comments. The thing is, I'm typically pretty lazy about commenting on stories myself. Most of the time when I'm reading I just want to read, unless something grabs me enough that I have to shout about it into the void or author. So I fully understand why people don't comment. Sometimes it just doesn't grab you enough to say anything about it. (Which is where I feel like most of my writing fits.) Or there's simply no energy to say anything about it and then even if you intend to say something later, you might forget about such. Sometimes it's just not to your taste so you feel like it's better to say nothing at all. (Which is still definitely better that telling someone that you should entirely rewrite what you have wrote because "it doesn't fit into canon and it should fit with canon", even when that wasn't your goal in the first place. {Clearly this still gets my goat, being told to rewrite my own story that I wasn't using outside influences to write from. Aka a book in relation to a movie that I've never read and will probably never read. And basing what I wrote just off of what is know from the movie for a speculative piece.} Still bothers me clearly. Don't tell people how to write their own stories when your ideas are not what the author intended. You didn't have to read if it wasn't meeting your expectations.)

But even with things like that, there's that desire to be told that you might be onto something. Especially when it is something that you put so much effort into. I do find it a bit easier to comment on something when I've built up a bit of a connection with someone. (So if you don't I suck at leaving comments on your writing, that just might be why. It just might be that I feel like we've conversed enough that I'm more comfortable about doing so.)

Well I had been thinking that I was jumping from one thought to the next without logic, but as I read through what I had written again, I realized that it is a little more on track than I had been thinking it had been while in the process of writing it. I do still feel like I have more to say, but I don't know if it will be any more concise than I have been above. Around and round in circles I go to try and ferret out what I actually mean or even want sometimes.

From that I will go into how as much as I deeply desire some sort of discussion about my writing, I feel weird/wrong to actively push for someone; anyone to give any sort of reaction to my writing. I mean I don't particularly care for how some people ask for reviews and comments on their fics. Those ones that sound kind of demanding or even desperately pleading make me personally less likely to write any sort of response. Even though I know why and where the sentiment is coming from. I've also had people try to barter with me, that for every comment I leave on their writing, they'd trade one on my own writing. I noped right out of that. I'd much rather someone leave a comment because they genuinely wanted to, than because they're bartering for their own stories to be commented on. So again I have a very complicated relationship with wanting comments on my own writing because of this.

It's different again if someone is looking to be a willing participant in giving a commentary and thoughts on writing too, but I definitely don't have as much experience with that. Though eventually one day I will look for people who are invested in doing a deeper dive into my writing, but I don't think I'm there yet.

[chatxkilluaxnoir]

I was gonna send some other Asks, but then I realized, that they were or could basically be replies and/or reblogs to ur answers to my Asks.

So I am doing some replies and/or reblogs instead! This time.

"hai again >:3"

Happy to be back sending more Asks and stuff again.

"hehe i love the character analysis u have of them here"

I am really happy u liked this! And I had so much more too. Like, Ep3 and Ep4 (esp. Ep4, but Ep3 gave a lot too) had so much interesting stuff to chew on, theorize about, and talk about. So you will probably be seeing more analyses and character analyses from me. Hopefully before the next episode comes out. And hopefully in general. I know I can be bad about actually doing things timely or at all, lol. But hey, at least when I do stuff, I tend to go all out! Like with my Asks. Hahaha.

Anyways, u will probably be seeing more analyzing, rambling, etc. from me in the form of Asks, reblogs, replies, comments, etc. One of those "etc." being me just making a post, probably putting it and/or at least some stuff under a "read more" and just tagging you at times (if I do, and if I do, it probably won't be all that often) my thoughts and stuff, if that is okay.

"(AND HAPPY U POINTED OUT THAT THE GHOST MONSTERS ARE ABLE TO SENSE IT HELL YEAH)"

It was very interesting to me!

"i find exploring the characters, dark sides to be fun mwehehe,"

I can tell.

"especially when it come to portraying them correctly."

Which u certainly do. Like, u do this so well, and so much better, than a lot of people (not other people don't do it well, or that other people who don't do it as well, can't do stuff well too. But like, I just think u are one of the best at portraying characters)

"usually people will get too focused on one aspect (dark/comedy side of their personality) and dismiss the other."

Oh yeah, this happens quite often. I certainly see it happen with UT characters, and it certainly happens with the skelebros. They can get particularly bad when it comes to this, or when it comes to focusing too much on extremes in general, instead of doing more nuanced takes, for very nuanced characters.

"I want to be able to capture that perfect balance of unsettledness and fun sides of all the characters, especially the brothers <3" Which u certainly do! And you defin. succeed at doing so with the brothers. U hit it out of the park!

"Deadringer is a big focus on the colors purple, red, and yellow, so i might not show Sans with his yellow eye despite him doing it a lot in canon, though his yellow eye would be in bonnytale 100%, underhell maybe"

Understandable then, u might not be able to show his yellow eye much in DR then. Yeah, the focus on red, purple, and yellow is really cool. Also other colors too. DR has such cool use of colors and color palettes and stuff. Ur other stuff too; though their color focuses are usually different. Like Bonnytale and Underhell.

