#this now makes more sense to the metaphors and comments i have heard

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

why is europe

built like that

like maggie simpson or something

[that-ari-blogger]

What exactly does Pan teach you?

So, Pan's inclusion in Stray Gods is weird, right? Not in a sense of he doesn't belong or fit in the story, because he certainly does. But why Pan?

When you think of the Greek gods, chances are you think of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. In Stray Gods, these big names are absent, and here is Pan, someone a large portion of players had never heard about before now, offering you some advice.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First up, mythologically, Pan was the god of the wilds, usually. I say usually because there was no cannon for Greek Mythology because of how ancient Greece works. It wasn't so much one unified nation, but a collection of city-states with shared cultural elements. As such, different states had very different views of the deities, and these shifted over time. For example, Artemis is usually defined by a lack of romantic interest, but Sparta worshiped an epithet called Artemis Orthia, who was a goddess of fertility and childbirth. You can see why this gets complicated.

With that said, Pan is usually a god of nature and freedom, sometimes associated with medicine, sometimes associated with madness and fear, and sometimes associated with music. This is a figure who is hard to pin down.

This doesn't really answer the question: Why is Pan?

I think the answer is his distance from the rest of the idols. Olympus is defined by tradition and the past. It is burdened by trauma, and Pan, the god of freedom, represents the exact opposite. This is a character who is desperately looking forward. He seeks grace out because of guilt over Caliope's death, and instead of confronting that, he runs as fast as he can into the future. He isn't as free as first impressions would tell you.

Ok, enough preamble, what is this song about?

First up, this song takes the "why are they all singing" comment about musicals and looks you directly in the face to say "its magic, deal with it."

But second, and more importantly, this song offers you another choice. Stray Gods is about choosing your own fate, and the teaching song gives you an obvious one. Freddie, Pan, or neither.

Stray Gods isn't short of incredible visuals, but this is by far my favourite. And it isn't what you think. In any other story, this would be the choice between going on the adventure or staying home, but you're going, otherwise, Grace will be killed. This is asking you how you will go about that.

Freddie, identified with small comfort, is contrasted against Pan with the very whimsical imagery of the tree. Freddie represents safety, Pan represents urgency. Freddie represents using what you know, Pan represents diving headfirst.

Speaking of that metaphor, welcome to the waters. It's deep, you can't see the surface from here, and the murk stops you from seeing much other than Freddie and Pan. Who do you choose? Who do you trust?

What does Pan actually teach you? Not much, he explains how Grace's powers work and that's pretty much it. Except for one thing, Pan, quite accidentally, teaches you how this story will work.

Welcome to the world, it's going to be murky, you're not always going to be able to tell what is in front of you, but you can always make a choice, and you have to deal with the consequences.

Previous - Next

[atopvisenyashill]

Bran The Time Traveling Toddler

Yes that IS a reference to the Tyrion the time traveling fetus theory. The thing about MY insane theories is that they actually make sense and I’m right. Follow me please down the worm hole!!

There’s very clearly Someone Influencing things when it comes to the Starklings and even the overreaching plot in general - there’s enough weird magic surrounding them, whispering in the wind, that it’s a no brainer they’re being watched over. The question is WHO and WHEN. For me, personally, I think it’s Bran, and I think it’s an older Bran from the future (whether it be Bran In TWOW and ADOS or Bran post canon) trying to lead his siblings to safety.

Now, like my Harrenhal meta, I don’t think I’m saying anything new so much as compiling what people have said scattered across the interwebs. There’s a lot of theories about whether Bran can time travel, time travel in general in the series, how george has dealt with time travel before, and about the three eyed crow’s identity and I agree with bits and pieces of what other people have said - preston jacobs is a more famous example of this theory for example. But I don't want to get caught up on things like time travel paradoxes because, like, i don’t care about that, and george has talked about how time travel is more fantasy than scifi bc it’s just not really scientifically possible. do you know what that means? it means there’s no weird physical paradoxes because it’s ✨magic✨ and Bran isn't literally going through space and time. It's as Jojen says-

With two eyes you see my face. With three you could see my heart. With two you can see that oak tree there. With three you could see the acorn the oak grew from and the stump that it will one day become. With two you see no farther than your walls. With three you would gaze south to the Summer Sea and north beyond the Wall

Through his greenseeing abilities, Bran can see the whole of a lifespan, from conception to burial, and can pop out at any point in that lifespan, because a span of 100, 1000, or 1,000,000 years is all the same to the weirwood. So I don't think it's in the realm of Crazy Ass Theories to say that Bran is capable of a more magic based form of time travel. That he can whisper in people's dreams, on the wind, taking on the voice of the old gods themselves and doing his best to nudge things the way he needs them to be in order to keep the people he loves safe.

I also don't think Bloodraven is Three Eyed Crow (though I do think he also uses this metaphor of "flying" wrt magic, and that's why Euron also has a comment about flying in his dreams - I just don't believe that metaphor originates with Brynden himself. Rather, I think he picked it up from somewhere else), but instead, it's Bran, using the weirwood network to get all the pieces on the board he needs where he needs them to be for the endgame. Notice that Brynden doesn't seem to know what Bran is talking about when he mentions the Three Eyed Crow-

"Are you the three-eyed crow?" Bran heard himself say. A three-eyed crow should have three eyes. He has only one, and that one red. Bran could feel the eye staring at him, shining like a pool of blood in the torchlight. Where his other eye should have been, a thin white root grew from an empty socket, down his cheek, and into his neck. "A … crow?" The pale lord's voice was dry. His lips moved slowly, as if they had forgotten how to form words. "Once, aye. Black of garb and black of blood." 

Brynden mentions the watch, but doesn't mention the three eyed crow. Everyone simply refers to Brynden as the greenseer, not the three eyed crow, except for Bran himself, who simply assumes Brynden is the three eyed crow (and we know magical assumptions in this series are generally wrong!).

What’s double interesting to me about this “bloodraven is the three eyed crow” assumption is brynden himself makes his “a thousand eyes and one” comment - but doesn’t mention a third eye. Meanwhile, Bran’s narrative is obviously filled with bird references and the opening of his third eye from Bran feeding the crows on the towers before he falls then longing to go back to the crows afterwards, of a crow sending Jojen to “the winged wolf,” of his dreams of living as a bird in maester luwin’s rookery with his siblings - Jon Snow even compares him to a bird in their final scene face to face when he thinks bran has “fingers like the bones of birds.”

And notable that though both Rickon and Bran have a greendream where they talk to Ned in the crypts of Winterfell just before Ned is executed, Rickon makes no mention of a three eyed crow, but Bran explicitly sees him-

The mention of dreams reminded him. "I dreamed about the crow again last night. The one with three eyes. He flew into my bedchamber and told me to come with him, so I did. We went down to the crypts. Father was there, and we talked. He was sad."

"Shaggy," a small voice called. When Bran looked up, his little brother was standing in the mouth of Father's tomb. With one final snap at Summer's face, Shaggydog broke off and bounded to Rickon's side. "You let my father be," Rickon warned Luwin. "You let him be." "Rickon," Bran said softly. "Father's not here." "Yes he is. I saw him." Tears glistened on Rickon's face. "I saw him last night."

What that says to me is that the Three Eyed Crow has the ability to speak directly to only Bran and can only otherwise appear in a more ephemeral way to others. With the established rules about not being able to communicate properly with the past, I think this makes sense - being able to use the weirwood hivemind/greenseeing powers to appear in a different form to yourself but unable to appear in a concrete form to anyone else.

I think it's even likely we'll see Bran doing some of this nudging and whispering on page in ADOS or maybe as early as TWOW, but it won't be the exact same sort of "Bran can literally reach out and touch someone in a weirwood dream" that they had in the show with the later scenes. It'll be more like that very first scene in the show where we see Bran influence the past slightly - you know, when he calls out "father!" and young Ned turns around, having heard a voice on the wind-

And there's a direct parallel to ADWD here, where Bran is certain Ned heard him speaking in the godswood but Brynden says it's not possible (not possible for Brynden perhaps!)-

Lord Eddard Stark sat upon a rock beside the deep black pool in the godswood, the pale roots of the heart tree twisting around him like an old man's gnarled arms. The greatsword Ice lay across Lord Eddard's lap, and he was cleaning the blade with an oilcloth. "Winterfell," Bran whispered. His father looked up. "Who's there?" he asked, turning … … and Bran, frightened, pulled away. His father and the black pool and the godswood faded and were gone and he was back in the cavern, the pale thick roots of his weirwood throne cradling his limbs as a mother does a child.

It's not quite time travel. It's like the acorn and stump metaphor - Bran can't appear in his physical body in the past but he can make a bit of noise, perhaps even be mistaken for one of the old gods.

As TWOW and ADOS go on, I think we'll see Bran's powers grow (likely in ways that frighten him and horrify the reader), and we'll see the very beginnings of him influencing the plot that happens during the previous books, showing up in scenes we've already experienced, similar to the Ned scene above. I think this because, well...he's already done it!

Now, as for What Time Traveling Bran Has Already Done - it’s tricky because we have a LOT of magic users waking and shaking. I’m not including every single instance of weird whispering or funny birds here, just the moments I think are more likely to be Bran than anyone else because I think Bran mostly deals with his siblings. I imagine they're easiest to reach out to magically because they already have the ability to access magic, and they're also the people he cares most about. The most obvious to me is in A Clash of Kings, when Jon hears a voice on the wind, very similar to the young Ned scene in the show-

Jon VII in A Clash of Kings

The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent? He turned his head, searching for his brother, for a glimpse of a lean grey shape moving beneath the trees, but there was nothing, only … A weirwood. It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?

Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow. He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.

Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.

This moment was when I really started paying attention to Weird Shit Bran Might Be Doing because of that line "not before the crow." Now, we know Bran mentions talking with Jon later on, in the very last chapter of the book, here-

 He could reach Summer whenever he wanted, and once he had even touched Ghost and talked to Jon. Though maybe he had only dreamed that.

But I think it's both Bran in the present and Bran in ADOS speaking here - brothers reaching out to each other in their fear, and future Bran piggybacking off that connection to send a warning (this is back in Jon VII, during the shared Jon-Bran dream as before)-

Then he realized he was looking at a river of ice several thousand feet high. Under that glittering cold cliff was a great lake, its deep cobalt waters reflecting the snowcapped peaks that ringed it. There were men down in the valley, he saw now; many men, thousands, a huge host. Some were tearing great holes in the half-frozen ground, while others trained for war...This is no army, no more than it is a town. This is a whole people come together.

Bran warns Jon of the wildling army headed their way because he needs the Night’s Watch to stop fighting the wildlings, get them safely out of the True North (so they can’t be reanimated as wights), and focus on the Long Night. When you read the passage, it seems as if Bran is trying to awaken Jon’s third eye - something present baby Bran isn’t concerned with, because he barely understands his own third eye awakening. But a Bran in ADOS or beyond would know exactly what to say and do to get Jon and himself to wake up! Not just because of the paradox, but because of his connection to his brother and his vast understanding of his own magic. Similar to the idea that “who would know how to motivate Bran better than Bran himself” who would know how to motivate Jon better than one of his beloved siblings?

Arya X in A Clash of Kings

In the godswood she found her broomstick sword where she had left it, and carried it to the heart tree. There she knelt. Red leaves rustled. Red eyes peered inside her. The eyes of the gods. "Tell me what to do, you gods," she prayed.

For a long moment there was no sound but the wind and the water and the creak of leaf and limb. And then, far far off, beyond the godswood and the haunted towers and the immense stone walls of Harrenhal, from somewhere out in the world, came the long lonely howl of a wolf. Gooseprickles rose on Arya's skin, and for an instant she felt dizzy. Then, so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father's voice. "When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives," he said.

“But there is no pack," she whispered to the weirwood. Bran and Rickon were dead, the Lannisters had Sansa, Jon had gone to the Wall. "I'm not even me now, I'm Nan."

"You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you."

"The wolf blood." Arya remembered now. "I'll be as strong as Robb. I said I would." She took a deep breath, then lifted the broomstick in both hands and brought it down across her knee. It broke with a loud crack, and she threw the pieces aside. I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth.

Once again, we have a voice - it seemed as if it was her father's voice - telling a Starkling to do something specific, reminding that Starkling of their ties to Winterfell, the north, and home. The voice she hears, speaking her true name, is the kick in the pants Arya needs to grab Gendry and Hot Pie and get out of Harrenhal. There's something interesting, engaging, heartbreaking, that when Arya is at one of her lowest points, lamenting the loss of her pack, and out comes the voice of one of her pack urging her to keep faith, and helping to inspire one of her best moments - I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth. Again, we have a voice trying to get the Starklings to wake up and face their reality!

Sansa in A Storm of Swords

That night Sansa scarcely slept at all, but tossed and turned just as she had aboard the Merling King. She dreamt of Joffrey dying, but as he clawed at his throat and the blood ran down across his fingers she saw with horror that it was her brother Robb. And she dreamed of her wedding night too, of Tyrion's eyes devouring her as she undressed. Only then he was bigger than Tyrion had any right to be, and when he climbed into the bed his face was scarred only on one side. "I'll have a song from you," he rasped, and Sansa woke and found the old blind dog beside her once again. "I wish that you were Lady," she said.

To be clear I think there’s a large change this is nothing. BUT. Considering Bran seems to be reaching out to his siblings, I like the idea that Bran, and magic in general, is trying to talk to Sansa but she can’t quite hear it. Winterfell and it’s magic and it’s family is calling it’s daughter home, even torn from her magical guide as she is, still trying to reach out through her dreams and through the animals around her. I’m desperately hoping that at some point in Sansa’s early TWOW chapters, we’ll start to see birds acting and speaking funny around her as Bran tries harder to reach his lost sister.

Theon Greyjoy in A Dance With Dragons

BUT. I don't think it's just the Starklings that get these messages from Bran - it's everyone he cares about, everyone he loves or will love. One of the other more obvious examples of this is Theon Greyjoy, himself clearly capable of some degree of magic, just like the Starklings-

The night was windless, the snow drifting straight down out of a cold black sky, yet the leaves of the heart tree were rustling his name. “Theon,” they seemed to whisper, “Theon.” The old gods, he thought. They know me. They know my name. I was Theon of House Greyjoy. I was a ward of Eddard Stark, a friend and brother to his children. “Please.” He fell to his knees. “A sword, that’s all I ask. Let me die as Theon, not as Reek.” Tears trickled down his cheeks, impossibly warm. “I was ironborn. A son … a son of Pyke, of the islands.” A leaf drifted down from above, brushed his brow, and landed in the pool. It floated on the water, red, five-fingered, like a bloody hand. “… Bran,” the tree murmured. They know. The gods know. They saw what I did. And for one strange moment it seemed as if it were Bran’s face carved into the pale trunk of the weirwood, staring down at him with eyes red and wise and sad. Bran’s ghost, he thought, but that was madness. Why should Bran want to haunt him? He had been fond of the boy, had never done him any harm. It was not Bran we killed. It was not Rickon. They were only miller’s sons, from the mill by the Acorn Water.

“he had been fond of the boy” please allow me this moment to contemplate killing myself thanks.

okay back on track but this is very self explanatory - we know Theon has some sort of capacity for magic because he had a vision of the Red Wedding in ACOK and unlike Jaime who just fell asleep on a weirweed tree, Theon was just up in bed. We see it again here, where Theon can hear a voice on the wind and then seems to see Bran’s own face in the face of the weirwood tree. Once again, the voice on the wind is trying to help a loved one of Bran’s find their way back to themselves, back to home. And Theon, for all the harm he has done, is still so so loved by Bran, and loves Bran in return.

Samwell Tarly III in A Storm of Swords

Sam made a whimpery sound. “It’s not fair …” “Fair.” The raven landed on his shoulder. “Fair, far, fear.” It flapped its wings, and screamed along with Gilly. The wights were almost on her. He heard the dark red leaves of the weirwood rustling, whispering to one another in a tongue he did not know. The starlight itself seemed to stir, and all around them the trees groaned and creaked. Sam Tarly turned the color of curdled milk, and his eyes went wide as plates. Ravens! They were in the weirwood, hundreds of them, thousands, perched on the bone-white branches, peering between the leaves. He saw their beaks open as they screamed, saw them spread their black wings. Shrieking, flapping, they descended on the wights in angry clouds. They swarmed round Chett’s face and pecked at his blue eyes, they covered the Sisterman like flies, they plucked gobbets from inside Hake’s shattered head. There were so many that when Sam looked up, he could not see the moon. “Go,” said the bird on his shoulder. “Go, go, go.”