Happy we will get to see his yellow eye in BT, and maybe UH. I love Sans' blue eye very much, but I feel like his yellow eye doesn't get shown as much. Even though it is also cool and fits Sans. Plus, while the blue eye and clothes look really cool. Blue and yellow also look really good together imo.

"hehe, i’m glad you liked this ep!"

Well, it was awesome!

"i don’t mind the asks they make me giddy >:)"

I happy u enjoy me Asks and stuff so much!!

Might some of this under a "read more" later, might not. For now, I am going to keep this as is.

I am back once again after having both read all ur answers to my Asks. Thank u so much for loving them and some of the ideas I gave for ur HH AU. And now, having also finally finished Ep3 and Ep4 of Dead Ringer. And OMG, they were so good. I think Ep3 and Ep4 are my favorite episodes now; even though all the episodes are great.

I adore how u write everyone, but the way u write Sans (both Dust/Murder Sans and the other Sans) and Paps (both Phantom and the other Paps). As well as Chara and Frisk are esp. great and a real highlight. I have a feeling they are going to be great in Bonnytale and ur Hazbin Hotel AU, considering how u do them in Dead Ringer, and what I have seen of those AUs. Alphys is great too.

And the bits we got with Mettaton, Napsta, and Mad Mew Mew were both funny and interesting (no wonder Mettaton looked scared, he was able to tell Dust wasn't their Sans. Find it so interesting and cool how the ghost monsters can tell he isn't their Sans).

Haven't seen that much of Asgore and Toriel, but they seem sweet, and I love how they look (I really love how u give them rectangle goat eye pupils). Oh, and Flowey in Ep4 in the flashbacks was awesome! Probably one of my favorite Floweys now. Loved Flowey's dynamic with Sans and Paps too.

I now understand even more why both Sanses should be on an FBI watchlist now. I will say more about this in a reblog or something that I am planning on doing talking about Dead Ringer, because I don't want to bombard ur Asks so much and stuff.

(Edit: This has gotten longer than expected. And I am going to have to do separate Asks anyways again. Lol. I do still plan to probably say even more in reblogs, comments, or whatever though).

But I will say this; God, do I love when Sans more moral grayness and/or dark sides and stuff are explored, and do that VERY well. They are both so twisted, to a point, that I don't even know which Sans is more twisted (will say more about this in my reblog or whatever, hopefully). They are both so supremely screwed up.

(I am pretty damn sure the flashbacks - which btw in one of those flashbacks, one of the later ones, the fricken art that focused on Sans and his blue eye and the leaves or something in the BG when he was talking about Frisk and their utter hatred for them and other disturbing stuff and then flashing over to a more of a Dust Sans, looking Sans in Judgement Hall all in red was freaking gorgeous, terrifying, and haunting. Man, Sans' blue eye, can be just as terrifying and cold, if not, even more so sometimes, as Dust's more red ones. I wonder how Sans' yellow eye could look in ur style -

(We see in Ep4 is the Sans, Dust is trying to replace, not Dust, and then there is the stuff that gets revealed when Phantom conjures up mimics of both their brothers and stuff. Frisk not wanting to say stuff about their Sans to Dust Sans, when he was questioning them, and the stuff at the very end, after Chara calls him. What he says in the blue text against the black BG. And/or etc. And Dust being twisted is very self-explanatory, I think.

(If I am right about this, that makes that really cool and pretty art that showed the title of the episode, that showed two 2 different Sanses, and I think a scarf, but dead Paps, and alive Paps, even better than it already was).

I am happy both Paps do understand that their brothers (Sans) do love them both very much, in their own, Sans and/or twisted ways, at least.

The two Paps's bonding about their Sanses both being miserable cowards, that don't tell them anything, and push them away, and won't show their pain and suffering, and won't let people in/help them, and how their Sanses do both love them very much, was somehow sad, heartwarming, funny, and messed up all at once.

Ep3 and 4 were very funny at times too; while also being very dark at times. Sometimes they were both funny and dark. Esp. stuff with Sans (both Sanses), Paps (both Paps's), Chara, and Frisk. Flowey too. Though, it makes sense to me, they could have dark humor and/or things could be both funny and dark, considering how these characters are. It is fitting.

Oh, Alphys was also quite funny in the episodes. And Metta got a chuckle or 2 from me. 1/?.

hai again >:3

hehe i love the character analysis u have of them here (AND HAPPY U POINTED OUT THAT THE GHOST MONSTERS ARE ABLE TO SENSE IT HELL YEAH)

i find exploring the characters, dark sides to be fun mwehehe, especially when it come to portraying them correctly. usually people will get too focused on one aspect (dark/comedy side of their personality) and dismiss the other. I want to be able to capture that perfect balance of unsettledness and fun sides of all the characters, especially the brothers <3

Deadringer is a big focus on the colors purple, red, and yellow, so i might not show Sans with his yellow eye despite him doing it a lot in canon, though his yellow eye would be in bonnytale 100%, underhell maybe

hehe, i’m glad you liked this ep! i don’t mind the asks they make me giddy >:)