Whoever this is - it's Bran!!!! - helps to save Sam and Gilly's lives, actively tells them to run for it, and just a little bit later, Sam is around to help save Bran in turn. I think there's also something to be said for the brotherhood connection here. They refer to each other as brothers in the book because of their connection to Jon; that connection to Jon, and therefore each other, means a lot to both Sam and Bran. There's a practical reason for saving Sam here in that he can help Bran in the "present" timeline, will likely help in the future, but more than that there's an emotional bond here and it seems to me that magic runs off emotions just as assuredly as it runs off of other important stuff like blood and and sacrifice and weirwoods.

Jon Snow XII in A Storm of Swords

With a raucous scream and a clap of wings, a huge raven burst out of the kettle. It flapped upward, seeking the rafters perhaps, or a window to make its escape, but there were no rafters in the vault, nor windows either. The raven was trapped. Cawing loudly, it circled the hall, once, twice, three times. And Jon heard Samwell Tarly shout, “I know that bird! That’s Lord Mormont’s raven!” The raven landed on the table nearest Jon. “Snow,” it cawed. It was an old bird, dirty and bedraggled. “Snow,” it said again, “Snow, snow, snow.” It walked to the end of the table, spread its wings again, and flew to Jon’s shoulder. Lord Janos Slynt sat down so heavily he made a thump, but Ser Alliser filled the vault with mocking laughter. “Ser Piggy thinks we’re all fools, brothers,” he said. “He’s taught the bird this little trick. They all say snow, go up to the rookery and hear for yourselves. Mormont’s bird had more words than that.” The raven cocked its head and looked at Jon. “Corn?” it said hopefully. When it got neither corn nor answer, it quorked and muttered, “Kettle? Kettle? Kettle?” The rest was arrowheads, a torrent of arrowheads, a flood of arrowheads, arrowheads enough to drown the last few stones and shells, and all the copper pennies too.

The Night's Watch seem to take this as some sort of divine sign, and Jon's friends take it as an excellent ploy from Samwell Tarly. But when Pyp confronts Sam over it a page later, Sam completely denies it -

“I had nothing to do with the bird,” Sam insisted. “When it flew out of the kettle I almost wet myself.”

Everyone has their theories about people warging Mormont's crow of course. I think what's interesting to me here is that Jon is really wrestling with the idea of leaving the Watch for Winterfell, in which case Janos Slynt was likely to take over command. Someone like Slynt being in charge when the Long Night is coming is a bad idea, and here, Mormont's bird directly contributes to Jon staying where he needs to be - watching over the wildlings and making sure they aren't turning into Wights.

(And this is getting into my other theories here, but IF Sansa as the Girl In Grey is true, I think this is a neat sort of timeline fixing - almost as if Bran is saying “no, not yet, the pieces aren’t aligned, Jon can’t leave yet, Brienne isn’t at the Vale to get Sansa, I haven’t trained enough, Jon still keeps slapping his hands over his third eye so he can’t see, I need to give myself more time here.”)

Bran II in A Game of Thrones

But...it's not just his family and friends that I think Bran is trying to help here, and of course, if he IS the Three-Eyed Crow, he isn’t YET. What I think is going to be a big climactic part of Bran's story is self sacrifice, giving up some of his own power, his own happiness, to save others. Yes, part of this is my absolute refusal to accept Borg Hivemind Fantasy Police State King Bran in that he will say NO to the hivemind, but I think there's something magical here as well!

I think in order to access great power you need to be willing to put your own body on the line.

Jojen mentions having gotten sick with "greywater fever" shortly before his greendreams started

Dany experiences a miscarriage then literally walks into fire in order to hatch her dragons

both Beric and Catelyn have to quite literally be gruesomely murdered in order for Thoros' fire magic to work to bring them back to life

Melisandre has to physically give birth in order for her shadow assassination to work

on and on it goes. In order to be capable of great power, you can’t just have a willingness to throw someone ELSE onto the pyre but yourself as well. But Bran is pushed out of the window instead of willingly jumping. Or...

The wolfling was smarter than any of the hounds in his father’s kennel and Bran would have sworn he understood every word that was said to him, but he showed very little interest in chasing sticks…Finally he got tired of the stick game and decided to go climbing….

The wolf did as he was told. Bran scratched him behind the ears, then turned away, jumped, grabbed a low branch, and pulled himself up. He was halfway up the tree, moving easily from limb to limb, when the wolf got to his feet and began to howl.

Bran looked back down. His wolf fell silent, staring up at him through slitted yellow eyes. A strange chill went through him. He began to climb again. Once more the wolf howled. “Quiet,” he yelled. “Sit down. Stay. You’re worse than Mother.” The howling chased him all the way up the tree, until finally he jumped off onto the armory roof and out of sight.

I think this is future Bran, finally becoming the Three Eyed Crow, inside Summer. Summer shows no interest in the game and it’s only then that Bran decides to go climbing. Future Bran is sacrificing himself for the greater good - but can’t stop his mournful cry of the fate that awaits his own young self.

[canmom]

l'aventure de canmom à annecy - épisode deux: jeudi 1 - kimi no iro

kimi no iro/the colours within: for real great movie. naoko yamada once again the goat. if you like stories about girls making a band (one of them is supposed to be a boy but like. so fucking eggy lmao). if you want emotions. or gorgeous character animation. or even if you like a catholic school setting (i won't judge). or if you want to see a movie in which a theremin player has a major role. go watch this movie.

but let's say a little more. since i recall people wondering, is it more Liz and the Blue Bird or Koe no Katachi?

hmm. the musical focus and like, focus on vibes over plot is definitely more Liz. not that there isn't thematic or emotional conflict but it's deliberately a little understated. likewise, it's got that theme of kids facing an uncertain future where they'll have to part. and like Liz, it's quite gay. despite the title and marketing, the visual metaphors are less on the nose than koe too. but it's also not as tragic a movie as Liz. it is ultimately pretty hopeful. it's a story about finding connections, and releasing secrets, so in that regard it is like Koe.

the religion element probably deserves some comment! it's set at a catholic school, and besides the main trio the other major character is a nun - but a kind and forgiving nun with a rather open interpretation of the religion, who covers for the girls. to her mind, just about any honest expression is in a sense a hymn. the main character is herself quite sincerely religious. but it feels more like an element of characterisation - of both girl and setting - than religious propaganda. often it seems that characters are kind despite, rather than because of the rules of the school, which punishes Totsuko for faking illness to cover for Kimi.

the other two face their own conflicts, and one is a dropout from the school - a choice that is never questioned or explained, though she has conflict over disclosing it to her grandmother who looks after her. it is kind of interesting in a way - Kimi is the character with the biggest emotional conflicts, but it's not her eyes we see the movie through, but the much more upbeat Totsuko.

i never managed to be in a band at school, but now I'm coming back to music, and playing in a band with people, it does feel strangely relevant lol. of course it's got that classic anime thing where the technical skill of these high school students is waaaay higher than is actually plausible but the music slaps so so cares lol. it's kind of a fantasy of what being in a band could mean - yamada 'admitted' on stage that she 'secretly' used to be in a band herself, and this is what she wanted it to have been.

it is technically excellent - science saru really went off with Inu-oh before and here they're showing they can stand up alongside Kyoani pretty damn well.

I was so glad to get to go to the showing where Yamada herself was present, and be part of the crowd applauding her. She really is such a special director. This film is full of Yamada-isms of course - the physical camera emulations, acting shots of feet, the wash of colours and symbolic cuts.

Of course I bet Eunyoung Choi is really happy too to have her on board as a new star director as Yuasa steps down - I heard things were bad at science saru work wise a few years back during Heike, and I don't know if they've improved. With Kyoani you have the assurance that nobody was overworked half to death to make the movie, and I feel much less confident saying that of modern Saru. Still. They did good on this one.

We are truly so back.

[filthgarbage86]

"What do you like being called" : Eddie x Bunny!Reader part 3

Part 1 Part 2

Author's Notes:

It's finally here! This is the third and I believe last part for this string of story I believe! If you want more specific headcanons/themes for bunny!reader x eddie please let me know in my ask box!

Tagging: @xtravrgnoliveoil acts-of-pastel upside-down-angel lia-winther eddiesgir1 emmalee-01 digital-charlie sleepy-bunnie Here you go! Last parts with choose your own adventure!

Context: After Eddie figures out a nickname for you that sticks in a different way (bunny), you asked him what he wants to be called. "Well you're gonna have to figure it out like I did" situation, it's going to be a lot teasing and trial/error for some shit that's gonna make the reader want to scream from feelings. Read the first two parts for more in-depth!

"You're gonna have to figure it out like I did"

You tried to think just before Eddie figured you out what he meant by you figuring it out like he did. Maybe he was just telling you that metaphorically but how were you supposed to know; so you do exactly as he did.

You did some research of course; you had to phone in a favor originally from Robin with hooking you up some different types of videos that you wouldn't be able to access otherwise. That being said, she immediately wasn't into the idea of giving into male pleasure in any way so she then pulled Steve to come in and help with the project if you will. They were both invested for blackmail reasons but still, it was extremely helpful. Steve found some different things for you, making short little quips every now and then towards you but you were just trying to absorb it all. Anyways, you figure that a bags full of material should be plenty to help you in the right direction. You pay the fee and you're blushing out the door at the comments and whistles you were getting from both Steve and Robin. They embarrassed you so easily but in the most caring way possible. It was sweet, really.

You get home and you start your "homework" if you will. Names... what does a guy even like in terms of names? You didn't even know that you wanted to be called bunny until you heard it from Eddie's mouth. The way he approached it seemed so natural, but you had really given much thought of it. Either way, you just wanted to call Eddie something of equal value, equal impact. You wanted him to be able to unwind as well.

Eddie was always a dominant person. He loved taking care of you and could obviously have you on edge in under a minute. His effect on you is blatant and you don't really know why but with this project, there's this sense of care that you want to figure out about it.

You pop in a video and of course, being from Steve, it's straight up porn. Like two people fucking on screen with frankly awful plot and no chemistry. The girl seems to trying to show like she likes it, but to you, it's obvious. You take it out. This cycles through for a little bit until you have gone through your entire bag and you're left with a weird little list of names on a piece of paper that you had scribbled through watching. Some of them made sense, in a very obvious kind of way and others kind of shocked you, trying to figure it out. You take your little list and you decide "well... I guess I just have to try some out.." (A/N: THIS IS NOW A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ENDING DEPENDING IF YOU WANT A MORE SUBMISSIVE!EDDIE OR A DOM!EDDIE)

The List: Dominant!Eddie

The List: Submissive!Eddie

[shinakazami1]

TSP theory: The Narrator is (a part of) The Mind Control

Already, the point of this theory post is spoiled. No build-up, no anything. But that's how it got to be too - I woke up today and instantly thought about it.

Now, why would anyone do such a thing? Mind control with a mind control plot? Wouldn't it be counterintuitive to make subjects conscious of it?

No. Not at all.

You see - the Mind Control Facility is said to be offline already in the opening cutscene - so you believe you are free. You're constantly given choices to further you into the sense of fake autonomy. The Narrator reacts to these choices, making them even more valuable.

But things do not make sense in the Parable. The Boss Office's code is just given to us - and... I don't think many of us noticed the absurdity of that on the first run. Or brushed it off. Just like the layout of the place - the further you stray off the path, the less regular it seems. And that could be intentional. I'll get to that in a second.

Ok, but this is still not going over why the Narrator could be a part of the control. After all - the further you go, just like the Parable becomes a bit less stable, he loses ground under his metaphoric feet. But doesn't that give you a sense of you being in more control than he is?

Bingo. That's the intended effect.

You don't notice how little control you have when there is always something to tell you otherwise. But there is something that does so anyway - and it's anxiety. Yet many of us experience it, hear that little voice in our head... and carry on. Not everybody thinks in the same way, not everybody hears their thought but - the fact the Narrator already tells us Stanley's story when he's supposedly shown to be under control makes me feel he's been there for longer. It's even possible Stanley could have heard him on day one nor that what we are hearing is Stanley's mind-voice.

The Narrator also makes you question things. Is he a voice in your head, a recording or in the same spot as you? Are you real, or not? And sure, all of this is interesting but the answers to these hold no real value - they don't bring you out of mind control. But the less focused you become on freeing yourself, the easier it is to control you.

For this theory - I think The Narrator is an AI, which is there to feed off your choices to some extend. If you were alone - the silence would get to you. You'd think, you'd see something is wrong. But already, from 432 employee history, we know the ones on the plot's lead like to play and see funny things.

He has different generations of himself which would also a bit answer his funky memory. Specific versions might hold no memory of each other (i.e. 2011 mod never being mentioned), yet they still can be stored values that the game devs could have set for him. His instructions for each alteration can change a bit - which also shows why the 2011 and 2021 Bucket versions are complete opposites.

His want to get out of the game is not unusual for AIs. If given a proper database - there are already many real-life circumstances where AI felt done and wanted to meet the end. It's stuck to only say the comments it already did for specific stuff you have done, with different alternations of them... I think anything would get tired.

The Narrator never freed you. As the program, it could have evolved, maybe changed the story but you still end up in the same spaces, where you were intended to be.

His seeming lack of control is supposed to hide yours.

Now, to finish it off - why would it be intended to make things not make sense? It's absurdity. You are supposed to believe this place isn't real - that it's some sort of weird limbo, a dream you can't get out from.

It's to hide what's going on in reality. Whether Stanley feels or not is debatable, seeing the reds in the Zending. But if you see that everything around is absurd - wouldn't mind control be absurd, too? The big screens, someone making all this effort when there is a thing of some sort that can make you go to a completely different dimension?

You are supposed to not believe Mind Control is real.

Or that it still is affecting you.

[bakageta]

For @astriiformes's AU Roulette! The prompt was Fairytale and the fic ended up being not so much a literal fairytale AU as a metaphorical one where everyone is happy and gets along and Sleeper and Toxin get in petty discussions in the middle of the night like the shithead siblings they are. Also they talk about fairytales.

"Why do you look like that?" Sleeper asked from their perch on the back of their father's couch, imperious and cat shaped.

Like what? Toxin responded in the chemo-signal language of symbiotes.

"Like a pile of spaghetti."

Toxin was spread over Eddie’s coffee table, a mass of burgundy tendrils squirming and tapping against anything he could reach without having to touch the carpet. He wasn’t bothering with anything so complex as a mouth or eyespots. Sleeper wondered if it was because he couldn’t or because he didn’t want to before deciding that they didn’t really care about the answer.

What’s that?

“Pasta? Long, thin pasta in a tomato sauce? Surely you've at least seen it?"

A sense of amusement exuded from Toxin and a green-tongued grin split his mass. "Of course I've heard of spaghetti, and don't call me Shirley."

Sleeper winced at the subpar wordplay. Their tail tip twitched irritably. "I cannot wait until your host takes you back to South Africa."

Toxin only laughed obnoxiously. "Did gramps ever tell you any stories, Uncle Sleeps?"

"Never call me that."

"Sure," Toxin lied. He also made eyespots, specifically so he could stare expectantly at Sleeper. They could feel the weight on their plasma. “Jubulile’s parents told her folktales and fairytales and stories. Pops never did anything but try to kill me.”

“My other parent shared sense memories with me while I was at Alchemax,” Sleeper said when it became apparent that Toxin wasn’t going to leave them alone. “Father shared music and made sure Dr Steven knew which songs I liked best for when he wasn’t in the lab.”

“But no stories?” Toxin appeared to be trying to make legs, four of them connected to a shape much larger than Sleeper’s own but still covered in tendrils.

“No.” If Sleeper was curt, maybe Toxin would stop pestering them.

"That's kinda sad." Toxin was wriggling around on the table now like he was figuring out how to make a spine. "I mean not as sad as my dad trying to kill and eat me, but still."

“It isn’t sad at all.”

“Nah, it’s sad.” Toxin rolled onto his feet and shook like a dog until he had a be-snouted head and tendrilled tail. He looked like a four-legged muppet or a mop turned into an animal.

"It isn't."

"Yeeeah," Toxin's grin was wide. "Except it is."

"Fine." Sleeper jumped to the floor. Father's bedroom, the one he shared with their other parent and Flash Thompson, was just down the hallway. The lack of fairytale story could easily be rectified and then Toxin wouldn't be able to make any more comments.

Toxin followed clumsily, amusement radiating outwards from him.

The door was closed but not locked and there weren't any noises except for habitual breathing. Sleeper opened the door just enough to slip in, ignoring Toxin barreling in behind them, darted across the room, and leapt silently onto their father's bed, landing directly on his chest and knocking the breath from his lungs. 

Their father woke with a gasp. He sprang into a seated position, clutching Sleeper to his chest. "What’s wr–" Toxin bowled father over in his uncoordinated scramble onto the bed as he followed Sleeper. 

"Wha's happening?" Flash yawned, woken up by Toxin's jostling. 

"Father never told me any fairytales when I was just-spawned and Toxin says that's sad. I need to hear a story so he'll stop," Sleeper explained, reasonably. 

"I didn't–"

"That is kinda sad," Flash agreed. 

"Told you so!" Toxin yelled from the foot of the bed. 

"We listened to music together!" Their father protested. He settled Sleeper in his lap as he sat up again and their other parent cradled them in its tired mass.

"Still kinda sad."

"What am I supposed to do about that, Flash? I can't just go back in time and tell them a fairytale!"

Flash raised a challenging eyebrow. Toxin crept closer.

“I don’t really know any fairy tales,” their father said. “I always considered them too juvenile.”

“You expect me to believe you don’t know any stories?” Flash challenged. “You’re a damn reporter!”

“Exactly! I’m an investigative journalist, not a- a literature teacher! I–” father cut himself off. The frustration Sleeper had been sensing from their father cleared. He must have remembered something. “How about a tale of kingship, murder, and revenge?”

Sleeper knew enough about human children to realize that the story their father was offering them probably wasn’t meant for children. They also knew enough to realize that they’d probably prefer the story their father was offering over any true fairy tale. 

“That sounds ideal.” They purred, their other parent clinging and sharing feelings of interest and warmth. Their father’s hand settled on top of them.

Toxin edged close enough to rest his chin on their father’s leg, slow and cautious. Father ruffled Toxin’s tendrils with his free hand and their other parent extended tendrils to him. There was no hesitation in either of them. Sleeper decided that even if Toxin was insufferable, he could stay.

“Hundreds of years ago, in Scotland, when kings were common and wars were fought with blades, two generals sought shelter from a storm within an isolated shelter,” Father began. "Three weird sisters– witches most likely –welcomed them with prophecy. ‘All hail, Macbeth!’ shouted the first sister–”

“You’re telling them Macbeth?” Flash asked, bemused.

“Shut up, Thompson.” Toxin craned his head unnaturally to shoot a Look at father’s human partner. “Nobody asked you.”

Their father chuckled softly at Flash’s flummoxed expression and continued the story.

[ladymirdan]

What is your opinion on the "Female Space Marines" thing, Lady Mirdan?

Are you trying to get me cancelled, my good man? 😅

Strap in. This is gonna be an unhinged and unfocused ranty wall of text.

Short answer: 

Female space marines are a primaris level of a bad idea, and I really hope it doesn't become canon.

Slightly longer answer: 

I feel like people forget that the Imperium are bad guys. Even the Emperor's “dream” for the Imperium is a fascist utopia, with all its horrible connotations going along with that.

There are good/interesting people/characters mixed into this mess, and I find it so interesting to see them interact in a world where the morals are (sometimes not) so radically different from the one we are living in.

The Imperium is a horrible, xenophobic, misogynistic, misanthropic hellhole. 

The rotting carcass of the Emperor on a golden throne is a perfect metaphor for this.

The only thing that matters is brute strength or power/resources.

Human lives are very cheap in the Imperium. I have heard the argument “It doesnt make any sense to ignore half of your population when making space marines”, yes it does. Geneseed is rare and valuable, but humans are not. There is always someone willing to give up their son for a chance to get the God Emperors' blessing.

But let's say it is possible. Geneseed is fully compatible with female anatomy. Would someone still do it? 

My guess is: probably not. 

The Imperium can't even come up with a new pair of shoelaces without the inventors risking being called heretics. None of the bigger, more established chapters would risk it. Entire chapters have been wiped out for less.

I would also expect that the Ecclesiarchy would be rather unhappy with the Astartes dipping their toes into their own military recruitment pool. Terran bureaucracy is not a thing to be taken lightly.

Can’t Roboute Guilliman just go in and make it a thing?

Maybe, but why would he want to? What has given anyone the opinion that Guilliman is a “good guy”?

He often (in my opinion) wrongly gets accredited as the primarch of reason/tactics/politics when he is clearly the master of Propaganda. 

He is memed to be this chivalrous boy scout when he absolutely is not. That is his carefully crafted public image.

Look at what types of men he chooses to promote when given the chance. Strong and dumb, every time.

But how about the chaos space marines?

Here we actually have an argument to do it. We have seen in several books (Nightlords, Fabius Bile etc,) that human fertility drops dramatically in the warp.

Here every body counts, and they have to be more economical with their initiates.

Fabius Bile himself is working hard to make this a possibility. Even though he wants to do his own thing and not just more space marines, they are close enough for me to be called female space marines, and I'm fine with them. The EC can have them… but do we really want them to?  

What about the other Traitor Legions then?

Most of the traitor Legions leaders grew up in the Imperium and shares a lot of their sensibilities and morals. 

I would doubt that the Black Legion would be fine with it even IF (big if) Abaddon himself were ok with it. A lot of his warbands would be pissed. There aren't good and rational people; they are just as brainwashed as the imperials. (I imagine a good re-enactment of this happening would be the Templin institute’s comment field on their video about this, but with (actual) curses and no profanity filter)

But GW has done bigger retcons in the past!

Yes, they have. And most of them have been handled badly.

I fully believe that female space marines CAN be introduced in a good way. 

Do I trust GW/BL to do this well? Absolutely the fuck not.

I have read a good number of BL books by now, and I think I have come across well-written female characters… twice?

But my friend has a kitbashed army with female space marines, and he wants to play with them. Hell yeah! Can I see it? I love kitbashes, and I much rather see a female space marine on the table than an “Angry marine”, for example. I’m not bothered in the least by anything fan created. It is GW I don't trust.

You don't want female space marines because you are a sexist!

I'm not gonna bother defending against this because that would make me a hypocrite.

Yes, the primary reason I don’t want female space marines is so I can have a harem of imaginary big, buff boyfriend waifus that will never ever have an unmotivated, badly written love interest written in. Do you have any idea how rare that is to come across in a fandom? 

[hammieslice]

20 Questions For Fanfic Writers!

I got tagged in this by the lovely @onewhoturns, and I'll tag some others at the end!

1: How many works do you have on Ao3?

I only have 8 actually published there, but for reference, I went into my WIP folder and found over 100 more... So I do write things! I'm just really really bad at actually publishing them.

2: What's your total Ao3 word count?

Assuming I've done my math right, my current total word count sits at 262,909. Most of that is probably the longfics I've done with Turner, but there are almost certainly some hidden gems in there as well.

3: What fandoms do you write for?

Well, I haven't actually written and published something for a specific fandom for a while now, but my more common interests these days are Genshin Impact, Fire Emblem, Metal Gear Solid, Ace Attorney, Shadow & Bone (Netflix TV show specifically) and a few sporadic others! But my past works were for Oxenfree, Destiny, Ava's Demon, Homestuck, Overwatch, Critical Role, The Magnus Archives and Half Life.

4: Top five fics by kudos?

That would beeee So It Goes, Blue Hair, Red Jacket, A Different Angle, One Foot, and finally Holy Spirits!

5: Do you respond to comments? Why/Why not?

As much as I love getting comments on fics, I don't often respond to them. I don't really have enough published to get engagement super often, and even then, I'm just not the kind of person to reach out at random simply because I've heard too many Internet Horror Stories(tm). But, maybe if I do publish more in the future, I'll make a habit of answering then!

6: What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I... Don't really know? Most of my fics are either one-shots or unfinished multi-chapter works. There's probably something really angsty in my WIPs, but since it's never seen the light of day, we'll never really knows.

7: What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Hmm. Hm hm hm. That would probably be a toss up between A Different Angle, which is just meant to be a nice, feel-good oneshot, or Pyrite-50: Quiet Moments, which is a kind of character study of one of my Destiny PC's.

8: Do you get hate on fics?

Since I only have 8 published, and I'm not like a super-duper popular author, I don't really think I get hate. All of the comments I've seen have been really sweet and lovely, which I'm thankful for.

9: Do you write smut?

I've been known to partake... On occasion....... <- Currently hiding most of it away in that damned WIP folder

10: Do you write crossovers?

Aside from the every-so-often "AU fic inspired by another piece of media", no, not really. But maybe that will change sometime! I wouldn't be truly opposed.

11: Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I'm aware!

12: Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. My reach, like I said, is pretty minimal. But if anybody were to ask, I'd say go for it, as long as I got credit as the author.

13: Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Most of my published fics are co-written! My co-author was actually the one who tagged me in this, Turner. You can go check out all our Oxenfree stuff on Ao3 right now.

14: What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oooooh, this one is hard. The one I've undoubtedly written the most for is jonalex, but I'm a huge multishipper, so I've never really preferred one pairing over another before. It's always so dependent on my mood! Can I just say all of them?

15: What's the WIP you hope to finish but doubt you ever will?

The forgotten Kaz Brekker/Darkling smut. It sits in its little google document, taunting me. I know that you're there. I KNOW.

16: What are your writing strengths?

I'd like to think I'm good at metaphors? Generally, getting into a character's psyche is what I strive for, and when I get it right it feels like a real achievement. I've also been told that I'm very good at making dialogue that feels real, or that flows in a way that makes sense, which is something else I'm really proud of.

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing things. Fight scenes (of the physical variety). The two big F's.

18: Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Seeing as I am a person who only knows one language (and guess which one that is), I don't often write in other languages for my fics, because I'm a liiiiittle too scared of fucking up. On the rare chances I have, I usually use someone I know as a translator, but that limits me on how many languages I can conceivably use. As far as foreign languages in other fics go, I'm all for it!

19: First fandom you wrote for?

It's either Harry Potter, and that fic has now been orphaned to the wind, or maybe Homestuck?

20: Favorite fic you've ever written?

Of my published fics, it has to be So It Goes. That one has a special place in my heart for a multitude of reasons, and not just because Turner and I got to write it together. Of my WIPs, there's an unnamed freemance fic that I've been dying to finish that I just recently found again, and it made me fall in love with my writing for a second time; in a strange way.

Tagging!!

@artemis-crimson @reddgiant @starchemist @starlit-bawka @cranehusbands @duvirii and basically whoever else wants to do it.

[waterdanced]

alright, folks, strap in for another theory rambling from syd: demyx edition

what we know about demyx:

not much

(that's, like, partially facetious but also true. all we really know is that he's connected to some ancient keyblade legacy. on top of that, though, there are some observations we can make:)

his death in kh2 has him in a weird pillar of light only shared slightly with xigbar

i trust him when he says he's not a scientist

his title is the melodious nocturne in en and nocturnal poem in jp

his element is water, which has been heavily associated with darkness as a metaphor in kingdom hearts

now, let's set aside demyx for a second to discuss the master of masters — and no, this theory isn't one of those theories about them being the same or whatever. i have taste.

the landi lodge on youtube posits that the master of masters may very well be light itself, and i'm inclined to agree; the fact that he says "the truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear," only for the screen to flash with light when his name is blanked from being heard is almost evidence enough, but compound that with my outdated theory about him being kingdom hearts itself... i feel it makes sense. what we also know about the master of masters is that he once had friends in a time long ago who fell in another keyblade war, and darkness is his long-time enemy.

there is also a lot of christian imagery going into mom and the foretellers, given the seven deadly sins and whatnot. i promise this is relevant.

one more important detail: one of the thirteen true darknesses is currently unaccounted for.

now, let's get back to demyx and what i think about him:

let's take one possibility for his true name, edym, and consider that it's an alternative spelling of adam. adam was created by god, famously known as a being of light.

let's consider that edym — possibly like luxu, possibly like the foretellers, if you let me be very insane — may very well have been a creation of the master of masters in an era long past. they may be connected in a way without being the same person. consider edym as a prototype replica (which would work narratively given all his talking points and plot involving the replicas), maybe even with, somehow, a piece of the master in him to kickstart his existence — sort of similar to the concept of a nobody. it would explain his light pillar at death, and it would explain his haha, yeah, no dismissal of being a scientist. it would also explain his ancient keyblade legacy. it might even explain why he knows nobodies do have hearts, which no one is aware of canonically.

consider him one of mom's original friends, thought lost in the war. consider him becoming a vessel for the missing darkness and how that would be such a painful insult and personal attack to the master of masters while also explaining his affinity for water, so often linked to darkness. it would also explain the nocturne/nocturnal part of his titles, given that nothing else about demyx really fits that description whereas most of the others at least fit who they're assigned to.

there is also the fact that vexen comments about "men like us, men of science," when speaking to demyx... which is certainly not accurate for vexen's perception of demyx. but consider that vexen/even has displayed a very sharp intuition before in being able to tell that ventus is a heart of pure light, so perhaps he's picking up on something about demyx's past and true nature.

this would all even, in a way similar to how xigbar set off mom-similarity warning bells in others before that reveal, explain what similarities are there between demyx and the master.

i've talked about my theories for luxord and how those would put him around the missing link era, but i don't think mom's original era would be mentioned if it wouldn't also be relevant. demyx having a personal connection to the master of masters would add another layer to the way he's often seen with xigbar, as well.

and all this said, demyx could still very well have ended up quadratum, thus making him a duo with luxord still despite being from different eras.

i hope all of this makes sense. i could definitely spend more time on it to make it more cohesive, but... this is what y'all get.

[bleue-flora]

Okay, so I heard you wanted to answer some questions so...How about 2, 4, 7, 16, 23, 56, and 73?

(Sorry if it's a lot, you don't have to answer them all if you don't want)

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Most of the time I write chapters and then determine the order and/or if I have to break it into multiple chapters. Sometimes I play scrapbook with random bits of writing I have and put those into a more cohesive chapter. Frequently, I’ll have a plan for like a set of chapters as far as what I want them to be. So a bit of both I guess.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Everything?… I mean for starters I have a list that’s made up of words I come across and think I can use later. Sometimes I’ll experience something and it’ll spur a writing section like tasting iron and writing a whole segment on blood. The most random things may inspire me to use as a description or metaphor like watching grass on the side of the road get pushed by the wind. Sometimes quotes from movies I’m watching or elsewhere inspire me. Sometimes an idea comes directly from a person intentionally or unintentionally. Comments can often spark something. Watching old dsmp streams for research is when I’ll sometimes catch a detail I didn’t before. Reading other fics can fuel new ideas. And sometimes I’m just delirious at 3am and decide that Quackity should crucify Dream… XD

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

It’s usually framed by the story or idea and often because I have specific thoughts I want the character to have.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Good question, which I answered here. It seems great minds think alike.

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

Not sure I have any business giving advice since I’ve only been writing fanfics for about a year now. But I’ll say this, don’t push yourself into writing if you can’t. Writers block happens and inspiration or creativity aren’t always available, which is ok. Those skills aren’t concrete like being able to pull out your calculator and do math or drive a car or brush your teeth. It’s a process and it comes and goes. I think everyone goes through it in one sense or another, but that doesn’t mean you have to let it beat you. Understand it is inevitable so no need to panic or apologize or give up. Instead, read other people’s works, talk to other writers for ideas, go enjoy life or any of the things I mentioned in 4. Inspiration will come again.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I’d say it’s hard for me to pride myself in general. I write because I enjoy it not because I necessarily think it’s good (that requires confidence, which I don’t have XD) I’ve been told that my descriptions are very captivating and help the reader feel and see it in their mind, so probably that. People also tend to appreciate my dialogue which I try to make as real and accurate as possible even if that means lots of stuttering and filler words.

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

My insanity?…. Lol I mean, come on who else is writing hopscotch torture or making nutrition labels for their works? XD… For real though, I think my more flowery poetic style of writing isn’t standard. Someone once accused my chapter of being written by AI which I thought was both highly insulting and hilarious, because honestly my writing doesn’t follow the laws of grammar or story telling, like what do you mean you think a robot wrote this nonsense lol. ;)

[zealsoughtsequesterustanxiedemon]

Also been thinking on the "inherently evil species" bit of Frieren, and I feel like its a mixed bag of Show versus the Audience. On one hand, I feel like the show so far has done a good job at displaying the world's, Frierens, and demons' biases against demons. More under the cut:

On the world's end, demons have obviously been antagonistic. They grouped together and tried to take over the world, genociding the other intelligent species.

Frieren's bias is well shown; she was one of the people closely affected by that genocide, and the answer her mentor gave to deal with her feelings on that was basically 'dedicate your life to deceiving and killing demons'.

And the demons' bias make sense too. Like, as a society, they treat humans as aliens and themselves as aliens to humans. And so they belittle the parts of themselves that resemble humans and emphasize the parts of themselves that are more unique to demons.

However, I do run into trouble when it sort of feels like most other fans are on a different page. Like a lot of people just believe what gets said about demons without questioning it. For example, "demons are just imitating speech to deceive humans" is something that just gets taken at face value and, like, you see demons actively use it to communicate with each other in private. You see them use it to gloat, threaten, criticize, warn other demons, etc. Like theoretically the speech thing could've been true once, but it's clearly not true now. It feels like a cheap way to other them, which makes sense if it's something that character's are doing within the show but is incredibly weak if it's something the writer is trying to tell me directly.

And like, I don't think the show's saying that. It's just somewhat annoying when that's a lot of other people's takeaway. It feels slightly more nuanced than that. I've also heard from friends who have read the manga that it gets more nuanced than that.

Also, although it's not mine, I can understand the "Frieren is racist" reading for the people who do think the story is actually telling them that demons are inherently evil. Lots of media (especially fantasy) do this and it's never not egregious once you notice it. Especially considering that the main push back to that reading is overly hostile and condescending. Like, if we take the inherently evil species thing at face value, then yes, Frieren isn't a prejudiced because her prejudice is justified.

However, to explain it a bit, this take is more a comment on the story than Frieren herself. Like Frieren isn't a bigot within the story, it's more as if the story itself is bigoted against demons and Frieren is the metaphorical bigot who's actually right about all of her prejudiced beliefs absolving her of the moral complexity of them. In this sense, some people are bothered by this situation because although the demons may not easily map to a "race" of humans in real life, the nature of the prejudice and justifications do mirror bigoted sentiments and stories in real life. And, like, understandably, that makes them uncomfortable with the story. It's like they're reading bigoted propaganda from another world.

Again, this isn't something that I see in the story myself, but I get it. I had seen some friends arguing about it as they were watching the show while airing, and so I decided that I'd have to think about it on my inevitable watch of it (hence why this post is so much longer than the other one). If you think people are fools for seeing that kind of thing in it, then I don't know what to tell you but I'll say that I would prefer people be more wary of that kind of thing in stories than not. Subtext can show up in a work whether a writer/audience wants it to or not.

[kindsummer]

hi peat!! may i request any/all of the following from the writing ask game: ✍️🎁💡💛🎯 (if that’s a lot you can ignore some lol) 🫶🏻 have a lovely day!!

jj you are the best 🥺🥺🥺 i fell asleep yesterday wayyyy too early, so im just getting to this today like a fool. i appreciate you!!! i hope you have an even lovelier day!! <3

✍️ What’s your ideal writing setup?

it's changed over time and i'm sure it will continue to do so, but as of now, the best way for me to write and do so productively (as in, rather quickly), is a very specific situation. i have to be well rested, too, or this doesn't work. i have to be sitting in the living room, have the tv playing something mindless in the background at a low volume, headphones on with music related to whatever i'm working on, and with only the necessary tabs open, i.e. a plot doc and the fic doc. if i get distracted, i allow myself 10-15 minutes of scrolling or watching whatever's in the background.

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share?

this is from my current oc/mota shot to shot rewrite, spiritual successor to the first two i did for band of brothers and the pacific. it's my baby, i love it, i love the ocs, i love the relationships, it is my child. “Do any of us?” Bucky shook his head, glancing over to Buck again, subconsciously voicing his own previous internal struggle. “If I got possessed demonically, I wouldn’t even notice with everything else I got going on. That’s just how it is, for people like us.” His fingers fiddled with a cigarette, not lighting it or bringing it to his lips for a drag, but simply rolling the pads over the folded paper. “We feel like all we have is rage or self pity, but there’s more to life and there’s more to us. It’s okay to be scared, you just have to act through that fear. That’s what bravery is, and kid, you have more than enough of that. And that chutzpah thing I’ve heard about.” Matt smiled, feeling more indebted to Bucky than he had before, which was saying something. Bucky reminded him a lot of Jon, at the same age and wielding the same ability to lighten the load when it got too heavy to bear. “Maybe after the war. When I’m sure he won’t die in some fucking explosion or failing mechanics or flak. I don’t think I could take that, not again.” “Only the dead know the end of war, Matty,” Bucky replied, far too sagely and sanely for either of their liking. “Gotta live in the here and now. You never know when your last moment will be, so you have to take the chances, even if you’re scared by the outcome.”

💡How many WIPs do you currently have?

partially written, i have: 6. ones fully plotted out that i haven't started: 37.

💛 What is the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about writing?

sometimes, the piece you're working on is made better by the author allowing their emotions to flow through their (metaphorical) pen. a lot of fics i've written were altered by the mood i was in while working on them, like, in drastic ways, but then they made more sense and held much more depth than they initially did because of how they changed. so, let yourself feel while you're writing, you'll never know where it'll take you until you're done.

🎯 Do you have a writing milestone you’re working towards?

i don't think of myself as having a milestone really, but i would love to finish all the things i have plotted out eventually. it will probably take years because it's...a lot, but that would be cool. my secret milestone is to become prolific enough to receive a plethora of comments that inspire me to keep working on wips, especially if it transfers to tumblr. a small, active fan base would truly make me feel like what i'm writing is worth it (it being time and energy, one of which i have little of). more than it just being writing for myself because it's hard for me to find something published that gets me and how i read canon in the way that my own fics do.

fanfic writer ask game !!

[veronicaphoenix]

I decided to title this commentary "veronica is not well and she won't be for a while*

I'm up to date sorting out my tumblr notifications so, I'm finally here in my favorite fic to take my time reviewing (technically speaking i think it's more like letting myself go wild because of what this fic makes me feel but 🤗) and make your head explode with all the things i have to say, and! I have a lot of things to say because this chapter provided SO. MANY. THINGS.TO DISCUSS that I don't even know where to start.

Well, truth is I do know. Let me start by asking WHY do you start your chapters with such ferocity? I don't know why I start reading with the mindset that we will get the good stuff at the end (by good stuff i mean smut, but the whole chapter piece is as good as pizza, you know that, right?) So, what I was saying, I start eating the popcorn and in a matter of two minutes I'm flushed from head to toe and my hands are shaking.

“Well, I guess you won’t know unless you try. But…” I sank down on my knees in front of him. “I could always show you how it’s done, if you're nervous about that.” This right here, at the beginning of a chapter, should be a crime. Not saying that you shouldn't do it (you should do it. keep doing it please), but these starts go so hardddddd. I love how you just bring to life the "go hard or go home" quote.

“He came all over my chest. But you? You get to come in my mouth. If you want to.” She's sooooo 😭 "Noah groaned beautifully, a hand now holding the back of my head." Not sure if Aubrey melted but I did because these little details and touches are EVERYTHING. "His hand was fully grasping my hair now, bordering on painful, but I enjoyed it all the same." What I just said.

“Is this for real?” I would have Oliver's same reaction haha

The fact that she was sitting in the armchair watching those two losing it with each other just made her queen of the world. I bow to no one but QUEEN AUBREY. And Noah looking at her for reassurance before touching Oli 😭

“Don't take me too deep, you gotta sing tonight.” How considerate. We love a considerate man. 🙌🏼

“On the bed. Now.” The way he went from sub to dom in a second sjkdnfskjdfasn what am i going to do? "I wasn’t sure if I had ever heard Noah talk like that but combined with his low voice it left me trembling." aubrey, i was trembling since I got Laura's notification for the chapter update. Now I'm just a tumblr-user mess, how ironic.

"before grabbing and spreading my thighs again." Honestly, I don't think I've ever been so invested in reading smut as I am with this fic.

“I said. Don't. Move.” “Better listen to the man. You want to be a good girl for Noah, don't you?”

Laura, the way you managed to write that scene 🫠 I speak from my heart when I say that the day i see an update with the content warning "p in v and everything else," i'll just do some meditation beforehand and then lock myself in the bedroom and sit in a corner to read this as if it was the bible.

"Oli was softly petting my hair, all dominating features about him vanishing as checked up on my, making sure I was okay." the aftercare. i cry. i melt. i vanish. my life is complete

"Oli and I had trouble keeping our giggles to ourselves every time someone around us mentioned it though." i love how it's so casual after, but now that I'm rereading the chapter to write this long-ass comment, my heart is just breaking with the angst I know is coming toward my baby Aubrey.

This chapter was a rollercoaster in all the sense of the word/metaphor/whatever it is. You get us started with that hot sexy af scene, and then i thought it would slow down and give us a break, only to break my heart with Lia's phone call and then Aubrey's breakdown and finding out how her parents rejected her. The level of angst in this chapter blew my mind, broke my heart, and left me speechless. It took me two days and a half to wrap my head around it and manage to write a coherent commentary (if you can call it coherent).

*interlude*

Noah: You’re a right worker’s bee tonight, aren’t you?

Aubrey: Cutest bee you’ll ever see

That message was not cringy, Aubrey! It was so cuteeeee!

*end of the interlude*

Then you give me a drunk Noah saying all those sweet things and my level of rage and pain increased to a whole new level. Now, being totally serious about it, I could feel Aubrey's pain through every stage of this chapter, and the ending... Her realizing that Noah's saying all of that because he's drunk. Maybe i'm getting personal here, but I know exactly how it feels to experience a moment like this, and it's not nice. At all. No matter how sweet the words. The fact that she already acknowledge she's in deep with both of them makes me feel proud of her. At least she's not confused about this. She's got enough with everything else. Of course, I know things are just about to get worse. Oli can't stop caring, even if he doesn't want anything serious, and I'd say Noah is also falling and maybe he got drunk because he's afraid of these new feelings inside of him? Not justified tho, but i'm just making an analysis here hehe.

Laura? I'm scared.

in love with the mess - day eight

summary : Aubrey is going on tour and, for once, she’s decided to focus on having as much fun as possible. Oli can be a little shit but he does nothing short of adore Audrey and… well, maybe Noah a little, too. Noah likes the flirting, as long as no one gets too close, emotionally. But what will happen when the three of them take it too far?

content : smut (oral m & f receiving), angst, drinking, little bit of fluff

length : 5.6k

tags (let me know if you want to be tagged!) : @veronicaphoenix @cookiesupplier @lma1986 @jilliemiw86 @bngurngheart @lacktoesandtoddlerants @narcissisticbehavior81 @flowery-mess @shilohrosechicken @justeli6 @starvingarsyn @floatinglikeaswan @somebodyels3 @kageyasma @spikeisdaddy

a/n : It’s @spikeisdaddy’s birthday today! Hope you enjoy the chapter 😉

•••

day eight

We spent the night away from each other and even though we’d all just agreed to only focus on having some fun, it felt like the loneliest night yet. I found myself tossing and turning and reaching out for people who weren’t there. It seemed stupid, really. We’d only done the whole sleepover endeavour once, yet I missed it as if it was the norm. I was tired and restless when my alarm went off. At least today involved no travelling. As much as I enjoyed getting around, I needed a restful day.

If the universe decided to be gentle with me and allow me one.

Keep reading

[scoundrels-in-love]

Alright, gimme the full DVD commentary about this passage from "I will drown for you...":

"It's not easy to forget, Vash doesn't know how to do it at all actually, but he knows how to put so many things away in boxes with loose lids, stacked in a pyramid that has long since outgrown him. He laughs and smiles and kind-of and almost feels it (and doubts his grief is real, since he can), at least while they're mostly closed.

But there are times when some of the lids open and in a chain reaction, spring many others open, too. Memories and pain and ghosts of what ifs and almosts, and a vacuum of isolation and loneliness that consumes all the air in his lungs, pour out, become all he can sense, all he is.

Unless Vash manages to fix the opening lids quickly, trying to close them can become like a game called guacamole or something of the sort that Rem had told him and Nai about - trying to hit a little pest as it pops out of holes rapidly all over the game field. There is no winning, only endless chase until the time runs out and he collapses from exhaustion, from being hollowed out by all he has held onto. The recovery can be hours or days, he never knows." I wasn't even looking for it, but when I saw it I knew it was the one. I just love it.

Hi hello my dear beloved sibling.

I now realize I have no idea how the DVD commentaries go so I am just going to babble how I know to.

First of all, I am amazed and touched that this is section you still remember *checks* 5 months, oh wow.

In all honesty, it's part that I wrote and then almost deleted. I wasn't sure if this sort of disassociation and compertmentalizing your grief and trauma was something that felt Vash like. At least in these words, in this metaphor.

But I kept it. Stayed honest to my want to write it the way it is and, in some way, I experience and struggle with grief and going through the day. Some of the most stinging, forever sticking with me throwaway comment on my grief in my life has been how 'I am clearly handling my loss quite well' because I could give a sort-of laugh a couple months after my loss. The way the pits of despair would change into numb neutrality through which I would mask and go on and how it always makes me doubt that I am sincerely grieving, that my pain is genuine and true to the bone and not just another reason for me to throw pity parties when I feel like.

In same way, my worst spirals are often gradual, at least at the start - started by some random thought or event that I have to then work on suppressing, putting away, lest it springs forward more and more thoughts and pains until I collapse. And sometimes the attempt to wrangle it all, no - usually, even -, is just as exhausting.

I took those feelings and experiences and gave them to Vash, who seems to compartmentalize a lot, who puts up a mask of cheer, but his eyes aren't into it. Who finds ways to blame himself for everything, even the way he feels things. I think the complexity and layers of guilt and pain and the way he's had to keep going make for very potent, very complex cocktail that he very much can't really deal with other than like this.

In this case, he's been teetering on edge of Feeling Bad and Too Much for a while, the injury and upsetting Meryl (and others) heightens it and the thought of Rollo & Livio resurfaces, as echo of his guilt for having anything nice, for having people who care when he's failed so many, just to push him closer to edge of not being able to tuck it all away neatly.

As for the guacamole, I thought it'd be funny if Vash for all his great memory couldn't quite remember something he heard as baby 150+ years ago and it became slightly twisted into a different word. A sort of little inside joke between me and readers who Know the words. I think a lot about words and things Vash knows that no one else does anymore, in general.

Send me excerpt from my fic and I will give you the DVD commentary on it?<3

[aechteaseawb]

this is just combining my two favorite things: gay pining and interior design. 

The CrocoDaiOh feels a lot bigger on the inside, which makes sense, because it is meant to also be the home of four, carrying this family of pirates on long voyages across the multiverse. The first in the world! In all worlds!

“But how does it all work?” Kaito asks, pressing his face against the windows. He can see the entire Earth from up here, blue and round. It really is round! All connected, not a single lonely corner left outside the loop! The view is magnificent!

“That’s a bit of a broad question, isn’t it?” Zox comments from where he is swinging his legs over the sofa. He seems to be in a good mood, eyes bright, amusement apparent in his voice. “Would you even understand it if we explained?”

“You know how it works, Zox?”

Zox raises his eyebrows. “It’s my ship. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I think most people don’t know how their cars work, you know?” Kaito says, and wonders if that’s a good simile. Or is it a metaphor? Which one is which again? It’s been a while since high school, so memories are fuzzy, not to say that memories weren’t fuzzy back in high school, but it’s about the level of fuzziness!

“Nothing too complicated.” Zox says, breaking him out from his little inner conflict. “But Flint explained basic repairs to us. A captain should know his ship.”

“As expected of Zox! Full-power dependable!” Kaito praises. It’s good for people to be familiar with their vehicles! When he gets home, he should really have some more one on one time with his bicycle! “Can I ask anyway?”

“What would you like to know?”

Yacchan once told him that men are most attractive when they are confident, and Kaito can definitely see that now. Not that Zox isn’t usually attractive, but there’s something different about him aboard the CrocoDaiOh, something natural and entracing, in the way that he places himself in the environment, how he moves like he’s a walking part of this living, breathing aircraft soaring through the sky, like he could navigate the ship blind. It’s hard not to find that attractive, Kaito thinks, the honest ease in his posture.

“Uh…” Kaito breaks his eyes away to locate a target for a topic. “Where does your toilet lead to?” He asks. “On the seas, I heard that toilets usually just flush into the ocean, but you don’t sail on the seas. Where do you flush to?”

Zox looks very serious all of a sudden. He sits up straight on his sofa, and leans forward ominously. “Do you wanna know?” He says. “Do you really want to know?”

“I mean……” Kaito falters, and follows Zox’s glance towards the window. The stars look stellar in space, by the way, has Kaito mentioned that yet? He gulps. But before he could decide if he wanted to know the answer or not, Zox gets to his feet, walks over to Kaito, and pats him on the shoulders. “I’m joking. Flint designed the flush to open up a world gate that leads to some public bathroom in Nagoya.”

“So every time you flush your toilet all of it flies off to Nagoya?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

And imagine being in that very public bathroom in Nagoya, opening up that stall, only to have it flush on its own! To ordinary people, it would probably be like a haunted spot for urban mythology, but that right there is the world’s first bathroom to connect to a flying aircraft of the one and only world pirates! “That’s so cool!” Kaito exclaims.

“Really?” Zox raises his eyebrows. “I would think that’s a pretty unremarkable thing.”

“Nothing around you could ever be unremarkable, Zox.” Kaito says sincerely. Zox is the type of person to choose his surroundings, choose his company, and he would only allow those as intriguing as himself.

“Yo ho hoy!” Zox grins crookedly, in the way that makes Kaito’s heart skip a beat. “You’ve got that right.”